Have I Told You I Love Where I Live?

James' parents are holidaying near us and they wanted to take us out for a meal so I booked us in at my favourite local restaurant, Coombe Cellars.

It overlooks the estuary and has the best views, especially when the sun shines:

The food was a big hit with the children (and the grown ups!):

I am thankful we get to live in a part of England that is so pretty.

 

Thanks for treating us to dinner Nanny and Grandad!

Colanders And Pipe Cleaners

This year I have been helping out at our school by listening to the year 6 pupils read but these last couple of weeks I have been painting scenery and making props for the end of term play the year 6 classes are putting on.  My stable doors, home interiors and landscape designs have all been met with approval by the children, but by far the most outstanding thing I have made (in their expert opinion) is this hat:

I can't even begin to tell you how excited they were to see this and try it on.  I have had so much fun spending these last few weeks painting and making things, I could quite happily to it all day, every day.

Thirteen Years

Yesterday our house officially entered the era of the teenager with Ben turning 13.  We had a picnic in the park after church with grandparents and cousins and lots of glorious sunshine, just like the day he first came to us.  It was also the day I realised that my 13 year old is nearly the same height as me, and I'm not exactly short at 5'7''!

Perhaps the sweetest thing I have ever seen Rosie and Ethan do is this:

I had spent Saturday afternoon and evening baking in the kitchen and then put the children to bed.  When I eventually went into the living room I found that Rosie and Ethan had made lots of paper swans and laid out Rosie's party place mats so that when Ben came down in the morning he would have a beautifully decorated table for his birthday breakfast.  It just about melted my heart!

Hooligans

It was our primary school fete today and despite all the fun stalls and games, the most entertaining thing for Noah, Rosie and Ethan were the police officers taking their fingerprints:

...and a spell in the back of the police van:

Hmm, innocent or guilty?

Strike A Pose

I have been searching for a new nightdress for Rosie with no luck; there are very few and most are pretty awful looking.  I decided to make a couple myself so I borrowed a simple dress pattern from mum (expert dressmaker and owner of hundreds of patterns for all ages and styles) and used a cotton bed sheet for the material.  It was my first attempt at dressmaking and it was so easy.  I might have to make some more for the day now!

Sports Day

Every summer sports day comes around.  (Except for last year, it was cancelled twice due to rain, and lots of it.)  Tuesday dawned bright and sunny so on went the sun lotion and sun hats, out came the knobbly knees and lanky legs!  In the morning it was the junior races and because I am such a good mother, I forgot my camera so you get to see this bad phone photo of Noah (in his house colour of red) crossing the finish line.  Check out those arms:

After a quick lunch it was back to school for the afternoon to see the older children in their teams.  I remembered my camera this time and even put fresh batteries in it.  Except, they weren't charged so I got just one photo on it of Rosie in her alternative egg and spoon race.  (Personally I think they should bring back the proper eggs and spoons.):

There are 8 different events for the children to complete in their house teams and you follow your child around for each one.  It's great because you don't get bored watching other people's kids.... but it is also a nightmare when you have more than one child in the upper school, you have to alternate who you are watching for each event!  Here is Ethan jumping in hoops:

Rosie getting some air time and winning a relay race:

Ethan throwing a foam javelin (in my day they were real and pointy!):

All the race winners for the day were added up and it was a close battle between first and second place.  In first place out of the four houses were Greenhill so Rosie was especially pleased and ran her lap of honour with her team mates.  In second place were Berry Meadow house, which made Noah and Ethan very happy too!  Go Greenhill!

Monday's Smile Lines

Rosie is trying to explain something to her brothers.  They don't understand and she gets frustrated.  Rosie declares: 'It's not science of the rocket you know!'

I'll Send You My Words From The Corners Of My Room

I've been a fan of Gregory Alan Isakov for a few years now and I've been waiting for him to play in the UK. I can't tell you how delighted I was when I found out he was playing in a small cafe the next town along from me! Yesterday I took my sister Leah and Mum with me to see him play, and as you can see from my rather bad phone picture, there wasn't much room between us and Mr Isakov:

There is something special about being in such close proximity to an artist, to see every expression and interaction during the performance.  The room held around 30 people and it was like watching your favourite artist play in your living room.  Gregory (we're on first name terms now) was accompanied on guitar by Ramaya Soskin who also harmonized beautifully with him.  There was no separation between artist and audience or hiding in a dressing room; they spent time before, during intermission and after the performance mingling with everyone and chatting.

Look, I was so excited I forgot to lift my double chin:

I looked even worse in this next shot so you just get to see Ramaya:

I recorded a few songs on my camera, enjoy a little bit of heaven:

That Moon Song:

3AM:

Nine

Happy birthday baby girl!

The Holland Girls Hit London

On Thursday Mum and I got to go see our Mother's Day present to each other, the rather fabulous Fleet Foxes at the Hammersmith Apollo:

I got us seats in the balcony, so mum wouldn't have to stand all that time in the stalls.  It was good to see her get excited, the last concert she attended was Roy Orbison back in her single days.  (She was quite the concert fan in her youth, she got to see The Beatles and the Rolling Stones!)  Fleet Foxes were, of course, fantastic.  My favourite songs of the night were Battery Kinzie, Ragged Wood and Oliver James; which Robin sang with just his guitar.  Beautiful.  My favourite moment of the evening had to be when mum pulled out her binoculars 'To get a closer look at the boys!'

We stayed in a hotel by The Old Vic theatre (and wished we could have seen Richard III).  The next day was all ours so we did things that mum doesn't get to do when she's in London with dad.  We started off the day with a free ride on the London Eye...

...where we got see a pretty good view of my favourite city in the world:

Next up was a stroll to Westminter to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben:

Then Westminster Abbey:

Do you see the queue in this next photo?  That was about a fifth of the actual length of it, I guess a royal wedding will make tourists do crazy things like stand in line for hours:

Jay, this one's for you:

Up next was a visit to the V&A.  We didn't have enough time to see it all but we managed to see some wonderful paintings, stained glass, religious statues, jewellery, photography and tapestries.  My favourite sculpture was one of a mother and child:

We had a late lunch at a restaurant near Marble Arch:

Followed by a leisurely stroll barefoot through Hyde Park and a sit under some trees with an ice cream:

The only thing to do on a hot afternoon in London is to find a suitable water feature to dunk those tired feet in, the Princess Diana Memorial is the one for me:

It was fun to spend time with mum and treat her to some time away from being a carer for everyone else.  She's the best:

Good To Know

Possibly the best card I have ever received: