171 days

A week today we will land in the UK. Dan will be working on the London Olympics and we are joining him for the five week period that he is there. We're hugely excited about seeing our family. It's been 171 days since we moved here - almost six months - and watching our parents with the grandchildren is what we have missed the most.

I can say with some confidence that we have not missed the UK summer weather.

Some of our recent sunshine photographs are below, and come with a warning to those of you not used to sunshine. You might need to put your sunglasses on before being exposed to the blue skies below.

Wiggling hips to the 70's rock band playing at Foster City Wine and Art Festival.
Art?
Neither Dan nor I saw any art.

Annie and her friends at Shoreline Point.

An afternoon pool party - and the amazing tree house in the garden, with views of the whole Bay.
Annie climbed her way, barefoot, to the top without warning, and just waved down at us.
Dan turned around after climbing half way up, shaking his head in disbelief.
You can just see the crows-nest in the top centre of the photograph.

The view from Shoreline, and the children sitting quietly taking it in.

Sausalito - getting the boat over from the city

View of the city in the opposite direction...

A church picnic for Melinda's birthday

A day at the pool - Annie lined up with adults to jump off the diving board - she is fearless!

Keeping cool at Mitchell Park, Palo Alto in the water park.

And even when the sun goes down the view is great - from our house, bay in background.

We had a bit of an adventure last week when I went for a walk and noticed John and Mary's front door opposite wide open. The Marple in me decided to take a closer look. I could hear loud music being played inside the house, and had no response when I called John or Mary - an elderly couple who Id met at the Jubilee Tea Party I hosted. I called a friend and we agreed I should call 911. How exciting! When the said friend joined me (not wanting to miss out on the excitement) we got comfortable on the driveway and watched two police cars arrive, the officers arm themselves, telling us to stand back, and then they started shouting warnings to any naughty person who might have been lurking inside before they went in aiming their guns. It turns out that John and Mary were in Tahoe, and they leave a radio on to freak out British ladies who go snooping. I was congratulated on my fine efforts, and later received a bunch of flowers from John and Mary. All in all, great fun, Annie enjoyed it and my friend confirmed that I'm 'real fun to hang out with!'

Last month was Tom's First Birthday. We enjoyed a morning at the park, lunch with Daddy Dan in the garden (and a deer who wandered up to our fence to try and steal some cake) and afternoon dinner and drinks with the Coakleys. 

Good Morning Birthday Boy!

The Cake - the same candle used on Annie's first birthday cake

Tasty....

Birthday Boy

Just beautiful. My beautiful, loving one year old boy.

And another anniversary was celebrated last month, since it's ten years since Dan introduced himself to me at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Wales. So a photograph of us below, taken ten years ago when our stomachs were flat, our hair wasn't speckled with grey and hangovers could be cured with a bacon sandwich and a hair of the dog.  We celebrated with an Indian takeaway from a restaurant recommended to us by Dan's colleague. Dan drove to the restaurant after football one night, sweaty and still in his playing kit and flip flops. He had no idea it was a fine dining restaurant and looked completely out of place waiting for his meal! He came home with the most expensive mouth sized portion we have ever seen! We laughed about it and opened some wine!

Venice, September 2002

With 171 days and a 10 hour plane ride almost within reach we talk more about what we are looking forward to when we return to the UK.  We both miss tasty meat - I have yet to see an animal of any kind grazing on green grass on the side of the hill. Honestly, Dan and I were both drooling over the deer we met on Tom's birthday. Meat here is tasteless and neither of us trusts the organic, hormone free, antibiotic free advertising. A lamb roast is most certainly on the wish list for our time in the UK!  But the fruit and vegetables in California are so tasty - especially the peaches, nectarines, year round asparagus and sweetcorn. I miss old buildings. I miss wet grass in the morning. I miss fresh cool air. Dan misses watching football and reading the papers. But we're both loving the soccer, yoga, zumba and even pole dancing that we've tried since being here!  I miss roundabouts. I still struggle with STOP signs.  But more than anything I miss family. I ache to see the people we dont Skype very often- especially my parents, Nan and brother. The time difference is a pain to work around, despite the wonder of Skype.  I sometimes have a wobbly day where I long for familiarity, where I just want to pause this great adventure, take a breath and go at it again with renewed energy. And that is exactly what this five week trip will give us! A chance to touch base with friends and family, take stock of our life in California and all that we have achieved, and start planning for the next phase when we return!

So watch this space for news about our UK trip, and to those reading this in the UK who didnt know we were coming 'home' - Im sorry I haven't arranged to see you! I have a playdate with my family that is far too important to cancel for anyone!