Local time, 8 am.

For the past few days, Alex has been back on a normal sleeping schedule - sleeping through the night and wanting to wake up to feed at 7 or later in the morning. Which is great, in terms of getting sleep, but getting up in the early morning was really good for my email and my blog. But well, something has to be sacrificed! Anyway, we've had quite a busy week so far. Monday, we went into downtown DC to go to the Air and Space Museum, which was something that Sarah wanted to do. They had fun with that, looking at old planes and rockets and whatnot, and seeing the film To Fly, which I remember from when I was a little kid (and which is still impressive, frankly). After that, we wandered about a bit, and it started to pour rain, so we ducked into the Hirschorn (modern art) - they had a great time with that, particularly with an installation piece that dropped pieces of paper from the ceiling. Should have guessed that modern art might appeal to kids, as it's kind of strange...

Tuesday we went to a local (huge) mall called Arundel Mills, which was built about 3 years ago. It's one of those really really big ones, half a mile from end to end, and it's built in a loop, so one circuit is a mile around - good for mall walking. And it has a big cinema whaddya callit - multiplex? - anyway, 24 screens or something silly like that. Geoff took the kids to see Spy Kids 3D while Mom and I walked around looking at kids clothing sales. Lots of 70 per cent off on really cute stuff. And lots of exercise, with a mall that big... We were really tired after that, perhaps not surprisingly.

So on Wednesday, yesterday, we just mostly hung around locally. We did meet up with my friend Cathi, who lives in Ireland, and who was due to be in the US at the same time as me (her mother lives near mine). Unfortunately, her husband's father, who has been very ill for a while now, has taken a turn for the worse and looks like he won't live much longer, so she's cutting her trip short to return home and be with Dave. At least we got to see her briefly before she went. Another friend from college came over in the evening for a barbecue - she is also married to an Englishman, though they live here, obviously - and they have two little kids. Their daughter Tibby will be 4 tomorrow (so basically Olivia's age) and they have a little boy born in April (not so little, actually, he's almost as big as Alex).

Today the plan is to go with Andy (my stepfather, more or less) to a water park called Splash Down. I'm sure the kids (mostly the adult male ones!) will really enjoy it. Actually, I'm sure we all will. I haven't been to a water park in years, though there is a swimming pool with slides and stuff that we go to when we're in Ireland. The weather is supposed to be hot, so I'm sure we'll welcome the water.

Local time 7.something. am.

Yesterday was a hot one, though not as hot as we thought it was going to be - high 80s rather than mid 90s. Every little bit makes a difference... In the morning, though, it was overcast, so we went to a really nice playground about a half and hour away - not so bad standing out there watching the kids when the sun isn't blazing down. And of course, being Sunday morning, it was really empty as only a handful of heathens were there playing, as opposed to being in church like good kiddies. :)

We also finally found my mom a bread machine (hoorah!) so she can have decent bread. And so we can, too, of course. Self interest is always in play when it comes to food. Haven't set it up to use yet, but I'm sure we'll get to that point eventually.

And then we met Jen & Barbara and Brian for sushi. Our favourite place closed a while ago, but we found where they went, finally, and went there. And even though we haven't been there in a year or more, they recognised us. Isn't that sweet? And the sushi is still excellent. Relief!

Local time 7.30am.

Much later sleeping today, hoorah! Hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the trip. Maybe he'll even stop wanting an extra feed in the middle of the night (he had stopped at home, so it's not unreasonable to hope...)

Didn't do much yesterday. Ran to Target (my favourite) and bought some stuff and had a quick pop into Joann's - not a lot of great fabric there this time. I'm looking forward to the actual quilt shop much more. Then in the afternoon, Mom and I took the kids to see Finding Nemo, which was very good. Not too sentimental (a little) and more than a little scary in some parts, but generally excellent. I'm sure we'll all enjoy it again (and again and again) when it comes out on video and we acquire it, as I'm sure we will.

Local time, 6.30am

Baby's awake early again. I don't know if he's still jet lagged or if he's going through a growth spurt, or whether it's just that he's thirsty as it's hotter here, and between that and the air conditioning he wants an extra feed. Whatever. It's not that bad, actually, as I can get my email read and something blogged. I hope it gets a little later, though, as once I start really hanging out with friends at night, I may need a little more sleep. It's different when you're on holiday, though, as although we get tired doing stuff, it's fun stuff, rather than stuff like cleaning house, so i don't mind as much :)

Yesterday we went to the Baltimore Inner Harbour and did the Maryland Science Centre and had lunch at Phillips (seafood) with my friend Jen. The girls enjoyed the science centre - it has a kids area with lots of hands on stuff. I think they could have spent most of the day there, though frankly a couple of hours was enough for the grownups. Not sure what we're up to today - we were going to do something with my friend Kristen, but she's got all her relatives descending on her (not quite all, but well, lots of them), so we've rescheduled that. As it's Saturday, we might not do anything really touristy, as those things will be much more crowded. It also partly depends on the weather. I think it's supposed to be really hot today, which means we might not want to do anything likely to be in the strong sunshine all day. Anyway, we'll talk about it when the others get up and see what's what. Some time next week, we're going to try to have a day at the beach, but we definitely won't do that on the weekend.

