It's all Greek to me!

And that is the God's honest truth.

There is nothing easy about the Greek language. Nothing. And it's not one of those languages you can fudge your way through after reading a phrase book the night before your arrival. I didn't even get the chance to butcher the language once we arrived. All the letters looked like a big, fat, scary physics equation that I was never going to solve no matter how long I stared. Spelling out the alphabet for me (as shown below) didn't help because how does one combine their letters and form a word that can actually be said? My dear friends last name is Diamantakis...pronounced in English, it's said exactly as its spelled. According to the Greek alphabet and with my complete ignorance as to their language, their last name would be: Delta-iota-alpha-mu-alpha-nu-tau-alpha-kappa-iota-sigma.
CLEARLY I'm doing something wrong.


Since Matthew has no more vacation days left this year and the girls had a week off of school, I decided to brave the world of traveling abroad alone with them. Let's just say it's a lonely world. Why? Because everyone else knows better! My friend Amanda and I have a pretty solid theory and it is: there should be rules to traveling alone with children. It must be a necessity and the reasons dire in nature. Furthermore, you must print your travel purpose on a T-shirt so all others don't have to wonder why you're torturing them. The T's would read something like this...

MERCY MISSION: DYING GREAT GRANDMOTHER

I WAS SUBPOENAED!

SEEKING LIFE-SAVING MEDICAL TREATMENT

FLEEING WIFE BEATING HUSBAND

My reasons weren't dire in nature but in my defense, I had promised our very close friends we would see them before the year was out. So off we went without our explanatory T-shirt, throwing caution to the wind and common sense out the window. For those that are curious....my T-shirt would have said:

IM EΦΦINΓ MAΔ!!

Waiting for our plane to Athens in Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing like being in
Germany and having McDonald's for lunch!

Waiting for our luggage to arrive in Athens from London.

To be perfectly honest with you...the traveling wasn't terrible and my kids weren't 'those kids' you've all been stuck near at one time or another. They were really really good. The fact that I drugged Sloane could have been part of the reason but I'd like to think it was my stellar solo parenting skills.

Our friends, Carolina and Tassos, were waiting for us right when we arrived and from there the week ahead looked to be like a nice relaxation vacation. And it was...after the first night.

Let's just say that the trip didn't start off too well. We began our tour of Athens with a trip to the the A&E (emergency room) in a miserable deluge of rain. If you thought it was because of one of the girls you'd be wrong...it was me. Ear infection. Bad one. Carolina brought me to one of the best hospitals in Athens and upon our arrival we both thought we made a wrong turn and ended up on the set of a cheap horror film. The entire hospital was dark and empty. There was one desk with a few people at it and they looked at us like we were lost. Thank heavens Carolina was there as my friend but more importantly my interpreter!! We were escorted, by what I'm sure was an ex-con, to the elevator which promptly took us to the basement. Three floors below ground. The hallways were pitch black and there was one tiny light at the very end of a lengthy, winding hallway. In that room, the size of a closet, sat a man in a white coat. I suppose he was a doctor although I'm not entirely convinced of that.

I've had ear infections before and I know what they feel like and I knew this is what I had. I also know that in the states you'd go in, get drops for your ears and some antibiotics and you'd be fine the next day. It wasn't going to be that easy in Greece. The doctor's English was so poor that he was trying to explain that I would, in his exact words, "suffer". And that he would like to take me into the theater (surgery) to put a hole into my ear drum since it was like, again his exact words, "a kissy face sucking". ?!?!? I don't know what that means either. Or even better..."ear drums are changing like snakes". I wanted to run away but I wasn't sure we'd figure out how to escape on our own.

There were medical instruments all over the room with no sterilizer in sight...he never wore gloves...and why he needed to put a tuning fork on my forehead I'll never quite understand. Ah...and the prescriptions. The hospitals don't provide you with medicine after hours...you have to find a 24-hour pharmacy! The only way to do that is to find a pharmacy, look on their window for the closest 24-hour pharmacy and pray to God that the guy behind the counter answers the door when you ring the bell. It's nights like those that I am so thankful for the United States and our incredible medical community.

