EURO 2012!

A day trip to Ukraine? Sounds unlikely, if not impossible, but that's what we did last week!

We were lucky enough to get tickets to see England v Sweden in Kiev (just me and my husband - the boys were looked after by my ever obliging Dad - they were not happy to be missing out though...) - and what an experience it was! leaving Gatwick at 05.30 was a little exhausting, but we didn't mind - then a day in Kiev (where it was a lot warmer and drier than the UK) mingling with fans of all nations.
 Contrary to media reports, we found no problems with racism obviously apparent, and the atmosphere was very friendly, with lively banter enjoyed by all countries, but no trouble at all. The cuisine was, erm, interesting, and the architecture imposing. The people were friendly and polite, and the weather was good - what more could you want?
The game itself was amazing - great result for England, but we feared all was lost when they went 2-1 down. The next two goals proved us wrong, and we went away happy with a 3-2 victory - incredible! The stadium was dominated by blue and yellow, as sweden had far more supporters than England, and Ukraine national colours are also blue and yellow, so the neutrals were largely dressed in Swedish colours too, but England supporters sang well, cheered loudly, and made up for their relatively small numbers with enthusiasm!

Great Garden Moments!

Furniture Village are running the Great Garden Moments Competition at the moment - the prize is a fantastic garden table and chairs set, as well as £250 Waitrose vouchers!

So here's my entry:

Well, if I'm honest, the garden is really my husband's domain - I enjoy sitting in it and soaking up the sun (when we have any) whilst admiring the beautiful plants - but he does all the hard work!

He spends any spare time he has in the garden, and the results are definitely worth it - we have a fantastic array of beautiful flowers, a lovely green lawn, and best of all, some rather tasty fruit and vegetables to eat! Another bonus is that the children enjoy growing their own fruit, and can even be persuaded to eat their own veg... and of course the lawn comes in handy for a spot of football and cricket practice!

My favourite garden moments have to be those when the weather's warm and fine, the kids are playing happily in the garden, and I'm relaxing with a good book whilst sipping something cool...
My husband would say that his favourite garden moments are those when he's busy digging, pruning, and planting.
My children say that their great garden moments are when our friendly squirrel comes visiting, or when they're picking their strawberries ready to eat, or when they're watching the birds at the bird table, or maybe just when they're having a game of football with their friends - so many great moments to choose from!

We're really that we have a lovely garden to enjoy- it's not the biggest in the village, but we think it's one of the best!

Here's a few photos of our garden and the things we enjoy doing in it - sometimes looking lovely, sometimes (like when we did our extension) looking less than lovely!

Here's my favourite corner of the garden....

and here's the garden in full building mode!

our apple tree provides us with some great apples...

despite the abuse it gets!

some of our tomatoes.....

and our raspberries!

My older son took this picture of a flower in the garden.

and this is a great memory of a birthday party in the garden (5 years ago now!)

Relaxing with friends...

anyone for cricket?

or bubble blowing?

The cat, of course, thinks she owns the garden!

chocolate and wine in the garden - another of my favourite combinations....

So many Great Garden Moments!

York City get Promoted 2012!

Perfect Day - York City play-off final 2012

What a couple of weeks for our local football club, York City - first a trip to Wembley to win the FA Trophy, then a week later back to Wembley for the play-off finals, and a 2-1 win over Luton Town means they're back in the Football league!
We went to Wembley for the play-off final, and what a fantastic day we had - it was a chilly overcast day, but the atmosphere was great, and the result even better. Luton scored in the first couple of minutes, but we weren't giving up, and a couple of (slightly off-side...) goals later, York were celebrating in style!

Here's a video of our day out - one version to music, and another with the boys narrating....

Stronger | Seattle Childrens Hospital

My older son is learning this song - "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson - with his band at the moment. We came across this video on youtube - a poignant, inspirational and uplifting lipsync version by the children in the haematology / oncology unit at Seattle Children's Hospital.

As my son said "it makes me think how lucky I am that I don't have cancer, but they show how you can have fun even when things seem bad"

Wembley here we come!

So our local football club, York City, is at Wembley twice in 2 weeks! This weekend it's the FA Trophy final against Newport, and on 20th May it's the play-off final, against Luton.
We're going to the play-off final, and the kids can't wait - we went 3 years ago when they lost to Stevenage and the atmosphere was fantastic despite being on the losing side. Hopefully we'll win this year, I think we're due some luck - having been the losing side against Oxford too last year. The only problem for me will be that if York are promoted into the Football League then my annual chance to Cambridge United (my team) locally will have gone. So our tickets and train tickets are booked - a great end to the season. Of course the kids still have some football to play too - an all day tournament this Saturday and another in a few weeks. My older son's team (U10s) came runners up in their league - so no doubt we'll be at the award ceremony for that - and he got "Manager's Player of the Year" award too, so a good season all round! sometimes I think that the "close season" is but a myth however!

Chilly Powder Skiing

Happy Easter! We've just returned from our favourite holiday place!

http://www.chillypowder.com/

A really lovely place to stay in Morzine, in the French Alps. We started by visiting in the Summer, after a random internet search. The kids were 5 and 3 at the time, so we needed to stay somewhere which would be suitable for them. This chalet suited perfectly - fantastic food, great facilities (hot tub, garden, kids play room with toys and games, adults library with pool table, free wifi, onsite childcare available if you want it)
The owners Paul and Franscesca live next door with their 3 children, and immendiately we felt at home - the children played together, they offered advice about things to do and we felt as if we were joining a house party rather than staying in a hotel. The hospitality was warm but not intrusive.

5 years later and we're regular visitors, both in the Summer and the Winter. The ski area is massive, and many families appreciate the excellent childcare available in the chalet - though we no longer need this as the kids ski with us after lessons. Our older son was involved in the local weekly ESF ski race and was delighted to get his bronze badge on his first attempt - though Eloise, the owners' daughter and 4 days younger than him, is on the cusp of her gold badge, and ski races at a National level! The " private group" ski lessons arranged by Chilly Powder (if that makes sense - Chilly Powder hire instuctors for the week and arrange the children into group lessons) are ideal for most children, our younger son had a group of 2 children last week!
Excellent food is one of the main selling points too, with the children eating together earlier than the adults, and restaurant quality food for all, not to mention free flowing good quality wine at dinner for the adults.
We love it, and have already booked for next ski season, with the children pressing us to come in the Summer this year too!

 The home run to the chalet - deserted!

 Always time for some football in the back garden...

...or a dip in the hot tub after a hard days skiing!