8 months

Today my little guy is 8 months old!

This months stats

Weighs 8.295 kg (18lb 5oz)

Teeth: 6

This has been a big month of change in Arthur’s life.  He is now crawling around all over the place and every day he gets faster!  He is pulling himself up to standing and when he really wants something (i.e the remote for the TV or my phone) he will shuffle along gripping onto the sofa to get it!  This has resulted in Arthur taking A LOT longer to go down to sleep as he is too interested in sitting and standing up in his cot.

Not only has this opened up numerous possibilities for Arthur, it has changed mine and Mark’s life dramatically too!  Eyes in the back of our heads are not enough to make sure that this little guy stays out of trouble!

His new ability to get around so quick has resulted in a trip to the hospital which was very dramatic for me and Mark but Arthur has recovered just fine!

A tooth came through the day after I posted Arthur’s 7 months post, it was luckily uneventful and we seem to have hit a little break in teething (phew!)

I had three nights having to do solo bed time routine for Arthur as Mark was working on the school play (which was a big success!).  It was hard work and I am glad to have him back to help out, Arthur is too he enjoys Marks bed time stories much more than mine!

Arthur has had a lot of time playing outside in the garden, he really enjoys having a good look round but particularly enjoys eating grass (and attempted to eat a snail, luckily i rescued it!

We have been swimming lots and Arthur is now lucky enough that he has his own paddling pool.  When we take him to the pool he is getting so confident he loves being put up on the side to ‘jump’ in!

Arthur is still happy eating anything and everything.  Mostly he like it when he can pick it up and eat it himself, loaded spoons are less interesting to him now.

We are getting lots and lots of noises from Arthur now, still no particular ‘sounds’ as such but he’s so expressive and he really does let us know how he’s feeling, we are lucky that he’s a happy baby most of the time although he’s pretty bossy!!

Lets hope for a hospital free month and lots more adventures with Arthur!

A trip to hospital (A bad mama moment)

Sunday started off as such a lovely day, we had a nice big breakfast had a bit of a lazy morning and then we went for a family swim at the pool.

It was really hot even by mid afternoon so Arthur and I were playing in his room with the Air Con on we had a really nice hour or so.

I then for some reason I will never really no let him play on the bed, his play mat had been put on there as Mark had been cleaning the floor (he’s a keeper!) and rather than move it back i left it up there.

As with every house here I know all the floors are tiled, it helps to keep the house cool and its easy to clean with all the sand and dust but it isn’t baby friendly at all.

I’m sure you can see it coming, Arthur fell off the bed.  The sound of him hitting the floor made me feel sick to my stomach.  I ran to him and grabbed him.  Initially he screamed but once I had him cuddled up he went really quiet.  I grabbed Mark and we got a few things together for Arthur and went up to the hospital.

He had a bump on his head and it bruised straight away, being so quiet made us think he had a concussion so we were desperately trying to keep him awake in the car.  Of course we were stuck behind the slowest driver ever who was literally stopping and waving to everyone he saw.

In the car I broke down crying I think, I think it was because I gave myself a second to realise how awful it was that I let this happen to our baby.  I started thinking that Mark was going to hate me because i’d let it happen and of course I was extremely worried that there was real damage to our little guy.

At the hospital there was hardly anyone around and you could see everyone really had that Sunday feeling, no urgency  all the nurses were sat around watching local TV (showing what can only be described as the Seychelles version of songs of praise).

We didn’t have to wait long at all to see the doctor which i was impressed with.  His English was not good and it was difficult to communicate with him but he figured out that Arthur had a fall and hit his head.  He shone a big torch in his eyes (like a torch you would take down into a basement not a little doctors one) and asked if he had been sick (he hadn’t).

The doctor then grabbed the book that said ‘paying patients’ on it, I felt like he was excited to fill this in.  He said Arthur was fine but he was going to keep him in for 4 hours to observe him.  We were taken to the children’s ward which had one little girl in who was clearly quite poorly.  We sat there with Arthur the nurse eventually came looking a little annoyed that we had made her miss some of her tv.  She asked us if he had a temperature we said we hadn’t taken it so off she shuffled to get a thermometer.  He didn’t have a temperature.  She gave him some medicine for any pain he may have from the bump.