Local time, 5.50am.

Yesterday morning, the baby was wide awake, wanting to play, at 4.30am. Today, he's fine, but I'm wide awake. Granted, it's not 4.30, but 5.30 still isn't my ideal time to get up. But I'll be danged if I'm going to lie in bed not sleeping for more than a half an hour... Anyway, there's always email to read and blogging to do and that sort of thing - might as well make productive use of the time!

Didn't do a lot yesterday, as we were still recovering a bit and easing into the whole thing. Went to the supermarket and stocked up on general kid fodder and a little junk food. I'm trying to resist that a bit, though I'm sure I'll eat some of my favourites - the ones you can't get in the UK, anyway (fritos!) Then we went to the playground and the library and just basically hung around in the neighbourhood. There are quite a few kids here and they tend to hang around outside in the evening, which is nice. I'm sure Sarah and Olivia will make friends with some of them before long, though many of the older ones seem to be boys. That won't stop Sarah, of course. She might even prefer it. She misses having her bike, though, as riding up and down is one of the primary activities of the kids here. We'll try to find a used one somewhere.

I'm sure today we'll do something more touristy, like the Maryland Science Centre or a museum or something like that. Haven't decided what yet, as that will partly depend on the weather. One day next week, we'll try for the beach or the water park, but both of those are quite a drive away, and I'm not sure we want to do either of them on a Friday. Certainly not the beach. Anyway, we'll see. When the others are up and about and making decisions, I guess we'll work something out. Not like everything has to be planned in advance anyway...

Local time 8.15pm, Wednesday night.

Storm in a teacup. Which is great. No problem checking in or anything. Flight was ok, kids not too bad, we're here (and tired) but, well, the important thing is that we're here. Whew. More soon!

Well, still uncertain what the deal is with Heathrow, although flights seem to be going. We'll keep our fingers crossed that we'll be able to get away and on time. Looking forward to the holiday greatly, if we manage to get off the ground, that is!

As is perhaps typical of us and holidays, the checkin staff are striking at Heathrow over something or other. Lots of people stuck at Heathrow for hours and hours while waiting to see if they could check in, etc. Grr. Called the airline today and they seem fairly certain that everything will be ok on Wednesday, but it does make one a bit edgy. At least the likelihood of terrorist attacks is fairly slim. Of course, I would have said that last time we were going to the US & see how wrong I'd have been!

Today was Olivia's last day at nursery - not last really, as she'll be back in the nursery in the autumn, but last for the year. Sarah finishes tomorrow at 1.30. They're fairly excited, though not as excited as the older kids, or as excited as I remember being as a child (probably older, though). Of course, the break isn't nearly as long here as it is in the US in the summer, so that may cut down on the hyperness a bit. It certainly is better for the parents. Frankly, 6 1/2 weeks is plenty. And it's nice to have a bit of time at Christmas and spread out through the year. Makes the teachers' lives easier, too, I think.

Anyway, less than a week to go until we leave for the US - we're going on Wednesday. I'll have to spend much of Tuesday packing - I've arranged for both girls to go to friends' houses to play for a while on Tuesday, so I'll use the time to pack. Can't believe it's so soon!

Just found out a friend of mine is having her 5th baby. Yep, 5th. (For those of you who follow these things, this is the friend whose children have progressively more unusual names as she and her husband can never agree on anything. It's primarily him who is the difficult one, I think. Anyway, if this one is another boy, goodness knows how they will ever decide on a name!)

So.

Not much more to say, is there? :)

I notice I said I'd post more about the fair. I should never promise in writing to do these things, as I'm too likely never to get back to them... Anyway, the school fair was a great success. Luckily, the weather held up, so people stayed quite a while and spent lots of money. Which is good for the school - we raised about £3900 at the fair (that's the profit - so that's pretty amazing!). So I guess my hour and a half working on the boys' tombola payed off (tombola: where you draw tickets with numbers on, and a number ending in 5 or 0 wins a prize, you know...). The girls had a great time as well. In addition to the usual jars of sweets, Sarah also won a football (soccer ball), a skipping rope and a police set (gun and badge - luckily the gun doesn't actually shoot missiles of any sort, just makes a loud (and highly annoying) clicking noise. I'm hoping it's made of cheap plastic and will break soon...). Olivia won some bath beads and a punch balloon (purple), so she's happy. And mummy is happy because they were selling 2nd hand uniforms for 50p an item, so I picked up 2 dresses, a pinafore dress, a skirt and two school cardigans for £3.00. Bargain.

