Keeping up with the Culveys – Dec 2015

Summer’s here and the schools are out, it’s time to get away!! And that is what we intended to do! France beckoned and a chance to catch with our great friends Marcelle, Mazen, Chloe, and Chad. This was extra special as we are going be moving back to Kuwait and would be together with them again next year!

Now crossing the Channel this summer has proven to be an interesting task. Calais has been besieged with desperate refugees trying to enter the UK through the tunnel, Calais ferry workers have been on strike over the selling of one of the operating companies to Euro Tunnel, and they have been setting light to tyres and blocking the roads to the port and the Channel tunnel. All in all complete chaos. So with that in mind we booked our crossing to Dunkirk!

We left home early as it was a busy day on the roads, but it took a long time to reach Dover. I fact we were supposed to be in the port 90 mins before departure, when we finally made we had less than 30 mins to go, we thought for sure we were going to get bumped off until the next day! How wrong we were, they let us on, and, because we paid £10 for priority boarding we drove straight to the front and were 1st on!! brilliant, best £10 we’d spent in a long time!! This means 1st off too, so we could get straight on the road for our long drive to Paris!

It was about Midnight when we drove off the ferry, and it was a long 3 hour drive down to Versailles. The rest of the Culvey’s snored away, while I stared at the highway! We made it by about 3am to our caravan park on the banks of the river Seine where we would be crashing for this trip. It was a cool static caravan and was perfect as a little sleeping spot! We all hit the sack in minutes!

Over the next few days we spent a great weekend with the guys, hanging out at their lovely holiday villa in the countryside, going on forest walks, enjoying birds of prey shows (in which India discovered her love for photography!), and of course, time to catch up, and just chat. It was a lovely few days and made us all even more excited about going back to Kuwait.

The next adventure was up to Warwick Castle for the day, Ly and the kids met Abi, Kiera, & Cam, plus Darron, and Olivia, and Tarin, Katy, and Logan’s best bud Jack! Discovering the castle, a bit of archery, and getting locked in the stocks was the general order of the day, and by all accounts a fun day for all!!

As July came to an end we headed up to Northampton to see Chris and Gemma. They had kindly agreed to look after the kids for a few days before passing them onto Tan, Grandad, and Abi across a week so Ly and I could disappear to Portugal, for our annual reboot at Juicy Oasis! We arrived on the Friday evening and headed over to the pub for a drink and a few games of pool. Then it was back to the house for dinner, and our last meal for a week!!

We headed off the next day leaving 3 happy kids for their week of being spoilt…. Lyra and I drove back to Binfield, then on to the airport and flew over to Lisbon to start our juicing. As always the resort was gorgeous and tranquil. We got straight into things on the Sunday, and so started our usual week of fitness and juice. The group were a very mixed bunch, as you would expect, and we enjoyed making a few new friends, and even catching up with some again! We threw ourselves into all the activities and were feeling great. By the end of the week however, I must say for the first time I was struggling to drink the juices, not sure why, but I was really not enjoying them so much and started to leave some of them. I paid the price for this on the last afternoon, it was very hot, and we had a game of 5 a side football, then a few exercise classes, and I found myself nearly collapsing!! The staff came to the rescue with an avocado, which gave me the lift I needed. Lesson learnt!! Still before we knew it, Saturday was upon us, and it was the last day. The greatest thing about the last day is that you get to order one of Juicy Oasis’s amazing salads!! It sounds funny I know, but when you have been juicing for a week, a Juicy Oasis Salad is a huge thing, they are absolutely wonderful!!

We flew back Saturday evening and headed up to Northampton to meet back up with the kiddies! They had had a ball, a really great week with everyone. The fun wasn’t over though, as it was Chris’s birthday, so that meant softball at Heyford Cricket Club! It was a lovely day, and there was a pretty good turnout. The softball was played with varying degrees of skill, and attention, by the end, nobody was really sure who had won, in fact everyone thought they had won!! Not a bad place to be I guess!!

