Bollywood High-Tea at the Taj Krishna

Ciaran and Emma Carrington, future DWTS contestants or extras in a Bollywood movie.

Saoirse and her friend Nina pouting on the sidelines.

Two trouble makers -- Saoirse and Ruby.

James sporting his new "kurta." We all had to wear Indian dress.

We were all invited to Ann and Dave Clark's going away party and 4th birthday for their daughter, Aquira, seated above with Ciaran. It was quite the Sunday afternoon -- at the Taj Krishna sporting Indian garb and getting the traditional henna tattoos (the correct name escapes me). Ciaran was quite the dancer -- following the instruction of the Bollywood teacher and then later, he and Emma put on a show with their ballroom-esque performance. Very fun indeed.

Field Day at ISH

Ciaran and Stella face off.

Saoirse couldn't leave her snack.

Racing around the cones.

Ciaran and pal Sophia.

Saoirse warming up before her races.

December 5, 2008

I think the moms did more running than the kids in the Reception Field Day. It was a mad dash between both sides of the field to take photos of Saoirse and Ciaran and at the same time distracting Saoirse from the playground. It appears they had fun, at the very least they all enjoyed snack time. 

More photos from Halloween

Two pics from a Halloween party Saoirse went to at her friend Riley's house. Our nanny, Karmaleen took her and helped her decorate her Indian pumpkin :)

Thanks Madeleine for the photos!

Ciaran made the paper!

This is a few weeks late only because I finally figured out how to save the scanned photo to the Mac. Anyway, this is the only photo that I have of him in his Capt. Hook costume. At least he wore it!

Monsoon Madness Party -- June 2008

Me, Madeleine & Chris

I happend upon these photos from the http://www.hydtea.org/ website to which we belong. Saoirse insisted on wearing her new Cinderella dress and shoes, the latter she left behind and ended up stolen (but thank you Stella for giving her your old pair!). Anyway, it was a fun party until the Budwiser sponsor ran out of beer. You can't have everything, especially in India.

I ate at TGIF!

Those in Orlando, don't fall off your chairs. James and I tried out the Friday's that's opened in town; as an expat it's almost an unwritten rule that you must try out anything new right away (especially while it's still clean and shiny). It wasn't bad, though I was disappointed that there wasn't any spinach dip and James almost jinxed my meal by saying maybe I'd be lucky and get a hair in it (the whole reason I stopped eating at Friday's to begin with). I wouldn't go rushing back, though the kids would probably love the chicken wings. I was even willing to splurg on a $9 Heineken only to be told they didn't have any imports in stock, so much for a menu.

Most notably in my book is the paper placements that have on the table. Somehow I don't think that slogan really sells the food, do you? Though maybe in India that kind of thing needs to be said...

Catching up

God, I had so much more time for this when we were in Belgium. I was also a housebound, depressed mess, so blogging helped pass the time. 

Speed up to present day, we jut returned from Singapore and a few weeks before that I took the kids to Goa, India with a friend and her daughter. Tomorrow night we head to Hong Kong. It's a tough life, but someone has to live it. 

For those not in the know, I took a job with Deloitte working in the Communications Excellence department. So far so good and I'm enjoying staying busy during the day.

Kids are doing well, nuts as usual, but otherwise we're surviving India. 

Suzanne told me she's living vicariously through us until Ridley can get her and Pete out of the country, so for her and our fond memories of Oktoberfest, I will be more diligent with my blog entries.

Fame

And here we show up again! This time I saw the camera and flashed a smile. Please note that I am wearing my North Face fleece under the rain coat so I look huge! The chipmunk cheeks I can't explain.

Intermission

What can I say, I've been slackin' on the blog. I had a one-week turnaround from my Asia trip to Ireland (I know, poor me). So this is a holding spot until I take a break from work on my laptop and upload more of those photos and then eventually get around to the Irish ones. But here's an update of life so far - we've all been sick and manged to pass it around my cousin's house, she's the last one remaining. I'm going to be working for Deloitte when I get back to India in Internal Communications and we're finally getting our furniture on Wednesay (6th) - lucky James gets to do the inventory and initial unpacking. Oh and I've managed to lose both of Saoirse's bunnies and can't find a replacement on Ebay. Hopefully the one coming on Wed. will fill the void. Alas, a rotten mom.

