A week in paradise

I got up and went to the gym on Sunday morning. It was a great way to start my Easter Day. 

Once we were all up, and the Tito-Nekeares were awake, we all headed to breakfast. We ate outside again Sunday morning, but ate in a section that had netting around it, which was to keep the crows out and away from our food. But apparently one of the crows missed the memo and while I was getting Millie some juice, that pesky bird took some of my food, forcing me to get a new plate. 

The men (David and Stuart) decided to go and watch the Al Ain rugby club kids who were on tour in Colombo, Sri Lanka, ironically enough. So the 'family' holiday got a little extended in nature. 

Apparently they surprised the teams and they were thrilled to see them. 

Leanne had to complain about their room because thier view was of a construction site and they had paid for an ocean view. As they were moving rooms, the three of us went to the pool and set up right next to the edge. 

And here is where we were most of the day, with an occasional splash to cool off. 

The kids had a blast, and they even had Easter activities for them. They had an Easter egg hunt, an egg and solo race, a a coloring activity. Jack and Xavier won big solid chocolate bunnies for winning the egg and spoon race. Millie was a little down when she didn't find one egg in the egg hunt, but Jack gave her one of his and another little girl noticed she was upset and also gave her an egg. 

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Here are Jack, Millie and Xavier getting ready for the big hunt. 

She was very sad because that one egg in her basket wasn't found by her, but given to her by Jack. Poor baby!

The egg and spoon race. 

The last shot of the day, poolside. 

We decided to call it quits around 3:30 pm and bring our little lobsters inside for showers. Stuart messaged me about 4:15 pm to let me know they were on their way back to the hotel. 

Once they returned we met up in the bar where the little boys played Minecraft on their iPads and the rest of us sat at talked about our days. Eventually, Stuart and David were off to their respective rooms for showers and to get ready for dinner. The kids went with their dads while Leanne and I stayed I the bar to talk. 

Dinner was a little bit of begging the kids to eat. They were exhausted so we didn't stay long. Millie actually fell asleep on my lap. We were back to the room just before 9 pm and off to bed. We had an early morning ahead of us. Our main event for Monday was a visit to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Everyone was so excited. 

As you would guess, Monday morning when the alarm went off we all could have used another 2 or 3 hours of sleep. However, the transport car would not wait so we got ready and headed to hotel reception. We picked up our packed breakfasts and we were off. Sri Lanka is infamous for its bad roads, grid lock traffic and long journeys. This day was no different, but was full of culture and excitement so it didn't matter. 

Before we drove off at 6:30 am, these beauties were in front of hotel. A wedding? At 6:30 am? On a Monday?  Must have been cheaper. 

We drove about 2 hours and decided we needed a coffee/toilet stop. We got a slice of cake, two sausage rolls, 2 coffees, and a bottle of Sprite for a whopping $4. 

Once we were back in the van we traveled for another hour and found ourselves at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. We bought tickets and headed to the river where the elephants were bathing. We bought some bananas and the kids fed the elephants. It totally freaked Millie out, maybe because the elephants were about a thousand times her size. 

Of course to get this close there was a cost. We paid a tip but not even close to what they asked for. 

We saw this random guy and his elephant walking down the road. 

It was muggy and the kids might have been a bit cranky, but there will still be 'happy' photos. Of course they were still thrilled because who gets to ever be this close to elephants. 

Many of the elephants were relaxing in the water. 

As we were walking back up to the orphanage, this was the view. Jack's chin was cut off, but you get the point. Spectacular. 

Elephants are massive creatures. 

Once we were back in the orphanage Stuart was over by this elephant, watching him take a bath. When the elephant laid down in the water he farted so loudly, the elephant, not Stuart. Of course Jack found this hysterical. 

Once we left the elephant orphanage and  bought some elephant poo souvenirs. Look it up, it exists. We headed toward Kandy, stopping at a spice factory along the way. 

Our guide through the spice garden was knowledgable about all the healing power of these many products. Naturally I bought banana and vanilla extract. 

Jack and I volunteered for a massage since no one else would. Sticky and sweaty massages are not the most relaxing, especially when others are looking on. 

Stuart involuntarily volunteered for the hair removal that claimed to semi-permanently remove for up to three years if used once a week for 4 weeks. Since Stuart was the hairiest, it made since. So now he has a bald patch on the bottom of his left calf. 

Once we had been herbally enhanced, we decided to keep driving with priorities to get a bite to eat and see the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (a Buddhist temple). We had collectively decided to skip the tea factory and the wood carving center. 

The rain started in the mountains and the traffic was atrocious. It explains why it takes 2 hours to move 50 miles. Just before we hit the temple, we stopped at what looked to be a 5 star restuarant. Well, after the humidity, heat and elephant dung, we decided it would be best to find a KFC. So we did. Unfortunately all KFCs are different and use different spices. So the 'original recipe' wasn't an option. It was either spicy or spicier. Everyone endured and Stuart and David salivated. Once the tummies were semi full it was off two kilometers to the temple. 

When we first arrived we were told no shorts allowed. We knew the women would have to have their shoulders covered, which is why Leanne and I wore out short sleeve shirts, but no one said anything about the men's shorts. At any rate, Stuart's ended up being long enough to cover his knees and Leanne had a scarf that David used as a sarong. He's from the islands and wears them all the time anyway. But conveniently enough, there were men outside the temple gates selling sarongs. 

Once inside the temple we saw people presenting flowers at the alter, Tibetan monks in prayer and at the alter, and people in ah of the sites of this place. 

I took this picture before I realized, or Stuart pointed it out to me, that there was a sign saying there were to be no posed pictures in front of the alter. Ugh! I figured damage was already done and it was a keeper. 

They sold these flowers in front of the temple to be presented at the alter. The air was very fragrant. 

Just before this picture, there was a man who handed this monk a flower to place closer/inside the alter. Maybe the belief is that the prayer is holier the closer to the monk and alter the flower gets. 

The gold on the alters was fascinating, and very real. Also, here's how uneducated I still am after all my travels, I thought Buddha was a fat chubby fellow. I was told by Leanne, more of a world traveler than myself, THAT Buddha is in the eastern Asian countries. Silly me!

This Tibetan monk was praying with these followers in the middle of the room. 