But enough of the nightmare first night. The week was wonderful and we had a great time. The girls immersed themselves in whatever we were doing from going through the Olympic Village, Starbucks, the shopping district, the park, the Zoo and finally to the Acropolis and the Plaka. We even walked the grounds of the exiled King of Greece. King Constantine II. Cool little fact about this not-so-popular King is that he now lives in our postcode, NW3. He has a house somewhere in Hampstead, London.

Outside the Zoo. Right as we entered we were met by one of the zookeepers that was holding a 2 month old monkey named Loola. She had fingers the size of eyelashes and a tail as long as Sloane is tall. She was adorable!

We were in the monkey enclosure where the lemurs were free to roam...they could
even come up to you if you wanted to get close enough. Boy could these guys jump!

Outside the reptile enclosure. We got very up close and personal to a crocodile!





Our friends Carolina and Tassos teaching Avery the Greek alphabet and how to write different words in Greek. By the time the week was over, Carolina said that Avery sounded like a little Greek girl...she had picked up the vernacular perfectly.


This is the Olympic stadium where the torch was lit and stayed burning for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Right before we hit the ground running to the Acropolis.


Two seconds after leaving the Acropolis...

It was definitely a trip to remember and one that the girls will be able to say they've been there and done that before they could even ride a bike. That's pretty cool.

Carolina...Tassos....THANK YOU for welcoming us into your home and as always, making us feel like family. We love you!

A First Ever for the UK (and us!)

What does Avery, SpongeBob Square Pants, the band McFly, ooey-gooey slime and an orange carpet have in common? The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards that's what!

Avery has a very good friend at school that she's become rather smitten with. Rocky. To be blunt, if you ask her who her boyfriend is she'll say Rocky. And no...to answer you mom, I'm not perpetuating this relationship....Avery has fallen head over heels on her own!

Well, Rocky needed a date to the first-ever UK Nickelodeon Kids' Choice awards and he decided to ask Avery if she would like to go. She was thrilled!! So, we got all dolled up and headed out to the brand new O2 centre in London.

To give you an idea of how cute this Rocky is, I have to tell you about an incident in their kitchen before we left. Avery and I were standing by the sink and Rocky came in...looked around and sort of sniffed the air. He looked at me and then at Avery and asked "Who in here smells so good?". Taken a bit off guard by the suave 6 year old, I answered quickly "It's me", knowing that I was the only one wearing perfume. So he grabs my wrist and smells it. Then takes Avery's wrist and smells hers. Shakes his head a little and says "Nope...you BOTH smell good!" He's either going to be a ladies man or a politician.

Okay, back to the awards show. We were all given backstage passes and had a front row seat at the red carpet. I mean orange. Orange carpet. We were surrounded by some serious superstars and almost got sat on by SpongeBob! Many of the stars you may not know since the show was geared more for the UK audience but here are but a few that we met or came within inches of: the band McFly, Hermione and Malfoy from Harry Potter, Emma Roberts, the mermaids from the kids' show H2O, Ned from Ned's Declassified, Josh from Drake and Josh, SpongeBob and Patrick, David Walliams (the guy that lives down the street...I've mentioned him before but have never been so close to him), Gail Porter, and Shaggy just to name a few.

The girls from H2O

This one needs no explanation.

The stage at the beginning...we were getting ready to tape since it was televised.

There is David Walliams...one of the funniest men on the planet.

