Dubai Spring Break: Day 4

Monday we slept in a little and had breakfast at our hotel- which was delicious! We then headed back out to Jumeirah Beach for part of the day.  We loved that our hotel was right on the beach!  Perfect location!!

Not every day do you see camels hanging out on the beach!!

More camel sightings on the beach!

Later that day, we headed to the Burj Khalifa in downtown Dubai for the 'At the Top' tour.  It's the tallest building in the world and is more than 160 stories tall.  It is quite impressive and on a clear day can be seen all around Dubai.

The entrance to the Burj Khalifa is through the Dubai Mall.  You take a fancy elevator ride which takes less than a minute to take you to the 124th floor.  'At the Top' is an observatory deck from where you can see all of Dubai. It is stunning! Buildings look like lego blocks and then it stops and all you see is desert. 

Such a fun experience!

After the tour, we headed down to the Burj Khalifa lake.  Beautiful!!!

We then watched the Dubai Fountains. These fountains are animated with performances set to music.  We didn't know what to expect of the show before seeing it, but it was magical- especially having the backdrop of the Burj Khalifa.  We enjoyed watching it so much that we found a restaurant close to the fountains to continue to watch the shows.  It was definitely a highlight of our trip!

While we were looking for places to eat we came across these two places- Texas Chicken and Texas Roadhouse.  Haha! We felt at home! :)

After we watched the fountain show, we explored the Dubai Mall and WOW! I've never seen a mall like this before! Before the trip everyone told me you have to visit the Dubai Mall, and I really thought I'm not going to spend my vacation time in a mall.  We have plenty of malls in Dallas and how could this one be any different? But, the Dubai Mall is different.  It is huge. No way you can see it all in one day!  It is one of the largest malls in the world with over 1200 shops! It is really like a mini city inside!

While we were exploring, we came across my favorite cupcake place in the entire world! Magnolia Bakery!! We first found them in NYC and I didn't think they had any other locations- but I was wrong. I was in heaven and it was still my favorite cupcake!! Such a fun surprise!!

Inside the mall, there is also the Dubai Aquarium. Craziness!!

We ended our day with the Big Bus Night Tour.  It was a 3 hour tour of Dubai that highlighted all of the sites around the city. It's a really pretty city at night!

What a day!!!!

Dubai Spring Break: Days 1- 3

Justin and I went to Dubai for spring break and it was an amazing experience!  Why Dubai? Why now?  Well, here are our top 4 reasons: 

1. This has been on our travel bucket list for a while and Luke is old enough for us to be gone for a longer amount of time- both boys really love their special time with grandparents!  

2. Spring break was the perfect time to go- great weather in Dubai, short amount of time. 

3. There are 2 non-stops from Dallas and oddly enough this was an easier trip for us since we are used to connecting a few times to get across the country.  

4. We wanted to experience a new culture and all the amazing things Dubai has to offer. 

Of course, we travel in style on the standby list.  Our journey began Friday evening on Etihad Airways. 

The flight was pretty full, but they had 2 available seats for us and we got on.  They even gave us two seats together, which is not normal!! We were thrilled and relieved!!! UAE here we come!!!

The flight was 15 hours.  We flew into Abu Dhabi- which is about an hour south of Dubai and the capital of the UAE.  Our flight left at 6:45pm Dallas time on Friday and arrived in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night at 8pm.  They are 10 hours ahead of Dallas.

The flight actually was not that bad.  We slept, watched some of the Oscar nominated movies, and before we knew it, we were there!! Here we are after we landed at the Abu Dhabi airport.  Let the vacation begin!

 By the time we went through customs and took a cab to our hotel it was around 11pm.  We were tired and fortunately we were able to go straight to sleep.  We loved our hotel- it was very modern and new.

Sunday morning I thought we would be exhausted and jet lagged, but surprisingly we weren't.  We both felt really rested and ready to explore.   Abu Dhabi's main tourist site is the Grand Mosque and was a short walk from our hotel.  It was nice to get some exercise after the long flight.

It was a beautiful and peaceful place! The mosque was designed with the intent to attract visitors. Relative to other Arab countries, the UAE is known for being more religiously tolerant.  The Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and the Jumeriah Mosque in Dubai are the only two mosques in the UAE where non-Muslims can visit. That being said, they ask you to where modest clothing and respect their customs.  Men should be covered shoulders-to-feet.  Women are asked to wear loose fitting clothing and with a head scarf. We visited for a couple of hours and took some photos before walking back to the hotel. 

Time to head to Dubai.  We checked into our hotel....

....and headed straight for the beach!

What a great start to our trip!

Luke Goes for 2 Football Party

Down, set, hut!

We celebrated Luke's 2nd birthday last weekend with a 'Luke goes for 2' football party.  He LOVES football and we thought this theme was perfect for his 2nd birthday.  He was so excited it was his birthday and danced around all weekend long.  It was pretty cute!! We can't believe that sweet Lukie is already 2!

The decorations

His monthly photos and a collage of our favorite pictures of his 2nd year

The party was at 3:30, after the birthday boys nap, so we kept the food simple and served concession stand food.  The menu consisted of veggies with hummus, pigs in a blanket, chicken wings, peanuts, fruit, and nachos.

Everyone wore their favorite team colors or shirts...

We had the 2005 National Championship game on- Texas vs. USC.  Texas won and it was such a great game! It was funny how into it everyone was even though we knew who won! Hook'em!

Once the game was over it was time for the birthday boy to blow out his candle.  He blew it out all by himself.  I was pretty impressed. Good job Lukie!

He clapped for himself once he blew it out- pretty cute!

He quickly dived into his cupcake.  He loved it!

We love you Lukie!!!

He then opened his gifts.  He loved opening them all!!

Happy 2nd birthday Lukie! We love you!!