Our utopia of choice was Dubai!!!!
This get-a-way was actually the brainchild of Wiley Childers (did I mention he's GENIUS?!?!?). Wiley wanted to surprise my friend, his wife, Hollie with a birthday trip... (see what I mean by GENIUS?) so he planned the whole thing for us. Hollie, Heather and I stayed at the Grand Hyatt and filled our days with shopping, swimming, shopping, lounging, shopping, site-seeing, shopping, great food and drinks, shopping and for a change of pace more shopping. FUN, FUN, FUN!
The grounds of the Grand Hyatt are lovely! It was such a treat to see grass and tropical flowers. We spent one whole day at the pool absorbing the sun and flipping through brainless gossip magazines like US and People, a true guilty pleasure!
We had such a great time at IKEA that we actually went two days in a row... sometimes a girl's got to enjoy 24 hours of delayed shopping gratification ;) Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to document the pure joy that three stories of the blue and gold home-store wonder brought to our faces. They would have been priceless photos!
No trip to Dubai is complete without a trip to the Burge Khalifa Dubai. It is the tallest building in the world and we went as high as the general public can go - the 124th floor. The elevator takes it's pasangers to an observation floor called "The Top" which sits about half way to the highest floor.
The high speed elevators get to "The Top" in less than one minute. My ears popped 12 times on the way up and I lost count on the way back down. The vibe I got in the building was what I remember feeling at Disneyland's Tomorrowland when I was a young girl. It's very "space-age" and futuristic. The entrance to the tour is very showy and lays out the story of the building and all the stages of it's conception and development. It's quite an achievement! The building towers over everything in the city, it almost looks like a backdrop has been erected because it's just so much larger than EVERYTHING around it.
Live'n it up on the "The Top" floor.
An amazing view!
A Gold ATM... because sometimes I guess cash just isn't enough ;) ONLY IN DUBAI!
This is the AMAZING five story Dubai Mall, we wish that a handheld GPS system would have been available!
Our FINE "pilgrimage" to the Dubai Mall... some malls need their own zip code, THIS mall needs it's own country. The Pottery Barn and PB Kids will never be the same after Team Childers/Williams/Flusche declared it home away from home. We are now the official mayoral team of the Dubai Mall... the "shiny diving dudes" are our personal cheerleaders!
Every excursion has a tale of adventure and secrets that the travelers swear to take to the grave... we have IKEA foot breakers, a red Silverado, exchange fibs, poolside mishaps, ice hunts and backhanding cabbies... but those are tales for another day.
BIG THANKS to Hollie for being born, Heather for always taking the front seat, Wiley (the Genius) for the being the travel agent to the stars, Jeff for mastering the logistics of Nida and the kids as well as offering up a big ol' kitchen pass, Paul for getting us there and keeping the kiddos entertained. AND a super high five for the kids for having a great sense of humor and not torturing the Daddies too badly.
The trip was a HUGE success and we were all sad to leave the luxury of two hour meals and sleeping in until 10:00AM... but we had babies back in Bahrain that we missed and whom we couldn't wait to pass out kisses!!
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