7 Months Old!

Because Dads make the best jungle gyms ever.

Hot Nights and Hotter Days

I couldn't think of another title on the fly, but given the weird and unusual google searches that somehow send people to my blog, I am a little concerned what sort of traffic will wind up at this post, disappointed.

We are now just over a week out from the official beginning of summer and it is hot, hot, hot!
Today marks the official beginning for me. When I walked out of the office and my sunglasses fogged over from the humidity for the first time this year - I knew summer was here. But hey, at least I am not pregnant this year!

Naz has entered the Dubai International Half Ironman in November. So ironically as the weather heats up his training schedule is ramping up also. The crazy man has started cycling at night, and as it gets hotter intends to get up and train between 3am and 5am.
Luckily there is an 85km cycling track out in the desert, not too far from home (pictured above on the morning after a sandstorm), but it's really far out into the desert so I am not that keen on his training plans. He has already stopped running outdoors and moved onto the treadmill, and there is probably 3 more weeks before the sea is too hot for swimming and he will be stuck doing laps in our pool. He is a crazy man I tell you, all of the above is his idea of fun.

Last weekend I joined a girls only stand up paddleboard group for a combined paddle and fitness class on the boards..... which I completely underestimated. I could barely walk the next day - there were muscles hurting I forgot existed. The class is out on the Palm, how freaking cool is that, to paddle around the Palm in Dubai - one day I am going to miss some really awesome things about living here.

Piper's school year is coming to a close, only 5 weeks left before summer holidays. She has bounced back from her operation and you wouldn't know it was less than a month ago. She is back to her usual crazy self - tonight our conversation in the car went a little like this:
"Mum I really, really want to go to school more days a week, I want to go to school on Thursdays too"
To which Naz and I proceeded to tell her 'no way' and explain that this was the last chance she got to hang out at home and have Daddy days, sleep in, go to the beach and just be a kid etc. We told her that in September when big girl school starts she has to go to school 5 days a week forever - until she is all grown-up.
Her response '"umm I only want to go to school on Thursdays because they have spaghetti for lunch".

Frankie is continuing to grow and entertain us. She finally nailed the rolling thing again after giving us the false start weeks ago and then stopping. She is sitting with a little help and is growing so strong - both physically and mentally. She is a fierce and determined little one. At 6 months old she is eating 3 meals a day and snacks in-between, she definitely inherited Naz's appetite. She almost eats more than Piper already!
The one thing Frankie doesn't like.... babies. Hates them. Screams her lungs out if she is put near them. Potentially a by product of spending a lot of time with her Dad and not out and about with other babies, but at least she will be able to name every NBA team and player by the time she is 1.

Then there is the story about the crazy Aussie in purple pineapple shorts who put out a substantial house fire before the fire brigade arrived and then promptly disappeared...... but I will keep that one for another day!

Naz in Lycra

Two weeks ago Naz competed in an Olympic distance triathlon held at the Atlantis Hotel, on The Palm, Dubai.

Fortunately, this coincided with Grandpa’s holiday in Dubai, so he was lucky enough to have 4 family members out there cheering for him.

I have been chasing Naz around crazy sport events for long enough now that I can read an event map like a pro, calculate what his times should be and when he will transition, and then get myself around the event to at least catch him 3 or 4 times throughout the race, and give him a bit of encouragement.
It’s a lot more fun these days too with Piper running around with me. Her excitement to cheer for her Dadda is pretty infectious.

On this particular day I was pretty impressed that I had managed to get two kids up, dressed, fed and out the door by 7am on my own, (I felt like I had completed a triathlon myself just getting us all into the car). Naz had left at about 4:30am to get his bike and gear checked in.

Naz kicked some butt on the day and came in 21st in Olympic Male Open. He also got to race against, and meet his boy crush, fellow Australian and two time World Champion Chris McCormack.

Not one to slow down, yesterday ,Naz competed in the world first Desert Triathlon. A combination of run, cycle, and endurance horse ride. 
Before you go picturing Naz in lycra on horseback, he competed as part of a team - he completed the cycle leg only. Unfortunately his horse was disqualified and did not race so they received no team result, but Naz’s cycle leg was an impressive 31 out of 127 competitors.

Unfortunately, I did not take my camera - I knew I would have my hands full with the girls. The event was incredible and dominated by local Arabs and royal family members. His Highness Nasser bin Hamad al Khalifa was the winner – completing the run, cycle and 40km horse ride on his own – faster individually than the teams could do it!! He was pretty impressive, I guess if you are the son of the King of Bahrain and married to the Head Sheikh of Dubai’s daughter you probably have a bit of time on your hands to train, I am thinking employment is not really an issue.

If you want some more eye candy of Naz in lycra, below are some of the official photographs taken at the Atlantis Triathlon. Piper received the best cheer for her run down to the finish line with Naz, and they gave her a medal of her own.

Fire fighter for a day

Last week Naz organised a day for Piper and her cousins to visit his fire station in Melbourne and play fire fighters for the morning.
I have to say I was blown away by the effort Naz and his colleagues put in to the morning. It was an awesome insight into their jobs and life at the station.
There are no words to describe how much the kids loved their adventure at the fire station.

Triple triathlon in the desert?

This weekend Naz and some friends competed in the Wadi Adventure Triple Triathlon in Al Ain.
A triple triathlon is - 350m swim in a man made wadi (dam), 7km bike leg followed by 1.5km run then repeated 3 times. This makes for a lot of transitions and hard work for competitors but meant Piper and I were able to see Naz several times during the race in quick succession and follow his progress easily.

Unfortunately to beat the heat the race started at 7am with entry roads in closed from 6:30am and Al Ain is in another Emirate so it was a 4:30am start for our drive from Dubai!
But it was all worth it! Naz's swim training is paying off and he really enjoyed the triathlon and to top it off finished 19th overall!!

