Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

So the big weekend of cycling (for me anyway) is done and I don't think the girls even missed us. That's probably not strictly true, but we are moving to a stage whereby I know that they both have enough going on in their own lives not to dwell too much on us being away for a few days.  We got home on Sunday afternoon hot, tired and looking forward to a big welcome.  What we found was Di and Alby sitting quietly in the garden on their own with the kids round at our neighbours.  When I went round to retreive them it was clear they had been there all day.  It's not surprising really - it was a hot weekend and they had just taken the cover off their pool for the first time (swimming pool or grandparents - which would you choose at that age?!?).  That coupled with the fact that Claire had baked cupcakes with them made for a perfect day. I came in to find them 'decorating' the efforts of their baking.  This entailed a 'one spinkle ...

The biking season is open and we seem to be spending a lot of time over the next few weeks and months cycling our way around various parts of the country / Europe. This weekend was a Taunton 100km sportive in the rain and wind (ugh).  Upside was the girls got to spend some time with Fifi and Grumps as well as do more farm planning with Ben and Laurie (the plans are getting ever more complex but they have realised they'll need some capital and experience - progress!).  Thanks to Amanda who amused them for the morning while we cycled, particularly for taking them out of the house while we returned and collapsed in a wet heap for an hour or two - much appreciated.   All this has obviously rubbed off on Abi who is now entered for her very first event - a 10 mile sponsored ride that starts from Newbury town centre in June.  She is very excited and in true Drinkwater form, she immediately wanted to set out a training schedule and buy some new kit - that'...

How wonderful it is to be of an age that when the sun comes out you just strip off and get naked.  Izzy is definitely still 'get naked whoever is around'. Abi is now a little more conservative and does at least check who might be watching, but yesterday there was none of this as they both enjoyed the early May bank holiday sunshine and a spot of 'gardening' (otherwise known as 'mud-pies').  Watching them as they played on the patio, then roaring around the garden chasing each other just reinforced again how lucky we are to have the house and garden we do. So 2 days of playing together, inseparable as ever, followed by today where Izzy was invited to go to Marwell Zoo with Aran, on her own!  Poor Abi was devastated that she hadn't also been invited ("Why didn't they invite me Mummy, it's not fair!"), and even Izzy was a bit put out ("Don't they realise we are sisters Mummy?"). So after many tears and suggestions they get u...

Happy 6th birthday Izzy, another year ticked off - finally! You know you are getting older when you have to go to school / work on your birthday, so while we were woken by Izzy singing happy birthday to herself, it was normal routine other than present opening (shared - Izzy still very generous, letting Abi open as many as she does) as soon as everyone was up.  As ever we struggle to think of things to get the girls, but this year we pitched it well with a combination of mini dinosaurs (always a hit with Izzy), Swingball (hasn't lasted the weekend after Glenn had a go and "whacked it really hard Mummy") and Nerf Guns.  As you might imagine it was the Nerf Guns which immediately got taken out and we then had a manic 15 mins before getting dressed of Abi and Izzy shooting us at close range, before Glenn started to get his own back.  The biggest mistake was probably letting Glenn order the upgrades - Nerf machineguns will be arriving tomorrow...

Last day of the Easter holidays, and the last holiday for a while where I will have so much time to spend with the girls. Despite that sadness,we are all looking forward to getting back to the school routine. The girls are missing their friends and teachers and we are missing having the daily structure...and some free time!  The whole holiday has been a bit manic and so this weekend we have tried to calm it down a little with some success. We've had a lovely long weekend, with a great mix of quiet time, parties, bonfires and friends to play. Yesterday was Izzy's 6th birthday party. While I can happily say I was organised enough to get it arranged, invite people and get a caterer sorted, I'm ashamed to say I confused everyone over the timing and put 3pm on the invite and then told everybody who confirmed that it was a 3.30 start. This meant we had a staggered but amusing start, and the party stretched out a bit longer than planned for some.  Izzy ha...

It has been a lovely Spring day today with wall to wall sunshine - perfect for the girls to get outside and make the most of the garden.  We are really beginning to see the house come into it's own as the good weather develops and in particular we can't help but smile as everyone gets used to having so much more outdoor space. The upside of the good weather is both girls getting lots of fresh air. The downside is that in chasing around, climbing over and under everything they are covered in bruises. Tonight as they sat in the bath I couldn't tell whether they were battered or just plain dirty - probably a bit of both! The land of make believe continues to reign and this afternoon the girls were once again Doctors and Nurses in their own surgery (which was located at the bottom of the garden).  Queue lots of walking around with uniforms on, chatting and comparing notes about patients as they went!  It's clear at the moment that the idea of being a doctor is p...

After a long journey back from Taunton (my fault - Friday afternoon in the Easter holidays was never going to be a good time to use the A303...) we are all back together at home again, bliss.  We got back from a great week in Crete on Sunday evening and since then it feels like we haven't stopped.  The girls had a hectic day on Monday and then Mum and Dad turned up on Tuesday to fit some curtains and they all went back to Taunton before I joined them on Wednesday afternoon. This meant Abi, Izzy, Ben and Laurie have had 3 days of uninterrupted playing together which they have absolutely loved, and made the most of.  Add to this the fact that Mum and Dad have an orphaned lamb (Vespa, above) which is very tame and always hungry and they couldn't have asked for a better couple of days.  I think I'll wait a few days to break the joyful news to Mum and Dad that they spent a good part of the journey home asking when they could return! We came...