A mixed weekend

Good Evening from Seattle!

I hope that you have enjoyed your weekend so far and that you are able to enjoy a pleasant Bank Holiday Monday tomorrow! We have had a mixed weekend! Yesterday was a wash out as both Naomi and Tim were unwell, but both were well enough today to do our planned activities which was good! Yesterday we were not able to do anything!

Naomi has a Urinary Tract Infection and is on antibiotics. On Friday night she woke up several times and was crying when she went to the toilet. When she woke up on Saturday morning, she had a slight temperature and was complaining of tummy ache as well as needing to go to the toilet regularly. By 7:30 she and I were at the local ER and we were out again having been diagnosed and given a prescription by 8:15! I was impressed!! It took almost as long for the pharmacist to dispense the medicine but we were still home by 9:00 am.

Unfortunately when we got home, although Tim and Esther were up, Tim was feeling very lethargic and washed out and went back to bed soon after! However he picked up as the day went on and was fine today! Naomi is much better in herself now, which is good and is going to be on the antibiotics for a week! She doesn’t like the taste much but is taking the medicine well! She was a little nervous about going to the toilet today but has not had any problems! Yesterday I made her drink and drink, which I think helped too!

So our day of going to the park to see the sheep shearing and going to look at outdoor toys never happened! Still, we are on the mend now! It will have to wait until next week!

Today we were able to go to church this morning and then met some friends in the park in the afternoon! We had a lovely time in the park – although the playground was old, there was a great tree for hiding in and a lovely open running space, which all the children enjoyed! We were there a couple of hours and Naomi was very sad when we had to go! IT was good fun!

On Friday we went to see our Russians but only found one of them in as the other has started a job! I met this lady’s mother who is looking after the children and we were not able to communicate so I am not quite sure what is going on there! We were at home on Friday afternoon, whilst I did some housework; the children played in the garden!

On Thursday, Naomi had school and Esther had Gym class! In the afternoon I had a gynecological appointment which we followed by a trip to the park! It was a beautiful afternoon and we enjoyed ourselves very much!

The girls have been making me laugh! At bath time, Esther and Naomi have a plastic, hard baby each that they can play with in the bath; each night, they tenderly bath the babies, feed them and then put them to bed! The bed is the side of the bath, they use 2 fish coasters as pillows and their flannels are the baby’s covers! These babies are kissed and gently put to bed and then the shower curtains are drawn around the babies to enable them to sleep! The babies are very good children and usually sleep until the ritual starts over again on the next night!


Tonight, both the girls were pulling scary faces in the mirror, which was very funny, especially when Tim joined in! They think this is very funny at the minute and spend a good few minutes doing this!

Esther this morning was looking at my T-shirt and could see a shark. After looking at the shark and saying shark for a few minutes, she started to say ‘names Bruce” in a marvelous Australian accent just like in the film, Finding Nemo! It was very funny and I was laughing! I was also very cross with Tim because he was asleep and not joining in with this!!!

The girls have a truly awful book of princess songs that they like us to sing to them! This book is a great leveler and enables all good and bad singers to sound the same – awful! I have tried to get out of singing it to Esther at bedtime but failed yesterday! After singing this book with many giggles, Naomi comes in and says to me “you sing it worse than Daddy, Mummy” Charming!!! She is right though!

I am falling asleep ands so I am going to end it here! Love to you all! Hope that you are all well!

Funny sayings!

Hi there!

We have been enjoying some beautiful weather the last few days here, although it was cloudy and cool today. Monday and Tuesday were very warm and sunny and we spent some time in the park both days, which was lovely. We were very sad to say Good bye to Tim’s parents on Monday afternoon, especially because it is going to be quite a long time now before we see them again. Still, we have had a great few weeks with them and have done some exciting things – like going to see the beautiful ballet!

Unfortunately, Naomi has had an allergic reaction to something in the park; we were sitting on the grass for a while and Naomi was lying down at one point. Both her arms and the back of her neck have come out in an itchy rash. We bought some Calamine Lotion on Monday afternoon and I have been putting that on in the morning and after her bath. It isn’t too bad now but still there. I’ve been giving her some Benedryl at bedtime which has meant that she has not been scratching over night at least. She has been fine in herself, once the itching has stopped.

Yesterday we had our crazy day! Naomi went to school in the morning; Esther and I went to Music class, which was fun! The children were able to play with the instruments this week and Esther loved the blocks and the chimes – anything she can bang loudly really!! She is looking forward to playing the big drum next week as we ran out of time for her to do this!

