Monday, 13 June 2011
Monday, 16 May 2011
Fleeting weekend visit to Harpenden - Elena's 40th
No pics for this one.......yet! must get on to the birthday girl for some!!! Had a fab weekend in Harpenden....yes I know.....somewhat extravagant flying the whole clan back for the weekend......£97 flights sounded a bargain.........until you multiply it out!!!!! Anyway it was sooooo worth it........took the kids out of school for the Friday (tut tut!)........and at last lux flies direct to heathrow.........one big advantage of lux is how easy the travel to airport situ is.......4 miles and can park almost in the departure lounge!!!!!!!! a breeze...........and very civilised times for a change!!
Arrived in good old Harpenden by 8.30-ish and this time we were staying with Terry & Pete..........wine at the ready for soon as we arrived..........perfecto!!! get kids off to bed quick sharp and the wine weekend starts in earnest!
Not sure what being back in Harpenden does to little Ruby...once again she's up with the larks.......but it doesn't darken my mood.......yet!!!! So what to do for the day with all other kids at school.........drag them round the shops seems like a plan!! Well - ruby is absoluely DESPERATE for some new shoes........and sandals.......poor love had the same pair since Christmas.......anyway....worth waiting for......couldn't decide and needed to cover all weather possibilities........could bloody rain all summer....so she ended up with 3 pairs..........a girl after my own heart :-) oh yes......and i did get myself a new pair too!!
Kids surprisingly good for a day shopping (lost count of amount of treat bribes along the way!!) although they did have a slap-up lunch choc ice cream and all in carluccios....a favourite haunt of mine :-) Feeling rather saintly for getting the bus to st. albans....hmmm....braving public transport with 3 kids including pesky one in a buggy looking for any excuse to escape (shaun needed car to get to work.........would feel a bit harsh sending him out to slough on a number of trains at 6.30am in the morning!) so anyway we had done our bit for the bank account and feeling weary, kids had enough and bags to carry......we got in the nearest cab and had to be back in time to be in the school playground anyway!! Feasible excuse I say!
So a reasonably successful trip......until half way home I don't seem to be able to find my phone.......SHIT............don't tell me i've lost it after the bloody ordeal i had to get it working again!!! about to tell the taxi driver to turn around so we can go back and look for it (definitely not in my timetable for the day!) when he kindly suggests he'll phone it for me.......hey presto.........it's in my lap the whole time........a real blonde moment for someone no longer blonde!!!!!!
Great to see everyone again in the playground and as ever - never enough time to chat! Conor goes off for a playdate and sleepover which he has been waiting all day for (ust have made the shopping trip more bearable knowing what was to look forward to !!!!!!) and Millie, Ruby and I head off to another playdate with wine o'clock starting slightly earlier than normal at 4pm and all 10 of us end up at Billy's for the kids tea :-))) Millie having a ball back with her bosom buddies :-))
The big weekend continues with a night out at the local curry house and far too much alcohol consumed (again!) and the party night hasn't even arrived!!
Saturday is spent just like old times in the park with the girls and their friends and an impromtpu BBQ lunch - weather being very kind and the sun shone all day.......although temperatures seem to be dropping fast :-( After my much-needed visit to the hairdressers it's party time :-))))
Fab 40th party and a great opportunity for me to catch up with loads of people...........the 6.30am starts gonna hit hard after yet another late night........ended up having quick night cap at friends where I was poured (no joke!) a tumbler full of amaretto!!!??!?!?!? a person obviously drunker than me! even I couldn't finish that one!!
So I think I managed about 16 hours sleep across 3 nights........NOT ENOUGH! REALLY struggling at the airport sitting having lunch.........just wanted to find somewhere to lie down! Couldn't even face looking in the shops!! Worse was to come! As we queue to board the plane.........3 Amazon employees (1 of whom is Shaun's boss from Seattle!!!) appear in the same line.....aghhhhh.......already thinking ahead and Ruby is way beyond tired as I've been holding her sleep out so she will sleep on the plane...................but as we all know...........over-tired babies, limited space...........equals misery and screaming before they drop off..........oh yes.......didn't the WHOLE plane know it! As we all sit ready for take-off and the plane is quiet...........with the exception that is of Ruby REALLY REALLY screaming! Ruby and I sitting about 6 rows behind Shaun and kids.........not sure whether that good or bad but there was no going back.......I had to peservere and get her to sleep or the whole journey was going to be hellish!!! Not so bad in the end........only high-pitched screaming for 20 minutes of the journey......felt like 20 hours of course! Anyway - I had a lovely nap after that :-))))) I did get a few comments on "good lungs"etc etc on our exit!!!!!!
