Those Shades

Looking through our holiday photos, trying to decide which ones to print, it struck me that our not so little girl is truly becoming a young lady. 

For a couple of years now, she's been shooting up, and is almost as tall as I am now, but up until this summer, she was still very much a kid. One that enjoyed going to theme parks, zoos, playgrounds, and was happiest lounging around in her oldest tee and comfy shorts. A kid that always used to run away from the camera cos she was too shy to have her photo taken!

This summer, Emily metamorphosed into a glamorous young lady, helped along in part, by a certain pair of shades that she found in a little store in Stratford-upon-Avon. She wouldn't be parted from them, wearing them in rain or shine; and was frequently caught posing for the camera!

Suddenly, it seemed, going to parks was just too uncool, preferring shopping as a pastime. 

Sigh...I guess this is just the start of things to come...I can see makeup and boyfriends looming in the not too distant future...

Old Friends

The last month has just flown by! Since our return from Manila we've had the usual busy run up to end of term for the kids, moved house ( took us 3 weeks to pack all our stuff...just how much junk can be accummulated in 4 years is unbelievable!), and taken a 2 week trip to England.

The pace has been hectic, so it was really nice to be able to take a break ( we left 3 days after moving in...piles of boxes still unpacked, faulty plumbing and all) and just enjoy having time to ourselves as a family.

The highlight of our trip was meeting up with old friends and just catching up ( with some sightseeing and shopping thrown in, of course). 

My roommate from boarding school had invited us to her wedding and it was fantastic to be able to catch with her, and our group of friends from 20 years ago! The girls were mortified when photos were passed around - th

ey couldn't believe how weird mum and her friends looked at 18 years old!

I also managed to catch up with a couple of my closest friends from University, so it was a trip full of reminiscing about old times, as well as catching up with all we have done. 

We have all moved on, to different parts of the world, added spouses and for some, children, and a few extra pounds...but just for a few hours, it felt like nothing had changed, and the 15 to 20 years since we last saw each other just melted away.

No doubt we will try to stay in touch, but sometimes life just gets in the way...we have our families, routines, jobs...everything that keeps us so busy. But that's ok, cos I know that these lovely people will always be friends of mine, and maybe we'll get to meet up again in the not too distant future.