We're back from Spain, what now?

We've been quite busy actually since getting back from Spain - the boys had a lovely time and really enjoyed building sandcastles on the beach. Although, one would be hard pressed to defend the notion that their dad was just supervising the building as opposed to turning into one big kid and constructing dams and waterways crucial to any good castle. The boys have a very good role model in that respect. Since being back we've been to the zoo, and the park almost every day as the weather was fantastic last week. Unfortunately, this week is back to what we know best - hence the boys have found their way into everything inside! Daniel has taken a particular shine to the washing machine and the boy genius has figured out how to open the door - which is not good for me as now I have to watch him even closer. He's also got a wicked little streak in him gunning for everything he's not allowed - the sky box, the dvd player, the fireplace. Apparently, when I say "No Daniel, don't go there" he translates this into I must dash as fast as I can to the no go area, before my mom catches me, the race is on.

Ben is just wonderful as usual - over the weekend we caught up with his friend Sean, who is going to have a Spiderman themed party for his third birthday and so my son, on his own, decided that he's going to have a Barney party, and a Barney cake, with Barney candles and Barney presents. I kid you not, a lot of thought has gone in to this on his part! "I need that" - Ben speak for "Do you mind if I have that please" He is now completely devastated that Daniel is having a birthday before him too - he is not going to let Daniel eat his Barney cake.


The boys in the cupboard

Naughty Grins

Washing Machines are REALLY interesting

Bust

First trip out on the bike

Ben's thumb after closing it in a door in spain

Dan is definately my poster boy that glow around his head is his hair!

Swiming with the penguins at the zoo

An actual braai in the sun - that's it for us, summer over

so much for april showers

Anyone here in the Northern Hemisphere is really asking "What is going on?"...???? It's been snowing since Easter! I'm starting to loose hope that we're going to have a summer at all again this year. Thank goodness we are off to Spain in a few weeks, hopefully there we'll see the sun a little.... Ben is already planning the sandcastles he's going to build when we're there... On the other hand we've been really busy the last few weeks, with birthday parties for the boys and discovering our new surroundings - while the new house doesn't feel like home and I miss Lusk a lot, there is a lot of really good things out here to do, and the boys are spoilt for choice with the parks and playgrounds we have really close to us. Here are a few shots of the last week....

Our New Playground

We have such a fantastic park down the road from us - have a look...




We have such a fantastic park down the road from us - have a look...

Our Weekend Break

Hi,

Well we're back from London and we had a lovely weekend, although it snowed the whole time so it felt more like christmas than easter. The boys were fantastic on the plane both there and back which was great. Ben and Sandra have such a lovely home and they made us feel really welcome, and the boys played so well together too... Also, Daniel has now reached genius status in my eyes as he can clap on demand - not bad for nine months. And we got some lovely shots... Here they are...

How Long Has It Been!!!

Okay, so it's been ages since I've posted - BUT I have a really good reason.... We completly uprooted our lives and moved Southside. Which has felt like the equivalent of changing country it's so different. We are really close to Robin's work and what we wanted from the move has been realised - we have breakfast together, bob leaves for work at about 8:30 and he's home for sixish and we have dinner together every night... and I'm sure that we've added years to his life that he's not stuck for three hours a day in traffic.... I will go into all the details later, but at the moment I'm packing we're off to London for the Easter weekend. The boys are fantastic and we've had the best photo's taken of them professionally - but until I get those sent to you here are the not professional ones to get you updated....


I have to tell you about this one - we were unpacking and Daniel was really quiet, after a few minutes I went to check on him.... and that was what I found - he'd passed out in his high chair - we couldn't stop laughing at him :)

I love my brother SOOOOOOO much!

Supercool with my glasses
Us at the Thomas the Tank Engine show - the boys LOVED it - Daniel was bopping along to the music...

Happy Birthday to Us

Family moments

Me and my Brother

Celebrating Birthdays

Me and my buddy Sean

Well, both Bob and I are now another year older as we celebrated our birthdays this week - we were both very spoilt and had a really good time. I spent a good part of this week hunting all over dublin for a Nintendo Wii for Robin - and even had two of our friends scouring the stores too... everyone had the same story - we're sold out and don't know when we'll get more in stock, try again next week! Finally I managed to source one in the last store left in Dublin I think and he wasn't disappointed. Ben is starting to get more and more like his father - this week I went into his room to wake him up as it was almost nine o'clock... Once I got him to wake up I was told "No mommy, light off, Ben tired, Ben sleeping"!!!! Soon he's going to be saying "just five more minutes" - a phrase Robin is famous for. Daniel is now sitting on his own, and is trying very hard to crawl so soon I think we'll be mobile.... and then the fun starts :)

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing you a wonderful New Years Eve... And for the year coming we hope that it's peaceful and prosperous for you all.... I can't believe our desert holiday is almost over - we are on our way home tomorrow - three weeks goes very quickly. We've had a really good time here and I'm going to be sad tomorrow to say goodbye. Here are a few more shots of our trip....











Camels in the Desert












Playing in Dunes









The Fishers










Rafting at the Waterpark

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everybody! We hope that you had a very good day and celebrated with those nearest and dearest to you. We had a lovely day, the boys were thoroughly spoilt by their grandparents and Ben just love everything he got. Daniel was more facinated with the paper and the boxes the toys came in, but isn't that always the case for a six month old? Now we have the new year to look forward to and I hope that it is a positive and peaceful year for you all. I couldn't resist being overindulgent and posting these pics of my beautiful two boys...

A Few Pics

We are having such a good time here - Bob and I got away on Friday and went skiing!! It was fantastic and made me realise how much I love it... I can't wait for the boys to be old enough to learn and for us to go skiing as a family. The SkiDubai was very well put together and the two runs they had not bad. Mom and dad babysat the boys for us which was great too. It was so strange to ski in the evening and the next morning take the boys to the pool to have fun in the sun. I even managed to get Daniel into the water - he's not a fan of the cold... AND got a smile from him :)

Pics Of Dubai

I've managed to get the photo's uploaded of our trip.... Here are some of the highlights :) We are having a really great time here and today plan to spend time on the beach - I'm hoping to see a camel or two.... Tomorrow it's christmas shopping time. I've put it off for long enough... Ben is loving it to - and is making us laugh so much. Now, if you ask him how he is his standard answer is "Not Bad" ??? Don't know where he got that from :)













Mom and Dad's House









Building on the Beach is incredible












Madinat Market












Proving we were there










Boys Playing together













Us in Madinat with the Burj Al Arab behind us













Our little Arabian thief hiding in a pot













Playing in the fountains