After we collected Naomi we came back home for a quick lunch and then were back out again to take Naomi to her tap / ballet / Gym lesson, which she loved! We watched her for a few minutes and she was trying hard and joining in well; we saw her at the end of the dance session too and they were jumping over spots! She had had a good time and had loved wearing her new tap shoes!

After a short rest and together time, we went to the park with Fritzi and Caitlyn. Fritzi and her family are going to Germany tomorrow for a few weeks and so we won’t see them again for a while. Both the girls are quite sad at this, but were cheered up when I told them that Maddie is coming home on Sunday!

We had a very quiet day today. We went to Mum’s group this morning and then this afternoon didn’t do much at all. The girls played and I sorted out their drawers and wardrobes to put away the winter things and to find homes for Esther’s clothes! Esther has done quite well as she has a few things of her own but also can fit into the 18 – 24 month clothes that Naomi wore 2 summers ago!

The girls were making me laugh this morning! Naomi was helping Tim get ready for work this morning and said to him “Have you got your wallet, keys and computer, Daddy?” which made me wonder quite how many times she has heard me say that to him! At least I can rest assured that Naomi would look after Tim if I am not around to do it!!
Later on, Naomi looked at Esther’s hair and said that it looked like fire as it was all bushy and sticking up at the back! I knew what she meant and thought it was a very good description! Esther is really able to build little sentences now, but you can often see the cogs turning as she thinks of what to say, bless her! This morning she said “hooray Naomi, found juice”, which was very clever!

The girls found my sun hats this morning and were dressing up in them! They looked very sweet but of course ran a mile when I went to find the camera! They have enjoyed wearing their new summer clothes, Esther especially was delighted by the dress that Grandma Beads bought her last summer and spent the morning wandering around, giving a twirl and saying “look me, look me!!”

Well, that is it for now! I hope that you are all well and that the weather is kind for your Bank Holiday weekend this weekend!

Ellensburg

Hello everyone! I hope that this finds you well! We are sad to have to say Goodbye to Pam and Ken tomorrow; we’ll all miss them!

We have had a good last weekend with them though and have been able to show them a different side of Washington State. We have been “over the top” as it were and crossed Snoqualmie Pass to Eastern Washington where the geography, lifestyle and political persuasion are very different to what we are used to here. We had a brilliant journey home yesterday as it was beautifully sunny and we had magnificent views of the lakes and mountains. It was very windy and wet on Friday when we set off from here and still windy in Roslyn where we made our first stop although it was sunny then.

We stopped at Roslyn for lunch and it is a very different town to any this side! It is an old mining town and still retains a lot of the old buildings. They are quite interesting and we enjoyed having a mooch around. In recent years, the town is famous for being the set of a television programme called “Northern Exposure” – we had not heard of it either!! – and it receives a lot of tourists who come to see it for that reason!! We were just happy to find a great place for some lunch, a chance to see something different and a place to have a wander!

We spent quite a long time looking at the memorial to the miners that had served in the mines, mainly because Esther was fascinated and excitedly looking for “E for Edda’s”! There were a lot of tiles with people’s names on and so there were a lot of “E for Edda’s”! She has got very good recently at recognizing the letter E and gets very excited when she sees one! Mummy then spends a long time trying to locate the letter that she is pointing at!!

We also went into the Antique shop which had a lovely old organ that Tim was very tempted by! The children enjoyed looking at the dolls and the stuffed animals! There was also an old car and a large iron Chicken which the children enjoyed! We were describing the chicken as “enormous” and it was funny to hear Esther trying to copy the word! It sounded something like “nor-nor”, but we knew what she meant!

After we had spent a couple of hours there we drove up to a view point, from which you can see a vast area that includes the Cascade Mountains and the valley below. We had seen this last summer on our way home from Oregon but hadn’t had time to stop and admire it properly so it was good to see it again. Unfortunately, the view point took us on a detour of about 40 miles as we couldn’t turn back the way we had come (it was a dual carriageway!) and there were no other turnings until we reached the outskirts of Yakima!! We made the most of it however and stopped at the view point to see a marvelous bridge just as we turned to head back north again.

We followed the river going north, instead of the main road and we had a fascinating journey up to the cottage. We stopped by the river at one point and were delighted to see a train pass by on the other side of the river; we were even more delighted when it hooted at us!! You can imagine how impressed Naomi was that the train had hooted specially for her!! Naomi and I enjoyed a game of hide-and-seek during our stop here and we were able to pretend that we were on a bear hunt like in her story!

