Early in May, we went out of town, three emirates over, to spend the weekend at the Marjan Island Resort & Spa. Naturally, we used a discount voucher from Triperna/Cobone. It’s in Ras Al Khaimah, and the hotel is on a man-made island that juts out to the sea. The trip wasn’t that long so we arrived well ahead of check-in time. That probably explains why the rooms I requested were not ready. Result: we got upgraded to a premium suite! Yay! This is the lobby of the hotel. Neat, simple, lots of gold tones.

As you look up, this is the view. At the elevator banks on each floor, you can look down at the lobby.

We didn’t waste any time and headed down to the swimming pool right away. Good thing too because the west wing of the hotel shielded us from the sun. It was not very hot, quite pleasant actually, and the pool was not packed with weekenders either. The kids enjoyed every miute of it and vowed to hit the pool again after breakfast the following morning. The pool was clean, did not smell strongly of chlorine and the towels are huge and smelled fresh. The water was not temperature controlled but that was okay since it was summer. It would be a different story in the cooler months though.

It has become a tradition for our family to jump on hotel beds, and for me to take photos of the kids doing it. Since Eibee and Joseph were staying in a separate room, I only have Patrick jumping this time. I liked this shot the best! Just look at his face and that belly sticking out!

She’s wearing a dress! I can’t believe it. Eibee is wearing a dress! And look, how big they have grown. Seems like only yesterday when I was changing their diapers. And now they’re all grown up. Even Patrick.

These two kept on posing and I kept clicking. I have no idea what is going on in this photo. I have also been absolved from any wrongdoing because they volunteered to have their photos taken. And that is my grey cardigan, young lady!

Taken just before we got into the pool. Hopefully this photo conveys how hot it was out there. This is the corniche side of the hotel where you can ride a bike, available for free with our booking but we couldn’t find a single bike! The kids went back and forth between the front desk and the security at the back of the hotel to find out where to get the bikes. They found them anyway but had to pay Dh10 per bike for a 30-minute ride.

Viel, I’m really sorry about the following photographs. Even more sorry that you are not here. It’s been ages since we had a family picture with all of us in it. One thing I forgot to pack was my tripod, so these photos were taken with the camera set on timer atop the TV shelf. First we have the entire cast and my belly, looking, well, normal. These were all taken just before we went out for dinner.

Then, Eibee had the idea to take a photo with none of us looking at the camera. We all had to think of what to do and I think this is the best out of all the photos.

Of course there has to be some wacky poses. We love wacky poses! There is no denying that my children and their father are related.

How many times have you taken a photo and everyone have their closed or mid-blink? This is what this next photo is all about. Kinda hard to time it so that we had our eyes mid-blink as the timer went off, so we just closed our eyes. Thanks, Eibee for all the fun ideas for this shoot!

He’s going to kill me for this,but hey he knew I had my camera pointed at him and will gladly click the shutter at anything! He posed like this anyway. Love you, derpy Joseph!

It was a short and sweet break outside the city and we all enjoyed it. I bet the next time we visit (in cooler months perhaps) all the date trees would be in bloom and the sand filled with grass or shrubs. I highly recommend a visit to Marjan Island. Triperna still has an offer for one-night stay with options for meals. Grab it while it’s available. You won’t regret it!