A week of sport for all

I got up and walked by myself on Sunday. Lara had a cold, and by the time she messaged me I was already up and ready for walking. 

Sunday school was school. We had an awards ceremony that was to start at 9, but didn’t end up starting until 9:25. That really makes it difficult for teachers who are on such a time crunch when teaching all of the learning objectives before the end of the term. I left school early, as will be the case each Sunday for the rest of the term. We started getting the next term’s continuous assessments ready for teachers. It’s definitely something I look forward to each week. 

After school I was going to the driving range to hit some golf balls, but decided to go to the club instead. It was really windy so I wimped out of fighting that. We got home from rugby training and I went to bed before 9 pm. 

Monday morning I walked with Lara. She wasn’t completely well, but was feeling a bit better. She was congested but forged ahead. 

At school I organized the mess that had been in our supply room for nearly three months. I didn’t finish, but decided I could complete it on Tuesday. We had common planning amongst the staff and were allowed to go home early. 

When I left school, I went to collect Jack. Mandy came by for a cup of tea. We had a good chat. Stuart went to meet with the chairman of the club, but decided not to stay for training, which really messes up my trash show night. He made bubble and squeak and then another day closed. 

Tuesday I finished cleaning the storage room at school. It doesn’t look perfect, but I can live with it. I picked the kids up. Jack wouldn’t leave Judo and it went over the time. This made Millie and I late to her first dance class. At any rate, she loved the dance class and was thrilled to not be playing rugby any more. 

I went to pick Cathy up and then dropped Millie off at the club. Cathy and I then headed to our golf lesson. I have to say, I am loving what I’m learning about my golf swing. We are having a wonderful time. 

Once I was home I discovered that Millie had fallen asleep at the rugby club and was in bed when I got home. Therefore, she went to bed dirty, which of course drives me crazy. 

Wednesday I got up and started fixing the kids’ lunches. Lara messaged me and said she wasn’t going to walk. So I went anyway and decided to run the first mile of my two mile walk. It was great. I have to get back in the habit of real exercise. 

We did a lot of walk throughs at school, but I left school early because I just needed some time and since we are allowed 6 hours of private time each month, I decided to take three hours of mine. I got home and took a nap. It was glorious. 

The kids got home and neither of them felt well. Both were stuffy and feverish. They stayed around the house after they did their homework. They showered early and ate. Oh dear!

Stuart went to training and I relaxed with my reality shows in front of the television. The kids went to bed early with no fuss at all. They really didn’t feel well. 

Stuart and I had training on Thursday. I went to school first and then met him at the training. It wasn’t anything they couldn’t have emailed, but it was nice to be home by just after noon, with lunch and a stop at the super market. 

I picked the kids up after school. I spoke to Millie’s teacher about not letting Millie go to the nurse. It seems that she is a frequent flyer at the nurse’s office. I was always irritated by those kids. 

Cathy had her school inspection all week. She was ready for some rest for sure. She came over for dinner and some conversation. 

Friday morning Jack had a rugby tournament. He insisted on riding the bus. Stuart ended up riding the bus with him, while Millie and I drove up in my car. Their results were very good, but they played really hard. Jack ended up riding the bus back, while Stuart, Millie and I stopped at the outlet mall to shop at Tommy Bahama. We got some bargains, ate some lunch, then headed back to the club to pick up Jack. We ended up staying until around 9 pm. The hurling club had their annual tournament so we stayed to hang out with the Irish. They are a lively bunch for sure. 

Saturday was a lazy day for sure. Millie went to a birthday party, while I went to DeDe’s for a Favorites Party. When I got home at 6 pm, both kids were showered, had eaten and were ready for bed. The workers were in our house replacing Sean’s air conditioner. He was a happy chappy. We had only been calling about the broken air conditioner for 8 weeks. Better late than never. The rest of the evening was chilled and relaxed. Another week in the books. 

A trying week, with an ill child.

Sunday morning came way too early, unfortunately. The fog was so thick that we had a lot of teachers late to school. This time of year, the fog can cause zero visibility. It makes driving quite dangerous. 