We stayed in a nice bungalow in the middle of nowhere! It was so peaceful and quiet and there were enough rooms for us too! Naomi and Esther were sharing which never works brilliantly but they were very excited and held long conversations once they were in bed! Unfortunately Esther could reach the light switch and so we could see a strobe lighting effect going on at one point! Eventually, I took Esther for a cuddle to let Naomi go to sleep and then finally Esther went to sleep too! She was tired yesterday though but not too ratty, which was good!

Naomi was funny when we reached the cottage as she was keen to unpack all her things into the new places that she had found! She was particularly taken with a footstool that had a lift up lid that she could put books in! She was very disappointed when I told her we were only staying for one sleep! She told Tim that it would be more fun to stay 2 sleeps!!

On Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and then packed up to go to Ellensburg for the day before heading home. The girls enjoyed playing out in the garden and we enjoyed the view of the mountains! We headed to Ellensburg which is the biggest town in the area and were amazed at how quiet it was! WE were even more amazed to overhear someone say that this was a busy day!! We met a girl who had lived in Bushey, Hertfordshire until she was 6 and then her mother had moved to Ellensburg with her new husband!! How funny! She had a lovely dog which she let the children stroke, even Naomi!

We had a wonder round the town which is famous for its architecture. Apparently it was a trading post and most of the wooden buildings burnt down in a huge fire in the late 1800’s. However, because it was a prosperous town, it was able to rebuild itself in brick, which has resulted in some very magnificent buildings! We also went into the museum and enjoyed looking at the dolls, the cars and the clothes. I enjoyed seeing the old doctor’s clinic and Tim was fascinated by an early typography machine.

After lunch we headed for the fairground as we had heard that there was a Rodeo on. Well, it was a quiet affair and not very spectacular, but we enjoyed looking at the horses for a while and a wonder around the old mock up frontier town. Esther spent the time in the Frontier Town picking up stones and dropping them on to a plank a little further away. Tim had taken some photos of her doing this and they make a very funny sequence! Naomi and Esther were giggling and giggling yesterday when we were looking at the photos and we had to watch them several times! The funniest thing though was that Esther went to bed saying “Edda stones, ta-daa!” accompanied by the hand wave, which is what we had been saying when we were looking at the photos!

Esther has come out with 2 phrases this week, which are both funny! Her favourite thing at the moment is for “Edda do it self” or just “Edda do it” which is probably an indication of things to come! The other phrase is “no, fine” if you ask her if she needs any help! She is certainly an independent soul!

Naomi is fine and had a good day at school on Thursday; unfortunately, she fell and banged her knee and elbow at the park on Thursday and she didn’t feel better until she had had some magic cream and a plaster on! Poor Naomi! She has very much enjoyed having Daddy at home for an extra day this weekend!

We went to church this morning; Esther and I were in the nursery together which was fun! Esther is really getting too old for this age group now and we are hoping that she can move up in May. She is quiet mothering to the babies though and is good at sharing and at taking turns, which is good! Naomi had a good morning in her class and is enjoying singing with Daddy when they first arrive! This afternoon we have all been very profitable; Tim and Pam have done a lot of gardening, whilst I sorted and tidied up the boxes in the garage. I found summer clothes for Esther and maternity clothes for myself, so we should be sorted for a bit! I now have to clear up the children’s cupboards to make room for it all! That is a job for another day!

The children (ably supervised by Grandad) had a lovely time in the ball / paddling pool and playing with their toys! We had an early tea and they were in bed and asleep in good time today as they are both tired! Let’s hope for a good night all round!!

Well, that is all for now! Will write on Wednesday!

Dancing

Hello all! This is going to be quite brief tonight as I have promised Naomi that I will make her a bag for her new ballet and tap shoes! More on that later!

The main topic of our news this week is that Naomi has started dance classes and absolutely adored it! We have given our notice into the current Gym class and both girls will continue with the classes at the new one. Esther has her first proper Gym class in the morning and Naomi will do a mixture of ballet, tap and gym on a Tuesday lunch time!

Today she and I had a lovely afternoon going “grown-up girl shopping” as we left Esther with Granny and Grandad. We went to buy her new ballet and tap shoes which she proudly showed off to everyone this evening when Tim came home! She and I then went to the fabric shop to buy the material etc to make a bag. It is very sweet and has ballet dancers on it! She is truly delighted and loved tapping round the kitchen this evening!

