posted by Rebecca @ 11:01 am
1 comments
On Saturday we celebrated Halloween at Joaquim's school. We forgot our camera, which is a shame, as Joaquim won the prize for the funniest costume. (Also I was wearing a much-admired outsized witch's hat, and plenty of black eyebrow pencil, lipstick and wart to accessorize.) On the other hand, it's not such a shame, as he was wearing his alien costume again (see party pics below), only with new hands as he had popped the last lot, and eyeballs rather than pan scourers on his antennas. I rather over-inflated the hands this time which is apparently what clinched his win.
On Sunday night we had the first storm of this year's rainy season. Huge downpour, loads of dramatic thunder and lightning. Cue plenty of bed-hopping as the boys woke up and got scared: first Sebastian came to our bed, then Joaquim got scared so I went to his bed, then I couldn't sleep so I moved to Sebastian's bed, leaving Sebastian to sleep in our bed. Eva showed great sang-froid. She woke up at the beginning of the storm, drank her bottle of milk and slept through until 6.30 the next morning; as we all did.
That's called a lie-in in these parts.
Labels: Eva, Joaquim, parties, Sebastian
posted by Rebecca @ 11:27 am
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Joaquim: Hi. Mum's a bit busy so I want to tell you about all the fun we've been having recently. First, Pai got us this great water slide.
Sebastian: It's AWESOME.
J: Then we were invited to a Princes and Princesses party. Mum found some cool stuff in the second-hand clothes shop, and she made us some costumes, and then we made these crowns. I put loads of stars on mine.
S: I LOVE these trousers, they're so HANDSOME. That means beautiful, but for boys.
J: And then, we were invited to an aliens party.
S: SO COOL.
J: Mum went back to the same shop and found all this alien stuff and made us these costumes, with, like four arms, and antennae and stuff. I was a really scary alien.
J: There's no party this weekend. We'll have to find something else for Mum to do. Bye!
Labels: Joaquim, parties, Sebastian
posted by Rebecca @ 10:47 am
2 comments
It's been a while, hasn't it? I have been submerged in birthday cake making, birthday party throwing, and - for a change of scene - bird watching.
Following hot on the heels of Sebastian's wonky plane came Joaquim's rather better rocket (easier design) and then on the day of the great pirate party, well, see below. My boys were born 2 years minus a week apart, which is convenient when it comes to parties as I only have to do one a year. Thank god. No doubt there will come a time when they insist on having one each, but for the time being they are content enough to share, and I'm happy with that as I seriously doubt that I have the stamina to do this twice in a 10 day stretch.
So there were two birthday boys. One had a rather extravagant curly moustache, which didn't last long in the paddling pool.
The other spent most of the party stark naked, apart from a brief appearance in a dino costume, which was not really in theme, but that's hard for a two-year-old to understand. Perhaps it was a sea-monster.
There was also a treasure hunt, pass the parcel, a pin-the-tail type game, a bouncy castle/paddling pool combo, more party games and a rather fabulous pirate ship cake (if I say so myself). We nearly burned the new house down with the canons, which were these candle-style sparkler-ish fireworky things which are probably illegal in any developed country, but looked fantastic stuck in the side of the cake and also set fire the paper tablecloth in a rather dramatic battle-scene simulation.
The kids were kept busy and sugar-fuelled, the parents had plenty of cold beer and wine, the boys got lots of presents, and it seems that a great time was had by all. But by the end of the day it was all I could do to stay out of bed until the boys were in theirs.
Labels: birds, Joaquim, parties, Sebastian
posted by Rebecca @ 10:21 am
0 comments
On Friday we went to a pirate party. It was not, as you might expect, a children’s party, but rather a party to celebrate the official opening of ‘Il Pirata’, our friends Suzi and Carlo’s new Italian restaurant on the beach, and by far the best place in Pemba for pizza (ultra-thin and crispy) and kite surfing. (Never heard of it? Take one huge kite, one harness, one small board, and you’re away, very quickly in even a moderate wind.)
Joaquim is quite into pirates at the moment. He was very excited at the prospect: “Are we going to have treasure? And swords?” Yes indeed. Thursday afternoon we made treasure and swords and a treasure chest out of cardboard and silver foil. Friday afternoon we got dressed: stripy T-shirts, cut-off trousers, head-scarves, and, best of all, big curly painted-on moustaches. We very much looked the part, although Sebastian was not sure about the moustache and tried to rub it off.
When we got to the party which was already in full swing, however, Joaquim had second thoughts. He didn’t want to join the crowd, which was in grand pirate regalia, especially Gustav, who is a tall, densely-bearded South African and was sporting a fantastic costume complete with feathered hat, jacket, and boots. With some difficulty I persuaded Joaquim to come in, then found some other small pirates for him to play with, after which he spent a blissful night chasing girl pirates, burying and unearthing his treasure chest, waving his sword and making scary pirate faces. Sebastian slept for a bit, but then woke up and joined in with gusto, both boys only finally falling asleep at about midnight.
Meanwhile, I was drinking vodkas that were being poured by a Ukrainian friend, who obviously knew what he was doing. Great tunes were playing courtesy of another friend and his decks, and before you could say yo-ho-ho and a bottle of Smirnoff, there was no holding me back on the dance floor. Many people here in Pemba have known me for four years or less. For most of the past four years I have been pregnant or breastfeeding, and therefore abstemious. It has come as a surprise to these people that I am not as quiet as they thought, an opinion that was relayed to me several times on Friday night. Perhaps it had something to do with playing outrageous air guitar to ACDC, or perhaps it was my interpretation of “Lady Marmalade”. Could possibly have been both.
We eventually rolled home at 1am, and, bless their cotton socks, the boys slept in until 7.30. Joaquim’s waking words were “Where’s my treasure?” When I asked him if he’d enjoyed the pirate party, he replied: “I was a bit scared. I was a bit scared of that big man with the hat and the feather.” Pirates. They’re a bit scary, you know.
posted by Rebecca @ 11:36 am
1 comments
Feckless family of five struggle against all odds to make it in darkest Africa. Only sometimes it's less dramatic than it sounds.
Getting on for ten years in Northern Mozambique, juggling work, two small boys, one small girl, building a house, a resort, running a home, two companies, and sufficient time on the beach to chill out a bit. It's tough in paradise.
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