Candy Floss

That was one big candy floss

Every evening just outside our appartment in Barcelona, there was a fun fair. The children weren't interested in having a ride on a bumper car or any other of the rides for that matter, however, they definitely were in desperate need for a candy floss at the end of each busy day.



a little later

Alexis' eyes were bigger than his tummy, he just couldn't finish his candy floss. It was just too much for one little boy!

Barcelona

Barcelona is a 5 hour drive from our house, and after years of saying shall we, we actually drove there this summer. Why did we wait so long?

We got to visit some of Barcelona's most famous markets. Even bought some pata negra, a little piece though, when 1kg costs 170 euros you can only afford a small piece.

We visited the aquarium. We arrive there late, hoping it wasn't going to shut too early. We should have known, Spanish live and eat late, so the aquarium was open till 11pm, which was great for us.

We all loved the Picasso museum, even Alexis and Marie-Kate loved it just as much as the aquarium, so that's saying something. The queue was long but it really worth it( since then, we visited the Expo Picasso Cezanne in Aix en Provence). Alexis and Gaby have been producing Picasso style art work ever since.

Back to school

Ready for school? Not quite.

When I remember, and when I have time, I try and take a photo of the children on the first day of school. Gaby, Alexis and Marie-Kate started back to school last Thursday morning and as you can see by the photo, I remembered and found some time, shame though, they weren't happy at all. School wasn't the problem, my children love school, it was Gaby who had upset Alexis, hence Alexis' despondent look, and as for Gaby, her smile is as false as one can get.

Charlotte when back to college (3eme) for 2 hours in the afternoon, and Oliver to high school on Friday.

Now I have 4 school agenda's to check, 1 teenager to push to get his homework done ( MK doesn't have homework and the others are independant and organized).

O and C are the only ones that go to school on Wednesday's, like today. The house is so calm, no teenagers for another couple of hours...phew.

Caught

Spots...... They both are just discovering what it's like to wake up with a couple of new ones each day. It's their main subject of conversation apart from when they are moaning about their teacher's downfalls. They examin each others faces regularly looking for new arrivals, with comments like " Wow, that one enormous, you'd better go and squeeze it fast" (they can become quite revolting...) As they are both quite vain, they'll try anything to reduce their numbers.....After I took this photo, they applied a home-made facial mask that consisted of egg yolks and honey.....Guess what? Two weeks later, they still have spots, only this time, more!

Summer souvenirs: Leeds Castle

Before coming back to France via the Euro Tunnel we visited Leeds Castle which isn't in Leeds but in Maidstone! We had a great time visiting the castle and the grounds. The entrance fee as quite expensive for the 5 of us ( O and C stayed in France), costing more than £70. At least the children know the name of one English king, Henry VIII. Gaby has even written a story about him. She's always writing...In fact it was this week-end Oliver had his first homework assignment in French, using several chess pieces as the caracters (a king, a queen, 2 towers, a guard and another character of your choice) he said if could think of anything to write. Gaby looked at the subject and came up with something fast. I might post it on the blog (it's already be typed up by G on the computer).

Back to the castle, the grounds are so extensive, you would really need a whole day there to explore every thing. There's an enormous adventure playground for children, so big that we lost the children a couple of times, that was scary.

We enjoyed the castle visit too, the children had hidden objects to find in each room, so that kept them amused.

Summer souvenirs: Featherdown Farms/ Un Lit au Pré

We really enjoyed our comfy camping holiday in July.
Our tent was more like a house but with canvas walls and wooden floors, real beds, a flushing loo and cold running water, no electricity, no hot water and a wood burning stove to cook on. When it got dark there were oil lights and candles to provide light. which gave a lovely atmosphere. There was an honesty shop where you could buy meat from the farm, eggs (although you can also collect eggs directly from the chickens), ice cream, beer etc. The children loved to go there, choosing ice-lollies and treats and writing down what they took on the honesty list, after 5 days the list took up a whole A4 page! We managed to really relax and have fun with the children.

Summer souvenirs: Forever England

Gaby found another Jacqueline Wilson book to read (or two)


We found a great farm shop in Rudgick called secretts, if only we had one here in Sanary. Gaby's pictured above with her soon to be beheaded Gingerbread man.

It rained a little everyday. We got caught it a down pour on a 8 mile bike ride to The Red Lion village pub in Slinfold. The food was great, it would have been better if we could have eaten outside in the beer garden.
We did manage to eat in the field outside of our tent a couple of times. We had the place to ourselves....