Mini Me

I upload Iman's pictures from her camera only every few months and found one of her wearing my clothes which was a lovely surprise.

My only wish is for these clothes to be looser on me!

Super Dosai

Tried a fairly new Indian for lunch today. Chapatis were lovely and soft but the winner was my super dosai -  thin and crispy with spicy sauces. Kids were very jealous. More of that please!

EPL Masters 2012

We went to the EPL Masters last night. Not my choice of how to spend my Saturday night but the boys had fun especially Jack who managed to get hold of a ball when the players where handing them out and he spent most of the evening hanging over a balcony trying to get the ball signed, one of which was Steve McManaman. Other big names were Andy Cole, Robbie Fowler and Patrick Berger. 

Our Tiger

A lovely family recently left Brunei and we adopted their family cat Tiger. It took her a couple of weeks to settle down and the kids are only just getting used to her. I haven't had a house cat since I was a child and I am loving her company (except she seems to want me to sit with her while she is eating and I don't always have the time to do that). Credit goes to her original family - she is so well trained and such a great temperament. Of course Spotty's nose is out of joint!

On the go...

We've just had one of those weekends with everything happening at once. Iman swam and swam - she did well getting silver for the 50m breaststroke. We also had Jack's birthday party and Jack also played in a football tournament on Sunday morning. Next weekend we hope to get some zzzzz!

Jack is 7

This little boy didn't need waking up this morning - how we all wish birthdays come more than once a year! But special days mean special presents and its a big one for Jack this year - a real big boy's present!

Yummy cake. The little ones all fought for the letters leaving us with biggest and best!

At least the two at the back had fun!

Our Aonang hideaway

We have been known to repeat holidays because we loved it so much the first time round. Aonang, Krabi is no exception. We loved the hotel, the activities, the kids loved the tuk-tuks and most of all the restaurant only 50m away from the hotel - "phet" was really extra hot. So much so we want to do it all again!

McCarthys go island hopping!

The Andaman Sea is simply awesome ~ beautiful, clear, clean and cool waters. We couldn't get enough of swimming in the sea and we are simply hooked ~ probably us more than the kids! 

On the first day we went out we went on a tour around Phi Phi island with a tour company. Not ideal being on a "bus tour" but as it was quite a distant from Krabi we didn't want to do anything too complicated and despite the annoyance of the "now you snorkel, now you take picture, now you eat...." instructions, the day worked out quite well and we were well taken care of.

Getting on board - always love the way Jack and Ayden hitch up their shorts in these situations 

(note the obligatory Brunei expat's hash tshirt!)

Entering an amazing lagoon, this is the first time the kids (and myself) have seen such clear water and they were speechless!

We then stopped on an island, looks great but it was actually crowded and full of boats!

Ko Phi Phi, probably not the best beach Ko Phi Phi has to offer but it was simply a refueling stop for food. Donncha went walkabout and found a Dubliner running his beach bar!

On to Bamboo Island and it was time to snorkel. Not much coral to see but plenty enough fish. The kids were pretty much hooked straight away.

Not content seeing things from above Iman has to dive down for a closer view.

The following day we took a longtail boat to the closer Hong Islands. And we were not disappointed. 

After the first island we went to a lagoon and fulfilled the kids dreams of jumping off a boat. Surprisingly it was Iman who was most nervous about swimming in the water especially as she spotted a jellyfish which saw her back on the boat immediately. 

And our next island with the small cove beach was our favourite. 

Probably the furthest Donncha has swam out in the sea

And I just wanted to float....

Our ride for the day. Not bad for B$100 / 65 euro

Fish, we will be back!