Birthday girls

It has already been a while, that both Madeleine and Matilda celebrated their birthdays. Our little girl turned 1 at the end of April and her big sister turned 4 just two weeks later.

Madeleine was overwhelmed by her own birthday party as you can see in the picture below. Luckily the birthday cake brought along a very comforting taste....sweet!!!!

Happy birthday Maddie Spaghetti!

She got a cool rabbit scooter which her big sister tested as being rapid and fun. Maddie is still a bit overwhelmed, though. We are sure she will enjoy in a short time as well!

Maddie on the rabbit scooter

Contrary to Madeleine, Matilda was more than aware of her birthday coming up, and as a real four-year old had specific ideas about what the cake should look like (pink and strawberries) and that she wanted to wear a pink dress. You will notice from the pics that she is a pink-'n-princess phase anyway!

Matilda blowing the candles of her strawberry cake

After the birthday cake it was time for some treasure hunting around the house and some games for the children.

Finally, she had another birthday celebration at school where her class mates sang happy birthday to her in 3 languages - as they learned to sing this song in English, Arabic and Dutch! Here, Matilda shared some birthday treats with them.



Cardozos & Crowns

With the abdication of our Queen Beatrix, and the inauguration of her son, the (now) King Willem-Alexander, this year’s national day was different than others for the Netherlands. In Oman, Queen’s/King’s day never goes unnoticed, especially this year. In addition to the annual flea market to celebrate Queen’s/King’s day, there was a ‘pimp your bike’ race for the children, in which Matilda proudly participated with her Queen Machine.

Matilda in her Queen Machine. Hou je veilig!

Children (and their parents!) worked hard to decorate their bikes, carts, tricycles and scooters. They circled around the parking lot of the PDO school, with police officer Gideon overseeing traffic and responsible road behaviour. Matilda even won a little prize with her Queen Machine.

The race

Police officer Gideon overseeing traffic

A little prize for Matilda

Definitely our girls got indulged into a little bit of patriotism this past month and wore their crowns with pride!

Cardozos & Crowns

Easter break in Kerala, India

During Easter we decided to explore Kerala, the southwestern state of India. Kerala is the origin of many of the middle class expats here in Oman. Travelling together with Joris, Marloon, and Coco we flew tyo the city of Cochin, the oldest colonial city of the state.

Breakfast on the court of our bed and breakfast in Cochin. The colonial house was filled with nice furniture, and charis big enough for two.



Kerala is also home to the famous Kerala Mustache (shown above). Joris' white legs drew the attention of the locals.

Joris doing his kindergarten duties.



A street in Cochin

 After Cochin, we travelled to the mountains to see the tea plantations, and wildlife reserve.

Sweet girls!

Hunting easter eggs in the jungle. Matilda found one under a huge jack fruit!

Ushi took us throuh the forest for half an hour, long enough to experience sitting on an elephant, and short enough not to get completely sore.



Coco, Joris, Marloon, Ushi, Madeleine, Gideon, Matilda, and Marike.

Coco and Matilda enjoying the colonial setting.

Matilda with some of the local boys in Alleppey.

Lush garden

At the end of winter, contradictory as it may sound, our garden is always at its best - in full blossom, green and lush! This picture was taken last March.

Lunch in Sifah

Going for lunch in the village of Sifah is a favourite pastime for many expatriates in Muscat. Sifah is a sleepy village which has recently witnessed a rapid tourism boom with the establishment of a large five-star resort. Although one can argue about the advantages and disadvantages such a development brings along (which we earlier reported on), one advantage - at least for us- is the fact that it is now one of the best places where you are served a whole fish on your plate that is absolutely delicious! A one hour scenic drive from home, we go there frequently, and often bring our visitors, too.

Recently, we took Kristin, a PhD student from California who works closely with Gideon in PDO and whom we have known for a few years now on such a trip. Matilda was thrilled with the additional company, and Madeleine seemed to be entertained, too. As for us, we thorougly enjoyed this lazy afternoon together, the beautiful setting and the food!

Good vibes at As Sammak fish restaurant

Kristin and Matilda playing on the beach. Kristin taking pictures...

...and this is the result!

Surprise!

This year, I - Marike - did not feel like celebrating my birthday, which is on Jan 22. I had to go to Holland this month with Madeleine and felt it to be no problem that I would be away during my birthday. I hence came back to Oman a few days later having turned one year older without many people noticing.

However, Gideon did not actually agree with this quiet and uneventful approach . To my great surprise, I noticed that on the morning after my arrival, a handful of friends had gathered in my garden! Suprise! Gideon had organised a small party for me. It was exactly right. What a lovely way to celebrate my birthday - with friends, a cup of coffee and a homemade apple pie. 

New year’s resolution

One new year’s resolution is to maintain this blog more frequently. Even though we are four muscateers now and no longer three, we should not deviate from our goal to keep this Muscateers blog and share some aspects of our life in Oman with you! And what else should we write about to celebrate this re-inauguration, than our favourite topic – our girls! Here’s a collage of the two sisters playing together in their room.

Matilda is now three-and-a-half and started nursery last week – I guess you could compare that to the Dutch ‘kleuterschool’. This of course has been an exciting milestone as she has now moved to the school building with the older children, and there is a new teacher and new activities such as swimming (!) and P.E. (“gymnastiek”). So far so good, it’s been a tremendous boost for her to feel like a ‘big girl’ now.

Matilda leaving the house for her first day at nursery

 

Madeleine is eight and a half months and adores her older sister. She is also fond of putting toys and other unidentified objects in her mouth, and enjoys all the food that we gradually introduce. No crawling or sitting yet; flipping on her belly and putting her feet into her mouth have been sufficient entertainment so far. She’s and incredibly happy and content baby.

'Maddie'