Mr and Mrs Thompson

                                       

    

The main reason for our trip back to the UK this summer was to attend the wedding of my cousin, Amanda, and her lovely fiancé Matt.  The night before the wedding was spent catching up with the Smiths, Smiths and Jarmans in Guildford where we were told the exciting news that Anna and Antony are expecting a baby in February!!  

      

The morning of the wedding was lovely and relaxed apart from the fact that Sam and Dan needed to go and buy shoes and Ant a belt as they had all forgotten these key items of clothing!  

Eventually everyone was dressed and ready to go and we headed to the venue.  Getting there was a little tricky as the taxi driver, despite being given the address well in advance, told us he wasn't quite sure where to go.  As we got nearer he informed us that he had two sat nav units and a printed map but didn't want to use any while he was driving!  We managed to direct him and arrived with time to drink some Pimms!

      

                                     

      

The ceremony was lovely and a few tears were shed and of course the bride looked stunning.  It was lovely to spend time catching up with my extended family and to meet Matt's family and Amanda and Matt's friends.  The food was fab and the speeches excellent especially Matt's and Allan's.  

                                    

        

         

         

         

After a few champagnes and wines we hit the dance floor and I managed to get a fair few requests in with the DJ!  

        

It was a fantastic wedding and a great start to married life for Mr and Mrs Thompson.

Home for the Holidays

We arrived back in the UK after a day in Dubai and were met at the airport by Sue much to the boys delight.  She and Suresh had moved to Kent while we were away and we were very excited to see the new house.  After a few moments of confusion over the way back and a couple of laps around a roundabout, we reached the house!  After looking round we decided to head out for a walk to try and keep ourselves awake.  We managed to stay awake enough to drink champagne and toast the new house.  It was lovely being able to sit outside looking at the wonderful view, with out sweating or having to avoid mozzies.  Although I did need a cardi and blanket!

       

        

The next few days were spent catching up with the family in Kent.  We spent time with the Grants, picnicking, walking and drinking champagne and wine.  

       

        

                                        

     

We also made a visit to John and Jo's new pub, The Gallipot Inn, in Hartfield.  It is a lovely pub and Jo has been working hard to get it up and running whilst John has been working hard to sample the beer in his role as front of house!  

An obligatory trip to Pooh bridge was made with Harry and Chloe, where we were all convinced we had won Pooh sticks!

Towards the end of the week we left the boys with Sue and Suresh and headed over to Guildford to begin preparations for Amanda and Matt's wedding.  

Now We Are Six

       

     

                                           When I was one I had just begun

                                           When I was two I was nearly new

                                           When I was three I was hardly me

                                           When I was four I was not much more

                                           When I was five I was just alive

                                           But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;

                                           So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

For William and Oliver's sixth birthday we decided to return to the hotel in Sanya where we had celebrated their fifth, as we had all enjoyed it so much.  We flew there the day before but arrived later than we thought we would as William, Oliver and I experienced our first domestic delay in China.  I have heard many stories of people sitting in planes on the runway but had not experienced it.  Everyone boarded and then the plane just sat there.  No one told us what was going on but we realised we were in for a significant delay when they started serving food!  

The manager of the resort had arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport.  When we reached the resort he and some of the staff were there to welcome us with drinks, flowers and balloons for the boys.  The effect was slightly ruined when a man in speedos walked through the middle of us all!

After unpacking we headed straight to the club lounge for happy hour.  All the annoyances of the delay were forgotten as we sipped on our drinks and admired the view.

There had been concerns that the island would be hit by a tropical storm but luckily it diverted and we had fantastic weather.  Most of the time was spent in and around the pool or on the beach.

                                       

        

      

This year the three boys also tried out the diving tank.

Oliver and William thoroughly enjoyed their birthday and had lots of lovely presents that had managed to get here from the UK.  They were delighted with their light sabres and have been Jedi's ever since.

                                       

     

For lunch on the day they chose to go for pizza and were given slices of cake as a birthday treat by the waitress.

                                       

     

         

In the evening we had supper in the club lounge where the manager produced another cake!

         

   

  After all the celebrating and cake, William and Oliver were suffering a bit the next day!

        

Parties, rugby, end of term and fond farewells

William and Oliver's birthday falls two weeks after the end of term here, therefore we decided to have their party on the Sunday before term finished.  It was a good date to pick as the Jarmans were still here to help!  Ages ago they decided on a dinosaur theme which was handy as I got mum to bring lots of the accessories out.  As it drew nearer Oliver decided he wanted a dinosaur excavation cake and William a t-Rex!  

Sam and I planned lots of dinosaur games: dancing dinos, pin the skull on the dinosaur skeleton, sleeping dinosaurs etc.  We knew all the children would be fairly high with it being the end of term and lots of the summer born children having parties so we started with decorating dinosaurs.  You could have heard a pin drop...until they finished!  

