Eid Holiday in Netherlands

This year for Eid holiday we decided to get out the heat and head north to enjoy some cool rainy weather in the Netherlands.  We'd heard good things about a place called CenterParcs which is a holiday village geared towards kids and the outdoors - sounded perfect for us.  We invited along our usual vacation buddies the Fenns and shared a 6 bedroom cottage (which was really more of an apartment) on the lake about 45 mins outside of Amsterdam.  We got a great deal on the flights but it meant that we left at midnight and arrived at 6 am. 

This meant by the time we loaded up a small bus with all the kids and their gear and finally arrived at the park it was only 8 am and check-in wasn't until 3pm. 

We found a nice place to stack up our luggage and spent the first day entertaining very tired kids while waiting to get into our room. 

The boys had a great time playing in the greenery, catching bugs, and playing with sticks that they were quite satisfied with our temporary situation. 

The babies had their naps on the go and we found a restaurant for lunch. 

Since everything here is kid friendly they had a great play areas for the kids

... and the big kids too.

We finally got into our cottage/apartment and found there was already someone there - actually tons of them - all over. 

I have never been anywhere with so many spiders.  They were in the rafters, on the windows, all over the porch.  If you left something hanging for more than about 12 hours you'd come back to webs on it.  It was amazing how many there were they were very interesting to watch too - no need for TV when you have spiders everywhere.  After a couple days we kind of got used to them being around (and had no issues with mosquitoes or other pesty bugs).

After a long day of travelling, waiting, and finally moving into our new home away from home (filled with spiders) we got all the kids to bed and enjoyed a beautiful sunset while sitting on our porch enjoying the local wine.

Odds are...

...that when you live in Doha, with one of the highest road accidents rates per capita in the world, you will get in a serious accident. 

Steve was the unfortunate one this time.  He's not real clear on how it happened - he's pretty sure it's his fault. 

He came to an intersection, didn't stop (or likely just rolled through), then all of sudden saw a dump truck heading right for him.  Fortunately, the dump truck driver was paying attention and swerved at the last minute meaning the truck hit Steve's engine rather then his door. 

Everyone walked away from the accident, Steve was a little sore for the next few weeks where the seat belt was.  The cops tried to blame it on truck driver saying he was going too fast but Steve argued with them that no, the guy saved his life by paying attention and swerving at the last minute. 

It's an interesting situation but likely the police only saw Western Expat versus Pakistani TCN (3rd country national) and decided based on that who was at fault.  With Steve being at fault it likely saved the truck driver from jail time (while the 'investigation' was conducted) and his job.  If you hadn't guessed, the car was totaled and since the accident rate is so high here insurance companies only give 3rd party coverage on older vehicles. 

We found a garage who was willing to buy it for QR6000 ($1600), the new owner claims he's going to repair it and sell it but I think it's more likely to go to parts.  Steve had been saying for awhile that he wanted a new car - well, there are certainly better ways to get one than this.  But 2 days later he bought himself a brand new Nissan Armada. 

I think Nissan now has a life-time customer.  Steve's certain that the only reason he walked away from the wreck was because his Pathfinder was able to handle the full impact of a dump truck.  So he decided to upgrade to Nissan's version of a dump truck.

Rocks and Papaya

I don't know what it is about boys and rocks but Jaydon and Tylor love to play in the field of rocks that separates our house from the neighbors. 

They could spend hours out there making piles, throwing them around, and just plain getting dirty. 

It has become one of the go-to's when Tylor is fussy or grumpy. 

And it doesn't matter how hot it is outside they will happily sweat with bright red cheeks to get their rock playing time in. 

Samina likes to collect various seeds and try to grow them.  Back when we were in the old compound she had started some papaya seeds and brought the saplings with us to Al-Rayyan.  Well the trees got big enough to form fruit this spring so we've been watching them all summer.  The fruit finally started to turn yellow, but not because it was getting ripe but because the tree was dying from our wonderful weather.  You know it's hot when tropical fruit trees can't survive.  The papaya still tasted pretty good though wasn't very sweet.  Jaydon thought it was really neat to see the fruit grow and finally be able to pick it.  Hopefully we'll have more luck next year.

Ramadan

Ramadan has started which means there's very little to do with the kids.  Everything is closed during the day so most weekends are spent at the pool.  Since it's summer plus Ramadan we usually have the whole pool to ourselves.  Some of our neighbors are moving back to the UK soon so we had a low key get together at Clarissa's house. 

Her mommy has done a great job of decorating the extra bed room as a play room and Tylor loved seeing all the stickers on the wall and playing with the new toys. 

We also couldn't resist dressing Tylor up in a few of Clarissa's accessories, especially while the dads were downstairs drinking beer. 

We passed around the Harry Potter glasses though they must have been for a doll because they didn't even fit Tylor. 

Though Tylor's favorite thing was the balloon. 

He loved batting it around but would get so frustrated that it kept floating away from him.  I guess he's not used to the kind with actual helium inside. 

