An Introduction to the Cold at Ski Dubai

The only time Adam has actually needed to wear a jacket was for a week in January 2014 when we visited the UK. Other than that, he has mostly been a short sleeves baby (even in Maltese winter, he was in cotton long-sleeved tops and a thick gilet-style jacket). But we are thinking about possibly going on holiday somewhere cold soon and wanted to see how it would go down with him before we booked anything.

We decided to treat the kids to the Ski Dubai Snowpark. We'd wanted to go for ages anyway, so it was the perfect excuse.

Entertainer voucher in hand, we marched in, and queued up for our snow gear. Then we found a free bench and a locker and sat down for the long process of getting everyone ready.

They were excited (and Adam quite a bit confused)

The Frozen theme (running until the end of February 2015) was an instant hit. There are craft workshops and sing-along sessions you can pay extra to join, but we didn't feel the need for any of that. The scenery alone - and Olaf - was enough to make our two very happy.

And once Adam let me convince him to keep his mittens on and got over the shock of having a cold nose ("Nose! Cold!"), he had a blast.

They really, really loved it. Even considering the small fortune it cost, and even considering that we actually spent less than two hours in there, it was well worth it. We topped it off with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in a booth overlooking Ski Dubai which they also loved. 

Some tips if you are planning to go...

- Signage says that children need to be over 3 years of age to enter. This appears on some level to be untrue. When we got to Ski Dubai and asked staff about this, they were happy when we said Adam was 2 (okay, so he's 2 months shy of 2, but he's big enough to be 2 and a half, so who's actually counting?), and let him in. So do ask. 

- Take a small across-body bag. The snow suits do have a small zipped pocket on the sleeve for your phone, but they don't all seem to be the same size. David's iphone fit in his pocket, my iphone didn't fit in mine. When I needed both hands, it had to go in my bra (!!) so a small handy bag would've been useful. 

- Set out early. When we left for lunch around 12:30, the queues at the ticket booths were neverending (and getting your snow gear does take time). 

- Gloves are included in the ticket price but they are very basic gloves and I wasn't convinced they'd keep hands dry. Take your own thick gloves if you have them, and a hat for the adults. Children won't need a hat, they'll need a helmet provided by Ski Dubai and if that's loose, pulling their hood up under the helmet works well. 

Have fun!


This is not a sponsored post. 

My Feet! They're Gone!

Last Saturday, the snow we were promised arrived and it stayed a short while. Once I got over my annoyance at the fact that the entire United Kingdom would probably grind to a halt because of a few inches of snow once again, I could look out the window at the beautiful sight and really enjoy it. I've now lost count of the amount of times I've experienced snow since we moved here but I still haven't quite gotten over the slight thrill of it.

But my excitement this year was mostly down to watching Emily's reaction the next morning.

Whilst in the safety of the living room, she was intrigued. Then we bundled her up and took her out into the garden, and intrigue turned to bewilderment...

What is this cold thing?
(We let her taste it)
Where have my feet gone?
Why is everything white?
What on earth is going on?!

My Pact with the Snow

It's snowing in the UK. And typically, everything has ground to a halt. Trains are majorly delayed, most deliveries have been cancelled, even the postman never turned up today. You'd think that after the amount of snow that fell last winter, and the lack of grit and readiness generally (anyone in Canada, Eastern Europe and other snow-ready countries, you may mock), things would be better this time round. But instead, things have ground to a halt even earlier. My guess is that the powers that be simply woke up, looked out of the window, saw snow, and said "Well, it's all going to fall apart at some point anyway - why bother?" Lovely.

Having said that, no personal plans have yet been cancelled (tomorrow will be a different story, I suspect). And although many people might curse me, I've quietly asked the snow to steer clear of late January/early February. Going into labour and being snowed in are not two things that ideally go together in my book, so if it really must snow, I'd greatly appreciate it getting it all out of its system now.

I know the snow can hear me.

Pictured is Zack, the younger of my neighbours' sons. I wandered over and took some photos while they were out playing in the snow. I so love this shot!