Autumn 2007

Autumn was a busy time but that is no excuse for not having kept the blog up to date. Annie and Gerry went for their usual Fall Break in Palm Springs in mid October. We arrived on a Thursday and 2 days later went to spend the weekend with the Papaioannous in their new home in San Diego.
(There are more photos of the house on the Papaioannou web site)
It was great to catch up with them and see how the boys had changed in the 3 months since they stayed with us in Fairford. We managed to get back to Palm Springs before the road was closed because of wildfires but the fires meant that Jo had to delay her trip to Palm Springs by a day. We had arranged for them to move into our apartment whilst we stayed in another. Todd joined us for the weekend and every one had a great time. Click here for more photos .
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Jo had arranged for Lunch with Shamu as a birthday present for Gerry. We had a great time (as usual) at Sea World and a really good lunch right next to Shamu’s pool.The concentration on the boy’s faces as they watched the show was a joy to behold.
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That same weekend we celebrated Oliver’s second birthday albeit a couple of days before his birthday. The theme was construction and Jo made a fantastic cake. The adults ate mexican food whilst the children ate normal party food!!.
The main game was Pinata which was shaped like a bulldozer (for all of you who don’t know what a pinata is, it’s a large decorated shape, stuffed with sweeties and candy, that you hang up and then whack with a stick until it splits and all the candy comes out for you to collect).
Click here for more photos .

Two days after the party, Alexander was admitted to hospital. He had not been well since the visit to England and was found to have a DNET (Dysembryoplastic NeuroEpithilial Tumor). This required brain surgery and nine days in hospital. Jo would stay in the hospital with Alexander and Annie and Gerry were to look after Oliver. As you can see from the photographs Alexander’s surgery was certainly major but you can also see that Oliver has needed slightly less serious medical attention this autumn.

We cheated with our babysitting duties and took Oliver, together with his tricycle, back to Palm Springs for a couple of days. He certainly enjoyed his bike and continually frightened Gerry with his hands-free down-hill sprints and fast backwards manoeuvres. We then returned to San Diego in time to make some cakes! and for Gerry to return home to the UK for the weekend to attend Bethany’s Christening in Fairford Church. It was lovely and took place as part of the normal morning communion service. Gerry then returned to San Diego for a week during which time Alexander came out of hospital and made a remarkably speedy recovery from his surgery.

And so ended our Autumn trip to the USA.