After an hour it was time that Arthur would normally have his dinner and we had nothing like that with us.  We asked if he could have food the doctor said no not for 4 hours, the nurse corrected him and said 2 hours will be fine.  Mark drove home and got a bottle for him so we would have it ready when he could have it.  We decided we would just give him milk and see how he got on with that.

By the time we had been there for 2 hours I went out and said Arthur was hungry and asked if I could I feed him.  The doctor then said we could go home.  After some confusion it was determined we would have to pay 800sr (around 40 quid) for our 2 hours in the hospital.  I can’t help but feel a little ripped off, I know we had piece of mind which of course is amazing but I am not really sure where that figure came from (the cynic in me thinks maybe it covered the next months TV costs so they could watch more songs of praise!)

Arthur settled down very quickly for bed, it was an hour past his usual bed time so this wasn’t a surprise.

Although I was relieved that Arthur was safe I couldn’t relax.  I checked on him continuously through the night and spent the whole time just beating myself up about what a crap mum I was that this had happened.

Mark was amazing through it all and kept me calm and reassured me that I’m not crap!  I also got lots of lovely support off my parents the next day and from lots of my lovely twitter friends who all confirmed that this had happened to them in some shape or form with their babies.

I am still feeling pretty crappy about the whole thing but Arthur is fine, just a little bruise on his head.  I think its a lesson that had to happen and a reminder that I will always have to stay on my toes with Arthur.

The Paddling Pool {The Ordinary Moments} #7

Its Sunday so I’m linking up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me for the Ordinary Moments again!

On Friday Mark came home from work with a paddling pool for Arthur.  I was so excited as I’ve been desperate for him to have one!  I know we are spoiled with having access to a swimming pool two minutes away but there is something very special about a paddling pool, I think so any way!

I have such happy memories of being in the paddling pool when I was little and so I was so excited for Arthur now having his own.

On Saturday I was Skyping my dad who has been working on a boat for the last two months.  We hadn’t been able to chat for a while as the wifi on board isn’t very reliable (they are in the middle of the North Sea so you can’t expect it to be great!).  Half way through the call we had a power cut 😦 so we couldn’t finish talking which was sad.  It got really hot in the house really quick so I jumped at the opportunity to get Arthur in the paddling pool!!

I only filled it up a little but he had SO much fun splashing and crawling around in the cool water.

Paddling Pool fun!

Im not sure whether part of the excitement of the paddling pool for me being little was that it was only the odd day you could use it as its obviously a weather dependent activity!!  However I hope that Arthur will continue to have fun in his and I know we will get lots of use out of it :). Arthur is a very lucky boy to have a life where playing in a paddling pool really can be an ordinary moment!

Happy Sunday

Blog your heart out

Okay so I have been a bit rubbish and have sat on this for ages but here it is!

I’ve been nominated by both mummyprobs and Mummy’stodolist to be involved with this so thank you ladies 🙂

I have answered the five questions and below I have nominated 5 more lovely bloggers to do the same!

What/Who encouraged you to start blogging?

I’ve been on twitter for a while and have really only got more involved with it since having Arthur.  I follow lots of parents and a fair few write blogs.  I began reading and I eventually decided to have a go myself.  Two blogs in particular stood out to me as kind of inspirations to start blogging.  They are Donna’s blog at redhead babyled and Katie’s blog at mummydaddymemakesthree I’ve found so many blogs now that I love but these two were definitely inspirations to get me started (so thanks ladies)

How did you choose what topics to blog about?

Well really I wanted to record lots of things about Arthur as kind of a diary I guess.

I also wanted to write about what its like to be a mum in the Seychelles.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I have a degree in Surf Science.  I am not sure this degree even exists any more!!  I did it at Plymouth University.

What three words describe your style?

(on a day to day basis) Beachy, Casual, Comfortable

What do you like to do when you aren’t blogging?

My favourite thing is having time with Arthur and Mark (my husband) particularly being out and about with them at the beach, at the pool or in the Vallee de Mai.  I also love Scuba diving, I’ve only been once since having Arthur but I’m hoping to make that a little more regular now!

I’ve also become a bit of a twitter addict since having Arthur, you will find me on there a lot (in case you don’t follow me I’m @chantellevr) !

Thanks for reading now here are my tags

Katie at ktbtw

Kelly at Tiasmum12

Lucinda at Teacher2Mummy

Emma at Emma&Alfiesworld

and Jess at WryMummy

The Dentist {The Ordinary Moments} #6

I’m a little late for this one but I’m linking up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me for the Ordinary Moments again!

