Simply A Beautiful Life.

Today was a park day. This morning I took the girls to the park for a couple of hours and then this afternoon nannie and I took them and baby cousin Erin to another park to feed the ducks and play some more. It was pure bliss and the girls were in heaven and probably walked further than they have ever walked in their lives. Lily ate Nannie and Grandpa out of house and home tonight she even ate food straight off of Auntie Sally's plate.
Getting to spend so much time with my sister is fantastic. Tomorrow we are going to do a little shoppy together. This evening we ran a quick errand together, just one, just for a minute, and laughed so hard so much. I love her. She is fantastic with the girls and just loves them to bits. Anyhoo on to the pictures.

rosie and Erin feeding the ducks

Nannie and Erin
Lily in a spin
Reaching the top
Rosie on the horse. This is the exact same horse that was there when I was Rosie's age. It is such a dinosaur.

Beautiful wild flowers

Swan sitting on her eggs
Rocket ship


I have no idea how this keeps happening but it is after midnight again so I am going to go to bed.

Something Is Fishy.

Today was the sort of day that Lily dreams of when she spends time with her grandparents. Firstly her Grandpa foolishly told her last night before she went to bed that she could go in with him when she woke up in the morning. I tried to explain to him that that was a really bad idea because she would be up so early but of course he thought it was fine. Fine that is until we stayed up talking until 2.am. talking. Right on cue Miss Lily woke me up at 5.15 am. to ask if she could go and get in with Grandpa. I said no, not yet go back to sleep and by the time she woke up again at 9.45 Grandpa was already awake.

Not one to give up easily she made the same deal with Grandpa for tomorrow and Grandpa and I have vowed to have an earlier night.

When asked what she wanted to do today she immediately said,"go fishing" so of course that is what we did. I love to go down to the river here and it is literally just behind my fathers house and takes a 3 minute walk to get there.

It's a funny thing how the girls always end up in the river with the fish!

Rosie's first fishing lesson from Grandpa with a fishing rod.

Awww, love this one
Awww, this on too.

All ready to get started

I can do this
Ha ha look at me somehow I got wet!

I have no idea what tomorrow holds. Maybe some horseriding. That would be lovely. Whatever we do it will be done at a slower pace in cooler weather and outside in the glorious English countryside.

Rosie was quite cuddly with my father today so he is much happier but he has told everyone who will listen about what happened. I am thankful that he understands and doesn't just think she is obnoxious. Heck she can be obnoxious but this was not an act.

The Good, The Funny and The Ugly!

The kids amazed me this morning by sleeping so late. Rosie went for a marathon 13.5 hours woke up in a weird and sad mood so I took her with me into the bathroom while I showered and she promptly fell fast asleep on the floor. I left her there since she was on a nice thick towel and she slept for another 2 hours and thankfully woke up her usual happy go lucky self again.

Sadly I did indeed photograph her sleeping on the floor cos that is the kind of person I am.

THis was my view as I got out of the shower and went to pick up my towel. (No, I didn't have my camera with me I re-enacted the scene, even I am not that weird)


Once we finally got everyone dressed we headed off on a top secret mission for Grandpa's birthday. More on that next week. He made me laugh cos when we got back he questioned LIly like crazy trying to find out where we had been knowing full well it was Top Secret, but she did not spill the beans. He is a silly man cos if he had asked Rosie she would have told him. On our walk down the street we saw this thatched cottage which really made Lily's head spin especially since it even has a thatched bird on the roof.


Later on the girls were playing and I needed to run an errand so I asked them if they wanted to come with me or stay with Grandpa, Lily wanted to come and rRosie wanted to stay. This errand literally took 3 minutes. By the time we got bak, Rosie was hysterical and Grandpa was sad. Now every single time I leave the room Rosie panics and Daddy's feelings are hurt cos he feels that Rosie doesn't love him and everyone loves him. He knows full well this is not the case but his big heart got in the way. Every chance he gets he tries to re-assure her that he is a wonderful person. One step forward, 2 steps back.

I leave you with this. She was just coming out of the toilet and heading back to the sitting room. Tee hee hee.

URGHHH...I have turned this photo 10 times and it won't show up straight so you will have to tilt your head, sorry.

The Girls Just Love it Here.

We arrived in the UK this morning at 6.30am and the girls have not stopped all day even though they only got a few hours of sleep on the flight over. Lily nearly crushed her Grandpa to death with the bear like hug that she gave him and Rosie was not about to be out done even if she was initially somewhat apprehensive the apprehension didn't last long. It is amazing how they go for months without seeing my family and just pick up where they left off.

