Doei oma and opa

Tonight, we say goodbye to Oma after spending 4 weeks with us and to Opa, while he goes on his leave. We spent the day together at a beach. Ha ha. Yes, we love hanging out at the beach and preferably far away from the maddening crowd. This morning, we drove into a little town called Zikreet, in the west. A very isolated and a forgotten town that may have been bustling and thriving in the past. The sea was, as usual, never disappointing but the landscape behind us was quite amazing, with distinctive rock formations and herds of camels roaming leisurely and freely.

What can I say ... we love the beach!

This was the rocky landscape that was behind us ...

Camels, unperturbed by our presence

Such a sweet moment seeing a baby camel with its mother ...

As usual, Sera goes looking for food. This time, she shares a cup cake with opa

I washed Sera with a bottle of mineral water and she happy and relieved to rid herself of the sand and saltiness, thereafter refusing to step on the sand again

Accident report

Just over 2 months in school and Sera came back with an 'Accident Report' yesterday. Well, it was a little dramatized in my opinion but I thought it was hilarious. Not only was it formally typed out, it was signed by three witnesses - the principal, the nurse and Sera's school teacher. And I even have to sign it and return it to the receptionist for proper documentation. Needless to say, Johan's mom and I had a very good laugh when we read the report together, and Sera ... she was very nonchalant about the whole accident. Read the report below and have a good laugh!

Click on report to get a better read

Into the desert

The desert trip actually did happen despite Johan staying in bed for an entire day on Thursday. He woke up Friday morning without a trace of any sickness in his body, all fired up and raring to go. Johan's mom, unfortunately, was still unwell so we left her behind to rest. Sorry mom, I still feel lousy for going ahead without you!

This desert trip was a very long awaited one for me, since the day I arrived in Doha. Back then, we didn't venture to the desert because I was five months pregnant. And after Sera was born, we didn't want to go until we were sure it was safe enough for her, since we heard the drive was a little bumpy. So, finally, nearly 2 years after we landed in Doha and 17 months after Sera was born, we made it to the desert. Ha ha. What's the big deal? Well, I guess it's not such a big deal but you know, I just wanted to see it for myself ... and decide if it was as good as it was so hyped up about.

The drive to the Inland Sea in the desert took us over 2 hours. The ride was bumpy, as expected. I was only worried for Sera but she had a great time, especially when the car got bumpy. She was raising her arms and going "Ya-ahhh ... ya-ahhh ... ya-ahhhh". And she didn't mind that her head was swaying from right to left, it just tickled her even more. Johan, the designated and very capable (ahem!) driver, did very well ... going up and down the dunes with no hiccups. So once again, we spent another leisurely day by the beach. Sera had a good time, the sand didn't upset her as much and by the end of the day, she was at peace and feeling very comfortable walking around the bare feet on the beach.

Johan took us safely into and out of the desert.

The two cars in front of us were part of the convoy ... here we are, going down one of the dunes

Here's Sera enjoying the bumpy ride, the bumpier it got, the more excited she became

We're checking out the Saudi Arabia border just across the sea

A different week, a different beach ...

Opa resting and watching while the others slide or run down the dune

Sera and Indy playing inside the boat

End of the day, a little tired but very contented ...

A sick family

Be warned. This post starts off a little gross, and then there is an anti-climax, followed by a depressing ending. And there are no photos, just text!

It started with Sera, Monday night, after we put her to bed. She woke up a few minutes later, threw up her entire dinner on her mattress. Incredible gross because I could see all the ingredients of my lovely quiche I had made for dinner. Sera was so drowsy and sleepy, she simply crouched over her pillow and carried on sleeping. I cleaned up, as best as I could, the sheets and the mattress. Sera was fast asleep when I left her room. Johan was going to sleep with her that night because I was running a low grade fever and my throat was swelling up. I popped two panadols and went to bed.

Next morning, Tuesday. Sera wakes me up, wearing only a diaper that was practically falling to her knees. I carried her up unto our bed and we sleep in for another 5 minutes, until I got a strong, stale smell coming from her. The gross part begins here on. Pieces of her dinner were stuck on her hair and dried smudges of most likely vomit were on her face. I quickly got out of bed, with her in my arms and walked to her room. Poof! Her room smelt bad ... rotten. I quickly inspected her bathroom, and it was painful to all the senses. A pile of soiled pyjamas and Johan's own clothes thrown into the bath-tub over all her bath toys. Yucks! Apparently, Sera had kept Johan up all night. The strange thing was that Sera was looking very okay. She was her normal spirited self and even finished her bowl of cereal and a kiwi for her breakfast. So that is why I decided she was fit enough to go to school, in case anyone is wondering why she didn't just stay home.

