Sebastians Birthday

Oh no, it been a full week since I last posted......  Prepare yourselves for the essay.....

So my plans that I mentioned at the end of my last post went completely awry due to rain.  It rained pretty much non stop monday to thursday.  By thursday the driving conditions were treacherous.  The ground was saturated, and the water was running in little rivers down to the storm drains.  these work a treat over here, good planning for extreme circumstances....

When the weather is as bad as it has been there is only one thing for it, shopping.  I took Isaac and Seb to Toys r Us, and got most things.  Did my Walmart trip, and also did Target for last minute bits and pieces.

Needless to say Seb got a bit spoilt on Saturday.  After Christmas, where he was so overwhelmed by the presents, and the boys over enthusiasm resulting in him not wanting to open anything, it was a relief to see him joyously ripping off paper, and enjoying his gifts.  Oliver and Isaac were awesome, they sat back and let him get on with it, only when most were open did they come and investigate.

Typical Oliver

We made a quick exit, and headed to Columbia for the zoo.  As we have membership of Greenville Zoo, we were able to get in half price, so just over $20.  It is a good zoo, much bigger than Greenville.  They had some animals we had not seen in zoos before like grizzly bears and a king Cobra.  the boys were most taken with the aquarium.  Usually they hate these places, but Isaac really wanted to see a shark.  He was not disappointed!  The giraffe feeding area is good too, similar to what they have at La Palmyre Zoo in France (we go there every time we are in France, know it like the back of my hand!!!). We even had lunch in the zoo, reasonable food, not too expensive.   Oliver was a bit of a pain going round.  He doesn't like zoos, and doesn't like it when other people (except Isaac) are  the centre of attention.  We were thoroughly annoyed with him by the time we left.  We went for a drive round Columbia after, Isaac was asleep before we left the car park.  It is a nice town, but not much going on.  It is a university town, the University of South Carolina are based there, and we ended up driving through a bit of the campus, almost like being back in Oxford, except the buildings aren't as old.  We spotted the Gamecocks Stadium whilst driving, so we had to go and have a little nose.  It is very impressive.  After this we headed home.  Seb had his birthday cake.  note to self:  do not put green icing on a cake again until Seb is out of nappies, not pleasant......

Seb's birthday cake

Sunday we pottered around the house.  It was warm enough to move the boys water table outside, and for them to play in it.  Isaac and Seb loved it.  Our landlord came to inspect the property, he is happy with the condition, they even chortled over Oliver's handy work in the boys bedroom, and gave us the paint can so we can sort it out. It would appear they are moving to Phoenix.  This wont affect us in any way, it just means they wont be able to come and fix any problems.  We can still call them, and they can arrange to have any problems sorted.

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr Day, and President Obamas inauguration.  We watched a bit, then toddled off to Costco.  It would appear to be the cheapest place I have found (so far) to buy meat.  And seeing as I am experimenting a bit at the moment (see here), thought I better get the best value.  Be prepared for lots more recipes coming soon!!!!

Yesterday we trundled off to the zoo in the morning, only Greenville this time, to meet up with some more friends.  Today we went for a nice walk in the park, again near the zoo, with a friend.  The kids have been really good on the last two days.  Isaac is still being fab at school.  When I pulled up today there was a teacher bent down near Isaac.  My instant thought was 'what has he done?'.  Turns out the girl sitting next to him was hitting him, the teacher saw and came to talk to her about it.  Isaac did not retaliate, he waited for the teacher.  Never nice to hear of your kid getting hit, but I am so glad he is learning to deal with it in a non aggressive way.




Also had Oliver's school report, again it is very good.  A few things he need to work at in PE, and he needs to get better at asking for help in religious education, bit other than that he is doing really well.  I just wish his teacher wouldn't let him choose his own books, he keeps coming home with the most basic books.  A note is going in his homework book tonight....