Checking out of Atlantis....

Sad to leave but excited about our next stop, Tanzania and Mbahe!

Connor kicking it in the sand!

Who says white boys can't jump!?!

Sunset in the Arabian desert!

Cool pix of our kids playing on the Arabian desert sand dunes...

Sunset in the Arabian desert on our jeep "safari"!

Al Arab Burj Hotel

Eva and I talked our way through security to get into the only 7 Star hotel in the world. We convinced them that we had dinner reservations at 11:30 pm. It worked!

A 7 Star Coca-cola

This is how a Coca-cola is served at the only 7 Star hotel in the world.

This one is for Dr. DiGi...

Thanks for the awesome smiles and all the 'swag' for Mbahe! We LOVE DiGi Orthodontics!

Wow...we slept in until 10:30!

Another beautiful day...headed to this beach and pool today then back to Aquaventure water slides and after the heat of the day we go do a desert safari in four wheel drive jeeps. Stay tuned for some sandy pix!

The dancing fountains at the Dubai Mall...

As seen from the top of the Burj at the start of our day. The perfect ending to our perfect first day in Dubai!

Meet Sheik Michael

And his heir apparent, Prince Connor

The Johnston's visit the Souk market...

Just look what happened to us! I have never laughed so hard in my entire life!

The BEST day ever!

Started the day at the Top of the Burj...then we all did the Leap of Faith waterside at Atlantis...then on to indoor snow skiing and now dinner at Chili's! Michael can die happy :-)!

Gold at the Top of the Burj!

Sydney struck gold at the Top of the Burj! Who knew they had actual gold ATM's!??

Dubai fountains

An aerial view of the fountains we will see tonight!

Top of the Burj...

We made it...what a view! Check out the shadow the Burj casts!

Southern comfort in the Dubai Mall...

Yummmmmmy!

The view of the Burj Khalifa from the bottom...

Now going up, up, up to the Observatory! This is the most beautiful building ever built!

Daybreak...not sunrise, yet!

Check out the perfectly "manicured" sand on the beach!

Nighty-nite

After a 20 hour commute, we are ready for a good nights sleep in our comfy beds! Tomorrow's itinerary includes a trip to the observatory of the Burj Khalifa. the worlds tallest building at 829 metres -the Observatory is only 452 metres high, thank goodness for Connor who is afraid of heights- and an afternoon of water slides and fun in the sun at the Aquaventure waterpark at Atlantis!

Connor and Sydney enjoying our room with a view!

Atlantis lobby...spectacular!

Marta, our pink burka attired taxi driver from Ethiopia

Our room with a view at Atlantis, The Palm Dubai

Can't wait to see this view in the morning...beach and pool view!

55 minutes to Dubai

We just passed Kuwait following the Tigris River SE toward Dubai. Ambien and United Arab Emirates great service and entertainment system actually made the flight seem short!

Sleepyheads

Sydney, Connor and Michael slept over 10 hours of our 15 hour flight! I think Sydney wins the Sleepyhead prize for sleeping close to 12 hours!

Onboard United Arab Emirates

Up, up and away we go....16 hour flight to Dubai!

And we're off...

We are packed and ready to go! Michael is happy because we managed to pack everything for 19 days in our Bushtracks duffles and one suitcase of gifts for Mbahe! I am ready to safari in my zebra camouflage!

Excitement is mounting!

These are the cabins that we will be staying in our one night at Mbahe and, hopefully, this will be our view of Mt. Kilimanjaro if we are lucky enough to have a clear day!  We leave tomorrow...so excited!

Mbahe kitchen...THEN and WOW!

This is how Mbahe Primary School used to serve 700+ children lunch...many of them their only hot meal of the day!  Through the generous donations from Harbor Day School families, children and countless lemonade stands, bake sales, birthday party donations, Girl Scout and Boy Scout donations,  etc. they now have a brand new building to house a kitchen equipped with a biodegradable fuel burning stove and all of the cooking utensils necessary to feed these bright and beautiful children.  We will photograph this when we arrive next week so stay tuned to our blog to see what so many of YOU have made possible through your generosity!

Mbahe Smiles

Now that you all know about our blog...check out these pix of the Mbahe Primary School in Tanzania that inspired this trip!  Notice the blindingly white smiles of the children...no processed sugar, no summer camps, no Iphones, no Instagram...no wonder they are so happy!

My first blog post!

Here I am at my computer working on my first blog post...just 8 days until departure on our Dubai/Africa dream vacation!  We survived the 21 shots required between the four of us, bags are {almost} packed, malaria medication starts tomorrow, Connor returns from his French class trip to the Loire Valley on Monday...now on to creating our Blogspot so that we can share our adventures with friends and family!