After the extreme heat of Bali at Christmas, we thought maybe a cooler climate would be nice for half-term. A couple of years back we had some fun skiing in Holland (quite an accomplishment, I know) so this year thought we'd try it with real mountains. We took advice from our Swedish friend Malin and headed off to Åre, which is about an hour's flight North of Stockholm. We rented a super log cabin in the hills above Åre Björnen and spent the week skiing, boarding, sledding, snomobiling and generally having fun. At the start of the week it was around -2°C and we were wondering if we had over-invested in thermals, fleeces and ski-jackets. However by mid-week we were very glad we had as the temperature failed to make it much above -20 °C even during the day!
This year we decided to escape the wind and snow and spend Christmas in Bali. We spent the first week in the busy South of the island near the capital Denpasar, staying in a very nice villa with a thatched roof and a lovely swimming pool. The boys learned to surf at Kuta beach, and the girls did a little horseriding on Seminyak beach. We visited a few of the many fascinating Hindu temples onthe island, met some monkeys in a wood and went for a ride on an elephant.
For the second week we travelled to the less populous North of the island and stayed in a lovely hotel in Tulamben. The snorkelling there was outstanding - it was like putting your head in my fish tank, except a mile long and 100 yards wide.
Latin homework for half-term was to build a model Roman amphitheatre. Never being one to miss an opportunity that involves cake (or even one that really doesn't, if you were to read the homework sheet), Catherine decided that sponge would be the ideal medium for the amphiteatre construction. With some help from cakemeister Laura, a creation to rival even the world famous golden apple cake was born, complete with Jelly baby gladiators and a gummy bear audience baying for... well, jelly I suppose.
Sadly the last child has finally lost interest in making scary lanterns, thus leaving me once again to pursue my lonely craft. I guess she did at least go to Chessington dressed as a ladybird, so there is hope for humanity yet.
This year an innocent satsuma fell victim to my desire to leave no fruit or vegetable unlanterned. Tasty!
Chris has added another creature to the menagerie - his name is Smokey and he is a three-month old British Blue. He's very playful and quite adventurous, having already made a few short trips out into the garden. The other cats aren't quite sure what he is or where he came from, and are generally more frightened of him than he is of them.
Jasper is feeling a little sad that he is not the cutest cat in the house anymore, but maybe he shouldn't have eaten quite so many pies!
This Easter's holiday extravaganza involved the somewhat eclectic combination of Minneapolis and Las Vegas. Minneapolis to visit the lovely Louise, Ben and Fiona, and Las Vegas to soak up some sun and take in the sights.
The weather in Vegas was perfect - hot enough to lounge by the pool, but not uncomfortable when ambling up and down the strip. We took in shows by the Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil's Ka (nothing to do with a small Ford vehicle, as it turns out) and something quite freaky involving lots of water called La Reve. All very exciting. World economic meltdown had reduced the Bellagio's room rates to Travel-lodge style prices which partly compensated for the shocking state of the pound.
The weather in Minneapolis was also unexpectedly pleasant. Last time we visited at Easter there was still snow on the ground, whereas this time it was mostly warm and sunny and just perfect weather for walking Fiona and Brodie round some of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes.
Catherine has been learning about Greek myths in Latin lately. I know, that doesn't make any sense to me either. Anyway, they were learning about Paris and the golden apple, and were given an assignment to make something based on the story. Catherine decided to liven the assignment up by adding her favourite ingredient - CAKE! Rather than making a papier-mâché Aphrodite she elected to bake a golden apple cake.
Cake version 1 actually contained apples, but sadly did not have the structural integrity required to support itself. Version 2 tasted less of apples, but had the necesary strength to stand up for itself. Laura helped out with Cake, the Sequel along with the challenging feat of wrapping a sphere in a flat sheet of icing and painting it gold. It looked lovely, and tased good too apparently. Sadly I can't verify this myself, as after Catherine had shared it with the class, teacher took the left-overs to the staff-room to ask for a second opinion on marking. Definitely worth an A+ I think.
So well done Catherine and thanks for helping out Laura. Looking forward to the wooden horse made of entirely of chocolate fingers.
Sadly there is only one child left in the house now who looks forward to making lanterns at Hallowe'en and that's me. I guess such simple pleasures cannot compete with the wonders of zombie killing and Rock Band. At least Catherine still knows how to join in the simple pleasures, had made herself a Pirate costume (with a little help from Malin ). Hence the eyepatch.
The search for new and more exotic fruit & veg from which to make a lantern continues unabated (for previous efforts check out 05, 06, 07). This year's lantern was made from a watermelon - much nicer to work with than a pumpkin and sweet-smelling when burning.
73 years young and back on tour to recoup the retirement savings allegedly embezzled by his ex-manager, Leonard Cohen was on outstanding form at the O2 Arena. The tickets for this unexpected come-back tour sold out within minutes when they were released but thanks to some crafty work with the redial button Kathleen came up with the goods.
The acoustics in the ex-dome suited the pace and tone of the music even in the top tier of seating where we clung on for dear life. The set-list featured a magnificent sweep through the years from Songs of Leonard Cohen to Ten New Songs, punctuated with poetry and other wry observations on life. It's hard to imagine a performer more comfortable and content on the stage, soaking up the adulation of 23,000 fans.
What a sensational day to visit the 30th anniversary Artois Championship at Queen's club. All four top-seeded players had made it through to the semi-finals, producing a great afternoon's tennis.
In the first match Rafa Nadal battled last year's winner Andy Roddick winning in two sets 7-5, 6-4. Next up Novak Djokovic overwhelmed David Nalbandian 6-1, 6-0.
The doubles semi-finals provided some great high-speed action, the highlight being the match between Brazilian pair Melo and Sa, and Jamie Murray and partner Max Mirnyi. After taking a set each, sadly Murray minor and his chum were defeated in a third-set tie-breaker.
Many thanks to Marie, Nic and Norman for a great day out.
Click on the slideshow below (once it has loaded) to see the full size pictures.
Fun and Games
An odd mix of music, games, holidays and other family fun. 
). Hence the eyepatch. 
