National Day Parade:

Thousands of people waved the national flag and cheered along as giant balloons with pictures of the late Shaikh Zayed, founder of the UAE federation, flew in the sky at the National Day parade at Burj Boulevard in Dubai on Tuesday.

The parade was attended by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and officials from various government departments.

It began with the Dubai Police band playing the national anthem around 4pm. A poem of prominent UAE poet Arif Al Sheikh was recited as nationals performed traditional Yolla dance and mounted police made their way.

People filled the sidewalk and many officials representing the UAE marched down the boulevard.

Officials from Red Crescent, Dubai Civil Defence and universities marched as spectators cheered them along.

Young nationals sang traditional songs and waved the flag in celebration of the nation’s long-lasting unity.

-The Khaleej Times-

Basically, I made some popcorn for Skye and off we went in the stroller to watch the parade. The music was great, all those drums and bag pipes fascinated Skye and me. The boulevard was buzzing with music and people. There were explosions of confettis and fire works.

Skye's New Slippers!!!

HEY! We are having fun at home being cosy and wearing our slippers...Our new slippers...What do you think?

International Day at School...

Skye and I have spent an impressive day at school celebrating International day. The school has arranged a double decker bus outside the school which specialises in entertainment and parties. Next to it was parked an ice cream truck but for some reason Skye does not like ice cream...not yet! There was a pony, a camel and a falcon. The big hall was full of stands filled with food, crafts and bric a bracs of so many countries. We visited the Irish stand and enjoyed their Christmas pudding. I enjoyed the Sushi on the Japanese stand and of course we visited the Lebanese stand to taste their pastries and pies.
All the children were dressed in their country's traditional costume. Skye was wearing a T-shirt that said "Born in UAE" with the UAE flag then at the bottom it said "From" with both flags the Irish and the Lebanese. Michael and I had the idea of painting flags on a white shirt for her the week before and it turned out brilliant.
My favourite part was the Dubai Drums who pushed everyone to play and participate in making music. The place was buzzing with loud drums and music.
So we filled up our bellies and bought a cake, took a few pictures and got offered a big red balloon. In other words, Skye was so over excited she could not settle for her lunch nap but who cares we both had a brilliant time!

Insomnia...

Can't sleep! This happens to me every time there is something exciting happening! Well December is coming soon and that is enough! Between Christmas and New year celebrations, parents coming in for a visit and my sister's wedding, that is enough to wake a hibernating bear!
Oh, forgot to update you on the latest events. You see, my sister is getting married and that is so exciting. The wedding will take place in Lebanon on the 17th of December and Skye and I are going of course. We will be back on the 21st with my mother on the same flight to spend Christmas with Michael and his parents in Dubai. Other than that, there is Christmas shopping, Christmas cooking and decorating which keeps me awake all night. The solution: it is just writing them down, I make lists for lists, I scribble down all these ideas and empty my head just to sleep a bit before Skye wakes me up at dawn usually. And I thought I was a morning person...I do mornings but I don't do before dawn!

Unusual Day for Cycling.

Michael is still on holiday so we decided to mountain bike and take a new different route. We took an off road route which led us to a rough terrain, we were getting somewhere or so we thought until we hit soft sand dunes and started to walk instead of cycling. Suddenly, a desert deer hops out, like lightning, it passed just in front of us. Later on, we saw a massive bird of prey, probable a 2 meters falcon we reckon just hovering above us in the sizzling sun, probably waiting for us to drop dead with thirst or something...

Still walking, we spotted a few houses in the distance and we decided it would definitely have a certain road leading us back to civilisation. By the time we reached those houses I managed to ride in a thorn bush hence the flat tire which we needed to fix and we ran out of water as well. This is when the locals stepped in...We asked for water, they gave us coffee and tea, a big sofa and lots of air condition. We told them we had a flat tire, they suggested to send the tire to Satwa to be fixed. But Michael already had taken care of it. We thanked them and off we went finding our way back. On the way back, the sky was filled with king fishers and exotic birds. We saw a snake curling up on the tarmac after being hit by a car....next thing we know we were too close to the Sheikh's palace, I can't believe I suggested to hop over the fence with our bikes to find a road in order to go back, luckily we did not or else the cops would have bounced on us like crazy and helicopters would have swooshed on top of our heads. Finally, we found our way back so we decided to cycle a bit after making only a 5 km progress, including the walk in the desert. So we finally managed to get some exercise and move our butts a bit....

New Pictures...

Having fun in the park with mum and dad.

Trying some hats on at the store...

AUGUST RUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET, IT IS NOT TOO LATE. Just get to your nearest video store and find it! I believe it is the BEST movie I have seen in a long time! It leaves a lump in your throat so watch it now and please pass the tissue box, will you?

The music is just elevating, it lifts you up in the air between the clouds and you never want to come back down again. Some of the pieces are performed by the Guitar God Kaki King. IT IS A MUST SEE.

Sand Twister in Dubai!

You will not believe it but while driving on the highway, Michael and I spotted a sand twister on a clear still day. We actually stopped the car on the side of the road just to enjoy it. It reminds me of the time I ran away from work or let's just say skipped work to enjoy a lightning storm on the beach with Michael when we first met. That was a storm and a half! Large garbage bins were swooshing across the road, parked cars were sliding off sideways. I found out the next day that the chef where I worked has lost his air condition which flew up in the air and ended up a few blocks away! Now that was a storm, I guess it was probably 2003.