17 September 2009

Bodiam Castle

After arriving back from the States on Saturday, we jumped right into things with a BBQ on Sunday with Rod and Ianne. The weather didn't look like it would hold out, but it didn't start to drizzle rain until we had finished eating our meal on the patio. We had a lovely salad, ribs, kebabs, and lamb chops. It was a really nice day, and though I was tired and jet lagged, I enjoyed the company and Michael was so happy to see both of them after his long trip to America.

That Monday, was a bank holiday Monday. Officially called "Summer Bank Holiday Monday"...not Queen Victoria day, or Veterans day, or something more...worthy of a holiday and significant...just simply, a bank holiday. I think it is odd, but hey, it is a day off, so who cares! Our family tradition is Bank holiday pancakes, so we start off the morning with Neil's home made pancakes, and fresh cream, and Nutella (for Mike), and Lemon and cinnamon for Neil and me.

Afterwards, while Mike went to the playground, we packed a lunch and got the coordinates ready to locate the Geocache in Worth park. It had a clue, which we deciphered, and then found the cache, leaving a power ranger and taking a rubber snake. There is a tree in the park that you can get into the branches and sit under it which feels like being in a fort, or a secret grove. We had our lunch there and played with a Billy bee. They are little flying bugs that if you hold our your finger and say "billy billy billy" they fly closer and closer to your finger til they just hover right over it. It is silly, but kids love it!

During the week Mike had friends over nearly every day. He was very busy coming in and out and asking permission for friends to come over. Knock knock knock on the door almost constantly, but it was nice to have the activity and to see Michael so happy to have friends to play with before school started. Most notable was when his friend Austin discovered that Michael was back from America. It was late on Monday evening, and on Tuesday morning he was at the door at 9:40, dispite being told to come no earlier than 10am....but he was beaming and I didn't have the heart to send him away! He was so excited it was adorable.

Neil had a holey pair of pajamas that were being sent to the bin, when I had the idea that I could turn them into lounge pants for Michael. I managed to throw the pattern away and cut the pants in such a way that it retained the superman logo, drawstring waist AND pockets!!! They are a bit large on Mike, but not much and I expect he will get a good year or two out of them. I even fashioned him a hat with part of the extra leg!

On Saturday we went to Bodiam castle for a day out with Neil's friend Iain and his family and friends. Bodiam castle was brilliant, and the weather was lovely. I was unfortunately stung on the tip of my middle finger by a wasp, and it hurt and itched, but oh well...that is life! We had BBQ with some of the tastiest ribs, roast, potatos, and marshmallows, and I spent a LOT of time holding a darling little baby, Sam, and playing "monkey" with him. There were several kids, all well behaved and FUN children, and Michael really enjoyed his day as well. We did go looking for a Cache, but it seemed to no longer be there...oh well! Not the end of the world!

We were shocked to get Michael back from his summer holiday and he still had his front tooth. This is a problem because the adult tooth is coming out of the front of his gum! It should have come out of his mouth at LEAST a month ago, but when he got back we tried wiggling it around and lo and behold, we were getting nowhere either. What the heck!!! On Friday, Neil had a dental appointment with Ianne, so we piggybacked Mike in and got his tooth pulled. It ended up that his root has fossilized. There was no way it was going to be pulled out at home, so we are happy to have that chore behind us. He is now on a mission to wiggle the two side teeth and press on the top tooth to try to bring it back into line.

The garden is massive. There are hundreds of tomatos and loads of corn that I can't quite figure out what to do with. I thought it was supposed to be baby corn, but it doesn't look like baby corn to me. The courgettes are STILL growing, and the brussel sprouts will be along any day now.

I invented some Bananutella bread, it was tasty!

Bananutella Bread

Mix:

1 stick Butter

1 c Sugar

2 eggs

3 heaping tbs Nutella

Add:

3 Bananas

1 - 2 tsp vanilla

dash cinnamon

then Add:

1.5 c Self rising flour

Mix, pour into two loaf pans

Bake 1hr at 265c

Mike started school on Monday the 7th (Labor day in the U.S.). He is happy with his class and his teacher. In the mornings we drop Neil off at the train station, and enjoy our school walk which has been missed over the summer. He has joined up for the Golf Club, and is still doing Karate on Fridays, plus swimming lessons on Monday morning through the school. We aren't too happy with his homework though (or lack of it), so we have supplemented his studies at home. He reads for 20 minutes after changing to play clothes, we do a math sheet, journal page, history lesson, and another random activity depending on the day. (Yesterday we coloured flags from Australia, Canada, UK, and US). Now that we are over a week into the new year, we have settled into the new schedule quite nicely.

The Karate Kidder:

Til next time!!!....