The summer was proving to be a lovely one with long sunny days to enjoy! Logan in particular loved heading over to Jocks Lane Park close to home and playing in the playground, but the best, was the aqua area where he loved getting naked and playing in the fountains with his brother (who wasn't naked by the way!!).

You may recall in the earlier update from this year that we met up with Anna, our long time friend from the Prague days, as we mentioned we planned to go visit them in Poland, and that time had finally come! Kai wasn’t going to be coming with us as he had an opportunity to go to Anfield to see Liverpool play, but luckily the game was pushed back to the Monday, so he also made the trip to Warsaw. We arrived on the Thursday afternoon, and Harry picked us up. Once back at the house it was a lovely reunion! India and Noah who had been best friends for the first 3 years of their lives, and hadn’t seen each other since, hit it off straight away, and Noah’s older Brother Christopher, and the twins Finn and Tess, had all grown into lovely kids. They all just clicked and were off and in the pool within an hour of arriving! You would have thought they had been together for the last ten years, not apart! Catching up with Anna and Harry was also great, and we too, quickly picked up from where we had left off. The next day continued pretty much in the same vain. The weather was heavenly, so it was in the pool, and the hot tub, and playing games in the garden. We talked of heading off places, but we were all having such fun, that we just spent the day together at home, which was just perfect! That night, we had a lovely dinner, and a few drinks with still more catching up! It had been a long time… On the Saturday we did finally make it out of the house, but not before Harry and I had a game of tennis! The two old boys did pretty good, and a friendly knock about turned into a great 3 set match, which I think I won, but it is possible that I am mistaken (genuinely)! We headed into Warsaw to have a wander around the old town. Very Prague like, and you could see the success Poland has had, with lots of development going on in the city, it was great. As the sun set we sat down for dinner in an outside restaurant, just outside the city centre, it was a lovely warm evening and the perfect setting. The kids enjoyed running around, and we enjoyed, not running around!!

Too soon it was Sunday and time to say goodbye to the wonderful family of Klompe’s, Anna, Harry, Chris, Noah, Finn, and Tess, from all of the Culvey’s we say thank you so so much for a perfect break! A great time, great friends, and wow, a fabulous home!! It cannot be 10 years until we do that again!!

We were met at Luton airport by Uncle Chris, who whipped Kai away as they were heading to Liverpool the following day to see Liverpool play Bournemouth at Anfield (I wasn’t jealous at all, the fact that I have never been, didn’t bother me at all….much!). Chris, Kai, and Grandad had a brilliant day. They got their early and had a good look around the stadium, Kai learnt a bit about the history of the club, and saw the memorial of the Hillsborough 96, and got to visit the club shop!! Thankfully Liverpool won and Kai had a brilliant memory from his first game, the singing of You’ll never walk alone will stay with him forever I think!!

As school was out, we gave into Kai’s pleading to have Sammy and Ewan over for a sleepover. Their favourite sleepovers are to take over the living room and turn it into one big bed! The evening as always was a mix of trampoline, wii, and movies, plus a healthy helping of pizza!! Needless to say it was a late night and poor Logan desperately wanted t sleep downstairs too, but for all of our sakes, we slowly coaxed him up to his bed!

The following weekend, it was time to hit our second home again, yep, Northampton. This time for the big 50th anniversary of Auntie Irene and Uncle Michael. 50 years is a wonderful achievement, and you cannot meet them without being touched by their joy for life and incredible positivity! With that in mind, their needed to be a party! So there was. We all met up at Dallington Health Club, family, and friends from all through their lives. There were speeches by their best man, and our very own Michael Peck. It was an afternoon of old stories and catching up with people that had not been together for many years. In amongst all this was the youngest generation all having a ball Logan, Kai, Indi, Isaac, Kyra, Keira, Cam, Sam, and Millie all made it an easy afternoon for the oldies by looking after themselves!!

Then all of a sudden it was the end of August! And that meant goodbye TCC! After exactly 4 years (to the day), i was moving on. My final week was a wash with goodbye lunches, and a lot of hugs! Major kudos must go to my good mate Nick (The Fox), we started in the same week at TCC in Logistics, and together embarked on the transformation project of the Logistics operation, 4 years on, Nick wrote and read a brilliantly insightful, and wickedly funny Ode to my time at TCC, tears of laughter were shed!! Thanks Nick, and good luck with your redundancy too, this December!!