Once I was at school, I covered for our grade 5 boys’ class because our English teacher had a close family friend pass away and she had to fly back to Scotland for the funeral. I left school just before 11 to go to another school to begin work on the continuous assessments for term 3. We had a fifth person join our efforts, but she was more of a pain than a help. So we relayed to our cluster manager that we would rather our new addition not join us again. We had been granted permission to gather every Sunday for the rest of the term to make assessments. 

After school I came home with a few groceries, while Stuart was at the doctor checking out a rash that looked like ring worm. Thank goodness it wasn’t. It turned out to be some sort of allergy. I collected the kids from school and was told that Millie had visited the nurse because her head was hurting. 

Once we were home the kids changed into their rugby kits, did some homework, and played for a bit before heading to rugby. I worked out at the gym and then had a pot of tea in the club restaurant. When rugby was over, Millie came up and was crying about her feet hurting. She was also complaining of having a fever. When we got home, the plan was for the kids to shower and then have some fruit. They had their dinner before rugby. We’ve found this works better for both of them. I bathed Millie and she decided to just go to bed without having any strawberries, her favorite. I then knew she didn’t feel well. I rocked her to sleep and then went to take a shower myself. 

Jack played on his play station for a bit and then was off to bed. Stuart fixed dinner and we watched our new show, Elementary, a mystery show, as you would guess. We discussed who would stay home with Millie on Monday if she woke up not feeling well. 

Well, as you could guess, Millie woke up with a fever. So instead of debating who would stay home, Millie decided we both should stay home with her. Stuart took Jack and Claire to school while I stayed with Millie. We sat her up on the love seat, where she remained most of the day. She ended up sleeping almost 3 hours in the afternoon, which would prove to be a hinderance to her bedtime. 

Claire came over to babysit Monday evening because Stuart and I had to go to the rugby club for an Extraordinary General Meeting to vote for the Social Secretary of the club. I was running, as well as a female rugby player named Hannah. Believe it or not, the votes were split. So it was decided we would share the position, which suited me just fine. It meant we would have half the work, which would be beneficial to both of us. 

We got home just after 7 pm and Millie was still awake. She didn’t actually fall asleep until after 8 pm. The good news was that she felt a lot better. So back to school she went on Tuesday. 

At school I covered 2 boy’s classes. They worked relatively well, but were still super chatty. That day couldn’t end early enough. I stayed at school until it was time for me to pick the kids up from their extra curricular activities. Homework was rushed because we had to get to rugby. I fed them before they left, then I headed to the golf course for my first golf lesson. Cathy and Gemma joined me. We signed up for 6 lessons. I really learned a lot in the first session and can’t wait for the rest of the lessons. 

When I got home Millie was on her way to bed. Stuart had both kids clean and they had their fruit. I went to say goodnight to Millie and then came down to eat the curry Stuart had made. It was yummy. We just chilled the rest of the evening. 

Wednesday I covered a boy’s class again. They were so disrespectful, and accused me of not letting them eat. In the afternoon there were 10 of those boys running all over the tables and acting a fool. They were awful! In the end we had to send a message to their parents to come in for a meeting the following day. 

After school I met with my co-chair for the social committee. We mapped out dates for things for the rest of the year. She is very skilled and has a lot of connections. I think we will make a great team. When I got home, Sean and Stuart were off to rugby and I perched up on the sofa, watching random television shows. I really love my alone time on Mondays and Wednesdays. 

Thursday at school the parents came in.  Some of the parents blamed me for not having control over their behavior, allowing the boys to take no responsibility for their action.  While other parents were very supportive. Although their parents came in, the boys were not much better when I had to teach them the last period of the day. Thank goodness their teacher will be back Sunday. 

When I picked the kids up from school, I discovered that I had a pumpkin for a daughter. I’m not sure how she will eat for a while. 

Thursday evening Hannah and I met with Andrew, the clubhouse manager, to talk about the schedule of events for the remainder of the year. He gave some insight as to what the resort would allow and what would not be possible. After we left the club, we went to Clare and Scott’s for a wine and cheese night. 

Friday I woke up and did a whole lot of nothing. We were going to go to church, but in the end we didn’t. Jack was upstairs getting dressed and as he came down, he stopped to pet Oreo. He then discovered a gash on Oreo’s hind leg. So off to the vet we went. The doctor wasn’t there, but they decided to keep Oreo for the night and the doctor would mend his wound the following day. They cleaned up the cut and said it had most likely been there a couple of days. Sadly, our cats are more susceptible to injury since we let them go outside from time to time.  

