Le Grand Depart : t-3

Only 3 weeks till FrB goes home! We are starting to arrange things for after she has gone, and it feels quite weird. Weird because she clearly wants us to stop still once she has gone, but also to not be thinking about what she would like, would suit her, or sometimes because I am thinking of what she would like, and clearly she will be gone! I wonder if her french family felt like this when SB was about to come home! I am expecting they are in a state of high excitement about seeing her again, and hearing how her year went . I am glad she is starting back with scouts camp, and she is definitely having that sinking feeling about leaving friends behind here!

this week, a lot of time has been spent preparing for the party – costume making, baking, tidying etc. There has been some booksy stuff – not as much history as i had hoped, as i had hoped we would have finished tudors by now!- i think I had set us a bit much of a challenge! Latin, biology and some maths. lots of crafting – particularly loom bands!

Tuesday I was off work, and got to enjoy seeing the girls do science with a few other homeed people, and also enjoy a natter about exams with some parents. SB is contemplating some iGCSE next year, and it seems a very big step! [more on that later] . They made their own calorimeters and burnt a variety of nuts. SB could remember this bit of her biology, so there is hope for exams .

Weds we went into London, left relatively early – later than planned because FrB really has lost the knack of getting up in the morning! She really wanted to go to the V and A museum, out of all the London ones. we decided FrB really needed to see Buckingham palace before she left, and we got there to catch the changing of the guards – crowds were enormous! We walked down to Hyde Park Corner and the war memorial there before walking through Hyde park to the albert memorial. It was v v hot! so we had an icecream break en route and we also followed the info on the great exhibition. BB and I cut off to the V and A as she was hot and bothered, and were joined in the cool shortly by DH and the big girls. we looked at statues and then went to the cafe for lunch. paddling cheered all the girls up as they must have been very hot. we looked around much of the v and a until bb had a slump, and we all went actoss the the national history to go in the cool entrance hall, and to eat cake! actually another cool drink was very lovely, it was very hot! In the museum we looked at the pleisiosaurs and the bugs before moving on… Our next stop was westminster! so we looked at big ben, and walked across the bridge to the London Eye for our spin around . it was definitley worth it, we got a really good view over London, and our little cabin wasn’t full. BB thought it was really ‘just conservatories spinning on a wheel’, which I thought was a great quote! Whilst up in the sky, they noticed the great park, so BB and FrB played on that before we walked to Giraffe for dinner. The meal was lovely. FrB was mournful that the little boys on the next table had lots of plastic giraffes, so I spoke the waiter, and each girl got to have a plastic giraffe each . by the end of the meal, the sun was setting, so it took a fair bit of cajoling to get the girls all back to the station and home. An exhausting but wonderful day . Unfortunately we have lost the card from the camera, but we do have a few photos on our phones

I had an early start at work, and the big girls had their musical recital, which I hope they repeat for FrB’s parents when they come. The videos sound good, and it is lovely that they have worked on this together for the last 6 months. They then went on to the last glass art of the year, this one with a mosaic theme. I think the glass art classes run by J are fabulous, and they had done a wonderful job. J also was fab in getting them in the kiln and returning them at our party, so that FrB can take them home. FrB is such a charming girl, that she luckilly has people wanting to be lovely to her . After art there was a teen get together, another chance to meet with friends.

Friday DH did some sorting out for his dad’s funeral, and it was house sort central! we were party ready!