What are you wearing?

Me? I'm wearing:
A long sleeve brown Old Navy T.
Old Navy boot cut just below the waist jeans.
Brown boots.

Of course, because it is June 25th, 55 degrees and rainy!!!!!!!!!

Remind me of this post next year when we are back in Tucson and I'm complaining that it is 106.

Rain, rain go away

What is today's date? June 15th. In most places this would mean summer weather. I think we had summer here 2 weeks ago and that was it. It has rained for 3 days straight now. And contrary to popular belief it doesn't rain in England ALL THE TIME. And it certainly doesn't rain continuously for 3 days.

So, I wake up this morning and yep it's raining. The cat NEEDS to go out but is refusing to go. She's not that dumb. We don't have a litter box so, sucks to be her, out she goes. When I finally let her back in and nicely dried her with a towel she loudly voiced her displeasure. I've never had a cat talk as much as she does. She's a good cat though.

Okay, then off to take the monsters to school. The roads are full of water on the sides. The local pub has the fire department there pumping water out of the basement. Things aren't looking good. Most of the roads I take are uphill which just means I have to get through the lower part of the village and then it's all free and clear. To emphasis what I mean about England not getting continuous rain - in the village I drive through a man hole cover was completely popped up and sideways as water had flooded the entire area. Poor little sheep were stuck on little islands as the fields are filling with water. England gets rain - but they aren't prepared for RAIN.

I have no problems getting the children to school. Upon arrival word is a friend of ours is stranded. His car engine died on him and he's stuck at his car. Someone took his children and gave them a ride to school but he was still at his car - if someone could go back and give him a hand. Okay, so I drive this way anyway so I say I'll go get Mike. I still can't figure out why I didn't notice him on the road on my way but maybe he was behind me? I drive all the way out - no Mike. Realize they meant the other road in to the village so I go around. TOTALLY FLOODED. I backtrack around to the other side to try that direction. TOTALLY FLOODED. At this point he's on his own. If the man can be that stupid to drive his BMW through a small river and then NOT hitch a ride out with his children there isn't much more I can do for him. Honestly! Had he gotten in to the car his children hitched a ride in he could have come up to the school. He could have made phone calls AND he could have then gotten a ride the rest of the way to work, a whole 2 minutes from the school. MEN!!

Now I have to go turn the heat on. It's cold in here today!

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