Don't ask me what the significance of Halloween, I do not know. All I know is, it's good fun to play dress-up whether for the kids or the adults. And honestly, the treats are secondary because at the end of the 'harvest', Sera only gets a few sweets and the rest I either re-distribute or stash away for safe keeping. 'wink'
So this afternoon, at exactly 4pm, a few mothers and their kids ... and Johan (all the moms were very surprised that a father actually came!), met at the playground to embark on the mission of Trick or Treating. One of the moms had suggested the night before that the mothers come dressed as 'men', with moustache and all. Inwardly, I groaned but peer pressure (yes, even for a mom like me) meant I had to suck it in and just do it!
I don't own a piece of formal shirt or anything that has a buttons all the way down, so I rummaged Johan's wardrobe and chose the 'smallest' shirt I could find. Pants? Shall I just wear his as well? Hmm, why not? Belt, his thick brown belt definitely. I was starting to feel, creepily, like Johan. I pulled on white socks and wore my Nike runners. All done. Oh actually, not quite yet. Without thinking, I started to apply black eye shadow on my jawline, above my upper lip, created side burns. The result, I looked like a ghastly version of a Johan.
Sera was all ready in her mermaid costume. I have to say, she looked very cute wearing it for the 3rd time. She has grown into her costume, especially with the coloured hair extensions I added for her. So, how did Sera react to my costume? She cried! She was confused and kept saying she didn't like how I looked. She wanted me to look like mama. Oh goodness. We were running late so I had to quickly explain that I was only in costume, just like she was. She reluctantly accepted my hasty explanation and we rushed to the playground.
Johan, who was walking with Yasmin, was also adding the finishing touches to his costume. He was going as 'Bob the Builder'. Come on, it was so easy for him. He wore this 'costume' at work everyday! From the boot of his car, he pulled out his safety helmet, his safety vest and his working boots. When he met me at the playground, he insisted I put on his other safety helmet and safety vest. Huh? Ok, whatever. I ended up really looking like him now!
We all had a good laugh at each other, posed for photos and then planned our strategy for our Trick or Treating. It was simple. We just had hunt down the houses that had a pumpkin of some sort outside their doors. So all the 'men' plus one real man, and all the giggling kids, spent the next hour 'begging' for sweets. We drew a lot of curious stares along the way (but of course) but all of us, even the kids I'm sure, had a good time.
We decided to have dinner at the Italian restaurant nearby and Johan was like, "Didn't you bring a change of clothes?". Yes, my husband who didn't stand beside me the whole time we were Trick or Treating was actually very embarrassed of this male imposter. Ha ha. I wiped off my beard, took off the safety helmet and vest, let my hair down, carried my hand bag ... hmmm, that was the best I could do. I grabbed his hand, didn't let go of it, and marched straight to the restaurant. I glanced at him from the side, and I'm so sure I saw him cringe. What I thought? Oh, my outfit, or rather his - the baggy shirt and the thick belt that was barely keeping his shorts up. Ha ha.
The Trick or Treating crew
Sera with her friends, Elin and Josephine
"Trick or Treat!!!"
Taking a rest in between the hard work
Bags full of treats ... the crew was tired but contented
Yasmin was oblivious to all the sweets that were being thrown at us ... she was happily scootering around and at one time, even followed these boys instead
We were invited for a Halloween party by an Indigo (that is Sera's home room) mom. Hey, any excuse for a good party ... count us in. ha ha. I was resigned to letting Sera wear her mermaid dress, yah, here I go again. This so very unimaginative mother of hers. But at the last minute I found this strange looking hair band at Claire's, that had bat purple sequinned bat wings and ears! I had no idea what I was going to do with it but I bought it purely on impulse. I'd figure something out.So 1.5 hours before the party (I always work best under pressure, or so it seems) I remembered she had a pair of black leggings (did they still fit?), her patent boots (a gift from Sigi but do they still fit?) and I needed a black long sleeved top. Hmm, a grey one would have to do. I was a bit wary that she'd just HATE the costume because all around her, the girls at school wanted to be princesses and it had rubbed off along the way. But she loved the costume and was soooo thrilled with her wings that grew from her head and not her back. ha ha ha. Johan, being Mr hardly-out-of-the-box, asked me to cut the wings and stick it on her back. "It's just crazy that the wings are on her head!"I thought it was hilarious and in the end, Sera loved it so nothing else mattered. She didn't even flinch when I used my black eye liner and eye shadow to create some sort of mask like thing on her face. She was very keen to be Bat Girl. And of course, Johan just had to comment, "But there is no Bat girl, only Cat girl!"And all together ... we roll our eyes to the blue skies! 'wink'
I dressed Yasmin in Sera's eeyore outfit, which was a gift when she was born. It still fits and that mouse ear had to do because the eeyore head piece was annoying her. Check out the attempting to be fierce Bat girl.
You'd think those mouse ears were really a part of his head!
Sera and Sophia singing a medley of songs to get their treats
Getting treats the easy way ... 