Today (Monday), Arthur had his monthly weight check.  The nurse asked me if we had seen the dentist yet.  I explained that I had asked about this last month and the lady had told me it wasn’t until 9 months…..

 “Who was she?  Who told you that?”

“Ummmmmm………”

(I’m not dropping any one in it!!!  No one wants an angry Seychellois woman on there back, believe me!)

Anyway, she tells me I must go today.  I had also been told previously that the dentist was at the hospital (on the other side of the island).  I thought i’d check to be sure.

“I’ll show you.”

(Cue me mentally preparing myself to take directions to some obscure random place)

Turns out it was in the same building, there is a brand shiny new dentist in the health centre.  All the equipment is brand new I was very impressed.  The lady in there tells me that Arthur should have indeed been at 6 months but not to worry.  She tells me that Arthur will come for his next check at 1year and then every 6 months from then on.  The checks at the moment are more to get him used to going to the dentist so he isn’t afraid, I thought that was really sweet.  I had to lay down on the dentist chair and have Arthur laid on top of me.  The dentist looks at his teeth with the little mirror thing and said they looked nice and strong, asked how I was cleaning them etc.

She tells me that the gap in his two front teeth while not super common its almost certainly nothing to worry about but they will monitor to see how it closes.

Arthur was good as gold, I was a little concerned he might bite the dentist since he likes to chew on anything but he laid there fascinated by the light above him!!

A rather ordinary moment but a first and one that made me proud of my good little boy and his shiny strong teeth!

Ummm, Happy Monday…… 🙂

My birth story

I’ve linked up this post for the 2nd Binky Linky!

So I realised that I hadn’t written down my birth story anywhere until Emma over at Emma & Alfie’s world said she was going to do a collection of them on her blog.  It was a great opportunity for me to finally get mine recorded.

I thought I would share it here too!

In the Seychelles, if its your first baby you go to Mahe (the main island) to have your baby (we live on Praslin island) three weeks before the due date.  Now for most people this isn’t too much of an issue, as they will have friends or family living there that they can stay with.  Well we didn’t have that option and so we had to find accommodation for me to stay in.  My husband would have to stay on Praslin as he would still be working.  Luckily for me my mum and dad were coming over so I had some company and some help if I needed to get to the hospital and just general help while I was a big ball of a pregnant lady!  So accommodation booked for 5 weeks (3 weeks before and allowing up to two weeks after due date before I would be induced)

At my 20 week scan (which was actually at 22 weeks) they told us we were having a boy.  They also told us that at that time he was breech.  It was no problem though, it was still early days and he had lots and lots of time to turn around still.  I don’t know what it was but I knew he wasn’t going to turn around, I just had this feeling he was going to stay breech.

The kind of thing that can make it more likely a baby will be breech is if it’s the second baby, it’s twins or more, the uterus is an unusual shape, or placenta previa among some other things that I can’t remember!  Well none of those things matched up with me.  Even armed with the knowledge that less that 5% of babies are born breech I still had this feeling that he wasn’t going to turn.  My husband felt the same way.

It got closer to my due date and every check up I had, our little guy still hadn’t turned!  I knew he wasn’t going to….little monkey!  At 30 weeks I was booked into have an elective c-section.  I had read a lot about how people feel really disappointed at having to have a c-section.  I’ll admit I did feel this a little bit, that I wouldn’t be able to have my baby the way ‘nature intended’!

However this actually ended up working really well for us.  With my husband on a whole different island we didn’t have to worry about how he was going to get to me if I went into labour in the middle of the night!  Also it meant that my mum and dad could plan their stay around it (after all they were still going to be in the Seychelles and they wanted to enjoy their time before the baby came!).

So I went into the hospital on the 25th June (at 37.5weeks pregnant).  I had a chat with the anaesthetist, discussed that the two main options were an epidural or general anaesthetic.  The decision was clear for us that I would have an epidural.  I didn’t want the risks involved with a general anaesthetic.  I then was put in a room where the baby was traced, I could hear him moving around and his little heart beat it was beautiful.  They then shaved my belly and I had to sign some forms.  No more action until the next day.  I got little to no sleep, how could I?  I knew I was going to be meeting my baby in the morning!!