When I got home from the vet, I washed Jack’s bed. Jack and Millie were out playing most of the day, while Stuart was off to a rugby match in Dubai. 

Millie decided to go skating so she could use the gear Cathy had bought her for Christmas. 

The kids and I watched Ferdinand, which was cute. Sean and Stuart got home just after the Richardson’s arrived for dinner. The kids played, and once again had a late night, so no baths were had. Ick! 

Saturday morning I got up rather early. Jack was already awake, with every light in the house on. We called Grammie and Pop, and then we were off to breakfast at the golf club. The plan was to plan and book our holiday for spring break. The Richardsons, O’Reillys, and the four of us were planning to go on a holiday together. 

We stayed at the golf club until almost 1 pm, but got nothing booked. It was probably best because in the end Gemma, Fechin and their kids decided they would not be able to go with us. So, the plan was on to have the Richardsons over Saturday evening so that we could book our holiday. We decided to go to Pattaya, Thailand. We booked the flights and a wonderful villa from Airbnb. 

While we booked the holiday, the kids played outside and took Biscuit and Duke for a walk. Once the Richardsons had gone, Jack and Millie took showers and went to bed. We were all a bit tired. It was a long week, but a good weekend. 

A camping we will go.

I got up and walked with Lara, and took Duke. He walked well, but there was a barking dog that we couldn’t see because it was dark, so that startled us a bit. Duke didn’t even respond with a bark. He’s such a good dog. 

The kids started back to school and seemed thrilled to go back and see their friends. Our presentation was awesome. We gave all the continuous assessments for grades 1-5, in Mathematics and Science, that the teachers would need for the entire term. This would also be their grades for the term. We had some very happy teachers. 

Rugby started for Jack’s team on Sunday, but not for Millie’s team. I worked out on the exercise bike. I think, after the holidays, I have discovered that 3 or 4 pounds of weight gain scares me!!   Back on the strict diet I’ve come to love for almost 2 years. Home and to bed we all went after training. 

I worked in my office all day on Monday. It was great to feel I was going to be organized for the start of this second term. Monday after school I picked the kids up, they did some homework, and we headed to the club because Stuart and I had a committee meeting. The meeting ran longer than normal, so the kids got to bed a bit later than I cared for. It might take a bit to get back into our routine for school. 

Tuesday I walked with Lara, and worked most of the day in my office. I shopped after school in preparation for our camping trip over the coming weekend. The last time we camped it was disastrous. The wind nearly blew us off the beach and into the Gulf of Oman. We hoped for the best for the weekend. 

We went to the club for dinner to meet up with the Richardsons. They were going to England the following day for Clare’s dad’s 70th birthday. This would be the trip where they would inform their kids that they will be moving back to the UK at the end of this school year. I can only imagine their children will have mixed emotions about it all. I can assure you that Jack will be upset. 

We were home and in bed by 8:45 pm. The following day would prove to be a total bore. After school on Wednesday, Cathy came over to plan for camping. Stuart had all of the equipment ready and the food purchased. Our friends, Clare and Nin, informed us that they would meet us at the camp site on the Friday. Clare’s kids were going back to New Zealand on Thursday night so Friday morning was as early as they could get there. Jack was thrilled because Tua, Claire’s son, would be there for him to play with. After Cathy left on Wednesday evening, Stuart took the Richardsons to the airport. 

Thursday my team presented our project to 8 other schools. Again, there was a huge relief and gratitude for all of the work we did to make teachers’ lives easier. It was nice (again) to be appreciated and to help teachers in a mighty way. 

We got home really early from school as the presentation was short. We picked the kids up at noon from school to head to Fujeirah, another Emirate in the UAE. We left the house, packed for more than a weekend, at around 1 pm.  We arrived around 4 pm and started setting up camp. It was extremely windy, but we decided to brave it. We set up so that we could see the ocean from our tent. The wind died down around 7:30 pm and all was well. We had a bonfire and spent the evening chatting, well, maybe I snoozed, under the stars, in my camping chair. 

This was after we pulled over the first time Duke barfed. 

And the tent is up!

Because you can’t trust the wind, we put sand bags on each corner. 

Ready for a sleep. 

And the best camper award goes to? Duke!

