ROME

We had an overnight stay in a little hotel near the station called The Adriana.  The room was tiny but quaint, it felt a bit like being in a nunnery. The Italians penchant for marble was taken a bit far I think by making the mattress and pillow from it – never slept on such a hard pillow in my life.  It hurt my ears! 

 

We had our first Italian breakfast at a little trattoria on the corner.  The croissant not quite up to the French standard but the sandwich – bellisima!  A lightly toasted sandwich filled with tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and garlic. 

After breakfast we wandered the hilly streets of Rome to the colloseum.  It is SO BIG!  We had a nice chance to sit in a café opposite it and take it all in while waiting for service.  The service never arrived but we got these photos. 

Rome at lunchtime smells fab-u-lous! We were lured into another trattoria near the station for pizza and pasta.  How do they get the crust so tasty and ‘crusty’?  It’s like the very base of it has been fried as well.  The waiter was kind enough to let us know that we could leave whatever tip we wanted.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, had a cuddle with Maria Rosa and then onto the train station to take the fast train to Florence.  The train trip was a pleasant hour and a half ride from Rome.

THE TOOTH FAIRY VISITS UMM AL HASSAM RESIDENCE

Well, despite not being 5 yet, Lilli has lost her first tooth! It happened quite quickly and I was a little bit worried that maybe she had bumped it to make it loose. But no, there is a brand new big tooth coming up the rear.

I hear on the grapevine that the tooth fairy was a bit unprepared - apparently she would have liked to have left shiny new coins or notes + a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Never mind - Lilli was thrilled with the manky old notes.

OUR LITTLE COUNTERFIETER

I left a cheque on my desk to remind me to bank it. When I picked it up later something about it just didn't seem right. On closer inspection I found that Lilli had been poracticing her writing/copying skills. Now we have to decide whether it is worth trying to see if they will honour the $36.00 cheque, or whether it is a $36.00 keeper!

BABY BEAUTY

One of my treats since being in Bahrain has been to have regular trips to the "beauty saloon" (no, not a spelling mistake). I can get my eyebrows plucked for $3, a leg wax for $9 and a pedicure for $12. The pedicures are a bit more because they spend ages exfoliating all the dry hard skin on your feet.

Since the school holidays I haven't been able to get to the saloon, so in hairy desperation, took Lilli with me last time. She had a manicure and pedicure and got herself some tinsel hair extensions - tres sophisticated!

She had a lovely time and obbiously picked up some tricks - I have had quite a few reasonable foot massages since then YEEEE HAAAWWW!

LAST DAY AT NADEEN SCHOOL

Lilli is officially on holiday and had her last day at Nadeen School. I think I felt a bit more sad about it than she did.
Not quite sure what we are going to do here for two months - especially in this heat. Most of her little friends are going away, many expats here leave over the summer school holidays.

A LILLI BIT

I made a lovely salmon baked in coconut dish for dinner last night. Unfortunately Lilli just couldn't bring herself to eat it because it tasted "too much like mermaid"!

SWIMMING LESSONS

Lilli started swimming lessons a few weeks ago. It has taken us this long to find a class that isn 't full!

I think the instructor, Rajan, is just freshly qualified as he is very enthusiastic and has lots of nice crisp posters. Lilli needed to go into the 7-10 age group class as her age group was really just about water confidence. This class focusses more on developing strokes which was just the right level for her.

The class starts each time with a revision of the swimming safety rules, and finishes with stretching exercises. It also includes some lifesaving instruction, so is fairly comprehensive.

It is held at the Coutry Club, and the setting is just beautiful. Although it is getting seriously hot (44+) sitting in the shade surrounded by all this greenery is such a pleasure.

APPOLINE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Lilli's friend Appoline had her birthday party at Látelier Studio. Something a bit different. The children were all seated at a long table and given painting projects. Parents were supplied with tiny little tarts and coffee's in demitasse cups - all very civil. Instead of the usual lolly loot bag, the children got to take home their art work. The Hello Kitty birthday cake was simply sensational.