And these boys were using themselves as chess pieces just in front of the monk and his followers. They were quiet as mice. Their moves were so obvious that I immediately knew what they were doing. I could help but giggle inside. 

The ornate stone work around the temple was breathtaking. 

This was an outside pavilion on the grounds of the temple. 

These were the individually carved posts that held up the pavilion. 

The pavilion and the temple from the other side of the garden. 

Our selfie in from of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. 

My goofy, funny, and very well-behaved kids (at least this day they were). 

Our drive home was through a ton of rain and a great deal of traffic. No one gets road rage or impatient, they just beep their horns and weasel their way through an impossible gap. 

We finally arrived at about 9:30 pm, an hour late for our dinner reservation, which worked out in the end. Because it also rained on the coast, the outside area where we had booked was flooded and had dried out by the time we got back. 

We ate and then we were off to shower and get a good night's sleep. I turned off the lights and kissed the kids at 11:45 pm. Fortunately both kids had napped for a bit in the van, so not all sleep was lost. 

I was up early, about an hour after my alarm went off, and I hit the gym before everyone got up. Once I returned to my room at 7:30 am, I was shocked that neither of the kids were awake. Jack finally roused at 8 am, and Millie? Well we had to pry her out of bed or we would have missed breakfast. 

We ate breakfast and then the men took the kids for the day while Leanne and I headed to a place called Barefoot. I had only read about this place that had the textiles of Sri Lanka and art work. 

We went out of the hotel and got into a tuk tuk, asking the driver to take us to Barefoot. 

Selfie in the tuk tuk

The traffic wasn't too bad. 

I was under the impression it was about a 40 minute ride away, so when he pulled into an alley that looked like a parking lot, I said, 'I don't think this is it. The place we are looking for is a shopping place.'  He told us the shop was in the back, behind the cafe that we could clearly see in the front of the establishment. 

So we took a picture with the driver and headed inside to discover what would be an asthetically pleasing shopping adventure. 

This was a working loom where most of the bags, zip purses, and little stuffed animals were made. We couldn't take pictures inside, but we bought plenty of things to remind us of the beautiful colors. All of the items in the store were made in Sri Lanka. There were clothes, bed linens, table ware, oils, jams, stuffed woven toys, and art work. I could have spent so much more money.

Instead, we did our damage and then Leanna and I sat at the cafe and talked for about two hours. We had fresh juices and a bite to eat. Then it was back to the hotel for our massages. 

In the meantime, while we were out discovering our new favorite place in the world, the men were at the beach fighting off the waves with the kids. Stuart said the waves were way too rough and the undercurrent too scary to stay too long. 

As you can see, Millie doesn't look thrilled. She's more of a pool girl. 

Stuart said they went back to the room after the beach to get on dry swimmers and when they pulled off their wet swimmers a pile of sand fell out of their suits. They had sat on the beach right where the waves were crashing, and this was the result. 

We arrived back at the hotel to deliver some sunscreen for the kids. We had brought two spray cans and were already out halfway through the trip. We had looked to purchase some at a pharmacy on Saturday, but they strongest one they had was 35spf. On our way back into the hotel we stopped in at the supermarket and asked about sunscreen. The man running the place said the highest spf you will find in Sri Lanka is 35 because......and then I said 'because of your brown skin?' He nodded and we all laughed. I then told him my children were very white and needed it to be stronger, but we would just have to cope somehow. 

The delivery of the sunscreen took place as the kids were eating lunch. We then went to our massages. In the room we could hear the waves crashing and an occasional train whistle. The train depot was right next to our hotel. It wasn't the most relaxing sounds, but unique for sure. 

Once we were shipped out and relaxed, it was back to the room for showers and to get ready for dinner. We all had a fantastic day and culminated it with drinks in the bar before dinner, dinner that just happen to be an Arabic themed night, and about two hours of conversation afterward at the dinner table. This holiday has been so wonderful. 

David, Stuart, me and Leanne having drinks before dinner. 

We slept in until about 8 am, and headed to breakfast at 9. My mission for after breakfast was to find some SPF 50 sunscreen, snacks, and beer for our tuk tuk (took took) safari we were taking in the late afternoon. The safari tours you around Colombo, showing you the sites without you having to search them out yourselves. So I left breakfast, went outside the hotel, and had our tuk tuk driver from the previous day chauffeur me around to the many shops I felt I needed to accomplish my mission. Within an hour I was back at the pool with everyone else, all purchases made. It was a fun little adventure. 

Our little water bugs. 

Paradise at its finest. 

Okay, maybe this is my REAL paradise! 

We were truly chilling out by the pool, moving our deck chairs into the shade as it moved around. 

We spent most of the day poolside, had lunch there as usual, and got out to get ready for our 'safari' around 2:45 pm. 

We had two tuk tuks pick us up at 3:45 pm. We brought our own snacks and beverages, and we were off to see the city of Colombo. I equate it to a open top city bus tour, just a little modified. And if you know me at all, you know my favorite thing to do in a new city is get on a open top city bus tour. You get to see the city at a glance and know of places you want to go back and visit without wasting time on things you don't care to see. 

Stuart brought his music and we were able to hook it up to the tuk tuk's sound system, which none of the regular ones have. These things were kitted out for sure.

They are ready and Stuart has a king coconut in his hand, drinking the milk. Our first stop was a temple called Temple of Sri Kailawasanathan Swami Devasthanam Kovil. It was a Hindu temple. The journey there was about 25 minutes too long for our tired kids as the picture tells, clearly. 

But once we arrived at the temple they perked up. Our visit and snacks afterward in the tuk tuk were all they needed to push through. 

The outside was magnificent, but the inside looked as if it weren't finished being built. I had never seen anything like it. It was a hodgepodge of building materials and chairs. 

These were separate monuments that represented different gods. 

Jack wanted to look like he was holding the temple on his back. And of course we had to take the selfie in front of the temple. 

Doesn't Millie look thrilled?

Back in the tuk tuk we went to our next site. We stopped at what used to be an old Dutch hospital. It is now, conveniently, a shopping and dining establishment. Naturally we had to indulge, in the shopping that is. 

This was one of the two courtyard where people were sitting and having a chat. 

Driving through the city was a treat in itself. The traffic was unreal yet people were patient and no road rage appeared to be going on. 

