Just My Thoughts.

Yesterday morning when the girls woke up they were filled with excitement, almost bursting in fact because it was sleepover day. At lunchtime I drove them to Hollis' house where we were met by 3 more exuberant girls. We all spent the day swimming in the pool and having lots of fun and then at 8.30 Rosie and I said our good byes and headed home. Lily gave me a big hug and kiss and then went back to playing with barely a glance over her shoulder. Rosie had been saying that she wanted to sleep over also but I knew these were empty words even though Rosie feels more comfortable with Hollis than with anyone else. Once I told her we were leaving she didn't argue.

I put a very, very sleepy Rosie to bed and continued with my evening. I love sleepovers when they take place here but not so much the other way around. If I had to choose the perfect person to take care of Lily it would be Hollis. I know she is safe and from the bottom of my heart I can tell you that I do not worry about her when she is there, in fact I thank my lucky stars that I have Hollis in my life and that we all get along so well because she is such an amazing Mother and we share the same views and feelings about so many things, especially our girls.

BUT, I miss Lily, I think about her all the time. I find myself wondering what games she is playing, whether she went to bed yet etc., etc. It is ridiculous how much I miss her. I don't think that she might be missing us because I know better, LOL. This is a 2 nighter ! That means I won't see Lily until tomorrow lunchtime when I pick her up. Not sure how I am going to survive, I think I have withdrawal of that face, that happy go lucky personality, that gappy smile, that shiny black hair, that loud and oh so clumsy little girl, the way she wakes up in the morning and crawls out of bed with Bunny attached firmly to her side, even though she is 8 now and believe it or not I miss the incessant chatter from her.

Thank goodness Rosie didn't stay too. She did tell me that she is going to next time, but I will believe it when it happens. It would be such a huge step for her and in some ways I would love for her to do it but in my heart I know I would hate it. She is only 3 and she is MY baby.

Ugh, sleepovers!

Friends, Fun and A Waterpark.

Why haven't I been blogging? Well frankly it is simple, we were on vacation, AGAIN. Some of our friends from Massachusetts came down to Orlando and we headed up to see them. Jacob and Robbie have been friends for ever and I met him and Gloria just a couple of days before their wedding when we travelled to MA for the big event. They just celebrated their 20th anniversary last month......like I said Jacob and Robbie go way back.

You know how you have certain friends and you just love to spend time with them well that is how it is with the "C's". Their kids are lots bigger than ours but they are the sweetest kids one could meet. Not sure that a 17 yr old boy wants to be called sweet but to, bad big guy cos you are! Lily and Rosie didn't leave either of them alone for one second unless I told them to give them a break.

We spent our day on Friday at Sea World and the girls did their favourite things.......

We met Grover, he is my favourite

and Zoe too.
we watched the Shamu show, which isn't what it was ever since Shamu killed his trainer a few months back.
The girls fed the Sea lions, and smelled of fish for the rest of the day.

In the evening we met up with the "C's" for dinner and went back to Sea W0rld for the night time shows.

Olivia and Lily

What a motley looking crew

Saturday we were under strict instructions from Rob to get really early so that we could get to Aquatica when they opened so that we could ensure we had an umbrella to sit under. Yes Sir! Guess who got a woken up when Jacob called to say we were on our way. We did get there early and lord knows how they managed it but the "C's" beat us to the park.

To be honest I was not looking forward to Orlando in the middle of the summer, the crowds, the heat, the lines for the rides but due to tropical storm Bonnie the weather was great and I have no idea why the parks were deserted. They did get busier as the day progressed but they were nothing close to capacity so we were very pleasantly surprised.

Happy little girl who was thrilled to have slides just for her. Not even Lily could ride them cos she was to big.

Livie. When I took this picture I told her it was great, her response, Nah, my hair! Teenagers...snort.
Another happy water baby
Gloria and Dom.
"Old" friends!

It wasn't long before the old guy needed a nap......my girls are tiring.

