More catching up...

Last Friday my mom and I spent the day in "Old Dubai" down by the creek. This is the area with the old souks, spice souks, abra boats, dhow boats, and where many of the workers of Dubai live. We rode our own private abra boat up and down the creek. This is the best way to see the impressive buildings that have sprung up along side the creek. It was only $14.50 to have our own abra and take this relaxing 35 minute ride. To take the abra across the creek it is one dirham which is only $0.36 cents. That is still a deal today!! The workforce of Dubai cross the creek on a daily basis. It is an estimated 17,000 per day that use this as a means of transportation. Abras are small barges that use to be row boats and are fueled with diesel engines today. Dhow boats are the larger ones that bring the goods to Dubai. It was really cool to see the dhows being unloaded along side the creek. The boats are all so old you think, "Is this really going to work?" But they do and the dhows even travel out on the open seas! Just amazing!!

Catching up...

Boy O boy, we have been busy busy and by the time Fayth is in bed for the night I am POOPED and ready to fall over!! The photos above are from playgroup last week at Festival City Mall. My mom got to come meet my new friends, and of course, par-take in the fun play land activities! Then we had a nice lunch by the creek with my girlfriends and looked at the beautiful yachts from the atrium area. The last photo was captured by Gramie when Jon got home last Wednesday. It is a true picture of how excited Fayth is to see her daddy each and every night!!

More Photos from our Picture Walk...

Fayth found "the hidden" present. Mommy loved it more than she...A HELLO KITTY pink purse. The Dubai Aquarium in the center of the world's largest mall. At my favorite place in Dubai, Souk Madinat Jumeirah. We did some evening shopping, eating, and strolling at the Souk. We had a nice evening just the two of us. g A view from the bridge overlooking the Burj Al Arab. It is just a gorgeous 7 Star hotel! This is the Madinat Jumeirah, beachfront resort, that also has an Arabian-style souk for shopping, dining and entertainment. Hotel guests get to ride the Abras up and down the creek to get to their place of entertainment. It really makes you feel like you are on vacation.

Picture Walk...

A picture from our balcony as the sun was rising!

Inside Souk Al Bahar. This is attached to the Palace Hotel. It has various restaurants, shops, coffee stops, groceries and traditional "souk" items.

In front of the "new" beautiful Palace Hotel in downtown Burj Dubai. Inside the brand new Dubai Mall. We were entering the "Gold Souk." It is the home of the largest gold souk of it's kind in all of Dubai. It goes on and on forever and then "spits" you out in the middle of a gorgeous very modern mall.

The "Cat Walk"...the floor lights up and changes colors. This is the part of the new Dubai Mall called Fashion Avenue. It has high end shops and will host fashion shows on this cool lit up floor.

Welcome Gramie Lynn

Last night, my mom, Gramie Lynn arrived in Dubai! We are happy she is here to visit and she is HAPPY too!!!

Well, she is just is AWWWWW...she loves the apartment we live in, the view, the buildings, the architecture, the hotels...she just won't stop chatting about everything. She laid in bed last night and looked out the window until about 3:30 starring at the beautiful view! It has made her feel really good to see where we live! She wasn't jet lagged at all this morning. She was up playing with Fayth and raring to go!!

Fayth was very excited to see her when she woke up this morning! They will be sharing a room starting tonight!! Fun Fun...for both of them. Fayth is now, solely, in her big girl bed and doing so well. Let's keep fingers crossed it lasts for Gramie's visit.

Gramie is here for TWO WEEKS...(Pray for me...he he)...Just kidding!! Or should I say, pray for Jon!

Gramie came fully stocked...she brought a suitcase filled with USA stuff for us we can't seem to find in Dubai. So hurray for that! Some of our favorites were Secret deodorant for me, enough contact solution to last Jon for two years, and suntan lotion for a family of 20! Suntan lotion is very very expensive here...so she stocked up for us. Don't want to have skin cancer and the sun shines everyday. She also brought Fayth a present to open everyday. She is hiding it around the house and then Fayth has to find it. Then they are going to sit down and have cookies and a tea party everyday & open the present. It is a chance for the two of them to do something special and "me to escape" to the gym, shower, or another room!! Ha!! This was a wonderful surprise for both Fayth and ME!!

We are very happy to have Gramie visiting us. I have a schedule a mile long that I want to do & show her while she is here. I have another list that Jon and I want to do together while Gramie watches Fayth. Therefore; I may not be blogging as much as usual. However; with her here, that means 1 gazillion pictures...so maybe it'll be a picture walk of the city! So stay tuned!