Emma Watson...or better known to most as Hermione

The baddie: Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton)

Immediately following the show, which was really good. We were whisked off to a private after-party hosted by Nickelodeon. Avery danced on stage with SpongeBob and Patrick, got Malfoy's autograph and ate marshmallows covered in chocolate from a 5 foot tall chocolate fountain. She had so much fun that she could have probably stayed all night. I, on the other hand, was exhausted. That's when I learned a rather valuable but painful lesson:

When your five-year old can out party you at an exclusive star-filled after-party with free booze and food...you should probably consider your hell raising days O V E R!

Sigh...

Avery and I before the big show!

The two little lovebirds.

I was seriously hoping to catch him trying to put his arm around Av but he didn't. :)

The kiddos before the show goofing off...their usual selves. I'm not sure anyone can make Avery laugh the way that Rocky does. It's priceless.

Avery Getting jiggy with it during McFly's performance.

Happy Halloween and Happy Anniversary!!

Well everyone...it's been one year yesterday that we arrived in London...31 October. Wow. The old cliche "time flies" may be unoriginal but it is indeed true. Last year we were corralling the girls onto the airplane and this year hauling their rear ends up and down the streets of London in search of some sweets!

Earlier this month we participated in a little Halloween parade through the Hampstead High Street with some fellow expats in the area. It was a kick seeing all the kids dressed up on a Saturday early in the month. I think we confused a lot of the Brits since half of them don't pay much attention to Halloween and they all probably freaked thinking it was that night and they had no sweets. The kids were able to show off their "fancy dress" which is what they call it out here. Avery dressed as Stephanie from the television show LazyTown. She won "Best Costume" at the parade and brought home a big bag of goodies to play with which she was really "chuffed" with.


As for Sloane...well, Sloane didn't get to pick out her costume. I took the liberty of picking it out for her because I felt it absolutely necessary that she dress as her alter ego.

The Devil.

The Devil and her daddy.

The next day after the parade we decided to head out of the city and delve into the countryside. Actually it's more like going to Long Islands from New York City but I have to say that it felt like the country. We found a farm that allows you to pick your own fruit and vegetables and they had a pretty big pumpkin patch. We spent the day walking through the fields trying to find the best pumpkins that would look nice on our front stoop. We also managed to grab some gourds, squash and sweetcorn. Growing up in a small town (me) and suburbia (Matthew) we never truly understood the concept of getting out of the city. We never could figure out why city folk were in awe when they came across cows grazing in wide open fields. That is until we lived in London. The air smelled cleaner, the sky was clearer and our pace was slower. It was a nice break from craziness of London despite being only 18 miles away.

Our fabulous pumpkin pickers

We LOVE pumpkin picking without freezing our butts off!!

Avery's Choice!

Sloane's Choice!

A little bit star struck....

It's a little early to be posting another blog entry but I can't help it. I'm just a little bit star struck and I have to share the news...

Walking back from Starbucks this morning, I walked past, smiled and said "Hello" to none other than....


As I was approaching him, I kept thinking to myself...why on earth do I know this man? And then getting within 2 feet of him, it hit me. OH MY GOD....that's SIR PAUL McCARTNEY!!

He was incredibly friendly albeit the only thing he said to me was "Hello". But he could have completely ignored me and he didn't. He even smiled...why does that make me giddy? So far everyone around here that I've told is like "yea, so what...he just lives down the street." Well far be it from me to act nonchalant about this. I think it's huge. If I'd had my wits about me at the time I would have asked for a picture and struck more of a conversation than just one word and a smile.

Next time for sure...

Back in the good ole US of A

Well, it has been awhile since my last post. What can I say??!! It's not that nothing has happened that's for sure. I suppose it's simply because things haven't stopped happening. Here's just a brief synopsis of the past 3 1/2 months:

- First, my computer crashed (also one of the reasons no blogs were sent: I lost everyone's address!). Perhaps I should have heeded the warning I received the morning prior to the crash. I came home to an enormous black crow sitting on my kitchen island. As I tried to extricate that freakishly creepy bird from my home, he found a way to poop on the ceiling. Now how a bird can poop upwards, I'll never know...but if that can happen, then I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when my computer managed to crap out on me the very morning I set up the external hard drive to back everything up. Not only did my beloved laptop crash...it literally imploded and with it, destroyed every file I had. There was no rescue available even after an $800 attempt by experts to retrieve at least the pictures. Sloane suddenly ceased to exist digitally...poof...gone! So...beware of black crows in your kitchen and if your computer starts clicking when you turn it on, you should probably skip the web surfing and start backing up!!