To celebrate this shift in our lives, Lyra and I headed off to Aubeterre in France (Near Bordeaux), for Dave and Lee’s wedding celebration. It was a legendary weekend. Perfect location, perfect weather, and fabulous company. The weekend started with a casual get together in the main square at Aubeterre as a warm up for the big day tomorrow. Lovely evening under the stars, and opposite our hotel (result!). Everyone was well behaved, and looking forward to the big day to come! Dave and Lee’s big day kicked off early afternoon with refreshing drinks on the lawn of this stunning chateaux they had hired for the weekend (yes, the whole complex!!), beautiful just doesn't describe it. The ceremony was on the lawn in front of the house, a really nice, simple service, including a reading of ‘The Owl & The Pussy cat (Classic!), and ended with everyone doing the Samba down the aisle!

Drinks and Canapés followed in the blazing sun, then we strolled around the back of the house, and into the shade for a wonderful reception dinner in the gardens. We were on a table with a great bunch of people, and had a great laugh throughout!

As the meal drew to a finish, we had the joyful, and emotional speeches, Dave had lost his Dad to cancer just a few weeks before so it was a touching moment for all. Then once all the ceremonies were complete, the girls gathered around the pool and cooled themselves with their feet in the pool and posed for a few photos. It was a lovely sight….. until Dave dived in fully suited!!! Well from the moment on it was inevitable what would follow, yep you guessed it, everyone hit the pool dressed in the glad rags!!! To be honest, I was wearing a new suit so I did sneakily lose my trousers before somersaulting in!! What a great moment, so spontaneous, and set the tone for the evening party, fun, fun, fun!!

I think it is fair to say that Ly and I drank more than we had in sometime, and danced the night away! When it came to home time, somebody dragged us onto the coach to get us back the the hotel, then once they woke us up to get off we crawled over to the hotel with another couple and tried to get in…. not easy! The hotel had a coded lock on the door for late returnees (drunks), sadly we just couldn't get the number right, so we ended up banging on the door until someone answered! Next we realised that I had left my jacket at the Chateaux with the key in the pocket, so I asked for the spare key, they don't have spares! Oh. Luckily they had another room not being used so we crashed there!!

Next morning, I awoke, feeling a little jaded, and left Ly snoozing while I went to sort out getting our car back, and the keys to our room. Now Aubeterre is not exactly a bustling hive of activity on a Sunday morning, and the hotel receptionist / manager / waitress (it was a small hotel) explained that taxi’s have to come from the nearest main town, and were unlikely to come for a 5km run to the Chateaux, huh, great! Luckily again, there was a gentleman in the cafe, that said he would give me a lift!! What a lovely guy!

With a morning to recover, Sunday’s soiree was a Hollywood glamour pool party! So we all dressed up in our big shades, and silks etc. and headed back to the Chateaux, for a much quieter, laid back lunch, and soak in the pool. The contrast from the night before was hilarious, but it was the perfect chilled out way to finish a weekend of celebrations for a fab couple, we felt very lucky to have been invited to their special day.

We stayed over on the Sunday night, and travelled home on the Monday. In the morning we had a little wander around the town, and visited the incredible underground church. Words cant really describe it, but it was stunning. Then we headed back to the airport and before we knew it we were back in rainy Birmingham!!

The kids had stayed with Nanny and Grampy for the weekend, so we drove straight down to meet up with them. As usual they’d had a lovely time, and had been to Bristol to hunt down the Shawn the Sheep statues that had appeared all over the city! Logan especially loved it, he had sheep fever for sure!! Before travelling back up to Binfield, Dad and I spent the morning on a tour of the Wadworths Brewery in Devizes. This is a traditional brewer, steeped in history and I must say it was a fascinating tour. Along with the tour of the Brewery, they also take you to their pub sign painting studio (they are the only brewer still hand painting pub signs, and they are a works of art. We also visited the shire horses they use to pull the drays. Local pubs still get their deliveries by dray, and they are also used for a lot of promotional work and country fairs etc. These horses are huge close up, I mean there back is as high as my head! incredibly strong beasts. The tour ends in their tasting room, where you get a snifter of their key ales, lovely!!

