The last month has seen Meaghan and Noah celebrate their birthdays. Noah had been counting the sleeps until his birthday and was absolutely thrilled about all his presents from Australia. He's been scooting around Oxford on his new scooter (now fits in with all the other Oxford kids) and loves showing it to every other kid and parent in the park. Mark took Noah to the 'Lazy Town' concert for his b'day while Meaghan showed him a night on the town with dinner at Jamie Oliver's restaurant and then the 'Horrid Henry' production at the Playhouse. Speaking of nights out, we had a great night out with Jules and Anna, as well as Mike, one of Mark's old Melbourne High mates who has been living in London for the past few years. It was a real school reunion for Mark, Jules and Mike - the first time they've caught up in about 7 years - who would have thought then that they would have next met in a pub in Oxford?
Pesach has come and gone and we were invited to a Seder at some friends of Mark's parents in London. It was a lovely evening and we had a great time.
The Easter long weekend has also come and gone and although the weather has been great either side of the long weekend, the Easter weather was typically bleak and wet. Friday was rained out and we were stuck indoors. On Saturday we went to Stratford Upon Avon and visited the house where Shakespeare was born as well as the cottage were Ann Hathaway (his wife) grew up.
We had plans to visit Bath on Sunday but disaster struck when our car broke down on the motorway about 30km out of Oxford. Ended up getting towed back to the garage and then stranded at home for the rest of the Easter break. Of course the sun came out on Monday so we took a long walk through the fields of Port Meadow, much to the annoyance of Noah who described it as the 'worst day of his life'. That was until we found a pub with a huge beer garden and jumping castle which kept Noah and Ethan entertained for ages while we drowned our sorrows in a few ales.
With the car back on the road, we drove to the Cotswolds today and visited some quaint, picturesque little villages with great names such as Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold and Lower Slaughter.
The kids are really growing up. Noah's a real chatterbox and a little charmer, talking the ears off anyone who'll listen. Ethan has a real personality - cheeky as ever and hilarious. He's finally pulling himself up now so he might actually decide to walk some day soon (he's getting way too heavy to carry).
Finally, the Blues are providing great satisfaction (that's Chelsea, not Carlton) . Having adopted Guus Hiddink's team, we've watched them progress to the FA cup final and Champions League semi-final - and with the Premier League coming to the end of the season, should be an interesting month or two ahead. Never thought I'd get into the 'football' over here but it draws you in. Who needs Fevola when you can watch Didier Drogba (although we do miss Juddy!)
