to the Big Smoke…
Holiday time had arrived…and as a drastic change from the Dubai heat, we were greeted with a usual London summer’s day…grey, cold and wet. We picked up our rental car and headed to the Stephenson’s home in Henley-upon-Thames, where we would spend our first evening catching up with Mel and Bruce over a lovely dinner courteousy of Chef Bruce. Isabelle and Hugo, who had seen us not so long before on holiday in SA seemed to still be 'used' to us and weren't shy to play with Uncle Mark and Aunty Lu. After a lovely chilled evening, the heavy eyes from the long day travelling, started to take their toll and it was time for bed.
The next morning after a hearty breakfast was served, we headed back into London for our catch up lunch with those friends who were in town. As on our last London trip a year or so before, the Leather Bottle was our location of choose, and the sun graced us with its presence later that afternoon. It was lovely to see all the familiar and friendly faces and how some of the little ones had grown, not to mention some new additions, as well as baby bumps.
That evening the Blake’s home became our next pit stop for the evening, for some more catching up and a good old braai with some of the others who had not been able to make the lunch earlier in the day.
Sunday morning, consisted of some much needed practice... babysitting Michaela for a few hours. Again a false sense of what is to come was given, as she was good as gold. After a spot of shopping for me at the good old faithful Primark, we headed to our familiar stomping ground…Amity Grove in Raynes Park, for a catch up lunch with Amy, Nick and the Molly Mouse.
Besides aging a little, Molly hasn’t changed one bit! How we miss that little fur ball of attitude (although not so much all that fur). Regardless of her protesting, I just had to scoop her off her comfy spot on the couch for a good old squeeze, to which the claws came out, with her not quite having the same appreciation for the hug as me. I can’t say she was best pleased to see me, but with Mark she was happy to settle on his lap in no time at all, just re-confirming nothing has really changed. Her adoptive parents, Amy and Nick have kindly consented to continue the adoption for longer. Whilst Mark and I are finally all set to stay in Dubai for a few years, we feel at this stage in her life, it would just be too cruel to uproot her to a place with such a different climate, not to mention the stress of flying her on an aeroplane and being caged up for so many hours. It was quite a difficult and sad decision to make…as I know just how much our house in Dubai would feel more like home, if it could have her in it. But we have to think of her too and know this is the best decision possible for her (and knowing just how spoilt and loved she is by her adoptive parents helped a bit too).
The next morning, I headed into the City to meet up with my old boss, David at Deloitte and to catch up with a couple of familiar faces there. The journey into the City was eventful as always…because of the foul weather the trains were delayed, which meant I got to stand the whole way into to London Waterloo. I’m still not sure whether I should feel flattered at the fact nobody offered me a seat? Things were still pretty much the same at Deloitte, apart from the fact that David has since gone on to become the proud pops of a gorgeous little girl, Georgiana Elanor Grace (born 1 April 2012).
Making my way back to Stoneleigh after my Deloitte visit, on the familiar bus and train route, travelled so frequently before, I was quite impressed when I managed to find my way back to the Blake house (I had gone with Ian that morning and hadn’t quite paid any attention to the route taken, and considering we had driven it all seemed a little different on foot) in time for a spot of lunch before our drive out to Bristol to see Mark’s family.
The next two nights were spent at Aunty Angela and Uncle Phil’s and as always we were treated to some fantastic food and hospitality. We paid a visit to Grandma and Grandad the next day for some tea and cakes, where we spent the afternoon catching up with them and hearing them reminisce about their own trip to New York a number of years ago. They got to see our baby bump and hear the new 'Team Blue' news first hand.
It was an early start the next morning, to get to London Heathrow from Bristol in time for our flight to NYC. Our fly bye visit to the Big Smoke already over, completing the first leg of our holiday, but not before we were able to make some precious and lasting memories…as it turned out this was unfortunately the last time we would see Grandad Cooper, who sadly passed away on 8 July 2012.
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