For those that haven't seen our splash into the local spotlight here in Ireland, we managed to make two local papers from attending Sports Day festivals.

Saigon, Vietnam

Eating pho at a former Viet Cong hideout. It had mystery meat, but I tried it and didn't go back for seconds.
Front of the Pho shop.
View of the Reunification Palace.
View from the balcony - the tanks rolled up the road when Saigon fell.

Hip hip hoorey it's Heather's Vacation!

Planned for over a year, I finally got to take my girls-only vacation with Elaine. After more flights to countries/cities I didn't visit and layovers that rival those on the Amazing Race, I finally made it to Vietnam for the start of our G.A.P. Cambodia Westbound tour (www.gapadventures.com). The tour and our fellow travelers were great, the countries wonderful, the availability of real red meat was mouth watering, the humidity, not so much. Note to self - do not travel in SE Asia in the summer unless you like sweating from sun up to sun down.
I digress. The majority of our time was spent in Cambodia which I've decided between Siem Reap and the one night in Bangkok (yes that is a song) made me realize what all the Euro students have up on us Americans - the ability to travel and make any place like Spring Break. If only I was 10 years younger...
Next we went to Tokyo where we were met by James and the kids as well as Suzanne who hoofed it from Virginia on her one-week sabatical from her dissertation. We did lots of walking, enjoyed our 10 year reuinion as Disney roommatesa and I consumed more red meat and even were witness to a 6.0 earthquake outside of the city, though the only evidence was some noise in the hotel akin to my fat people/shuttle reentry story.

Enjoy the photos and stay tuned for the next trip - we leave Sunday the 13th for Ireland. Whoo hoo!

Party pics

Blowing out the candles - I think everyone helped with these (haha trick candles). Derek, Saoirse, Ciaran and Emma.

Everyone helping to open gifts.
Madeleine, Lindsay, James relaxing in the Indian heat.
Thit watching Ciaran plant a big smackaroo on the birthday girl.
This should be up top, but Saoirse watching the guys blowing up the balloons which the kids had more fun popping and beating with sticks than the bounce house below.
First Saoirse did the obligatory jump so we could get our money's worth.
Stella taking a time out with a juice box.
Saoirse, Emma, Thit and Vittus in the pool with balloons.
Lovely Lindsay got into the spirt of the bounce house with her daughter, Stella, and Saoirse.

We had a lovely time with adults and kids alike out by the complex pool, though we ate pizza for the next three days, Saoirse had fun and of course that's what makes the day. Thanks everyone for coming!

Saoirse Turns 3 - June 4, 2008

Can't believe three years have rolled by, and I just realized that she's spent the majority of her life outside of the US than in. Global Nomad for sure. Anyway, here's some pics from our little family party and then from her birthday party with friends.

Showing off her Cinderella t-shirt.
Patiently waiting to blow out the candles while we take photos. Ciaran is pleased as punch as you can see.
Showing off the Cinderella dress and glass slippers from Papa Welch and Gran Gran.
Princess tea set gift.
Ciaran taking his blood pressure from the doctor's kit.

Random pics

Saoirse sharing popcorn with some neighborhood friends.
Having a "coco" at the country club - we all know she really wanted a beer.
Hail Caeser!
Ciaran on the driving range at the country club.
Me and the new brunette look - came out a bit darker than I was looking for - supposed to be more blond in there, but oh well.

BBQ

Last weekend we had a good 'ol bbq on Philip's rooftop. HIS sea shipment arrived and with it his grill, so we had chicken, pork chops and turkey sausage (thank you Hillshire Farm & Q Mart!) and of course glycerin filled Kingfisher beer. Our friend Lindsay (Stella's mum) was great at diverting the kids' crankiness with some spins around the patio umbrella. Oh, and Philip's mum bought him that apron!

More photos...

James and Ciaran racing with straws during our mid-day break(down).
James thought it would be a lovely idea to buy the kids wooden flutes and then a fancy one for himself. They (the kids) enjoyed tooting their horns through town. I think James is waiting for a party at our house to break out the band after a few rounds.

The weaving shop at the Tibetan Refugee Camp.

The locals in Bhaktapur chewing the fat.
Ciaran practicing his putting at the hotel.