After we left the Dutch Hospital shopping district we headed through to the Galle Face Hotel, a posh hotel where the royal family of England have stayed and donated Prince William's first car. It was magnificent and has also seen guests such as Steven Speulberg and Harrison Ford when they were filming Indiana Jones and the Temple of Dome. 

The car! The Brit!

The hotel. The driver of David and Leanne's tuk tuk, Yogi Bear (or Roshan). Everyone loves little kids in Sri Lanka, especially the lighter ones. 

This was just outside the hotel and the ledge was exactly where it looks to be. Want to panic a tuk tuk driver? Have your four year old go running toward the ramp towards these tuk tuks. Yikes!

After the tuk tuks we headed to a part of town we would have never found without this tour. The main table, where we are sitting, was cleared and we were given the royal treatment. We were celebrities of sort. They fed us curry and egg hoppers. The 'bowl' is made of a light flower, put into a bowl shaped pan and heated to make the shell. Then an egg is thrown on and cooked. 

Everyone tried them, even Millie! (except me-gluten intolerance, stomach issues, blah, blah). 

Stuart and Jack were big fans!  Jack even had the spicy curry on it. 

The men behind Leanne and myself were the chefs, cooking everything as we sat there. He was making fried rice and chopping the bits as it cooked. The metal against metal would have given many a headache. It was super loud. 

After the food stop we headed to a Buddhist temple, where each of us was given a flower and were to put it on the alter of Buddha. As not to offend, we did as we were asked. 

This Buddha was gigantic. Jack and Millie's heads came to where the lights were. Crazy! When Jack saw the way the Buddha was sitting he whispered to me, 'I can sit like that!'  I just patted him on the head. When I looked around for him two seconds later, he was on the floor attempting to cross his legs like the Buddha. That's as bad as doing a cartwheel in the Grand Mosque, which he has also done. For the most part the kids were more well-behaved than I expected, so I can't be too hard on either one of them. 

Yet another Buddha. I didn't realize how many there were and what they all stand for. 

Now this is the Buddha I'm familiar with, or at least pictures of him. He's way more appealing because he's chubby and jolly, a little like Santa. 

There were random things around this temple. It look like a flea market (not trying to be disrespectful, just trying to give you a visual). Seemingly the items were either donated as a gift to Buddha or to the country and are housed in this temple. 

There were classic, incredibly valuable cars in the temple. Jack insisted on posing in front of this Mercedes. 

Then of course Millie found a pink, no so expensive or classic, motor scooter. She insisted on posing in front of it as well. And the below picture was what we got. There was no prompting from anyone and I actually snapped the picture just as she was doing this. Thank goodness no one was around or they might have seen it as disrespectful. 

Really?

We headed on to our last stop, which was the independence square. This was a building the Sri Lankans built when they were given their independence from Britain. 

It looked a bit like the Acropolis in Greece. It was just an empty structure, but very ornate. 

The obligatory selfie in Independence Square. Naturally, both of the kids can't just smile and have a normal picture. That wouldn't be any fun. 

We headed back to the hotel after a potty stop and were, once again, late for our dinner reservations. Thankfully most people don't eat at 9 pm at night. We have definitely worn out kids out, but have made the most of this trip for sure. 

Thursday morning I got up, went to the gym, and even wrote the date on the check-in sheet in the gym, and still it didn't twig that it was our 9th wedding anniversary. Once I was back in the room and showered, and Stuart had opened the safe in the room whose code just happened to be our anniversary date, it hit him and he wished me a happy anniversary. 

We had breakfast as usual, and then sat and talked until almost 11 am. By that time the pool had filled up so no umbrellas were available for us to find refuge from the sun. So Leanne and I decided to do some souvenir shopping while Stuart took the kids to a little cove where the waves were less fierce than the private beach. When we got back from shopping we went down and joined the kids and the men. Once the fishermen started throwing their hooks our way, we decided to get out. 

Once we were free of sand and salt water, we headed to Seafood Cove for our last meal with the Tito-Nekeares. The kids played in the sand by the tables and we just chatted away, mostly about rugby, and our next holiday, which will most likely be Thailand. 

They left for the airport at 5 pm and we headed back to our room for a rest. The kids played in the room and watched Animal Planet while Stuart and I sorted out the packing. 

The last sunset of our stay might have been the most beautiful. 

We headed down to the lounge area around 7 pm as not to go stir crazy in the room. Because we had such a late lunch, we ended up changing our reservations for dinner to 8 pm. We ate and we're back in the room with kids in bed by 9:30 pm. 

We were up for breakfast by half 8 and in the pool by 9 am. We swam for two hours then headed to the souvenir shop we visited the first day but didn't buy anything. He guy was not open again. Boo! Fortunately there was a little shop just up from the hotel that had the wooden elephants that we wanted. Purchased, had an ice cream that melted faster than the kids could eat it, then it was back to clean up and finish packing. We sat for about a half hour and watched  some more Animal Planet. We have learned more about the hunting and mating habit of tigers on this trip than I think I ever wanted to know. 

We left for the airport, in heavy school traffic, at 1:30 pm. We arrived just before three o'clock and got the kids Burger King for the highway robbery of $38. Really? Clearly Sri Lanka spoiled us with their cheap prices. 

Once on the flight we had meals and the princess slept for about 2 and a half of the 4 hour flight. Waking her up was quite the challenge. Off the plane and straight to the bathroom we went. The walk from the gate to customs was at least a mile and a half. The Dubai airport is so incredibly large and spread out. Cathy and Mandy were waiting for us at the arrival hall. They had spent the day in Dubai shopping. 

The trip home was uneventful except for the fact that once we rounded the corner to get on the freeway, one of our bags slid over and cracked Jack in the eye. Poor boy was tired and now his eye was sore. Mandy ended up changing seats with him and she sat in the back while he laid on me to sleep for the majority of the ride home. 

Once we were home the unpacking began. I started laundry just after I put the kids to bed. Millie was a bit of a challenge because she had slept on the plane for so long. They had briefly looked at the Easter baskets the Easter bunny had left for them. He didn't forget after all. He brought a new pair of swimmers for each kid, some money, and way too much chocolate, which of course pleased Millie. They really dug into them Saturday morning, when they could focus on the gifts. 

I went to get some provisions once we were all awake, which included muffins for the kids because even toast was too much of an effort. 

