Visit back to Dubai Mall

Last weekend, we decided to head back to Dubai Mall again.  We thought it would be nice to take a little trip to see the Dubai Aquarium and also the Underwater Zoo at the mall.  On the way there, we stopped at the gas station and I asked Bobby to get me coconut water and this is what he came back with:

Well, this was after I had discovered that I failed to pull the top of the can.  So I had to unwrap the packaging to get to the can!

It's like the can is just laughing at me. Ha!  Well, thankfully I carry a little handy-dandy tool in the car.  Who's laughing now! 

Success!!! And Bobby actually suggested using the pliers. How does that have the "leverage" he was talking about??!

And as usual, amazing architecture in the city:

This one is like a sword!

And the Burj Khalifa, of course:

Anyhow, once at the mall, we had to see the dinosaur first.  This time I took a better picture of it, although now perhaps too far to really see the details of it:

But here, look at that tiny little head for that HUGE body!

And then, I wanted to check out the "souk" area.  It wasn't too long before there was a camel sighting :-)

Such a pretty section of the mall.  Someday it would be nice if Bobby and I can just relax here with our cups of coffee - without the kids, perhaps??!

And yes, there is an ice rink in this mall:

And then, this HUGE waterfall!!!!

 Just amazing!  All of our jaws just dropped when we saw these massive fountains:

And then, we took the elevator up and what do we see... IHOP! Ha! Guess we're not too far from home if you think about it ;-)

And then, getting closer to the aquarium!  Again, everything in this mall is just "Go big or go home!"

Check out that HUGE grouper!  My dad would be wishing he was fishing here! :-)

And then, there's the walk-through tunnel.  To be honest, I think the big tank on the outside is still more impressive:

Once we were done with the tunnel, we headed over to the Underwater Zoo.  First stop, the piranhas. There was a small sign above the tank that said not to put your hand in the water. I think that would be a given in this scenario!

This was a cute little area where the boys could stick their heads into the tank of lion fish:

And then, here's the new giant octopus. I was actually a little disappointed because it wasn't as "giant" as I thought it would be.

As usual, I always think the jelly fish are pretty cool:

The eels are pretty cool too:

This little shrimpy looked like it was giving the eel a massage. Cute!

It's unfortunate the photo of this crab didn't turn out so well. I put Charlie down close to the glass and he was barely a foot away from me and he ran straight back to me and clinged on to me when he saw this crab! I had to chuckle :-)

And then, there was the king croc. Wow... talk about KING croc.  The photo does not do this croc any justice. He was definitely HUGE! At 5 meters long (over 16ft) and weighing over 750kg (almost 1,700lbs), you definitely didn't want to mess with this one!

Just so mean looking!

Here's another view from above. Pretty neat with the see-through glass under our feet:

Well, back to the more friendlier creatures - like the pineapple fish, which I've never seen before!

 And the penguins are always a thrill for the boys.

And I can't remember the name of these worms. I just hope I don't see (or step on them!) when I'm snorkeling somewhere. They freak me out!

Well, the aquarium is all done and we decided to go shoe shopping for Graham. Black shoes for school! Although I just found out it's white socks and not black socks.  Charlie was busy running around like his brother, trying on new shoes too.

Well, it was definitely a long, tiring day for Charlie. He was so tired that he even fell asleep while eating a chocolate snack. And he LOVES chocolate!

Actually, we have a video of it. He he he...

Of course, Bobby and I couldn't stop laughing :-)

Ahhh... so peaceful.  We were actually able to enjoy our food and I even had time to have my ice-cream! What a fun day!

Our first dust storm

Just over a week ago, we had our first dust storm!  We were just getting ready to head out to our new apartment when Bobby sent me a text message and told us to stay put!  It was still quite calm by us and then, all of the sudden the wind started to pick up. And before long, it was definitely dusty!

There were still some people hanging out by the pool, but by the end of it - there was one guy just sitting in one of those pool lounge chairs, reading his book. Crazy fella!

Anyhow, this is what the view looks on a good day:

Our minivan finally got a nice wash today.  They have these guys that hang out in the parking lots - in the mall or at the hotel. And they will hand-wash your vehicle for a very reasonable price. I guess that's a new thing for us to get used to here, although there are automatic car washes here too but there is always a line! I wonder how much those are?  I don't think we'll ever need to find out :-)

New drapes

Finally, some new drapes!  We are so happy with them. Here's the before:

During:

And during again - the boys love their Tom & Jerry cartoons!

And after.  Just sheers for the living room:

And blackouts for all the bedrooms.  Here's the guestroom - the window has blackouts too for the roman blinds:

And for our master bedroom, we decided to have the combination of sheer and blackout. Love it!

Still waiting to move into the apartment! School starts in 15 days!!!

First meal at the apartment

We finally had our first meal at our new apartment! (No, we haven't technically moved in yet)

Okay, okay... so I didn't cook.  Guess the take-away packaging was a give away. But we do finally have our new stove:

It sure looks nice. Maybe I should just keep it nice and clean like that for a little while longer??? ;-)
The boys will be starting school first week of Sept (August 31st for Graham).  Eventually I'll have to get back into the routine.  We went to visit Graham's school a few weeks ago. I can't imagine them being ready by the end of this month when the school still looks like this!

We went to visit the office administration today in the city, which by the way took us 3 failed attempts to find. Anyhow, now we have to call the lady in charge of Graham's uniform.  He'll need to go in for measurements. Wish us luck finding her location!
Can't believe our Graham is going to start pre-school!

And then, there's Charlie. Hopefully his separation anxiety won't be as bad now when school starts.

Although with him learning to climb out of his crib recently - he has been spending a lot of time with us in the big bed during naptime and at night. And he actually grabs my arm to put around him to snuggle. I guess I should really cherish moments like these.  They are growing up so quickly!

Practice

Phew! Finally made it to the driving range last week. And nope, it does not cool down one bit even at night!

We decided to get the boys a new set of junior clubs.  Graham is still persistent about using his left-hand low grip with a right-hand swing:

And we think Charlie might actually be a left-hander when it comes to golf but for now, he is stuck with right-handed clubs:

Thirsty and sweaty boy at the end of it all!

I just put in my entry for the Sime Darby LPGA qualifier in Kuala Lumpur (in mid Sept).  Hopefully all the logistics will work out so I can get there and focus on golf. Wish me luck!