September started with me at home for two weeks as I wasn't starting my new job until mid September, so I could sit back, and relax at home…aaah. Not! Lyra and I spent these two weeks running around doing as much as we could before I disappeared for 3 months. Sorting through our mountain of things felt pretty daunting, and after working at it pretty hard for a good part of this time, we now know it is a daunting task, as it really didn’t feel like we made a massive dent in it! A few trips to the tip for sure, a few trips to the charity shop too, but we still have a lot of stuff… Considering a 2nd container at this point…

In between the clearing out, we did do some fun stuff! Like seeing the kids back to school. Kai was back at Jennetts Park, now without his Sister, but I think he likes that independence now. He’s year 5 now, so one of the more senior members of the school, I’m certain he likes that! Indi had an extra day, and didn’t start at her new Secondary school, Garth College until the Friday! So a nice short week for her to get started with. Now making the move up to Secondary school can be a big deal, and for Indi, she had nobody from Jennetts Park going to this school so she was on her own. She admitted to feeling a little nervous, but mostly excited, and so I dropped her off, and walked in with her, just to make sure all was ok. Well Indi was as cool as a cucumber, and I was told in no uncertain terms to leave by one of the teachers. Apparently, they have to cope! I like that attitude to be honest, but it certainly cut the hugging and wishing her luck down a bit (phew, says Indi!). We picked her up at the end of her 1st day (outside the gates for sure), and she was buzzing. She loved it, and even found that a friend she had met a few years ago in drama classes was in her class too! She couldn’t been happier, and nor could we!

At the weekend, Kai was off with Daniel F for his birthday, they went paint balling! It was junior paint ball, so I don’t think they hurt so much, but Kai and the boys had a blast. While they were away shooting themselves up, the rest of us popped over to Reading for a bit of shopping, and a spot of lunch in Pizza Express. it was again a lovely sunny day, so we spent some time with Logan playing on the train ride, the go karts, and we kind of had a go at Dino Golf, although, Logan just wanted to see the dino’s, so I ended up playing the golf!

Now that I had finished work, I no longer had my car. We agreed that Midnight (Lyra’s Volkswagen Eos) was not really going to be sufficient for all 5 of us, especially as it is only a 4 seater! So we agreed that we needed to sell it, plus as a convertible it was more likely to sell in September than in January! So we went looking at cars, we knew we needed something that would fit us all in, but wasn’t going to cost a fortune. We had always liked the RAV4 after having one in Prague, so we focused there. Lyra found a great option that was pretty cheap too, so we went over, had a look, had a drive, and said yes!

Now it was time to sell Midnight…. many long faces in the Culvey household.

Before I left for Kuwait, we had time for one more night out, and we chose the movies. We went to see Inside Out, which got mixed reviews from the Culvey’s. I did have a nice nap though!!

Then that was that, it was time for me to go… It was a real mix of excitement, and fear if I’m honest. Truly excited to be heading back to a great Company, in an exciting environment, but also a fear of leaving everyone behind. We have never spent this long apart before, and we have 3 kids now. We knew it would be tough, but what we were doing made sense. We just had to get on with it, so we did.

I left early on the Saturday morning, all the kids dragged themselves out of bed to say goodbye, and even chased me up the rode as I left in the taxi. That was of course after a good dose of hugs from everyone!! It was an emotional and tearful moment. However, once I was at the airport, I was able to focus on where I was going and I was ready to do it.

Sadly, my flight was delayed a little so I ended up with a very short transfer in Bahrain, which I made, but my suitcases didn’t! This was a bit of a bugger, as I was starting work the following morning!

