Morgan Family Travels - 8

Last week I was a day early ... this week I'm a day late! This is life, especially when I spent Thursday and Friday down with the flu! Apart from that, there were a few other things of note this week ...

Kaitlyn turned five!!! for one! My first baby, covered in peach fuzz on top the day she was born has turned into a beautiful, vibrant five-year-old, complete with all the trappings. And she really is a Joy! To celebrate we woke with a 'birthday hat' (a pink medieval princess dressing up hat); we had surprise visitor's of Kaitlyn's cousins Brendan and Serena and Auntie Kimmy, and Brendan helped me make pancakes for Kaitlyn's birthday breakfast; we opened lots of lovely presents including the furniture for two rooms of a wooden dollshouse (which we don't have, but may get at some point), the dolls to go with, a mauve 'groovy chic' drawstring bag to store them in out of the way of little sisters, and a globe; then we went to Oxshot Woods, which Kaitlyn had wanted to show me after going once with her grandparents; and finished the day up with homemade macaroni and cheese and a birthday cake and ice cream. A happy day was had, I do believe (see the blog for pictures!)

Rewinding slightly, last Friday we went to Richmond to see my friend, and together we took our kids to Kew Gardens. I think its a wonderfully huge place, and what I saw of it was beautiful, but we had decided to start in the children's indoor playground (called Climbers and Creepers) and just as we were close it started to thunderstorm, and we ended up in there for the entire afternoon waiting out the downpour. It began to let up and so we started home in the dry but halfway back to my friend's house it began to chuck it down again, so so much for staying dry. Even my socks inside my shoes were soaked by the time we made it the two blocks home! The good news was the kids had a blast and were completely happy that afternoon.

Saturday we had a quieter day - we ended up in Woking picking up some groceries and bits and then went to a steam fair - old-style fair all done by steam power. Kaitlyn went on the biggest merry-go-round they had and loved bobbing up and down on the horses, and Hannah went on the little one and thoroughly enjoyed 'driving' her old-fashioned car round and round (but didn't want to get off!)

Sunday we went to Andover to visit Edward and Davita and go to church with them, and then after some delicious home-cooked Mexican food we headed off for an afternoon walk. It was a fun day.

Monday was spent preparing for Kaitlyn's birthday, and Tuesday was the birthday. Tuesday night I lost the back to my newly-pierced earring, so Wednesday morning I cycled back to the shop I had got them down at (half an hour slightly down-hill there ...) and picked up some shopping and then returned home (may I point out, with a loaded chariot, slightly up-hill for half an hour is a serious workout!) And Kaitlyn finished the day with her second Rainbow's club, which she now has the uniform for and is quite pleased. They've been really good and let her join in half-term chunks, which is about the best response I've gotten for us being child-accompanied nomads this year.

Thursday and Friday were spent ill. Nothing more need be said except to say that as Helen had had the same bug Wednesday she was more than just a bit of a saint when she looked after the girls almost all day Thursday and part of Friday so that I could get better!

Thursday also brought the sad news that although Trevor was working very hard he had not been able to finish on time and was going to have to stay in Houston until Tuesday afternoon, so we will pick him up at the airport bright and early Wednesday morning. It sounded from our conversation tonight that although he hasn't done much else other than work, he should actually be on that plane!

Today we went to the Weald and Downland Museum (Robin and Helen, Kaitlyn, Hannah and I). The Weald and Downland is an open-air museum that has houses from the British past - from quite small little Anglo-Saxon cottages (about 8th or 9th century I think) through to cottages built when the railway was put in in the 19th century and everything in between. Kaitlyn thoroughly loved it, going round pretending that each house was her new house and describing which of her children slept in which rooms and showing us round as the lady of the house and then describing it as hopelessly small and poky and we'd have to find another, better house for her to live in. Hannah just loved going up and down all of the windy, narrow, very steep staircases .... which she is very good at!