Fireworks and Elections

It is cold and wet outside, almost reminds me of the UK....  What better way to avoid housework by updating this blog!!!!

We had a fairly relaxing weekend last weekend.  Isaac had a birthday party to go to on saturday at Playnation in Greenville.  It is basically just loads of garden play equipment set up inside.  He seemed to enjoy it, and it was nice to speak to some of the other parents from his preschool.  I also got to meet the one person who he says is his friend, Maxim.  There was also a German gentleman there with his son.  He also works for BMW and has been over here for 2 years.  Lots of parents, and the party was good.  The food was catered for the kids and the adults, Isaac barely ate anything!!!!  They had a balloon modeler and a couple of girls  doing glitter tattoos.  Took me about an hour to persuade Isaac that he wanted anything.  In the end he chose a balloon model of a sword and a shield, so he could fight with Oliver.

The clocks went back on Sunday.  Its like Isaac knows.....ever since Saturday he has been waking up at 5.30am, not good.  Sunday we went out for lunch to Applebees on the Woodruff Road in Greenville.  Our waitress was from Aberdeen, Scotland, but has been over here since she was small.  That was one mixed up accent!!!!  We then went and checked out Kohl's.  It is another big department store.  They had a good toy department, which seemed to carry a lot of end of line stuff, as well as the usual suspects.  This will be a good place for Christmas shopping.

Monday evening we went to a Bonfire party.  Yes, thats right a Bonfire Party, here in the good ol' U S of A....  It was held by a lovely lady called Tracey, a Northerner who married an American, Michael.  They have a huge back yard, with a big play set and they had an inflatable bouncy castle thingy set up.  The kids loved it, though Oliver and Isaac both refused to go down the 'scary' slide.  Tracey had laid on loads of delicious food, which Paul Seb and I really enjoyed, but the other 2 were being stubborn and wouldn't eat.  The bonfire was lit, it was very high, and Michael got the hose out to bring it under control, which he did a good job of.  Tracey's dad then began letting off the fireworks.  The kids freaked..... The Fire Department and Sheriff arrived about 20 minutes later.  Some neighbours had called them, due to the size of the fire, and the sound of gun shots......  The Firemen came and checked out the fire, while a lot of the kids checked out the fire engine.  They ok-ed it, and the party continued.  We left just after Michael had put on the British National Anthem on the projector screen on the shed.  Kinda strange, being in a garden in South Carolina, listening to our National Anthem, all 3 verses of it....  Thanks again to Tracey and her family for hosting this wonderful event.  Our family really enjoyed it.

Yesterday was election day, I am sure you all know the outcome by now.  We were talking about it in the car on the way to school yesterday, when Oli pipes up to tell us he voted on Monday, I asked him who for, and he answered 'Barack Obamamama'.   When I picked him up, he had a sticker on that stated 'I voted'.  Again I asked him who he had voted for, and he responded 'Mitt Romenly'.  It transpired that he voted for him as that is who everyone else had voted for.  He was adamant that 'Romenly' was now president.  Still haven't told him the truth......  AS it was election day yesterday, Isaac didnt have any preschool.  We went to the mall to meetup with some friends.  There is a small soft play area in there. We did not get to stay long, as both Seb and Isaac were tired, and it really showed in their behavior.  I drove the scenic route home from the Mall, and both boys fell asleep.  I took Seb upstairs, but left Isaac in the car in the garage.  I got him after 45 minutes, he woke up, so I lay him on the sofa, and the blighter went back to sleep!!!!  Seb woke about 2 hours later, and Isaac kept on sleeping.  He slept for over 3 hours in the end.  He must have really needed it.  He awoke about 20 minutes before we had to get Oli, so he shoved some lunch in him, and off we went.  Paul and I spent a lot of last night watching the election results come in.  Makes the UK coverage of our elections look very poor, I must say!!!!!

Paul has got friday and next monday off work.  He still has 8 days holiday left over from Rolls Royce to use before the end of the year.  Think we are going shopping for Isaac's birthday presents on Friday, not sure about the monday yet.  We don't have a lot of cash till Paul gets paid, so we can't really go anywhere.  Its a bit of a shame, but we keep remembering that we are here for 3 years, and we will get lots of opportunities to travel.....