DH thinks my new blog is a little negative. My 2007-09 blog, he says, was far more upbeat and his pilot friends in the US could show it to their wives to persuade them to move to the Middle East.

Now, I talk about the heat (sodding summer!), freaky Fridays and how naughty the boys are. Maybe he’s right: after three years here, perhaps you do get jaded in the summer months. Life with two very active small boys in the great indoors does have its challenges, after all…

But today, Dubai well and truly spoiled us and I thought I’d do a quick ‘upbeat’ blog, just in case I have sounded a bit down in the sand dunes recently. A long weekend here, we decided to do Friday brunch before DH went away on a trip. So off we went to the Mövenpick hotel in Deira.

I usually dread eating out with the kids as I feel we’re like a travelling zoo, the kids jumping out of their seats, swinging round the table legs and food flying everywhere. But the beauty of the Dubai brunch is kids’ entertainment is usually laid on. Today, the boys ate in their own separate area, attended to by their own butler!

The tables were laden with lobsters, crabs, roasted meats and all kinds of mouth-watering foods. There was a salad station, an Asian-fusion menu, an amazing array of cheeses and, my best bit, the dessert station, with a never-ending chocolate fountain.

It was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for adults.

The kids’ buffet offered more basic fare- nuggets, pasta, cheese toast – but all this was overshadowed by what lay on the other side of the kids area: the candy buffet. Trying to keep the boys away from this was a losing battle, of course, and you might notice that all the sweets within reaching distance of the little boy seem to have disappeared.

After gorging ourselves silly – it would have been rude not to – we waited for the car (yes, we got to valet park it!) and headed home so DH could get ready to go to Vienna. Tomorrow I’m taking the kids to see a Mister Man show, but today, I truly feel like a Dubai gal.

Dhs119-149 (adults); Dhs50 (kids aged seven to 12); free for children under six. 12.30pm-4pm. Mövenpick Deira, Abu Baker Al Siddique Road, jigsaw.deira@movenpick.com (800 33472).

Look, there's even a turtle in the bread selection

And a crocodile!

Going for a spin on the way out