I made it to Karim’s, and we had a quick catch up, but it was an early start in the morning. Karim lent me some soap, razors, toothbrush etc, so I was at least able to look tidy, smell good, even if I was still in the same jeans and t shirt I had travelled over in the previous day! Thankfully my suitcase was delivered the following evening, so I could get my suit out and look the part on my 2nd day!!

As I was travelling over to Kuwait, Ly and the kids were heading to Northampton for a party! Vicki’s Mum was 70, and they had a big surprise party planned. All went to plan and the surprise was achieved!! Judging by the photos it looks like everyone had a great night!

My first weekend in Kuwait was spent with Jackie & Carl at their place catching up and talking about all the things I needed to do before everyone else came over. The list was pretty daunting! Key for starters was somewhere to live! There was an option in the same complex as Jackie and Carl, but also Jackie mentioned someone from Alshaya that was leaving. So that Sunday, I had a chat with the guy, and he was renting a 5 bedroom floor in the rather nice Surra district. So I got the landlords number, gave him a call, went and had a look, and talked it over with him. He was happy to wait until December, didn’t want a deposit, and didn’t want to put the rent up! Show me where I sign!! And that was that, been in the country less than two weeks, and had the house in the bag!

Part of my 2nd week was a holiday in Kuwait so I had 5 days without work. I couldn’t travel as my visa was still under process, Karim was off to Hungary for a week, so I was home alone.. I did meet up with some old friends for dinner, Brien and Suzanne were in Prague, and Izmir with us, so it was lovely to catch up with them again! I also had a day at the Palms beach club with Jackie and Carl which was really nice, but other than that, the rest of the time I filled with working on our mountain of video footage and starting to edit it into our little movies.

Again back in Binfield, Lyra was off again, this time to Milton Keynes for a 70’s do to celebrate Anita’s birthday! It was full on fancy dress and Lyra excelled in her afro wig and far out purple get up!! Was life back in England just a big party now I was gone??!! I can assure you not, but if I described Lyras’ average day during the week, it would make most peoples hair curl!! Lyra is run ragged trying to keep up with getting the 3 of them all to different schools / nursery’s, and after school activities, then in between work on the daily stuff, oh, and prepare to move the household to Kuwait!!!

To keep my social standing up, I also had a great night with Marcelle and Mazen at their place. It was a returnees dinner in the garden of their lovely house. As most people had pretty recently returned from summers away, it was great to meet a few new people and few old friends. One being (Mrs) Jenny Johnson, India’s year 2 teacher from TES, and her hubby Fergus. It was so lovely to catch up with them and get the low down on life in Kuwait and how the school was doing. India and Kai will both go back to TES so it was great to hear that it was going from strength to strength.

September was coming to an end, and just at the end of the month there was big news… Midnight was sold! Yes Lyra’s lovely car was off to pastures new. It was good news, although it was an emotional goodbye, one that Lyra almost cancelled several times!! Indi cried, and spread herself across Midnights bonnet in an effort to keep her (not sure what the new owners were thinking at this point!). It was the end of an era, and sure sign we were moving closer to our departure from the UK.

The other big news was that my Kuwait Residency was issued, which was really quick. This meant I could travel! So within a few days I was off to Moscow for my 1st business trip. I was travelling with my old / new Boss, Tony. The trip had a slightly shakey start, I had booked a taxi for 01:30 as my flight was at 03:45, and it didn’t turn up! When I called, the driver eventually answered complaining that I had woken him up! Needless to say I had to make alternative arrangements,  Walked down to the main road hoping to flag down a taxi, but nothing was coming. Then, just as I was going to call Tony to say he was going alone, an official airport taxi drove by, I waved him down and he agreed to take me (they normally only drop off from the airport). I was saved! From there on in it was a great trip. I met the new team in Russia, plus a few old faces from my first time with Alshaya. On the last night I met up with my friend Ivan from TCC, and it turned out that there was a whole bunch of TCC guys staying in the same hotel as me so we had a short reunion!!

As October beckoned, it was of course time to celebrate our little big man’s birthday! Logan was 3!!! All the family gathered in Binfield for a lovely day of presents, cake, and trampoline!! I of course could only attend via skype, but I got to wish my little man a happy birthday so that was great. He had a lovely day, and felt very much like the centre of attention!