Anyway, Tuesday was the Foundation stage sports day - footraces and other activities - all the kids took turns (in groups) doing things like walking on balance beams, jumping off stuff, throwing bean bags into hoops, and so on. Then there was a family picnic, complete with a bouncy castle, hired from the leftover 50p money (the nursery & reception classes ask for a voluntary donation of 50p per week - the money is used for things like cooking supplies and other incidentals not covered in the school budget. At the end of the year, there's usually enough leftover to do something special, like hire a bouncy castle for the sports day, etc.)

Wednesday was Open Night, where parents can visit the child's current classroom and see the work on display, etc, and parents and children get a chance to visit the new classroom for the next year, meet the teachers and so forth. Olivia will be in the nursery again, though she's moving to the morning class, and getting a new teacher, so at least there will be some changes for her. Not too many, though, which is a good thing at her age. Sarah will be in Year 1 and her class will be called Ash. Year 1 is roughly equivalent to 1st grade in the US. Her teacher is actually pregnant, so she'll get a new teacher part way through the autumn term, but there should be some overlap, so I'm not really worried. And all the kids know this is going to happen, so it shouldn't be too hard to deal with.

Only a week (and a day) of school left before the summer holidays - and less than a fortnight before we go to the US - I can hardly believe it's come around so soon. And of course, I still have about 6 weeks worth of stuff to get done before we go. It's not going to happen, obviously!

Well, we have a milestone this morning! Alex was under his gym while I was in the kitchen washing the dishes. I heard him fussing & went to see what it was all about - he'd rolled (mostly) over and was stuck in place. So I rescued him - since then, he's rolled over about half a dozen times, so I'd say he's really got the hang of it now. He can only go from front to back, though, not a complete roll, so he still can't really go anywhere with it...

Off to swimming now (Olivia). More later about the school fair, which was yesterday.

Well, amazingly, it's less than three weeks until we go to the US. It seems as though there's about 8 weeks worth of stuff to get done between now and then, which isn't surprising, just annoying. And typical. Both girls are away all day today, though, on their school trip (to a farm), so perhaps I'll get some of the stuff done today. Although some of the stuff, like working at the summer fair at school, can only be done on the day itself, not in advance. Still, I've got a couple of sewing projects that really need finishing, so I guess I should get to them. I might have a good chunk of time this afternoon to do stuff, especially if Alex takes a long nap. This morning, I'm watching a friend's little girl (she's about 18 months, very cute & very well behaved) for an hour or so, so less chance to do stuff like sew or organise the loft, but I might get to finish reading and replying to my email. Maybe.

Spent most of today at a quilt show - Lana and I managed to get a trip in to Sandown (aka the National Quilt Championships), which is just down the road from us, while the girls were in school. I dropped Olivia at a friend's house for the morning, and of course she's in nursery in the afternoon, so it was just a matter of someone else taking her. This is where having lots of people in the same road going to nursery is very handy. Anyway, we had a nice time, though I didn't buy much fabric (as I'll be spending a month in the US this summer, I intend to be very extravagent there, where the prices are much lower). Lana had a quilt in the longarm section (didn't win a prize, but as she's just started, that wasn't too surprising or disappointing), and another friend, who is in our small quilting group, won second place in one of the themed sections - not surprisingly, as her quilt is stunning; I saw it while she still working on it.

Not much else happening here. Conjunctivitis now gone, but boy do I wish the pollen count would go down. Blasted allergies! Oh well, what can you do (except take lots of allergy drugs)...

We've been up to Geoff's Mum's house for the weekend for a quick visit - she seems to be doing quite well, all things considered, though of course, it's odd not to have Dad in the house any more. And even more so for her, of course. Still, it was a pretty good weekend, though Olivia is a bit of a handful when she's at someone else's house as she always wants to be getting into everything (this is true at home, too, of course, but I worry about it less here). However, the weather was good, which meant we were able to get out for a nice long walk along the canal and the local school was having it's summer fair on Saturday, so we went to that - the girls loves these kinds of fairs and fetes, as do I. Back home now to the start of Wimbledon, which means even less time to do stuff as I'll want to watch some of the tennis. What a busy time of year! And only a month to go until we go to the US on holiday. How the time flies.

Absolutely gorgeous weather Friday and the weekend - probably this will be "summer" here - but the kids have had the paddling pool out three days in a row (and it occurs to me as I write that, that one of my first entries in this blog was about a paddling pool, about a year ago - amazing!)