                                         

The party went well and the boys enjoyed themselves.

The Lions Tour of Australia began on the 1 June with a warm up game in Hong Kong.  And a warm up it was with some players losing up to 4 kg due to the heat!  Since then we have found ourselves round at our local twice a week watching the games.  It has been lovely seeing the boys begin to get in to it (thank god!).  

The end of term at school was as hectic as usual but has been tinged with sadness this year.  It is a fact of expat life that there comes a time when you bid good friends farewell.  Unfortunately this year we seem to be saying goodbye to far too many.  In May Mark, Noor, Tess, Lotte amd Dirk headed back to Holland.  Then chose to say goodbye by holding a Dutch disco where lots of wine was consumed and there was even some partner swapping!! Not a lot was remembered the next day!  

The  De Borde Family are moving to Germany.  William and Oliver were in Ellie's class last year and quickly became firm friends.  Ellie and William have also been together this year and along with Jamie and Oliver they all get on so well. Rather than one farewell do they embarked upon a series with different people.  We went for food and cocktails at Flair (Shanghai's sky high bar) with them and also to a last minute pool party organised by Ellie!

Out of the blue the Hughes Family are returning to the UK.  Lisa and I have known each other for just over two years but it is one of those friendships where it feels like a lifetime.  We met on a chat forum before she even got here, set up Sam and Darren on a blind date and they all came for lunch on their first day in Shanghai where we all got on brilliantly.  We have all enjoyed watching our four boys have fun and grow together over the last 2 years, have spent many hours at parks, bars and restaurants together and Dragonfly!  

Oliver's teacher, Mrs  McCallum headed back to Scotland this year.  She has been a wonderful teacher to Oliver and a good friend to me as I have got to know her through my supply teaching as well as a parent.  Oliver is unconcerned about her going as he has arranged to go and see her in Scotland!

This has been the hardest year for goodbyes and yet it also means we now have lots of friends in many countries.  We are already planning trips to Scotland, Holland, Germany and the ever exotic Manchester!

Alongside all the going out for rugby and goodbyes there has been a few events at school.  The boys had a great craft morning followed by a year group picnic in 35 degrees!! The school also held its annual speech day where the children get certificates for various endeavours.  Being in the senior part of Ducks meant that the parents were marginally better behaved this year but call me old fashioned I still can't equate a speech day with whooping, whistling and calling out as your child receives their certificate!  However, all that aside, it was wonderful to see Oliver and William go up on stage and receive their certificates from the college Headmaster.

     

     

     

Oliver and William were certainly ready for their holiday and we had some lovely weather the first couple of days which we made the most of.  

Bright city lights!

The Jarman's return from Guilin was slightly delayed. Due to a storm over Shanghai the plane could not land and was diverted to Nanjing! Poor Anna and Ant had to remain inside the plane for five hours while decisions were made about whether to fly back to Shanghai or not. Whilst they were on the plane I was in contact with them and after hearing that relations between crew and passengers were heating up I decided to call the British Consulate for advice! Unfortunately they were shut so I was diverted to the Foreign Office in London who placed a call to Anna to check they were ok! They finally made it back to Shanghai on an overnight train.

We always knew that Anna and Ant, whilst enjoying the sightseeing, would particularly enjoy the nightlife. All of us enjoyed a few cocktails on the Bund, followed by a meal at Lost Heaven and a nightcap in the Long Bar. 

Not much sightseeing occurred the next day, they just about managed to drag themselves to the fakes market!

Following another couple of days away in Hangzhou, we managed another night on the town. 

                               

 

We had a traditional Shanghainese takeaway on the last night, unfortunately we couldn't take the Jarmans to the airport as we had an event at school. They walked to school with us on their last morning and I said goodbye in the corridor as I was teaching.  I'm not sure whether saying goodbye and then walking across an airport crying or going in to a class of four years olds crying is worse!  Luckily it won't be long before we see them in the summer.  

The Jarmans arrive!

The Jarmans arrived safely in Shanghai and were thrown straight in to the hangover recovery program of Costa, egg fried rice and a massage. They did so well we even dragged them to the pub to watch the rugby. I knew that the jet lag had gone when Ant announced (after several beers) that he had a second wind and Anna decided to tuck in to the Amaretto!

The next morning they were served a true Shanghai breakfast- jidan bing.  It is basically a very thin pancake filled with egg, chili, coriander, fried dough and other unidentifyable but delicious things!

They were only in Shanghai for a couple of days before heading down to Guilin but we still managed to eat dumplings twice, order Ant six shirts and Anna a couple of dresses at the fabric market and stroll along the river!  

                                     

Of course Anna and I also manged to fit in a pedicure at Dragonfly, another Shanghai must!