Diamond Life

Pam had a great time with Liz having a mooch around the Gold and Diamond Park choosing a ring, hunting bags in Karama, sunbathing by the pool and enjoying the fine dining at the Ritz Carlton, the Burj al Arab, the Mina Seyahi and the One and Only Royal Mirage, which I managed to tag along for! This is us outside the One and Only, we had a Moroccan meal in a great restaurant then finished with a Sheesha in the central courtyard, amongst the cushions and the palm trees.

Pamela Landi

The day after Jeanette and Ian left Pam arrived, on the midnight flight into Dubai. Liz and I had an early night and set the alarm to go and pick her up from the airport. It was strange drinking cafe latte and eating chocolate muffins in Costa at 1am, but Pam appearred out of nowhere after a flight abounding with champers and we headed back to the villa for some Zeds. This pic was in the week when we went to "Segreto" Italian restaurant at Madinat Jumeirah- rooftop bar followed by nice meal, but it is starting to get warm to sit outside, and a Russian family with a load of squawking kids were next to us so we went indoors for dessert.

Marina Mozzies

Jeanette and Ian's visit had drawn to an end, our last night was at the marina where we all had a chinese meal sat outside next to the yachts. The mosquitos were a bit fierce, the pots tubs and borders get irrigated here and the flies seem to like it, Amelia counted 26 bites on her legs! The food was great and nice atmos sat outside in the warm but we might have been better inside as far as barelegs were concerned! I dropped Ian and Jeanette off the next morning on Sheik Zayed Road, we had a coffee under the Chelsea Tower before they took the coach to Abu Dhabi for the flight home.

Sheikh yer Bellie

Belly dancing again at the finish, we have nearly got as good as the main belly dancer now! We had a mini scare with a small snake and a night drive in the Land cruiser, but all got back safely!

Arabian Nights

The next day off I had was spent on a full on desert safari, kicking off with our driver Ammar in full dish-dash picking us up in the obligatory Land-Cruiser and heading out to the Big Red Dune for some serious dune bashing. Ian wanted to get a job as their English driver! This is at a pause to let the engines cool off before we headed on to watch the sun set over the desert.

Sugar and Spice

No trip is complete without an Abra ride on the creek, so on Saturday we all headed off to Bur Dubai, mooched around a few soukhs and took the Abra across the creek to the Spice Soukh. We bought our own Sheesha pipes after a bit of haggling, and the guy even expressed his thanks by giving me and Ian some brown nuts- " Like natural viagra- grind up, mix with a little honey and tock tock tock" said the seller, clicking his tongue and keeping Jack amused for about three weeks doing the impression!

Friday Brunch at Beachcombers

Not having eaten enough at the hotel the previous night, we went to the Beachcomber restaurant at the back of Jumeirah Beach Hotel on the Friday. Weather was scorching, this is us after the lunch taking a walk along the breakwater around the marina, admiring some of the yachts!

Jeanette and Ian arrive for a fortnight

Guests for two weeks! Jeanette and Ian came out, this was on 24 April on an evening out, at the rooftop bar of the One and Only Royal Mirage, we dined like celebrities in "Celebrities" restaurant, had a walk round the pool and gardens area between the hotel and the beach and finished the evening sat out with a Sheesha. During the week they visited the Gold and Diamond Park and bought their wedding rings- very nice.

Pretty fancy

The school had a dressing up day, all the kids had to go in dressed up as a cartoon character - Madeleine' s class had a Shrek theme, she was the fairy godmother- Amelia went as Cruella. A bit hot for parading around outside but it looked good fun from the photos!