Poor Esther was very miffed with me though and kept on saying “Edda too” wanting some ballet and tap shoes! She was allowed to try Naomi’s on which satisfied her a little bit but she will have to wait a year or so before she can go dancing herself!! Unless I can find a cheap pair in Target that are her size, she will just have to wait until her feet grow a bit!

This morning, after mum’s group I had a meeting about a proposed Toddler group that we are hoping to run at church! It looks as if it is going to go ahead, which I am very excited about! I now have loads of work to do! I am looking forward to getting stuck in! Pam and Ken took the children to the Odyssey maritime museum whilst I was there and they had a lovely day! The children were very excitedly showing me what they had seen when I went to collect them!

Esther is still determined that nothing becomes out of its place or order! She told Pam today to put her jumper on properly instead of tying it round her middle! She is currently very keen to smooth out her towel at bath time so that she can lie on it. She insists that it is all smooth and flat before she will condescend to lay down on it! Yesterday though at music class when she had to sit on the blanket for the story, she was also trying to smooth that out! It was funny to watch!

Esther’s favourite phrase this week though is “look me, look me” when she wants you to look at her! She is usually doing something that she thinks is clever or funny! Today she had Naomi’s tap shoes on and it was “look me, Daddy!” Who can resist?

Anyway, that is it for now as I must go and make this bag!

Take care!

Edda and the E'phants!

Happy Easter everyone!

I hope that you are all enjoying your lovely Easter weekend off! Here they do not recognize Easter as a holiday time and so Tim was working on Friday and tomorrow! However, our service at church on Friday was in the evening, which Tim and I were both able to get too, which was lovely. The service was short, simple and meaningful and today we were able to celebrate the Risen Christ!

We had a busy couple of days on Thursday and Friday! At the last minute the girls and I went to the zoo on Thursday for a few hours before collecting Pam and Ken from the airport. We had a great time! I asked the children which animals they most wanted to see as we arrived; Esther said the elephants (or e’phants), Naomi said the monkeys and the giraffes and I wanted to see the Oran-utangs. Well, amazingly we did see all this and a lot more besides! The giraffes were a disappointment though as we could only see the top of their necks and their heads!

The elephants were a big hit though as they were outside when we arrived and the male elephant was pulling great branches of leaves off the trees only about 3m away from where we were standing, so we got a brilliant view of him! The monkeys and the gorillas were also fun as they were performing for us as we stood there! Esther was very keen to watch the monkeys swinging! I think she could relate to that bit! Naomi was intrigued by the note that said that the Hippos were at the vets! She told Pam and Ken when they got in the car that they had gone to the doctor!

We also saw the lions, snakes, tapir, tiger and the Komodo dragon which went down very well. All in all we had a fabulous day and the children were very good! We then had a very convoluted journey home as we had to collect Pam and Ken from the airport and then get to Redmond to collect Tim. He had taken his car into VW for a service and although they have a shuttle service to a place they don’t come and collect you! How daft is that? Anyway, that meant that we had to get to Redmond, collect Tim and then we could come home! It took for ever but we did it eventually!

On Friday, I took everyone to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. We all enjoyed it here too, although for very different reasons! The girls were fascinated by the dinosaur bones that were on display (“Big”, said Esther!!) and enjoyed making a paper puppet of a flightless bird dinosaur. Esther was fascinated by a Mastodon, which is somewhere between an Elephant and a Mammoth. She spent the whole day saying “E’phant” and wanting to see it but then getting close to it and saying “scared” and running away! She would then creep round the corner to peek at it again before running again! It was so funny! No-one was making her go – she was going on her own accord – and yet despite being scared it intrigued her so much that she had to keep looking at it! By the end of the time there, she had it sorted and then just kept running to see the E’phant without being scared!

We had to take a bit of a walk to find some lunch though and ended up in a Subway shop a few minutes walk away. There was a man in the shop who reminded Esther of her Great Grandad and so she spent a long time looking and pointing at him and saying “Great Grandad, hug”! Thankfully he was deaf and not aware of Esther!! Pam thinks it did look a bit like her Dad, although she couldn’t see her Dad with a baseball cap on!! It was funny!

Naomi enjoyed the museum very much, especially the model houses that were there. She spent a long time telling Pam all about her imaginary friends that live in the houses! She was also very proud of herself because she was hopping on one leg!!

