Jack’s has an orthodontist appointment after school. We were wise enough to bring pain medicine with us, but he was still in pain. It just makes his mouth so sore. Once we were finished at the orthodontist we came back to the house to pick up Stuart and Millie. We are down to one car right now as the Jag is being serviced. So we are tag teaming with the car. We went to the club for a quick committee meeting regarding all the upcoming events for the remainder of the school year. We stayed for a bit to watch the England France 6 Nations rugby match, but England were getting smashed so we decided to head home for dinner and our nightly routines.
I really didn’t want to go to school on Monday, but I put on my big girl panties and went anyway. Jack’s mouth was sore, as it normally is after a tightening. My teaching assistant was absent and it became an exhausting day for sure, being on my own all day. The kids had swim trials after school. This is the swim meet where they time all the kids. They both did well, I think. They finally got their swim squad hoodies after months of waiting for them.
I got a picture of Millie in her hoodie.
Rugby training was cancelled for both kids, which was a relief. They are so tired and we really do meet ourselves coming and going sometimes. Stuart skyped his mum and the kids and I waited for a food delivery. We were not inspired to cook so we ordered in.
Jack is sporting his USA swim cap. That kid next to him is the same age as Jack. The boy has grown.
On Tuesday the senior school has their swim trials. These are a bit different as the junior school kids swim 25 meters as opposed to the 50 meters the senior school kids swim. Once we were home from school we took our living room rug to a neighbor. Our house is not getting as bare as I need it to be, although we have sold a number of things. My home is to get most big items sold by spring break. I made a meal and chocolate no bakes for my teammate whose wife had a baby.
Yummy!
However, I burned what Stuart and I were supposed to eat. Bless him, he ate it anyway.
Wednesday morning was Jack’s Sports Day. He got third in the 1500 meter run and won the 100 meter run, but pulled his quad during that run so was unable to compete in the rest of his events. He was a bit bummed about it. He had basketball practice after school and was able to practice. He is starting to get frustrated with the competition here. I think because he knows we are going home in a few months he has decided it’s okay to not settle for mediocrity. I am pretty sure if we told him he could stay in March when we go back for spring break, he would do so.
Millie and I had soccer training after school. Rachel, the gal I usually help, wasn’t able to make practice, so I ran it. Yep, haven’t a clue about the rules. Fortunately, all the girls know the rules and just played a match while I watched. We went to rugby training after the other sport practices. Rugby training for Jack ended up being games as there were not enough players there to train. We came home for the kids to have a snack and then they were off to bed.
Thursday morning we had an all school assembly, which has never happened. It was to announce the winners of the Sports Day competitions. Ryle House won the overall competition. We are all in Ryle House so we were excited. After a long day at school, we left at 3pm as Tri Club was canceled. Stuart dropped Jack and myself at Souq Planet for Jack to get a hair cut. I bought some sweet treats at the supermarket while Jack got his hair cut. Little did he know that we were making sure his hair would stay out of his face for our trip we were going to take the following morning. We started our half term break after school Thursday.
I went for a pedicure once Jack and I were back at the house. The kids showered and were told we would need to make it an early night as we would get up early on Friday morning to head to Motion Gate, an amusement park in Dubai. Little did they know that we were really getting them up early to fly to the Maldives! One of the teachers at our school passed me at the end of the day on Thursday and said, ‘I hear you are going to the Maldives!’ To which I said, ‘Did you also hear is was a secret and our kids don’t know?’ This was just as Jack was coming to my room after school. Fortunately he didn’t hear and she apologized all over herself. Obviously, Stuart was the most excited for this trip, as he is shared it with everyone.
Once I was home from my pedicure, I did some more sorting out of Millie’s stuff. Then our neighbors, Siv and Marion, brought their girls, Jaya and Kiera, over for them to play with Millie. They had asked if we could watch the girls so they could go to a salsa lesson. I hate to say no to such nice people, and although our plan was to put the kids to bed early, I said we’d watch them.
In the end, I took them back to their house to go to bed. With Millie and Jack in bed, they didn’t really want to stay with me and Stuart. When we got back to their house it dawned on me that the things I needed to do I couldn’t do because I wasn’t at my house. Oh well. Stuart thought he and I would nap for a bit, but I’m just not able to do that before a trip. In fact, I usually find a hundred things to do before I go on a trip. So it made no difference to me. The parents got home just after 9 pm and I went back home to shower and watch television. I just couldn’t sleep.
We woke the kids at 11:30 pm. Fortunately, neither of them asked questions and just got in the car and went back to sleep. Once we were in Dubai at the hotel where we were going to park our car, the kids were awake, but again, had no idea what was going on. When we got to the airport for check-in all the info was spilled and Millie said, ‘Ah, what about Motion Gate,’. We all laughed and proceeded to security.
We decided to get a bite to eat and then waited to board the plane. The flight to Male was uneventful. Millie slept through entire way, but the rest of us just dozed a bit. When we arrived in Male we were met by a Finolhu representative who checked up in at the sea plane desk. That was a surprise for the kids as well, one that Jack was not terribly keen on. I found out during the flight that he was scared we were going to crash.
These sea planes were ready to roll.
The view from above was amazing.
And this was the view of our resort.
The kids were very impressed.
We were a little impressed as well.
We got our swimmers on and got ready for pool and ocean. This was a VW camper van that was sitting on the beach.
Everyone snorkeled.
The sunset was amazing.
Saturday morning the sun rose just beyond our bungalow. It was simply gorgeous.
We caught a buggy to breakfast.
After breakfast we stopped in at the kids’ club and discovered our children were two of the 13 on the island. It seems the Coronavirus caused a lot of people to cancel their holiday for the time being. So instead of being at 90% capacity, the resort is at about 40% capacity. It’s very nice for us. We booked the kids in to many activities for the rest of our stay. We then decided to go to the Milk Bar for our daily milk shake. We then went into the ocean and had a great time.
This bouncy ocean fun was a favorite for the kids.
After a bit of bouncy fun, we went back to our bungalow and decided to snorkel out a ways to an area that was recommended to us.
Everyone was ready except for the photographer.
Snorkeling was a lot of fun.
We had an amazing lunch at the Crab Shack. I hate to bore you with pictures of food, but I will.
Soft crab tacos
Coconut shrimp
Tuna burger, which was to die for.
This is the jetty where we waited for the boat to return us to the other side of the island so we could go on the Turtle/Dolphin Safari, which was amaze balls!
Please don’t focus on my thighs! Look on Facebook for the amazing videos of what we saw. It was unbelievable! We were truly in paradise.
The snorkeling took it out of him.
Once we were back on the island we decided to go to the pool. The kids got mock tails and swam around for a bit, while Stuart and I relaxed under an umbrella. We went back to the villa and the kids decided to swim out the back. That didn’t last long because they both decided to shower and get ready for dinner. We did the same and then went for dinner. The theme was Bollywood night.
The waiter at lunch taught the kids to fold a napkin into a catamaran. The waiter at dinner taught them to make a person. Clever!
After dinner we sat pool side and watched a circus show, full of high wire acrobatics and a man spinning inside a large hula hoop. It was very entertaining. Then a traditional Bollywood dancer came out for a dance. A band followed and the kids and I danced for a while before deciding to call it a night. A spectacular two days in paradise with four left to enjoy! This is a dream holiday for sure.
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