Hello Dubai!

Sightseeing: Check
Shopping: Check
Sun, surf and sand: Check

We decided to go the luxury route for this trip and hit the UNBELEIVABLE city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This place is shocking. Like, no kidding. The amount of money that is walking around there is unreal.

We spotted at least 5 Maserati's and endless Mercedes, BMW's, Porches, Lexus, Corvettes, etc, etc, etc. Mike was in "Man-who-loves-cars" Heaven.

Me? I was in "Woman-who-loves-clothes/shoes/purses" Heaven. Too bad I'm so out of style I don't even know what's current. I felt a tad out of touch. Oh well. Not like I could afford anything there- prices were 2x those of the U.S.- at least.

But it was a fun trip, just oggling at the sights and realizing that the entire city has been built from NOTHING. It's literally in the middle of the desert.

We got access to the Palms Islands (islands built in the shape of a palm tree) and drove along one of the palm fronds, checking out the mansions. We got to see the world's tallest building- a record 162 stories! We visited the Dubai Mall (which features a huge aquarium and 1,200 shops!) and the Mall of the Emirates (which features Ski Dubai- you've probably seen it on the Travel Channel). We strolled through the Gold Souq (and bought nothing) and the Spice Souq (and bought some saffron), walked along the dhow warfage and took a boat ride across the Dubai Creek. We lounged in the grassy expanse of the hotel between the pool and the beach- and loved every minute of it. We built sand castles and collected seashells, and Ryan now gets to say that his first visit to a beach was in Dubai.

There were lots of things we didn't get to do....like a desert safari, a camel ride, a mosque visit, etc. But you know what? That's OK. We have small kids, and maybe some day we'll go back and do those things when the kids are older.

After all, we got to spend 4 solid days as a family....and that's what's important.

Here are some pics of our adventures!