A Matter of Choice

Last year we went to a great Christmas party at a friends house, as well as yummy food, silly games and a few drinks we took part in my first ever proper 'Secret Santa' Our Santa's all did well,  my gift was a Memory Jar along with a fancy pen and colourful papers to record our best memories throughout the year.  Of course this time last year I'm sure my secret Santa had no idea of what was to come, assuming that I would easily fill the jar with days out, parties, weddings and memorable moments.   It would have been all to easy to leave the jar empty, I'm sure after all that many people have started a similar jar in more 'normal' years and failed to fill it as the months go by, and 2020 hasn't given itself the best of times for people to look back on with fondness.  However, I have managed to pop quite a few memories in there since January. They are mostly simple things that made me smile on the day they happened,  things like meeting a friend, or everyo...

Christmas is coming,  whether you like it or not, covid isn't going to stop it. It's going to be a strange one for many this year of course but it's still going to happen regardless. Lots of people have had sudden changes to make with the latest lot of Covid restrictions meaning all bars and restaurants have to close (unless offering takeaway) in Cyprus, and many have known for a while they would have to make changes to their usual plans.   I hate seeing that 'Christmas is cancelled'  though there has been a lot online to be sad about this year but that is the most depressing thing yet.   Christmas plans may have changed either a little or a lot but the 25th December will roll around regardless!  I love Christmas, and the month of December and I feel so very lucky that our Christmas will not look much different to usual.   Apart from school celebrations being cancelled (which one of the boys is very happy not to have to take part in...

I last published a blog post on here at the end of March.  The Cyprus lockdown had begun but had not yet reached the strictest measures.  What a strange time the last couple of months have turned out to be, a time that none of us could have predicted or even imagined just a short while ago.  Like many others I was full of plans, ways to keep busy, and making lists of educational online activities, home schooling plans and fun family activities to do. Exercise plans, jobs around the house and work.  I was going to blog!  (I always say that, but I do still miss the ol' blogging days)  I've not done everything, but I've not done nothing either. While it hasn't all been wall to wall productive time, I'm doing pretty well I think, I'm sure others out there are 'doing better' but I'm even more sure there are many doing worse..... and by worse I don't mean doing less productive things, but fighting with some sort of guilt that they are not 'doing en...

Well, that escalated quickly didn't it? Only a couple of weeks ago the word seemed like a different place,  then schools closed,  followed by restaurants, cafes and pubs,   then 'non-essential' shops and now  we have to text for permission to leave the house (or complete a form when the text message service is not working.) It's a crazy situation and totally surreal. We are doing fine,  feeling grateful for many things knowing that so many people are struggling in so many different ways.   We can't go out to the beach, and we can't meet our friends but it's a small problem compared to many, we can power through. At the start I thought slightly enviously of the people who could lay around watching endless TV, and spending their days exactly as they wished, while we tried to work from home, cook dinners and entertain and educate two over excited kids. Then I realised that they are actually a great distraction, although drive us crazy, th...

Cyprus has three main waterparks, Waterworld Themed waterpark, Ayia Napa, Fasouri Watermaina, Limassol and Paphos Aphrodite Waterpark.  We live on the east coast about 15 minutes drive from Ayia Napa so Waterworld has always been our park of choice but I'd fancied visiting one of the others for a while now and we decided last year to try it.  My boys are currently 10 and 7 years old and our annual trip to Waterworld is one of the highlights of the year.  It's not cheap for a family costing easily over €100 for entrance tickets, food and drink throughout the day but it's our special treat and you can often make savings by looking out for discount vouchers towards the end of season.  We were lucky enough to also get discount vouchers for Fasouri last year so visited both.   We had a fantastic day at both waterparks and we spent a lot of time comparing the two. Waterworld Themed Waterpark, Ayia Napa.  By far the boys favourite...

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 part...

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 ...

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, ...

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 d...

I realise it may seem a little late to be sharing summer highlights for my readers in the UK, but for those in Cyprus I'm sure you can understand. Apart from the fact that the sun still shines here and the days are warm (I say warm I mean around 25 to 27 degrees so jeans and duvet weather now)  the summer 'season' runs till the end of October so it's about now that we all take a breath and change gear for the winter.   This year was very different for us as a family, extra work  as I started a part time seasonal job in addition to our other commitments, and for the first time, the boys went to summer school.  I was a bit apprehensive about it and hoped they would enjoy it, although I didn't want to force them to go if they really didn't get on there for some reason.  Our school holidays are very long, almost 13 weeks, so the chance for summer school is good for everyone.  Luckily they really enjoyed it,  so from when school finish...

Next week is Leo's 10th birthday and as I started to write my usual birthday letter I have just realised that I broke the habit of a (blog) lifetime last year and didn't write about his party! After so many epic themes (Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Spiderman, Lego, and Thomas the Tank Engine)  it was always going to be tricky to beat,  it was entirely Leo's choice (unlike a couple of the others where I may have gently planted the idea!)  So we had a Marvel party, complete with fancy dress - adults included!  With a 'Hulk Smash' Cake, Thor's Hammer marshmallows among other yummy treats.  As well as the traditional pass the parcel we had a couple of super hero training games 'minute to win it' style.  It was full fancy dress too, well until much of it was abandoned due to the heat! It was a great afternoon /evening for us adults as well as the kids!