Rosie thought Rob's nap idea was a great plan and within seconds of getting in the car, whilst eating D0ritos. she fell fast asleep with a big smile on the face.

No trip to Orlando is complete without a trip to Downtown Disney and an ice cream

This is what I mean about Dominic being so sweet! He held Lily's hand as we maneuvered the late night crowds, so that she would not get lost. Lily just grabbed hold and he carried on. I lurve this dude.
He is gonna kill me for these for photos.
Motorcycle Mama's


Rob, Gloria, Livie and Dommy. Thank you so much for a simply fabulous time. I wish you lived here. Ask the oil tycoon to set the GPS in his truck to South and move down. LOL
Can't wait to see you again and if you are serious, we will come up for a weekend in the winter to see the snow.
xoxoxoxoxo from all of us.

If anyone is contemplating Aquatica but isn't sure if it is a good place for little ones, run don't walk and make your reservations. This park has something for everyone and we loved it. So much so we bought season tickets.

Back In The Saddle

A certain little girl was so happy to be back in the saddle on her favourite horse and took full advantage of being at the farm. I am losing count of all the foals that have been born in the past 3 weeks and now there are puppies too. The miniature horse just had a foal and it is the size of a large stuffed toy and Gema actually let Lily carry him. I realised on Thursday that Lily doesn't get to see some of wonderful things that Rosie and I see when she is there as she is always riding so yesterday we went over just to walk around and see all the babies and fun stuff.

The Mama and baby

this is Gema, Lily's instructor, she absolutely hates being photographed but missed me taking this one.
Here she caught me with the camera so she asked Lily to hide her.

Lily and the miniature foal.

He is sooooo soft and really rather adorable.
Rosie hugging the horse, well trying to she couldn't reach over the pummel
Uh genius, I think you've got something a little cock-eyed.
Silly goose

Way to close for my comfort!

Just look at those grins
Lily and Lindsey........double trouble
I just don't get it, her love for these enormous animals and her comfort level around them.The girls and the puppies

Silliness.

Here are some of the videos that I took whilst in England. There are loads more on the Flip but they haven't been dumped yet.

Lily, the human hamster.

Oh, I am an evil Mother.

I love how in this video Lily takes Rosie by the hand to help her up the stairs

We are at Legoland here and Rosie is taking her driving test, she took it all so seriously

Heehaw...Jacob on a horse. Disclaimer: I failed to edit this video before I downloaded it and at the 40 second mark Katie panicked and I went running to her rescue and thought I had turned off the camera....i hadn't!

Since we returned home life has been a whirlwind. We have been running around like mad people, getting caught up, cleaning out closets again, buying her ridiculously long list of mandatory school supplies and working through some of Lily's homework assignments. I am still miffed about homework being assigned over the summer. She has a lot of riding lessons to make up so we are spending many hours at the farm in the oppressive heat and then trying to cool off in the pool. I have a few more self imposed projects to finish and they should be completed today and then life will hopefully return to a slower, more fun pace. If you are wondering why I haven't blogged, that is why.

Home.

Yesterday started really early for all of us, I was up at 4am, without an alarm clock, that was set for 4.45am and considering I was still awake at 2.30am I think that is amazing/disgusting. At 5am Lily popped out of bed and within 45 minutes we were all downstairs saying our "see you soon's" and loading Auntie Ann's car and heading for Heathrow Airport. Ann took us back to the airport since my Father doesn't know where he is going once he leaves Heathrow and has been known to get lost. (We gave him a GPS system for his birthday perhaps that will help!)

The motorway was free and clear at that time of a day on a Sunday so we were in the check-in line by 7.15. After heading through security we went and had some breakfast at our favourite cafe and and then we shopped for a few things for the girls to do on the plane. We have a tradition at the airport and we always do the same thing in the same order. Soon after that it was time to head to our gate and keep our fingers crossed that we would all be able to get on. Success! Jacob and Lily were listed for First Class and Rosie and I were listed for Coach as Rosie is not old enough to fly in First or Business yet. To Lily's utter dismay there were no eats left in First so they had to sit with us in Cattle Car! The flight was long and pretty bouncy but we didn't mind and the girls were great. Rosie napped immediately we were up in the air and stayed asleep for 2+ hours and then they both slept in the afternoon and Lily was still asleep when we landed.