Unfortunately, yesterday I was feeling under the weather and had a long nap in the afternoon! Thankfully this did the trick and Pam and I were able to go and enjoy the trip to the Ballet, which was for my birthday! We had a wonderful evening! We had a delicious meal out before we went and the ballet was wonderful! The dancing was superb and the costumes amazing! I bought a book about Ballet for the girls! Naomi would have loved the ballet but she would not have managed to sit still for 3 hours! They could do with having a 45 mins short version for very little children – I would take the girls to that!
They will go when they are older, I am sure!

Today we went to church this morning and then to Green Lake park. Pam and I were able to hide the Easter eggs and gifts so that the children could find them in the park, which the children enjoyed very much! The children had a long play on the playground and then we went for a walk! It has been a beautiful day here and not as cold as it has been.

That is about it for now! I hope that you are all well and I will write soon!

Happy Birthday to me, mum and Niels!

Happy Birthday Mum! I hope that you have had a pleasant day and a safe journey back up to Birmingham.

It has been my brother-in-law’s, my mum’s and my birthday this week on 3 consecutive days! Poor Helen! However, it must be something about April as one of our Russians had her birthday on Sunday with her Mum having hers on Friday! At least Naomi and Baby #3 will be born in October to even things out a bit!

I have had a lovely birthday, made all the more special because Tim took the day off so that we could have a day out together! Tim and I went out for a meal on Monday night to a fish restaurant which was lovely and then yesterday we went to Bainbridge Island. Bainbridge Island is a short ferry ride away and you are able to have a lovely view of both Seattle and Bainbridge as you cross over. I like Bainbridge Island as it is very quaint and it is very pretty. There is a pretty water front and a great children’s park which we all enjoyed. Tim and I also had a browse in a book shop which was good too! The children enjoyed us reading them stories!

Both the girls were very sweet and loving yesterday and excited for me to have my birthday! They made me a card and sang “happy Birthday” to me and it was the first time that they both could sing it! Esther sang it on and off all day!! They gave me lots of kisses and cuddles and Naomi was very keen for me to blow out my candles so that she could have a piece of the very nice Chocolate Birthday cake that Melinda had made!

The children are off school this week as it is the Spring Break holiday. On Monday we went to the Aquarium to see the fish, which was great fun! Esther enjoyed seeing the Otters and the Seals and Naomi enjoyed seeing the shark! We also popped into the Chinese Supermarket in Seattle and the girls enjoyed seeing the dragon, lobsters and crabs! We saw a funny looking fish at the Aquarium which Esther told me looked like a Dragon! She did have a point!

Today, I took Esther to a new gym that has just opened in Issaquah for children and I shall move both girls there over the summer. Today, Esther had a trial session (which basically means that it was free!) and hers was just in Gymnastics. Next Tuesday, Naomi has a trial dance/gym session which I think will suit her very well. I was very impressed today as the lady who ran it was very good with them and it was much better aimed at the smaller children. The lady also was able to help the children with different skills – like doing a somersault or swinging from a bar and was much more hands on than the one we currently go to. I was also impressed as they had an activity room for the older siblings to watch a film and someone was there to keep a loose eye on them. All in all, I felt very happy with it and will definitely enroll the children into their summer programme.

After this we did a bit of shopping and then came home. This afternoon we went to the KidsQuest museum with Ulrike, Fritzi and Felix and the children enjoyed playing in the truck and with the water. Esther didn’t get quite as wet today as she did last time!

Pam and Ken return to us tomorrow having had a few wet days in San Francisco, I think! We are looking forward to seeing them! Esther was hoping that Aunty Hannah would come too and was very upset when she discovered that she wasn’t!

So that is about all our news! We have had a busy few days but tomorrow should be a bit quieter! At least today we all got a chance to rest at lunch time!

Will write on Sunday!

Esther's funny sayings!

Good evening!

I am pleased to tell you all that Ken is a lot better and that they have managed to go to San Francisco after all today for a few days! They left first thing this morning and have arrived safely! We are really pleased that they have been able to continue with their plans even if they have been altered slightly and we are looking forward to seeing them on Thursday when they come home!

We have been to Church today and then went on to the Seattle Center to a Baby and Child show there. It was advertised in the paper as quite a big event but in practice it was very small! However, the children had a good time! There were girls dressed up both as Cinderella and Belle from Beauty and the Beast and so both my 2 were delighted to see them, Naomi especially! She kept on asking where Cinderella had gone on the way home and I told her that it was time for her to go home or the magic would wear off and she would be in her rags again. She seemed satisfied with that answer!!

