Fun at Ray's Reef

Arcade game centres are one of the things that are on my 'Things I dislike' list. I avoid them like a plague because they are just a very bad combination of extremely loud noise, painful to the eyes lighting and bad popcorn. But this morning, I caved in, because I've become a parent. Ha ha. Hmm, I think I may have used that bad excuse when I gave Sera her first taste of fast food too. Anyway, I confess ... I intentionally brought Sera into an arcade centre, together with Manuela and Gaston. Okay, this arcade centre called Ray's Reef was like an indoor themed playground cum arcade centre. They had specific play areas designed for toddlers so we thought we'd give it a try. Why not?

Sera and Gaston loved it! There was art time, soft play, dramatic play, mini gymnasium, ball pool and they even had a go at basketball. Every section was in a secured area so we didn't have to worry about the kids running around (our pet-worry and most importantly, it was at least relaxing for us!). So after 1.5 hours of play for only 20 riyals for each child, we were all exhausted and ready to go home. Well, Manuela and I were more than ready!

Sera's abtract art piece

Her second attempt

Sera and Gaston very engrossed with their painting

Colouring with crayons

Gaston was most excited in the soft play area

As usual, Sera finds herself on the slide

Basketball time

If you're wondering, nah ... it didn't enter the hoop

In an ocean of coloured balls

An endless day of play

We went to the zoo, yes, the same zoo that always makes me very sad after the visit. But alas, there are only so many things we can do with the kids here ... so we, mamas and omas, brought the kids to the zoo and hoped for the best. The kids had a great time, being enchanted by the zoo and its few animals that were housed within.

Sera had a blast identifying the animals and standing by the enclosure chatting with them. It was so amusing seeing her interact with the animals. Her eyes would widen with surprise and was so thrilled that she was actually seeing a giraffe, an elephant or a duck that was much, much bigger than the size of her palm. She was so tickled when the ducks and geese started 'quacking' back and flapping their wings at her. What a treat for her! It was such a delight for me and oma to see her excitement.

So despite the zoo not being many things that it could be, the often times jaded (okay maybe I speak for myself only) adults can learn to appreciate the animals the way the kids do, just simply beautiful as they are ... then, I guess this zoo trip wasn't so bad after all. In fact, it was fun! (By the way, I've just realised that I didn't capture any photos of the animals! Ha ha, there were animals ... trust me.)

Checking out the giraffes ...

... and the monkeys

Kelyan and Sera behind the fence?

Some local school girls wanted to take a photo with Miss Sera

Milk break

Oma and Sera checking out the parrots

Ice cream treat after the zoo

The day ended with a crepe party at Sylvie and Gerard's house. You see, Sylvie is kind of a connoisseur when it come to whipping up authentic French crepes! We gathered at her house in the evening and feasted on her delicious crepes, while the kids were busy with their play. Thanks Sylvie and Gerard for having us over for crepes! By the way, no photos of crepes or us eating them ... just photos of three little friends relaxing on the swing.

Sitting on the swing, enjoying the cool breeze

They were tired, can you tell?

Back to the pool

The heat is back so that only means it's pool time again. This week, we were at the pool several times, especially since school is closed for a week. The pool water is actually still cold but Sera, along with most of the children in the compound, are oblivious to the cold. Sera looks forward to her afternoon dip in the pool with oma these days and she'll miss all the fun ... unless I continue the routine. Ha ha, which I will try my best to.

Johan's mom went into the water with Sera despite the cold water, while I relaxed by the pool side ...

As you can see, Sera is in this copycat mode lately ...

Now this is what she loves to do ... jumping into the water

Swimming back to the side of the pool

Climbing up in the most un-ladylike manner

Happy times!

The Egg Hunt

Sera, Gaston and Kelyan had their very own Egg Hunt yesterday, at auntie Sylvie's house. The chocolate eggs were 'hidden' conspicuously just before the hunt and at 3.15pm, we all gathered to hunt for the eggs. So, under the direction of the mamas, all the eggs were easily discovered and, if the mamas weren't fast enough to seize the chocolates, eaten all at once too. The adults also treated themselves to cake and more chocolates while the kids played among themselves. Thanks Sylvie and Manuela for organizing the Egg hunt.

Sera was enthusiastic about the egg hunt, and I had to keep taking out the extra 'eggs' that she helped herself with


Kelyan and Gaston found some 'eggs' on the sofa

Gaston was the first to find the biggest, most special egg - Dora the Explorer Egg! But the rest didn't have to worry because each of them had their very own too. What a luxury huh?

After the hunt, the kids settled on the stairs, as usual, to snack on their chocolates and compare their find

Painting hard boiled eggs ... I was sceptical about Sera painting the egg ...


