A Matter of Choice

It was quite tricky listing Louka's 'loves' as they didn't come to mind as quickly as Leo's do.  I looked back at the blog archive to see last years 'Loukas Loves'  and remembered I didn't actually do one - I remembered that I had thought about doing a 'Louka doesn't like' post instead because our happy little soul was always quicker to tell us what he didn't like! I suppose it is good that he has a strong opinion!

Dear Louka,  Now you are four!!   Happy Birthday little man! The day has come, today is your birthday!   You have waited such a long time for your special day haven't you, asking so many times when it would be your turn but we are finally here, you are now four years old! I loved it when you said last week with such awe and wonder ' I just can't believe it when it will be my birthday'  like you could never imagine that it would finally come.  You don't remember your birthday last year so it must be so much more exciting for you after seeing Leo's and everyone elses come and go over the last year.  You have changed so much in the last year,  your vocabulary and general knowledge have increased dramatically.   You have done brilliantly with your swimming, being able to swim a short distance without your arm bands, and even swimming underwater to pick up toys! The skill you have at playing the wii astounds me,  not on...

I was browsing through some old blog posts this evening in an attempt to find some good 'uns to share over on facebook in the absence of me actually having the chance to write some new stuff, and I came across a post from July 2010 called 'The Five Year Meme'.  In it I answered a few questions about what my life was like and where I wanted to be in five years time so I thought it would be a good time to update it (albeit a year late!) Us five years ago.  Where were you five years ago? Five years ago I had lived in Cyprus for less than a year, I had a 14 month old baby,  and knew very few people in Cyprus. We were living in the same apartment as we are now, but had no plans to have a second baby.  Aaron was working 6 days a week in Limassol for a Kitchen company, with one and a half days of a week, early mornings and late nights. I was happy but not yet settled, I loved Cyprus but hadn't found my feet and I was desperately looking forward to a 3 week trip...

Another yearly tradition which started when Leo was 3,  in addition to the 'Interview'   is the Leo / Loukas loves...' post. All these years have passed and still 'Raff' is on there,  with the addition these days of 'Bunny'  his two best 'friends' as he calls them and bed time toys.  New additions for this year are taekwon-do and geocaching, and he is increasingly enjoying photography 'like Daddy'  mainly using his Nintendo DS and playing with the filters and special effects making some great creations.  Of course his main love and most common way to spend his time is attached to a device (much like his mother!)  so video games are high on the list, but swimming always comes up tops!

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 ...

Earlier this year I started to see adverts for a new family attraction opening in Limassol - Cyprus Land Medieval Theme Park.  I was very interested in what they had to offer and of course just had to go and take the boys for a day out there. Now,  having lived in Cyprus for almost seven years I wouldn't say that I was overly optimistic about what the place would be like.  I knew straight away that 'Theme Park' does not mean theme park in the way you would expect having heard of Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and such like.  I was certain that by thinking along the lines of 'themed park'  I would be closer to the mark. Not that I was going to let that put me off, I will happily travel the whole island to visit something that sounds worthwhile and I knew that my boys would love the knights and enjoy the trip regardless. We arrived at 11:30am,  the park was quiet apart from a group of children who were left by the time we'd completed the first activity...

You may know that I do like a challenge every now and again and so it may be no surprise to you that Aaron and I decided that Klik Photo CY as a company would get our end of the island involved in a brilliant World Record attempt and a charity fundraiser that started off over on the west side of the island. Back in 2006 Cyprus had the Guinness World Record for the longest chain of bras and Aphrodite's Bra Chain are hoping to reclaim the title again in 2017 by collecting over 200,000 bras.   The attempt is being supported by the Guinness World Records and will also raise much needed funds for the Archangel Michael Hospice in Paphos in the process. After the event all the bras will be donated to charities which will repair or recycle them for women in developing countries. I loved the idea and am excited to give people on my end on the island an easy way to be involved, regular readers will know how much I hate the east of the island to be forgotten! Photo Credit: James Walt...

