Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 31st 2017

Last night, Z got another serious attack of croup that resulted in another emergency visit to the hospital, the standard dose of inhaled adrenaline, steroid medication and a very sleepless night for me.

Z woke up active and agitated.

If steroids are going to be prescribed for a child, I think it's only fair the parents get a dose as well. I'm worn out...

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 30th 2017

To follow a demanding weekend, I have two kids home today. Z on vacation and T feeling unwell. 

Food, crafts, games and attention needed non-stop...I'm really needing some personal time.

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 28th 2017

And today is just a reminder that parenting is a long journey, sprinkled with a few amazing moments (like yesterday's revelation), but for the most part a tough and trying struggle.

**Sigh**

Ah well, we found a tree frog on our wall yesterday, so I guess that's my little sprinkle for now...

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 27th 2017

Today is one of those rare days when I can easily look beyond the exhaustion of the daily grind and feel the pride and happiness of being the mom of three amazing boys.

O is growing up to be quite an incredible young man. He has such a strong sense of right and wrong and is strengthening his ability to assert that not only within himself but in his community also. He's budding at the moment but I feel this is going to be someone who goes out and changes the world for the better...much better.

T is a bundle of love and energy. He's my mad scientist that loves to hug and play games with us. He's a handful that likes to push the limits - even his own- but he's also one of the kindest people I know often thinking of and caring for others. You only have to see him with a very young child to understand that this person is amazing.

Z is my little side kick. he likes to help clean and give his older brothers instructions just like I do - same words and tone even! He likes to explore nature and talks about molecules and resonating chambers. He wants me to read to him and cuddle him and often greets people with a sincere, loving excitement. He skips delightfully when he's excited, especially when he's going to his happy place...

Animals and a 'jungle' rug

I am blessed.

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 26th 2017

One creative afternoon with my the amazing bundle of energy that is my middle child...

Anemometer, clouds made of legos and some
extra glasses from the scraps (??)

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 25th 2017

Today I received a sincere, heartfelt and intense compliment about me as a mother. It surprised me to tears. Although I'm not one to base my life or mood on the approval or judgement of others, I had never needed to hear those words more.

There is endless power to positive energy, that we may not even realize...

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 24th 2017

Problems at school today. So naturally I:

Panicked. 
Decided I was a terrible mom. 
Yelled at the boys.
Felt like a failure.  
Looked for ways to quit my job as a mother. 
Looked for any escape from the stress. 
Failed. 
Felt trapped. 

Then in desperation I sprayed some lavender mist, took rescue remedy and went to bed.

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 23rd 2017

Last night was an extended game of musical beds for our family.

Today I realized the Z still has no idea how to play hide and seek. He hides where I can easily spot him and tells me where I should be when it's my turn to hide.

I just play along because I guess with your last child you're in no rush for them to grow out of any stage. You want to hold on to their pure, innocent, carefree souls for as long as is possible...

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 17th 2017

Been doing a little more math:

I had my first born 12 years ago and since then:

12 years of which:

27 months pregnant
6 years breastfeeding
9  years (and counting) changing diapers
12 years (and counting) of disturbed sleep

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 15th 2017

I was putting O to bed today and then, as often happens, Z shuffles his way in happily to snuggle along with us.

As I accepted that he join us, O suddenly protested "No, he can't stay, he infiltrates everything."

Little Z the infiltrator!

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 13th 2017

Today I was doing some math.

In the past 5 years,
We've changed schools 4 times,
Had 3 moves,
2 significant ER visits and
1 additional child.

Beginning to understand why I might be a little tired...

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 12th 2017

It's the small things in life...

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 11th 2017

Today was the Moroccan independence day and since we all had the day off we went to explore the exotic gardens of Bouknadel. 

The garden has a couple of paths that wind through it with bamboo bridges to cross, stepping stones over little streams and all sorts of mazes and stone stairs to climb up. 

It was like an adventure in nature. We spent over an hour working our way through on the longest path and I could hear the boys exclaiming at how much fun they were having. A real breath of fresh air!

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 10th 2017

Today's visit with T's teachers and counselor brought Einstein abruptly into my mind. It was less that Einstein was a genius, and more about how he got kicked out of school.

When he got home, T asked me for a straw or some other type of tube. Then he spent a good part of the afternoon creating an alternative to the traditional Nerf blaster with straws, tape and eventually, our battery operated pump.

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 8th 2017

After returning to my Duolingo app with some consistency, I actually seem to have made progress again. excited to continue again now!

Diary of a Confused Mom (in Morocco): January 6th 2017

I was thinking about Z's future (as in whether or not he might make it into PreK next year) and realized that the fact that he is still in diapers map jeopardize it.

He's 3 and a half after all. So we're in underwear at home now. I...er... think we'll be ok.

Five on a Desert Island: A Visit to Sal, Cape Verde

Approximately two months ago, I didn't have a clue what Cape Verde was or where in the world it was located. A colleague of my husband's mentioned it as a possible vacation spot and we started researching. This finally led us to our winter vacation on one of the Cape Verde Islands - just off the coast of Africa.

Sal island wasn't our first choice (it's the most touristy) and neither was the hotel (all inclusive Melia Dunas Resort) but given that we booked days before we traveled and that we have young children, we played it safe by choosing an island that has activities all our boys could enjoy, and this was the only resort that had space on short notice. Christmas holidays are the high season for Cape Verde vacations.

