Back on track

Heeyyy, I'm back...I know it's been ages, and I'm not going to tell you everything that has happened since September. I just got out of synch, had lots of other stuff to write and do. The sad thing is, that the longer you wait, the more complicated it gets, cause you have so much to say. So, I'll just mention the most important things and go from here, not there.
We are having another baby. I'm pretty sure no one has missed that bit of news. I had a few complicated weeks after summer when  I was diagnosed with placenta previa, when the placenta is basically stuck underneath the baby. But luckily it moved and now everything is fine. Or no, not everything, my legs look like  I've been severely beaten, because of all the blue veins, and it really hurts at times. I get to wear these very sexy maternity socks, which is great when it's 35 degrees outside...
Talking about the weather, it is already cooling down and the last few days have been amazing. Finally out in the park in the afternoons and even feeling chilly when you get out of the pool. What an improvement. It's especially nice since we have super important visitors arriving on Thursday - parents-in-law from the UK and we're all very excited to see some family, finally.  Hey, where is everyone? Thought you would all queue up to come and see us this year, anyway!?
I also decided not to work on a contract this year, only covering when other teachers are sick, etc, which is great. I get to see the students again, but no stress with marking essays and planning worksheets. I also get to say no if I have an important coffee morning to go to, or my legs are to swollen. That's luxury, if anything. And I am also tutoring some Swedish, now and then. And I get enough time to write on my history assignments for 20th century history. But there is so much reading to do. At the moment I have been completely wrapped up in the first and second world war and I really enjoy it. At the same time I am trying to write a 'short version' of our family history during the 19th century. I love it. Promise to send it to those who are interested, at least the first version...
So, yes, my life is good, although my body is getting heavy. Trying to enjoy my time as much as possible until Feb 28. Then who knows what life will be like....  :)

Just have to mention Isabelle's birthday on October 5th. Her biggest wish was to go to Ski Dubai and play in the snow park, bless her. Jon took all the kids and they had a great time. Then we had lunch in an alp-inspired restaurant with a fake fire. Sweet! And then she has a Halloween party last week with her friends. Halloween is HUGE here. And the candy they got, has lasted me all week! :)

Final parties and goodbyes for the summer

Finally, school's out for summer! For me and the kids. We've had a busy few weeks and are really looking forward to going home for the summer. I've started my monster packing and hopefully nothing essential will be left behind, like one of my children or my new bikini...We managed to celebrate Midsummer in Dubai for the first time and it was frighteningly similar to the original one...we had herring, salmon, crispbread, meatballs, and even schnapps! The only missing link was the rain and the wind! :) Didn't miss that though. We were discussing whether to sit inside because of the heat, but no, outside it was, in 36 degrees Celsius. Wasn't too bad actually. Most be getting use to it. Or used to the sweat anyway...

 Hell and gore, shun hope father allen, allen lay.....

 Surfer dudes. Most be a midlife crisis! Sorry guys, only joking, enjoy the waves!

 Yes, Jon had a good night....very good....danced like a maniac until 1.30am.

 James the birthday boy!

 One last Starbucks 'fika' before summer. Yes, we love Starbucks...but are really looking forward to a good outdoor picnic in the woods...

 James Spiderman Kiely says goodbye Dubai! See you in September!

Summertime in Dubai..party, party, party

The last few weeks before summer holidays are always full of birthday parties, goodbye parties and random pool parties. Both for kids ans adults. In fact, James has 3 birthday parties to go to this week. The younger they are, the greater social life they have. Yep, that's Dubai.

Good bye Karen and Family! We will miss you in the Lakes!

 How we love morning at the beach!

 And how we love evenings out!

 Since I am such a great mum, I took the girls and 2 friends to Kidzania, an insane plays for kids basically...6 hours of fun. It's like a real city where the kids can try different jobs etc. Emma was a race driver and won!   :)

 Isabelle tried working in the check out at Waitrose.

 Emma was a television hostess - we bought the DVD of the show as a memory...

 James has had a new haircut :) With red hair colour of course

Spring has turned to summer...real fast!