OUR SICK BABY

Lilli is sick today. We have been up since around 2am with vomiting first and then diarrhoea, now both. Probably a tummy bug or maybe the milkshake she had after her swimming lessson. The security guy (who I bumped into when getting juice this morning) informed me that it would be the milkshake as you can't drink milkshakes in this weather without getting sick - apparently it is too hot this time of year for milkshakes!

It is now 9am and despite being incredibly perky most of the evening, is now feeling really sorry for herself. Poor wee thing. The photo doesn't do justice to white face and black suitcases under her eyes.

MID TERM BREAK

Twins Lilli and Georgia at BuzziBees during mid term break.

BOOK WEEK FANCY DRESS PARADE

Lilli's school held a book week this month. On the last day of the week the children were encouraged to come dressed as their favourite book character. So many children came dressed for the parade - it was fantastic!

When the question of her favourite book character was posed Lilli's initial response was the whale from the story 'Snail and the Whale', followed by baby Jesus from 'The Story of Christmas'. In the end we decided on going as a mermaid from one of her mermaid books. I designed and had made up the top and tail - it looked great. All the accessories came from the local 600fils ($1.80) shop. She had a lovely time but was quite miffed that she didn't win a prize. The Gruffalo won in her class.
Mermaid Lilli and Cinderella Lise in the parade.

The mermaid face make up was fun to do and looked fantastic (IMHO)

Mermaid Lilli in a mermaid pose.

YACHT CLUB

Lilli's class took a trip to the beach today. Not nearly as nice as most Australian beaches AND you have to pay to use it - but the children had a great time.
Lilli, Rania and Leen.
Getting ready for lunch.
The obligatory class photo. Lilli second from left in the front row.

PLAY DATE

Lilli had a play date with Lise at 'our place' today. Lise is in the same class as Lilli and they have regular plays together. Lise's family are French and she has managed to teach Lilli a few words.
Here is Lise.
A couple of others join in in the sandpit. Here are, Chelsea, Lilli, Ben and Lise. The pool area is quite a social hub in the afternoon.

BIZZIBEEZ

A work colleague of Tim's introduced us to a great play venue for Lilli. It is only 1 month old and is just fabulous. The centre features multiple play areas including:

• art & craft - fab materials including collage and all sorts of paints all great quality
• books and puzzles - excellent choice of educational books and puzzles
• a pretend play supermarket - someone has go0ne to a lot of trouble collecting empty boxes and containers to stock the shelves *see above*
• soft area for babies
• pool
• sandpits with blue or pink sand
• outdoor play area with cubby houses and trampoline etc
• lego station
• cafe area for parents
• outdoor ''grand prix'' circuit

I am really impressed with the quality of the equipment and how safe and well supervised the areas are. I wish I had found out about this place before the holidays started rather than at the end. I took Lilli yesterday for the morning and worked on my menu plans and shopping list with a nice cup of coffee while Lilli 'created'. It would be amazing to have something like this in Australia.

ICE SKATING

As ,many of you will know, Lilli has been ''iceskating'' on any shiny surface since she could walk (without the brace). Tim decided to take her for her first real experience a few weeks ago. Lilli loved it, but Tim was left batttered and bruised by Lilliu's blades after many attempts to ''do it herself'''. We thought that maybe lessons might be the way to go. Lilli had her first lesson last Saturday. She was lucky enough to have a one-on-one lesson as the other students were unwell. Her teacher, Karen, is just lovely - and posesses extraordinary patience. Karen seems to think that Lilli is well on her way to skating already, and sees her over-confidence as a helping rather than hindering her (not sure that Tim would agree). It will be great when she and Tim can skate together (without pain).

Live blog

Lise's birthday party

EASTER HACK

The pony club organised an Easter fancy dress hack for the children. participants were encouraged to come in fancy dress and to dress up their ponies too. Unfortunately we didn't get the information re dressing the ponies, but with a bit of borrowed ribbon 'Polo' didn't look too underdressed.

Lilli was awarded third prize for the Polo/Lilli team.

After a ride around the block they all went off on an Easter egg hunt. Just what Lilli needed - more chocolate!

Quality of photos a bit poor as I took these with my phone camera - sorry.