The kids were sooo picky ... they were studiously picking up their favourite sweets and throwing back the 'undesirable' ones!!!
The dessert spread was ridiculously sinful (and this is only half of the table!)
We drove to the northern most part of Oman, the Musandam peninsula, and we were on a mission to look for dolphins. Well, that is one typical attraction there, where we'd spend a day on a dhow cruise and hopefully get a glimpse of the resident dolphins that frolic in the fjord.
The drive into Musandam was, for lack of a better word, breathtaking. The mountains rise straight out of the sea, and the lack of vegetation gave it a stark, even treacherous feel but it was still undeniably majestic. The 4 hour drive, with the girls getting stir crazy by the hour, was very worth it. We checked into Esra apartment hotel, a very basic DIY service apartment with a pool, but very pretty restaurant. It was almost dinner time by that time, so we tucked into some local Arabic fare and soon after, the four of us fell asleep on the double twin beds.
Driving into Musandam
Esra apartment hotel ... the restaurant was the only thing worth taking a photo of
We sat sail on the dot, at 9.30am, and made out way into the 17-km fjord. The scenery was surprisingly beautiful, serene, and the calm water enclosed by the soaring mountains made us feel like we were entering an almost magical place. We caught a glimpse of isolated villages (and remnant of) that were almost camouflaged into the mountains, and also coastal villages that still subsisted on fishing as a simple way of life. But the highlight was of course the dolphins and they did not fail. Just a few minutes into the fjord, we were greeted by a family of 5 dolphins. They swam by the dhows and dove in and out, gracefully and with such speed. Thankfully the dhow is a very steady boat because all of us (probably 40 passengers) went to the right side of the boat to marvel and exclaim at them.
Getting fitted into safety gear before setting off
Yasmin was not happy with her life vest, which of course came off eventually
Sera was beaming throughout the day ... 
Yasmin was ready for her nap when the dhow set sail
Dolphins!
They visited with us twice during the day
We arrived back at the harbour at exactly 4pm. We were tired, sticky from the salty air and water, but it felt extremely good. All of us could barely sit through dinner but were very grateful to crawl into bed at 7.45PM. Ha ha. Ahh, why not?
Sera and Elin scoffing down apples throughout the day
Everyone just chilling out 
Snorkelling at Telegraph Island. It was here that Sera and I swam from the boat to a tiny rocky island on the left.
Yasmin had a long sleep in the morning. Here she had just woken up, and waiting to have her lunch
I stood by the captain to get this shot of the dhow
Lounging on the cushions
Feeling very at home on one of the beaches at Musandam
We attended the first of, probably, many, many birthday parties (of Sera's classmates) to come. Oh and I'd like to specify, it was a 3 year old party. This party, themed the 'Royal Princess Party' was surely very royal and elaborate - tables and chairs were covered with pristine white table cloth, a bouncy castle (but of course), a bar that had a free flow of everything you desired, a hired children's party coordinator that wasn't very convincing as a princess, an actual ice cream truck, and just check out the birthday cake. Need I say more?
The magnitude of this birthday party was definitely something we'd never, ever pull off for our own girls, just because it isn't how we are. But hey, the girls and all the other children had a blast and Johan was enjoying the free flow of beer ... so we can only accept and kindly appreciate parents that give these kind of parties. 'wink'
Birthday girl, Sophia and Sera
The party hosts made sure everyone enjoyed it, even the little ones
Of course, Yas couldn't resist the swing
Have you seen anything like this before? 
It was a mad rush, almost a stampede when the ice cream van arrived. I quickly pulled Sera out of the madness and grabbed an ice cream of her instead
For 5 minutes, there was silence ... only slurping sounds 
Sera with her friends, Tufan and Sophia
I'm toooo little for school!
Sera's school just recently offered play school sessions for 1 year old children, and it got me wondering ... maybe, just maybe Yasmin would enjoy it? I mean, Sera loved it when she was 14 months! But I know that Yasmin is very different from Sera and I can't expect her to embrace play school like her sister. Therefore, I decided, on just a 'drop in' session today.
Yasmin loves going to Sera's school - the playground, the laughing and excited children, the kisses and hugs when we drop and pick her up at school. It's become a familiar routine for her. Today, when we picked Sera up from school, she was a little surprised when I ushered her into the Music Room. The toys, musical instruments and the few other children got her attention, lured her in. I quickly gave her a kiss and sneaked out. I stood outside the door and peeked through a little gap between the folding doors. She was FINE ... she was exploring and observing. Then it all started crumpling down. One of the kids cried ... no wailed. And a domino effect started. All eight children started to cry in unison. I stood with two other mothers, behind the door, just wanting to run in and swoop Yasmin into my arms but we were instructed by the teacher to give the children time ... time to cry it out, if necessary.
