Daddy arrives!

Brendan arrived in Singapore today, and we enjoyed a walk through the Botanic Gardens together.

Waterfalls and green, glorious green, replenishes the soul.

Singapore Zoo

Best zoo ever! We got so close and personal to so many animals. Here's a couple of slideshows for you to enjoy. (Click X to remove advertising and see captions.)

The girls' awesome activities today.

An educational slideshow of the animals for the young fans of this blog.

Home Sweet Home

This is the first trip for the girls to my home country. Isabelle could not believe that the abundant lush greenery was NOT plastic (as it is in Doha). We stayed with family friends, indulged in their generous hopsitality, and Lita's cooking (best scrambled eggs EVER!). Here with two of Francesca's kids, Amelie and Sam.The girls hit the Kirkham's pool with gusto. Michelle LOVES dates and is not sharing!

Stopover in Dubai

Today is Matilda's REAL birthday, and we're stopping over in Dubai to visit the Selmans.Lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.Obligatory photo by the world's largest fish tank. I know what the girls are smiling at... check out the relfection of the Candylicious Store. Needless to say, that's where we headed straight after this photo was taken!Lisa's talent shines through in this wonderful arrangement of cupcakes. Endless gratitude to you.

NEXT STOP: Singapore.

Breakfast in our PJs @ Johnny Rockets

Just out of bed...
Placing their orders... pancakes pleeeeeaaase!

The staff get wind that it is Matilda's birthday and surprise her with song and ice cream/brownie... for BREAKFAST!
And like vultures, they swoop in.

Traditional birthday morning wake up...

I know it is a day early, but since we fly out tomorrow morning, we decided to celebrate Matilda's birthday today.
Blowing out the candles.

Daddy and his girls... and a zhu zhu pet called Winky!

Look what my sister gave me! Barbie musketeers!

(Later when teaching Daddy how to play with Barbies I overheard Matilda telling him, "Now you have to go rescue the Prince, Daddy." Brendan just looked bewildered... )

This life

The worst part of our expat life is saying goodbye. Everyone moves on to other destinations at some time. This last 12 months has been a tough one, and we've lost a big chunk of our 'family'.
Here we go again... the last Hamza-White beach day with the doggies.

End of an era.

Jamie & Isabelle & Tessa.

It wouldn't be Friday morning at Al Wakra beach without a stop at Starbucks on the way.

Bon Voyage you guys! Best of luck in Durban!

Birthday Celebration #2

We celebrated Matilda's birthday again with the Robertson and Hamza families. On the menu... Singaporean Chilli Crab & Dom Pedros. Multicultural as always.

An evening with good friends, good food and good cheer! Thanks guys.

I'm ready for my guests!

The kiddies, non-spicy, table.
Here it is!

Tarryn aprons up for the mess ahead.

Moe digs in.

Jackie needs something to cool the burn. Brendan thinks of a great solution!

"Happy Birthday to yooouuuuu!"

Thanks for a great year!

Isabelle and Matilda both received stunning school reports this week and today is their final day at school. Thanks to DESS for another great school year!Matilda with Miss Hirst.

Isabelle's teacher, the Jedi master, Mr Hope.

Dress Ups Again!

The brief that came home in the school bag read

'What do you want to be when you grow up?' Matilda's response is a CHEERLEADER!
Give me an 'M'!

In the schoolyard with Vet Mimi.

Hanging out with Ballerina Sofia.

With fellow cheerio Eliza.

Matilda's Flower Birthday Party

How it all started... and now germination is about to begin!
Patiently waiting for guests to arrive.

Decorating a flower pot each.

BFFs Matilda & Mimi.

Pretty girls in floral designs.

Brave Sofia looks for bugs in slime... eewwww!

Half-time show: Isabelle and Jessica show off some of their gym and cheerleading moves.

Nice arabesques!

These girls are well-trained... sitting in a straight line watching the big girls perform, mesmerised. Isabelle and Jess had quite a fan club three minutes later.

Hello. I'm not usually on this side of the camera. Anyway, here I am laying out the birthday cake, pastel cupcakes, worms in (choc) mud, and the ever-popular jelly.

Blowing out five candles.

Matilda digs into the grassy patch of a cake, worms and all.
These girls have been together for two years now, and it is lovely to see that they have formed strong friendship bonds.
Thank you to all of Matilda's friends who made her day so special.