The weather
The weather changes very suddenly when the monsoon arrives.
One week it was boiling hot and difficult to sleep at night, then the next it is windy, cloudy and there are odd rain showers (but not lots of rain like I thought). When it rains, the wind increases and it cools down, we have even considered putting on a jumper (although not done it.)
The temperature is now about 27-30 degrees in the day, still very sunny but cloudier, and down to 21 at night- so still not too bad! It means we can sleep without all the noise of the fans and air conditioning. It's much cheaper not running A/C too!
The only problem is that the mosquitoes have changed and when they bite it really hurts so we have now put mosquito nets on the bed. There's not as many mosquitoes but they are not pleasant.
Cinema
We've been twice now to the luxurious cinema with reclining seats. There is a butler service so you don't have to move from your comfortable position if you want food and drinks and they provide a lovely fluffy blanket if the air conditioning is too cold. The most amusing part is that you have to stand for the Indian national anthem which is quite jaunty and lively and Max and Milo can sing along to it.
School's out
The boys finished school on the 7th June. Milo gave a speech at school to the parents about what they had been doing. He has acquired an Indian accent when talking at school so it was quite funny listening to him. Also both of our boys have now developed the head wobble so when questioned we don't know if they are saying yes or no!
Vespa
We have a new toy, a vespa. It means we can zip around Palm Meadows more quickly especially if it is raining. We can also take the boys places and fetch them when they don't have their bikes. I am still a bit wobbly but I have never ridden a motorbike before. Andrew has and he is the favourite for giving a lift to the boys. Milo trusts me but Max just laughs nervously if I offer him a lift. It will be a while before I go out on the big roads.
Milo's birthday party
Milo has had his birthday party a month early because a lot of people here go back to Europe for the summer. He had a Chewbacca cake and was so happy with it. It was also our wedding anniversary.
lego competition with the party people
Milo
We have discovered a new way of getting Milo to help. You write your drinks order on a piece of paper and he will float across and place the order with the waiter. He's very handy. Max has turned into Kevin the teenager and lies on the sun lounger in the shade being grumpy. The good thing is that when he eventually moves, we can always spot him because he is as white as a snow man and shines brightly in the distance.
Max on the front row shining brightly.Mangoes
All the mangoes have now been picked but I won't be Mala's catching partner again! As Arjun wobbled up on the ladder, he threw down the mangoes. Mala and I formed a fireman's blanket using a cloth bag to catch them, but every time one was thrown down, she laughed and dropped her side of the bag and the mango rolled off down the road. She was useless. I ended up just catching them on my own. We had about 70 mangoes, maybe more. They were lovely and shared them with as many people as we could and, of course, Mala and Arjun. Unfortunately, we were too late to make pickle as they need to be firmer to do that.
School Holidays
Max and Milo are really busy playing with the friends that have stayed behind and as yet ( 3 weeks ) there is no sign of boredom. We go to the pool each day, play badminton, pool, pingpong, tennis and go to the play park. We have walked along the pavement in the outside world too, although that takes a long time because people keep stopping them to ask where they come from. We go with an American family who have boys the same age as ours as well as a daughter who is 6. They get on really well.
Pampered people
Today we ventured outside to walk to the ice-cream parlour. I said to Arjun before we left that we would walk but may need a lift back (because it's about 25 minutes and Sophia is young and gets a bit overwhelmed with the traffic etc).
So we set off and went down the road in all the noise and dust. The four boys walked ahead looking in all the shops and we trailed behind looking in all the shops.
We had ice-cream which was lovely and then decided that we would ask Arjun to come. I phoned him and he said," I am already here!"
I looked out of the shop window and there he was already parked outside waving at me. It had started to rain so he decided to come and fetch us all.
We really are pampered and spoilt!