- Avery was invited to join the prep-elite team at Heathrow Gymnastics immediately following the club championship in May. Now that means our two-hour (or more depending on traffic) round trip drive now occurs 3 times a week instead of just one. Our little 5 year old trains 6.5 hours a week. So far so good but we'll see what happens when the homework starts piling up after Year 1 really gets going.

- Sloane turned 2 in May! T-W-O!!! I could have sworn by her Academy-award winning temper tantrums in the grocery store that the big 2 came a few months before May. If it weren't for those tantrums though I wouldn't have realized how much more wonderful the shoppers are in Waitrose than Sainsburys. I think I'm banned from Sainsburys but in Waitrose it's a different story altogether. I get the most wonderful, understanding and been-there-done-that smiles and pats on the shoulder by the little old ladies while they watch Sloane roll cantaloupes down the aisle as if they 1- are hers to play with and 2- bowling balls. At least she hasn't knocked any of those grannies down. It's only a matter of time. Ah well...the joys of motherhood, right? Isn't someone supposed to remind me that when I was working 16-hour days that I would cherish these easy days of no shower, no morning meeting, unlimited PJ wearing and not having to rush through a grocery store in 15 minutes during a 20 minute lunch break? Someone...please remind me!!

We celebrated twice with Sloane's best mate Tommy.

- I was invited by a couple of girlfriends to attend the Royal Ascot horse race in June. If you've never heard of this incredible racing event, click here. It's not necessarily about the race itself but about getting ready for the race and of course, finding the right hat. And boy, did I find the right hat!! Despite my complete lack of skill in terms of betting, odds and knowing the rules of the sport, I have to admit my choices based on country, namesake and the ever-successful method of "who's got the cutest jockey colors" were spot on. I even went so far as to tap my military roots and bet on Soldier's Tale and Dark Missile, both of whom pulled in some cash for me. I won quite a bit overall that day. We all wound up trading our winnings for bottles of champagne and pints of PIMMS but it was well worth it. Especially on the last race when I won the most on a horse called "Enjoy the Moment"...and boy did I ever. That was until the bookie that I bought the bet from disappeared from the field and I was forced to leave with no dough. Thankfully I was able to claim my money through "the post" and after about 6 weeks I had a nice "cheque" waiting for me. It was quite an English experience and one that we will definitely be returning to. Next year I might just ask Matt to get in his top-hat, waistcoat and tails. No...he doesn't have his own. Not yet at least. There is just something about a guy in a top hat and tails. On the flip side, there's something about a guy in pointy shoes and skinny jeans. Eck, let's just not go there.

Laura and I sportin' the posh look...

Hey guess what...it rained! Surprise surprise.

- In July, Avery finished her first year of school in London. It culminated in a school-wide performance of "Under the Sea" where she was able to play a purple mermaid and sing lots of songs. Did Matt and I see any of this play? Not really...just as I always choose the wrong checkout or toll charge line, I chose the wrong seats in the auditorium. We did have a lovely view of every other kid though. And the back of their parents' heads. We don't even have any photos. Shucks, we're such good parents.

- We prepped for our trip back to the states. Since there hasn't been much of a summer in London, we were really looking forward to getting back to the states for some dime a dozen spacious parking lots, wide driving lanes, gigantic SUVs, overly friendly people and a weak dollar. Once we arrived we were greeted with incredible humidity, pushy people and lots of traffic.