Marshmallows are a must at a campfire. 

Duke was enjoying the evening, as were we. 

Then, it turned too cold for my feet. 

We awoke with the sun on Friday morning. After a breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and beans, cooked by Stuart, Jack and Millie, the kids got their swimmers on and headed out to the sea. Prior to that, though, there were fishermen who were bringing in he nets from the night before. Cathy took the kids down to see what they caught. They released a squid and a large sea turtle. The kids thought it was great. 

Breakfast!





The kids tried to talk Duke into loving the sea. 

Claire, Nin and company, showed up just before noon. We sat around and chatted while

The kids played in the water and dig out sand for some sort of mote. Our neighbors, Adam and Grace (and their three little boys) joined us around 2 pm. They were not going to camp, rather were staying in the hotel next to the beach. In hind site, I think hey wished hey would have camped. They ended up bar b queuing with us and didn’t even check into their hotel until almost 9 pm. What a great evening we had. The kids ate banana splits prepared on the barbie, the adults listened to music and smoked sheesha, while having a chat, and life was good and easy. 

Nothing bothers this dog!

Snacks for everyone, even Duke. 

Cathy, the babysitter 

Never a day goes by that these boys don’t play rugby. 

Ah, banana splits!

We were up again at the crack of dawn. This time it was because Duke decided to bolt out of the tent at 5 am, barking at the golden retriever camping next to us. Duke didn’t actually go past our tent, but he sounded as if he was going to. Duke was the perfect dog for this camping trip. We tied him to a long lead off the front of the truck and the worse trouble he got into was wrapping himself around the camping chairs with his extremely long lead. 

Nothing says camping like a Nutella sandwich. 

Millie was playing with our little neighbor. 

The fishing nets. 

Everyone went to see the catch on Saturday morning. 

Saturday morning, after Duke’s ourburst, we were up and drinking tea to knock off the cobwebs. The kids were back in the water and we anticipated the dreadful clean-up and departure from, what Millie called, our ‘holiday’. It was simple, but lovely, and cheap. 

We packed up around noon and we’re on the road back to Al Ain by half past one. When we arrived home, Cathy dropped me off and picked up her tent. Stuart, the kids, and Duke had ridden in the truck, while I rode with Cathy. Fortunately, I was not privileged to Duke’s barfing two times there and one time on the return trip. Poor Dog apparently gets car sick. 

And this is what playing hard for two days on the beach looks like. 

Once we were home I got into gear. Stuart unpacked everything from the truck and I started putting everything away. We make a great team. He gets everything ready for camping and is the main chef while we camp. Then I’m he clean-up crew when we get home. Kids showered and fed, Duke bathed, fed, and asleep, I showered, and the laundry was a never ending cycle until load 8 was in the dryer at 1 am. Whew! There were two more blankets to wash, but they would just have to wait. Camping was an excellent way to end the week. 

Happy New Year!

Sunday I was up at 8 and took Jack to Adam’s at 10. He spent the day with Adam. They went to Bounce camp while Stuart, Millie and I went shopping at the mall and ate lunch at PF Chang’s. Millie was such a delight to be around. Each child is pleasant when they have your total attention, I find. 

We went to Clare and Scott’s for New Years but were home by 10:30 pm. It was a bit of a boring night. We let the kids try to stay awake, but only Jack was able to make it to midnight. 

Monday morning we were up and lazed around until about noon. We then went to the rugby club for a swim. Stuart and I didn’t swim because our tattoos can’t touch pool water for a few weeks. Millie used her new mermaid tale that Grammie and Pop bought her for Christmas. She was a little fish!

This was what New Years did to this boy. Stuart found him on he sofa like this on Monday morning. Ha!

We ate lunch at the club and then came home. The kids played upstairs while I worked on my Lego, and Sean and Stuart watched a movie. The kids were back to regular bed time on Monday evening as Stuart and I started work on Tuesday morning. 

I attempted to go to bed around 9 pm to try to get a good night’s sleep before starting back to work. Unfortunately, the kids outside playing basketball were so loud, it was impossible. I went to security, yet again, to express my irritation that quiet hours were not being followed. I ended up writing an email to the security company. We shall see if anything comes of it. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep on Monday night. 

