Friends

Nick got home on Friday and we had a quiet night in preparation for our busy weekend of socialising that lay ahead of us.
Saturday night, Kate, Anthony and Ben, Alex & Maddy came round for a barbecue and a farewell drink. It was a lovely evening and I think we all managed to say goodbye without any tears. They are heading back to Australia now so we don't know when we shall see them again.
On Sunday Tim & Deanna came round with Ethan & Willa to look after Tom & lily while we went to the theatre to see 'A Comedy of Errors'. Very funny. After we got back from that Marie & Shaun came round with Jess & Bethan and Tom & Sian came round with Johnathon & Matthew.
The children had a great time in the pool and got to bed very late again.
So that was our busy weekend and thankfully no hangovers - just very tired yesterday and okay so far today. Today I need to clean the house and pack for our holiday which starts tomorrow and Bethan & Jess are coming round while Marie goes to Maxwell to watch Shaun graduate from his course. See ya when I get to a computer again.

A busy week

Thursday night we all went round to Kate & Ray's for a British barbecue. Thankfully there was no rain and we had a great time with the new Brits (Tom & Sian Burke with 2 boys Johnathon & Matthew, and Phil & Barbara Jones.)
Nick & I went to see The 3 Musketeers at the theatre on Friday night, I thought it was brilliant and am looking forward to 'A Comedy of Errors' this Sunday. Nick enjoyed it but not as much as me. We had a busy Saturday starting at Craig & Bernice's for a barbecue to say goodbye to everyone who was leaving Maxwell then we went on to Tim & Deanna's for another barbecue and birthday party for Ethan & Willa.

Aurelie, Olivier & Nick watching the water fight.

The children had a great time and so did we.

On Sunday Nick went off to Florida again on another course so the children and I spent the rest of the day lounging. Thankfully the weather has finally arrived (although as I write this it is raining again) and we have spent most of the week swimming and lying around relaxing. Yesterday we went to the cinema to watch 'Up'. Enjoyable, but a bit sad in places. Should have saved it for today as I think it is going to rain all day.

Week One of Summer Vacation completed

After saying goodbye to my parents we had a day at home to ourselves before Nick Drew & Daymion arrived for the Memorial Day Weekend. Nick is currently on a course in Oklahoma with Daymion, so they kindly drove 900 miles to visit for a couple of days. We had a lovely time drinking wine and relaxing, unfortunately the weather was still a bit rubbish but we did manage a quick splash in the pool on Sunday. It was a bit cold though. Not like last May at all. Obviously, since they left on Tuesday we haven't really had any rain since and the temperature is getting back to normal.

Nick got back from Poland on Sunday night and seemed to have enjoyed his trip there, now he is home for a week before heading down to Florida this coming Sunday for another course.

Holiday's over for some and just starting for others.

BBQ in the back garden with Tim & Deanna.

Nick in an arty sunset shot at Destin.

After all the rain we escaped to Destin for a weekend of sun, sea, sand and lunch at Dewey Destins. Gosh, we are so predictable. Came back on Sunday in time for a barbecue with Tim, Deanna, Ethan & Willa.

Then the sunshine kind of went away after that. The weather has been a bit dreary while mum & dad have been visiting so there hasn't been much lounging about around the pool going on.

We have had visits to the park to feed the ducks, fish and turtles. We also went to Jasmine Hill gardens for a walk around their park, the flowers that were out were pretty but we missed the best display by about 2 months. I shall get there earlier next year.

Tom & Lily missed their last day of school today so we could all drive up to Birmingham via The Cheesecake Factory for lunch before saying our goodbyes to Granny & Grampa for another year.

So while mum & dad head back to Britain today at the end of their holiday, Tom & Lily start their long summer holiday today.

Parents & the rain arrive

We have had another quiet few days with not much going on.
Yesterday I travelled up to Atlanta to pick up mum & dad from the airport. After an accident (not involving me) on the Interstate I arrived an hour late and bursting for the loo only to find their flight had not arrived yet. It was due in at 2.20pm and I arrived around 4pm, I finally met up with them at around 6.30pm after they had been diverted to Charlotte to refuel. Due to their delay it did mean we missed all the really bad weather yesterday when we drove back to Montgomery, however....
we had plenty of rain today, over 7 inches fell this morning. Luckily we were at home and were able to bail out the sun room otherwise the family room and our bedroom would have flooded too.

I had to drain the swimming pool 3 times and we emptied many many buckets of water ( I lost count after 10 but it must be somewhere in the region of 20 bucketfuls) out of the sunroom, braving thunder & lightning to do so. All very tiresome. Now I just want a sleep.

Tom having fun last weekend when the weather was nice.

Destin

After an uneventful week, we headed down to Destin for the weekend. The forecast was good and we were all looking forward to a day at the beach.


The weather was glorious and we all got rather too much sun, well Nick & I did anyway. Obviously we remembered to reapply sunscreen to Tom & Lily but neglected ourselves, so my back is slightly red and Nick has a red forehead and sunburned feet. Oops. We had a lovely day though, lots of wave jumping as the waves were big and there was a strong current for a change. Sandcastling and general lazing on the beach then off to Dewey Destins for a delicious lunch of fresh grilled fish.

Today is Lily's 7th birthday so we went out for breakfast then came back to the camp and she opened her presents before the drive home.

After getting home, Lily & I went to the store and bought an ice cream cookie cake for her birthday. I can confirm it tastes delicious, and luckily there is plenty left over. Now we are off for a quick swim in our pool before having a barbecue dinner (Tuna & Steak - Lily's choice) and more cake.

Double Birthday Party Day Arrives

After a quiet week it was finally the day of the birthday parties. Emily had come home from school with Lily on Friday and stayed for a sleepover. They had a great time. Lily's party started at 1pm while Tom was away at a football game. Aimee, Lauren, Willa & Emily were here for it. We had a treasure hunt and a game of pass the parcel. The rest of the time the girls played nicely and quietly...
We had also hired a large bouncy castle for the day.

So what with that and the pool, it was easy to keep the girls occupied.

Setting up the bouncy castle.

3pm dawned and the boys started to arrive for Tom's party. Suddenly noise levels rose along with stress levels. After an initial frenzy of bouncing and splashing in the pool we rounded up the boys for their treasure hunt. Then there was more mucking around in the pool before calming them down with a chocolate eating game. Unfortunately my photos of this didn't turn out as I neglected to check the settings on the camera after Deanna had been using it. (Deanna is a serious photographer so actually uses the camera properly, whereas I just use the automatic setting all the time). The last game the boys played was the beachball challenge - if you read this regularly you know what the game is. We throw the ball at them as they jump off the diving board and they have to catch and keep hold of the ball until they reach the side of the pool - deceptively difficult but great fun and energetic enough to keep the boys happy. Finally 5pm came and the parents started to arrive and take the boys away. The bouncy castle was packed away with the help of Tim, Shaun & Dustin and peace ensued. Bliss. Unfortunately we didn't have time to enjoy it.

After tidying everything up, giving the children something to eat and jumping through the shower Nick & I were off out for the evening with friends. Luckily, it was a relaxed evening and we were home by midnight and tumbled into bed. Now we have Sunday ahead of us with nothing to do except relax and enjoy the day.

Our good friends and magnificent helpers, Deanna & Tim.