We sat around most of the morning finishing the 6 loads of laundry from our fabulous holiday. The downside of any holiday where you don't stay with family is the insurmountable laundry to be done when you get home. 

Because the kids were up at the crack of dawn, we knew they would need an early evening to regain some energy for the week to come. Although they wouldn't go back to school until April 10th, they still needed a great deal of recovery time because we really did run them raged while we were in Sri Lanka. 

The rest of the day was spent in recovery mode for all of us. I'm happy to report that I did get all of the laundry finished. 

It's now back to our real 'fake' lives. 

The Emirate is testing its public school students

Sunday was the beginning of the EMSA (External Measurement of Student Achievement) exams. The first day was Arabic Reading and Writing. Being the coordinator I stayed in the room with the tests while some of the other staff was in charge of taking the exams to the different classrooms. It was perfect! Everyone did their job and we didn't lose one exam. 

After work I went to Headquarters to turn in one of our teacher's airfare form. Her mother passed away and she had to return to the UK for the funeral when we were supposed to turn the forms in. The super tragic part is that two days after her mother died, her dad died. I can't even imagine. However, her mother was taking care of her dad so maybe that was God's little way. Still yet it is very sad for her. I told her I would take her form so she didn't have to worry about it. 

Once I got home Sammy, Michael and Keira came over to play. The kids play so nicely together. However, Millie took Keira into the bathroom, closed the door, and told Keira to pull her pants down. Really? What is up with this 4 year old lately? How do you handle this? I just messaged Keira's mother and told her what happened and that we had spoken to Millie and she was grounded from playing with friends the rest of the week. 

Stuart and I both got a 'thanks but no thanks' email from Brighton College about teaching positions. It was disappointing, but I guess it's the way it's meant to be. We have to get scholarships for the kids now or they will not be going to Brighton College. 

Millie went to gymnastics and I decided to exercise while she was in class. I forced myself to walk a 15 minute mile, which meant I had to run at least a minute each mile. It nearly killed me. 

After the gym we went home, the kids had dinner and did the normal nightly routine, and then went to bed. Stuart and I followed shortly. 

School is not fun at the moment. I am overwhelmed with the testing, entering grades for 4 classes and trying to get prepared for our professional development week when we come back from spring break. And, if that wasn't enough, we found out on Monday that our inspection team would come to assess our school the second week back with students, April 18, and be there the rest of the week. 

Jack's received his acceptance letter to Brighton College on Monday. Stuart said when he told Jack the news, Jack was elated. We worried he wasn't going to be excited because he really doesn't know children his age at that school, but he will make friends fast and get very involved, I'm sure. 

Kayleigh came over to babysit on Monday evening so Stuart could go to his committee meeting and I could go see the doctor for my two month check up. I can't believe it's been 8 weeks since the surgery. He was very pleased with my results and told me I didn't have to have my B1,B6,B12 cocktail shot anymore. Yahoo!

When I got home Monday evening I had a message from one of my grade 1 teachers. She asked if she could take the place of one of our older grade teachers and monitor the exam given on Tuesday. The reason for this is hard to understand but I will try to explain. During our week of testing is also the time that our teachers are required to complete their report cards. It is time consuming because they have to put in a mark for each objective for each of the three subjects they teach. Also when we have testing it is only for grades 3, 4, and 5, which means no other students come to school. This is not because they are not allowed to come to school, rather it's because they choose to not come to school. So, this teacher thought the older grade teacher could use an extra hour to work on her grades. And since the grade 1 teacher didn't have many students on Sunday, fewer on Monday, and most likely would have no students on Tuesday, she decided this would be a nice gesture. 

I then decided to send a message to all lower grade teachers and ask if any of them would also monitor testing. I asked the teachers to privately respond to me so that there wouldn't be any pressure. If they wanted to volunteer that would be great, if not then no big deal. To my surprise all but one volunteered to monitor. I really have a cooperative, team-player type of team of English teachers. They are really nice to work with. 

Tuesday after school I took Jack's acceptance letter to Brighton College. Now we wait for the financial people to call us and pray that they can work out some scholarships for us. I then went on to the mall and did some 'Easter bunny' shopping. Since we will be in Sri Lanka for Easter, the Easter Bunny had to be prepared and have things ready to put out before we left. 

Millie had gymnastics and I walked two miles during that time. Then I went to buy some eggs so Stuart could make sausage and eggs for the kids for dinner. I got back to the gym just in time to pick Millie up, head home for showers, me included, and head out for a pedicure with Clare. Stuart was on Daddy duty. 

Wednesday was our last day of testing. Everything went smoothly and I finished packing them up just before 11 am. At 11 am the buses were called to take the kids home because for some reason our cafeteria didn't have enough food to feed the boys. Sometimes these random things happen. Although there were principals all week who sent their students home after testing, my principal is a western principal and follows the rules. Then naturally a random thing will happen like not having food for half of our students causing us to send them home. Hmmmm. 

Wednesday afternoon I took the kids to Rochelle's for a play. Jack had taken his Yoda light saber, which no longer lights up or makes noises. He kept bugging me about going home to change the batteries in it so he could 'fight' with Louie. I kept telling him no. He is at this stage where the word 'no' really means 'I'm going to bug her until she can't stand it and then maybe she'll change her mind', which never happens. I had a talk with him the previous day to tell him that when I said 'no', his response should be 'ok'. That was clearly a good talk, and didn't work at all. 

After the kids were fed and in bed, Cathy and her mum came over for a visit. Her mum is here for a little over a week and we wouldn't have seen her had she not come over because we were leaving the following day.  It was a nice visit. 

We woke up Thursday, so excited for our trip. We all headed our separate ways, knowing that evening we would head to the Premier Inn for a sleep and then would be off to Sri Lanka. I think I've mentioned this before, but this is the first real holiday we have taken that didn't involve visiting family. We've been to California and northern Arizona as a family, but no trip like this. 

Once I was at work, I loaded he test boxes into my car and returned the tests to the print shop. I then went to speak to someone in English teacher support about being transferred to a Kindergarten school that was close to Brighton College. I have put in a transfer request because the kids will start school around the same time we do. One of us will have to take them to school and the other will have to pick them up each day. In order to do this I have to be at a girls' school or Kindergarten school which both start later than a boys' school or a school like the one where I currently work. The lady I wanted to speak with wasn't there. I left a message and will see if that gets me any results. I got back to school at 10 am and left school at 11:30 am. 