Tuesday I was at school by 8 am, but nothing really got started until almost 9 am. I did a bit of work that would be presented to teachers on Sunday, and then we all did some work on our overall school plan for improvement. During professional development days we are to work 4.5 hours and have a 1 hour flexible lunch. Most schools work from 8 to 12:30 and then let teachers go instead of having a formal lunch. My new principal learned the hard way that if you give an hour for lunch in the middle of the day, you can be sure of two things. Either people return late from lunch or people don’t return at all. At any rate, after Tuesday she decided we would have our lunch from 12:30 to 1:30. Good decision. Tuesday after lunch we spent time reporting out from our school committees. One day of professional development down and only 7 to go. 

Tuesday evening I did my Lego while the kids played outside. It was very relaxing. The kids came in the house and bathed.  Stuart made a steak and Stilton pie, and we watched Batman. The kids had been at Brian’s all day and Stuart had decided to take a day off on Wednesday to take them to Adventure Head Quarters. Child care is a bit difficult when your kids don’t go back to school when you do, especially since all of our friends are teachers.

Wednesday the Heads of Faculty that would present continuous assessment work for the term, worked on the presentation. I got home around 1:30 and the Internet was not working. There’s a monopoly on the internet service here so if it doesn’t work properly no one really cares too much. We are kind of at the mercy of the provider. 

Stuart and the kids got home just before 3 pm and I headed to my doctor’s appointment. When I returned, I bathed the kids and fed them. Stuart and I had a date night at Trader Vic’s. For Christmas, Sean gave us money and a free evening of babysitting. So we decided to cash in on it before rugby got back into full swing. 

Thursday we had a meeting that started 45 minutes late. It was materials that some people worked on last year. Because of our school change over, it was really quite irrelevant. But we all did the best we could to make use of the materials. Millie spent the day at her friend Ava’s house, while Jack went back to Brian’s. Cathy, Mandy, Stuart and I went to Chili’s for lunch and then we headed home to pick up the kids. 

Thursday evening I finished my Lego and the Richardsons came over for dinner. They actually brought dinner. We had chili and other leftovers from our refrigerator. It was a fun evening for sure. 

Clearly this is not the finished project. Oops!

Friday I was supposed to go to my principal’s house for brunch, but I just couldn’t be asked. We just laid around the house all day. The kids played outside ALL day. Keith and Ian came and spent the night with us. All children were asleep in the loft by 11 pm, and I was asleep shortly after that. 

No sleepover is complete without tattoos!

Saturday I made pancakes for the kids in the morning. The rest of the day was pretty chilled and then an early night was in store for the kids as they were starting school on Sunday. Stuart made homemade meatballs which were delightful, and may have solved my issues with not having a Bucca di Beppo at my doorstep. A great week with a beautiful ending. 

Santa Claus came to town!

Sunday was Christmas Eve, but just another day for many people in the UAE. We made several trips to the supermarket because we kept forgetting things. Cathy and I headed to the mall and the bottle shop for some libations. I had to pick up the Nespresso pods for Stuart’s new Nespresso machine I bought him for Christmas. 

Once we returned, Cathy and the girls came over for the evening. We had lasagna and a great deal of laughs. We exchanged gifts with Sean as he had to work all Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so wouldn’t be home until the night of the 26th. 

I was able to Skype Grammie and Pop after Jack and Millie were asleep. Mitch FaceTimed me and they were all together in Branson. It did make me a bit sad. Stuart had said he would send me and the kids home for Christmas, but then we would be without him. That wasn’t ok. 

Once the kids were in bed, Santa came to visit and we were off to bed. We had told the kids they had to stay in bed until 6 am. To allow us to sleep longer, Stuart set our microwave clock an hour earlier. So when Jack was up and downstairs, he saw the clock and it said 5:07 am, then he came upstairs and into our room. He then saw Stuart’s alarm clock, which read 6:07 am. Jig was up! Sadly, we were then forced to get up. 

Within an hour, the carnage was over and the kids were playing with all the items they got. This year was very exceptional. After each gift, each kid came to hug us both and say ‘thank you’. It felt good to know they actually appreciated their gifts. 

Just after 9 am, and a bit of a clean up, Cathy and the girls came over for a breakfast of ham, eggs, toast and roasted tomatoes. The table was set again and we got ready for dinner. In total, there would be 15 at the dinner table. We opened gifts from Cathy and the girls and then just prepared for guests to arrive around 2 pm. 

