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On the way

And back up again. The wrong way, of course.  

Instructions for 3YOs: repeat until accompanying adult just can't bear it anymore. Especially when it's 35 degrees out. Centigrade.

Band concert night

  

Very fresh eggs...

Olivia seems to have taken on the job of neighbourhood pet watcher this summer, a job mainly involving feeding cats, but also involving looking after a friend's chickens. The side effect being, we get the eggs. And lovely they are!

Modern Day Vermeer...

If Vermeer were alive today, he might well paint something like this scene (but without the chair back, which ruins the balance) - perhaps he'd call it Girl with Purple Hair Hanging Laundry?  Something about the light really struck me - even more so in person than this photo shows...

Rites of Passage

...which is our equivalent of a primary school "graduation" - the head and teachers say some nice (and often amusing) things about the kids, they all get a certificate, there are a few awards, etc. There was also a "musical interlude" this year, about which more in a moment. But here's Alex receiving his certificate. His teacher is actually the woman who has turned away toward the table, but he shook hands with all the teachers and TAs in Year 6, as well as the Head, who headed the line...so to speak. 

Alex was half of the musical interlude - his friend Bertie also played piano (though not at the same time). The other two Year 6 students who play instruments chickened out at the last minute, apparently. 

And here he is with a couple of buddies

and one of his best mates.

Prom!

Prom night!  A bit different here than in the US - it's only for Year 11s, and everyone who wants to can go (with some exceptions - e.g. if your attendance was too low, you weren't invited) - you don't need a date, and I don't think many people went as couples (Year 11 here is a little younger than high school seniors in the US - most of the Year 11 kids are 16, with just those whose birthdays fall between now and end of August still being 15) - it's just a formal dance/fun evening; theirs was being  held in the reception rooms of a local(ish) golf course (Silvermere in Cobham). Sarah thinks somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the Year 11s planned to go...

Here she is with a cadre of her best pals - a few of their core group didn't attend (one was already away for the summer, for instance) - and some of them didn't meet up at Becky's beforehand (in case anyone who has been to our house thinks "this doesn't look like your house" - it's not. It's Becky's house (on the right). 

Olivia did her hair and used all the bobby pins in the known universe.

Here's what happens when we get tired of having our picture taken by our little sister...

Accessorized...

And now we have the shoes (which are very high - this photo doesn't really show it) to match the dress...

...and of course a bag as well.

Glam girl...

As it was the last day of term, Sarah and a few friends took a much-needed and much-deserved break from school and reivision and went out to do a little prom-dress shopping. When it comes time for Olivia to shop for prom dresses, I think it's a safe bet she will not buy one of the handful of dresses she tries on on the first shopping trip, but my girls are very different in personality and one prom-dress shopping trip is plenty for Sarah.  Here's what she chose - she will of course need some heels with it as well, but that's a job for later. 

They also played around with dyeing their hair a bit (semi-permanent colours) -so Sarah has this purple tone at the ends and a streak of blond in her fringe, which you can see in the other picture (and which I think looks great).   Just as well they had a little fun yesterday, as she has revision sessions and booster classes and art support sessions most days during the Easter holidays (at her school, they are putting on LOADS of sessions for those students they hope will get As and A*s, so she's in for a lot of sessions, poor lamb).

Bodacious Funkitude

This piece of music impresses me.  Olivia is struggling with it a little bit - it's hard - but I'm not sure I'd know where to begin (then again, as a former clarinet player with a little piano, we didn't really use those ultra-high notes so much, so I'd have to count them up each time!)...

Mount Alexander

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Sarah's working on her Bronze Level of the Duke of Edinburgh award, with school.  She's done the first three parts - (Volunteering, Physical and Skills), now it's just the expedition left. They were supposed to do this part last early summer, but due to the illness of a staff member, had to postpone it. So, this weekend is the practice weekend and next weekend the real thing. At this level, it's only one night. Here's Sarah's pack ready to go (except a few last-minute items). Apparently, they have to walk about 3 miles on Friday evening and 8 or so on Saturday. It's a pretty heavy pack.  Glad it's not me going! 

Igloo building

Yesterday at cubs, they built an igloo in the garden - it didn't quite get finished, but it was fairly substantial...

Here's Alex helping, along with a couple of the leaders. There were more photos, but they had other kids in them, so I'm not going to share them.  I think they had a lot of fun - might as well enjoy the snow while it lasts!

Baking day

Olivia and her friend Nina are hosting a session at Guides tomorrow night - they chose the theme Native Americans, and have a number of activities planned, including some food tasting. We can't get completely authentic, but pumpkin pie and cornbread will do, at least enough for guides!

PGL

Poor Alex - his Year 4 residential trip was this week - Monday to Wednesday - and the weather was not very good - it rained a lot of the time.  Better than when Olivia went, I guess, as it snowed on them (that was March, rather than May, admittedly). But still. We were hoping for better.  It didn't stop the kids from taking part in activities, of course.  Above, one of Alex's friends is getting ready to go on the zipwire. No photo of Alex doing that, as he took the photos, but same basic principle.

Here he is, in the rain...

High Equilibrium

Olivia spent the weekend on a residential trip with school - to Kingswood, which is an activity centre a bit like PGL, where the kids have been before (and Alex went off to today!).  Here she is, climbing up to the top of the high equilibrium, to join her friend Phoebe.  The idea was to make it balance.

Ta da!  They also did a little dancing and whatnot.

Jack Petchey award

Last Thursday evening, I went to watch Olivia receive a Jack Petchey award (given through Guides) - the Jack Petchey Foundation is an organisation that supports young people in London and Essex, helping boost confidence and encourage them to achieve. The award consists of a medal and certificate (you have to actually attend the ceremony to receive the medal) and a cash prize of £200 for your organisation. Lots of girls receive the award through their dedication to guiding - Sarah had one a few years ago as well. 

The ceremony is quite long as there are over 100 girls receiving the award (it's  yearly ceremony) in the Greater London West guide district and they do read out a short statement about why each girl was nominated for the award - Olivia's said something like "She is organised and creative and creates a great atmosphere within her patrol, which she has led since she was 10 1/2."

They do the awards in small group, interspersed with some entertainment, also provided by the guides (some bits better than others) - this year's, I admit, was better than Sarah's year - I think they've tightened it up quite a bit, so it's not nearly as long. Still, it started at 7.30 and finished around 9.15. 

The bottom, better, photo was taken by the offical Jack Petchey photographer - the top one was on my phone, so not too brilliant.

Well done to Olivia. 

Sleeping Beauties

They'll probably kill me for this later, but I couldn't resist. I guess a full week of school and a busy Saturday was a bit more than either of them could handle - it wasn't very late, either - only about 10.30...

Haircut

Here's the other haircut - she was feeling too lazy to pose properly, but you get the general idea. It's still long, but nicely layered with a long side fringe...

Basketball in the park

End of Year 6...

Traditionally, at the end of Year 6 (end of primary school), they get as many people as possible to sign their shirts - and in Olivia's case, her arms as well (and her face, too, as it happened!).

They spent the better part of Thursday afternoon - despite the fact that it was a bit rainy - hanging out at the park.

Although these two boys have been in the same class/year with Olivia and her friends since nursery, they have never, to my knowledge, hung out before Thursday. I think it's mainly because one of the boys really likes one of the girls in Olivia's group (not Olivia, thank goodness - though they are very nice boys - I don't object to them specifically, just don't want her hanging with any boys except as general friends...)