Well the last week has been dominated by T being a little imp. For those that don't know last Wednesday T decided that a cent coin looked rather tasty and proceeded to swallow it. There then followed a trip to the doctors that managed to last the entire day. Phia found the whole thing totally hilarious (as did T himself - he's telling everyone that will listen 'I eat a coin all up - it yummy!!') and we are now waiting for the coin to make an appearance. Its been nearly a week and no sign. Really can't face the thought of spending more time at the hospital - it is a hateful place! As well as this the kids detest it as the week before last they suffered the indignity of having to have jabs without any kind of warning. They wanted to give them 4 each one after another! I refused and they looked at me like they really couldn't see what the problem was. In the end they had 2 each and left the place screaming and vowing never to return (although we have to at some point as they have to have the second lot - is not going to be fun). I think the problem was I had no time to prepare them for what was going to happen as I didn't know myself. Anyway here's hoping that the coin makes an appearance and that the bribe of some lovely present with get us through the coming jab ordeal without as much fuss as last time!
Ste and I both now have our Californian driving license. We both passed with a similar number of faults. Mine were for things like not getting in the bike lane before turning right and speeding (it was very difficult to stick to the 25mph all around the test centre!) but Ste got 7 all for the same thing of not stopping properly at a stop sign! This of course was instructor error rather than him doing anything wrong!! Anyway thank god thats all done with. Driving around here is a royal pain in the backside though. There are just so many lights and if you're turning left at them they can stay on red for over 5 minutes - it took me 40 minutes to travel a little over 5 miles yesterday. If only the American government would look at how roundabouts help ease the flow of traffic, they could really use some over here!
Anyway on to the main event of last week - we signed a lease on another house in the city of Mountain View (where I've wanted to live from day 1). Its only a 2 minute drive from Phia's preschool (instead of 20 minutes) so will get us out of spending hours each day in the car and is also in the catchment of a decent Mountain View school which was one of the main reasons I wanted to move. To know she'll be able to go to a good school next year is a huge weight off my mind. The house itself is a traditional 1950's American style house. Just one level, so no stairs for T to chuck himself down which is great! Its a 3 bed but has a converted garage which we'll use as a playroom but can also double up as a proper guest room for when people come to stay (so please come to stay - we've definitely room now!!). The drawbacks are no a/c (but Pops thinks this won't be a problem as 1950's house were built to stay cool!) and only 1 bathroom. I can't remember when I didn't have 3 toilets but I suppose its less cleaning! Still one more would have been nice. The best bit about the house though is the huge garden filled with lemon, orange, plum and fig trees! Its really lovely and we're so missing having a garden especially as summer has finally arrived and kids can't wait to move and have the run of it. I thought Phia might be reluctant to move again but she is actually is as excited as me. Its very homely and I can see us being happy there for the next couple of years. The lady whos renting it to us is called Dorothy and I think the children charmed her as quite a few people applied to rent the house. She only lives across the road and I can see her being a regular visitor which is absolutely fine by me. Anyway a week on Saturday (25th) is moving day. Ste has persuaded one of his new colleagues to come and help us move (with payment being beer and pizza) and so hopefully it shouldn't be too stressful as we still do have most stuff in boxes. We email everyone our new address - I promise it won't change again for at least a year (Ste would kill me! [Ste's note: yep!])
Phia started her ballet lessons this week. She looked lovely in her little purple leotard (will put some pictures on facebook) and seems to enjoy herself although I've no idea what she did. The adults aren't allowed in the classroom and she refuses to show us what she did! Still she's looking forward to next week. Shes also really started to enjoy preschool. She even told me she loved it the other day which is a real turn around and I'm really pleased. They are good at doing exciting things like every Friday is water day and they can go in in their swimmers and run through sprinklers (although I think this did actually scare her a bit!) and they do some really lovely art work. When we got there this morning a lot of her class (there 12 in a class) were all ready there and they all turned round and yelled 'Sophia' and one little boy came up and gave her a hug. She wasn't at all bothered but I love that fact she seems to be well liked. I'm definitely warming to the place although they do do some strange things if you ask me. The focus on a different letter every week but they teach them the capital version - since when does anyone write in capital letters? Sorry but the teacher in me can't comprehend this! They also say some strange things. The teachers call the children 'freinds' and as I walk down to the classroom to pick her up after lunch I often hear 'Ok friends, let go potty'!!!
Ste is still really enjoying work and kids and I have now got ourselves into a nice little routine in the week. I set up a British Expat mums group when we first got here and we have meet some really lovely people through that. The kids and I have a birthday party to go to tomorrow afternoon and we're having a family bbq in a couple of weeks. I have also joined another American playgroup and we do a couple of things with them every week. I went out on a Karaoke evening last week (I did sing even though I only had one glass of wine! - in a group, not on my own mind!) and we're going family bowling on Friday evening with the same people. So were are gradually getting ourselves settled in and although I still miss home a lot its starting to get a little easier which is good.
After a couple of weeks of really pants weather I was beginning to worry that summer was actually never going to arrive. However it now has and it was 30 degrees c today, beautiful blue skies - really glorious. It just better stay that way!
We are looking forward to having some visitors over the next month. My mum and Rich come up on the 24th and when they go its not long before Ste's parents arrive. In fact I worked out we only have 7 days in July when we are just the 4 of us! We are really looking forward to having everyone (and Ste and I might be looking forward to a bit of babysitting and maybe a couple of lie ins too!).
One the last note the kids and I discovered that we now have celebrity status in Cambourne. The church coffee shop (which we used to frequent a lot) is advertising with an A4 poster featuring the 3 of us (thanks for sending Laura!). It makes me feel a little homesick but also good that we're making sure people don't forgot us. I quite sadly might put the flyer in a frame!!
Anyway will post again after our move xx