On my way home I stopped by the gym to ask how many more sessions Millie had paid for. I also informed them we were not going to be there that evening or the following week. Because of the bad weather a few weeks ago, they froze her time and we would just finish out her paid for sessions when we returned. 

Once I was home, I found Stuart sitting on the sofa. Clearly he had been released early as well. So we decided to go have lunch at the 101 Cafeteria, just down the road from us. 

This is a local cafe with delicious food. 

We had decided to go to the airport and stay at the hotel on Thursday night since our flight left at 7 am. We knew we had a friend (Scott) who would take us to the airport on Thursday night, but didn't want to ask anyone to take us at 4 am on Friday morning. So Scott took us to the hotel by the airport. 

Once we were checked in, we went to our room to put our things away. Then we came down for a bite to eat in the hotel restuarant. We met a family that was just passing through for the day, heading on to Europe from Melbourne, Australia. They were asking questions about the local people and the culture. 

By the time the kids got their ice cream it was 8:30 pm and they were both exhausted. I headed up to the room to get them showered and in bed. 

We had a 4 am get up and then we're off to the airport. We went to the Marhaba Lounge, which is a service provided to those of us with National Bank of Abu Dhabi accounts. We had a nice breakfast and then headed to our gate. 

As you can see, we had some very excited little travelers. And although Millie slept virtually the entire flight, she was raring to go once we landed. 

Ready for take off and a week in Sri Lanka. 

Once we landed, we gathered our luggage and headed through customs. Once out we were greeted by a man from Mt Lavinia Hotel. He was holding a sign with Stuart's name on it. Fancy! 

Here are Stuart and Millie and tropical scenery just outside of the airport. 

No trip is complete without that first family selfie after touching down in the holiday spot. 

The driver took our luggage and we headed out to a 'quite toasty' (as Millie put it) Colombo, Sri Lanka. We hopped in a van and were on our way to the hotel. The journey took a little over an hour, and I thought we might die at least three times.  

The one thing that we discovered on the journey and that surprised us was that the time difference from Sri Lanka to Abu Dhabi was 1.5 hours? When you go to a different time zone, have you ever gone to one that is a half hour difference? I haven't, but it was legitimate. 

We arrived at the resort around 4 pm. We put our luggage in the room, unpacked in our home for the week and started exploring the resort. The first thing we did was to check out the trip to Kandy, which provided stops at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, my dream of a lifetime. We decided to book that trip for Monday. Our friends, David and Leanne, and their son Xavier were to arrive Saturday evening and they were going to go with us on the Kandy adventure. 

This was the view from our room. There is a private beach off to the left a ways, which I'm sure will be a place of relaxation for us during our stay. 

This is the pool that will know us all too well by the end of our holiday. 

The terrace overlooking the beach. 

As the sun was coming down, I couldn't resist this picture of the kids and Stuart on the sand. 

And then Millie and Stuart had to feel the waves. 

They may have gotten more than they bargained for, or at least Millie did. 

No trip to the beach would be complete without a stop at the beach bar and a banana smoothie. 

Oh, and a local beer for Daddy!

The kids sat by the table at the beach bar and wrote their names in the sand. What a life!

We returned to the hotel after checking out the gym, with full intentions to work out at least three days this week, then took showers. The kids took a shower and then I did. When Stuart got into the shower, that was when house keeping decided to come and put our 4th twin bed into our room. I knocked on the bathroom door and told Stuart to stay in there. He ended up having to stay for 20 minutes. To me it was hilarious. I'm not sure he saw the humor in it. 

In the end, they sorted the room and we were off to dinner. We had paid for half board, which meant we could eat breakfast and dinner each day. The food was unbelievable. Even though my portions were beyond tiny, I enjoyed each bite taken. The kids even ate well. 

Back to our room and bed was in order. 

Saturday morning, at 4 am, I woke up itching like crazy and I had hives on my eyes, forehead and the creases of my arms. Clearly I had eaten something I was allergic, although I have never known myself to be allergic to anything but red die #40. So, note to self- avoid the seafood salad and the prawns for the rest of the trip. 

Once we were all awake, we headed to breakfast, where the food was, yet again, incredible. The view from our table was spectacular as well.  

Breakfast was a variety of meats, eggs, fruit, pastries, juices and omelets. 

Once breakfast had finished we were back to the room for a costume change into swim wear, and a day by the pool. Stuart and I read (and I spent time writing this) and just lounged around, while the kids played in the pool. 

Everyone is ready!

We also got in the pool a few times, which was refreshing. 

We had lunch at the pool just after noon. The kids had a hot dog and chicken nuggets, while Stuart had a roast beef sandwich (little roast beef and a lot of bread) and I ate a protein bar (it's vital for my protein needs these days, and it's cheaper). Jack's hot dog and Millie's chicken nuggets were $1.50 a piece. They came with tons of fries. This was a meal that was a super bargain. 

We left the pool around 2:30 pm because the kids were tired. We took showers, not really thinking about the what time of day it was. Then Stuart reminded me of the fact that there was no way the kids could stay in the room for 5 hours and we would have to get out. We took a little rest then decided to explore a bit. 

We headed out of the hotel and got a tuk-tuk (a three wheeled motor scooter- one at the front and two at the back) to take us to a supermarket for water and hair conditioner. I totally forgot that my daughter has terrible hair that requires conditioner more than once a day. 

This was our view on our journey. 

Selfie on the tuk-tuk. 

Our entire journey, which lasted about 5 minutes, cost us about $1.25. We didn't ask him to wait for us but yet decided to walk back to the hotel. It was only about a 10 minute walk. On the way back we crossed a very busy road to look for more sunscreen because we feared we hadn't brought enough. We didn't find any at the pharmacy that was across the road, and we had to cross back. Yikes!

We survived and on our way back to the hotel we stopped at a souvenir shop. I found some pants with elephants on them, and although I am not one who thinks I should wear elephant pants, these were cute. I didn't get them at the time, but went back later in the week. They were a total of 1000 rupees, which is about 25 dirhams ($6.75). Even if they fall apart after one wear I think I got my money's worth. 

