And it's back to the grind.

The state of my mind feels as scrambled as my kid's toybox, as school's reopen tomorrow and the state of my house is no better, a house struck by some natural disaster would be an understatement.

But the vacation was well spent with both the hubby and the daughter on a 10 day break with the sister in law in town with her kids to add to the deliriously exciting circus.
We let the moms in us shut up and let our kids live their short lived break to the fullest. Whether it was swimming in sand, or going on a candy diet or a marathon of YouTube videos, we let them be.

For these ten days, I had my kitchen closed except for an occasional meal or two. For this time, the homemaker was on  a break too. A break from the monotonous cooking, cleaning and laundry.
And I think I am going to take more such offs in the future. A homemaker needs a break and a rest.

We started off the vacation with the colourful Dubai Safari and ended it with barbecue session at Mamzar- chicken tikkas and meat kebabs with kabsa (Saudi style Pulao), lovingly prepared by the chachi.
And in between we had our trips to Hatta, khorfakhan, Al Ain and most of Dubai- the new and the old.

The highlights of the break were the hot springs in Al Ain were the kids went crazy splashing away, and the adults had a soothing foot spa and all for free, the free 18m slide in down town Dubai where we had a gala time with the kids, screaming our lungs out as we came down and mostly for the fun of it, and the amazing beach and speed boat ride in Khorfakhan, and the food feast at global village, and the Dubai shopping festival sales.

The eye candy of this break was the scenic beauty of Khorfakhan. The mountains and the dam, so remarkably beautiful.

And no holiday can be complete without good food, so here is a list of good food places in UAE to try out.
1.Sanjeev Kapoor's yellow chillies in Dubai
2. Eat sol in Sharjah-loved the freakshakes here
3. ‎Frosty's in Mirdif,Dubai - This place serves the best lotus crepes and nutella ice cream
4. ‎Burger fuel burgers- juicy fat patties with droolicious fillings.
5. ‎Afghan Bukhari in Hatta- the lamb chops here are so wow.
6. Bosnian house in global village
7. The medley of golas at Kulfilicious- What fun it is to mix and match crazy flavours with the crazy family.

As homemakers we get so caught up sometimes, and often forget what a holiday should be like. A call out to all the mommies to indulge in good breaks now and then without the baggage of guilt. Pat yourselves on the back and embrace breaks whenever they are offered. They are well deserved.