Life Is All About Adventure: May 2014

As we have exactly 2 weeks left in country let me take this brief moment...yeah I should be working on packing... to tell you about our adventure 2 weeks ago.

We went to Dubai! We realized we were coming to the end of our time in the Middle East and we have heard great things about Dubai. So we decided to spend a long weekend checking it out. We knew it would be hot...though we did not count on it being over 100, But we were ready to explore.
We found out the night before some friends of ours were going to Dubai as well. Funny enough they were on the same flight and staying at the same hotel. When we got on the plane they were sitting in the row behind Little Lady and I and in the same row as S! What a small world. We were lucky and they offered us a ride in their rental car to the hotel. Upon arrival at the hotel we were informed that the hotel was very full and since we were all friends would we want to upgrade to the presidential suite? They were able to offer this to us at no extra cost as it would free up 2 smaller rooms for other guests. We took one look around the suite with it's living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, small kitchenette area, private balcony with hot tub and said YES! Our friends were even checking out the day before us and they were allowing S and I to continue to stay in the suite the extra night. Once we got settled into the room we saw the sign on the door and the room usually goes for approx $4,000 a night. We booked on expedia for $200 a night so we will take it!!
By the time we were settled it was late afternoon. S and I headed over the Dubai Mall, which was right across the street from the hotel, to see what the fuss was all about. When we walked in we were greeted by a Brachiosaurus skeleton! Yeah I have never seen that in a mall before. We of course took some pictures and then continued on. We found the Aquarium and then had California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. I know I know why did we eat at a US chain? Because it is delicious and hello we live in the middle east. It has been a longer amount of time since we have had US food than Middle Eastern. This place has everything by the way. We had Mexican one night (YAY for fresh guacamole) and some great Chinese. We had some of the best Samosas ever and some shaved ice while we were wandering around the souks. Street Food doesn't scare us! Ok back to the mall. This place has every store you have ever heard of and then some. Who knew there was baby gucci? Yeah every high end name brand store back home, the ones I don't even bother to window shop in because there is no way I can afford anything (or would I want to spend a months salary on something in) are here and also have a stand alone kids version. It is crazy! We spent some time enjoying the mall and then returned to the hotel to just relax.
We spent the rest of the our time in Dubai checking out a few sites and shopping. We saw the Fountain show at the Burj Kalifa. We visited the many souks, particularly the Gold and the Spice souk. We walked along the water front and visited the Beach. It was too hot to even enjoy the beach but we stuck our feet in. We went to the aquarium and Little Lady had a blast. She loved the tunnel and was laughing hysterically at all the fish and sharks. She was just soo excited she could barely function. It was pretty cute. She also named all the fish Charlie and kept calling them. She made Woof Woof at Build a Bear Workshop and he has become a great friend. In all honesty. It was hot. We came to the conclusion it was too hot to do anything outside during the day so we spent the day time hours at the mall wandering and the evening hours out seeing the sites. It worked for us though it did mean LL was not going to be until 10 or 11pm. Oh well it was vacation right? Also this was our first trip with a potty trained little girl. She did great. No accidents! We put her in a pull up just in case for the flights and things but she stayed dry and was very proud of herself. She has been and continues to do amazing. It is really nice to only need diapers at bed time!

Well that was our time in Dubai... or No BYE as Little Lady would say. Every time we would tell her we were going to Dubai she would say "no Bye". She just calls it the place with the fishys! Here are some pictures of the fun.