Ciao Toscana

A week in the Tuscan hills was just what we needed - a reminder that the sun is actually shining, and even hot, elsewhere in Europe. Our farmhouse apartment was perfect (http://www.toscana-vaianino.it/farmhouse.htm). Incredible views over the hills, vineyards and ancient town of Volterra, which lit up in the most extraordinary colours at sunset. A sparkling pool that the kids loved to splash in. Enough space for us all to get some rest at night. And the company of our friends the Holmes a Courts, with whom we created a formidable travelling tribe around the neighbouring towns... 4 parents, 6 kids and one nanny.

Dylan loved the medieval festival in the castle town of Monteriggioni - a late night party with knights re-enacting battles, large hunks of wild boar and lots of dressing up. The next day all the kids staged their own mock battles in the streets of Volterra with their new wooden shields. We also explored Florence... fabulous shopping, where I am sure I heard Sam utter his first full sentence "You don't need more shoes, mama." Jason thinks it was just my subconscious. Dylan was impressed with the Ponte Vecchio, although he would have preferred it lined with toy shops, not jewellery shops. Neither he or Will had much good to say about the statue of David. "It's just a man with no clothes on!"

Dylan also loved climbing the tower of San Gimignano with Jason, while Sam and I checked out the best gelato in Italy and blew bubbles in the piazza.

But of course the main reason for the trip was Ian and Julie's wedding on the Thursday. A magical night in the most amazing Italian villa, which dated back to the 16th century and had connections to the Medicis, the second world war and the Italian film industry of the 20th century. It was great to catch up with so many old friends around the pool that evening, even though our babysitting obligations meant we couldn't fully partake in all the wild celebrations - which were only just beginning when we left at midnight. Aaah, I remember the days... The kids were excited to join in the recovery BBQ the next day, and kept everyone busy in the pool.

Dylan and Sam both learned to say "Ciao!" and returned with a new found love of pizza. Making new friends was definitely a plus for them, and they can't wait to see them again when we get back to Australia. I could have done with another few days over there... now we are back, the 2 months remaining looms like a logistical nightmare deadline. If I can just stay in denial for another 6 weeks, all will be good.

Flying high in Bristol

Dylan finally realised his dream of boarding a Concorde during our recent weekend in Bristol. Jason pre-booked a tour of the Concorde Museum at Filton, where they were manufactured until recently. The tour guide was impressed with Dylan's knowledge, and that he had brought his Concorde fact book with him. Dylan loved seeing the cockpit and the toilets on board. It was definitely a highlight of his stay here, although he is disappointed we can't fly one home to Sydney.

He pointed out that if Britain had teamed up with Australia to develop it, instead of France, it would probably still be flying.

Why Bristol? I had a meeting with a writing agency there, about setting up their Australian office when we get back. It seemed like a good idea to make a weekend of it - Jason and I had never been before. And although it was cold and wet (like everywhere else in England for the past 6 weeks...) it was a great destination. A harbour town, with seagulls and history, and easy to walk about.

We stayed at the Novotel, which actually did prove to be a good family-friendly choice. I am always a little nervous when we are all stuck in one small room, but the boys were on best hotel-behaviour form, and especially loved the buffet breakfasts. They happily played in the hotel bar with some kids who turned out to be from Bellingen, of all places. You just can't get away from these Aussies!

After (damply) walking around the harbour restaurants and cafes, we opted for some history at the excellent Museum of Empire and Commonwealth. A special exhibition commemorated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Jason and I found it fascinating, the kids not so much and I am still trying to work out the exact connection with Bristol. It's hard to read a full sentence in a museum if Dylan is bored...

The next morning we had coffee in the lovely village suburb of Clifton, famous for Brunel's suspension bridge (which we braved strong winds to walk across) and then began our journey home. My poor car started overheating and had to be towed from Worcester - so a 2 hour drive turned into 7. The boys enjoyed their ride in the back of a tow truck for the first 10 minutes at least.

And now we are busy packing yet again... off to Tuscany tomorrow, where every weather report I look at guarantees sunshine. Hooray!

Living the life in London

If you are going to spend 4 days in London with two small boys, then taking over Rachel and Kieron's life is probably the best way to do it. They kindly loaned us their 5 bedroom Clapham Common home, complete with toys, scooters and pushchair, and their BMW chelsea-tractor complete with sat-nav, while they escaped to the much warmer and drier climate of Italy.

The sat-nav is probably still recovering from Jason's blatant ignoring of all instructions to get us from south of the river to Highgate - but what can you expect when she insisted on going via Camden Town on a Saturday, which we know to be feral-market day? By the end of the stay we were sold on her talents and also on the idea of avoiding the tube at all costs when it is cold and wet with tots in tow. The car made it easy to do quick drive-bys of our old London life; Primrose Hill, Waterlow Park and our old Highgate flat. We tried to imagine living there with children now, but the sight of mums pushing toddlers around in plastic covered buggies while also holding the super-marketing and an umbrella definitely looked grim.

The highlight was probably our only attempt at tourist-behaviour, a trip on the London Eye. Both boys were absolutely thrilled with every minute of our journey around the skies of London in a glass pod on the giant ferris wheel - not at all scared. It was a great way to give them some sense of the city.

