Our last official full day of holiday and for the first time in almost six weeks we decided to go shopping after a swim of course. Our concierge suggested the outlet mall instead of Dubai mall and off we went. Our taxi driver took us along the same route to the desert except in the middle of nowhere is a massive mall. This is located next to where Dubailand will be. So far the only part of Dubailand is the entrance which shows promise of something big to follow. For about three hours we wondered around the shops realising we are too poor for even the discount designer shops. The girls were happy to find some cheap Hollister stuff and Craig has kitted himself out as a pro golfer, let's hope his form follows. Oli found some toys and for me not being a shopper found Starbucks and had my fix. It's incredible how such a small population can require this amount of shopping spaces and homes. I only imagine most of it is for the tourist market. So far most of our drivers have been from Pakistan, while most of the staff in restaurants etc is Filipino. I feel extremely grateful for our lives when chatting to people who are working here and have had to leave their children behind in their native countries. Oli has his own fan club among the staff and is constantly entertained and looked after in the hotel. The girls seem to have to have accepted this as they think it could be either because he is little and cute or because he is a boy and boys rule out here. We were expecting very strict codes and have been quite surprised how many tourists flaunt this as we all came prepared. After a day's hard shopping another swim was the order of the day before the vote on the final meal. Craig and I wanted Thai while the rest were after English food in the Sherlock Holmes. Being worn down we gave in and made the right choice. The food was good, the entertainment (a live band) was good too and we all had a couple of games of darts. Aimee shows promise as a darts player. By 11pm we had to call it quits as tomorrow is pack up day. We've decided to catch up on sleep in England.

A couple of things I have learned this trip:

Oli plays darts right handed (he's a leftie)

Zoe will swim in anything wet, at any temperature, at any time of day, and all day

Craig is up for scary rides like taxis and can't stand queue jumpers

Aimee is a teenager, a lovely one at that

I am a bit of a wuss