Thanksgiving Morning

To start Thanksgiving morning off on the right foot, Chris went for a run out at the breakwater of Palm Jumeriah, our favorite place to run. While he ran Vickie and Kasey went along to get a glimpse at the great views of the luxury hotels, sea and the Marina.

Beach Soccer

Tonight Vickie, Kasey, Savannah and I went down the JBR Walk to watch a beach soccer game. We watched the Brazil and Mexico game and then part of the UAE game. Savannah loved that they played music throughout the whole game and of course banging the noise makers together. Chris was going to meet us, but got held up at work so it was a girl's night. From our seats you could even see the royal family seating across the field.

Big Bus Tour-Part 2

Since we got such a late start yesterday, Vickie and Kasey headed back out on the Big Bus Sightseeing Tour. (Savannah and I headed to her last music class.) The bus tickets were good for 24 hours, so that had a few hours left to try and hit as many spots as possible. They ended up taking the bus back to the old part of Dubai and walking the Dubai Creek. On their way they got great views of the Burj Khalfia and other buildings in "new" Dubai.

After hearing about their day I think they have probably actually seen more of Dubai than we have. They found the fish and fruit market, a camel museum, the dhow boats, and a mall I have never heard of. They had a great time and came home (by cab, since they missed the last bus again!) with a whole watermelon, rock melon, Dubai dates, and rambutan (a fuzzy fruit from Thailand that has a grape like center)...all for Savannah. She loved every bite of the fruit. Guess I may have to learn how to drive down to the fruit market, they said it was all really inexpensive...which it is not a the local grocery stores)!

Big Bus Tour

Today, Vickie, Kasey, Savannah and I headed out on the "Big Bus Tour Dubai". The Big Bus Tour is a double decker bus that takes you around the city to see the old and new attractions and sights. It is a hop-on, hop-off format so you can choose where to get off and when to get back on. We were using the bus mostly to see the sights of the old part of Dubai (I don't drive there...as it is too confusing for my comfort level!). After checking out the indoor ski facility at the mall and having lunch we got a pretty late start so our time was really limited. We also didn't anticipate that it would take the bus so long to get to our destinations. We got off at the Gold Souk, wondered over to the Spice Souk and then ended up taking a cab back as we had missed the last bus. Kasey did some haggling for souvinors in the spice souk. We walked around a bit, constantly telling shop owners "no thank you". Many of them asked where we were from. When I responded "the US, but I live here"....they stopped talking to me and directed the rest of the conversation to Vickie and Kasey. Guess they figured I wasn't going to be convinced to make a purchase. When Vickie or Kasey said they were from the US, many of the shop owners started rattling off all of the US cities they could name. Although we didn't get to see everything we had hoped to today...it was a fun afternoon out.

Desert Adventures

After the obstacle course and rock climbing wall, Vickie and Kasey headed out on a desert adventure. (Savannah and I stayed back since the first part of the trip is "dune bashing", or 4-wheeling through the dunes and Savannah can't go just yet.) Besides dune bashing, their evening included sand boarding, sunset in the desert, an Arabic BBQ dinner, a belly dancing show, camel rides, sheesha (flavored tobacco) and the chance to dress up in local, national dress. Unfortunately, Vickie got quite car-sick on the dune bashing part of the trip but Kasey had a great time...she even found a St. Louis brewed Budweiser out in the middle of the desert!

Obstacle Course and Rock Climbing Wall

Savannah and I took Vickie and Kasey to the Rock Climbing Wall and Obstacle Course at the Times Square Center. Chris has done this before and knew that they would enjoy the challenge. (I was perfectly happy taking pictures and hanging with Savannah!). The obstacle course is suspended in the rafters of the ceiling. They each completed the obstacle course twice and did several different levels on the rock climbing wall. Way to go Grammie and Aunt Kasey!

Beach Fun

One of our first sight-seeing stops was the beach. Savannah loves to sit in the beach chairs (that I bought for the adults to sit in) as well as play in the sand. The water temperature is starting to cool off a bit, but she still loves to play in the sand. She is just starting to notice the shells and wants to pick them all up. Aunt Kasey was lots of fun and let Savannah bury her in the sand and then Savannah got buried in the sand, although she didn't stay in very long!