We have enjoyed an amazing few months in Dubai this year. Lovely weather; not too hot, not too cold. Just right. And a few sand storms as well. And a bit of rain. Almost like real weather. Thanks to Maryam our garden is blooming and we've had great weather for vegetables. The kids have certainly enjoyed watching everything grow, the pull it out and eat it. Talk about organic! Tomatoes, carrots, spring onion, chilies, potatoes, herbs and lettuce. We're just about to eat our very own corn on the cob as well! Imagine that, a corn field in your garden...not very big garden, either.
Work has been busy for both me and Jon and the girls have worked hard in school. We must all have grown at least 5 cm in the last 6 months :) And James loves his nursery, and his best friend Laura, who lives next door and is 6 months older than him, half Irish, half Scottish. There are so many James around here that our James is now referred to as 'little James' and Laura's brother is called 'big boy James'. Many a Saturdays have we met over a BBQ or the occasional Turkey dinner. This will be one of the things I miss, one day when we´re not here anymore. For sure.
Personally, I have been studying Shakespeare as never before since Christmas, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although I am a Shakespeare buff and always has been, I have never been so surrounded by it 24/7, Romeo and Juliet with gr.9 and Macbeth with gr.10 (which I had never even read before). And wow how good he was, Shakespeare I mean, and wow how hard it has been for gr 9 to understand him.
One important event this year, has been a very special visit by a very special friend. Anna and Jarko and 4 children came to see us in March and it was sooo good to see them. Feel very sad that we are not going to be at their wedding in June. Hope we will get another chance to celebrate them...
Going home for Easter was fantastic. Fresh, crisp air and even sow! Isabelle had us all out by 8 in the morning to build a snowman and to do some sledding on the hill next to mum and dad's house. Even James really enjoyed it, dressed in a hand-me-down pink overall and hat. Bless him! Only the gloves started to bother him after a while. Look mum, it's salt! he shouted happily pointing at the snow...The best was probably seeing Hugo and the new little cousin, Oscar. We miss them so!
After a few more weeks of enjoyable weather in Dubai, some lovely trips to the beach and a few more BBQs, summer is finally here. OMG, here we go! is all I can think. 35 degrees at 7.30 in the morning...ok, you just put up with it and shower more than normal and pretend it's bearable. And, strangely enough, you do kind of get used to it after a while...I think..or no you don't...
Here are some spring photos to tickle your taste buds!

 Isabelle and James playing with 'salt' in Sweden

 Isabelle and Filippa (Anna's daughter) on the trampolin in Dubai

 Emma is a very proud big cousin to baby Oscar

 Hugo and James are being monkeys as usual...

 What can I say...I'm lost for words...are they really all mine....?!

 BFF Easter witches!

 Grandad and me...

 From the vegetable patch!

Hat day in school!!

BBQs and flu

Another week is about to end here in Dubai. Right now, my head is filled with a cold, a glas of wine and a lot of Shakespeare. I´m about to start Romeo and Juliet next week and in another few weeks, Macbeth, which I haven't actually ever read....will be interesting. Anyway, I'm not one to give up on my students and am therefore studying hard. Last week it was time for semester reports and there was a lot of last minute marking, individual talks and catching up on my part. I'm far too nice to my students, I know. There were definitely some good things with Vittra Lidingö, when it comes to student development and individual goals (where I used to work in Stockholm). I'm hoping that I've taken at least some of it with me to my present school, although the structure is very different.
The family has had a lot of colds and flues the last few weeks. The weather is changing from hot to cold and back again, which isn't good for anyone. Yesterday, we had yet another wonderful bbq with our wonderful neighbours and I'm beginning to think that maybe it won't be long until the heat arrives for real and we'll all move inside...strange isn't it.

Here are some lovely memories of 2012 so far. Visit from grandparents, Emma's birthday and random fun :)

Sleep well and have a nice week everyone! Valentines here we go! Diamonds and gold, right!?

James discovered that eating the icing was far more fun than preparing the cup cakes....

Ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins of course!

Mr and Mrs Kiely visiting Atlantis. We took the train this time, so much more fun!

Celebrating Jon's birthday meal in a steak house of course.

Sri Lanka part 3 Hikkaduwa

I think it's time to finish my Sri Lanka blog...

Our last few days were spent next to the town Galle, in a place called Hikaduwa. A fantastic little beach resort. The hotel Supercorals, was again a 3 star hotel, we didn't even have TV in our room, but it was fine. We got a room so cheap (I can recommend booking online, you can get some amazing deals) right next to the garden and pool area, which is far more important when you have a James in the family, who only wants to play football and cricket.