Admittedly, upon our arrival at JFK airport I was a bit annoyed by all the American accents around me. The guys at the McDonald's drive-through at Avery's gym at Heathrow would think I was insane since according to them, I have one of the strongest "American accents" they've ever heard. I drive in, place my order and almost every time I hear over the loudspeaker: "It's the American!" Perhaps it's my overuse of the terms "right on", "dude", "rock on", "you rock", "sweet" and "no doubt" that gives my origin away. Hmmm, I do believe Matt read somewhere that once you turn 30 you should never use the word "dude" or other similar sayings for that matter. Since I've never been one to follow the masses and I stopped having birthdays in 2005, I'll just chalk it up to my age and maintaining my American authenticity. Yes, I know I'm not from CA...leave me alone. Regardless, being surrounded by all the Americans took a little getting used to.

Driving in the US was another experience to get used to. I actually had to remind myself...GET IN ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE CAR and GET ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD!! But after a few near misses I got it together and made it to NJ to visit our friends from the neighborhood and Avery's old school. It was so nice to see everyone and as soon as we arrived, it was as if we'd never left.

We then had a whirlwind tour of NY, Canada, MO and IL in just a few short weeks. The time ticked away far too quickly and we did way too much to bore you all with the details. Needless to say, we were very sad to say goodbye to our friends and more importantly our family. But we had an incredible time and we'll just have to do it again next year.

Can you tell who spent their time in the sun??

Avery...5 going on 15.

This is soooo not right...but still so funny. (no worries, it was filled with water)

The official River Rats

Giving video a shot. Let's see how good blogger really is...

So here is my first attempt at placing video into our blog. Of course, it's probably not going to work 50% of the time for those of you that try to watch it...but I figure it's worth a shot. Hopefully someone will be able to get a glimpse of my terrible #2 terrorizing the pavement in the park.

We decided that since we were too lazy and too cheap to give Sloane an extravagant birthday party with 40 friends, we thought she deserved a fun present. So we bought her the ever-present and over-priced micro-scooter. I'm not quite sure what we were thinking...this will shorten our walks because she'll be able to keep up? We can ditch the stroller finally? We purposely want to piss the British off with our unruly, out-of-control and now entirely-mobile child? Or is that we really want to spend some good, quality family time in the A&E at the Royal Free Hospital? I'm still not sure but I do have to say that watching her finally figure this thing out was a riot.

Watch out London...here comes Sloane! Now...if she can just figure out how to steer!

Gymnastics-1, Swimming-Zip

There's a running joke in our family that I'm purposely steering Avery away from the pool and into the foam pits. I don't believe that's an entirely true statement. But I suppose when you get right down to it, gymnastics does seem to be edging out swimming in Dunker family sports category. But I think it's really just because of great timing and good ole' fashioned D-N-A.

So maybe I took her to a gym in NY at the age of 2. I swear it was only so that I could jump on the trampoline and mess around on beam every so often...bones and joints willing, of course. And it wasn't my fault that in NJ, after attending a gymnastics birthday party she asked me to sign her up again. I also take no responsibility in the fact that the best gymnastics club in the UK is a short 17 miles from our house (I'll send you a UK treat to the first who can can guess how long it takes us to get there). I can't help it that after one assessment session, that gym offered her an immediate spot, springing her ahead of a 9-12 month waiting list. Also, as most of you know and have graciously pointed out on more than one occasion, I pretty much sat on the bench when it came time for the bulk Avery's genetic make up. It's sad but true. She's easy going, never loses her temper, is a total genius, doesn't cuss like a sailor and has more patience than a pregnant elephant...can you see where I'm going with this? To further my claim of blamelessness Avery happens to be a girl. And since we females play absolutely no role in determining the sex of our babes, Dunks really has no one to blame but himself. I mean seriously, if Avery was a boy, would we even be having this little sports rivalry? But I digress, back to genetics. Most of the time I resign myself to the notion that I was merely a host for 9 months. However, the genes I did impart on our dear Avery I'm quite fond of. She'll never have the chance to look over someone's head while standing in line, she'll do more pull ups than all the boys in her class, she always be in the front row for group photos and in the back right corner of any military formation and her jeans will always be too long. So I can't help the fact that her strong little body was built for a gym instead of a pool.

