Man Is She Smart!

Well, life in America is sure sweet. You don't know what you're missing until you get back to it. Right side driving. Lots of shops. And the schools. Where the kids wear what they want!

Of course it wouldn't be a Conderman blog with the pictures in order! But here they are on their first day of school. This is Ava's school, but Eli sure thought he was going there too! He thought wrong. But not to worry, Eli is going to Mother Goose Pre-school. It is a fantastic place that serves as a pre-school from 9-11:30 and a daycare for the rest of the day. And like Ava, he is loving it! (Pics of his place need to be taken but don't worry ... they're coming!)

I can tell one of Ness' biggest pleasures was going to shop for cute clothing for this cute girl. Note the little balls on the socks!

And so here they are in front of the school. East Elementary in Pendleton, Indiana. BTW, for those who may not know, Ava came into the school a few weeks earlier to sit with the Principal and take a battery of tests. The results of the tests were that she is WAY too smart to enter Kindergarten with the rest of the 5 year-olds. And so she is the smallest kid in Mrs. Cornejo's 1st Grade class. And she is loving it.

Which is good. Because with the way Social Security is tanking, it would be good to have a doctor or nuclear engineer in the family.

More pics coming up.

Ok - A Life More Ordinary

And so it turns out that our life is a little more ordinary after all. (About 50% more ordinary actually.) But not to worry! For the 3 people that may still actually follow this blog, it will turn into the story of these 2 buggers! So don't go away folks. Any need of following the lives of Ava and Eli will be satisfied or your money back. (And yes I realize I don't have the wit of others who write these things. But there will be lots of pictures! Becuase THAT I can do!)

Happy Father's Day

These two kiddos have a pretty great Dad. Poor guy spent father's day taking apart things like a 14 foot trampoline and spackling all the holes we have managed to put in this house! Our movers arrive on Friday and the kids and I will be flying home to Indiana on the 12th of July! Of course we are completely prepared and organized for our trans Atlantic move...especially the flying pigs...
Our last Circe spawn is awaiting his new home...we waits loudly, especially at night when we are trying to sleep. The kittens have been a fun experience for the kids but this momma is a little fed up with Ava's arms looking like she perpetually lives in a thorn bush!
I told the kids to "dress up like Daddy" for father's day pictures and this is what they came up with! Pretty cute huh?
So Happy Father's Day Eric! And Happy Father's Day to our Dads! Hope it was full of golfing/sailing/good food and family!

LIttleport Fayre

Every spring, Littleport puts on a small fair with all the usual overpriced food, games, and rides. But my secret love of candy floss (cotton candy) and watching my children enjoy riding the air planes makes the trip a must!
Hangin out on the Harley and eating the rest of the cotton candy! Yummy! And why is there a statue of a Harley in the middle of our quaint little British town? Well, Littleport is the birth place of Harley of Harley Davidson. Who knew?
Poor little Ava is now the proud owner of her own pair of glasses. And just let me tell you...trying to keep those things on her face is no small task!
Oh yeah...the sixth food group...and trust me, I had my own too!
Riding the chopper
Sissy bug too!
I had to wake little man up to bring him to the fair. Sometimes he wakes up like a little ray of sunshine, and sometimes a little thunder cloud....we were leaning more towards stormy that day.
Takin on the fun house!
And the very favorite...the swings. Those smiles are priceless aren't they?

And here is a little bath time song...just for you!

Day of the Dinosaur

Today we took the kids for a last hoo-ra of dinosaur park...when we got home Ava took a "series" of shots with my camera. Not a good day for T-rex
I found these amazing kid chop sticks yesterday, so I had to order Chinese take out today so the kids could try them out...Eli ate about 30 pieces of rice (one at a time) and sent the "naughty" chopsticks on a flight across the room...
Ava did better but insisted she was eating "Chinese kangaroo"...mkay....
Ava and Lily in the Norfolk lavender at dinosaur park...I swear they could be sisters!
Me and little man...we are so photogenic today aren't we...
The three musketeers off in search of a T-rex
Hangin with me mates on a dino foot...brilliant...
My beautiful little girl...so grown up since the first time we came to dinosaur park!
This peacock stood and gave the Triceratops in the back ground "what for" the entire time we were there...I finally got it to turn around so I could get a picture and then it went right back to scolding those cheeky Triceratops!
A little too cheerful to be in time out-huh?
Ava had a case of hyper mouth the entire way to dinosaur park...all 62 minutes...the kid doesn't even need to draw breath...
If you ever need to wear your kids out before bed...push up and sit up competitions...its amazing!

On a silly little side note...I wanted to see if I could create a garden cupboard for under 20 pounds...so I bought this old thing at the junk shop for about 10 quid...added some left over house paint and a few creative touches....
Ok...so really it was just cheap therapy disguised as a place to store wellies!