Ellie's christening

The friends we went to the Clent Hills with yesterday invited us to Ellie's christening today...which was absolutely beautiful! They are Greek Orthodox (from Cyprus) so we couldn't actually understand anything that was going on. But that Southern European mind-set of accepting children even if they make some noise during the ceremony. Luckily, Max's friend Anna-Maria was there and her father is also Cypriot so he helped us to better understand what was happening and when the ceremony was actually offer (the officient kept talking, apparently he was giving advice to the Godfather!).

This was just one of our many exciting adventures today....we started off the day playing at the house while B.D. went to boxing, then walking up the hill to Treasure Island for Amit's birthday party (Max did great on the walk all the way up the hill), then the christening, then over to the Maclean's for Jeremy's 4th birthday in the Big Red Magic Bus! Max had such a fun-filled day he was exhausted when we got home.

Clent Hills

We've been here over 6 years and this weekend was my first experience out walking in the countryside. My new friend, Jenny, who is Max's friend Sofia's mum, took us out for a hilly-walk up and down the Clent Hills. It was only a 15 minute drive to get there, so hopefully we'll go back again this spring and do it again.
The bonus was the bluebells were all in bloom, absolutely beautiful.

Easter Monday

One of the greatest advantages to living in England is the amount of bank holidays. Take Easter, we not only get Good Friday off as statutory, but also Easter Monday. Then the kids get the added bonus of going to a University-run nursery which gets an additional day off for each bank holiday, so they are not back to school until Thursday!
So Easter Monday we made the short trip to Worcester to visit some friends who just has their first little baby: a beautiful girl named Shanai, weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 3 ounces. Talia looked at her once and seriously looked like she wanted to just eat her!
In the afternoon B.D., Max, Talia and I went for a long walk/bide ride around the duck pond and the park...the weather was gorgeous and it was nice to just spend some leisurely time together.

Max colouring with egg sidewalk chalk, note the left hand!

More Easter pictures

Egg Hunt

The kids had the first egg hunt. To even the playing field, Matthew and Jodie had to keep one hand behind their back during the entire hunt, and Max could just run as fast as he wanted. Matthew won with 11 eggs, Max came in second with 9 (although I think Jodie might have helped him a bit!) and Jodie finished the hunt with 6 eggs.
Then the kids hid the eggs for the adults. This hunt saw the moms together and the dads together as partners, joined by linked arms (this took some getting used to for the guys). There were 'forfeit' eggs which the girls found one of, requiring them to lose an arm. Even with that disadvantage the girls WON the hunt with a phenominal 18 eggs!! A good time was had by all.

Easter morning

Happy Easter! Last week, at nursery, Talia made an Easter bonnet with the nursery girls (this is a British tradition). Then on Thursday they had an Easter Bonnet Parade. As B.D. and I couldn't be there one of our favorite nursery gals, Sarah, was Talia's escort....and Talia won the Easter bonnet contest! She was so excited, per Sarah, grinning from ear to ear and waving her hands about!!
Max's room made Easter hats (not bonnets for the boys), but no parade.
So Easter morning we had both kids wear their bonnet/hat while they looked through their Easter baskets.

Easter Saturday

Today Max, Talia and I spent the majority of the day at Harninder's house with Mehtaab, Muskeen and Prehlaad. We had a fun time playing with all of their toys and sharing a yummy lunch, and then had an adventurous walk down the path to see the sheep. The weather was gorgeous today and it was nice to have the chance to catch up. The girls have grown up so much since I've seen them last and are so sweet. Enjoy the pictures!

image test

Hmmm...I can't figure out what has happened to my picture formatting. Sorry everyone, I'll try to get it sorted by the next time I upload pictures.
In the meantime, enjoy a couple more of the little lady!
xoxoxo

Jodie's Birthday

10 April - Jodie's Birthday! We had big plans: attend Madeleine's birthday party (a school friend of Max's) at Hickory Dickory, then off to Dudley Zoo and Castle. The first part of the day went ok, but then the rains came so our plans for the zoo were squalched. So we changed tact and headed to the Sea Life Centre, but then found the longest queue EVER to get in. In the end we opted for a walk and hot chocolates at Starbucks....on the way back to the car the heavens opened and we got drenched! Overall, a fantastic day! Happy Birthday Jodie-thanks for spending your special day with us! xoxox

Max Skyping with Abuela

Every Sunday evening Abuela reads Max a story before bed...here's a picture of them.

Our visit to Cannock

On 5 April we went to Cannock (about 45 minutes away) to visit our friends the Walsgroves. Jack (age 11) and Libby (age 9) entertained Max and Talia while the adults had a long-overdue catch up. Charlie cooked a wonderful lunch, and her gracious host of a husband made a mean cup of coffee!
Enjoy the pics!