Back to the hotel and to the seafood Cove for the kids to have a chocolate shake, Stuart a beer and me a mint iced tea. We watched two chipmunks playing around the thatched roof, then we noticed a wedding taking place so we became the wedding crashes. We got as close as we could without being shooed away. There were dancers that brought in the men's wedding party and the groom's mom and dad. The same dancers brought in the bride's wedding party and her mom and dad. It was a really wonderful experience. 

The wedding party faced each other, which was unusual, but totally made sense. 

The crashers!

After going to a wedding we weren't invited to, we headed down the beach for a bit. The kids got all sandy, I was sweating my butt off, and therefore showers were in order...again before we headed to dinner. 

The kids love posing for pictures. They did love seeing all of the crab holes in the sand, except Millie couldn't resist putting sand in the hole to 'cover it up'. 

Once back in the room, round two of showers were had and we watched Animal Planet until it was time to go to Italian night at the restuarant. 

At dinner, Jack whined about the food. He wanted it to be the same food as it had been on Friday night. As patiently as I could, which we all know how that went, I tried to explain to him that every night would be different and there would be something he would like. I also tried to remind him that not every child gets a holiday where they are about to choose their food from amongst multiple dishes presented to them. Stuart reminded him that when we were little our holidays looked nothing like this and our parents packed a lot of our meals because they didn't have the luxury of eating out each night. I hope they know one day that we really are fortunate at this time in our lives. I'm not sure how to relay that very well, I'm afraid. 

Unfortunately, at dinne, both of the kids had belly aches. And unfortunately we hit the loo on two separate occasions with me on butt wiping duty both times. The joys of motherhood! I think Millie and Jack had both had too much for the day. 

We finished dinner and headed back for the kids to go to sleep. Stuart and I stayed up to greet our friends the Titos (David, Leanne and their son, Xavier). I ended up falling asleep so Stuart greeted them just before 10 pm in the bar, naturally. 

We would start 5 days of fun with them on Sunday. 

Reschedule the assessment for Jack? Ok!

School was full of testing organization. Our formalized testing happens the last week of Term 2 every year. I was assigned to be the coordinator this year. I treat the exams as I would at home, but that's not the case for everyone. All I know is that I am diligent in my handling of the exams and instructions to the teachers. Their dealing with the exams is on them. 

Sunday morning we received the email regarding Jack's assessment at Brighton College. It would be rescheduled for Wednesday. In the end, Stuart had a meeting that didn't start until 10 am so there was no need for me to take the day off because Jack's test was over by 9:30 am. 

Sunday evening Millie had gymnastics and I decided to walk. I had told myself that I needed to walk a 15 minute mile, in fact, three of them. I was going to walk for 45 minutes and wanted 3 miles to be what I walked when I was finished. As you can guess, after not walking for exercise for a very long time, my goals were a little lofty. I had to run some in order to get the three miles completed in 45 minutes. It was tough but I did it. 

Once we were home from gymnastics the kids he dinner. Millie wouldn't eat her dinner. She was throwing a fit, and since we are tired of her picky eating habits, I took her upstairs, showered her, and put her to bed. I assumed she would be hungry Monday morning. 

On Mondya morning I continued to get the exams prepared for each day of testing the following week. The hardest part is filling in names for the students who enrolled later in the year and were not assigned to a class. I had to write their names, in the correct order, sometimes not knowing what that was. I had to defer the Arabic writing of the names to our building manager. I need more practice with my Arabic letters, clearly. 

Once school was over on Monday I headed home to homework, not mine of course. Then Jack and Millie were off to play at their friends' house. Once they were home I fed them and then they took a shower. They ended up watching The Good Dinosaur, again, before it was bedtime. 

Stuart had rugby, preparing a match with the 3rd team on Friday. But after that he will be gone for the next two Friday's so will miss two matches. While he was at rugby I watched trashy television. I do enjoy my own time on Monday and Wednesday evenings. 

Millie woke up complaining about her throat on Tuesday morning. So, being the good mom, I pumped her full of Tylenol and sent her off to school. As you would guess I got a message from the school just before 1 pm to say she was complaining about her throat but she had no fever. They gave her some more Tylenol and she stayed until our driver picked her up. He was going to get to the school before we could anyway, so it only made sense. 

Tuesday at my school was a day of organizing with paperwork needed for the end of the term. Since we don't have regular substitutes that would have responsibilities of filling in grades on the computer, that becomes my job for 4 different sections. Such fun!

After school I took paperwork to the central office for flight reimbursement. That only means the end of the year is getting closer. They seem to be paying us our flight monies earlier than last year. That works for me!

Once the kids were home Millie had perked up a bit. So we headed to gymnastics at 4 pm. When we got there the teacher was outside and asked if Millie forgot to tell me there would be no class today because they were painting the ceiling of the gym. I told the teacher that Millie probably didn't remember because she's 4 years old. Now, I sit outside the gym every night she has class. A simple step out to tell me this information could have saved me some time and frustration. Before we left the teacher said we needed to come on Thursday at 5 instead of 4 because there was going to be a Mother's Day celebration. Mother's Day in the UAE this year is March 20. I get so confused and wish all Mother's Days were the same date around the world. We went back home and decided to feed the kids early and then if they wanted some fruit before bed, we could get that for them. 

To be fair, Millie was a bit blah by the time we got home, so an early night wasn't totally out of the question. 

My poor little sickie!

So they had dinner, though Millie did not eat much, and then fell Millie fell asleep in Stuart's arms at 5:10 pm. 

When I went to bed, Millie had a fever. I gave her Tylenol and rocked her for a little while. She woke up at 2:30 am and wanted to get into bed with us.  She didn't have a fever but I gave her some medicine as a preventative. Hello restless sleep. I moved her back to her bed at 4:30 am. Needless to say I knew I would be wiped out at work on Wednesday. Super. 

Millie was better Wednesday morning when she woke up. I, again, pumped her full of Tylenol and sent her off to school. Stuart took Jack for his assessment and afterwards I spoke to Jack. I asked him how he did on the assessment. He said, without skipping a beat, 'I did great!'  He probably did do well, but that statement out of his mouth made me know he would never have a self confidence issue. 

After school I went to see Cathy. She had a procedure on Monday, but seemed to be getting on really well. I sat and talked for a bit and then got back to the house for the long awaited delivery of our tumble dryer. Yahoo! 

