BILLY & CAITLIN: Dubai part 2!

Saturday May 31st

We went to this super nice resort this morning right by the Burj al Arab which is the only 7 star hotel in the world I guess so it's a pretty big deal. The beach was called Jumeriah beach. It was a really nice beach. They also had some super nice pools we spent some time at. We ordered food and they brought it to us. They also bring around free popsicles which was fun. I felt like I didn't belong because it was so fancy there. We spent a bunch of time there and I got more sun burnt. After that we went and showered in the locker room at the resort which had the fanciest showers ever! They come from the ceiling and there are lights at the top that turn the water different colors. So cool. After that we went and walked around these new souks which were pretty cool.

We ate lunch there at a restaurant and then we left to get home to get ready for me and Billy's desert safari! The safari people picked us up at 4:40. There were 4 other people in our car, they were all from New Zealand. One couple has lived here for 5 years though, the other was visiting. They were a bit older. They were so nice. So that was good. We drove to a gas station and got gas, then to another random stop to meet up with the other cars, then into the desert and stopped to take some pics of the dunes, then we went off roading on the dunes. It was really fun and scary but I got pretty sick. I'm such a wimp now. We stopped after about 30 minutes of it to watch the sun go down over the dunes and take pictures. After that our driver couldn't get his car to start again! They were trying to jump it and all these different things. Eventually they put one of the spare batteries from another car into our car. It didn't work very well so none of the lights would turn on for the car or anything. It was pretty scary but they got it running and he just drove super carefully in total darkness. The car kept almost breaking down the whole way there. I was pretty nervous. We were the last car to get out to the camp. We hurried in and started doing everything we could. We held a falcon, rode a camel, got a henna tattoo, and got some ethnic food. They also had a show with dinner. It was pretty fun and the driver got a new battery during so he was able to drive us home after.

giant chess board

Burj al Arab. That circle up at the top is a tennis court, and the thing sticking out on the right is a super fancy restaurant.

So nice having a personal photographer follow us around :)

Boo yah

Madds playing with her "snake"

Pretty Ceci

Pool time to cool off!

Swimming to the waterfall

Cutie pie kitty Madds

Playing a weird kitty/alligator game

Look how nice that water looks! Dang! This was the coldest pool we swam in while in Dubai.

Relaxing and waiting for our pizza to come :)

The new souk

Lotsa hookah

Desert safari time!

Inside our car

So scary!

This is my "I feel sick and want to be done" face

We stopped and saw some camels

Mommy and baby. Doesn't it look like they're smiling? Camels always look so satisfied with life.

Sunset over the dunes

Selfie

Panorama

Car broke down!

Holding a falcon at the Desert safari camp

Hello there

Having a lovely convo

WE RODE A CAMEL! There is no evidence because we didn't want to spend money on the picture, but we did it.

Getting hennas. See my sunburn? Ouchie.

Ethnic food...yummy

And as many free sodas as we want!

Show during dinner was a guy in a bunch of skirts spinning around and around really fast. It was pretty dang impressive. He was probably the sweatiest man I have ever seen in my life though.

He called Billy up to spin the skirt! Good job Billy!

Next was a belly dancer. Kind of weird but kind of cool.

Such a great day!

Sunday June 1st

So this was a much more relaxed day. We slept in and took it slow in the morning. We left at about 11 to go to the Dubai mall which is attached to the Burj Kalifa, the tallest building in the world. It's half a mile high! We bought tickets for that and went up to the observation deck. It was pretty cool but its really dusty here so you can't see that far. But you could still see a ton...it was like being in an airplane. As we went up the elevator our ears were popping. It was crazy! This is one of the main tourist spots in Dubai.

After that we walked around the Dubai mall forever. It is HUGE. There was just so much to see and do but it's old news to Jody and fam :) So we had lunch at Baja fresh in the mall (I know super ethnic) and then walked around forever and got lost. Like seriously! We were trying to find the car and were walking around in huge circles around the mall. It was pretty hilarious. But I got to see lots of the mall that way!
At like 4:30 we left to come back home. I played a pretty fun game with Maddison and Ceci once we got home. We played move everything from one room to another and organize it :)

Then they went to bed, we had steak for dinner and watched the most recent mission impossible that has Tom cruise climbing the Burj Kalifa. We also ate some cheesecake we had bought at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a super fun day!