First Week in England: 27th June - 4th July

We have had an absolute ball since our arrival in the UK. We arrived at 9:00pm on Thursday 27th after a pretty great day flight from Dubai. I thought it was going to be a nightmare, but the TV’s and games kept the girls amused and they also both slept which meant I could relax a lot. We taxied it from BHX airport to AM’s house in Coventry. Her, Pete and the two V’s were in Copenhagen on a conference so we had their friends, Matt and Genny let us in. It was the England v Germany match – so they were in the pub (drowning their sorrows! – England were incredibly crap, in my humble opinion). The next three days were spent relaxing at our ‘mansion’ - enjoying the most beautiful of UK weather (how surprising!) and generally having a great time. It was really wonderful when AM, Pete and the V’s came home and the kids have played none stop with each other since. SUCH a good feeling! Anne-marie and Pete have done so much to their house – it is absolutely gorgeous.

So….what have we done?
Well…Enjoyed English pub lunches; cheap wine; cheap cheese; walking everyday at least a few miles into town and back (such good exercise for Andrew and I who are completely in need of some exercise!)
Lauren visited at the end of our first week here – unfortunately for her, her Grandma had very unexpectedly, and incredibly sadly, died….but, as terrible as it sounds (I don’t mean it to be at all,) fortunately for us, it meant we could catch up and spend a couple of lovely days with her before she went up north to Manchester for the funeral. It really was great to see her and catch up with all her and Stephen’s news – and the Godiva festival was on, so two days were spent at the fun fair, watching live bands and again (unbelievably) enjoying the English sun. We watched Kid Creole and ASH – remember them? ‘The Girl From Mars’? Such fun! Lauren, Pete & Andrew took all the kids there on the first day to play whilst Anne-marie and I helped out at the NCT nearly new sale. I managed to buy quite a number of great Princess costumes for the girls at deliciously cheap prices, so I was happy. Us Mums then joined the gang for all the fun at the fair in the afternoon.

Andrew, the girls and I have spent much of our time just playing in the HUGE garden, going shopping and buying much needed clothes for our next adventure in Bahrain and enjoying being on holiday and not having to get up at the crack of dawn everyday.
It is so nice being here at AM’s – her and Pete keep saying they don’t mind at all that we’re here – I think they’re being far too nice and gracious, as I’m sure visitors for the long term would do my head in, but everyone is so happy – and most of all, the kids are all happy. That is brilliant. It’s so nice for the girls to be around their cousins.

The photos in this post are all from the Godiva Festival - thank you, Lauren!! I particularly adore the ones below of Pete having suggested a game of 'sleeping lions' - just look at the kids! Absolute classic. I must remember to try this game at home more often! Apparently they stayed like that for quite a long time!!