Yesterday we went to North bend to the Factory Outlet stores and I bought some clothe for the children for the summer, which was very useful! We came home via Snoqualmie Train Depot and Tim and Ken took the children to see the trains; Pam and I spent a pleasant time in a bookshop with a café attached! It was a good cup of coffee!

On Friday the girls and I went to see our Russians in the morning, whilst Pam and Ken went into Seattle on the bus. In the evening, Melinda and Chad came round and we had a meal all together and then Melinda made a great birthday cake for her housemate. I gave some artistic advice! It looked brilliant when she had finished!

On Thursday we met up with Fritzi and Ulrike in the afternoon and enjoyed a warm, sunny afternoon in the park. The weather has returned to rain again this weekend!

The girls are fine and are looking forward to a week of unusual activities as there usual ones are not running this week as it is a holiday here. We are going to go to the Zoo and probably to the Aquarium this week, which they are excited about!

Esther has been making us laugh this week. She is very particular about things and likes things to be done in the right way. So she likes Granny to wear her glasses over her eyes and not on the top of her head, for example and definitely didn’t like it yesterday when Granny stuck her foot out from under the table and didn’t put both feet forwards underneath it! There was a lot of “No Granny” when she saw it! She is funny!

I was explaining to Esther yesterday that Granny and Grandad were going away and she seemed to understand until she turned around and saw them and said to me “Mamma, there’s Granny”! It was as if to say, silly mummy, Granny is still here!

This morning at church, Esther saw a man sitting and praying and decided that he was asleep, so she said “Mummy, Man sleepy!” His friend had a tee-shirt on with a rabbit picture on it, which also caused a very excited “Rabbit” from Esther! I think they were all amused!

Well, that is it for now! Will write next week!

The beach!

Good evening from Issaquah!

We have had a bit of a topsy turvy week this week. Poor Ken has broken 3 of his ribs and is, understandably, feeling very uncomfortable with them. Although he is comfortable when he is sitting or standing or moving gently, it is very painful when he coughs or twists unexpectedly. Corners in the car are very bad and so are bumpy roads. Neither of which I can do much about, unfortunately. (Although I did go the wrong way today and ended up on the only cobbled street in Seattle, which was not a good move!! It was an accident, though!!) We have not yet reached a satisfactory pain level with analgesics yet, something that I am working on! He had some medication from the doctor but that made him feel a lot worse; we stopped those! Sadly, they are unable to continue with their planned trip to San Francisco at the present time although they will hopefully go sometime within the next 12 months.

As a result, we have been taking things gently and slowly but have still managed to have an enjoyable day time, especially today! On Monday afternoon, after our usual gymnastics we went to the boat with Maddie, Vanessa and Alex as we won’t see them for a month now as they are currently flying to the UK! We hope that they have a good trip!

Yesterday after school and music class we went to the park in the afternoon as it was a beautiful day and the girls took their bikes. They had a little ride and enjoyed picking the daisies. They also had a good time at the playground and Esther managed again to stay put and not run off!

Naomi made me laugh yesterday afternoon though; she had put her imaginary friends Toman and Bibi into the swing and she was pushing them. Well, soon after this a family came and put their toddler in the swing – on top of TOMAN!! Naomi was most distressed by this because Toman couldn’t get out and was being squashed. I tried in vain to persuade her that Toman could get out and probably had jumped out already but she wasn’t having any of it! Just as I was beginning to think that I would have to go and explain to this family that Naomi needed to remove her imaginary friend from the swing, they moved onto something else and Naomi was able to rescue Toman, who was thankfully unscathed!!!!

She was very sweet yesterday morning too as she came running to me at breakfast time saying “Mummy there is a rainbow in the house!” Sure enough there was a small rainbow on the floor, caused by the sun being reflected through the light I think. She was very impressed!!

Esther and Naomi have been very concerned about Grandad and Esther has been giving him kisses and saying “Better now”. She spent a long time on Monday saying “Sore back” to Ken, which I don’t think helped much!!

