Mothers Day 2013

What a lovely day I had. My kids (with a little help from their Dad) got me some incredible gifts which left me a little speechless. I truly appreciated the thought Ali put into the gifts remembering that I like my necklaces a little longer than standard here and that I like two tone watches.

Then at school this week it is Teacher / Staff Appreciation week and the parents in my class got Mrs. Turner and myself some gorgeous flowers with a vase. A sweet girl in my class Veronica also gave me flowers so I put hers in the vase too. There were baked goodies at breakfast in the staff room and tomorrow there are masseuses there to give neck and back massages during recess and on Thursday there is a buffet lunch catered by the parents, sounds fantastic!  

The highlight was Lulu and Sami cooking dinner with Ali for me. We had a great paella of sorts followed by my favorite chocolate balls.  

But the bestest thing of the whole day was the hugs and the handmade cards and the kisses and all that love, it was bliss.

I didn't get to speak with my Mum today but we were in touch yesterday. I do miss her so much. This year we sent her some fruit, wine and macadamia nuts ...

Love you Mum!

Happy Mothers Day xxx

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A Mish Mash Catch Up

Some random photos I had on my phone as a little catch up over the past few months ...

 Laith was at Azzan's paintball party. Check out that hair! He has cut it since. 

 Before we actually went camping the kids had a weekend of camping in the house.

 To celebrate report cards we went to Sliders in Shatti Al Qurum, what a gorgeous place to watch the world go by. 

A day when it was just Laith and I at Sliders on a Son / Mom date.

We took this on Masirah Island but Eyad had already gone for a nap.

 Lulu loves getting her cut. 

 We went to see The Croods. This was the first 3D movie that Sami has been able to see without any reactions afterwards. 

 One morning Laith was at the Marina doing his watersports Cubs badge so I took the other kiddos to Adventure Zone. It was the first time Lulu went down the big scary red slide. 

 Just because I love to watch him sleep! 

Sami's publishing party at school. 

Then it was Book Week at the school. One day was dress as a character from a book and here is Batman, Fancy Nancy, and a Jedi.

Book week got interrupted by some heavy rains which saw school close. This is a picture outside and that rain on the road was after only 1 hour. I was standing on our driveway taking the picture and the flow was so fast.

The next morning the kids loved splashing outside and then it was into a nice bath for shaving cream painting and then a long PJ day at home.

Eyad decided to give everyone a hair style the only problem was when he got to Ali there was no hair! Ali had just returned from performing Umrah and had shaved his head at the end of it.

This was Sami's after school activity drawing which he was so proud of that we hung it downstairs for all to see!

After the kids returned to school Book Week continued and Lulu got the author John Coy to sign two books of his. This guy was awesome to meet and the kids got to have mini workshops with him on their writing too. I LOVE the kids school!

Have I mentioned who is ruling the roost here at the moment ... 

And finally Sami's class bear came to stay over the long weekend and here are some random shots...

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Masirah Island - Part Two the Hotel

After two nights camping we rocked up to the Masirah Island Resort looking a mess but we didn't care one bit. The lobby was so cool and there was a refreshing glass of juice and wet towel ready for us as we registered. 

The food in the restaurant was very nice especially the fish and the staff were so attentive to the kids.

The kids went for a swim after lunch but to be honest it was a little cold so they stayed in the whirlpool instead.

We took a family villa and a hotel room so we could all fit. I loved that the villa had a garden in the back so we could play in the afternoon and in the front there was a kids playground that the kids loved spending time in before sunset. 

We decided to stay an extra night so that we could relax and enjoy a full day at the hotel before returning to Muscat.

The next morning the kids were up and ready for a swim.
 

 Ali was lost in his book.

 Trying to get all the kids to look at the camera the same time was impossible! 

 After about 10 shots I gave up but just take a look at Eyad's face, it is classic grumpy Eyad at his best.

You can't really tell in the photos above but the pool was actually rather cool and it took us ages to get all the way in. We were also sharing the pool with two frogs! 

We headed back to the villa to relax and play some games.

Later in the afternoon we played outside.

And then while Lulu, Sami, Marlene and Eyad went to the playground,  Laith, Ali and I went for a walk along the beach outside the hotel. It was a stark difference to the gorgeous beach on the other side of the island. Full of rubbish and washed up debris it was a sad mark of human thoughtlessness. 

The next morning after breakfast we headed to the ferry. There is no system as such and it can get a bit chaotic but we managed to back on successfully although again it was the matter of safety (or lack thereof) that concerned us.

This was the front of my car. Can you imagine if we got rough seas and that lorry in front moved!

