First Week Back

Finally I am not ill anymore!  I'd had a virus for the entire 2 weeks that we were back in England.  Monday was my last day of not feeling well, so I seem to be over it now.  Thank goodness.  It's exhausting being ill for that long!

This week I was back in school for the summer program.  It was a nice relaxing way to get back into the school routine, although I wasn't very happy about it on Monday morning I must admit!  I was doing the program with two teachers from Early years who are lovely.  I took the year 3-5s and they had the Reception to year 2s.  My lot were doing the academic program for the week, so we did some Maths and English in the mornings (all with the theme of Spy Week).  In the afternoons, it was so warm, we bought two huge paddling pools and just let the kids play all afternoon.  On Friday, we went down the road for bowling, which was fun.  At the end of the week one of the Mums gave us each a box of biscuits to say thank you for the week - very sweet, and not usual for our school's parents at all, who are more likely to pick up their kids without saying one word to you!

Anyway, I have no photos from the summer school, so here are some photos from the last two weeks that didn't make it onto the blog yet.  The first ones are from my trip to Buckingham Palace with Louise, and the rest are of the cute pooch Lola in the garden.

We've had a nice quiet weekend, trying to stay cool in the 36-38 degree heat (which feels like it is doubled in our roof flat - I can't be away from the fan for more than 2 minutes).  We went to the harbour in Duisburg on Saturday for dinner and some lovely cocktails.  We ran into a couple of friends there, who ended up joining us for a few more cocktails, and it turned out to be a lovely evening.  We've just started watching a new series, House of Cards, set in Washington DC.  It's amazing!  We've spent most of Sunday watching that!

Back to work tomorrow.  I have a day of cupboard sorting to look forward to, then a first aid course on Tuesday.  We have an open day for parents and kids to meet their new teachers on Wednesday, then the kids are back in on Thursday and Friday.  Should be quite a nice week.

Dad's Surprise 70th Birthday Party

It was a very successful surprise birthday party on Saturday, with smiles all round, and not a heart attack in sight! Not that I was worried or anything!

The week had been nice and relaxing at Mum and Dad's.  Matt and I saw a couple of friends for dinner, and we went for long walks along the beach.  Lovely.  We were all just gearing up for the party, although of course Dad knew nothing about it, (not for Matt's lack of trying however!  He nearly gave the game away twice).

Matt and I told Dad we were going out early to meet some friends for coffee, and spent a couple of hours setting up the room, at the lovely Huntsman of Brockenhurst pub.  Dad arrived later and we all shouted surprise, and sung happy birthday. He was very surprised indeed!

Amy made some lovely cakes - mint choc, and lime, to keep with the green theme.  Delicious.

Everyone had made a real effort in coming all the way down to the party, quite a long journey for some people.  Most had booked hotels for the night too, and made a weekend of it.

Very successful!  Here are a few photos from the night.

London

I sound like a broken record saying this, but 'it's been a really busy week!'

We came back to England last Saturday, and things have been non-stop since then.  We went to London city to go up the Shard as part of Matt's birthday surprise, last week, which was fun.  It's so high up, and you get an amazing view of London, but it was really expensive for what you get.  In the evening we met up with Matt's friends and brother for his proper birthday surprise, which was to do an Escape Rooms game.  We went into a room done up like a prison cell, and locked into handcuffs, all chained together, then locked into the cell, and then the room.  You get one hour to find keys and codes and unlock various padlocks that finally lead you to the final door key.  We managed to get out in 58 minutes and 11 seconds, with 11 clues (an average score apparently!).  We did spend 42 of those minutes handcuffed, because we didn't look properly for the handcuff keys!  It was really fun, and I would definitely recommend it.  Something different to do for a night out.  We finished the night with a Nandos and some beers.

The day after, our friend who we met in Germany, who now lives in Newcastle, came to stay at Matt's parents for a couple of days.  He had never been to London before, so we enjoyed doing a few touristy bits, including the Tower of London.  We spent a good 5 hours there, and it was a really fun day.  The Beefeaters do a free tour, which is fantastic.  They really know their stuff and are funny and engaging.  Worth the money to get in just for them.

 We also went to the first West Ham match of the season, a friendly against Juventus, at the brand new Olympic stadium.  The stadium is fantastic!  They have a wall inside with every season ticket holders name on it from the last season at the Boelyn Ground.  It's not in alphabetical order though, so i'll save trying to find Matt's name for another day!

There was lots going on because it was the opening match, so there were fireworks, and they officially opened the Sir Bobby Moore, and Sir Trevor Brooking stands, which was nice to see, as Trevor Brooking himself was there, and Bobby Moore's grandson was there too.  There was a marching band, and the woman who sings the national anthem at the rugby was there singing too.

It was very hot and we got a bit sunburnt.

I went to London to see my pal Louise on Friday.  We had lunch, and sat in the park with an ice cream, before spontaneously deciding to go into Buckingham Palace.  They had an exhibition there on the Queen's clothes, which was fantastic.  I really enjoyed the 17 state rooms too.  They are beautifully decorated, and the information audioguides were good too.  A lovely day out with my friend.

Matt's parents had a BBQ on Sunday, which Mum and Dad came for.  It was nice to see all of Matt's family, and the weather was wonderful.

Unfortunately, I've been ill for pretty much the entire time I've been home, with a virus that has given me horrible headaches.  They are just starting to go now, and today was the first day that I've felt OK, so hopefully i'll have a few days more with Mum and Dad feeling fine.  I came down to Hampshire on Monday, and Matt followed on Tuesday after football on Monday night.  Since, we have met up with one of Matt's friends from his PGCE, gone on walks to the beach and generally relaxed.  It's been lovely!

Wedding Photos

The day finally arrived for me to tick something off of my bucket list: Be a wedding photographer for a day. Tick!

Surprisingly, I didn't feel nervous at all on the day.  I knew what I was doing, and everyone was really friendly, so I wasn't worried at all.  I took charge and people listened to me.  I got lots of compliments on how well I was doing, and I got a cheer after taking about 30 seconds to do the big group shot, because I was so quick!  I was also mentioned in my friend's speech, which was lovely.

So, here are a few of my favorites.  There were so many to choose from!

The couple had relaxed a lot since the practice photo session, so i'm really glad we did that now, even though it was pouring with rain.  It made the day's constant drizzle seem not too bad.  They kept saying as we went around how glad they were that they had asked me, because they felt really comfortable, which was nice to hear.

... and a couple, so you can see what Matt and I looked like.

There are two posts this week, so make sure you scroll down to have a look at the photos from Warsaw.