Hate Playing Catch Up

Cannot believe it has been just about three months since my last post.  Where has the time gone?  Is it just about December already?  Oh my. 

We had two girls celebrate their birthdays.  I'm now the mother of a nine and a four year old.  Great ages.  

My sister visited for two weeks.  I wish her visit had been longer.

We moved into our own home and are still enjoying it, two months later.

 And lots of other doings in between!

I think I have lots of catch up posts to follow….  Hopefully not so long between drinks posts this time!

FORTY

March 5th saw me reach a significant number.  And I have to say, it was one of my best birthdays ever.  

Special flowers from my Big Sis & her life partner, in the UK

I'm not into parties.  I'm not into being the 'centre of attention', a party of any kind was never on the cards.  MrL suggested a couple of weeks beforehand that we could all perhaps spend the night at a hotel.  I quite liked that idea.  So he went ahead and booked a room at The Shangri-La on the Marina in Cairns.  

The weather might have taken a bad turn that afternoon....

We had a big storm in the afternoon of my birthday.

...but it didn't worry me.

The view from our room was just beautiful.  I've said it before and I will say it again, I love me a marina.

A nice champagne was the order of the afternoon for me.

MrL and the girls bought me a lovely bangle for my 40th.

The girls had a great time in the pool and convinced MrL to get in there too...

...whilst I sipped a cocktail or two.

We had a sensational dinner eating at The Salt House, which is part of the Yacht Club at the Marina.

The next day it was great to get up early, enjoy the view and have a family swim in the massive rooftop pool at the Hotel.  We walked along the Esplanade to a popular Cairns restaurant for breakfast before biding MrL on his way off to work.

Monet still had school to attend so after packing up our room (who knew that four bodies could make so much mess over the course of one night) Lily and I went home via school.

The Marina view at 6am

Breakfast view

A fantastic birthday.  Definitely what I wanted and definitely one to remember.  Awesome.

Two days before Christmas...

...we celebrated MrL's birthday.  My in-laws had arrived the day previously for a handful of nights so it was nice to have them here to help celebrate.  It was also nice of them to have the girls for the afternoon.  *heehee*

I was actually pretty organised this year and MrL scored well with pressies.  

The six of us headed to Palm Cove for lunch.  We had decided (after deliberation) to eat at the Far Horizon's Restaurant, located within the Angsana Resort of the Palm Cove foreshore.  It was actually the same restaurant that MrL and I had our little wedding celebration at, back in 2008.  

With hesitation we ordered off the menu but no one could fault their food.  I must note that the kid's menu was great and different from everywhere else which offer the same thing.  Monet had chosen a platter of bread, ham, cheese, cucumber, ham and lettuce and Lily had a toasted cheese sandwich with apple slices on the side.  Mine was Peri-peri chicken on a light salad.  Washed down with a James Boag beers or two, was lovely....

After lunch Nanna and Poppy took the girls home....ahh....

After another drink we made our way along the Esplanade and ended up at a bar we had wanted to visit but never had.  The Rising Sun.  It didn't feel like Palm Cove, had a very Mediterranean feel about it.  Was lovely.  And as a bonus we spied a kid's corner located under one of the stain glassed windows.  I'd love a nook like this in my dream home...

We should have stayed there for the remainder of the afternoon but instead we moved on to a couple more places.

MrL's dad picked us up and back to the apartment they were staying at.  They were happy to look after the girls a little longer so we went to Lunico's for dinner.

A lovely way to end a birthday.

Happy Birthday MrL xx

MrL's meal - those sweet potato chips were to die for.

Eight

Look who turned eight the day after Lily's third birthday.

I swear I was in denial, due to the fact that I had bought Monet two birthday cards on two different occasions (one was from MrL & I, the other from Lily) and BOTH had the number seven on them!  Eight.  Such a rounded number.  A grown up number.  A number when I personally have a lot of memories of.

We had decided that Monet would have a birthday party this year.  Her last party was when she turned six.  So on her actual birthday we (being my parents, MrL, Lily, Monet and I) went out for dinner and came home for cake.  As you do.