A fab weekend :-)
PS: takes me most of the next week to recover!
Arrived in good old Harpenden by 8.30-ish and this time we were staying with Terry & Pete..........wine at the ready for soon as we arrived..........perfecto!!! get kids off to bed quick sharp and the wine weekend starts in earnest!
Not sure what being back in Harpenden does to little Ruby...once again she's up with the larks.......but it doesn't darken my mood.......yet!!!! So what to do for the day with all other kids at school.........drag them round the shops seems like a plan!! Well - ruby is absoluely DESPERATE for some new shoes........and sandals.......poor love had the same pair since Christmas.......anyway....worth waiting for......couldn't decide and needed to cover all weather possibilities........could bloody rain all summer....so she ended up with 3 pairs..........a girl after my own heart :-) oh yes......and i did get myself a new pair too!!
Kids surprisingly good for a day shopping (lost count of amount of treat bribes along the way!!) although they did have a slap-up lunch choc ice cream and all in carluccios....a favourite haunt of mine :-) Feeling rather saintly for getting the bus to st. albans....hmmm....braving public transport with 3 kids including pesky one in a buggy looking for any excuse to escape (shaun needed car to get to work.........would feel a bit harsh sending him out to slough on a number of trains at 6.30am in the morning!) so anyway we had done our bit for the bank account and feeling weary, kids had enough and bags to carry......we got in the nearest cab and had to be back in time to be in the school playground anyway!! Feasible excuse I say!
So a reasonably successful trip......until half way home I don't seem to be able to find my phone.......SHIT............don't tell me i've lost it after the bloody ordeal i had to get it working again!!! about to tell the taxi driver to turn around so we can go back and look for it (definitely not in my timetable for the day!) when he kindly suggests he'll phone it for me.......hey presto.........it's in my lap the whole time........a real blonde moment for someone no longer blonde!!!!!!
Great to see everyone again in the playground and as ever - never enough time to chat! Conor goes off for a playdate and sleepover which he has been waiting all day for (ust have made the shopping trip more bearable knowing what was to look forward to !!!!!!) and Millie, Ruby and I head off to another playdate with wine o'clock starting slightly earlier than normal at 4pm and all 10 of us end up at Billy's for the kids tea :-))) Millie having a ball back with her bosom buddies :-))
The big weekend continues with a night out at the local curry house and far too much alcohol consumed (again!) and the party night hasn't even arrived!!
Saturday is spent just like old times in the park with the girls and their friends and an impromtpu BBQ lunch - weather being very kind and the sun shone all day.......although temperatures seem to be dropping fast :-( After my much-needed visit to the hairdressers it's party time :-))))
Fab 40th party and a great opportunity for me to catch up with loads of people...........the 6.30am starts gonna hit hard after yet another late night........ended up having quick night cap at friends where I was poured (no joke!) a tumbler full of amaretto!!!??!?!?!? a person obviously drunker than me! even I couldn't finish that one!!
So I think I managed about 16 hours sleep across 3 nights........NOT ENOUGH! REALLY struggling at the airport sitting having lunch.........just wanted to find somewhere to lie down! Couldn't even face looking in the shops!! Worse was to come! As we queue to board the plane.........3 Amazon employees (1 of whom is Shaun's boss from Seattle!!!) appear in the same line.....aghhhhh.......already thinking ahead and Ruby is way beyond tired as I've been holding her sleep out so she will sleep on the plane...................but as we all know...........over-tired babies, limited space...........equals misery and screaming before they drop off..........oh yes.......didn't the WHOLE plane know it! As we all sit ready for take-off and the plane is quiet...........with the exception that is of Ruby REALLY REALLY screaming! Ruby and I sitting about 6 rows behind Shaun and kids.........not sure whether that good or bad but there was no going back.......I had to peservere and get her to sleep or the whole journey was going to be hellish!!! Not so bad in the end........only high-pitched screaming for 20 minutes of the journey......felt like 20 hours of course! Anyway - I had a lovely nap after that :-))))) I did get a few comments on "good lungs"etc etc on our exit!!!!!!
A fab weekend :-)
PS: takes me most of the next week to recover!
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Driving East..................Prague here we come!
Not sure what I was thinking to attempt 2 city breaks in the space of a couple of weeks.......with kids!