I have to be honest here and say that I'm thrilled Avery loves gymnastics. It's what I know. And as ridiculous as this may sound, I'd rather tear all the skin off the palms of my hands from working uneven bars than walk around with legs that haven't seen a razor in 8 months. Okay, okay...the little Dunker in my head is telling me to "hold on a minute!" there are more potential issues with gymnastics than with swimming. So, I must admit a few things. Yes, I realize I'm ignoring the fact that she's got to flit about twisting and turning in a skimpy little leotard number but it's no different than a bathing suit, right? And there is that small possibility she could land on her: head-back-neck-arm-leg-stomach-side-shoulder-hip- bum-knee-thigh-ankle-elbow-wrist-and last but not least...pretty little face and cause serious bodily harm. But in the pool she could...drown!? And there has got to be some long term effect of all that chlorine on the skin, the lungs, the hair (mmmm...maybe that's the "root" of Dunker's hair loss?? ha!). Okay, so fused vertebrae, broken limbs, torn tendons, ripped palms, strained muscles and pulled ligaments aside...it's all part of the intrigue, the mystery, the danger and the fun of gymnastics. It hurts when you fall in the gym. When you fall in the pool you just get...wet. Where's the fun in that? Who wants to willingly jump into freezing cold water at 4am in December when you could wait until the afternoon and spend your entire practice in long sleeved spandex & sweatpants wishing your gym had the air conditioning on!? And why would anyone want to swim back and forth and back and forth for what must seem like an eternity when in 1 minute 30 seconds you can have finished your entire floor set. Finally, just about everyone on the planet knows how to swim. Boring! How many people can say they tried a full-twisting double back on floor? All right, enough of the pot shots about how gymnastics is a tougher therefore cooler sport than swimming. Here's the real point of this blah-blah-blah-blog:

Avery is really good. Last week her gym, Heathrow Gymnastics, held a Club Championship for all the members. It's a way for the girls to show off the new tricks and routines they've learned. It also gets them in front of a judge and allows them a few minutes in the spotlight. Keep in mind, she just started there in January and only goes once a week for one hour but out of over 50 little girls, Avery placed 6th (and that's after a fall off the beam). She was so excited about the meet, the night before it was all she could talk about. She wanted her leotard clean and her hair done with gel and glitter. Trust me, it wasn't the sparkles in her hair that made her shine. After the meet she was shocked that she placed and received not only a medal but a ribbon as well. Now we can't seem to get her to quit doing handstands against the living room wall, cartwheels in IKEA and round-offs in school.
These pictures are terrible so I apologize. My camera had a brief encounter with a bottle of Sprite over our last vacation.


Avery is the tiny one right above the white-haired lady's head.
She's the one with the red ribbon in the middle.

So when you boil all of this down, I'm proud of the genetic blueprints I've donated and I'm forever indebted to Matthew for those he provided. She will, without a doubt, end up fiercely competitive, she'll set her goals high and she won't quit until she reaches them, she constantly push herself and she'll never give up on anything. I think Dunks and I made a good team in terms of genetics despite not being able to agree on what sport we think is "tougher". Avery of course will be the deciding factor in what she ultimately wants to do. But for now, I wholeheartedly lay claim to and take comfort in her ability to flip, flop, twist, hop, spin and contort her itty-bitty frame in unimaginable positions. I am comforted because I know how fun and challenging it is for her right now. She's got her whole life to swim. As they say in all the athletic departments, it's one of those "life-time sports". And anyway, after all the pounding her body may do as a gymnast, swimming just might be the only thing that doesn't hurt every creaky bone in her body. :)

A day in the life of Avery...why does this feel like college?

