Pure Sweetness

What could be sweeter than these faces....

...these faces with an ice cream mustache!

Pure Sweetness

The Blake Blog

On any given day when I start the upload process of pics from my camera to the computer I find oodles of pics like these....

Cute girl with a 10 rand note.....that is not hers!

The "I'm not faking; I'm really asleep pose"



Or one's veggie lunch....



Typically, I'll find anywhere from 10- 40 random shots from the younger Franzenfam photographers. When does the "What's Mommy's is Mine" rule ever go out of play?

I was so shocked when Blake actually ASKED to use the camera the other day that all I could stammer was "uh- I guess". To which he added, "great I'll get some great ones for you to blog." Well okay then.

So without further ado the Blake Blog....

Photos by the blue eyed, blond boy,

...including one of himself.

The Face Off....

(what can I say humor runs in the family.)

The duel of Good versus Evil....

The Victor.....


The Get Away, in the cool constructed spaceship created by my SW fan....


Oh and notice his swim goggles on the floor...the ones Mom told him to pick up! He's also our Messy Franzen.

I think with the help of my son, we just gave "random" a new name.

Dubai Part 3- Outdoor Hot Spots

So far I've displayed the inside of Dubai...the "fantastic plastic". However we did not spend all our time indoors. Despite the heat, we ventured out to explore some outdoor hot spots...

The Burj Al Arab hotel....the tallest hotel in the world, actually set in the Gulf, supposedly the only 6* hotel in the world, although I've heard that is self-proclaimed, in the shape of a sail it towers out over the Gulf and is an exquisite land mark.

The best view of the Burj came from a top the tallest, or maybe its the longest, free standing water slide outside of North America (one starts to mix up all the acclaims).....

Three of the Franzenfam made their way down it's slippery slope...care to guess which ones??

And probably my favorite was time spent at the beach. Swimming in the Persian Gulf was like swimming in a hot tub....

Dubai is actually a fairly common travel destination among South Africans largely due to Emirates cheap flights...South Africans go to "Dubai to Buy". Known for their gold, electronics, textiles, among other things it's a hot spot to shop. I can't say we found that to be true for the Franzenfam as all I came back with was American food products (sad but true) however we did take a gander at the local souks (markets).....

The best souk was the one built indoors as it was air conditioned. Dubai is an arid heat all year round.

We taxied by boat on the Dubai Creek.....

Took an arm at henna.....


Yes that is a scorpion on my son's arm.....glad the henna did not last very long.

Another favorite was experiencing the Arabian desert.....camel rides.....

And beautiful sand dunes.....



There are far more pictures I could post but I will spare you! At days end....



...it was a fabulous trip and we are ever so grateful for the many blessings making it possible.

Lordy, Lordy Michelle is 40...well almost...and was spoiled rotten!

Dubai Part 2- Beat the Heat

Numerous blessings that came in various ways made a trip impossible under normal circumstances, possible. One of those "little blessings" came from the missionaries we stayed with and it came in the form of coupons. And if you know me well you know I LOVE coupons...it's the Bohemian in me. Virtually every activity we engaged in was largely discounted thanks to those coupons.


So robed with our coupons we stepped out of the heat and into a Winter Wonderland to cool off for a while. Keeping with the Dubai way, in another colossal size mall is the World's largest indoor Ski and Snow Park.





We did not ski yet had plenty to partake in with the snow park. There was sledding...



And tobogganing...


Lots of tubing down snowy slopes


and of course the snowball....



One climbs in the large plastic ball and then is rolled down a ski slope while in the ball. According to Blake this was the "best"!

No picture going down the slope but here are Sky and Blake trying to push the ball back up the slope....



It was a great way to beat the heat and it turned out to be quite a scream...

Dubai Part 1

I decided that to post an album of the Franzenfam adventures to Dubai on face book just wasn't the route to go...mainly to accommodate the extended Franzenfam and Baumruk fam that may be, how do I say it, "fb challenged". Instead I will attempt to give a glimpse of our ventures in methodical fashion throughout the week. Isn't that so very OCD of me?! :)

So without further Ado...Dubai Part 1 (such a creative title eh?)

The Franzenfam adventures started at a shopping Mecca (the largest mall in the world). You'll notice throughout my posts I will use a lot of adjectives like largest, tallest, longest, biggest...reason being Dubai boasts the biggest, tallest...the best. A bit ridiculous but none the less.

Where to begin was a toss up between the three story high aquarium (IN THE MALL) that holds the Guinness World Record for the world's largest acrylic viewing panel (sorry never really captured a pic to adequately display it's magnitude)....

OR the rumored largest candy store in the world....

conveniently located right across from the aquarium entrance.

A bit shallow decision (pun intended) but hey we were on vacation and those are the type decisions we were gratefully confronted with.

As we walked through the viewing tunnel I couldn't help but feel that something was lurking around me.....

This big fellow and his buddies were right above us.

Aside from all the "records" and adjectives Dubai boasts being slightly pointless, I must admit it all was pretty impressive. Even the carnivores of the sea seemed pretty enamored with the Candylicious store across from their sea world....



After all our aquatic play...





including the disregard for the "no handling" rule....


(yes my husband reached down into the tank and picked up a turtle)

...a glass bottom boat ride a top the massive tank (did I mention this was in a mall?!!)


And of course a trip to Candylicious; we headed over to see the Burj Dubai....


Yep, it is the tallest building in the world (over 800 meters high)!

We stuck around to watch the sunset through a beautiful water display.....


and then watched it illuminate the night.....


Oh and I should probably mention that this beauty happens to be the World's longest or maybe it's the largest (something "big") water display.

Regardless, it was beautiful and it ended a fabulous Franzenfam day in Dubai!

Stay tuned for other Franzenfam Dubai Adventures....