Rosie absolutely floored me this afternoon when she came running up to me and asked if she could go shopping with Nannie.....say what??? This is a child that never wants me out of her sight. I of course said yes and off they trotted just the 2 of them. She is so comfortable here.

They spent the day playing with Grandpa in the garden and then Auntie Sally came over for a visit and Nannie bought the girls a little pool to play in and their Uncle Mike and I entertained them. Cousin Heather came by after school and it was just some silly times with cousins and family. Everybody stayed for dinner and then Auntie Sally bathed the girls and I finally put 2 exhausted jet lagged children to sleep.

I only had one mild heart attack and that was when my very capable Father taught my very clumsy child how to use an electric drill. She was his helper. I knew she was in good hands so I just left them alone in his workshop. She was so proud of herself. Lily adores my Daddy....and I understand why. Rosie referred to Nannie as, the big girl and that cracked us both up. She asked me, "mummy where is the big girl who was right here?" It took me a minute to work it out I thought she meant Heather but at that point Heather hadn't arrived.

If days can be defined as perfect, this was perfection with the exception of Jacob's absence.

The girls and Grandpa
Rosie in the pool while Lily and Heather played "big Girl" stuff
Rosie and her big girl, AKA Nannie
Lily

Adopted Daddy.

The very first time we met Hollis and her girls was at a South Florida Asia Group picnic. Our girls gravitated towards one another and at one point in the pool I was playing with Hollis' 2 oldest girls and Lily. They all swam like fish and were so much fun. Trevi was just a tiny little thing and had not been home for very long and she stayed close to her mum. I do remember Jacob taking all 4 of them and pushing them on the swings and I even have photos on the blog somewhere of him doing it. He was running all over the place trying to keep them all going. We adults all chatted briefly but that was it.

Approximately 6 months later we met again at another picnic and the girls went running to greet each other and out of nowhere Trevi yelled, "Daddy, Daddy, my Daddy is here" and a beautiful friendship was born. From that moment Trevi has considered Jacob to be her Daddy. Lily is not her sister, I am Dawn, (although at first I believe I may have been invisible but now I am very much in her heart) and since Rosie came along later she is her baby sister Rosie. None of us know why Trevi adopted Jacob to be her Daddy and none of us object. Lily understands and Rosie has always none things to be this way. All of her siblings know the truth yet they all accept that Trevi has chosen Jacob to be her Daddy. She started joining the older girls on sleepovers here just so that she could be with Jacob and he would try very hard to do something just with her even if it was only a trip to get gas in his car. Sometimes when I am talking to Hollis on the phone a little voice will say in the background, "is that Dawn, is my Dad at work?" Whenever we go there or she comes here or we meet somewhere Trevi bounds up to him squealing, Daddy Daddy and jumps right in his arms.

As with most pre-schools Trevi's class made a Fathers Day card and present and the teacher asked Hollis if she wanted Trevi to make one for her Grandma but Hollis said, No, she can make one for her Dad. Apparently the teacher was surprised since she also taught Hollis' older girls and knows they don't have a Father. ~snort. It's always fun to have the upper hand.

Trevi nearly burst with pride when presented Jacob with his Fathers Day gift a couple of weeks ago and Jacob couldn't have been a prouder Daddy.

Trevi and her Dad and the tie she made for him

All comfy watching T.V.
Trevis Fathers Day card.

Hollis, Jacob and I joke privately about me being the other woman and sometimes when we are all out together things become very confusing for other people when we explain that Lily and Rosie belong to Jacob and I and that Joie, Anlei and Trevi belong to Hollis and Trevi will suddenly pipe up and call Jacob her Daddy just as we have explained who belongs to who. Hey, let them work it out we don't have any questions at all.

If not for this amazing little girl and her great taste in dad's we would not have the new family that we now have and life without Hollis, Grace, Joie, Anlei and Trevi is unconscionable .

One day she will realise that she adopted him and not the other way around and honestly I think that will make Jacob really sad. Maybe it won't make any difference to either one of them and it certainly won't make an iota of difference to the friendship between our 2 families.

Anyone can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a Daddy.

So Many Laughs.

We are home from our quick jaunt to Orlando and we had a really great time. We laughed so much but without a shadow of a doubt the funniest thing of all was in the car yesterday as we were driving home and both kiddies were sleeping soundly when suddenly Lily starts talking and furiously gesturing with her hands and blabbering on and on. After a few moments she just put her head back to the side and carried on sleeping peacefully but it was hilarious. She was giving directions to someone and was rather adamant about how things needed to be done. I nearly drove off of the road.

We have annual passes to Sea World so that is where we went. Both the girls have plenty to do there and it is a great place to see things that ordinarily you don't find just wandering through a theme park. I think we still have things to find and do and this is our 3rd trip since buying the passes. Lily is tall enough now to ride some of the more adult rides which she is thrilled about however Rosie is quite disgruntled that she cannot join her. We spend the day alternating kids on rides but it all works out.

