Ski Dubai

Ski Dubai has the world's largest indoor Snow Park. Transformation starts here. You walk inside with shorts and are transformed into ski bunnies. We walked through ice filled caverns to the bottom of the slopes where ice sculptures and mountains erupted into the scenery. The snow park at the bottom of the mountain offered tobogganing hills, bobsled rides, skiing and snowboarding slopes. The place was enormous!

Snowball fights! I quickly took the picture and ran for cover!

I have a suspicious feeling about him looking so calm while gathering snow.

First step, make it to the top to see what there is to do here.

With all the cold, mountains and snow.... it feels like we are in Colorado.

I have no idea what the name for the big space ball was but it was fun! You crawl inside and flip, slide and roll all the way down the hill.

So you can see that the indoor area is several layers of the mall and kept getting higher and higher. Really a neat experience but I have to admit..... I left a little early and let Matt play with the kids while I had some alone time shopping :)

There were 5 different slopes inside the building ranging from beginners to difficult.

Riding on the ski lift.

Connor and I went down the slopes on tubes.

Our snow angel :)

And finally, worn out little boys!

Dubai malls equal a happy family!

This is the Burj Khalifa. Not only is this the largest building in the WORLD, the largest mall in the world is apart of it too!! This mall was full of British and American stores. Apparently Dubai is a tax free zone and popular retailers flock here.

So, many thing to see. The Dubai mall houses a indoor aquarium, water zoo and an ice rink.

Bribery, if the kids let mommy shop, they get treats!

Some of the smoothest and more ornate chocolates can be found at Delice.

This one is at the Mall of Emirates. This one happens to be my favorite to shop at because it has many of my favorite stores.

So upper class, you can even by gold to go from an ATM.

Who knew?

Everywhere we turned unique statues had everyone memorized.

SOP (standard operating procedure) sample as much chocolate as possible.

Atlantis: The Lost Civilization Finally Found

Atlantis is an experience like no other and is situated on man made islands that look like a palm tree on the Persian Gulf.

The real History of Atlantis states that after a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune." We plan to try our fate with this incredible experience.

The view from our hotel room, this is said to be one of the largest and most exciting water parks in the Middle East. The top of this ziggurat is known for its slide "The leap of faith". Did we do it.....Yes we did!! Let me say, I couldn't see the bottom. This thrill seeker jumped, prayed, and descended into a transparent tunnel through a shark-filled lagoon. The aftermath, the surge of adrenaline was over and all I was left with was a wedgie:) TMI !

To the left of our hotel room, the Burj Al Arab. It also stands on an artificial island and we were fascinated because the shape mimics the sail of a ship.

The view below our hotel room, imagine over 65,000 marine animals swimming in a maze of underwater halls and tunnels.

The Ambassador Lagoon is 11.5 million liters of life including sharks, rays, guitarfish and alot more.

... and an occasional scuba diver.

I'm contemplating a career change. I wonder how much window cleaners make?

The Pacific Brown Sea Nettle Jellyfish are composed mostly of water and have no eyes or brain.

I wonder if their DNA was transferred to a few humans?

Tales of the Atlantis Kings Chamber:

When the king needed to retrieve information from a specimen, they were placed in a pod and a virtual screen would be powered by energy from crystals.

(picture to the left)

If your brain was sucked dry, you become fish food

(picture below)

Queensland Grouper can weigh up to 900 pounds!!! Fun fact: almost all groupers start off as females and become males when they mature based on unidentified social or environmental factors. Maybe they should have named it "Drag-queen Grouper".

Evan looks like a clown fish swimming with all those Indian Threadfins.

The neon ceiling was filled with sea life in many colors and sizes.

I loved looking into the aquarium! Not only are watching fish calming, the underwater lost civilization theme kept the surprises coming. There were artifacts, tombs, thrones, and hidden sculptures in this water wonderland.

A camel is never too far in a dessert.

The best thing about being club level is BREAKFAST!

We all ate at Saffron which is the international delight for breakfast food. I think it was the biggest buffet I've ever seen with a selection that had me overwhelmed. The juices were fresh squeezed and included orange, pineapple, lemon mint, carrot, green apple, mango and watermelon.

What do you call dessert after breakfast? I call it a stomachache waiting to happen. My kids called it heaven. A chocolate fondue with all the candy, fruit and marshmallows you could ask for and why not? We are on holiday!

Now the fun part, three glorious days at the water park. We spent hours on the lazy river going through rapids and tidal waves.

When mom and dad wanted to relax, the kids had a whole kiddy park to themselves!

Where were these things when I was a kid?