Girl's Christmas Dubai!

Jules gets down with the kids.

Sunset at Beachcombers.

Mitts of the margarita little ones!

Ruth shows of her perfect manicure with a cocktail.

The Rooftop Bar by day.....

....and by night.

Jules, Laura and Ruth kick back at Barasti.

To the left.

We've been spending lots of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather, hence the lack of blogging. Time for a quick catch up!

After much anticipation, we celebrated Girl's Christmas Dubai in mid November. It was our second international Girl's Christmas, last year we celebrated in Paris. Jules (with Coco onboard) came over from Sydney and Ruth and Laura jetted in from London. The girls were here for a whole week although it went in the blink of an eye. It was so good to see them all again which of course makes me miss them all the more now. We did plenty of shopping, and hanging out at nice bars. I was having too much fun to take many photos and unfortunately the ones I did take only highlight that photography is not my forte.

Bx

Bugs!

Change my nappy!

Get me medicine!

Peeky...

...boo!

Angelic...

...to Trouble in .3 of a second.

We've had a quiet week with both kids being unwell. Zack had a gastro which resulted in a trip to the paediatrician. While there I commented that Daisy had a fever....then was back the next day with her. Turns out she had a throat infection but she was only really miserable for one day which was a relief. Poor Zack was poorly for a week and has lost a lot of weight (although he's still reassuringly chunky). Actually it was more poor Bec and Andy, he was pretty perky but gastro nappies aren't much fun. There was one incident that wins hands down the most grossed out I've ever been as a mother award. *Gags*

I had an interesting talk to the kid's paediatrician, he's been practicing here for 20 years and said that kids here get double the amount of infections than in the UK. Mainly down to so many people coming from so many countries bringing in germs galore but he also said the air quality is pretty bad. He also remarked that this year is the worst one he's experienced for illness. I'm hoping we escape the bugs for a while but with chicken pox and hand, foot and mouth currently doing the rounds I'm not too hopeful...

Bx

Pumpkin

Daisy in her 'princess' outfit. Hmmm.

Zack tries to look cool hanging out with the boys.


The girls!

At the Polo Club with Katie, Mike, Lucy and Phoebe.

Spooky.

Costume time again, hurrah! Daisy, rather aptly, was a little devil this year. However, she firmly insisted that she was a princess so that's what I let her believe, don't all princesses have horns? Zack also had a costume, a rather camp wizard, but he's not well with a tummy bug and the pain of two new teeth so I didn't subject him to it. Anyway, dressing a boy up just isn't the same.

We spent the morning carving a pumpkin and making halloween biscuits then we went to Ibn Battuta for lunch. In the afternoon we met friends at the pool then all headed to the Polo Club for dinner.

Bx

The lake

Feeding the fish from the bridge.

Mr White and Mr Brown, reservior ducks.

Daisy checks out one of the waterfalls while Zack checks out the camera.

Nice.

How's the serenity?

The lake (actually, there's two of them) behind our house is a favourite spot for us all at the moment. The temperature late afternoon is perfect for going for a walk and the kids love feeding the fish and the ducks. Much to Daisy's delight, a rabbit has also taken up residence there.

Bx

Little teeth

Brush brush.

Daisy shows Zack how to do belligerent.

Going in for the cuddle....

....and getting handfuls of moob.

Daisy and Zack are both quite fond of their toothbrushes. Now Zack has three (and very nearly four) teeth it's quite a serious business. They are getting on really well. There are occasional tears when Daisy rugby tackles Zack to the floor or Zack pulls Daisy's hair but most of the time they enjoy each other's company. It's great now they can play together although Daisy is quite upset that Zack is no longer a baby and she is asking for a 'small pink one' one on a daily basis. Thankfully this is in addition to Zack rather than instead of him.

Bx

Children's City

Not loving the glowing molar.

Clip clop.

Daisy and Sanna, different day, different horse.

It's red!

We've had a couple of trips to Children's City at Creek Park recently. The kids love it and it's run by the municipality (that's the council here) so is much better than the usual mall soft play.

The beautiful weather has begun so we've been spending lots of time at the pool and outside. Which is a good thing because the shopping has gone rubbish. It may be autumn but it's still in the 30's and all you can buy at the moment are winter clothes. Woollen coat and scarf anyone? Boo.

Bx

Eid al-Fitr

Enjoying the cooler weather.

Princess Daisy.

Zack has learnt to stand on his own...

....and feed himself (ish).

Oh my god, it's..........

Barney! And BJ and Baby Bop.

It was Eid al-Fitr last week which is a celebration of the end of the holy month of Ramadan. For us it meant 3 days off work for Andy and being able to eat and drink in public again, woohoo! We had a lovely relaxed time which got off to a brilliant start when Zack, for the first time ever, slept through the night. Heaven. Daisy got an Eid treat when Andy took her to see a Barney show. The real live right in front of your eyes Barney. She couldn't believe it and had a great time.

Bx