Then it was snack time, it's always a good idea to get the kids all loaded up on sugar, especially right before you want them to be calm on the couch together for a....

group picture.  We actually did get all the kiddos together on the couch.  From left to right that's Maya and Sacha (who were both moving back to the UK), Jaydon, Tylor (who wouldn't let that balloon out of his sight), Clarissa, and Jacob holding Ethan. 

After all the fun we loaded the boys into the wagon but Sacha didn't want to be left behind so we added her to the middle.  The kids had lots of fun and we all enjoyed having something a little different to do during the long hot, Ramadan season.

She Wolf

Jaydon's new favorite song is She Wolf and he keeps practising all his fancy dance moves. 

Tylor loves the entertainment and uses every opportunity he can to clap while standing all by himself. 

Jaydon has also discovered music videos thanks to She Wolf, I think it's safe to say that Shakira might be Jaydon's first crush...

Encore! Encore! 

Salmon BBQ

Steve got inspired again to grill a whole salmon and turn into a low key dinner party. 

Jaydon loved going to the fish counter to pick out the fish and bring his new buddy home. 

He practised his fish kisses and helped daddy get it ready for the grill. 

When it was finished it was yummy enough to eat!

1st steps

Tylor has started taking his first steps. 

It's more a controlled fall at this stage but he's excited about the new party trick that gets him all kinds of attention.  It's one more way all the boys can have playing with each other.

 

Cirque Du Soleil

We had a special treat come to Doha, the Cirque Du Soleil show! 

And Jaydon is just old enough that we thought it was time to give such a thing a try with him. 

We also invited along the Fenns so that in the worst case the 2 boys could entertain each other while the adults watched the show. 

The boys were great and were completely enthralled most of the show.  It was a fun show and everything about it went very smoothly - easy parking, no lines, show started on time... (which is saying a lot for what can sometimes happen at Doha events). 

My favorite was the next day when Jaydon was playing with his Lego men.  He had one standing on the head of another and said, "Mommy look, it's like at the circus yesterday".  I guess it made an impression on him.

Florida

My Grandfather, who will be 95 in March, had some fairly serious surgery and needed some support during the recovery period.  The company has some very good policies regarding trips home for illness in the family so I took them up on the offer and flew to Florida for a week to help out Squeak.  It was tough leaving the boys behind but I must say it was one of the most enjoyable 16 hour flights I've had.  I got on the plan with 2 magazines and that's it - no carry-on full of toys, food, clothes, diapers etc. etc.  I caught up on all kinds of movies that I had missed out on lately and arrived to Florida just as a huge storm was finished passing through (so it was beautiful and sunny the whole time I was there).  I got to spend the week hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma Squeak and seeing lots of family members I hadn't seen in a long time.  When I arrived Grandpa wasn't able to get out of bed and by the time I left he had made so much progress that he could lift himself out of bed and settle into his wheelchair mostly unassisted.  He and Squeak had a really great attitude about the whole situation and the trip ended up being very relaxing and productive for me.  I got to go Anne Taylor, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond kid free and to fill up the empty duffel bag I brought along just for that reason. 

And, a little over a week after I left Grandpa had made so much progress that he was up, getting fully dressed and even venturing down to the gym for some exercise.  At this rate he'll be back on the golf course in no time.  Get well soon Grandpa, we love you!

Boys being boys

The boys have been finding various ways to amuse themselves during the summer. 

Jaydon likes to clomp around in daddies shoes which is especially difficult when they are heavy steal toes shoes. 

Steve got inspired to use some leftover wood we had lying around to make an airplane for the wagon. 

He didn't realize that after spending the first half of his weekend making it that he'd have to spend the second half giving all the boys a ride in it.  He had great plans to paint it and make it look really nice but the next week the driver who brings Jaydon home from school ran into it so it didn't survive long. 

Tylor practiced hanging out with the guys and Jaydon and Jacob had lots of fun playing silly games together.

 

Summer School

During the summer here most everyone who can manage leaves. 

For those of us who work and don't have weeks and weeks of vacation we have to find other ways to entertain ourselves. 

Fortunately Jaydon's nursery is one of the few that offer summer school so he still gets to go have fun everyday playing in the great indoors. 

It's kind of like the equivalent of hibernating in the winter. 

You stay inside, minimize all outdoor activities and think cool thoughts. 

But I don't think Jaydon minds a bit.

 

Practice, practice

That's what Tylor does everyday, back and forth in the living room with his walker. 

He loves being able to get around but is still building up the strength before he feels comfortable venturing out on his own. 

With all the hard tile and concrete he has to walk on I don't blame him.  Not much room for error on those surfaces.

It's also become full on summer time. 

The best way to tell is how quickly until the boys are bright red from playing outside. 

Tylor has also discovered the joys of seeing the trash truck go by and the street cleaner and all the other neat machines on the road.  He's a big cutie (and I think he knows it too).