After a successful trip to Madrid (and great weather!) I was starting to get a little nervous about our weekend in Prague.......driving the 730km to get there.......not to mention the packing (again!!) and getting there in time to meet my mum for the weekend who was flying in (much more civilised!!)
Well everything went to plan and I actually bottled out on the drive all in 1 go and booked a small family "pension" (hotel) in Germany just before we reached the Czech border to break the journey up..........also a beautiful part of the world to see :-) Of course we virtually drove past where my sister now lives in Regensburg.........shame they were away otherwise we could have dropped in for the night!!! Anyway - our overnight stay was great (after getting stuck in some horrendous queues on the motorway for well over an hour about 20 minutes before we were due to get off the motorway....VERY annoying!) ........small village, in the middle of forestland, very friendly and huge room for all of us..........dinner there was typical German....plenty of sausages (kids uber happy!) lots of sauce and huge portions!!!! Including puddings, wine (needed a fair few after that journey!!), beer etc we even got change from a €50 note......amazing! Kids even had time for a quick game of crazy golf before we set off in the morning!
Back in the car with not too many moans and groans and we were soon entering Czech REpublic........no passports required at the border. One of the first advertising signs we saw was for good old Tesco......almost tempted to stop!!!!!! Thankfully Ruby slept and other 2 watched a film and we reached our destination without too many problems!
Hotel was fantastic - for any of you wanting a nice weekend there we stayed at Santini Residence which was great location other side of charles bridge (bit away from the MAIN square!!!!!) and the rooms were probably the biggest we've ever had...........pat on the back to me I think! My mum was impressed anyway and even Shaun made several positive sounding comments (so even he must have been impressed..........doesn't happen often!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Good weekend - great weather - Happy Easter!!
Here are a few of our pics...............
View of the city from the park...........with cable car to boot!!
Little Easter display
Ruby discovered the fun of scooters......especially when someone else pushes!!
So how does the green beer taste? Ordering normal beer for his 2nd probably tells you all you need to know!!!
The mud and soil still wins hands down!!!!
Grandma keeps Ruby in tow!
Kids in heaven with enough Easter eggs and chocolate to last them the 7 hour drive home and some!!!!
Monday, 18 April 2011
Bienvenido a Madrid!
Madrid was great.......hot, sunny, busy and we packed loads in.........and I'm loving all this sitting outside for dinner at bars being brought great tapas and wine on tap!!!!! Trying to catch up on blog writing at the mo so here are some pics of our trip.......will come back to it and write some blurb when I have more time.....as ever it's 11pm and feels like it should be 9! Need some sleep........for the time being .......enjoy :-)
No we're not at disneyland........but plenty of money making spaniards trying to earn a living.......of course millie fell straight into their hands.......every time!!!1
eso es todo por ahora.................................buenas noches!
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Back to the bubble.....
Taking the kids out of school for a week mid-term makes the weeks fly by so quickly..........no hassle so far with taking kids out......although i waited until the day before to tell their teachers! "Have a good time" ....great no formal letters required! anyway now back at school and there's only 3 weeks left until Easter break....fab! the last few months have absolutely flown! no wonder it never feels like home here......never bloody here for long enough!!!
So the week are hectic with activities and settling ruby in at creche (again!!) and coffees and lunches and coffees and lunches and coffees.......you get the picture!!! Book club a huge hit and has helped me off the scale in terms of finding a lovely group of girls to call on :-) French goes on......slowly slowly..............has my brain completely gone to mush?? i guess really not helped by the fact that my lessons at the moment are at 8pm on a thursday night and i don't make time inbetween to do any learning!!!! MUST DO BETTER!!!!! have good intentions at the end of each lesson.......papers get put to one side and before i know it a week has passed and out come the papers again!!!!! summer......that's when i'll catch up!!! all that spare time i'll have not doing school runs etc.....yeah right! just have 3 kids in tow 24/7!!!!! Anyway I know more than when i arrived in August so must be improving! why didn't i ever learn the damn thing at school???!
I pluck up the courage to take a 2nd visit to the hairdressers over here......1st time a resounding failure but now with the red/brown and the colour code written down.....how bad could it be??!!! so first problem.......they have Loreal but not the exact product......colours he shows me which match my note......OMG it looks orange!!!! HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPP.......why is nothing bloody straightforward anymore.......everything is such a chore! anyway......keeps me on my toes as i spend the next 2+ hours (will anything ever surprise me at being quick in this place??!?!!!!) worrying the colour is going to be a disaster! end result......ok.........but can't say it was the most relaxing experience people talk about! Thankfully remembered my kindle so got lost in the midst of Somalia instead!