I collected Clare and her kids so that they wouldn’t have two cars at our house. Scott had to work and would be finished around 2 pm. Everyone arrived and the festivities began. The food was plentiful and everyone enjoyed their table gifts. Once we started the clean up we discovered having two refrigerators wasn’t enough. There were so many leftovers, it assured there would be a great deal of bubble and squeak the following day. 

Tuesday morning we were up and about, kind of a lazy day. People were coming for Boxing Day bubble and squeak. It was Henry’s birthday, so the boys went shooting while the women stayed at the house. Once they were back from the shooting range, we had dinner. Sean came home from work and after dinner Cathy, Stuart and I played a good game of Trivial Pursuit. 

Wednesday morning we got up and Skyped Grammie and Pop. The kids told them what they got for Christmas and were nuts as usual. Millie was more animated than normal, which is always good. We had breakfast and a lazy day for sure. The kids didn’t even ask what we were doing because they were exhausted. I didn’t leave the house all day. Cathy and the girls came over later. Stuart made turkey pot pie and a turkey stew that we would have on Thursday for dinner. Sean stayed up later with us as his holidays started until after the new year. 

Sean had these shirts made for our tattoo day. 

Thursday was ink day again. Once my new tat was finished, I took the kids to winter Bounce camp. They bounced for 5 hours and were wiped out when they got home. Jack reported that he had clocked over 22,000 steps on his Fitbit. Yikes! Clare and Scott picked the kids up from Bounce and brought them back to our house for turkey stew. Henry spent the night with Jack. Clare and Scott left around 9 pm and then we were all off to bed. 

Sean’s birthday was Thursday as well. 

The boys were up early. Once we were all awake, Stuart made a full English breakfast. I then started sorting the bricks in my Lego. Millie wanted to help me, but being possessive of my own Lego, I couldn’t allow it. Cathy and the girls picked us up at 2:15 pm and we headed to Riverland, which is comparable to Downtown Disney. There are amusement parks all around it. It was all lit up for Christmas. It was pretty, but there wasn’t a great deal to entertain the kids. We decided against staying until the fireworks went off at 9 pm. It was just going to be too late for Jack and Millie, and me, to be honest. Once we were home, the kids went straight to bed and we were pretty close behind them. 

Always a goofball!

Saturday morning, Cathy, Kayleigh and Claire came over around 8:30 am for a cup of tea. Claire and Cathy were taking Kayleigh to the airport for her journey back to the UK. She was sad to be leaving, and we were sad as well. We had a wonderful 10 days with her. 

Clare and Scott picked up Jack and Millie and took them ice skating. Stuart and I went to do our grocery shopping. Our holidays were coming to an end, so back to normalcy and reality, which meant an actual grocery shopping trip that didn’t include mince pies or chocolates. 

Once we were home and I had done two loads of laundry, we headed to Scott and Clare’s. Stuart took his new remote control car, which he had bought at Riverland the previous evening. The kids, Scott and Stuart took the cars to the empty lot next to their house while Clare and I had a chat. Clare actually made dinner and I just sat there. We had lamb for dinner. It was delicious. We were home by 8 pm and the kids were in bed. Cathy came over for a bit and then it was off to bed. Christmas week was wonderful with a lot of fun friend time. 

The week before Christmas and all through the house.....

We woke up early to speak with Rony and Brittney and the kids. My parents were in Oregon visiting and we haven’t seen the kids since Nolan was born, and he’s almost two years old. Mya was chatty, as was Nolan. They were so funny. Jack and Millie enjoyed speaking to them as well. 

Claire came over to babysit, while Cathy, Stuart and I headed to do some Christmas shopping in Dubai. We finished up our gifts and then went to Waitrose, a supermarket in the mall. It’s one of the supermarkets that has the best produce and meat, so that’s where we did a great deal of our Christmas food shopping. Stuart determined he would need to return on Friday and get our turkey because we didn’t have enough room in our freezer to keep it frozen until Friday. 

While we were in Dubai, Millie went with her friend Abbey to Fun Block and Jack played outside most of the day, so Claire’s job was relatively easy. Once we were home and packages were away, we decided we would order Chinese food. Cathy stayed for dinner, but Claire headed home.

