Sand and Snow- Adventures in Dubai- part 2

We continued to eat and play our way through Dubai. We even made a quick trip to Abu Dhabi to see the Grand Mosque. We would start our days out in the water and then leave to do an activity during the hot hours but find our way back to the water in the evening. 

In Abu Dhabi we found some of our favorite places by surprise. We went and wandered around Toys-R-Us and did some shopping at the Disney Store. We went to eat at Shake Shack, but found out there was a Raising Cane's right next door, so we opted to have some chicken and homemade lemonade. The two Muggles went back a few times to get ice! Apparently they are more American that we realized! HAHA. They both missed crushed ice to chew on. 

The Grand Mosque was beautiful! The air was a crystal blue against the stark white marble buildings. It was easy to get into the mosque --as long as you wear the right clothing. Lady Hiva's shirt was white and they deemed it too see through (haha) so she ended up buying a robe to wear.  

The Mosque rivals the inlaid walls of the Taj Mahal (much bigger than the Taj Mahal though--which makes sense when it was built hundreds of years later). It boast of the largest hand woven rug in the world. It is as stunning as the Grand Mosque in Oman or the huge mosques in Turkey. 

The flowers ranged in size from about the size of a normal flower to HUGE flowers that you can see from the images on Google Earth's satellite photos. 

One night we had eaten so much that we were not hungry. But late at night (they all eat well into the night) We decided to use our hotel dinner voucher and go get some late night snacks. So we had some jelly beans and vegetables for snack! I am sure the staff thought we were crazy! (we are, of course...but now they have proof!)

This stop made Lady Hiva so happy! 

We ate at Cheesecake factory one night. Portions are huge as always...but the food is always delicious!

Turtle joined us along with all the other random items from Lucky Dragon's pocket.

There was a huge aquarium across from the restaurant that we could watch the fish and divers. We had to laugh to see the message to cut down on plastics when even our bananas at lunch we packaged into an individual plastic bag! 

One of the things that I found really cool was the Arte Museum in the Dubai Mall. It is a museum made of art combined with technology. It is similar to the museums they have in Singapore. We spent a few hours exploring the room after room and engaging in the art!

We could color our own animals and then they would be scanned into life on the screens. I colored this flamingo! 

Koala Bear made a fox. 

We had fun jumping from lily pad to lily pad during the giant renditions of classic European art. 

Lucky Dragon figured out how to put Turtle in the scan too. It looked like the leopard had eaten him!

Turtle was again included in the deer too. We colored other animals and watched them walk aroud the room. Lucky Dragon made deer that were branded "I Love Mom." I made a colorful elephant, Lady Hiva made a zebra with a coat of many colors, and Koala Bear colored one of every animal! 

Tried to get a couple photo with the sign for the Romantic Thunder room...but the lighting did not cooperate. hahah

My drawing with the animated animal walking in the background

My elephant meeting Lady Hiva's zebra (with green hair)

Lucky Dragon pointing out his Deer. 

Northern lights over the beach. This room is one I could have stood in forever. The lights change in the sky and the beach slowly rolls in and out. 

The waterfall room! It was covered in mirrors and a waterfall. Gave the feeling that it fell from nothing and continued into nothing. 

This room was really cool. The water would build into a wave and crash against the window. It was so powerful and so real looking. It was hard not to duck as it was coming at you.

Needless to say, Dubai was a hit for the whole family! We thoroughly enjoyed the trip! Glad that we made it there while we had friends that lived there. And we can cross off the India Bucket list to see the Burj Khalifa--we were pleasantly surprised to have a whole lot of fun in addition to that!