A drawing for papa

Sera did a drawing for her papa. In case you don't understand her picasso-like drawings (ahh, my glass is always half-full), it's a jellyfish, a walrus and her papa as a diver. I can't stop laughing at Johan's sausage-like legs ... and look, she even drew in a tank and your belt with weights. Too cute!

Bird park

All Sera wanted to see was a kookaburra but alas, there was none to be seen. Opps. Nonetheless, we had a good time, strolling through the bird park with grandpa and grandma. The highlight was the kids' splash playground tucked away in a quiet part of the park. Of course we didn't come prepared but I couldn't stop them from running au naturel into the sprinklers, especially when they were feeling so mucky from the weather. We ended our visit with a long lunch, while the girls dried up. Have a good week ahead everyone!

Scarket ibises ... stunning

The always happy camper

Posing with the parrots ... Yassy was getting nervous by their squawking

and with the flamingoes

Playground time

Splash time (Yassy slightly censored)

An almost rare moment ... a photo with the girls

Spotty and Mami

There's a pet store in our neighbourhood which the girls love to visit. If I let them, they could probably just hang out there the whole morning. Sera and Yassy will go visit all the little furry rodents, the puppies and many fish in the different tanks. As usual, Sera misses nothing and would inform the pet store assistants if she sees something amiss ... like one morning, the assistant had to clear away 5 bottles of dead fighting fish because Sera worriedly went up to him, proclaiming, "They're DEAD!" and was wondering what was to be done with them. Well, she was mortified when he simply tossed them into the bin. Opps!

So anyway ... after our many visits there, the girls and I agreed to adopt a pet. Well, I decided on the pet or they would have gone the furry way. So ... meet Spotty and Mami. This will be their first pets, little terrapins. Spotty is Sera's, named by her of course, because of the spots on its shell. And for Yassy, she named hers 'Mami' for no particular reason whatsoever. Ha ha.

Spotty and Mami are doing fine. I can't say they're getting lots of attention ... let's say, compared to a dog or a cat. Hmm, Yassy even asked for a cat yesterday. Baby, I can see you saying 'NO' immediately. ha ha.

When they are young ...

The girls are settling into a nice routine these days ... and most importantly, they are pretty happy despite still missing Johan a lot. Here are some random photos of them.

Yassy and Sera having a good laugh with each other ... they were at this for a long time

After school, they burn any remaining energy left. They rush for the swings the minute they enter the playground

Not sure what you call this but it's like a chair-swing? The kids love it and I remember loving it when I was a kid. Here Sera is with her classmates, Ashton and Chloe. Yassy always plays with the bigger kids.

In their school uniforms. It was class photo day thus uniforms were compulsory.

Nothing surprises us anymore

I was in the kitchen when I heard Sera scream for me. I rushed out and this is what I saw. Ok, before I took the photo, I did ask her to come down and of course she said, "Nooooooo!" I know, which mother would feel the need to take a photo of this? Apparently this mother. I shouldn't be taking this photo ... I should be rushing to get her down from the gate and giving a good lecture about not climbing gates like that. But you see, this girl is a little 'un-teachable' ... sometimes. After a few seconds, she did climb down the gate by herself, after having a glimpse of some people practising tai-chi on the the top level of the car park.

Back to school

Sera and Yassy started their first day at Shaws today. For Sera it was a return after 2 years as she had attended Shaws back in July 2008. She was excited to go back to school, but she started to fret when she realised that it wasn't Children's Garden. She remarked that, "this isn't the Dubai school!" I tried to reassure her that it was the same school she had attended 2 years ago. However, I'm afraid that it was too long ago to have made any impression. Then she whined that she didn't have any friends here at Shaws. True but I told her that I was pretty sure she'd make a few friends soon.

Yassy, it being her first day of school in all her 2 years, she was very curious and of course, anything her sister does, she wants to do as well. So with her backpack on her little shoulders, we walked together to 'Spotty Sunflower' at pre-nursery. She got a little shy when her teachers came up to her. I linger for a little as Sera was waiting outside for me to take her to her class. Thankfully, saying goodbye to Yassy wasn't traumatic at all. She was anxious just for a few seconds but got easily distracted by the toys in her class.

Three hours later, I picked up a very thrilled Yassy. According to her teacher, Miss Joanne, Yassy cried once for me but only because she got upset when the toys had to tidied up. Other than that, she was happy to be with her new friends in school. Sera, on the other hand, was very moody ... for reasons she didn't hesitate to tearfully tell me. Apparently, she didn't like the snacks that the school provided (white bread and jam) and the boys in her class "didn't want to be friends with me!" So I quickly promised to pack a snack box for her and regarding her friends ... well, I assured her she would have friends in no time.

So in all, a fairly smooth first day at school. Phew!