Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Woo hoo, Glenn is home and we can all get back to normal! This week has been fun but full, with every morning starting at 5:15am to walk the dogs before getting the kids up, watering the new turf, feeding everyone, getting them to school, keeping an eye on the workmen, doing a full days work, walking the dogs again, pick up, riding / school play / play dates / gym, more work and then collapse into bed to do it again the following day. To add to the general mayhem it has been super hot - plus 30 degrees for days in a row and so we've been melting and not sleeping well - perfect! By the end of the week my step counter said I'd done over 190,000 steps and walked 91 miles. Glenn did just as much with his mega ride from Ventoux to the coast, climbing 9000m in 5 days, also in very hot weather. We're all glad to be together again.   The workmen in question have been driving me mad. They are supposedly now able to get on with what they are here to do but it seems that ever...

Happy fathers day... or it would be if Glenn wasn't in France about to do another epic bike ride while I'm here - sad faces on our part.  So while he's away we have had a whirlwind weekend of riding, concerts, friends and sunshine and goodness me its been hot! The weather for the last couple of weeks has been good and this weekend has been no exception. The temperature today has been plus 30 and we got to a certain point and gave up, dragging the chairs into the shade and collapsing in a heap trying not to touch each other. We hadn't helped ourselves by walking the dogs before it cooled down but needs must. So the big event of the weekend was seeing Rick Astley at Westonbirt. This had been their choice and I jumped at the chance - while he wasn't my cup of tea the first time around I've really enjoyed his new album and he didn't disappoint. we had planned to meet a friend there but I managed to lose my phone and so we had already written that off as a ...

So this is the post I meant to write last weekend and then for various reasons I didn't manage to. Given I still want to write this week I decided that at the very least I would add the photo and say something... So - end of exam week, both girls knackered but Abi still had Emma and Eloise to stay which initially ran the risk of Izzy being excluded but very quickly they all sorted themselves out and had a lovely evening. As did we incidentally as their parents came over for tea and we sat in the summer warmth making the most of good company, great food and wine and happy kids. Quick update on Abi's results - she did brilliantly! Her English teacher pulled me to one side in school and said how pleased he was with her comprehension - she came top in her class! For a child that used to struggle with her writing, hated checking her work and found reading fiction really hard she's come so far and we are chuffed to bits. She also did well in all her other exams - a real ...

Half term is almost over and we are now into the inevitable final panic before back to school - in our case a mix of running round town trying to find an acceptable pair of school shoes for Abi (not easy as she's a 3.5H of which there are 2 pairs to choose from in the whole of Newbury), and getting some revision in for mock 11+ exams which start on Tuesday. She doesn't officially sit her 11+ until next year, but they have started to get them up to the concept and technique of exams already and so I'm currently sitting with her in the kitchen while she completes the mock science paper I've just written. Having not seen a real paper I have no idea whether the style is remotely realistic, but at least I'm testing the content! It probably comes as no surprise that it takes a lot of procrastination before she actually gets down to any revision, but hopefully the mocks will help to cement the idea of it's only her in the exam room and so if nothing else some revisio...

This generation is very much the selfie generation, and having seen the results of even the most casual of photos, I don't blame them. I hope they take hundreds of photos and realise that they have the beauty of youth shining through right now - certainly it will disappear by the time they get to my age! Watching Abi at the rugby yesterday taking photos on her IPod touch, England vs Barbarians, 2nd half a bit dull and livened only by a lengthy Mexican wave, it really did strike me that age creeps up without you really noticing it. She took the same photo of her and then me and her face was flawless and mine was, well, mine was not. I have the lumps and bumps of age... and of experience I guess... but it is a bit galling to make a direct compare and contrast! I'm not that bothered by appearance (hence no make up as always outside of work), but it does make me think again about what motivates me in life. I'm sure much of this is time of year (rolling up to year end at...

Phew, what whirlwind of 5 days - where to start?!? So, first off, after a very very long day we had 2 weepy children on our hands, neither of whom could make up their minds whether they needed to sleep, eat or just cry. We ended up with a combination of all 3. They were absolutely brilliant on the flight over - polite and quiet and well behaved throughout - they did us proud. This has been a sign of things to come as it's how they've been throughout the time we've been here. We have eaten and hiked our way around the city over the holiday with hardly a complaint. Izzy, normally the Princess of Lazy Legs, has bounced around the city holding hands with someone at all times, happy and smiling regardless of the fact we must have done 10 miles plus every day. So, highlights - too many to remember... For Glenn it's been the bike ride itself. Despite an early start - he and Simon set off before 5am on Sunday morning to ride the GW bridge (this time legally unlike their r...

Only 3 more sleeps till New York - woo hoo! Not sure any of us will have our minds on the job at hand over the next few days, although its fair to say that I'm probably the most excited out of all of us. The weather forecast looks fabulous, the plans are set, we've had contact from the company who we've booked accommodation with (Glenn's biggest fear is that we have booked through a sham company and we'll be on the streets) - surely anything else can be dealt with? In the spirit of summer being almost around the corner we have made the most of the weather here as well this weekend and on Sat night it was on with the fire pit and out with the marshmallows. The kids are now experts at marshmallow toasting and can get 4 or 5 'peels' out of one marshmallow before they're done. I can't stand them myself so opted for a glass of wine instead. It was warm and light enough to sit outside and read until gone 8pm which is brilliant. I'm determined this ...