I am predictably late with Leo's interview for this year, I did manage to record it reasonably close to his birthday which was back in May but I've had it saved on my phone for a few weeks without getting it up on the blog. It was not the best recording and I had it in mind to redo it but the star of the video was not so enthusiastic about a rerun so I thought we'd stick with the original! Just in case you couldn't hear all the answers..... 1. What is your favourite colour?   Silver (not what I was expecting, it's usually blue!)  2. What is your favourite toy?      He hasn't got one, but when pushed he said Rhino  (a small plastic toy he got from school)  3. What is your favorite fruit?    Pear (another unexpected answer, I was expecting grapes) 4. What is your favourite tv show? Teen Titans  (No surprises there, including the fact that he sang it!)  5. What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch? ...

So the UK is now set to leave the EU, almost half the country voted to stay but the majority of voters wanted the hell out of it and now they will hit a long period of uncertainty, and debate and an endless stream of tripe in the news constantly. I very rarely talk about or even think about politics and I've certainly never considered writing about them but as an expat blogging Brit living in Cyprus I felt I should at least say something about the biggest political event in my lifetime so far. I've always avoided politics, having never really understood most of it and always thought it to be a load of old waffle.  (much like this blog but I'm not trying to change the world!) I did vote once, just so I could say I'd done it but I can't remember when or even be 100% sure who for.  (It may have been Lib Dem on the assumption that Tory and Labour were both talking bull and they seemed a safer vote but I couldn't be sure now) I assume that if I still lived in ...

Last month I got to act like a tourist for a week when my friend came to stay with us from England and I finally got round to having a proper trip to Nissi beach in Agia Napa.  I had been once before with Leo as a toddler but it was unsuccessful due to a temper tantrum (him not me!) and we ended up staying only 15 minutes! It's a gorgeous beach, and recently voted one of the top 5 in Europe, very busy in the summer and packed full of tourists every day.  As I prefer to visit quieter beaches when I take the boys out it's not one that I fancy taking them to, so I thought my visitor gave me the perfect reason to go and explore. We went on a Wednesday morning, not that the day of the week matters to anyone on holiday, it was heaving with people by mid morning, all ages and families with kids were there but there was a distinct younger crowd  - after all it is known as the party beach of the town and THE place to go. Nissi beach viewed from the island We sat and had...

Leo turned 7 last month and we celebrated in style with a Star Wars party.  Although Leo hasn't actually seen all the films he has played the Lego Star Wars game on the Wii many many times and is a bit of an expert at it so he loved the idea of a Star Wars theme. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I'd never properly watched the films myself  (I had tried several times but they never grabbed my attention) but who needs the exact details when you have pinterest on your side! It had been a very busy week for us work wise but I'd been surprisingly organised and got most things ready in advance of the day itself. It was a small party with just my/ his closest friends and so I was very relaxed about the whole thing luckily.  There was a big countdown to the day by Leo, I'd given him little tasters of what we were going to do but he mainly wanted it to be a surprise so on the day they played inside while I prepared food and set up the 'Jedi Training Area' o...

Dear Leo, I hope you had a very happy birthday, we had a very busy weekend of celebrations this year!  You all seemed to have great fun at your Star Wars Party and we had a lovely family BBQ afternoon on Sunday - with 'Daddy's Yummy Chicken' and halloumi and pringles at your special request! Starting First Class The biggest milestone for you this year was starting big school and going into first class. It took you several weeks to get used to it as it was a big change but you love your teacher Loukia and now have lots of friends at school.  You are very good at your lessons, especially maths and your Greek language is amazing.  I am so proud of how well you speak and understand the language. Homework is still a challenge for you, although you very good at it when you put your mind to it, you still need quite a lot of encouragement to get on with it! English lessons are your least favourite thing about school, as naturally you find them far too easy! You ...