And I was right, because within seconds she started hitting the egg on the floor and peeling the shell off.

Souq Waqif

The days are zipping by, it's already the weekend. Didn't I just write a post on our weekend a few days ago? And this morning, I found out I couldn't wear the pants that I was able to fit into three weeks ago. Okay, TOTALLY IRRELEVANT but my point is the days and the girth of my stomach are moving in fast, parallel motions.

Anyway, our weekend was good. On Friday, we ventured in the busy streets of Doha, to visit Souq Waqif. It has changed dramatically since we arrived over two years ago. The souq is now lively and buzzing with activities and people. It was nice just to mingle and get lost in the crowds. And of course, Sera was just beside herself with all the commotion, practically turning herself 360-degrees just so she didn't miss anything.

Sera with opa and oma, while a donkey casually passes by

Can you tell she is simply bursting with excitement?

At the Falcon Museum, watching while they feasted on bloody, raw chicken ... you can actually hear them crunch on the chicken bones

Sera was clearly very fascinated by the falcons but also feeling a little brave because there was a low concrete wall that was dividing them from us. She was dancing and twisting her hips, when all of a sudden the owner of the museum carries her into the aviary! Can you see Johan's mom's frightened expression?

She was taken off guard to put it lightly, having had a very close encounter with the flesh- eating falcon. But no worries, ten fingers were still in tact. Phew!

MSG-ed

MSG. Not the abbreviation for 'message' but 'mono sodium glutamate'.

Last night, the whole family was msg-ed by, we highly suspect, the french fries we had at Bennigan's. We quite enjoy the food at Bennigan's and find ourselves there every fortnight or so. Last evening, we had dinner there and ordered the usual. Johan had his Fajita beef burger, I had the fish wrap and Johan's mom, chicken kebabs. Sera had her share from Johan's mom and me. And the one common thing we had were the fries. We left Bennigan's full and satisfied.

The trouble started in the middle of the night. Sera woke up twice between the time she fell asleep and about 2-ish in the morning. When Johan attended to her the second time, I was also awake and just couldn't go back to sleep. I tried for about 30 minutes, gave up and went down to get something to drink. I got myself some soda water and stole a a chocolate-yoghurt cookie from Sera's stash and walked back up to our room. At the same time, Johan walks down. We meet halfway at the stairs and start having this strange conversation about not being able to sleep and we concluded the fries must have had MSG in it. Ah hah! We solved the mystery of our sleeplessness. ha ha. So I waited for him while he decides that the cure for overcoming MSG is a bowl of ice cream and soda water. The two of us finally sneak up the stairs, not wanting to wake Sera or his mom up. We reach the top of the stairs and who pops her head out of the room? Sera, of course!

She looked at us. A little surprised to see her parents together, just outside her room. She gives us a wide grin and we couldn't help but invite her to sleep with us. We understood ... she had been msg-ed too. Thus her sleeplessness.

So the three of us positioned ourselves unto our already too small bed. Johan eats his ice cream secretly, while I try to pat her to sleep. She doesn't sleep of course. I then decide to finish my little snack and actually feel a little better after it. So Johan and I were actually feeling less msg-ed and ready to sleep but Sera was super awake. She decided to go on this chanting ...

Sera: "Papa ... Mama ... Sera!"
Me: "Sera, please sleep ... "
Sera: "Papa ... mama ... Sera!"
Johan: "Sera .... SLEEP!"
Sera: "Mama ... Sera ... Paaa paaaaa!"
Me and Johan: "Sera ... SLEEP!"
Sera: "Mama ... Papa ... SLEEEEEEEEP!"

This chanting went on for a while. Then she does this commando crawl over our bed, decides to start reading her books in the dark and plays with a balloon she found in our room. This lasted for about 40 mins and finally she came back on our bed, and fell asleep ... exhausted.

Needless to say, Sera and I woke up late this morning. And I also found out that Johan's mom had a difficulty time sleeping last night. What a night!

31

Sera's birthday present to me, this morning, was waking up with 'pink eyes', otherwise known as conjunctivitis. I wasn't so sure what it was, thought it was probably the result of the sandstorm from a few days ago, so I still dropped her off at school, only to be turned away at the gate. She was deemed to be highly contagious! Hah, talk about feeling rejected. Sera was confused with all the shuffling about but I think, as a mother, I was feeling really bad for her. Ok, I may be over-reacting a little here but you see, she was all excited, as always, to go to school. Anyway on the advice of the very wise school nurse, we went to get some eye drops for her.