Ice cream was a must as it was so very hot and what with the location of Orlando there are no sea breezes at all, whatsoever, to help cool things down even a tiny little bit. I kept slathering on the sunscreen and was amazed at the end of the day to see that none of us had even a tiny bit of sunburn. That was no easy feat. We spent every afternoon in the pool just trying to cool off. Even though many of the rides get you all wet it is not the same as being submerged.

Saturday was my birthday and Jacob and girls surprised me with some new beads for my bracelet and a new chain. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous, they really did a great job choosing ones I would love. Jacob was also pretty darned sneaky cos I packed the cases for all of us and at no point did I see him sneak anything in to them. We went to the Cheesec*ke Factory for dinner as per Lily's request because it reminded her of he 3D's and the last time we were up there.

We kept the girls out way to late every night and they slept late every morning. They were as happy as happy can be the whole time we were gone and we not at all impressed at the idea of coming home. Once I pointed out we were only going to be home for a week and then we are heading to Nannie and Grandpas house they cheered up. Me too :0)

Here is the photo edition of our weekend, in no particular order.


Floating in the cool water of the pool. Not really very cool but better than the sidewalk at Sea Worl*d
Getting ready to dive into the water.

Sea Lions and Herons

Big bird!

Journey to Altlant1s is Lily's favourite ride. She would go on it over and over again if we let her.


This was taken at Downtown D1sney one evening. Rosie loves the train but Lily not so much. She just goes on it to make RoRo smile.
my birthday







Are they not the sweetest little things ever?
Ice cream. You can only imagine how messy she was after just a few minutes.

Hot but having fun with Daddy.



And finally I leave you with this:


You have to have a serious ego when you can park your car in the area designated for shopping trolleys. Does this arsehat really believe that in the middle of a huge parking lot there is an area protected by steel just for his car? It isn't even a fancy car...give me a break you moron.

A Tradition Continues

For the past 2 years the day after school has got out we have got out of dodge, so to speak and we decided that this year should be no different and in fact have decided that it will become a tradition of ours. We are in Orlando, we left yesterday. The plan was to be on the road bright and early in the morning but in true Cope Family style we pulled out of the driveway at 3pm....how very lame are we?

We spent a wonderful day at Sea Worl*d and then had a late afternoon swim in the hotel pool since Rosie decided a nap was not in the cards for her today. After a quick dinner we headed to Downtown Disne*y for an evening of fun. Oddly enough both girls are snorrrrring as I write this.

Since this is hubbies vacation time and he won't be heading to the UK with us for 3 weeks we needed to have some kind of family fun together......and we are definitely doing that.

I have lots of piccies of the fun but failed to bring any wires for the cameras so you will have to wait until we get home.

Spirit Week **

I know for a fact that we never had such a thing at my school but Jacob did and now Lily does so perhaps it is an American thing. It is Spirit Week. Each day this week has a different them and they get to dress the part. Today was Tacky Tuesday/mismatch day. I personally prefer the name, Freak Day!
Lily came out of her closet with such a peculiar concoction of clothing this morning that I would say she nailed it! I tried to persuade her to wear different shoes but she would have no part of that! (what, someone would notice they looked odd whilst she was wearing this other fashion disaster of an outfit.)

I give you.......one freakishly dressed child!

Mum, don't take a close up.....I always close my eyes because of the flash. See I told you that would happen.

Is this better Mummy?
The whole enchilada. (Looks more like she threw up an enchilada!)

All the way down to her tippy toes she was utterly mis-matched.


Participating in Spirit week is optional. Of course Lily opts too. When we arrived at school this morning it looked as if she was the only kid that chosen to do it so she got embarrassed and didn't want to get out of the car. I waited for a few minutes just in case and we finally saw some other kids dressed up. Actually it appeared they had just chosen to wear their favourite clothes to school for the day. Lily plucked up some courage and scurried out of the car with her head down. I told her if she felt really uncomfortable to fake a tummy ache and call me from the nurses office and I would take her uniform in. She looked appalled at the idea of faking something like that. I was just trying to help! ( yet another golden mummy moment LOL)

** She came home sporting a cool new pair of shades that she won for being the best dressed mis-match in 2nd grade.

Happy 8th Birthday Lilipop.

