Shortly after I lost posted was Anja's 7th birthday. I agreed to have a party for her while I was in the States, and despite not feeling so red hot I couldn't disappoint so party we did. It was a very simple party but all the kids had fun. As a matter of fact, one sweet little party guest turned to me during the festivities and said that it was the most fun he had ever had at a birthday party. High praise indeed!
We started off the day with making party hats. Give kids pretty colored paper, funky scissors and glitter glue and they are off and creating crowns fit for royalty.
Next up was a rousing round of Pass The Parcel. This game seems to be obligatory at birthday parties here. I confess that I had not heard of it before we moved here and found out that I missed a crucial step in preparation (a little surprise between each layer of wrapping) but it was a hit nonetheless. It took up a nice chunk of time too since Dylan and Kiah wrapped it in what must have been no less than a couple dozen layers!
Our friend and neighbor, Simon, came around to tell the kids a couple of stories. I wish you could hear the incredible expression that he tells these stories with. He is such a talented storyteller and had the kids completed enthralled (and alternately splitting their sides with laughter) with his tales. This was my favorite part of the whole day.
In order to save myself some effort of decorating a cake (and the expense of buying one a the bakery) we had the kids decorate cupcakes. Some ended up with more frosting than cake. They were interesting to say the least.
And last but by no means least - we finished the day with a pinata. We had to explain to the poor deprived British children what a pinata was (Preparing for the party we asked someone here where we could buy one their reply was "What's a pinata!" Thank goodness for internet shopping!) but they all got the basic gist of it and all rushed in for the loot grab when it broke open.
Did you notice how sunny it was in those pictures? It was even warm(ish) that day. Well the very next day we got 6 inches of SNOW and all the kids in the village headed for the golf course for sledding. Unfortunately the batteries on the camera died so Axel didn't get any pictures of the fun, but it must have been good cold fun because Anja came back duly frozen and exhausted.
That was early April. The rest of the month went past fairly quietly. The weather was typical English gray and wet. I love the green here that is so beautiful over the countryside, but the wet that is required to get it that way is not so great. After spending time in New Mexico where even an overcast day is brighter than a sunny day here, it was quite the bitter pill to swallow being thrust back into the dark and dreary skies.
May, however, brought sunny skies and warm days with it for the first couple weeks. Not wanting to risk missing what could potentially be the only sun we see for a long while, we took maximum advantage of every ray. On May Day bank holiday we went to the May Fayre at Emerson. A friend of ours asked Axel to fill in for her dance partner for the May Pole performance. He had just a week and a couple quick rehearsals to catch up, but he did a marvelous job and had a blast doing it. I love dancing that may pole, but of course I am not able to right now so the next best thing was to be able to watch as Axel danced with our friend.
I spent most of the day sitting on a blanket in the sun (getting a good dose of the Vitamin D I so desperately need) and working on a blanket I am knitting for our friends here who are getting married in June. Axel and Anja ran around playing games eating yummy treats. I admit to being a tad jealous as they enjoyed some delicious looking chocolate cake. But Axel won a coconut for me at the coconut shy so I did get a bit of my own special treat. Yummmmy fresh coconut!
Here are some pictures of the day. (As always - there are more in our flickr so be sure to check them out!)
The perfect day for a festival!
Dancing the maypole
The kids were invited to dance a round after the performance
The dancers and musicians
Axel all decked out in his dancing clothes! Isn't he cute?
Me and Anja at home after a full day of May Day sun and celebration.
That's it for May Day. But wait - there is more May sun fun to share! The week following May Fayre was filled with warmth and sunshine and by the weekend the temperature was almost hot. (As hot as it gets here. Its all relative.) So we packed a picnic and headed off to our favorite quiet seaside town for the day.
Anja had a great time playing in the water (Freezing her bum off. The sun may have been out and the air may have been warm, but the water was ccccold!)
We weren't the only ones with the idea to have a day at the beach. Some of them were even more insane than Anja was and went for a full swim. Crazy I tell you. There was also a little sailing regatta taking place.
And with that the weather turned back to a more typical pattern. The cold and gray returned, and with it what little respite I had been given from the intense aches and pains that it brings was gone as fast as it came. Who knows when the sun and warm will return. Word on the street is that this past week was a fluke and that we are in for more seasonable weather and that summer is still a long way off. I can't say I would be disappointed if this was one of the times the weatherman was wrong.
The month is quickly coming to a close with Kiah doing her GCSE exams. Today she got the most stressful of her exams out of the way so hopefully it is smooth sailing from here on out for her. Dylan, much to our sadness, has decided to move out of the house at the end of the month. I know she is excited about this big step, but I am having a hard time with it. She is my baby and I don't think she is ready to grow up like that. There is going to be a huge void in our home without her here. Anja is as full of life as ever. She is in a drama club after school and will be putting on a play in the near future. She is also going to be doing some country dancing at the village twinning day celebration in mid June. Kiah is going to prom with her sweet boyfriend, Dougie a few days after her 16th birthday (how can that be possible!!) and then it will be time for us to get packed and head out to Seattle for Matt and Niamh's wedding! Time, as they say, is flying!
If you have made it to the end of this post, my congratulations and thanks to you. I promise to give a more steady stream of shorter updates in the future. Like I said, there are a few more pictures in the flickr (just click on any of the pictures and it will take you there) so if you still have some time to kill go on over and take a look!
2 comments:
Beautiful photos. You seem to have such a rich life. Thanks for sharing.
~Jen
Great update!!! ~Christine
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