Johan took half day off just for me. Ahhh, such a sweetie! We put Sera to bed for her afternoon nap and together with his mom, we spent a lazy afternoon watching a bad comedy that only got a laugh out of us at the last 5 minutes. In the evening, Johan and I had dinner at this fancy restaurant which served a confusing menu of Italian, Chinese and Japanese food. We were really there for their Japanese food, which has been highly raved about. It was good ... really, really good!

So that was quiet and romantic end to a seemingly long birthday celebration. I'm 31 years old now. I still don't get too bothered about the additional age, well not yet I guess. Though, I'm starting to get backaches, stiffness in the shoulders but I think that's just the gifts of being pregnant. Ha ha. Again thank you all for celebrating my birthday. Thank you for all the well wishes, sms-es and emails. You all made it very special for me. XOXO ...

My sweet little 'pink eyed' Sera

The sweetest tea party ...

Countdown to 31. Hmm ... I think I'm one of those, I'm sure there are some out there, who don't get too excited about their birthdays. I mean, I like to celebrate it in a low-key manner with minimal fuss and attention. But this year, with some gentle persuasion from friends here, I decided to have a little tea party. Ha ha, sounds so 'Alice in Wonderland'. I invited some close friends and we indulged ourselves in sweet treats, made lovingly by Johan's mom and Manuela. Thank you all for taking time to celebrate my birthday, and the gifts ... ohhhh, I'm so very touched.

Uncle Teddy joined Sera and I for a few rounds of 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' song and dance.

Silly me only remembered to take photos after some of you left! A good photo of us with Amy and Tedy

A bad but comical photo of us and oma ... Sera was done with taking photos.

The start of a great weekend ...

This Friday, we managed to sneak in a morning at the Corniche, just before a sandstorm took over. It was a morning for spending some time outdoors. Sera and I spent some time at the jetty where she checked out the guys who were doing some fishing. She played some football with Johan, but wasn't so excited about the playground this time. And eventually, she took off her socks and shoes and ran all over the park ...

She's happiest bare feet ...

Goofing around with Johan



And away she goes ...

In the evening, we had a really nice dinner at an Arabic restaurant nearby. We sat on the floor to eat so that got Sera all excited, hopping and disturbing us, from Johan and I to opa and oma.

Getting cosy with opa, while he tried his best to eat his dinner

She tests me ...

I love Sera, no doubt about it ... and I even dare say unconditionally. But she tests me ... everyday. Sigh, and today she hit the testing limits. I decided she didn't have to attend school this morning, and instead spend some quality time with oma and myself at the playground. We did have a lovely time at the playground, together with Gaston and Manuela. We even had a delicious brunch at the Opera Cafe at Landmark. When it was time to go back, we had to walk through 'Marks & Spencer'. My big mistake was having a look at the sunglasses rack. Sera got all excited and wanted to try on pair, after pair. She took a fancy to one particular one and didn't want to let it go. Oma and I were trying to wrangle it out of her hands, for fear she might accidentally break it. After several attempts, we managed to trick her into letting it go. Very quickly, oma scooped her up and we made a dash out of the store.

"Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" ... all the way to the jeep.

It only got worse because she put up a 10 minutes struggle with oma and me, refusing to be strapped in the car seat. Imagine, the two of us were unable to strap her down! I have no idea where this mighty strength of hers comes from??? We gave up and left her sitting on the floor of the jeep. She crouched on the floor, refusing to budge, stubbornly looking away from us. Only when oma enticed her with a story book, did she slowly climb onto the seat, cosying beside oma. Phew ... I hate to say this, but what a terror she can be!

There's more.

We arrive home and she decides she wants to stay in the car. I asked once, twice ... hmm, fine let her sit in the car! Sweet oma, of course, patiently pulls out a chair and waits at the patio for her. After 10 minutes, Sera the Queen decides she's done with her stand-off. She calls out to oma and finally, they both come into the house. Oma looked relieved and Sera was smirking, as if to say she had 'proved her point' ... of which, I didn't get? Needless to say, she also put up a fight with me when it was time for her afternoon nap. Hmm ...

It's now 8pm. I can hear Sera running away from Johan while he tries to put her diaper and her pyjamas on. Hah! It's his turn now. She runs out again, this time to give me a goodnight kiss ... and even wishes me "weet reams" ('sweet dreams'). Did I already mention I really do love her unconditionally?

Somehow, this very pregnant mama and Sera managed to fit unto the swing!

Gaston and Sera cruising on the wooden scooter

Awww ...

After gym class at Aspire, the two kids were just running everywhere in opposite directions and away from us. We gave them a new game, 'holding hands' and they appeared to be quite amused by it. The simple things work the best!


Ok, our mamas think they've got us under control ...

Hee hee ... they don't know what we have up our sleeves ...

Quick Gaston, let's walk away from them ...