JULY 2016

Here goes July.....it's going to be another busy month like June!

1 July - Brad had a procedure on his leg to try and figure out why he has been having muscle pain since about 2 weeks after the marathon.  The hospital was SO nice and all the staff was so nice.  Now I understand why people pay for private healthcare even with the NHS.  They brought me a pot of tea to drink whilst I was waiting and then he got an huge plate of sandwiches after he was finished.

2 July - I was sneaky and I arranged for a surprise party for Brad at this really cool pub in Putney right on the River Thames.  He truly had no idea!!  The only glitch was that we arrived before most of the guests because we were 10 minutes earlier than the 8:15 I had written on the invitation......oops.  The baby-sitter was 15 minutes early and then Brad got un Uber because of his leg and I didn't have any stall tactics.  But he was still very surprised and had a great time with work colleagues, school friends and neighbors.  After the pub closed at 11 (which was way too early I think!), we went with Yvona and Marek to this club called Tunnel267 which is right across the street from the Polka Theatre.  It was great fun, and I never even noticed it before!!  Brad and his friends sat and had a couple drinks, but I was on the dance floor.  When I woke up, I had 9,878 steps already!!

3 July- a very rare event happened in Wimbledon:  There was tennis on the Middle Sunday due to all the rain earlier in the week.  It has only happened 4 times in the 135 year history of Wimbledon!!!  Tickets went on sale on-line only at 3 PM on Saturday and Brad was lucky enough to get 2 grounds tickets.  They sold only 22,000 tickets and there was no queing, only ticket holders were allowed in.  Brad really wanted to go, but with his sore leg, he said I should go instead.  Alison was the lucky one to come with me, and Lauren will go to a baseball game with Brad in the US.  It was a brilliant day!!  We arrived at 10:45, and then went to get something to eat because the matches don't start until 11:30.  We split and pizza and had strawberries and cream whilst listening to some very relaxing jazz music.  Alison (obviously!) loved the strawberries and cream.  We went and took a seat on Court 2 and waited for the tennis to start.  First the head judge came out and she inspected the net to make sure it was the right height and the right slack.  And then all the other people came out: 6 ball boys/girls and 6 line judges.  I was fascinated by all the different ensembles each person was wearing. It is immediately obvious what they do by the clothing they are wearing.  We watched the match between Timea from Switzerland and Anastasia from Russia.  It was a good match, and it is amazing to watch the strength and agility of the players.

Then, we decided to venture out and we went to watch an American called Alexandra play on one of the smaller courts.  Her family was about the only spectators, but they called her Ali, which Alison thought was pretty cool.  We found a great spot on the hill and watched another women's singles match that was quite exciting.  The most exciting match of the day, however, was the 5th set on the Isner-Tsonga match.  So the entire match lasted over 4 hours and the 5th set was over half of that time because it was 36 games long!!!!  Absolutely amazing.  There was some great tennis in those 36 games, and Alison really got into it and learned a lot about scoring a tennis match.  After that match was over, we went back to Court 2 to watch doubles.  An American team of twin brothers was playing and we sat two rows from the court.  Wow, was that amazing to be close enough to the court to hear the players talking to one another.  And Alison was so excited because they were American and they won in 2 sets!  The most interesting thing for one is that one of them was left-handed and the other was right-handed but they are identical twins. Perhaps they were groomed that way on purpose.  We went back to the hill to watch the end of another men's doubles and then decided we should head home since it was after 6!!  What a fabulous day with my girl Alison!!  I think she has found a new love of tennis.

4 July- a little different here!  It was just a normal day where the kids went to school and Brad went to Paris for the day.  The kids and I celebrated by going to Wimbledon!  After school, they came home and quickly changed clothes and then we headed to the Q.  The line was pretty short, but we waited for quite a while, as Andy Murray just started playing after we arrived.  We were in line for nearly 2 hours, and then we got in!  First stop was a court where boys singles were playing.  I think Drew was pretty fascinated by the players.  Then, we went to get something to eat and got our food ; just as Murray won his match, which meant the hill totally cleared out. Which was good; however, the match on the big screen was not quite as exciting.  And the weather was kind of chilly.  But I still love being there.  We stayed in the stadium for nearly two hours and then we were off the train station to head home.