Cheers for now!

Yes! A Small World Indeed!

Growing up in Rockford, I had a good friend Marc. He was two years older than I was but we found ourselves hanging out together and were always just good buddies!! Long story short...My parents and his parents have mutual friends in Rockford. Once "the friends" heard we were moving to Dubai...one thing lead to another and they told us Marc's family had a "winter home" on the Palm. Marc's parents come to Dubai from about October to April (the perfect weather months). Marc's family was from Denmark. His folks currently have a home in Spain, Denmark, and here.

After High School, Marc spent a few years at Augustana and then returned to Denmark for medical school and we lost touch. Well today we "reconnected" and spent the morning on the beautiful beaches of the Palm Jumeirah together. Marc, his wife, and two beautiful children are here on holiday visiting his folks. They currently live in Denmark and Marc is finishing up his residency. His younger brother Jacob, his wife and their cute son is also here visiting from London. It was fun to see each other again and meet each others spouses and kids. We shared stories and "gossip" of who we still talk to, what people are doing, all that fun reminiscing & remembering good ole' Guilford High School.

We hope to see each other whenever they are in town visiting his parents. His mom & dad were very helpful answering emails and questions before our move to Dubai. They have just the MOST STUNNING view and perfect location on the Palm. It was a really nice morning!

SO...what is all boils down to is...Yes, that's right, A Small World Indeed!

World's Largest Mall Opens

Yes, the Dubai Mall, one of Jon's projects opened it's doors yesterday afternoon and you better believe we were there!! The mall, one of the biggest in the world at 12.1 million square feet, will feature over 1,200 stores and over 160 food and beverage outlets once complete. Yesterday, approximately 600 outlets were open.

Interesting facts...the corridors have been made wider in order to accommodate large Arab families. There is also more daylight than in many of the other malls, giving parts of it a bit of an "outside" feel. There is a HUGE aquarium in the center with over 40,000 fish and many sharks and stingrays as well. Of the 1,200 retailers, more than 165 are opening in Dubai or the Middle East for the very first time. (Taco Bell is one of these and we are so HAPPY!!) It doesn't take much to make us HAPPY!!

The mall is one of the 500-acre downtown projects and at the center is the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, one of Jon's projects as well.

All I can say is WOW!! We walked and walked and still didn't even see about 1/3 of it. We were there for the unveiling of the aquarium and Fayth loved that!! She enjoyed an ice cream cone while Jon, my dad and I just looked around with HUGE eyes!! It is just amazing. NO other way to put it!!

I better start saving my pennies...we walked back to our apartment...YES, that's right...it's walking distance. Jon is in deep trouble!! he he!!

***The picture is a balloon they made Fayth at the unveiling of the aquarium!

Just Cute!!

Just some cute photos of Fayth in her new pink dress from Vietnam. These are in honor of our goddaughter Mia. Mia has some beautiful outfits like this from China where she was born and adopted by our best friends Dave & Robin!

Daddy/ Daughter Night Out!

Monday night, my dad and I went to my favorite spot in Dubai, The Madinat Jumeriah for some cocktails and dinner.

We had drinks at the Left Bank Bar before and after dinner. We ate at my favorite Italian restaurant, Toscana. It was so yummy! We waited for an outdoor table situated right next to the creek with a perfect view of the Burj Al Arab Hotel. The hotel continually changes colors and is so beautiful. It is truly an icon of Dubai! The Souk and dining restaurants at the Madinat Jumeriah were even packed on a Monday night. We enjoyed each others company while "people watching" and seeing the Abra boats go down the creek. It was a great daddy/daughter night out!

Welcome Papa Tom

Papa Tom, my dad, has been on a L-O-N-G three week business trip with stops in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, London, and then finally Dubai!! He decided to book an around the world ticket and pit-stop in Dubai, as a final destination, to see his granddaughter...well, and us of course!!

We were so excited to see him! He is spending four days with us and then heading home to Rockford. I think he will sleep for days when he gets home. Fayth was so cute saying Papa Tom, Papa Tom as I was preparing her he was coming to visit. We are giving him a "world wind" tour of Dubai and he is golfing with Jon of course! Attached are a few photos of Papa arriving. He bought Fayth a few outfits in Vietnam that she loved. We will be sad to see him go...but our next guest, Gramie Lynn, arrives on Saturday. They feel badly they couldn't do the trip together. Next time!! Funny though, the two of them have been chatting on "Skype!"