The following day was 'Party Day'.  I had been preparing 'Thank-you' gifts, food ideas etc., for a few weeks but I still found myself extraordinarily busy early on that Saturday morning.  We live across from a park / playground where we held the party with eight party guests (all girls, of course!)  We sent Grandad across the road a good hour earlier to reserve the one and only table, which is undercover.

I stayed home preparing the final food.  Like Fairy Sushi.... (a big hit)

and choc-dipped waffle cones overflowing with fresh, tasty strawberries....

Earlier in the week I had organised the drink bottles for each of the girls in attendance.

Present opening from friends is always fun, is it not?

Lego was the flavour of the day in terms of presents. A big hit with her dad the party girl.

I swear, I was so very exhausted on Saturday afternoon.  It was all the preparation and then the socialising and making sure everyone was happy which wore me out!  I wouldn't have been able to pull off such a successful party with out the help of MrL, my Mum and my Dad.

Monet, I can't believe is eight!  What a great age it is currently turning out to be.  Growing up a little bit more, being a little more responsible....

And the cake!  I haven't shown you Monet's 8th birthday cake.  It was great as no leftovers!

And The Baby Turned Three...

Can't believe my baby turned three, coming up to three weeks ago.  My parents were still visiting which was nice as they got to spend the day with her, on her birth day, something that had not ever happened before, as we were living in Abu Dhabi.  

One thing Lily wanted to do was visit the local zoo.  So we did.  With Monet at school and MrL at work, the remaining four of us went.  

For some reason or another, Lily has decided that she really likes Dingos.  She was rapt to see them animated at the zoo, giving their howls.  I can only imagine how it must sound across the desert in the outback in the evening.  *scary*

And the birthday girl wanted to feed the kangaroos.  It was a pity they weren't really hungry on our visit.

But all the walking around made our three year old hungry so a bowl of hot fries, washed down with some chocolate milk from the cafe, did the trick.

Later in the afternoon, after school pick up, we popped on our party hats and began celebrating...

There is a few things my girl loves.  Besides Dora The Explorer.  She loves Cheese and Bacon Balls, Chicken nuggets, cocktail frankfurts, teddy bears, balloons, Barbie Dolls and skirts, made by me.  =)

She also is still very partial to sucking on her dummy (urgh!) and sticking her hand down my top! Or up my sleeve!  And if it isn't her hand it is her foot!  (I kid you not.)  And when I am unavailable, she comforts herself by doing the below pose...

A hand down her own top!  Nepolian.  =)  She is still very much a Mummy's girl, who loves to give hugs and kisses and cuddles.  It is very sweet.  She's so funny and has a real little personality of her own.  She was a joyous two year old and I am pretty sure she will continue being a joyous three year old.

And of course, every three year old Dora fan MUST have a Dora Birthday Cake.  *heehee*

40th Celebrations.

If you've been reading my blog, you would remember that the UAE turned 40 a couple of weeks back. For the three years we have been here, we have always seen the cars the locals 'dress up' to mark the nation's birthday but I have never taken any photographs of them. I didn't think I would get around to snapping any pics this year either, until....

On Friday December 2nd, my dad, MrL and I decided we'd go over to Yas Island for a pint or two and lunch whilst Grandma agreed to stay at home and look after the girls for us. We saw spotted around the island, near the Yas Marina track, signs about the 'parade of the Union of the Nation' and thought, nahh, won't get to see anything. We were wrong. After a couple of hours at a couple of bars and a couple *ahem* pints in us, the parade had started.

I have never seen anything quite like it before and was grateful I had chosen to take my camera with me in my bag. So *joyous* and so funny! The local Emirates, certainly know how to amuse this Australian gal.  Yep, the old 'let's hang out the car window and the sunroof!', the lack of seat belts, the constant car tooting, the noise, the 'lets spray each other with foam', the car decorations all in one place.  And we were at the right place at the right time.

Below is a quick selection of photos from the afternoon.