The location the triathlon was held is also home to a man made wave pool which pumps out genuine 3.5 metre waves for surfing..... in the middle of the desert! Naz and a friend Brett have been travelling here for a weekly surf so I will post a separate blog post on this another day.

Pre race cuddle

Start of the race



Waiting for a high five from her Daddy

Another high five!



Cheering on the competitors





Running across the finish line with her Daddy - she was so excited to run in the race and won a pair of shoe laces at the presentation for her efforts!

Beating the heat... early morning beach walk fun

Pool fun

Not sure who is the kid in this pool....

Run Naz Run!

I have been wanting to put this post up for days but it has been a busy week and I also had camera and technology issues, but I promise to make it up with at least 3 updates this week!
Last Friday 27th January Naz competed in his first marathon (42 kilometres for you non runners like me) and he made it!! We are soooo proud of him.
It's not often you have a world class marathon starting and finishing on your doorstep so he couldn't pass up the opportunity, it has also been a goal for some time now.
He has been training since we arrived in Dubai apart from the week he had off after injuring his back doing handstands (note to men weighing 100kg - your body is NOT meant to hang upside down).
Come race day I am not sure who was more nervous, the enormity of what he was about to do was a bit overwhelming for me. We were up at the crack of dawn to get to the start line, a mere 400 metres from our front door. Friends were racing in the 10km event so there was a nice big bunch of us together to cheer from the grandstands.
If you are familar with Dubai the race basically ran from Downtown (Burj Khalifa) through DIFC (financial district) to the beach and along the coast to the Burj Al Arab and back.
In the time Naz was running (4 hours 25 minutes in total) Piper and I cheered on our friends in the 10km race, met up with a group for a long breakfast back at Souk Al Bahar, gave the dog a quick stretch of the legs and strolled back for the finish.
It was amazing when we spotted him making his way up the final leg, we waited with friends at the 400m mark to cheer him on for the finish and it was incredible how much a bit of support from a group of friends can spur on that last bit of energy!
He is now recovering well, after a few days of exhaustion and what he tells me is a common runner's cold the only injuries left recuperating are the knees and shocking chaffing 'nappy rush' under his arms from his singlet! Which is lucky really because he is competing in the Wadi Bih Team Marathon in 6 days time, it is a 72km off road marathon through the desert and Wadi's (rock water pools) completed in a team so I understand each member runs approximately 19 kilometres. I will post on that after the event!

Apologies in advance.... I am having a nightmare with photo's on my blog at the moment, they are randomly switching between vertical and horizontal so until I have this all sorted tilt your head and enjoy xo

What's been happening lately!

It has been awhile since I have written a blog post and update on what we are up to in general over in the land of sand so here it is..... sorry in advance it is rather long!

The weather has currently hit a ‘cold snap’ over the last week and it is expected to last another 3 days, but thankfully back to nice winter 26 – 28 by the weekend.
At the moment in Dubai we are getting lows of very low teens and 17 – 19 during the day, which may not seem cold to a lot of people but believe me we have most certainly acclimatised and our blood thinned and it is freezing outside. The winds have been strong and very chilly blowing in off the back of a nasty cold front in Iraq. Perhaps the only thing worse than the cold weather is the SAND!!! It is everywhere coating everything possible. I am sure it is not called hay fever but my sinuses and head sure feel like hay fever they are so clogged with sand and dust. We have had several days of sand storms and very low visibility... Yuk!

It is a big week in our house – Naz is competing in his first marathon on Friday! Yes you heard right, my crazy husband is running 42 kilometres on the weekend just for fun!!!!! It has always been a bit of a goal for Naz and given the Dubai marathon starts and finishes on our boulevard in Downtown he couldn’t resist. Stay tuned for an update and photos next week!

We are also in the middle of buying a car over the next fortnight – a task we have put off but really need to do. It is a bit of a nightmare but thankfully my colleagues have all been through it already and learnt the hard lessons. We are a bit excited, it will give us a lot more freedom and less stress caused by crazy taxi drivers!
So along with buying a car we also have to buy new camping gear. Desert road trips and camping are popular pastimes in the UAE with so many different areas to explore from mountains to beautiful beaches, deserts and some of the biggest sand dunes in the world!
We have our first camping/road trip planned in 2 weeks time with a group of friends to the Empty Quarter. The Empty Quarter is a unique desert area at the northern tip of the UAE bordered by UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen so it does belong to somebody..... they just haven’t bothered to draw lines in the sand or lay claim to it. It is only inhabited by nomad’s and even then only at certain times of the year. I don’t actually know what is there really other than some of the largest sand dunes in the country and of course camels!! Stay tuned for a post road trip update!

Overall life is treating us good and we are all healthy and happy! Ok so that might be a stretch for everyday but terrible 2’s end eventually don’t they?
Piper is growing at a rapid rate lately – I am looking forward to some toddler shopping in Melbourne, almost all her pants are halfway up her leg! I am starting to think she may not have inherited my height genes after all!

My work is going well and Naz will hopefully have some exciting news soon but in the meantime he has taken on an events management contract for the next month. I won’t name any brands on here but he is managing a 4 day launch for a new luxury car at the Yas Island Formula 1 track in Abu Dhabi next month. I should mention that other than the 4 days in Abu Dhabi and the occasional day down there he is doing this work from home so is still looking after Piper!! I know... I am a very very lucky wife!

Finally a big blog world hug and kiss to all of our friends and family who have popped out beautiful new bubba’s over the past month! We cannot wait to meet you all and Naz just wants all the baby photo’s to stop because you are all making me clucky for more xoxox