We washed a load of laundry later than plan, so I felt the need to stay up and make sure our dryer worked. I set it on one hour and then fell asleep on the sofa, waking at 3:30 am to not quite dry clothes. Boo! So I sat it for another 2 hours which was probably too long, but then all the clothes were dry when Stuart pulled them out on Thursday morning. My modern convenience is back in working order. 

Thursday after school I went to Brighton College to turn in Millie's letter of acceptance to the school. I spoke to Annie, the admissions person, about our resumes we sent in. She said she would check into whether anyone had looked at them or not. Brighton has decided to keep Millie in their Foundation Stage 2 class next year, which is the equivalent of preschool. The school where she currently attends would have sent her to grade 1 next year, our equivalent to Kindergarten. We are thrilled they want to hold her back because she is really young and we would have done our best to hold her back once we moved back to Arizona anyway. Brighton College has noticed her immaturity and lack of skills and is going to do the leg work for us, which is perfect. 

After my stop at Brighton, I decided to go to the mall and look for a new swimsuit for our trip to Sri Lanka. I found one and also remembered that we would be in Sri Lanka for Easter so the Easter bunny would need to come while we were out of town. I got some chocolates and a gift for each kid. Oh the trouble we go to for our kids. 

Millie had gymnastics Thursday evening, but not until 5 pm for some reason. When we got there I remembered why she didn't have it until 5 pm. There was a Mother's Day program. It ended up just being a presentation but Millie was not involved at all. I don't know why the communication here is so pitiful at times, but it continues to frustrate me. 

Stuart finally had had enough of the older kids that play football around our cars. They were also using foul language on Thursday evening. He went out and told them they needed to leave our area. He also informed them that he knew many of them from the rugby club and hey we're setting a bad example for younger kids in the neighborhood. They moved and didn't mouth off a bit. That's the good thing about the expat kids, they usually are pretty respectful and they certainly don't want to get into trouble with their parents, or at least most of them don't. 

We got up Friday morning and went to weight in for the Biggest Loser. Because spring break starts in a week the participants decided this would be the last week and they would start up again after spring break. As a part of the celebration of the last week, Stuart made everyone breakfast burritos.

Here is our breakfast burrito assembly line. 

After the burritos, we stayed at the club for a bit and watched some of the kids play rugby. 

Around 11 am, Millie and I went to the mall while Stuart and Jack went back to the rugby club. Stuart had a match at 1 pm. Millie and I got back to the club after some shopping. We watched the match, then headed to a painting birthday party. 

I know these painting parties are very popular in Arizona, but this was the first one we had been to. The kids had so much fun and painted some beautiful fish. 

Millie wouldn't let me help at all. In fact, once I tried to tell her something and she swung the brush at me and said, 'I can do this by myself.' And she did do it by herself. 

This was a little more of a stressful activity for Jack because there was no exact way to do it and he felt he was always messing up. Poor kid!

Both kids were pleased with their final product. 

After the birthday party we headed back to the club, fed the kids and then it was home and showers for the kids. Stuart stayed at the club with some of his rugby pals. 

We got up Saturday morning and went to DeDe's for the Easter party. This is our last craft party for the year. We will have to wait until Halloween for the next one. Again, all of the children had a great time.  The crafts were a little bit easier than the ones for Valentines Day.  

There were 3 different crafts, but when we realized the third craft had to just be glued and there were about a thousand parts, that became the craft we sent home as a take home project. 

Millie made her crafts by herself. There was a door hanger and a picture frame. I love Oriental Trading Company. 

Once the party was over we headed home. The Richardsons stayed for a while and the kids played. We then headed to the club for lunch and a swim. I actually swam 40 lengths, which I hadn't done for well over 2 months. It felt good and I knew it was good for me. 

After our swim we went home to grab the kids jammies and towels, then headed to the Richardsons for dinner. The kids ended up playing indoors the entire time. Then we had a full English roast dinner and off the kids went to take showers. 

Millie and I headed upstairs so I could bathe her. She ended up going back down to the stairwell to do the unthinkable. She gave Henry and Jack the finger. Oh yes, you read that correctly. Apparently she had seen her best friend, Abbey, do that at the rugby club on Friday evening. After the investigation, telling her that was not nice and she must never do that again, I had to message Abbey's dad and tell him. He was grateful that I messaged and had the same talk with Abbey. We watched a bit of rugby and then headed home. 

On the way home Millie fell asleep. Jack had some fruit and then went to bed as well. Stuart and I turned in shortly after the kids. 

Assessment time for Jack

I received the email on Thursday about Jack coming for an assessment at Al Ain International School on Sunday at 10 am, then shortly after that email came one about his assessment at Brighton College on Wednesday morning at 8 am. 

I ended up texting my principal to tell her what was happening so it wouldn't be a shock to her when it came to me leaving a great deal this week. She was fine with it and really is quite accommodating with those of us who have kids and often need to take care of things during the day. 

We went to the assessment, in which the tester was late. That wasn't terribly impressive, and he spoke with two students at once, having them take the test at the same time. They don't have a spot for Millie at the moment anyway, so clearly we are not leaning towards Al Ain International School. 

When we completed at the school we headed to the grocery store. Since we had spent the weekend in Dubai, our weekly shopping was delayed. I didn't make Jack go back to school so he just headed home with me and watched movies the rest of the afternoon. 

Millie went to gymnastics Sunday evening and while she was in class I decided to go for a walk. It wasn't terribly warm and I was amazed at how my knee withstood the walk. Since my knee surgery last summer I was told all I could do was swim or ride the exercise bike. Clearly I can still walk as long as I am careful. This made me happy. 

Rugby for the kids is over and Stuart didn't have practice this week, so we had a lot of time on our hands. And as the week progressed, we had even more time as you will read. 

Monday we woke up to rain. Usually this means that there will be fewer students at school. However, on this day that was not the case. 

After school Millie went for a play date with a little girl in her class, Sophie. Jodi, Sophie's mom, picked them up from school. She stayed until I came to get her at half three. But then I stayed and chatted until 5 pm. Once we were back in the car and on our way home, I got a call from Stuart. He had taken Jack with him to the rugby club. I had totally forgotten that he had a committee meeting. So I ended up going to the club to pick up Jack. Jack had already had a shower, so once we were home the kids ate, or at least Jack did. Millie was so tired that all she could do was throw a bit of a fit. So needless to say she went to bed earlier than Jack. 

