Graduation

Yesterday we celebrated Piper's graduation from pre-school with a small performance at her school. We follow the American/British school system here and school is currently wrapping up for the year, and summer holidays are about to begin.
The new school year starts in September when Piper will begin FS2 (equivalent of Australian prep grade) at her big school, exciting times ahead.

Piper and her best friend (above) will go to different schools next year, which is a bit sad but I am sure these two crazy kids will still see more than enough of each other.

A catch-up in pictures

We watched Uncle Simon jumped from a plane

Just a speck in the sky

Cousins

Friends

A beautiful weekend

If you pop by regularly you will notice this little blog has had a makeover.
I guess in some way this is like the 2013 version of 'nesting' - blog makeover, sorting out my data clouds and digital photography filing and storage are all on my to do list  - now I have finally started maternity leave!

I have had so much on at work that I wasn't really consciously aware of the toll it was taking on me until I stopped. The freedom and feeling of not heading off to work tomorrow is exhilarating and very welcome, a break and some time at home is exactly what I need right now at 38 weeks pregnant.

We have enjoyed a great weekend with lots of relaxing and fun with friends. A BBQ and drinks yesterday which turned into a highly competitive board game evening and this afternoon we met up with a couple of other families for a sunset swim and picnic dinner at the beach. How gorgeous is the pic of Piper with her friends - I cannot put into words how well this group of kids get along and play together.

Life lately in happy snaps

Things have certainly been busy around here and this blog has suffered over recent weeks but the important things is Piper hasn't.
She is happy at school, has made friends she meets with every afternoon at the playground near home and has become a pro at Skyping her Dad and cousin Stella.
If I leave my phone lying around or computer on she has worked out what the Skype symbols mean and demands to call whoever is online.

Her independent streak is continuing to grow (so is she quite frankly, we need to do some shopping). She now insists on having alone time to Skype Naz in the mornings. She sends me off for my shower and perches herself up in my bed and chats away until I start shouting we are going to be late for school!

Here are a few snaps from our Nazless days recently.

Thanks Naz for the goodbye gift - DJ Piper plays morning, noon and night!

Everybody should craft naked, right?

Choosing her first ever Barbie, a reward for a very brave week. You do not want to know how long this took and how many changes were made.... and somehow we left with a Barbie pool too

The change in weather brought about fierce morning fog and sea mist last week. This photo is from our balcony right before we got in the car to drive on a 7 lane highway with zero visibility!

This is normally our view of the community and Burj Khalifa

Rocking out on the piano with Brett during our dinner party on the weekend. We have been so lucky with friends like this to help out. Brett has also been helping with school pick-up when I have meeting clashes. Brett will go down in history as Piper's first love!

Making chocolate crackles

Piper has been learning about growing things. Meet Dennis and his first haircut! Dennis has some serious ear and nose hair issues.

Road trip - Jebel Shams, Oman

Ramadan is officially over and life is getting back to normal.

I am scared to 'type' this out loud but the weather has even felt cooler the last two days. Last night it got to a low of 34 degrees, so all fingers are crossed the heat is over and winter is on its way.

The end of Ramadan brings with it Eid celebrations and several public holiday. These holidays are not officially announced until the evening before Eid begins. UAE residents were given 2 public holidays.... sounds generous, however, all of our neighbouring countries (Saudi, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain) were given a week off so it was a little disappointing.

To make the most of a four day weekend and escape the oppressive heat we headed off on a road trip to explore the mountains of Oman in an area known as Jebel Shams.

A friend who also joined us for the road trip recommended this route and camping location, assuring us despite our hesitation that it was an easy drive and would definitely be cooler temperatures.

Well he got the cooler temperatures right. Jebel Shams camp is 2000m above sea level and the peak is 3000m. The nights were cool enough to throw on a jumper and light a camp fire.

As for the easy drive.... not so right. Firstly it was approx 7 hours each way including toilet breaks and border crossings (we had 3 adults, Piper and Lily in the car).
It was an extremely steep climb and took some time to get up the mountain itself. It had been raining and some of the 4WD driving was a little hair raising. In fact at one point on our scenic drive the next day I freaked out on a steep descent and opted to get out and walk (brought back lots of childhood memories Dad).

It was a great break and another Oman road trip is in the works for later in the year.

Our Bedouin tent - we glamped it a bit and stayed in this instead of taking our tent

Walking through a little village on the start of our hike

There were goats everywhere just waiting to be terrorised by Lily

On our hike looking back at  the cliff
wondering where the path was and how the hell we just walked around
that with a toddler and poodle!

Naz doing 'hero' poses. Don't worry Liz there was a big ledge beneath him x

Like father like daughter, my little daredevil rock climber

Trip to Australia fave moments #1

Ok so I didn't keep my promise and post photos during our trip but I am going to make up for it this week.
Thank you to everybody who welcomed us home and made the time to catch-up, house us, feed us etc. It was an extremely hectic trip and we did not get to catch-up with everyone we would of liked too.
We did however manage to fit in 2 weddings, a baby shower, countless family dinners, a work conference for me in Sydney and way too much driving time between the city and country (something we need to work on next trip).
Below are a few of our fave moments with more to come over the next week!

My beautiful friend Annie's baby shower was amazing!



Stunning cake made by Annie's sister to match the invites!



What's a baby shower without some fun games

Piper and her cousin Stella



I love those curls



Watching Poppy's cows

Baking fun with Auntie Leigh

Uh huh.... pink on the inside too, with a chocolate easter egg baked inside!