My husband and my parents arrived at 7 in the morning on the 26th and things then went pretty fast.  I got dressed into my hospital gown and taken into theatre at around 8:45.  In the Seychelles no one is allowed to go into the theatre with you so I was by myself.  I made sure that my husband was going to get to be with the baby while I was being stitched up.  I didn’t want either of them to be on their own!

I then met my doctor for the first time.  The anaesthetist was there and was really calming and reassuring.  He told me that the epidural would be uncomfortable but as I had a tattoo on my back he told me I would be fine!  He was right, to be honest the needle wasn’t bad at all.  That could be due to adrenaline of course!  I then felt a cold feeling, which i guess was the anaesthetic.  That didn’t feel very nice but within a minute or two that had gone and the numbness started going down my legs.  I had a oxygen mask on, not sure if that is normal or not but I had one never the less!  I think it did help me as it made me concentrate on my breathing rather then what was going on down there!

At 9:25 Arthur was born, I had prepared myself that quite often the baby makes no sound initially when first born by c-section but i heard a little coughing noise and then a cry.  I burst into tears!!  That was it I was a mummy!!  They cleaned him up a little bit and the doctor was then removing the placenta etc (I guess thats what he was doing anyway!) I got to give Arthur a little kiss, he was bundled up in a big fluffy towel.  He was then taken away from me to get properly cleaned up and to go into a little incubator while I was being stitched up.  My husband was with him at this time.

I think it was around 10:15 that I eventually came out of theatre…..it felt like forever!   I got wheeled back into the ward where my mum and dad were with me.  Shortly after that Mark came in with Arthur and I got to have my first cuddle.  I had been away from him for less than an hour and I had missed him, he had been inside me for 9 months and so even that short little time without him felt like an eternity!

Recovery was surprisingly okay from the surgery.  I didn’t get out of bed at all on the 26th but the next day I walked to have a wash and use the toilet, the first day was pretty slow and painful but it got better really quick.  I didn’t take much pain medication at all.  I can’t even remember what the strong stuff was that I had but whatever it was I only used it for two days and then after that I was just taking paracetamol.

My entire stay in hospital was 5 nights (including the night before I had Arthur) I went back to our apartment on Mahe.  Mark had started his paternity leave on the 25th so he was there with me along with my mum and dad.  We took Arthur back to Praslin when he was around 2 weeks old on the little inter island plane.

Love is…..

Ive been tagged by both my petit canard (who came up with this lovely new tag) and YouBabyMeMummy to share my definition of what love is 🙂

So here it is 🙂

Love is……..

Family time; an evening walk on the beach, swimming, or a stroll in the Vallee De Mai are my favourite things to do with Mark and Arthur.

My wonderful husband Mark putting up with my all too frequent tired induced grumpy moods

Arthur reaching out and grabbing my hair during dinner time, didnt you know porridge fruit and yogurt is THE new hair treatment to have (because I’m worth it!)

Watching Arthur learn and master new skills, it’s amazing.

Seeing Arthur and Mark together.

His cheeky little grin, seriously it just gets me every time, especially with all those little teeth in there!

The amazing cuddles I get when I take Arthur out of his cot in the mornings, it’s the best!!

Evenings cuddled up on the sofa when Arthur has gone to bed, barely able to stay awake watching some tv that we have downloaded to get our British telly fix!  A special treat is having this with a glass of wine 🙂

Skype conversations with our parents, particularly when we get to do video chat with Arthur.

so that’s love for me 🙂

i tag 🙂

Redhead Babyled

Lifewithmunchers

Mummyprobs

lets talk mommy

mummydaddymemakesthree

The Mummy Tag

I’ve been tagged by Lucinda her lovely blog is here at  Teacher2Mummy .  The Mummy Tag is a nice little way to get to know each other a little better!  Here are my answers 🙂  I’ve tagged a few other lovely Mummies at the bottom!

1. Are you a Stay at Home Mum, or a Working Mum?

I’m lucky enough to be able to be a stay at home mum.

2. Would you have it any other way?

Nope!  I feel so so lucky to have this opportunity I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Also living here I am actually not allowed to work anyway.  In the Seychelles you have to have a work permit and jobs have to be given to Seychellois unless there is a specific reason i.e a role that can not be done by a Seychellois.

3. Do you co-sleep?

No, we have a beautiful cot for Arthur that we restored and he’s been in that every day since we came back to Praslin with him when he was 2 weeks old.  I had a couple of nights early on when I fell asleep whilst feeding him, I soon woke up panicked and put him back into his cot!  We moved Arthur into his own room at 6 months old.  He sleeps so much better for it.