Other events that happen............I have to do a whole week of school runs as my neighbours go skiing (to the same resort as us and we actually see them there!!!! my god they have more adults than children (family of 5 (3 kids) and 2 au-pairs!!!!!......what a result! and typically it's the week they are doing a car-parking trial so 1 of the car parks is shut and we end of parking and shlepping across the campus! not so bad in the end as beautiful sunny days and actually enjoyed a bit of morning fresh air..............oooohhhhh....memories of my UK school run flooding back!!!!!!!! We host our first proper dinner party! thankfully mothers day the next day so the house is full of lovely flowers :-)))) i did my usual of drinking too much before i'd served any food but all went well and jsut about managed in the mouse-size kitchen!!!! the place looked like an absolute bomb-site by the end of the evening though!!! anyway.....very civilised.....no roudy behaviour seen yet and certainly haven't got the karaoke out yet!!!! in fact a disappointing lack of big nights out........girls nights very few and far between........ need to change that going forward!!!
oh yes and we go and see Jamiroquai! oooh yes.........luxembourg obviously a happening place.....or is there some tax reasons they can benefit from too from playing in this small-town arena!!!!
Millie does her school play with one of the leading parts......probably the fact she can speak the language helped her cause!!!! A real pain making her learn her lines in the weeks running up to it (and it sounds like they spent days rehearsing .......no school work done there then.........fees obviously well-spent!!!!) but a great show! i made sure i got there early so i got a good seat for once (normally i'm racing in last minute and end up standing up at the back!!!)....funnily enough that is exactly where i end up.........shaun ends up in london so it's all down to me.......ruby....video camera.......camera.........waving to millie so she can see me (isn't that THE most important thing?!!!?!?).........................i'm far too ambitious sitting at the front and within the first 2 minutes Ruby is already running away and getting in the way of the pianist and assistant!!!! After almost taking one of them out and getting a stern word from this assistant - enough was enough ....she screeched when i made her sit with me and it was all going horribly wrong!!! at least at the back she could walk to and fro but annoyingly continued to head straight for the guitar case and insisted on walking right over it........by this point I am ready for the thing to end.....and made a hasty exit.......no surprise there then!!!!!
Oh yes - did I tell you of our car disasters??? so after a cracked windscreen and a puncture a bus careers into us and smashes the wing mirror and now we are told we need to replace the tyres.....we've only had the car a year!!!!!!!
End of term arrives and looking forward to some lazy days???!!?? who am i joking......no way........football / playdates / 2 city breaks and all the washing packing unpacking packing unpacking inbetween........who am i kidding....................will we ever have another relaxing holiday before the kids reach the age of 15???!!!!!!!
Anyway - one of my newly found book club buddies who has just given up work (result) and is a brit (up north at that!!!!) invites us for dinner so the hols start off on a good note :-)
In fact the first monday i manage the whole morning with no children........extremely proud of my logistical organisation for that one..........RESULT! so I now have started taking Ruby to creche for the whole school day rather than just a couple of hours (i'm sure it will help her settle in better....... oh yes and it means i can get soe stuff done.....or at least lunch without chasing after her every 2 seconds!!!!!!) so Ruby goes to creche, Conor at football holiday camp from 9-4 and Millie goes to the park with a friend for play and picnic!!! Me???? well i make the most of it and go for a run (big shock to the system!) and then meet a friend to play tennis.....and can you believe it - it's fab weather and the courts are indoor!!!!!! i even have time to potter at home for an hour too :-))))
Causing mayhem at school........
There's no stopping me now.........don't sit down mum!
Spring in the park :-)
Ruby enjoying her change of transport from the buggy!
Millie as the "number dragon" in her school play
So the week are hectic with activities and settling ruby in at creche (again!!) and coffees and lunches and coffees and lunches and coffees.......you get the picture!!! Book club a huge hit and has helped me off the scale in terms of finding a lovely group of girls to call on :-) French goes on......slowly slowly..............has my brain completely gone to mush?? i guess really not helped by the fact that my lessons at the moment are at 8pm on a thursday night and i don't make time inbetween to do any learning!!!! MUST DO BETTER!!!!! have good intentions at the end of each lesson.......papers get put to one side and before i know it a week has passed and out come the papers again!!!!! summer......that's when i'll catch up!!! all that spare time i'll have not doing school runs etc.....yeah right! just have 3 kids in tow 24/7!!!!! Anyway I know more than when i arrived in August so must be improving! why didn't i ever learn the damn thing at school???!
