A matter of choice

After the success of last years Halloween event at Cyherbia Maze and Herb Gardens I was really excited about this year's offering.... yes I know it's for the kids really but I'm just a big kid at heart!

Keeping it fresh, and offering something different for this year the theme was 'Halloween in Wonderland'. Inviting everyone to 'jump down the rabbit hole' and explore the 'Magic Maze' the 'Haunted Herb Garden' and discover many more suprises along the way.


The Queen ordered her Royal Guards, the Aces to keep watch in the maze.  Our task was to find them, answer their question and collect a card from each of them.

Leo and his friend love the maze and Louka ran around happily behind them, not having the pushchair for the first time was a huge bonus for us as pushing it around on the gravel is hard work, especially when you keep going the wrong way!

As well as the Aces, the maze was hiding some spooky suprises too...


Scattered body parts, spide…

Growing up I always hoped I would have two children, I was an only child and I often envied my friends with siblings.   I never really understood the bond between them, and how they often seemed to absolutely hate each other yet obviously still love them.



Aaron is one of three children, and many years ago told me that he'd like to also have three - quite understandably he's now reconsidered this and agrees with me that two is just fine!

I'm sure that had I only had one child, that in some way I'd have always wanted another one, and would have felt sad as so many of my friends went on to have a second.  Now at least I know, (and just in case for some strange reason I forget, am writing it down)  that I don't want another, they don't get easier the more you have, and anyway, I don't like odd numbers and being outnumbered by kids is probably just asking for trouble!

There was a point when Leo was about 2 when I thought there was no way I could do it all again…

Once upon a time I dreamed that I might have my own swimming pool, it seemed like the ultimate luxury and something I'd only have if I won the lottery. Whenever I went on holiday the pool was where you would find me, well, there or the bar!

Five years here and still the novelty has yet to wear off of having our own (communal for the apartment complex) pool. It was top of my wish list when looking for our apartment after all those years of dreaming of being able to swim whenever I wished.

It's the place we visited most this summer, the only way to cool down briefly in the middle of summer, and so convenient being just downstairs.

At the start of every year Leo would take a while to get back his confidence but with each year that passes it takes a lot less time.  Back in May, when I was being a big girlie wuss and refusing to get in the pool because it was cold,  I insisted he wore his armbands when I wasn't in with him, it quickly changed to him being allowed to take them …

Many years ago I sat with Cyprus guidebook excitedly flicking through the pages dreaming of all the places I would visit when it became our new home, no need to pick the best few things to fit into a 2 week holiday, I was anticipating going everywhere and doing everything.

Of course, when we first signed our 'UK' lives away and made the decision to move we were yet to have children - footloose and fancy free with no consideration to driving distances, nap times, pushchairs or little toddling legs on uneven ground or whining children.

Five years on and I still feel I am yet to see the 'real' Cyprus, or even the 'real Cyprus' as portrayed in the guide books,  the museums, archaeological sites and traditional villages.



With absolutely no intention to do so, most of our friends seem to be fellow British expats and on the still rare occasions we go out we end up in 'expat pubs' as that's where our friends are which doesn't really help in getting to …