A Matter of Choice

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...

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! ...

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...

Can you believe that today is the 1st September? It really doesn't feel like it! Apparently it should cool down by a degree or two from tomorrow, and as much as I love the summer we are so ready for a little respite.  It's been a great summer but I'm looking forward to the routine and the gradual winding down of summer.  We have one week left of the holidays before school starts and 8 weeks left of the summer season.  I'm sure it will start to really feel like September soon enough

For the first time in almost 8 years I have gone a whole month without a single blog post! I was actually a bit annoyed when I noticed (I even considered quickly writing one and backdating it, but realised it was a bit pointless!) but decided to look at it another way and be proud of the fact that I've been blogging at all for so long, and I'm still here, just about anyway. So,  what's been going on with us? Lots and lots, and I'd love to blog about them all but I'd be here for weeks trying to catch up, and although I think an evening balcony blogging session is due I have been saying that for a long time. Highlights it is then, The school summer holidays started about 6 weeks ago, we are now just over the half way point. It's a long time but I do (kind of) like it, it's just a bit tricky attempting to balance everything but hey, I've got it easy compared to many so I'm not complaining*. (*sometimes I may be complaining, but I do try not ...

It's my favourite time of year here in Cyprus,  (well, it's one of them!)  the weather is warming up nicely, nearly everything is open again and summer is very nearly here.  Time seems to speed up as we hit this point every year, once Easter has been and gone, there is more going on, more places to go,  the beach becomes more fun (I'm never really a fan of wearing coats and welly boots to take the boys to play) and we start to spend most of the time outside. So far I've only paddled in the sea but the boys have both been in.  I have braved the pool though, only once so far - it was really cold and the boys were laughing the heads of at me as I screamed and shouted my way through my first few lengths.   It got better though and I happily stayed in for almost half an hour.  It's great now that Louka doesn't need me to be in right next to him as long as he has his armbands on he is ok with me sat on the sunbed watching.  Plans are ...

It's Sunday again and my second Sunday photo post in a row! I'm picking more random photos this week,   MY Sunday photo / photos posts have no rules,  accompanied by words, or not if I don't have anything to say  (ok, so that is quite unlikely!)  and not necessarily taken in the previous week,  or even by me, but it will be someone I know of course! Today is the last day of October and therefore the official Summer season comes to an end here in Cyprus.  It's been amazing,  our second full season of working and great fun.  With nearly 60 events this year we have had over 8000 photos taken in our photo booth and more laughs than you could shake a prop at. Aaron and I have travelled all over the island from Agia Napa to Paphos,  Limassol to Nicosia. We have been to so many different venues that I have now lost count,  and seen so many gorgeous views and simply stunning sunsets,  so I thought these would be great photos to sum ...

It's almost the end of October and I can now announce that I am out of the swimming pool until next year.  I was last in a week or so ago and although I managed to swim several lengths I wasn't happy unless I was moving,   Leo loves his swimming and being the 'English' baby of the two he can take the cooler temperatures more happily but I think even he agreed it's just a little too chilly now. From April Leo and I swam,  actually I think Leo even managed a little swim in March,   and Louka started to join us in May.  We call him our Cypriot baby (born here in August and covered in blankets by the midwives in 45 degree heat)   as he is always cold and really only enjoys the pool in the hot summer months. This was Loukas year though,  although not strong enough to be on his own out of reach of us or the edge of the pool he has ditched the armbands! With a bit of help and confidence building from his SwimFin he went from not being able to swimat a...

I had a sudden memory pop into my head today from a childhood summer and realised one of the ways in which my childhood was very different to the boys. It was always an exciting treat to have a paddling pool out in the garden or the chance to play in the sprinkler as it watered the grass, I had a slide in the garden that was also sometimes put into the pool which was even better! The actual memory which surfaced however was how cold the water was, I suddenly had a flashback to a lovely hot summer's day, but icy cold water going to the pool.  I remember the pool being in the bit of the garden that got the most sun, and my Mum filling the pool in the morning so it would be warm with the heat of the sun for the afternoon.  I think she even used to add hot water to get it warmer for me to play in! I loved playing in the sprinkler and remember screaming with laughter as the cold water hit me, playing in it until the grass got too muddy and it was turned off.  Kids seem ...

I'm sure it comes round quicker every year but it seems that summer is now pretty much here in Cyprus, the weather has been improving slowly and steadily over the last few weeks,  getting a little warmer interspersed with a few storms or windy  / cloudy days.  I tried to be organised this year and actually sorted through our summer clothes a bit earlier rather than wondering where my shorts and strappy tops are when it 'suddenly' tops 30 degrees outside! We've been out and about a lot more this winter than in previous years, and recently had several trips to the beach but not armed with swimsuits and towels so far. Leo and I have both been ankle deep in the sea but Louka will not go anywhere near it - far too cold for him yet! I think it's pretty much time now though (watch the temperature plummet now I've said that!)  Last week we went to a new beach for us and met up with several friends, it was a perfect afternoon and the kind I'd dreamed of ...

Moving onto July in my look back over 2015 I notice that I took very few photos that month, we were out a lot with work but the boys love that, in fact they are unimpressed we are now in the quiet period and keep asking when we are working next so they get to have Nana and Grandad come up to look after them! I had a blog post in my head for a long time, titled something like 'Summer 2015, powered by Shark and Mcdonald's' as for a while it seemed that we were living on drive through takeaways on the way to Paphos and Limassol and energy drinks.  Apparently the shark drinks didn't give me enough energy to actually write the post as well though! The highlight of the month was my lovely friend Sam's birthday night out, where we literally danced until dawn!  Starting the night off with a civilised dinner at a chinese restaurant, followed by drinks in Rock Garden (far too loud and shouty for my liking but don't tell anyone!) and then ending up in Car Wash where ...