A matter of choice

As we start another decade I can't help but wallow in a bit of nostalgia.  I love a flashback as you may know so have been enjoying a trip down memory lane.

They don't seem to make decades like they used to though,  it doesn't seem possible that it's been 10 years since 2010,  where did it go?

How is it that when I hear 2003 I still automatically think people are talking about 10 years ago? Is that going to finally change now?

For Christmas this year Aaron joined the boys and became the owner of a Kindle, he's been very anti Kindle preferring (justifiably) to read a proper book, but it got me thinking about tech gone by.

In the 80s I used to watch 'Tomorrows World' with my Dad and I was excited about all the new and amazing things that would appear.    Do you remember how cool CD's were going to be!?

Dad used to rent our TV and video player so we often changed them as the years went by. It meant that we didn't have old models going spare though but…

Happy new Year!

2019 was a good year for us, and I hope 2020 will be even better. Of course at this time of year you can't help but look back over the year that has passed,  and with this year being a brand new decade (

By the way, it absolutely is a brand new decade, just in case you had any doubt.   I can't even begin to describe how cross I got reading a load of comments on facebook from people arguing that there was another year to go.  I assume these people have forgotten the well known decades of the 80's and 90's just to name a couple.

Anyway because of the shiny new decade many people are sharing the #10yearChallenge photos.  I am loving them all,  it's fascinating me to see how things have changed in the last 10 years.

The first change of decade I remember was the start of the 90's, as I was 12 in 1989.  It seemed like a huge thing to be happening and I couldn't imagine what I would be doing at the end of the decade, apart from partying like it wa…

Everyone has a Christmas traditions story to tell and I love hearing how they differ between families and yet are still all so similar,  always full of memories.

Santa or Father Christmas? 
Growing up he was only ever Father Christmas to me but somewhere over the years he became Santa!  I don't know if it's anything to do with the fact we live in Cyprus- what do people say in the UK these days?   I don't know if it was me that started saying Santa to the boys or if I got it from them, but they never say Father Christmas.   The children at school would either say Agios Vasilis or Santa so they were quite confused the first time someone asked them about Father Christmas.

Christmas Eve Traditions
What did you do on Christmas Eve?   Were you a church family going to Christingle or Midnight Mass,   or did you stay home and drive your Mum crazy as you were so impatient for the big day?
We sometimes went to the Christingle service at our local church, but apart from that we had no…

Earlier this year we visited the Cyprus Historic and Classic Motor Museum in Limassol. It's been on my 'to-do list' for several years now and I'm glad we finally got there!



The museum originally opened 2014, and moved to larger premises in 2015. Today it covers an area of 3000sq meters and more than 150 exhibits covering more than 130 years of motoring history.

Each of the vehicles had an information board, in both Greek and English although of course the boys were not patient enough to stop and read these without prompting.  However they enjoyed listening too Aaron tell them about the cars, especially when the stories were personal.

He was amazed to see three makes of cars that his Mum had owned,  the Talbot (Matra) Rancho, Range Rover and Fiat 500.   This brought the cars to life for the boys as he told them about days out he'd had as a child in cars like these.





My absolute highlight was the red double decker bus for several reasons,  as a child I'd always w…

I recently found Game of Life in my local thrift shop and was so excited I brought it straight away to go home and play with the boys and relive the childhood memories.   We had a fun time playing despite the fact it was much more complicated than I remembered and probably a bit too old for Louka.

After discovering that a friend of mine also loved the game as a child we decided we should have a Game of Life evening.   So a few days later accompanied by pizza and a couple of GOL newbies we set it up and played.   There was lots of joking about how it was a little misleading and our lives have not been quite so easy,  some debate over the compulsory marriage and house buying squares and lots of laughter.



It got me thinking about the other games I played as a child.

There were so many,  I think my present from my grandparents each Christmas was a board game, and over the years I acquired a massive selection. My parents spent ages playing different games with me, Mum for the 'kiddy&#…

We celebrated Louka's 7th birthday in our usual way this year with a pool party.  It's an obvious choice for a birthday in Cyprus at the end of August.


He was so excited in the lead up to the day,  it always seems to him that his birthdays take a long time to come round,  being that he is only 7 of course, and the fact it's later in the year than Leo's. 
This year, as the youngest of the group is now 6 it was much better knowing that they can all swim very well.   Still quite stressful keeping an eye on 6 crazy loud kids (plus a crazy adult!)  with a load of inflatables in the pool but between 5 adults in and out the pool too it was easily doable. 

We made water balloons for the first time which was a huge success,   they were surprisingly hard to break too. I'd always thought they broke so easily and took a long time to fill but that was before I'd discovered the packs with the attachment to go on a hose pipe!
The older kids took charge of the games with them…