Ok, if this works right Sallie and I will have loaded pictures for the first time onto the blog. We don't know if it worked but we hope so.
Yesterday, we went to Dubai for the first time for a birthday party. Mike, Robert and I followed Mary who had a car full of 9-12 year old girls. (Hence the separate cars...) This was the neatest place. When you walk thru the Mall of the Emirates you come to this place that is decorated and set up like a ski lodge...:)( The money here is incredible. Yeesh.) So, anyway, this huge dome thing is actually a ski resort. Two or three runs on one side and then the other side is the Snow Park. At the entrnace to the Snow Park side there is an ice cave with ice carvings. Yep. Real ones. Polar bears, dragons, etc. Then there is the toboggan run, the tubing hill, and sleds to pull around plus places to climb for a view of the whole place. It is surrounded by floor to ceiling glass walls so you can watch from the mall and stay warm. It did cross my mind that at my age I may want to move into the Snow Park at certain times....there was a little igloo that looked quite cozy. :) The temp. stayed at -4 centigrade and felt quite comfortable. :)
After the snow time we all ate and then the girls shopped. We headed for home. Sallie said they stayed up until 3 am. She is kind of grumpy today. Imagine that. :) The drive to and from Dubai takes about an hour and a half...Until this road was built it took forever as there was no direct route. Once you are outside the cities over here there is nothing but sand for miles. Wow.
All in all it was nice to get out of Abu Dhabi. Ryan didn't get to come as he had a dinner with the youth group. I'm sure we will go again. By the way, as we drove into Dubai I was amazed to see an entire city...think Manhattan island under construction..buildings everywhere, tower cranes everywhere yet none of these buildings is occupied yet. Most of them are at different stages of construction..It is like the whole city is a job site. Mary said you never know if you will be on the same roads because they are always moving them around with the construction. I mean it was AMAZING. We've heard that 30 percent of the world's tower cranes are in Dubai...I believe it.
Hope you are all doing well.
Blessings,
Mattie, Mike, Ryan, Sallie and Robert