Wow, that was a lot of fun and to prove it I have photos!
Lily didn't want a party, she did want a sleepover and she is getting one just as soon as school is over and done with and once we are back from a quick birthday trip that we are taking to Orlando and the Treasure Coast.
Today she awoke bright and early, as if that is something new and we bebopped downstairs and Rosie could barely wait to give her a card that she had written all by herself. Lily was so happy with it and even more excited with a huge bag that Rosie gave her that was filled and I mean filled with Silly Band*s. Rosie kept telling her, "Happy Birfday" Lily" until Lily told her she could actually stop. Slowly but surely Lily opened her gifts and answered phone calls until we finally asked her if she had received anything from us. She said that she had received a card and love. We than asked if she had opened a gift from us and she looked perplexed. We told her that we always buy her a gift and hadn't she said she wanted something in particular. After all this prompting she said she had asked for a new bike. We asked her to find it and that we would give her hints. Man this was fun cos it was up the street at a friends house...ha ha ha!
She wondered around the house with us telling her she was either warm, hot or cold depending on her location. Finally she got to the front door and we screamed, HOT. She ran outside and ran to the bike shed but all she saw was her old bike. She ran to our cars and so on and so on until finally she started to walk up the side walk and figured it out. (BTW do you have any idea how hard it is to find a girls bike in blue? No you don't? Well I am here to tell you it is flipping hard! She wanted a blue bike and we were not going to stop until we found it for her but Jacob was getting quite tired of the shopping...I will leave it at that.)

Lily and her bike.



It's not Lily's fault that her birthday falls in the summer or that the temperature today was 93 degrees with a feels like temp of 112 (according to accuWeather.com) or that I have had a migraine now for 6 days so her and I went out for a ride ( so help me G0d I thought I was gonna die). Thankfully after about 20 minutes it started to thunder so we had to race home. She loves her new bike and can really go fast on it. So now I have a biking buddy, so long as Rosie isn't with us on her organ grinders monkey's bike. After lots of fluids and a quick shower it was off to Jakie's house to meet her new puppy and celebrate with her for a while.





We left Jakie's and took Lily to Samurai for dinner. She chose the restaurant and we thought it was a great choice. It is owned by Benihan*a so we knew she would love it and we also knew she would love it more when she saw her BFF's there. Hollis and the girls were meeting us there. As Hollis put it, we are family and we have to celebrate our kids birthdays together. Lily did a double take when she saw them, it was great. Since we were 9 we had the whole table to ourselves and our chef was really great he truly entertained the kidlets, us too for that matter. The girls were mesmerized and laughed and giggled on cue at all of his tricks. I have never been a big fan of Benihan*a I think all the food tastes the same but samurai was fabulous and we were all really happy with it.

BFF.

Onion Volcano
Flipping a shrimp into his hat. He flipped 'em all over the place.
Hmmmm.


Birthdays are not complete without cake and ice cream so we came back here and let them eat cake. Lily made her cake this year with minimal help from me. It turned out really well and she loved it.


Happy, wonderful, fun loving girls.



Lily had a great day but I think that is quite obvious from her smile. Thank you to everyone that made it so special, she really felt the love.
Happy birthday Lilipop.

Eight.

Tomorrow Lily will turn 8. It seems awfully big to me. It means she will enter 3rd grade when she returns to school in the fall. It means that even more of her baby teeth will fall out of her cute little mouth. It means that she will grow even more independent. It means that she will lose just a little bit more of her innocence, yet not too much as she is only 8. It means lots more questions from her that will result in her having fits of giggles as she finds out what "that" word really means.

It means she is growing up and as much as I find that so very very hard I just love this little girl so much and love to see the person she is becoming.

She keeps telling us that she wants to move and I really hope that this year will be the year it happens. I would like nothing more than for her to get into a different school district and be closer to her friends. She is becoming such an accomplished rider that she knocks my socks off with her talents. She can be bossy with Rosie but for the most part she is very protective and sweet. When we are out she naturally plays the role of protector to her. She loves to read and reads way beyond her grade level. I swear if she could figure out how to read in her sleep she would. Suddenly her art has taken on a mind of it's own and she can draw everything and anything. She was asked to join the school art team and loved every minute of it.

It is a rare moment to find Lily with a sad face. She is smiley 90% of the time and this has been the case since she was very young.

You cannot pull the wool over her eyes for anything. This kid needs the truth and the facts. So long as things are told to her in an age appropriate manner she can handle anything but if you try and sugarcoat something for her you had better watch out. She knows exactly what she wants and nothing will change her mind. She has many perfectionist qualities and they can drive an onlooker insane.

Most of all she is an all round kind sweet person with a heart of gold. She doesn't "get" mean people and can't figure out why anyone does anything unkind. (hope she stays this way) If someone is sad she is usually the first on the scene.

Lily you are amazing and we love you so very much. I hope that being 8 is everything you dreamed it would be and more.
I love you with all my heart and then some.
Mummy.
xoxoxoxox.