Stuart got home after Jack had gone to bed. He fixed himself something to eat and we watched a James Bond film. As is quite common, I fell asleep about halfway through. I have had tons of sleep over the past 6 weeks. I go to bed every evening when Stuart does, which is not what I used to do. Sleep is way more important to me than it used to be. Go figure!

Tuesday it was still a little stormy but no rain. By the afternoon it came a crazy storm. Since we rarely get rain people act like maniacs. And to be fair, this storm was a doozie. Winds were insane and since they don't get much rain, storm drains are really not made for run off water. Therefore water stands in the roads and driving is a nightmare. 

This was a view of the more mild driving conditions after the massive rain fall occurred. 

I ended up leaving school about 45 minutes later than I normally do. It took me over 30 minutes to get home when usually I can make it in 17 minutes. When I pulled out of our school car park I immediately got nervous. The water was up to my door. I called Stuart and told him I wouldn't be shocked if I stalled at some stage. I got home, but not in any record breaking time. The kids were late getting home as well. By about 3:15 pm the rain had stopped but water still stood on the roads. We were going to skip gymnastics, but since the rain had gone I decided to take Millie. It took us 15 minutes to drive what normally takes us 3 minutes. Clearly the route to the gym was not clear and had a great deal of water around it. Once we were at the gym it appeared to be closed. So then McDonalds it is. 

Millie was finally able to use her umbrella for the rain. 

Rainy day was called at 1:03 am via email on my school account. This meant there would be no school for Wednesday.  The forecast called for the same weather until Thursday evening. 

We were still up at the crack of dawn on Wednesday and decided to have Clare and the kids over for lunch. The weather had subsided a bit but still looked very dark outside. It was crazy, but very nice for a change. 

Jack was to have his Brighton assessment on Wednesday morning but since all schools were ordered to be closed, it was postponed. 

Around 8 am the kids went upstairs to play. They had been in time out previously and were warned that it would be a long day for each of them if they didn't sort out how to get along and be nice to each other. 

11 am the Richardsons arrived for lunch. The weather seemed fine and the kids played outside for a while. At 1 pm the heavens opened up, just as Clare and Henry needed to leave for a doctor appointment. 

It was just after the storm that we were informed there would be no school on Thursday either.  It seems that many of the schools had water pouring into them. As the storm drains are not equipped for the rain, neither are the roofs.  I will take a 4 day weekend any way I can get it. 

Around 3 pm Clare and Henry returned and picked up May. Stuart then headed to the bottle shop for beer which we haven't done since November. Shocking!

I was a bit stir crazy so decided to go to Abelas, our corner supermarket, to look around. On my way I ran into Cathy. She was going for a walk to see some of the flooding by one of the wadis (same as Arizona washes). I decided to stop my car and walk with her, although I was in flip flops. 

This was what we saw on our walk. 

We had to prove we were out in that crazy weather. 

When I returned from my one hour journey and visit to the super market, Scott was at our place. He was off work but wanted to wait until traffic and water cleared a bit before heading home. He also needed to pick up the beer and wine Stuart had bought for him. 

In the rain here, it really is like going out in snow in other parts of the world.  All drivers are not sure what to do. It's crazy. 

The evening was spent feeding kids, no baths because no one did anything all day, and bedtime. 

Thursday, once we were up and around, we decided to do our grocery shop for the cookout planned for Friday. After we were home we watched movies and lounged around. Millie's gymnastics was canceled again but she was fine with that because it meant we would ride with Stuart and Jack to the Richardsons for dinner at their house. 

We took the kids' bikes so they could ride in the small 'lake' that had developed in their parking area by their villa. They played for over an hour in the water and then were inside for baths and food. 

We got home just after 8 pm and Millie was sound asleep. Jack went straight to bed, and Stuart and I followed once laundry was started and bikes were unloaded from the car. 

Friday morning Stuart took the kids to the pool while I went to the mall in search of a new condenser dryer. Ours died earlier in the week and unfortunately I am not the person who can just hang clothes to dry. It's just more than my OCD can handle, having clothes everywhere all the time. 

Cathy went with me and we ended up visiting two malls and buying several things, none of which were a clothes dryer. However, I did price one up and would go back on Saturday morning to get it. 

The Richardsons, O'Reillys and Cathy's crew were due to come over around 3 pm for a bbq. We had more meat than you could shake a stick at. There was salad and potatoes, which we all hardly made a dent in. There was so much meat left that it warranted Stuart's culinary skills to turn it all into something fantastic. 

We ate, sat on our back patio, talked and laughed until around 8 pm. The kids went to bed and Stuart, Cathy and I continued to chat until just before 10 pm. She walked home and we went to bed. A bbq is always a fun evening with our group of friends. 

Saturday we went to the mall to buy our dryer. I washed beds in the morning and knew they wouldn't be dry by nightfall. This was the final straw. We also bought a Bluetooth wireless speaker so we could play music in the house. We had placed Stuart's phone in a Pyrex bowl at our bbq and were made fun of, so we decided maybe we needed something a little more modern. It will also be good to take with us when we go on holiday. 

The kids decided they wanted to go to Fun Farm, a play structure where we can drop them off for an hour. In that time we finished up our shopping and took everything back to the car. The dryer will be delivered on Wednesday. Whew!

We ate lunch at PF Changs and then headed home for a while. Millie had a birthday party to go to at a park by her school. The little boy in her class is from Finland. One of the great advantages of what we are doing is that my kids know people from all over the world. They have learned about different cultures, not only the Arabic culture. It blows my mind to think of the experiences they have and will have during our time here. 

Once the party was over we headed to the Richardsons for curry night. We always have such a relaxing time at their house. I always intrude by bringing my kids' pjs and towels and having them shower at their house. That way, once we get in the car to head home, which is usually after or close to their bedtime, they either go to sleep or are ready to go to sleep once we arrive. It's great. One less battle for me, for sure. 

We watched the Ireland vs Italy rugby match, part of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament. We just can't get enough of it. We left at the end of the match and were home with kids in bed by 7:30 pm. 

Just two weeks of school before we head to Sri Lanka. We are getting very excited.