Also on our hit-list was the Princess Diana memorial playground (absolutely brilliant until the sudden downpour), Battersea Park Zoo (an hidden gem for little kids, especially the brilliant meerkat enclosures with a tunnel where you could crawl in amongst them) and the Science Museum (I'll just say I would have preferred to be across the road at the V&A - but the boys loved all things to do with space and motoring).

We did of course catch a few double decker buses, and succumbed to the idea of showing Dylan the biggest toy shop in the world, Hamley's on Regent St - which surprisingly didn't cost us a fortune, but unsurprisingly is the only reason he can give us for returning to London while we are still here. 5 floors of toys were covered by Jason and Dylan in just 45 minutes - while Sam and I cruised the much hipper Carnaby St.

When we met at the bus stop later, Dylan proudly presented Sam with the small toy he had selected for him - a tractor. "Yay, Dee-da!" squealed Sam, delightedly. I was just as delighted with my quick spree at Muji and Ollie & Nic around the corner.

We returned by train, in a carriage full of camped out scouts who turend out to be useful babysitters during the 2 hour journey. It could have been a lot worse - they could have been mud-drenched Glastonbury evacuees. Sam is still obsessed with the train journey and tells everyone he meets that he, Dada, Mama and Dee-da went on a choo-choo. He loved it.

Happy Birthday to Sam!

Thankfully the torrential rain eased off just long enough to enjoy Sam's birthday party in our garden. And surprisingly, the party karma gods did not reward me with small muddy shoe prints all over the white carpets. Phew!

It has been a busy social week for us Howards, but especially for Dylan. On Wednesday he had his first swimming lesson of the term - he has been moved up a class thanks to his Aussie head start and it is certainly more challenging for him. On Thursday the entire school had an excursion to the theatre in Stoke on Trent to see Beauty and the Beast. The highlight was of course the coach trip there and back, but by all accounts he also loved the show. On Friday he had his first afternoon at the after school club (again, the mini bus pick-up being the highlight) and then the event of the year - the Hilltop School disco.

It was supposed to be a Family Fun Picnic, but the flood waters put an end to that. You could sail a boat across the playground. However, in true stiff upper lip Brit style, dozens of families laid out their picnic rugs in the school hall and classrooms, and enjoyed their picnic dinner, a magician show, and the crazy 80's retro music disco. Dylan's classroom turned into an impromptu bar, and all the kids ran riot with faces painted and new (fake) tattoos.

On Saturday the sun magically came out and dried out our overgrown lawn - just enough for the 15 kids and their parents to enjoy the garden during Sam's birthday party. The horses stole the show from Dizzy the Wizard - every time she performed a magic trick, Eric, the huge white horse, would come right up to the conservatory window and all the kids would race over to him. Dylan was an exceptionally talented magician's assistant during the show, and Sam just obsessed over the chocolate bars he had noticed stashed in her magic treasure box. He loved blowing out his birthday candles (and can now say "birthday", which to him seems to mean "more cake, please").

And then this morning, Sam finally turned two. Dylan managed to patiently wait until both Sam and Daddy had enough of a sleep in (it being Fathers Day here also) - 7.15am by my watch. Then he helped Sam unwrap his presents, which they both loved - and we now have enough fire engines, bendy buses and other emergency vehicles to keep them busy for, oh... at least 10 minutes. Jason's fathers day present was to put together the rather complicated Playmobil farmhouse, which puts an Ikea flatpack to shame. Then the boys and I went to Carsington Water for an ice-cream, paddle by the lake and playground fun. Dylan impressed us all with his improved pebble skimming abilities, which he declared to be the result of the extra strength gained from his dinosaur tattoo.

A wonderful birthday week, and now it's all over again until next year. Thank goodness Dylan has decided he wants his birthday party at the indoor play centre - a huge reduction on my events planning workload!

Growing up...

Little Sam is almost two. Dylan is beside himself with excitement about this, as

a) Sam will get presents, and Dylan will benefit directly from this

b) He gets to help me organise Sam's birthday party (last night we packed the party bags together)

We seem to have reached that turning point when they have finally become brothers; playing together, fighting together, making up crazy dance routines together, and squabbling over whether it's Sam's turn to watch Fireman Sam or Dylan's turn to watch Pokemon. Luckily they can watch both simultaneously, thanks to the portable DVD player.

It's a cliche, but Sam has suddenly grown up so quickly and I wanted to record his developing personality for posterity:

Favourite people: mummy, dada and dee-dee (Dylan)

Favourite thing: Bunny (he goes everywhere and could do with a wash quite frankly)

Favourite TV show: Fireman Sam (we suspect Sam thinks he IS Fireman Sam and loves being "the hero next door")

Favourite Song: In These Shoes - Kirsty Macoll - my iPod is still avoiding the wiggles, but Sam loves a number he can dance to and I love watching him sing "in dese soos?" (points to his own sandals) "i don't sink so"

Favourite word: tractor

Best friend (in England): Lola, who is nearly 3 and tackle-cuddles him whenever she can get close enough. All the little girls in Dylan's class are madly in love with him too.

