In case you don’t know already, food is a big part of our family. We love it! We love to go out on the weekend and sample what Dubai has to offer. We have also been known to travel to nearby cities when someone recommends a particularly good restaurant.

I have been urging the family to visit The Irish Village at the Aviation Club ever since I had a gorgeous all-day breakfast there nearly 8 years ago. We had meal vouchers expiring at the end of the month and so we had to use them. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Village.

This sign looks like it says either Tifts, Jifts, Sifts.  Definitely not Gifts!  Oh and  the waiters are Irish, who amused us with their Irish accents.  It was hilarious!

Of course we had to sit outside!  It is cooler now and they had trees shading the area plus umbrellas if you needed it.  We just didn’t expect the tiny flies to hover as soon as our food arrived!

And it wasn’t just the flies that the food attracted to our table.  The felines too!  This one apparently is a regular.  My husband plays basketball at the back of the Village where the kitchen is and these cats litter the area.  The cooks feed them scraps so they are always hanging about.

My kids couldn’t resist and started throwing chips at the cat who gratefully chomped down on each piece with such grace that only a cat can do.

This other fellow just lay there looking all cute and adorable but snobbed the chips we threw at him.  He just meowed at it as if to say he could do better that a potato chip.

Perfect weather and lighting conditions for photographs!  Eibee braided her hair in 6 different places before we left the house and before we got out of the car she untangled them so she looks like she had a perm.  Joseph’s hair, on the other hand, has a mind of its own.

There was a bit of crowd at the Village; people enjoying their ale – at 3 in the afternoon!  This photo right here just makes me happy.

My little girl is not so little anymore.  She’s a senior in high school, soon to enjoy her first prom and in a few short weeks after that she will be receiving her diploma.  Where did the chubby faced girl with lopsided pony tails go?

And she’s powdering her nose now! When did that happen? She hated it when I put anything on her face and she would not be caught dead applying any make up whatsoever. So who’s this girl and what has she done with my daughter?

Joseph, my first son, my baby boy.  He’s in a strange place, no longer a kid but not yet a man.  He has a few more awkward years ahead of him but he is taking it in his own stride.  And his hair seems to agree with that.  Geez, be still my beating heart.

After the excitement at lunch, we went to Mirdif City Centre where they made me sweat and pant after a few rounds of basketball at the arcade.  So I treated myself to a nice spiced apple latte at Costa.  Yum.