I dropped her off at school. She was, as usual, happy to be at school. Johan's mom and I went for a painting class, about 30 minutes from Sera's school. Everything was going well until I get a call from Sera's school.

Woman: "I'm calling from Creative Child. Is this Sera's mother?" (in a really chirpy tone)

Me: "Yes ... " (Anxiety is fast setting in)

Woman: "Miss Kathleen has asked me to call you because Sera has been crying all morning and is very sick. Please come and collect her." (Still in a very upbeat tone)

I don't even remember what I replied, maybe something like "Ok!" but so many thoughts were running through my head as I told Johan's mom we had to go, packed up my stuff and said a hasty goodbye to everyone. Firstly, I thought "What an absolutely horrible mother I was for bringing Sera to school, knowing she threw up the night before!" But she was so fine in the morning? What happened? As I drove as safe as I could towards her school, I thought of Johan. He was going to be soooooooooooooooooo mad at me for bringing Sera to school. GULP! I looked at Johan's mom on my right and she looked worried and was very quiet. I just prayed all the way to her school that she wasn't feeling as bad as the woman on the phone made it sound.

I ran all the way to her classroom, opened the door and frantically looked for Sera. I found her running around with Kelyan, smiling ... looking very pink and healthy and not at all sick! Huh????!!!! Miss Kathleen walked up to me, a little puzzled and then realised what had happened. "Oh no, she called the wrong mother!" It took me a while to realise the mistake. I was holding on to Sera by then, still a little shaky and my breathing was much calmer. Miss Kathleen goes out to the reception and tersely informed 'Miss Sunshine' that she had called the wrong mother. "Sara's mother, not Sera's mother!"

Miss Kathleen apologises repeatedly but I told her it was all right. As long as Sera was fine, nothing else mattered. So I walked out of her classroom, managed a smile at the apologetic but still ridiculously happy receptionist, sighed a huge relief together with Johan's mom in the car, and drove back home. Now how crazy was that?

Moving on from Tuesday to this morning, Thursday. Sera missed school this morning just because she hasn't been eating well since last Tuesday afternoon. I think she may be battling a stomach virus. She's still active but her appetite has dropped to nothing much. Thus I decided no school for her. Anyway, I came back from yoga class and I saw Johan's car parked, not even at his usual spot, outside our house. Something was definitely wrong here! I walked into the house, no Johan in sight but a very messy house courtesy of Sera and a very tired- looking oma. Johan's mom informs me that Johan is very sick, threw up and was in bed, asleep. Oh no! And she also saidthat she wasn't feeling too well herself. Something was wrong with her tummy, that was making her feel ill. I forced her to her bedroom to rest while I looked after Sera. I popped in to check on Johan, took his temperature (yup, he has a fever) and gave him one panadol.

So currently, Sera is asleep, so are Johan and his mom. The house is very quiet. I'm sitting here, a little baffled by all the sickness and viruses going on? Sigh ... one of those days. Hopefully, I'll be back with happier news.

A day at the beach

The weather was too good to stay indoors yesterday, so we spent the day at Sealine beach soaking in the sun and cool breeze. Perfect! We didn't hang out by the pool this time but headed to the sandy beach. Sera has yet to discover the joy of sand. Ha ha. She was completely and utterly distressed that the sand was getting into her sandals and then realised that the sand stays on her feet ... and hands. She was literally standing in the sand, complaining loudly for all to hear on the beach, like a little 'princess'. She only stopped complaining when we finally cross the stretch of sand, and into the cool water. Once in the water, she forgot all about the sand, happily floating at the shoreline, picking up little pebbles and rocks.

After lunch, we found a nice shady spot under a palm tree, laid on the grass while Sera went wild chasing the birds or cheekily sneaking up on other beach-goers. We had an absolutely lazy but wonderful day.

Sera and oma playing by the seashore

Sera sat at the same spot on the sand for the longest time, until I finally took her in for a dip. She just did not want her feet to touch the sand.


She loved the extra buoyancy that the salt water gave her

A very unhappy Sera who was upset with so many things - sand on her feet, on her hands, her cookie and on her face.

After she stuck out her hands for me to brush off the sand, she was a little happier, leaned on Johan and nibbled on her cookie

The look of hunger

She had the most fun on the grass, running around with not a care in the world

After a short nap, he played a little football

Sera imitating us drinking water from the plastic bottle ... the cap is on so she's really just pretending