Summer Special

Back from our hols in UK. I was very lucky with the weather - in 2 1/2 weeks there was only one day that was a complete washout - according to Em the three weeks she and the kids spent back home before my arrival were similar to my one bad day. No doubt it will pour down on my next trip home. We had a number of celebrations for V.'s second birthday including a BBQ at my father's for the family and various friends with children including P & V with their two girls and R. & A with their boy and girl. Great fun was had by all and it was good to see everybody again. V. is very tall for her age - 3 feet high but is actually fairly well co-ordinated (although she sported a cracking black eye when I saw her at the end of July after having apparently fallen down the stairs at Grandma P and Grandad T's in Bristol). She still runs everywhere - Little Miss Runalot! Her favourite words still remain "mine" and "no" and 'sharing' is still more likely to end up in a punch-up than any actual sharing. Although she seems to understand a lot more than she is immediately prepared to let on her vocabulary is predominantly still in Verity-speak which she is quite happy to employ whenever she is addressing anybody (or anything - her dolls and inanimate objects that have caused her pain). Its fascinating to see how different V. is from A at the same age. A was (and remains) far more biddable - with V. if she doesn't want to do something or things are not just so then the whole world knows about it at top volume. She is also very much more robust in defending her corner (or grabbing something she wants) as her cousin J learnt on a number of occasions while we were on holiday. A and his cousin N are getting on a great deal better than before. There was a time up until and including last Summer's holiday that we thought that they would never be able to play together unsupervised without ending up fighting. Whilst it is still a risk leaving them unsupervised that they will get up to trouble at least they are not hitting each other any more. However, V and J are still at and age where there is likely to be trouble (usually instigated by V.).

We saw a good deal of my Sister M and her husband B which was great although M is still horrendously busy and stressed with work. We did however manage a really nice trip up to the London Aquariam (including travel by train which as quite challenging with 4 kids and one of the party on crutches) and visits to Broadstairs, my Mother's sister M in Balham as well as various parts of Kent. We also took Dad with us on a number of excursions including Camber Sands (the sea was at least 1/2 a mile form the shore which was quite a challenge when the kids wanted a paddle). My Father bore our presence stoically but I imagine he was pleased to have a bit of piece and quiet when we finally left.

Back in HK contemplating a move away from Tai Tam towers after a 40% rent hike. Will have to make a decision soon but still checking out other options on the South-side. In other news, we have also just experienced a T9 Storm signal so a day off for everybody on Friday - almost a direct hit (hence the T9 rather than the usual T8 for Typhoons). The TV pictures from Sai Kung and Kowloon-side showed some pretty powerful winds but here at T T Towers we seemed relatively unscathed.

Any way last day of the Olympics so fingers crossed for some more GB success. Em and I went to the show-jumping final at Shatin on Monday which was good fun - the radio commentary at the venue certainly helped us understand what was happening. Hopefully our next Olympic visit will be in London in 2012.