Best talent: Napping (I can type this as he is having a 3 hour day nap - I'd better wake him, really)

Worst talent: Falling over and bumping his head (ouchie!)

Favourite Day: Tuesday, as it is Tots playgroup at Dylan's school

Favourite singalong: loves doing the "sleeping bunny" dance and jumping around with Dylan to the Lazytown theme tune

Happiest when: Dylan takes any notice of him

Saddest when: Dylan eats the last jelly pot

Fingers crossed for a sunny day on Saturday... We have 15 small children, their parents and Dizzy the Wizard coming to Yew Tree Cottage - all to celebrate two years of Sam Howard. Hard to imagine life without him, really!

Trams, bikes and boats...

It is a fair bet that Sam would not have picked up the word "boat" so quickly without our recent trip to Amsterdam. There are precious few of them around landlocked Derbyshire - Holland on the other hand delighted both the boys with it's range of transportation possibilities.

"Bike" was also a word I heard frequently from my almost-two-year-old's mouth, and there did seem to be more of those than people. In fact, Jason and I wondered whether anyone would notice if we took two of the more abandoned looking ones home. We have been rather unsuccessful with our attempt to buy bikes on eBay, so miserly is our bidding.

Our last day there was perfect and just as I imagined it would be - strolling along cobbled lanes in the dappled early summer sunshine, enjoying the markets, parks and playgrounds, drinking great coffee and even the quick dash into the quirky Amsterdam boutiques I adore.

Unfortunate, then, that the rest of our stay was cold, windy and wet. Not ideal sightseeing weather with kids, but they probably would have been happy to ride around on trams and canal boats all day long. Which is pretty much what we did, apart from one diversion to the whacky NEMO (science museum), which was filled with over-excited Dutch kids...

Despite my friends' suggestion that "a couple of stoned kids would make for a relaxing holiday" we could not, even if we had wanted to, go with that option. To escape yet another downpour, I rushed into what looked like a groovy little cafe in the Jordaan neighbourhood with Dylan, only to be greeted with the stern face of the owner "no, no under-18s allowed". As if the whiff I had caught opening the door hadn't already given that away. So we had to make do with the rather more downmarket cafe further up the road, breathing in toxic tobacco smoke and wrestling a small dog away from Sam's battered bunny.

We did have a great time, and the boys were both so excited by all the things to see around them - being in a vibrant city again was refreshing after the isolation of Yew Tree Cottage. Just being able to eat out at an Italian restaurant around the block was a novelty.

One lesson learned though, was our accommodation. We booked an apartment online, which I had understood from the text and photos to be a one-bedroom, but turned out to be a studio with the worlds smallest toilet and two single beds - so Jason and I (separately) enjoyed three nights of Sam's disturbed travel-cot snoring, as well as a dawn-wakening thanks to the lack of blinds on a south facing window. The heating didn't work - which ordinarily would not be a problem in late May in Amsterdam, but it was unseasonably cold and one of the windows didn't shut properly. We finally, on our last night, got one of the rental agency people to drop over an electric heater. They cheerfully informed us by text as we boarded our flight that all problems had been fixed. Well, that was a relief for us then!

We clearly have a few more travelling-with-kids lessons to learn before our next adventure in Tuscany. I'll just got check on that villa description again...

21st Century Student

Twelve years after graduating, I am suddenly a university student again. And let me tell you, it is a strange, brave new world indeed.

20th century student caught two buses and a train to a university campus for scheduled lectures and tutorials. She didn't have an email address or access to the internet. She researched her essays using microfiche in the campus library. And she spent most of her time chatting with friends on the library lawn.

21st century student studies entirely online. There are 23 other students in her class, but she doesn't know what they look like. She doesn't even know where most of them are - they could be anywhere in the UK or even overseas. She does know that some of them like to identify themselves with a sleek black cat icon or a cobweb. But what she can deduce about their character from that remains unclear.

I am taking a 12 week course with Open University on Writing for the Internet. On my first official day, I downloaded some conferencing software, logged on and then struggled to find my tutorial group - memorably titled A171 07E R04 bld4 TG. I clicked my way through icon after icon, feeling nostalgic for the disinfected corridors of UNSW where you could at least ask a real live human being for help if you were lost. At last! I found a message from my tutor and discovered I was by no means the last to arrive.

I then spent a few frustrating hours searching for the Tangential Cafe, where apparently arts students could "meet" for a "chat". A huge anticlimax when I finally worked it out, as most of the other students were;
a) also lost, and
b) not on my course, and
c) only interested in chatting about movies they had seen recently

I now realise why, even on "real" campuses, mature age students don't waste their time in the cafes, or on the library lawn.

Anyway, one week in and I am slowly working it out. I'm sitting on a train to London, listening to my downloaded lectures on my iPod. I can research my assignments by logging into the Open University library and accessing any number of journals and articles. I look around at all the busy businesspeople in their suits, conversing earnestly about meeting dates and deadlines. And I realise I love being a student.

Almost as much as I love being a full time mum and wannabe writer. It's a busy life. But in a good way.