Rain & Shine

So, I was off to the summer concert yesterday at the kid's school. Of course being England it decided to be a bit rainy. It has been beautiful outside for at least a week but with a planned activity outdoors this calls for one thing - rain. It didn't actually downpour - more of what J5 refers to as "spitting rain". So, there goes our outdoor summer concert. We are then packed in to the tiny gym in the school. It's humid and packed full - what better place to cheer your child on.

My pictures are horrible - this comes from being at the very back of the room. But what can I say - I was picking up some last minute picnic items and then had a desperate need for a coke with ice from Burger King. I mean seriously, priorities ya know!!

Okay back to the summer concert. After my rush to get there and then the beginning of the rain I stand in the back. I look at the program and of course my little one is LAST. I have to sit through the nursery children putting on a WAY TOO LONG performance. The program says they will do 3 numbers - first 2 were poems/group readings. Then a little song. LIARS - it was not 1 little song it was 15 minutes of watching preschoolers dance around singing about earthworms and dirt. (The theme of the summer concert was "An English Country Garden") Fine if it is your preschooler, but since it wasn't there I stood in the hot, humid gym wondering how much longer this would go on. Then we get a short performance from the year 2s, then the year 1s and finally to J5. Of course she does a fantastic job.

Since this is a schoolwide concert out go the pre-preps (Nursery-Year 2) and in comes Prep. I would have enjoyed it more had my children performed something new but they repeated performances/readings that we had all seen before at the drama festival in February. Oh well! J9 did sing a few new songs in choir. One was Heat Wave - just what we need right? They were set to sing "Singing in the Rain" but decided not to tempt fate seeing it had stopped raining and we were still planning a picnic on the lawns after the concert. After the choir concert I grabbed the children and ducked out before we got stuck listening to the orchestra and small ensembles. Having been in the gym for almost 2 hours already it was time for some fresh air.

We gathered all of our things from the car and spread out our tarp and blanket for a picnic. A friend had given us both the tarp and blanket when she went back to the states and I was confused about the tarp until our first picnic experience when I realized how wet the ground can be after sitting on it for a few minutes. And yes, I should probably invest in a proper picnic blanket. We sat on the outskirts, joined by two other American families. I wonder if they realize we are excluded or if they just think we are exclusive? In all it was a nice afternoon.
J5 - the girl in the center/front

J7 all the way to the right

J9 also all the way on the right