4. What is your one must-have item for your baby?

I think this has changed so many times throughout Arthur’s life already.  Currently (at 7 months) I would say his baby walker, I know its a ‘luxury item’ but he absolutely loves it, he charges round the house in it and goes a little crazy.  He has a lot of energy so its a great way for him to release it.

5. How many kids do you plan on having?

I for some reason have always imagined myself having three children and for some reason I always imagined it would be three boys, I don’t think I would say its my dream or goal to have this but it’s just what I always pictured .

I’m not sure that I would say I ‘plan’ on that but I would love to have at least one more and despite what I imagined I would have no preference for a girl or a boy!

6. Date nights? How many do you have per month?
Ummmmmmmm…….. We haven’t had a date night since we’ve had Arthur!!  The only time we have ever both left him is when our parents were here last Summer, we went out for about an hour to buy a TV when my parents were here and we nipped out to the shop at the top of our road when Mark’s parents were here.  I don’t think that can count as a date haha!!

7. Your child’s favourite show?

Well he’s a little young to be watching TV properly but Arthur is transfixed by the theme song for the Big Bang Theory he also now has started laughing and smiling at the theme song for Peppa Pig (we have a Peppa Pig book that we read to him so I think he might be starting to connect the two?)

8. Name one thing you brought before you had the baby and never ended up using?

I don’t think there is anything we haven’t used at all.  We were given a bumbo buy someone and we really only used it for a couple of weeks as once Arthur could sit up by himself he wasn’t interested in being in it any more.

9. Your child’s favourite food?

We have been really lucky so far that Arthur really does seem to like everything!!  The things he seems to get most excited about though is Banana and Spaghetti Bolognese (not together!)

10. How many cars does your family have?

We have one cars are ridiculously expensive here.  A horrendous Gold 4×4 we would NEVER EVER have this in the UK but here it kinda works.  Its a big pain in the butt though as it only has 2 doors and theres only 4 seats and the boot space is pretty much non existent!

11. Weight gain, before pregnancy, during, after and now?

Ummm I don’t have any scales at home so I’m not sure exactly but I think I put on around 2.5/3 stone during pregnancy and I think I am actually a little smaller than I was before pregnancy now, I’m not sure really how that happened but I know I’m very lucky!

12. Dream holiday with your kids?

Well we are taking Arthur back to the UK to visit all our friends and family in the Summer, I’m actually really excited about that it will be a big culture shock for us as it will have been two years since we have left the Seychelles.  Aside from the people, I’m excited for Arthur to see cities and busy roads and trains and all that kinda stuff that we don’t get here!

13. Dream holiday without your kids?

I would love to go back to Cyprus and stay in the hotel we got married in, The Elysium, in Paphos.  It was so beautiful.

14. How has your life changed since having kids?

I now exist on very little sleep!  My life is now focused around keeping this small little squishy boy happy and healthy!!

15. Finish the sentence “It makes heart melt when…”

I see Arthur and my husband Mark together.  Also when Arthur gives me a proper cuddle or when he smiles because he’s happy to see me!

My two favourites!

16. Where do you shop for your kids?

There’s not really any shops here, nothing like what you get in the UK (or anywhere else really!) there is a baby shop that sells a few european things.  The tourist shops here all have a section for clothes but often the quality is questionable.  Luckily Arthur doesn’t really wear many clothes because its too hot!! Our families do send lots of stuff out for him too.

17. Favourite make-up and skincare products?

I don’t really have time for this any more 😦  I do moisturise every day but mostly I just use sun cream rather than any special moisturiser!  I do have a garnier roller eye concealer thing thats feels quite nice to put on!

18. Huggies or Pampers?

We use Huggies Dry Comfort ( I think they are ordered here from South Africa) the shop up the road always makes sure they are stocked for us which is so lovely!  Most of the locals use brands of nappies from china or thailand that are plasticy and horrible 😦

19. Have you always wanted kids?

Yes definitely!

20. Best part of being a mum?

So many things I could put here.  I guess the best part is seeing that Arthur is a really healthy happy little boy and thats down to me and Mark doing the best job we can raising him!

I tag…

Berni at Puddin & Pie

Blue at Bluebirdsunshine

Sarah at TamingTwins

and Sian at Potty Mouthed Mummy

The baby gym {The Ordinary Moments} #5

It’s Sunday so that means I’m linking up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me with my fifth post for ‘The Ordinary Moments’.

