A Matter of Choice

Regular readers of my blog know that we've been to many of the events at Cyherbia Botanical Park and Labyrinth and this weekend they held their 2nd Annual Fairy Folk Fest. For the last few events we have been working there with our children's Photo Booth and although they were fun days, we didn't get to enjoy them with the boys so I was really looking forward to visiting as a guest - and walking round the maze and gardens for the first time in ages! The event promised to be a day of adventure and enchantment and it didn't disappoint. Despite the fact that I have 2 boys who would usually think faeries are 'girlie' they loved the day - especially duelling with the knight and planting 'magic beans',well, fighting and digging in the dirt - what's not to love! In the Herb Gardens our task was to spot all the faeries, and find out their names (they were named after the plant they were hiding by - a great way to get the kids to read the inf...

I love this time of year in Cyprus!  Over the last month the tourist areas have become a hive of activity as restaurants, hotels and bars prepare to reopen after the winter.  Carnival, Green Monday and the bank holidays, Easter and the anticipation of the summer season just around the corner gives us a spring in our step and a sense of optimism. It all begins with Tsiknopempti (which literally translates to 'Thursday of the smoke of grilled meat', due to the gorgeous aroma of meat being barbequed all over the island).   It's not widely celebrated by many expats here, I knew nothing about it until the boys started school but for me it now marks the start of the celebrations.  Last year I joined Leo at school to watch the celebrations and enjoy the BBQ laid on the for the parents, staff and children.  This year Leo is in big school and once again I went in to join the fun. It was a little strange as I was (as always) the only English Mum there, but...

There are many things that I imagined I would do (or not do) when I had children and in most cases it turns out that I was completely wrong - providing fresh home cooked meals every day, no junk food, limited tv and technology time, educational arts and crafts etc but one thing I was right about was the fact I would read to my children and try and encourage a love of books in them. As a child I absolutely loved visiting the local library, and spent many hours there choosing hundreds of books over the years. I remember the excitement of becoming old enough to get an adult card and suddenly being able to take out 9 books at a time.  I think they actually let me get one early as I used to go through the books so fast! When Leo was just a couple of months old I took him to a Baby Bounce and Rhyme time at the library, and although he was way to young to appreciate it I know it is something I would have continued, and I'm sure we would have been regular borrowers of children...

Having been bitten by the geocaching bug we have been on several outings in the last month looking for them in the local area. The app that I use gives you a list of those local to you so it's an simple case of scrolling through until one takes your fancy. I had my eye on one located at the beach by the Crystal Springs hotel in Pernera and thought it would be an ideal time to go searching for it while the hotel was still closed.  As we got out of the car it started to rain slightly but I was on a mission so I decided we would carry on,  Louka was not impressed as instantly complained he was cold (despite the fact it wasn't). It didn't take long though to realised that my phone was playing up and I really had no idea where to start looking.  I was feeling a bit bad that we were out in the rain (with no waterproof clothes) so we jumped back in the car for a sandwich snack stop.  The rain suddenly stopped as we drove away so I decided to head to the nex...

My Mum recently sent me these photos as she realised that she was the same age in these photos that I am now, and coincidentally Leo is about the same age I was.  They were taken in Son Bou, Minorca in 1984 on our family holiday.  My earliest memory of going abroad is probably this holiday,or the one after it as we we went to the same place.  I can remember several things from them although I guess many of the memories are due to the photos I have seen so many times over the years.   In the picture above I am holding a little toy monkey which was called Pepe for some reason. I don't remember how or where I got him but I know I carried him around the entire holiday. No idea what happened to him afterwards though as I don't remember having him at home.  It was also the holiday of the 'Whisky Cake' a story which has become a long running joke over the years. Mum had ordered whisky cake in a restaurant after having it a few days previously ...

Here's a little glimpse into what we've been up to in February inspired by the photos on my camera roll - aka how to be a lazy blogger! It seems that we mainly went to the beach, although in reality I realise that I don't tend to take photos of us all vegged out in front of the tv so my folder of photos does not always reflect real life!  None the less, I have actually lost count of the number of times we went out, either for a little walk or to have a run about on the beach (the boys, not me obviously. I don't 'do' running!) Most of the trips out included geocaching hunts, it gives us a location to head for and a 'reason' to go, although we went all that successful, especially on the first attempts.   We found quite a few over the month though and most importantly had loads of nice afternoons out in the process. The boys are starting to get better at amusing themselves, making up games with stones, or bits of wood and random objects fou...

Like many Mothers getting everyone ready for school isn't my favourite part of the day, more so on a Monday as they are usually even less enthusiastic. Louka is getting on fine at school now but he still protests each morning and needs wrestling into his clothes and tons of encouragement to get out the house,   Leo is generally happy to go to school, he just needs quite a lot of prompting to get moving! Two weeks ago we were almost ready to leave, the boys were watching Peppa Pig and I asked Leo to turn off the TV at the end of the episode while I went to the bathroom. Of course I had assumed that at this stage I could leave the room for a moment without war breaking out, but of course I was wrong! I returned to both boys crying and shouting at each other, Leo holding his face and Louka screaming 'thats why I hate Leo' It appeared that Louka had taken offence to Leo turning off the TV like I'd requested so he punched him in the mouth - that would be bad enough ...

Love it or hate it Valentines is now over for another year and the overpriced red heart related crap will leave the shops to make way for creme eggs, bunnies and such like in preparation for Easter. This month, for my column in Daxi magazine I wrote about a previous Valentines day where I tried (and failed) to create the perfect romantic evening, (you can read it online) and it got me thinking as to when my views changed on the day. Looking back at my teenage years Valentines could be a stressful time (back in the day when we had nothing much to stress about!)  It was almost like a competition, do you have a date?  Will you get anything?  How much does your boyfriend actually love you?  What amazing romantic stories will everyone be sharing at college on the 15th? Back then was a time of generally uncertain relationships, they came and went more often than you could keep up with and it felt like Valentines was a day to 'prove' you were loved in a time when y...

Every year in the winter months the Salt Lakes in Larnaca are host to thousands of migrating flamingos, am impressive sight to see in all the many photos which pop up online every year but one I'd never seen for myself. So just before the boys went back to school I suggested we drive to Larnaca and have a look or ourselves.  After our recent geocaching adventure I thought I'd take a look at the app to see if there were any near our destination, and the boys were excited to see that there were several.  There was a geocache at the Kamares Aqueduct which caught my eye and we decided to head there first.  I'd seen photos of the aqueduct and always fancied going to have a look but always decided it was a bit pointless to drive there and then have the boys moan there was nothing to do, plus the fact I didn't know where it was! Of course, having set the GPS on my phone for the cache finding the aqueduct was not a problem. It was quite interesting driving round b...

I've always been a party person, and looked forward to partying with my friends - although previously the main ingredients to the event would have been alcohol, and music.  If you spoke to the 20-something me I'd have been amazed that a 7 year old's birthday party would be just as entertaining. I've been to many of Sam's parties and Tiny Acorns events over the years and they are always brilliant  but this took it to a whole new level - it was a Super Party! In actual fact, it wasn't a party - it was a Superhero training academy.  The trainee superheroes took part in many activities,  from jumping through the ring of fire, defeating the baddies and learning to identify the other superheroes and more.  The games were played in teams so the older kids could assist the little ones and they all worked very well together.  There was a bit of adult assistance when it came to wrapping the baddies but mainly because we wanted to play too! ...