All the kids had sports day at school!  This year, I had the priviledge of attending all 3 of them.  Alison (KS1) was first, and they did a lot of team games including over/under, egg & spoon race, skipping and then it ended with a sprint.  Alison came in second in her heat, and I won my heat in the mom's race and even received a gold medal!  Lauren's was second, and she participated in the 400m race, the javelin and skipping.  It was very well organized, and it was so great to see all the support and teamwork between the houses they have.  I came in second in the moms race this time.  Drew's sports day was the last one, and they split them into groups and they did simple races like run between the cones, toss the beanbag, and a little more challenging one...walking on paint cans.  He did great and had a big time!!!  The last race was a very short sprint.

9 July was the Garfield Summer Fair organized by the PTA of which yours truly is the chair so it was a busy time!!  It was a great time, and we raised about £3100 which will go to the new library.  Amazing!!  It is so great to see all the kids having such a great time, and seeing all the families enjoying each other.  We did a "splat the teacher" this year, rather than the ice bucket challenge, and the Year 6 students who splatted Mrs. Summers, Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Shaw really got them, their face and hair.  But the kids love to see it!

And then the next day, I ran a 10k through London.  It is a really great race, as it starts on the mall and then through Trafalgar Square, Regents Street, along the Thames past the London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey and ends in Whitechapel.  I enjoyed the live music along the route, especially the steel drums.  The only thing that would have been better is if Brad was by my side, but his recent health issues prevented that.  But he did come and support me and we had a nice breakfast afterwards.  And then in the afternoon, we attended a cricket birthday party for our friend Magnus!  It was great fun to play and learn the rules of cricket.  His Grandpa was teaching everyone what to do.  In the warm-up, I made two pretty good hits.  None of our kids participated in the warm-up, but Alison stepped up in the actual match and was sucessful in getting at least two hits! The ladies and the boys were victorious over the girls and the men.

16 July we had a small party for Alison with a few of her school friends to celebrate her birthday.  It was very low-key and not very structured, which was absolutely perfect!!  A little crafting, some cake and then free play.  It is so nice to see Alison enjoying spending time with her friends and being silly and outgoing.  Then we went to Wimbledon Park and the kids had a GREAT time playing in the water, the sand and on the playground.

17 July Brad and I used his birthday tickets and took in a cricket match at Lords, the home of cricket.  It was day 4 of a test match between England Pakistan.  It was England's turn to bat, and they needed 273 runs (or something like that) to get a draw.  The match started at 11 and we arrived not long after that.  There is really no comparison for the field; the most similar American sport would be baseball but only because there are runs and batting.  Not many more similiarities really.  Around 1:00 was the lunch interval in which the picnic areas opened and picnics and drinks were consumed until play resumed at 1:40.  Play continuted until the tea interval at 3:40, at which point we decided to leave.  The tea interval is only 20 minutes and then play continues until about 6 PM.  That is quite a long day, and it doesn't always mean that the winner has been determined.  We listened to the remainder of the match once we arrived home, and England lost, but it was to be expected as they had quite a deficit to overcome.

19 July - Drew's last day of nursery!!  In September, he starts school full time, which is crazy to me.  At this age, Lauren was going to school three half days, and Alison was going 4 half-days.  And he will go from 8:45-3:15 5 days a week.  He is ready, and I think I am too.  I am looking forward to the week and a half I will have with him when the girls go back before he starts.

20 July- the girls last day of school.  I am so proud of them and how far they have come this year!!  Lauren has really shown her creativity, and her teacher said in her report that the teachers and the class have enjoyed her performances and imagination.  She received above grade level marks for english and literacy and on target for everything else.  Alison has truly blossomed this year as well; she has made some great friends and she is a great reader and also has lots of great ideas.  She loves to sit and color.  She learned about Van Gogh (pronounced Van Gof in London!).  Both of the girls were crying on the last 2 days of school because they were so sad to leave their teachers.  To us, that is the sign of a great year!!!  I am so very proud of all 3 of them, and I feel so blessed by Garfield and how they have all really excelled there.

21 July-24 July We went to Disneyland Paris for the weekend as part of Stagecoach Dance the Dream.  (Will have to do a separate entry for that one!)

28 July off to the US for our big holiday to see our family and friends!!!