We went up to Cannizaro Park (local park near Wimbledon Common, really beautiful smallish park with interesting planting, etc) this morning to enjoy the glorious weather and coming out of the rose garden, which has a narrow entranceway, encountered another couple with a pushchair coming in & did that whole pushchair-dance-thing & exchanged polite good mornings with them, etc, etc. and only realised after heading off in the opposite direction (and having it pointed out by Geoff - who said in a rather loudish voice "You do realise who that was, don't you?") that it was Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff and baby. So there's my brush with celebrity for the day! Guess it's not too suprising to encounter them in Wimbledon a week before the tennis starts...

Since getting back from Ireland, things have been pretty busy, not with anything in particular, just the usual stuff, but dealing with kids just takes up so much time, as many of you know. Still better than my job was at the end, though, so I'm not REALLY complaining, just a little good natured griping, especially after a generally grumpy afternoon... And now, to top it off, I've developed conjunctivitis in my right eye (here's hoping it won't spread to the left. Or to the kids...), which I'm sure is going to drive me bananas. Short trip, as Andy (my former stepdad) would say.

Tomorrow at school there's the start of a "balloon race" - each kid can buy a balloon, then they are inflated with helium, a stamped addressed (to the school) postcard with the child's name is attached in the hopes that whoever finds the balloon, if indeed it's found, will return the card. Whoever's balloon comes from the farthest away wins the race. I've offered to help blowing up and assembling the balloons (if I can still see, that is!) and at 2.45 the school will all gather to let them go. Should be fun, and an added bonus is that they are using biodegradable balloons - I didn't even know they made biodegradable balloons, but glad to hear it, as I know a lot of schools do these sort of races. Wonder how long it will take to start getting cards back? I think they're planning to announce the results at the school fair, which is about the 6th or 7th of July. Apparently, balloons from Surrey have been returned from as far away as Sweden in the past. Wouldn't that be exciting for the kids. Of course, knowing my luck, our balloons won't even get the cards returned - but then, perhaps Sarah is luckier than I am - she did win a pound on the treasure hunt at the Scout Fair, after all...

Yesterday was an INSET (teacher training) day, so no school for my kids. We took Olivia to her swimming lesson in the morning and bought some Father's Day cards and presents and then spent the rest of the afternoon mucking about. It was nice and relaxing, actually, and is a good lead off into a week that promises to be really hectic, with a trip to the embassy to sort Alex's passport, getting the car in for service and lots of other stuff. And a night out with the girls at a local Chinese restaurant, on the up side!

Olivia has a dentist appointment later this morning, which should be fun - actually, it should, she enjoys it. Sarah's is next week. At least dental care is free for kids, which is a nice bonus.

Another fun filled day today. Sarah had a birthday party to attend at Horton Farm (a children's farm), so we went down with Olivia as well (and Alex, but he doesn't really care that much about farms yet) and let her have a go around the farm while Sarah partied. She got very stroppy after a while (over tired from playing on all the climbing stuff) and actually asked to go home - such a difference from Sarah, who will never admit when she's tired and insists on pushing everything until tears come. Olivia had some tears, too, but at least she knew she needed to go. Of course she's always been better at knowing her limits about that sort of thing, like bedtime. She's the only 2 year old I've ever encountered who would suddenly stop playing and come up and say "Mummy, I'm tired, I want to go to bed now"...

After the farm, we had a bit of a rest, and then went to the local Scouts' group's summer fete. There are always lots of silly games for little kids with small prizes & lots of sweets to be won. They love it, as it's not too hard for them to actually sometimes win the games. I love it because the games are all really cheap, so it's not so bad that they usually don't win anything. :)

Otherwise, nothing too exciting here. My friend Cathi (the one in Ireland) gave me a book about doing yoga with your baby, so Alex and I have been having a go at that every afternoon, and it's really good fun. Some of it involves using the baby as a weight, but mostly it's about positioning him to see you and playing with him, a bit of baby massage, rolling over exercises, and so on. He enjoys it, though, which is great.

So, back home again. Of course the day we drove home (Saturday) was really hot, to the extent that I actually put the a/c on in the car - most English cars don't even have it; that ours does is just chance - we didn't look for a car specifically with it. It was nice on Saturday, though. Sunday, of course, when we were at home, it rained. Today was back to school for the kids and the weather is ok - warm but not too draining. Managed to get quite a lot done, though of course, never as much as I need to. I have this huge list of phone calls to make to arrange things, but all of them but one are dependent on scheduling an appointment (that's the "but one" call) and for that, I'm waiting to be rung back. It's all very frustrating as I keep looking at my list and thinking "Oh, I can ring to schedule a service for the car" and then realising that of course I can't until I get the other thing sorted. The exciting life I lead - aren't you envious?

I can hardly believe it's June already - and the number of things I need to get sorted before we go on holiday in July is staggering. I keep thinking mid July is a long way off, but it's surprisingly close. Everyone says that time sure flies by when you get older - I guess I must really be getting older, as it certainly seems to zip past these days...