Dubai Family Favorites

After exciting visits to Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire we returned to Dubai. Over the next 2 weeks we enjoyed some focused family time, reconnected with dear friends, and visited some of our favorite places.

We were so excited to treat the kiddos to a fabulous Dubai experience at Al Hadheerah. The restaurant is an extravagant desert camp at Bab Al Shams Resort. It boasts a lavish buffet of regional cuisine, hours of entertainment, and a variety of local activities, such as hennah, sheesha, falconry displays and camel rides!

Isla’s Nana gifted her a little spending money to find a special souvenir from our trip. She had searched diligently for weeks, but nothing had interested her enough to part with her money. Then, as we walked past the little shop at the entrance of Al Hadheerah Restaurant she discovered a belly dancing outfit. We explained it would take all her money to buy it, but her heart was set! She wore it proudly all night… and at every opportunity she could during our stay in Dubai. A solid purchase!

The kids were both captivated by all of the entertainment. Isla was especially excited to see a real belly dancer for the first time. It took only a few moments for her to start trying to replicate the belly dancer’s movements!

I’m not sure who was more excited for the camel ride, Isla or me! The experience immediately got me thinking we need to travel somewhere that we can go on a big camel excursion. Also, don’t let Cole’s expression fool you. He loved the camel ride and giggled the whole time. It was so sweet!

Our hearts nearly burst with pride when we see Isla push herself juuuuuuust outside of her comfort zone to try something new or a little scary. Even though she was nervous, she did such a great job holding and interacting with the falcon.

We visited quite a few of our favorite restaurants in Dubai, including Lime Tree Cafe, where we enjoyed several delicious brunches.

Lime Tree makes THE BEST muffins and Isla was just as crazy about them as we were!

We made sure to enjoy some downtime and snuggly naps in between all our outings.

We made a trip to the Blue Souk in Sharjah- our first time back in 8 years! Despite how quickly everything changes in the UAE, I love that this souk remains (more or less) the same. In fact, it is still pretty much the same from when I lived in Dubai as a baby!

“Hand?”
“Hand?”
Cole started asking for us to hold his hand in the car during our time in Dubai. Sometimes just for a moment, sometimes for a length of time that caused my arm to go numb.

Beach naps are the best naps. Also, one of Cole’s first collections!

This has been our favorite beach since we lived in Dubai a decade ago. At the rate the city is changing we are always thrilled to find this little bay still exists- though sometimes it takes us a while to find it again! It’s the perfect place to wade around in calm water and walk along the shoreline in search of shells. Whenever we are in Dubai Isla asks, “Are we going to our favorite beach?” We love that she is making so many happy memories here too!

Oh, the excitement of finding hermit crabs. These little critters kept Isla entertained all morning!

“I’ve been following your big trip… wow did it look incredible!! I would see a picture of Isla being brave, courageous, curious, etc. and think to myself ‘be like Isla!’“
I received this incredibly thoughtful message from a sweet friend, and my heart was ready to burst! I absolutely love that Isla’s adventurous spirit is so apparent to everyone she meets, and that at the tender age of five she is inspiring others! Her fearlessness amazes us and her zest for life encourages us to live each day with joy and passion. We are beyond grateful we are able to provide her with a life where she can explore, learn from, and connect with the world around her. This kid is magic!

Isla made her first trip to Dubai when she was barely 3, and ever since then she has been absolutely captivated by the Burj Al Arab and the Burj Khalifa. I can’t count the number of times she has startled us by suddenly screaming from her car seat, “I see the Burj Khalifa!!!!!” She has asked about visiting the world’s tallest building for some time now, so we were absolutely thrilled to take her to At The Top. She loved the experience, from learning about the building progress, to riding the elevator, to staring down at the tiny ant-people 124 stories below.
Traveling as a family is such an incredible adventure, and we always try and choose activities we think everyone will enjoy. It’s a whole new experience now that Isla is getting old enough to have her own interests, and we love that she is more involved in helping us plan our itineraries!

Isla observing at how the Burj Khalifa looked when we moved to Dubai in 2007. Amazing to think we lived there long enough to see the construction complete!

Thinking back to the days we took this exit to work and it was just a simple interchange. The only thing that is the same is the “little” Toyota building.

In addition to the time spent as a family, we also had about a dozen family photo shoots in Dubai. The kids were absolutely AMAZING while we worked! They were wonderfully patient, interested in observing our surroundings, and eager to make friends with all of the lovely people we photographed. We were so impressed with our little assistants!

Isla Grace. Often found living in her own little world, her mind joyfully weaving fantastic stories of magic and adventure. I relish the times I can watch her without her knowing I am there. I can see the pure energy and creativity of her amazing imagination hard at work.

One trick to keeping our little assistants happy is bringing a plethora of snacks along with us. Cole’s favorites were mini dill pickles (pick-ohs) and frozen peas.

Isla, age five and a half. It seems she is growing up at lightning pace. Every day she is saying, doing, or accomplishing something new. She learned to blow bubbles with her gum while we were in Africa- an achievement she had been working towards for months! When the first little bubble finally formed I thought she was going to burst with pride! It took me back to when I was five and a half and I learned to blow bubbles with my gum- in Dubai! I value these funny little life parallels. They help me feel even more connected to our sweet girl.

Three cheers for Bubba, our unexpectedly amazing little photo assistant! We really weren’t sure if our busy guy was going to follow in his sister’s footsteps when it came to hanging out quietly and happily while we worked, but he surprised us all by being super patient and content during our photo sessions! All this kiddo needed was a little sand to dig in and a pickle or two to snack on. Well done, little dude!

Oh, Dubai, you are all kinds of crazy, all kinds of magical, and will forever be our beloved home. Until next time…