We arrived home to a stocked fridge, thanks to CF who was house watching for us and after a quick and easy dinner that nobody wanted to eat until it was in front of them, we all started fading fast. The girls were asleep by 815 without a peep and I followed a few minutes later. Of course that meant I was up at 5am today....never mind.

Thank you to Jeanne and Daddy from the bottom of our hearts. We had such a wonderful time and are missing you terribly. Rosie keeps asking where is Grandpa and Lily keeps chanting, I miss Nannie and Grandpa. If the school calender allows we will shoot back over for a long weekend later this year.

Last but by know means least, Happy Birthday, today, to the worlds best brother. Love you lots.

Waitng for a plane.

Ready for Take Off
Seat belt on and ready to go.
We had the best crew this time and had lots of fun.
I have tonnes of videos from the trip that I didn't upload when we were away as I tired one time and a one minute video took 13 minutes to upload so I will do a video post really soon and get them all caught up.

The Time Has Come :-(

This is it for us, our bags are packed and bulging and groaning but not as much as we will be at 4.00am when we have to get up. The last couple of days have been such fun and the girls are even more adamant that we are NOT leaving.

Yesterday we went fishing with the girls and Grandpa, a highlight for Lily as she loves to fish with grandpa. We took a picnic and ate lunch outside in a beautiful setting with the sun shining down.

The lupins and the girls

Rosie looks like she is in this net but she is only holding
Lily helping Grandpa get ready to release the fish. (he never keeps them,,,,EVER)
Rosie and Grandpa's hands on the fishing line.

Rosie's first official fishing lesson

Grandpa giving sage advice
The advice paid off....look what she, they, caught
Picnic time

Chilling by the pond


Today we went swimming and then since I realised we were just minutes away from one of my favourite shopping haunts i managed to squeeze in a bit more shoppy. This could be one of the reasons why our luggage is groaning and if you promise not to tell I will tell you a little secret, Jacob arrived with a huge suitcase with an empty one packed inside it. We officially have more luggage then we did in China.

All good things must come to an end and this is the end for us but we will be back again as soon as the school calendar allows.

See you on the flip side.

The Old Banger

My Uncle Brian has a vintage car, as far back as I can remember the "Old Banger" has been around. She is a 1931 Singer and is beautiful. It was always a treat to go somewhere in the "Old Banger" because it was so much fun. She has to be hand cranked to get going and putt putts along with a top speed of about 30MPH., she has one tiny weeny windscreen wiper that you have to move back and forth with a little lever but the interior is all luxury, at least I am sure in 1931 it was pure luxury with it's gorgeous leather seats and lush red carpets, she even has a sunroof.

Yesterday Brian and Ann took us all out for a ride. Ann followed behind in her car as we couldn't possibly all fit. Jacob rode shotgun and the girls and I sat in the back. Rosie thought it was a ride at the fair and asked if she should be scared. LOL Lily loved every second particularly as the car has no seat belts and she was sitting like a big girl with no carseat either.

We drove to the Robin Hood and all had our dinner outside in the garden. It was such a lovely time as we see so little of my family and to have them all to ourselves was a real treat.

Driving home the decision was made for Lily to ride shotgun. (now before you get all huffy and puffy about it you need to know we live in the country and we didn't see another car but we did get stuck behind a tractor for a few minutes.) Lily was firing questions about this button and that button, this gauge and that gauge, and Brian answered them all.......Gawd love him.

Thank you ever so much, we really had a lovely time and being back in the Singer really bought back memories. Such a pity Andie is in Afghanistan as we really miss her.....sigh.

He fits, just.

Rosie looking apprehensive, waiting for the ride to start.
Her ladyship, in the front.
This just makes me giggle
Isn't she lovely?

Close quarters for 2 big guys.