8th BIRTHDAY PARTY

Today was Lewis Birthday party, along with 22 other boys at Laserquest. Lots of fun was had by all. I even managed to sneak in an join in with the shooting, whilst Tony enjoyed his usual view from behind the lens.

Enjoying the wait with friends

Proving to be a great shot

Look at that concentration

The scoreboard from the first session. Mini-man heading the leaderboard AKA Lewis. This was also the 3rd highest score for the whole day so he was a happy birthday boy.

Time to blow out the candles

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY LEWIS

Today was Lewis' 8th birthday. I can't believe that the last 8 years have gone so fast.

He woke up at 5.15am - and was promptly set back to bed, that was way too early even for a school day birthday. So an hour later he came back seeking presents, this time we agreed.

Then it was off to school for the day. He couldn't wait for his chance to wear the birthday hat and as today was a day for Spanish lesson he enjoyed hearing a spanish happy birthday song from his school friends.

After school it was home for family presents (thank you's to follow all round), and then off to Pizza Express for tea. This has become an annual birthday tradition.

Here is Lewis blowing out his candle in his ice-cream desert

and here is the birthday cake that I have made for his party tomorrow

More photos to follow when Lewis has his birthday party with 22 other friends - all boys. Arghhh ...... I think I need an early night tonight to prepare.

Snow Days

Lewis could not believe his luck. One day back at school and then the snow came.

His school must be the only school in Surrey which was still 'open' but with only offering a limited program and finishing at 1.pm we decided that keeping him at home would not cause a problem. As usual Langley Vale, and especially Mannamead, are almost impossible to leave, but we did manage some serious snow fun.

Yesterday the Blake family were excited to be ready for snow fun

We met up with the Johns (Chris, Michael and Nicholas) and created a great snowman

Today I managed to get to work but Lewis and Tony set off for photography and sledging at Nonsuch Park.

Lewis proudly displaying his new sledge (Mummy saw it in Costco a few weeks ago and we had to have it - I knew it would come in handy eventually)

Off I go...

This is sooooo much fun

New Years Eve 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We spent a fun New Years Eve at Nina and Chris' house for dinner and a lot of fun. The theme for the evening was sitcoms and everyone had to dress as a character. Tony chose Del Boy Trotter and I was Patsy from Ab Fab.

Chris had also spent a long time preparing a sitcom quiz. I have clearly watched too much tv over the years as I came second (Tony came third) - actually I won as Nina eventually admitted to cheating!

The children were really well behaved but still managed to have lots of fun too! The final two fell asleep at around 11.30 (Lewis was of course one of them).

Bolly Darling??

From L-R: Margo (from The Good Life), Jeeves (Jeeves & Wooster), Renee and Michelle (Allo Allo), Phoebe (Friends), Frank Spencer, Del Boy and Patsy.

The Flight Home

We flew home from Miami on Christmas Day Night. The airport was very quiet and so was the flight.

Tony had decided that as an extra Christmas present for Lewis and I he would use his airmiles to upgrade us to first class. A real treat as I had never sat this far forward before.

I could get used to this view

Lewis looking super comfy - even Pudding had his own seat

I'm not sure Lewis will want to travel any other way now - who can blame him when he can have his own comfy bed and sleep through moderate to severe turbulence for 6 hours!

Miami for Christmas

With flights cancelled from New York on Sunday were lucky to have booked our flight to Miami for Monday morning when everything was starting to get back to normal after the heavy snow.

We arrived in a cooler than usual Miami on Monday lunchtime with temperatures struggling to reach 60'. That did not stop Lewis' desire to get into a swimming pool. He even started to say that his body was missing chlorinated water!! So as Tony and I sat and watched he bravely stepped into the water swam as much as he could and got out half an hour later complaining of a headache! I must say he really was brave - it took me until Wednesday for the water to have warmed up enough for me (Tony managed it on the Tuesday).

No swimming in the sea for us. Apart from the fact that it looked pretty cold and the current at times was strong the marine life was a little off putting. One morning Lewis decided to count the Portugese Man of War jellyfish that had been washed up on the shore. In a 1 mile stretch of beach he counted 500! The hotel pool was definitely the place to be.

Just one of many jellyfish washed up on the shore

We worked out that we were walking an average of 5 miles every day between our hotel and the main shops and restaurants. Lewis was not too keen but soon settled into the walk along the beach and boardwalk that ran from the back of our hotel. The few days were really relaxing, just what we all needed.

Lewis looking really happy to have reached the end of another long walk

One of the views during our walk

Christmas Day was fun. An overnight visit from Santa ensured that Lewis' day got off to the right start. Then a 1.5mile walk along the beach to our favourite breakfast restaurant, followed by a swim in the pool on the warmest day of the week. By now the temperatures were just hitting 80' - perfect.

Lewis, Sunglasses, a Nativity Scene and an outdoor Christmas Tree

VISIT TO NEW YORK

After much time away from the computer the New Year brings me back to the blog. So although overdue the following Xmas and New Year posts follow in quick succession - I promise.

Our pre-Xmas trip away began in New York. We were all last there before Xmas 3 years ago and some previous memories for Lewis added to the excitement. We left a snowy London behind us and were so lucky as many flights the next day were delayed from Heathrow by 12 hours.

We arrived late on Friday night and went straight to our hotel. This was a great find on Expedia, as newly refurbished I was able to find a great discount at this fantastic boutique hotel within walking distance of all the New York sights. http://www.ink48.com/.

Check out those bath robes - Lewis thought the kids size was great!!

First stop on Saturday morning was a visit to Macy's to see Santa.

Then it was a walk up to Times Square to Toys R Us and a ride on the Ferris Wheel. Followed by a visit to the store that Lewis was most excited about - Nintendo World. Two floors of Nintendo DS and Wii games with opportunities to try out the new ones - he was in heaven.

We bumped into Spongebob whilst walking around the city!

My favourite part of New York at this time of year is the huge array of lights and Xmas shop window displays. The tree at the Rockerfeller center is amazing.

On Sunday morning we woke up to Blizzard 2009, but the New York did not come to standstill and we were able to continue with our plans. We were up at the top of the Empire State Building by 9.30am and I have never been so cold, the wind was bitter but the views were fantastic.