The airport was very small. We landed, got our visas and left the airport in a total of 20mins (of course we were lucky to be second in line at the visa/immigration line). 

The taxis were a cool and relaxed blue and yellow color that I liked. The taxi driver charged us 20 euros for the drive to Melia Dunas - we were later told the rate was supposed to be 15 (nightly rate).

After our arrival, our trip was a mix of us exploring the hotel, restaurants and surrounding the beach and our being quite sick with flu-like symptoms. We did really enjoy our island tour and the boys found water slides in one of the hotel pools. So all in all we had quite a bit of fun despite being there 5 days in total, 3 of which someone was feeling very unwell.

Our Highlights in Pictures

HOTEL FUN:

The Melia Dunas Resort beach - rocky but that meant some cool tide pools.

Bird on the beach

Wave breakers making a man-made 'bay' was great for swimming.

Black sand characteristic of the Island.

We all greatly appreciated the live music played nightly at the hotel on our way to dinner.
The electric cello was one of the favorites. We couldn't guess what it was.

The cultural displays were very interesting as well.
Here the men were standing perfectly still and this impressed the boys. They'd only ever seen this before in Madrid, Spain.

Water slide pool. So much fun for the boys.

 SANTA MARIA AND THE PIER:

Cretcheu - a restaurant on the Santa Maria Pier

Cretcheu had quite a nice view and great lobster

Beach view from upper floor Cretcheu

The beach as seen from close to the Santa Maria beach

We found this ice cream store in Santa Maria. Delicious and made right here in Cape Verde. They had an outlet at Melia Dunas resort too but we discovered they charged half a euro more per scoop there.

Cape Verdian escudos - very colorful money.

We explored Santa Maria a little on foot. I liked this door. I think it's a bar in there.

A close up of the main door.

It was interesting to walk along the pier and see all the fish brought in fresh every day.

THE ISLAND TOUR:

This was easily one of the highlights. Although we were told it would be from 9:30 - 2pm, we only got back at 5:30. It was a full but fun day.

We passed Kite Beach on our way. We didn't stop there but this is supposed where kitesurfers would be.

First stop was Murdeira. We just looked at the sea and the boys threw rocks into it.
The guide didn't tell us much but one of my maps showed this to be a great spot for whales
and turtles - maybe in season?

A little climbing in Murdeira too

Sea urchins in a small tide pool - Murdeira.

So many sea urchins!

Next stop was Palmeira - a fishing town. No fishing today because of the weather.

Souvenir shop in Palmeira. Shark jaws and blowfish.

Souvenir store in Palmeira.

We saw some goats on our way out of Palmeira. That explains the goat cheese
the island seems to be somewhat known for.

Close to the Blue Eye but not quite there, I think this was meant to be a swimming spot.
The weather didn't cooperate though and the fact that the man who was fishing there had
just caught a vicious looking eel would not inspire me to swim there regardless
 of the weather!

Sadly the place was lined with broken glass - so much so that it looked like a mosaic.

At the blue eye (Buracona), normally a swimming spot, but too rough today, much to the boys' disappointment

Island spider near the blue eye. We were told they were harmless but I'm not certain. There were many of them and we could see the egg sacs on the webs.

Island cricket. High and, like the spider, colored like the sand for an effective camouflage.

There was hardly any sunshine so we did not get a spectacular view of the blue eye.
 This is the little but we did get, which is better than just staring into a dark hole I suppose.

Close to the blue eye was this hill/mountain. They didn't know it's name or if anyone hikes there.

Espargos wall art.

Streets of Espargos.

Driving through Espargos.

A shipwreck near the Bay of Prada (where the sharks are).

Walking to the sharks.

Bay of Prada - Lemon sharks!

Amazing to see the lemon sharks coming and going so close.

Some cool marine life - like this starfish, on our way to and from the sharks. 

And this sea snail of some sort.

Salt Lakes

Walking to the salt lakes for a dip.

It feels just like the dead sea. You are super buoyant and float even vertically.
You can carry a little one and still float! Fun and great for your skin.

Some quick tips for traveling to Sal:

** Bring medication. We got sick and it was great to not have to figure out where to get medicines and what to get.

** Plan well (better than us anyway): Tours are great for exploring the island. We would have loved a fishing tour, some boat tours and to get my older son on a quad tour. The island tour was the highlight of our trip. Not having a preset plan made it very difficult, especially since it was so busy. I read about a lady called Blinky who has great reviews for Sal Island tours. I would contact her if we went again: blinkywalestenerife@yahoo.co.uk 

** Choose your timing. I'm sure if it was less busy and whale/turtle viewing were in season we would have had an even more amazing time.

** Taxis from the airport to Snata Maria are currently 10 euro by day and 15 by night. Taxis from Melia Dunas to Santa Maria are 3 euros. It helps to know the rates beforehand.

**  I found this guide after we arrived but I still made use of the map while on our island tour. Would have been great to look through it quickly before going and learn a few words to communicate with:

Insider's guide to Sal, Cape Verde

** Island tour: 

@Your back eventually hurts in the back of a 4x4, and you get a lot of sun. Use sunscreen and something padded for your back, or switch around and sit inside some of the time.

@Bring water shoes or crocs for rocky beaches but mostly for the shark viewing. We had some but those who didn't had to pay 2 euros to rent shoes I would be afraid to put my feet. Some weren't even water shoes - just random crocs and canvas shoes.