I was a wreck, I was pacing and I didn't think it was in me to pace. In the cacophony of cries, I could only hear Yasmin's. I had left Sera waiting at the Reading Corner and I knew I should just go to her. So I did. I went to Sera, read her about four books and decided we had to just leave the school and come back for Yasmin. That was the original plan ... to have some one on one time with Sera, while Yasmin was at play school twice a week. So Sera and I cycled to the neighbourhood mall and went to get a snack. I enjoyed my time with her but it was also a blur because Yasmin's cries were lingering in my mind ... my ears. We hung out at the mall for a while and cycled back to school. Thank goodness Sera was so easy and compliant that afternoon. When we were back at her school, she went straight for the Reading Corner and I went straight to the Music Room. There were no mothers standing outside, no crying ... but I heard singing! I peeked again and the kids were huddled together on the floor listening to the teacher sing nursery songs.
When the doors finally opened, I saw Yasmin playing with a car on the floor. I called her name; she looked up, stood up in a clumsy rush, half crying, half smiling (if that is even possible) ... she ran to me with arms wide open.
So I don't know if I can let Yasmin cry it out like that again. I haven't dropped her in for another session and I'm still undecided ... hmm, decisions, decisions. Or maybe not ... maybe I'll just hang out with her, take her for music sessions at her park ... just let her be. After all, she's only 15 months.
Maybe I'll just let her bounce on balloons the whole day ...
We sneaked out of Dubai over the weekend, drove 2 hours to Al Ain and drove up Jebel Hafeet, a mountain rising to about 1,200 metres. When Johan said we'll be staying at a hotel on the mountain, it didn't really register. Not until we were driving up the mountain road, when I suddenly felt a little light in my head (well, ok a little more than usual!), with the red rocky walls of the on my left and right did it sink in. The road up, about 11km, is surprisingly smooth and I later find out that on this same mountain is where many international cycling challenges take place.
The road ends at the only hotel (just further up is a palace owned by a sheikh) and I have to say the view of the city is quite impressive. We quickly checked in, the girls bounce around in the hotel room and then we headed outside. The pool was a bit too crowded so we hung out at the playground, which was good enough to keep the girls occupied for a while. Maybe it was the altitude (or the fact that Sera was still under medication), but we struggled through dinner and we all crawled into bed at 8pm! Ha ha. It's almost embarrassing to admit it. But we all woke up at about 6am feeling very refreshed (at least Johan and myself) and raring to go.
Johan and I decided that we are definitely breakfast people, so it was wonderful to dig into a good breakfast buffet spread. After a satisfying breakfast, we headed to the almost empty pool to sink. ha ha. Johan had a good time on the three pool slides. We had no success getting Sera on any of them but Johan took Yas on two of them. She was a little terrified but still wanted more whenever she saw Johan go on them again? So we spent the morning in the pool, huddled together after that, trying to soak up the heat from the sun.
After check out, we went to the local zoo. We were there before, with our friends Bonnie and Cyril and their boys. We remembered it as being very green and spacious, perfect for a picnic, which we had of course. Johan thought he found a perfect spot but we realised too late that we were sitting on top of several ant nests. Oh well, all part of our exciting afternoon at the zoo. After lunch, we visited with the resident animals. There was the lone gorilla who sat at the same spot at our last visit, also with his back to us. Sera had a soft spot for it and kept calling out to him for the longest time and eventually, he turned and looked at her, not once but twice. She decided that his name would be George. Ha ha. How original huh?
There was a handsome pack of wolves that got Yasmin's attention and that inevitably led into a 'woofing' frenzy from hers truly. There were lions, many different exhibits of different monkeys, an almost impressive collection of reptiles, giraffes and of course, the familiar Arabian oryx. We finally stopped and sat for many minutes to stare at two meerkats. Then we decided that we were ready to head back to Dubai.
The drive back to Dubai took over two hours. The girls, unfortunately, didn't sleep a wink! Sera alternated from singing songs from the one and only CD that we had in the car, to belting out German nursery songs. Yasmin tried to keep up with Sera, in vain. In the end, when all the fruit, rice crisps and juice were finished, Yasmin initiated a toe sucking competition with Sera. I am not kidding! The two girls were slobbering their toes and as disgusting as that may sound, it got me laughing big time. Oh dear, I think the four of us were suffering from heat stroke.
So that was our little weekend away ... it was fun, sometimes relaxing and actually a little hectic (just because it's still a lot of work for an overnight stay). But we're definitely going to do this more often.
Oh by the way, I forgot the camera so that is why I decided to make this post a little longer to make up for the lack of photos. These photos below are from the Internet ... just so you see Jebel Hafeet and the hotel we stay the night. Enjoy!
The valley before we drive up the mountain. The greenery, I'm afraid, was not naturally there but landscaped in. It's beautiful nevertheless. 
The road up Jebel Hafeet had 21 turns. Here you get a nice view of the mountain road.
Mercure Jebel Hafeet
Sera with her friends, Elin and Josephine
"Trick or Treat!!!"
Taking a rest in between the hard work
Bags full of treats ... the crew was tired but contented
Yasmin was oblivious to all the sweets that were being thrown at us ... she was happily scootering around and at one time, even followed these boys instead