Monday Jack went to Bounce with his friend Adam, and Millie went to visit Santa. He was at a book store in the mall. She asked me who it was. I told her it could be the real Santa, but she said, ‘Naw’, but I think she did wonder. We shopped for and bought table gifts for Christmas Day, for the 15 people coming to our house. Once we were finished at the mall, we came home and chilled for a while before I had to go collect Jack at Bounce. In the meantime, Kayleigh arrived from the UK. Millie was so excited! Once I was back with Jack, we ordered curry. 

Tuesday we went shopping with Cathy and the girls. We had lunch at the food court and then came back to their house for a lamb dinner. Sean came over as well. It was a late night, full of laughs. 

Wednesday we headed to Abu Dhabi to a winter festival. We do whatever is offered to help us get in the Christmas spirit. The festival wasn’t open until 3 pm, so naturally a trip to Ikea and our favorite mall was necessary. We had lunch at the food court. I had tacos and Jack had his first chimichanga. He loved it. Once we were home the kids showered and had a chocolate roll up (Nutella in a tortilla), which is their ‘go to’ when they can’t think of what they want to eat and I’m too lazy to make them anything remotely healthy. It’s a bit shameful, truth be told. 

Thursday the kids and I went to Abu Dhabi, again, with Clare Richardson, Henry and May. We dropped them at Adventure HQ so they could go to the skate park, and we shopped around for about an hour. We picked them up and fed them at Buca Di Beppo, where the best meatballs in the world are served. I ordered salmon and risotto, but then ordered a take away of two meatballs, anticipating having them the following day. 

After lunch, the kids returned to the skate park, while Clare and I sat and had a cup of tea. At the end of their second hour, we all visited the toilet before getting in the car to head home. The kids were sweaty and exhausted. 

Thursday evening we headed to the rugby club for dinner and for our chairman’s surprise birthday party. Once he arrived and we all sang happy birthday, we decided to go home and call it a night for the kids. Cathy came back to our house and had a glass of wine. It was a nice evening but the kids were wiped out. 

Friday we got up and went to church. It was the last service of Advent. It was also the Cristingle service. A Christingle is a symbolic object used in the Advent services of many Christian denominations. Christingle means 'Christ Light' and is used to celebrate Jesus Christ as the "Light of the World". Used primarily for Advent and Christmas, it is also used for Epiphany. It was a great service, and hopefully now Millie knows we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus’s birth, not Santa’s birth, which is what she told me the first week of December. 

We came home after church and just lazed around the house. Stuart got home from his food shopping trip just after 2 pm. He was very excited and felt very ready for his few days of cooking to come. Friday evening we went to the Richardsons for a lamb dinner. We ended up getting a cab home because we both chose to have some wine. Fortunately, Stuart had packed the truck with all the necessary things for the breakfast in the desert the following morning, except for the food of course. Millie came back with us, but Jack and Duke spent the night at the Richardson’s. 

Saturday morning I changed the sheets on our bed, and we headed to the desert for breakfast. We sat up our shade structure and let Duke run and run and run, as well as the kids. The Richardsons and Davisons came with us. We had bacon, sausages and eggs on rolls. We had a kettle for tea and coffee. The kids rolled in the sand and made their own fun. 

Once we were home, Stuart unpacked the truck while the kids, Duke and I had showers. Duke laid down the entire time I showered him. He was so exhausted from his morning in the desert. Stuart and I discussed that we had never had a dog that you could take somewhere, let it loose and know it wouldn’t run away. Duke is such a wonderful dog. He doesn’t bark, he doesn’t wet or poo inside, and he doesn’t jump on people. He does, however, shed like crazy and he eats camel poop. I guess no one is perfect. 

Once everyone was clean and Stuart returned from some last minute shopping, I headed off to get a much needed pedicure. It was a couple of hours to myself, which was really nice. When I got home our cleaner was at the house. We found this a great opportunity to head to Cathy’s for gingerbread house making. As you can see from the pictures, the houses may have had some structural issues, but everyone had fun. 

We ate dinner at Cathy’s and watched Santa Clause 3. We headed home just before 9 pm, when the cleaner was finished. The kids then went to bed. Stuart and I finished wrapping presents and headed to bed as well. We were ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.