The other day I was looking at old photos of Arthur and the ones that particularly caught my eye was him in his baby gym.  I actually got pretty emotional looking at them as I have a lot of him in there and it was amazing seeing how much he had changed from that first picture!

The baby gym was the first thing that we bought for Arthur.  We were on Mahe for the weekend as Mark was doing a half marathon.  I was about 5 months pregnant.  We were excited as there is a baby shop there that sells a lot of European brands and wanted to check it out.  We don’t get over to Mahe all that often so we wanted to take advantage of the trip.

We first looked at the sensible things like sterilisers and discussed with the owner about ordering a car seat but soon we got distracted with the more exciting things!  The baby gym was one of them!  It had so many things on it and it was so brightly coloured and lovely we had to get it!  (We then did also buy the steriliser and some bottles but thats much less exciting!)

When we got back to Praslin we resisted setting it up and playing with it ourselves but we did show our parents on Skype (I’ve done a post about Skype keeping the family close).   It was kind of a big deal for us, it was the first thing we had bought and we finally allowed ourselves to believe it was really happening, my bump was still pretty teeny tiny at this stage so it wasn’t like that was in our faces all the time yet.

While I was on Mahe waiting to have Arthur (I had to be there two weeks before I had him) Mark was still on Praslin and he set everything up, including the baby gym which was waiting for us when we got back home with Arthur.

Arthur in the gym 0-6 months

I remember the first time he was in there, he just stared at the colours, mesmerised.  The first time Arthur sat unsupported was in the gym (hence blurry picture–excited rushing mummy!!).  Arthur has got so much use out of his baby gym and him being in there really is one of ‘ordinary moments’ of the day but it is always a nice time.  Now that he is crawling around he is less interested but will still play happily with the toys if he’s sat up in there.

For me putting Arthur in the baby gym gives me a little flash back every time.  I realise how much he’s grown but more so how much he’s developed by seeing how he interacts with his toys in there!  It’s funny and pretty silly how you can become emotionally attached to an object but that little baby gym has a lot of wonderful memories for me!  

Happy Sunday

A wet Seychelles weekend

On Praslin there are pretty much just two roads; the one that goes round the coast (yellow) in a horse shoe shape and then the one that cuts through the Vallee de Mai (the little white one running through the middle. 

Praslin road map

The coast road is a really windy and really hilly (we are talking 30% gradient in places!) road that is only really wide enough for one car most of the way round.

The road through the vallee de Mai is also really hilly but it is in much better condition and is wide enough for two cars all the way (so it’s the main road used).  It’s also much quicker to get from one side of the island to the other this way.

A couple of weeks ago we had some bad storms and there was a landslide that cut off the road at the Vallee de Mai.  These are pictures that Mark took as he tried to get to work.  He then had to turn around and go via the coast road.

                        

The Vallee road remained closed for over a week while they cleared the road and secured the banking.  The only way round was the coast road.  This road isn’t built for as much use as it got and within a really short space of time the road was rapidly deteriating, large pot holes started to appear and the road even giving way in places.

Fast forward to Friday night and we get A LOT of rain.

Saturday, Mark has to go into school as there is a rehearsal for the production he is working on with our neighbour J.  I get a text from J’s boyfriend D telling me that they had got to school but that the Vallee road is closed again (turns out they didn’t do such a great job of securing that banking!).  Then at around lunch time I get another text from D saying the he thinks Mark and J should come home because the weather is getting bad again and that there’s a rumour that the coast road is also going to be closed!!

About an hour later (usually the coast road takes around half hour) they get home.  Mark is soaked!  Turns out a tree had fallen and he and a Seychellois man had to saw it in half to get it out the road!  There was also a house that was being emptied as it was about to fall in a mud slide 😦

After that the rain just kept getting worse and worse.  We heard that the coast road had then been closed and the Vallee road re-opened (as it was the least dangerous of the two!?).

This is the front of my house on Sunday morning

You can’t really tell in this but a lot of this is almost knee deep!!

Luckily the rain has now stopped and as the ground here is pretty much just sand the water soon drains away.  Both roads are now open again!

It was quite a dramatic weekend all in all but being stuck inside the whole time was not fun!

 

Map of Praslin credit: [https://maps.google.com]