After the 90 minute trip we got back over safely and started the long drive home. We almost made it home when I noticed Ali's car turn off at a fuel station but then it suddenly swerved and stopped. I knew it meant only one thing ... Laith threw up (he is a little prone to car sickness). Sure enough as I pulled up behind them Laith is standing there covered in vomit and Ali is attempting to wipe it out of his car. Once again I was grateful for taking two cars! 

We loved the trip. I asked Ali what he thought of camping and he replied "darling I love camping and will do it again anytime as long as it is in a hotel" ... hmmmmm. I think the ferry would put us off going to Masirah again and the long drive but after the summer I will get us going on some shorter trips. This will be possible too as just last month after we returned the government announced the change to a Friday / Saturday weekend instead of the current Thursday / Friday weekend we have, so now we will have the same days off as Ali (the financial industry have worked on the Fri / Sat weekend for a long time). As I write this post we are having our first official Friday / Saturday weekend and I have to say it feels very strange indeed. 

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Masirah Island - Part 1 the Camping

During the spring break we were lucky that Ali had some leave too so we decided to go camping with the kids to Masirah Island. It was our first official camping trip as a family. I have fond memories of camping with my family as a child. I also now have a new respect for my Mum because I don't know how she managed for three weeks at a time when I was shattered after two nights! 

We camped just before the snorkeling beach down the bottom left. 

Masirah Island is located off the east coast of Oman. Here is a link if you want to see more information.
The drive from our house to the ferry at Bar al Hickman was about 4 hours. I am eternally grateful to Ali for our new car which has a DVD player! Between that and the iPads we kept the kids happy-ish.

When we got to the ferry we were thrilled that one was just finishing loading so we wouldn't have to wait long to push off as it is a further 90 minutes to the island.

To say that we were concerned about the safety onboard would be a grave understatement! Car squashed one upon another, not a lifeboat or lifejacket to be seen anywhere lets just say we prayed silently and tried to keep our minds on other things and not look at the water that was washing onto the ferry floor at the back (gulp).

Marlene was very worried so I told her to go to sleep and I would wake her at the other end.

  Thank goodness we had two cars. I hope get better at packing less the more we go. 

It took us a while to find the spot that we wanted as it is not marked but we had friends that told us roughly where to go. Finally after much back tracking we found what we think was Rounders Bay. 

Marlene and I pitched camp while Ali took the kids down for a swim before it got dark. We managed to cook sausages although I forgot the hot dog buns which did not go down well with young Sami. Here is something to remember about Masirah in April. It gets really windy late afternoon and ALL through the night. The temperature dropped considerably and I even got up to check the water level at about 4 in the morning as I was sure the high tide was about to wash us away. It wasn't and we were well away from the tide line but my goodness it felt like it was right upon us. 

The kids were tired so it was an early night. It was also an early morning!

It was up and out in the morning for a lovely walk on the beach while I got breakfast ready. Cereal and milk was an easy fix ;-). 

Lulu didn't mind the pink zinc nose but Laith was not so impressed. 

Great weather and the most beautiful sand ever. As you walked your feet sank into it like you would on snow. 

Ali caught this crab to show Eyad and he was not to happy because the little fella gave him quite a bite. 

We had the whole stretch of beach to ourselves. 

Picture postcard beautiful. 

Always time for a snack. 

Sami, Lulu and I went for a walk around the bay and the kids had great fun making up a game for each section we came to it was a "level" in their game. We saw some great skeletons of turtles and this swordfish. 

Eyad loved being buried in the sand. 

You might notice the kids had hats, rash shirts and beach shoes on at all times. Let me tell you the sun was burning hot and in the water Ali was sure he saw a stone fish and given the lack of medical facilities around I made shoes mandatory.

We were down the beach just before sunset, it was really magical.

You can see Eyad looking a little tired. 

I should probably mention that at lunch time to please my husband who was not happy about me grilling on the sand the night before that I followed his advice and put the ready-grills on a piece of plywood on the camping table. Yes there was no sand BUT the trays burnt through the table and the whole thing went on fire! We managed to save the food but not the table.

 That night we sat around the fire eating smores and telling stories.

 Yes Lulu is reading a book about Lulu!

Laith was hooked on word searches that weekend.

 Eyad passed out just after he ate. I am well aware this is not the most attractive shot of me but hey you go camping on a beach for two nights and see how glamourous you look! You can also see that even though I was lathered in sun cream I still got a little burnt. 

 Right on Lulu! 

I have no idea what he was looking at but he was in good spirits. 

We called it a night and slept well. In the morning we were up early to pack up camp as we were heading off to a hotel for the night before heading back to the mainland. The thought of a nice hot shower was very welcoming. 

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