I pluck up the courage to take a 2nd visit to the hairdressers over here......1st time a resounding failure but now with the red/brown and the colour code written down.....how bad could it be??!!! so first problem.......they have Loreal but not the exact product......colours he shows me which match my note......OMG it looks orange!!!! HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPP.......why is nothing bloody straightforward anymore.......everything is such a chore! anyway......keeps me on my toes as i spend the next 2+ hours (will anything ever surprise me at being quick in this place??!?!!!!) worrying the colour is going to be a disaster! end result......ok.........but can't say it was the most relaxing experience people talk about! Thankfully remembered my kindle so got lost in the midst of Somalia instead!
Other events that happen............I have to do a whole week of school runs as my neighbours go skiing (to the same resort as us and we actually see them there!!!! my god they have more adults than children (family of 5 (3 kids) and 2 au-pairs!!!!!......what a result! and typically it's the week they are doing a car-parking trial so 1 of the car parks is shut and we end of parking and shlepping across the campus! not so bad in the end as beautiful sunny days and actually enjoyed a bit of morning fresh air..............oooohhhhh....memories of my UK school run flooding back!!!!!!!! We host our first proper dinner party! thankfully mothers day the next day so the house is full of lovely flowers :-)))) i did my usual of drinking too much before i'd served any food but all went well and jsut about managed in the mouse-size kitchen!!!! the place looked like an absolute bomb-site by the end of the evening though!!! anyway.....very civilised.....no roudy behaviour seen yet and certainly haven't got the karaoke out yet!!!! in fact a disappointing lack of big nights out........girls nights very few and far between........ need to change that going forward!!!
oh yes and we go and see Jamiroquai! oooh yes.........luxembourg obviously a happening place.....or is there some tax reasons they can benefit from too from playing in this small-town arena!!!!
Millie does her school play with one of the leading parts......probably the fact she can speak the language helped her cause!!!! A real pain making her learn her lines in the weeks running up to it (and it sounds like they spent days rehearsing .......no school work done there then.........fees obviously well-spent!!!!) but a great show! i made sure i got there early so i got a good seat for once (normally i'm racing in last minute and end up standing up at the back!!!)....funnily enough that is exactly where i end up.........shaun ends up in london so it's all down to me.......ruby....video camera.......camera.........waving to millie so she can see me (isn't that THE most important thing?!!!?!?).........................i'm far too ambitious sitting at the front and within the first 2 minutes Ruby is already running away and getting in the way of the pianist and assistant!!!! After almost taking one of them out and getting a stern word from this assistant - enough was enough ....she screeched when i made her sit with me and it was all going horribly wrong!!! at least at the back she could walk to and fro but annoyingly continued to head straight for the guitar case and insisted on walking right over it........by this point I am ready for the thing to end.....and made a hasty exit.......no surprise there then!!!!!
Oh yes - did I tell you of our car disasters??? so after a cracked windscreen and a puncture a bus careers into us and smashes the wing mirror and now we are told we need to replace the tyres.....we've only had the car a year!!!!!!!
End of term arrives and looking forward to some lazy days???!!?? who am i joking......no way........football / playdates / 2 city breaks and all the washing packing unpacking packing unpacking inbetween........who am i kidding....................will we ever have another relaxing holiday before the kids reach the age of 15???!!!!!!!
Anyway - one of my newly found book club buddies who has just given up work (result) and is a brit (up north at that!!!!) invites us for dinner so the hols start off on a good note :-)
In fact the first monday i manage the whole morning with no children........extremely proud of my logistical organisation for that one..........RESULT! so I now have started taking Ruby to creche for the whole school day rather than just a couple of hours (i'm sure it will help her settle in better....... oh yes and it means i can get soe stuff done.....or at least lunch without chasing after her every 2 seconds!!!!!!) so Ruby goes to creche, Conor at football holiday camp from 9-4 and Millie goes to the park with a friend for play and picnic!!! Me???? well i make the most of it and go for a run (big shock to the system!) and then meet a friend to play tennis.....and can you believe it - it's fab weather and the courts are indoor!!!!!! i even have time to potter at home for an hour too :-))))
Causing mayhem at school........
There's no stopping me now.........don't sit down mum!
Spring in the park :-)
Ruby enjoying her change of transport from the buggy!
Millie as the "number dragon" in her school play
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