Quadding

Gibb, Sami, Olya and I went quadding in the sand dunes in the desert. Of course Gibb and Sami had to get us the fastest, most powerful quads. I wanted to share one with Gibb, but he quickly vetoed that idea. Apparently he would have no fun if I was on the back of his quad.

Getting a crash course in driving a quad. Gibb reassured me that it would be almost impossible to tip it over.

I was a little nervous at first, but got the hang of it pretty quick.

Gibb and I

My brother Sami

My mom kept taking pictures of this funny camel that was right beside her, I think she felt sorry for him!

It was super fun, especially after I got brave towards the end. Gibb was trying to show off for the camera and fell off his quad. I'll have to add that video when we get home!

Wild Wadi

We went to this really cool waterpark here. Most of the slides are tube rides, but you start at the bottom and then water jets shoot you up to the top of the slides and then you choose which one you want to go down. They also have a big wave pool and of course the lazy river.

Jayna got her own tube in the lazy river, what a big girl!

My Mom and I took Jayna on the family water slide, her first water slide, and of course, she was scared and hated it. I didn't think it would be as crazy as it was and you get splashed a lot with really cold water. Poor girl was so sad by the end, I hope she's not traumatized.

The best view of the Burj Al Aarab at the top of one of the slides

Digging for Treasure

Jayna had so much fun playing in the sand. She loved collecting the shells and would try to hold as many as she could so she didn't have to put any of them down. She didn't want to leave her treasures behind when we left so maybe she'll have to bring a couple home with her to Cleveland.

Santa Baby

One of our friends gave us this cute little Santa outfit. Jayna hates having hats on so she wasn't very happy when we put that on. She just kept pulling it right off. Good thing she didn't see herself in the mirror, she probably would have been terrified.

Merry Christmas!

We had such a fun Christmas with my family! I'm so glad we were able to come see my parents and brother and spend the holidays with them. We barely ever get to see them since they live so far away, so it's been great to be able to stay for so long. Jayna has warmed right up to everyone and loves all the attention. And of course she got spoiled rotten today!

Jayna playing with some of her toys from Santa.
I think her favourites were the phone and the doll.

Jayna feeding her baby some lettuce

Jayna the Chef

Jayna loved this toy car and was making car sounds too

My brother Sami, my mom and dad, Olya, a friend of the family,
and Gibb and I on Christmas morning after we opened all the presents (Jayna is napping).
Jayna was so tired while we were opening presents, she didn't really get how to get the paper off either. She mostly just liked playing with the wrapping paper.

Me and Sami

My parents, they're so cute!

Gibb and I testing out these sweet massagers that my Dad got for Christmas.
Gibb's on the back massager and I'm on the foot one. These are the best, I could've just sat there all day, they're so relaxing!!!

Jayna having fun on Christmas day!

Jayna chowing down on some turkey!

She would only eat this and the sweet potatoes from the whole dinner, she wouldn't even eat the mashed potatoes, she really missed out!

At the end of the day we got to talk some of our family on the phone and of course had some yummy pie. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at our house is pretty relaxed. We all hang out and have some good snacks, read a Christmas story, play some games, watch a movie, maybe make a gingerbread house. We didn't really get very many pictures, but we had a fun night. Jayna got to stay up a little bit later and then after she went to bed we watched Miracle on 34th Street on the big screen. I love that Christmas movie, it's definitely one of my favourites!

Jayna was so tired from staying up an hour late

We were listening to Christmas music all night and Jayna was dancing, which she loves to do. And then during the song Deck the Halls she started singing along to the Fa La la la la part. It was so cute! She loves making funny noises with her tongue all the time and she thought it was so fun. Of course when we tried to get it on video she just sat there looking at us like we were crazy!

Creek Park

They have some beautiful parks here in Dubai. This one we went to was right on the Creek, hence the name Creek Park. There are cable cars that we were going to ride on but the day we went was a "cable car holiday"! So we had some fun on the playground there.