Recent and not recent photos

Foam party!

First day of playgroup.

Lyd and Neil at the beach.

Sunset over the dunes.


Bab Al Shams desert resort.

Daisy and her friend Sophie at Sophie's beach club.

It's the start of the week so I thought I'd be industrious and add some more photos. We had a relaxed weekend. Friday it was Lucy's first birthday and she had a great party. Saturday we did a bit of shopping then watched the rugby in the evening. Another disappointing result, boo.

Daisy can be a bit precious about sticky fingers so we've just been playing with shaving foam to help her learn that getting messy can be fun. She had a great time although it was my turn to not worry about mess when she gleefully deposited great gobs of foam over everything.

Bx

Girl's trip to Paris - just don't mention the rugby.

Picnic in the park. No, I'm not having twins.

Obligatory Paris photo.

Last weekend I bade Andy and Daisy farewell and flew off to Paris to meet my friends Ruth and Laura for our annual Girl's Christmas celebration. It's a little early for Christmas but we had to hold it early thanks to my rapidly expanding girth. Unfortunately, normal Girl's Christmas attendees Jules and Fen were unable to make it but Ruth and Laura Eurostarred in from London and we had a fabulous time.

We stayed at Le Meridien Etoile which was brilliantly located near the Arc de Triomphe and a short stroll from our favourite shopping haunt, Champs Elysee. I arrived earlier on the Friday night than the girls so had an early night then Saturday saw us hit the shops. Perfect weather meant we were able to enjoy pizza in the park for lunch followed by more shopping. I headed back to the hotel for a rest and to watch England beat the Aussies at rugby then the evening saw us glammed up in the Latin Quarter for champagne, dinner and watching the AB's lose to France. Very disappointing but it was lovely to see all the French wildly celebrating. Not. It was an interesting trip back to the hotel. The streets were filled with absolutely hammered dancing singing crowds, people falling off bikes and cars crashing in to each other. In order to get on to the Arc de Triomphe our taxi driver had to drive on to it going the wrong way. Anyone who has ever driven there can imagine how scary that was but he got us back to the hotel safely in the end.

We had all day Sunday to chill out so went for a walk along the Left Bank of the Seine followed by lunch and yet more shopping on Champs Elysee then leisurely coffee. It was so nice to catch up with the girls and relax. As much as I love being at home Daisy it was wonderful to take a couple of days to do things at my own pace and not be constantly thinking about if she is hot/tired/bored/hungry etc. We talked on the phone lots over the weekend and she seemed to understand that I was coming back and had a great time hanging out with Daddy.

It was a night flight back on Sunday. I'm pretty ginormous which caused concern for the plane staff. I got stopped on the way on to the plane and asked when I was expecting (and patted!!) then when I sat down someone came and found me to quiz me on exactly how many weeks I was and if I'd had any problems and how I was feeling at that point (fat and uncomfortable actually) but thankfully they didn't kick me off the plane. Phew!

Bx

Abu Dhabi photos

Daisy and Geoffrey yet again in pristine white sheets. They're well travelled pals.

Badly back lit in the hotel lift.

Sunset from our room. I do love the Arabian sunsets.

Relaxing at the beach club.

Daisy and Grandma, faux Bedouin tent lounging.

Photos seem to be loading so I shall strike while the iron is hot!

Bx

Abu Dhabi

Strategically placed toddler. She's hiding a bump the size of Everest.

A few weeks ago Andy, Daisy, Julia and I had a weekend in Abu Dhabi which is a neighbouring Emirate and capital of the UAE. It's only about a 90 minute drive away but is very different from Dubai as the big mad construction boom hasn't gotten underway yet. It has about 90% of the oil in this area so is absolutely awash with money. Very flash with gleaming skyscrapers, a wonderfully developed sea front, greenery aplenty and nice cars everywhere. We stayed at the Hilton on the Corniche which had a great view over the sea. We spent the afternoon at the beach club there which was very nice. Daisy went down a small hydroslide with Andy which she wasn't too sure about but she had lots of fun kicking back on the sun loungers and running around with Grandma.

The hotel had a very lavish Iftar in the evening which we all enjoyed a lot. Daisy was sharing a room with Julia which gave Andy and I the opportunity to hit the town however the times they have a'changed and we were tucked up asleep in bed by about 9.30pm. Oh dear.

Bx

Ramadan and Eid

Beach babe and the Burj al Arab.

Double thumbs up for Andy who actually managed to load a couple of photos below after much time and effort. The first one is Andy and Daisy at Bab Al Shams which is a resort about half an hour from here deep in the desert. We went there for dinner with our friends Lydia and Neil who stayed with us for a long weekend recently. It was very nice, sunset over the sand dunes, camels, bedouin style dancing etc. Daisy nearly got brave enough to pat a falcon. Maybe next time Dais!

It's a four day holiday weekend this weekend as it's Eid which marks the end of Ramadan. Ramadan is the Muslim holy month. It entails a month of sunrise to sunset fasting, prayer and charitable deeds. For us non muslims, it mainly meant no eating and drinking in public sunrise to sunset although kids are exempt, lucky Daisy. I was dreading it as all the cafes and restaurants are shut during the day and morning coffee and lunching are very much a part of our routine. The first week was pretty hard but we soon got used to it and ended up really enjoying it as we got right in to going to Iftar which is the breaking the fast evening meal. All the restaurants and hotels held Iftars which went from sunset til about 8pm and were big elaborate arabic buffets. The food was always great and they were really good family time. We are all looking somewhat plumper!

The weather has cooled down considerably which is wonderful. It gets up to the late 30's during the day with mornings and evenings in the late 20's so we are spending much more time outside. We spent this morning at the beach then Andy played golf this afternoon. Neither could have even been considered only a couple of weeks ago. It's quite bizarre never having to plan your day around something to do if it rains.

Bx

Who wants to go to playgroup?

Daddy & Daisy