Today we all went to Discovery Park, which is the beautiful park by the sea. WE had a lovely day on the beach. The children really enjoyed playing in the sand and in the water. They made sand castles and collected shells and Esther enjoyed standing on her head in the sand too! Strange child!! We had a picnic and really enjoyed being outside! Both the girls love being nears the sea and Naomi was delighted as she thinks that it is summer now! She is such a sunshine girl!! Pam, ken and I also enjoyed ourselves – I love being near the water – I always feel more relaxed when I come home!

On the way home, we called in to our friends house so that I could deliver their meal and to see the new baby! Ezekiel is lovely and I had a little cuddle! Becky, Darin and Eli are doing well and it was lovely to see them all! Naomi is a little bit miffed that she didn’t see the baby but she was too sandy to bring in today!!

Well, that is it for now!

Arrivals - eventually!

Hello there!

I hope that this finds you all well. We have moved our clocks forward now too and so are again only 8 hours behind you! I am so pleased. I was getting so confused with it being 9 hours temporarily and was afraid that I was going to wake someone up just as they had fallen asleep all week!

We were very excited on Thursday as Pam and Ken arrived! Naomi was very excited and was chatting about them coming for the previous few days. It was lovely as I hadn’t seen her be so excited about an upcoming event before. Previously she was excited if you spoke to her about it but this time she was telling me without prompting that Granny and Grandad were coming and was saying how excited she was!

Naomi went to school as usual on Thursday morning and Esther and I did some shopping. WE then went to see Maddie and Vanessa for lunch which was good and had a short rest before Naomi and Esther put on their posh frocks to go and meet Pam and Ken at the airport! We had a very long wait for them this time as there were very very long queues at immigration. We have met people so often at the airport now that we usually have timed it just right (I think last time we met Mum and dad we were in an out within less than an hour!) but this time we waited and waited! Eventually I had convinced myself that we had the wrong day and that they were not on this plane at all and had just gone to find a BA person to get them to check their flight list when Tim came running to find me to tell me that they had arrived! Finally!!

However, they were well and had had a good flight and so we were very pleased to see them and they us!!

On Friday we went to the park in the morning where they have the farm animals and had a very pleasant time there seeing the pigs, the horses (Esther’s favourite) and the chickens etc. We also met a very nice lady with her daughter. Bizarrely her husband is from St. Albans and his parents arrived on Wednesday! How funny! I have her email address and hope to see her soon, as she lives not far from us!

On Friday afternoon, Naomi and I played at Snakes and Ladders and then with Ohren Ziehen (our German feeling the ears game!) with Esther when she woke up! WE made some cookies as well and then went for a walk round to the little park in the neighbourhood.

Yesterday we decided to go to the snow at Snoqualmie and had a go at Tubing – basically you sit on a big rubber tire inner and go down the slope! It was fun and the children enjoyed it, although they got a bit cold and wet and tired towards the end and so they and I went back to the car. We watched “Meet the Fockers” film last night which was very funny!

Unfortunately, Ken has a stiff back as a result of the tubing and so he has not been able to do too much this morning, although this afternoon he, Tim and Pam have all gone to see the Basketball in Seattle. I hope that Seattle Sonics win!

Tim, the girls and I went to church this morning and were very pleased to see Melinda and Chad again after their trip to Europe. Esther was as usual very pleased to see Chad and beamed from ear to ear when she saw him! Esther more or less by passed Melinda and just said “Chad coming” with a great grin when she saw him! She is so funny! We said to her to give him a kiss goodbye and she very happily obliged and yet I can hardly get a kiss out of her at all!!

This afternoon the children and I took their babies for a walk in the park; Naomi’s baby was very good and slept the whole time! She is a very good Mummy! Naomi and Esther then went to the playground for a while and just enjoyed playing on the swings and climbing frame. Naomi was very good today at climbing and was able to climb up some of the frame that she has not done before. She was very proud of herself! Esther didn’t run off today either which made it a pleasant experience for us all!!

As you would expect, the girls have been enjoying having Granny and Grandad around. Esther was very put out this morning when I picked her up and said “want Granny”! She will go and find them if the dare to disappear for too long like when they get dressed for example!! Naomi has been enjoying doing a Thomas Activity book with Grandad, which has been lovely too!

Esther is showing signs of a good imagination like her sister – how am I going to keep up with 2 lots of imaginary families? Today she was telling me that there was a snake coming and that there was a spider and running her hands along the floor like a spider! I was impressed! Naomi was making me laugh too, as for some reason she was trying to pull a sad face but failing miserably as she was laughing too much to do so!! Funny pair!

Well, that is all for now – I am going to have some tea!

Take care!