More Dubai Pics

 We loved the Dubai beach...sand, sun and lots and lots of people watching! 

Bharat Chachu surprises us!  Dadima and Dadigi were speechless!

Happy St. Patrick's day even in Dubai

This is true love!

We hit up the Irish Village the day after St. Patty's day, it was the best fish and chips I have ever had! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few days before we left we hit up the Dubai Atlantis.  It was awesome, and their frozen yogurt was what memories are made of!

One of my favorite places was the Global Village.  It was a huge outdoor market and each country sold items that you would typically find in their country.  Egypt had the most amazing cotton pajamas and Palestine had AMAZING babagnoush.  Each market was a surprise.  Here are a few pics of the Indian spice market.

This is frankincense, isn't it beautiful!

My Uncle Peter and his wife are living in Abu Dabi which is about an hour from Dubai.  We got the chance to spend the day with them before we left.  It was so nice to catch up and spend sometime by the beach.  Unfortunately one day was just not enough!

 

And last but not least, Laila in her undies testing the water!

Cheers,
Hedi

New Cousins

Manik's cousin, Rishi, and his family just happen to visiting Dubai the same time as us.  Rishi and his wife have a four year old named Ava and of course little Sam.  They are from London so listening to their accents was so much fun.  It was wonderful seeing Ava and Laila meet, it turns out they have very similar personalities   Both are particular, don't like being cuddled, loud is their middle name and of course both beautiful  smart, well spoken, thoughtful and so sweet!  Since they are twins at heart we had to dress them the same at least once!




Meet Sam, the sweetest baby around! He is most happy when eating, and let's just say he eats alot!

Jen, Sam, Laila and Jai all loving the pool!

Ava was not happy about getting out of the water, she is a true fish!

Rishi, Laila, Dadima, Dadagi, and Jai

Jumariah Beach Hotel, otherwise known as heaven!

It sits right next to the Burj, not a bad location!

Ahh, the pool, how I love thee!

Prepared to be terrified of Jai's fire breathing dragon! We headed to the Henna tattoo hut after we were finished with the pool.


Are you scared yet??!!

Laila went the love has wings route :)  that's my girl!

Rishi, Jen, Ava and Sam we love you and are so glad we got to hang out and let the cousins play!  Thank you for letting us crash your pool!  Love you!



Cheers,
Heidi

Big mistake and boatin'

So the plan for today was for Dadagi and I to take the kids to the toy store to pick out some nice scooters that they around the around the building and park.  They were so excited and we were excited for them, our first mistake was not telling them what were coming to pick out, I did not give them the speech about not asking everything they see and begging incessantly.  So we walk in and Laila sees a 4 foot tall Barbie and is in love. Long story short we did not leave with scooters or a 4 ft tall Barbie. Laila was heartbroken and threw a massive fit outside the store.  Dadagi and I just shook out heads at what a massive fail the whole outing was!

Later today we took a little boat to the Old Souk, the character and trinkets are beautiful but overwhelming at the same time.  They take aggressive sales to a whole new level.  Laila and Jai loved the ride and all that there was to see.


The Old Souk is located on the Dubai Creek, a known destination for all .  These are smuggler boats that take goods to Iran, India, Somalia, Pakistan and other neighboring countries.  They look like they have been around for hundreds of years.

Cheers!

Tomorrow we are off to the beach!!

Heidi

We made it!

The kids and I survived an eight hour flight, a six hour layover in Frankfurt and lastly a six hour fight to complete our trip to Dubai. Dadima and Dadagi were so excited to see us!

Yesterday we did a lot of napping and just hanging out.  This Morning we woke up around 3am due to jet lag and watched a movie, played, worked out and took the kids on a walk. All before 8am. A very productive morning so far!

Manik'S cousin and his family happen to be visiting Dubai the same time as us so their kids will get to meet their second cousins for the first time. Ava is is four and Sam who is a little less than a year,  I am so happy for Laila and Jai to have playmates, even better that they are family!

Cheers from Dubai!
Heidi

Potty Training and new challenge

Jai has begun potty training and it is a painful painful process.  There have been quite a few accidents and quite a few successes.  I was truly afraid this day would never come.  But alas it has and Jai is doing great.  He is still scared to go #2 but we'll get there soon enough!

 

As for my new challenge I have been very unmotivated when it comes to exercising.  So yesterday after spending some time on Pinterest I came upon a blog called Crossfit Mamas.  The blogger is a mom of four, she lists the workout of the day and adds a weekly challenge such as no soda or no caffeine for 90 days.  I love the idea of the workout changing everyday but also that it is only about 20 minute long.   My first workout was this morning and it was perfect, hard but I new it wouldn't last forever.

I will keep ya posted on the results!

Cheers,
Heidi

January - the 2 hour snow storm

Last week this snow storm rolled in and it was a sight to see. Usually it is just overcast and there isn't much to see but this time it was stunning!  The clouds were just amazing! 




Less than twenty minutes later it looked more like this, the snow was more
like ice pelts coming down sideways.



And an hour later the sun was back out and the kids were ready to play in the snow!  Jai immidiately was trying to eat as much as he possibly could.



His looks are priceless!

 And of course have to throw some of it!  It looks like a perfect snow ball and that is what I thought when I took this picture, I looked later and realized it was just a white wiffle ball :)

 

 Cheers,

Heidi

January - Best Helper

Lately Laila has begun helping me in the kitchen after dinner if there aren't too many dishes (breakable ones that is).  She loves doing it, and I love anyone who is willing to do dishes for me!  She is such a little lady sometimes it takes my breath away!



Cheers,
Heidi

Happy 1 Year to Manik and Genghis Grill!

Manik is celebrating one year since he opened his first Genghis Grill!  The restaurant has been a growing success and the kids and I made a trip over there today to check out all the hub hub!  I am so proud of him for building up this restaurant and having the determination not to give up on his dream!  

If your out and about today, all bowls are 6.99!  Enjoy!

This is Alison his manager, she is awesome and the only reason 

Manik will now take a day off here and there!

 Manik and Alison

 Cheers,
Heidi