So, many of you at home are probably wondering to yourselves: "What is it like in London for a 5 year old?" I thought it might be nice to be able to give you a little overview of how she spends her days in the UK.

She attends a private school in an area adjacent to ours. I would have loved to get her into one of two schools that are in walking distance from our house but there just aren't any spots open. As selfish and screwed up as this sounds, the desire was merely because I wanted to check out Jude Law or Ewan McGregor drop off their girls at either each day. Can you imagine? Excuse me...Jude...do you think your daughter would like to have a play date...like every day of the week? Then again, I don't have a nanny so I'd probably be turned down. Damn. That's all right, there's something not quite right about men in skinny jeans with pointy shoes. Eck!!

Her school is very small but she's blended in really well with the other children. Maybe blended isn't the right word since she is one of the few non-ethnic Caucasian children there. Her classroom is chock full of different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds. When you walk into her class, it's as if you stepped foot in the UN. Her teachers are from South Africa, India, France and of course all over the UK. A few months ago, she was allowed to dress up in a "National Costume" to support UNICEF's Day for a Change campaign. Unfortunately, the only thing I could come up with for Avery was a cowgirl, and that wasn't even my idea.

So back to her day. In school they are incredibly busy. They do reading, writing and maths in the morning. The afternoons are reserved for more of a "play" atmosphere (if you could call drama, swimming lessons, french and art, "play"). To offer some perspective, if Avery was at home in New Jersey right now, she'd be attending a pre-school for 4 hours a day, Monday-Friday. Then in September she'd attend kindergarten...half days. Here...Avery goes to school from 8:30 until 3:15pm, 5 days a week. She's already reading books and has picked that up so quickly it constantly shocks me. They've already started working on addition, subtraction and are in the early stages of fractions.

In the UK they focus the children very very early. For instance, Sloane will start attending a nursery program this September for 3 days a week and then in April she'll attend full day nursery. Crazy huh? They begin learning letter sounds and other things that get them ready to start reading. They do not learn letter names here. Instead they learn what the letter says: A says 'ah', C says 'ca'. It's very irritating for the UK teachers when the American children arrive writing in all capital letters. It was a small hurdle for us at first, but Av jumped it quicker than we imagined she would.

Currently, Avery has 5 workbooks at school. One for maths, another for 'Topic' which is where they write their sentences, a third for art, a fourth for more letters and a fifth with handouts consisting of maths and writing. On top of that she has two homework workbooks that must be done each evening. They have also started with spelling tests on Fridays. They get 10 words and are quizzed on how well they spell them as well as how well it's written. Quite a lot for one so young. Thankfully Avery doesn't stress about it and enjoys doing her work. She's very studious and has won two Head Teachers Awards already. Talk about a proud mommy!

It's not all work and no play for Avery and her classmates. They have PE twice a week and on one of those days they all get on a bus and head to a pool for swimming lessons. Often they can be found playing on the local playground. We also have jazz and gymnastics during the week as well. It's quite busy around here to say the least.

We'll be at the current school for two more years at which time, Avery will be given standardized UK tests. Those will evaluate her abilities and are mandatory in order to get her into another school. We have our eye on one school not far from our house that is supposedly really good. Already we've had to put her on the waiting list to be put on a waiting list for 2009. Yes, that's right...a waiting list to be put on another waiting list. If she performs well enough on the standardized tests, we'll receive a formal application in late 2008 at which time we'll have to immediately fill it out and return it the same day. That's so that we secure one place of 250 for this particular school. Then if her application makes it on the list of 250 applicants, she'll be brought in for more assessments. Depending on how that goes, she may or may not get a place in that school. Here's the kicker...there are only 24 spots available. It's ridiculous isn't it? Applications for school equals college in my mind...NOT GRAMMAR SCHOOL!!! It's a good thing they don't test the parents!!