Some Serious Catching Up to Do!

Okay, so I started off really well and got totally into the whole blog concept, but as usual that fell by the wayside quicksmart despite my promises! However, I am determined to make amends and, although that means there will be stuff all out of order, hopefully it'll make some sort of sense! I'm going to start way back in May (yes, yes, I know that's now several months ago) as that was a very busy month for us - hence why I never did any blogging! The end of April/beginning of May saw all our worldly goods arrive by boat from Houston and us getting into our new house in Bahrain. We were very pleased and relieved that everything a) turned up in good time - early in fact! and b) was still in good working order when unwrapped! The timing could not have been better as our flights were booked for Scotland on the 7th May and we really wanted to get into the house and get it in some sort of order before we headed off, Jamie for two weeks and Callie and I for three. The last thing I wanted was to come back to a house full of boxes and no idea where anything was. We are really enjoying our new house and have settled in well. It is huge in comparison to our flat in Houston and there is loads of room for Callie to romp around and for her growing pile of toys to be stored! She loves doing the 'circuit' from the living room, through the dining room into the kitchen and out the other side, down the hall and back into the living room... honestly she must do it about 200 times a day! We are in a compound of around 20 houses so there is a lovely pool, tennis courts, squash courts, a playground and a small gym on site. The playground has just been revamped with loads of Little Tykes gear so Callie is loving it - pity it's over 100 degrees now and far too hot to get out at the moment! If she went on the slide in this weather she'd burn her bot! I'd like to say we are now super fit with all the opportunities for sport on site but that'd be a lie! Since leaving Houston we just haven't really got into much of a routine as far as exercise goes - it's still on the To Do list! As I mentioned we were off to Scotland for a large part of May and had a lovely time with family and friends at home. Our main reason for making the trip was Auntie Em and Uncle Richie's wedding on 16th May which was a wonderful day despite the torrential rain at various points during the event! The sun came out at the right times which was what mattered and bride and groom had an absolute ball. Callie lapped up the attention coming from all sides and was a wee star in the cathedral, only having a few tears at the very start just before Auntie Em came down the aisle, after jabbing her finger on Daddy's kilt pin! I think Emma and Richie went off to sign the register at the right time though as Callie was beginning to squirm! She could then get down for a run around the front of the church. She fairly played to her large audience, even attempting a climb to the pulpit before being rescued by Mummy! Her next piece of showing off was during the pre meal speeches, throwing in a few well timed raspberries when Grandad Mac was on the floor causing him to have to pause and regroup before continuing! Her performance has been captured for posterity on the wedding DVD which we look forward to viewing in the near future! The rest of meal she happily toddled around the venue and was missing in action on several occasions! The rest of our trip saw us spending time with both sets of grandparents and trying to see as many friends as possible without dragging Callie around too much. She really enjoyed her trip home, much more so than in November and we are so pleased she now seems to know exactly whose who in our family. She relaxed very quickly with both sets of grandparents and slept very well the whole time we were home - definitely an improvement on last time! She was, of course, spoiled rotten by the all the attention which was then continued with my parents flying back to Bahrain with us for a few weeks to be present for Callie's first birthday celebrations. I even managed a girl's night out with some friends from hockey - Raeleen, Lisa, Maz and Gemz. We had a lovely time celebrating their truimphant season as triple trophy winners, making me happy and sad at the same time as I realised how much I miss being part of Inverurie Ladies HC. Maybe they'll start a third team for me when I eventually come home as I don't think I'd cope with either first or second team standards! On that note, I'll have to finish for now as Callie is squawking! Will add some pics in the coming days and get on with my update now I'm on a roll!