One of our most memorable experiences was feeding huge sea turtles who came close to the beach in the morning to eat seaweed from the corals. This fisherman came every morning to pick seaweed and then he fed two turtles at the same time every morning. he'd beendoing it for 8 years. Obviously the tourists love it, so not a bad business idea. Then he would talk them into going on his boat to go diving and fishing. He was such a nice man, almost no teeth and no clothes. He walked around in an old IKEA staff t-shirt most days, which I found quite funny. Obviously, there's no IKEA in Sri Lanka and obviously, he'd never worked there. Our last day, he told me he had 3 daughters and his youngets was 8 like Emma. I gave him 2 of Emma's skirts and some pens. Felt awful that I couldn't give him more...Someone told me that the schools in Sri Lanka have very little supplies and almost no pens. I thought about all the pens that our drawers are full of, and it almost made me sick. We also gave some pens to a girl in the dress shop. Her grandma was making a dress for Emma. She was sewing on an old Singer from 1910.

Another thing about Hikaduwa was the momory of the Tsunami. They suffered greatly from the Tsunami and there was a huge monument to remember those who died, right near the sea. There were also many graves near the sea and many houses had never been rebuilt. Only the foundations were still there, as a reminder of what had happened. People couldn't afford to rebuild them and in some cases whole familes died and the houses were just left. One positive thing that came out of it, was that people from all over the world donated money and helped them start rebulding more modern houses.

All in all, we had a lovely time in Hikaduwa, visited one of the 7 most beautiful beaches in the world, a turtle nursery, had a lot of prawns and fish and went on tuctucs every day.

I'd definitely go back to Galle again. Somehow though, I think it's going to be more expensive next time. It really was a place under 'recontruction' and expansion. Next door to us they were building a new 4 star hotel, that looked very 'European'. The tourism industry is growing, that's for sure.

Sri Lanka part 2 Kandy

We checked out of the hotel in Negombo in the morning and were met by our fantastic driver Shelton. He drove us through the countryside to show us what the real Sri Lanka looked like. We passed coconut plantations, banana trees, both yellow and red (!), rice fields, tea plantations and real jungle that consisted of mahogny and teak trees, enormous and very valuable trees that had to be guarded by security. Amazing! Then we saw rubber trees, with a man walking around, emptying small cups of rubber from the trees, and a whole river full of clay, that was used for pottery and tiles. Suddenly the houses looked much more modern and wellbuilt. Rich people lived her, said Shelton. They own the plantations and the farms. Somehow, it seems so strange and sad that such a beautiful country full of natural resources, is so poor. After a long drive we came to Pinnawala, the elephant orphanage, where they take care of old elephants that cannot work anymore. Their job is to carry timber from the forest to the water, and here is where they retire. A beautiful place full of very sweet elephants. Jonathon and the kids all rode on one elephant. I decided to pass, because of my allergy. Kind of regret it now, but anyway....After the ride, they cleaned the elephant in the river, scrubbing her all over with coconut shells.

The we started our long winding journey up the mountains to Kandy. We stopped once for rice and curry in a new, expensive looking (clean) restaurant with real local dishes. Everything was odd or too hot for the kids...but we tried. Jon was the only one who truelly enjoyed the food, I think.

Kandy is situated high up in the mountains and the market started on the
mountain road, winding up towards the city. Quite astonishing to see. Must be a
pretty dangerous place to shop! The hotel was quite nice, but the problem was
that they were renovating it, which made it pretty dangerous for the likes of
James. The pool area had no fence around it and it was pretty steep on the other
side of the pool. And then there were the monkeys....everywhere, even drinking
from the pool. Then we went into the little town in the evening and it was
pretty buisy and dirty and everyone was touching the children's hair and wanting
to sell things. When we decided to take a tuctuc back to the hotel, 2 men
started arguing about who was going to take us, which ended in a proper fight!
Talk about culture shock. The next day we decided that we would leave Kandy a
day early and head south. Besides, the coffee was absoloutly horrific, not only
in the hotel, but in the caffees as well. After a whole day in the botanical
garden park (which was beautiful), and no coffee, and one boy kissing Emma on
the cheek and James spilling icecream all over himself and the kids fighting, we
fell asleep early....