
We collected our equipment while mother told the chap about her knees, clambered up the escalator and went through the big rotating doors onto the snow. Little Miss M skied with cool confidence, at least until I suggested that she dispensed with the poles. She skied beautifully until the bottom of the run where she collided with an aptly worded 'slow' sign. I unravelled the orange netting and placed it back in the snow hoping that nobody was watching. The last time Al snowboarded was in the Wahiba desert but after a few nervous runs, his confidence grew and only one major wipe-out was encountered.
The highlight of the day was mother's attempt to use a baby lift. Something went wrong with the entry procedure and she rode the moving walkway like a camel, barely holding on to her skis and poles. Unfortunately Flossie's hastily taken photograph did not quite capture the look of sheer terror on mother's face during the dismount.
At the end of our two hours, we swiftly changed and returned to the car to drive to the Burj Al Arab for afternoon tea. We arrived just as

After selecting our teas, the sandwiches arrived on silver multi-tiered stands shaped like the building. To our relief, each layer was refilled as soon as the tiny sandwiches and cakes were consumed. We were getting full already (but perhaps not as full as the gentleman

After paying the bill (yikes) and visiting the toilet (lavishly sprinkled with red rose petals), we returned to the ground floor by the glass lift which excited mother greatly. Al and Floss, by the way, took the internal lift for fear of regurgitating their sandwiches. In the foyer we took a final look at the impressively gaudy surroundings while the valet fetched the car.
We returned to the Mall of the Emirates for a bit of shopping. A few hours later, we drove back to the Golden Sands to rest our aching bones,
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