Ahhh, gay Pahreee!

I put "Paris" into Google tonight and this was the #1 image returned, so I'll use it to represent the wonderful city. Olga is off there tomorrow morning on the first Eurostar of the day to meet a friend of hers from Lesnoy. She's coming back on the last train on Wednesday, so it's only a quick trip, but Olga's very excited about it. Their hotel is close to the Tour Montparnasse, so they'll be going up there to the observation deck, apparently it's better than that fake Blackpool Tower they have. Tonight we've spent 20 minutes going over some essential phrases she might need, such as "I don't speak French", "I'm married", "Leave me alone", "A bottle of house red, please" and "Please stop trying to surrender, I'm not invading".  I've tried getting across to her that now she's British, she should understand that "we hate the French, we fight wars against them. Did all those men die in vain on the fields of Agincourt? Was the man who burnt Joan of Arc simply wasting good matches?" but she still wants to go.
So, we're leaving at 4am to drive to St Pancreas (sic) for her 5.25 train. Bon chance et bon voyage!

A Riverside Walk

On Sunday we decided that no matter what, we would go for a long walk with the boys, we've hardly done this at all since Luda was here, and it seemed time to correct that. We parked up at Bourne End station and walked along the Thames Path to Cookham and then onto Maidenhead. Lara walked (well, trotted) the first mile to Cookham, where the path is through open fields along the riverside where we could keep a close eye on her, and she loved it, always trying to catch whomever (whoever?) was out in front. At Cookham we stopped for a picnic and took some photos, then Lara was happy to climb in the backpack carrier and we walked the next 4.5 miles along the Thames path to Maidenhead, and on to the railway station there. Lara napped for 30 minutes en route, but was really happy to be on the train, whilst the boys were just glad of a lie down. We took a quick detour once back in Bourne End to the Bounty pub, which is right on the river, for a quick refresher before going home for tea. The outing took five and a half hours and everyone really enjoyed it. It made a nice change to do a flat walk, as most of the longer walks near home involve hills. And Lara's not getting any lighter when she's in that carrier! She did make us laugh when we first set off from Bourne End car park, she was in the carrier for the first 5 minutes as it was raining lightly, and we had her waterproof cover over the carrier - she was pretending that she was in her domik and she was looking out of the windows. As soon as we crossed the river the rain stopped and the sun came out and the weather was lovely. Must be a Berkshire (South of the river) thing!
It's a real shame we can't let the boys off the lead on a walk like that, we saw so many other walkers with their dogs off-lead, but it's really not worth the hassle of trying to prevent them from running off and playing with every dog that comes along (or worse if it's a pretty lady-dog!). Mishka on his own might be OK, but Jackson is just too hyper and once he starts with other dogs, it just sets Mishka off too. Oh well, one day, when they're much older, we might be able to let them off....

My Birthday Party

Last week was very busy at work, and I didn't get chance to look at the photos from my party last Saturday. It was a great day, the sun shone most of the time, it certainly didn't rain, and I got our new barbeque assembled in the nick of time. Lara, Eve and Tess seemed to have a great time playing, and I don't recall there being any tantrums either. Lara stayed up long enough to wave off those of us who went down into High Wycombe at 9.30, but this didn't stop her from waking up at her normal 7.30ish the next day :-(

Here are the pick of our photos....

LGCC v MCC 25th July 2010

Sunday was the big day as far as the Littlewick Green Cricket Club Bicentenary celebrations went, a match against the MCC. The standard of players the MCC use is a good deal higher than anything we're used to playing, especially in the 2nd XI, and it was a pleasure to see their batsmen show how a cricket ball should be hit! They scored 278-6 before declaring, although everyone's performance dropped a little after a heavy 2-course lunch including wine! If only it was like that every weekend... We scored 197-8 in reply, so we didn't lose, although clearly the MCC did take their foot off the pedal a little, but their "part-time" bowlers were still better than anyone I'll face at 2nd XI village level. I did hit 14 runs, including 3 fours, all of which were proper shots, so I'm happy with that, and Olga managed to get a couple of action photos, although the one I've published is of a more defensive variety. You can almost read the maker's name on the bat!

Happy Anniversary Us

It's our busy party week this week, with it being my birthday on Tuesday and our fourth wedding anniversary today. We're off out for a meal as soon as Lara has settled down - it's Spanish tonight, given their World Cup success.

Lara has been spending some time today in the next class up at nursery, she'll be moving up properly in September, about the time that she'll go back to nursery 5 days a week once Luda has gone home.  She was quiet to start with, but after five minutes she settled right in, and once the dancing starting, they couldn't stop her, she was bustin' some moves and cuttin' some shapes, I believe the terms are.  Potty training is still going well, with more days of her having no accidents than days with them. She even asked one of the nursery helpers for a book to read today during one potty trip. Can't think who taught her that one!?! ;-)
Well, she's quiet now, so time to go and put my posh dinner clothes on.