Meanwhile back in England….. Lyra threw her 1st Arbonne Party, Joyce hosted, and it was attended by a good bunch of girls and Lyra did a great job of sharing the wonderful world of Arbonne, assisted by Nat and Charlie, it was a very successful evening!

As we headed through October, excitement was building, I was getting close to flying back to the UK for a few days to see Lyra and the kids, it was a daily countdown up until the day I flew. When the day finally arrived,we were all very excited to be together again. Whilst I was enjoying being in kuwait and the new job, being away from the family was really hard. Maybe not as hard as it was for Ly having the kids on her own, but either way, we were going to have a few days together!

It was half term, so the flight was full of teachers taking the chance to have a week at home too. There was almost a party atmosphere on the plane. It really helped for the time to fly by. Soon enough we landed in London, and there they were, Lyra and Logan had come to pick me up! It was a lovely moment, those hugs are ones you really cherish, I was home! I got to pick up Indi and Kai to similar excitement, in fact Kai tried to jump into my arms, taking me by surprise, he smashed his shoulder (a bony shoulder) right into my jaw! For a moment I thought he had broken it as it really hurt, but we recovered and had the hug he so wanted.

We spent two days together, and being back as part of the team was lovely, we got right back into old routines, then on the Sunday we headed down to Nanny & Grampy’s as the kids were going to spend a few days with them, while Lyra and I headed back to Kuwait.

So while Lyra and I flew over to Kuwait, Nanny & Grampy treated the kids to a few days of forest walks with rope swings, and trips to the movies to see very a very apt movie - Nut Job!! As we were running into Halloween, Nanny also made marshmallow men, perfect for toasting over a bonfire!

Meanwhile, in Kuwait, Lyra enjoyed a few days of seeing old friends Jackie, and Marcelle, while I went back to work for a few days. In the evening we enjoyed reunions with Jackie and Carl. Karim also came along to enjoy the fun, as per usual when Karim is present the evening turned into a feast of hilarity with Karim showing off his grasp of slang English and getting it wrong!! Let’s just say we all found a new term… turtle lifter!! I can’t even remember what it was supposed to mean but everyone was in floods of laughter, a wonderful night!. Then the following night, Marcelle and Mazen treated us to a wonderfully quiet night of renewing friendship, and lovely Lebanese food! It was like we had never been apart and we talked late into the night. We stayed over at Marcelles as we were leaving first thing in the morning on the BA flight back to London. No worries regarding oversleeping, as there was a huge storm in the early hours of the morning right through to when we needed to get up! The arid, dry state of Kuwait was transformed into a sodden mess with water lying everywhere, all across roads, we feared the flight maybe an issue, but thankfully the storm moved on just in time for our plane to land. We made a bolt for the airport, driving through floods on the way, and made it!! Before we knew we were on the plane and sat rather comfortably in Business class ready to head home! It was a great few days and really helped Lyra to get herself started on rebuilding her social circle in Kuwait. We even managed to do some work on getting the house ready, not a lot, but some!

Once back on terra firms, we headed straight to Nanny & Grampy’s to see the kids! It was great to be back together, even if just for a few days. To celebrate, we went for a slap up meal in that sprawling metropolis, Trowbridge! We had dinner in one of my old haunts, The Kings Arm’s, although it seems a bit more up market than it used to be, with an emphasis on ‘a bit’! It was nice to have an evening with Mum and Dad though, plus a few cheeky beverages!

Then it was back to Bracknell as we were being treated to a few days of the Fitts of Pocklington! Always fun, never dull, and never healthy!! And we didn’t let ourselves down! Once we’d caught up on all the gossip, we spent a day up in London together. Of course we couldn’t make it easy, so Indi and I headed off early as Indi had an audition for part in a movie (The Conjuring 2), she had to show off her karate moves and did a great job, as always! Sadly we didn’t get a call back, but the experience is always excellent, and Indi takes it in her stride.

Once we were done with the work, it was off to Covent Garden to meet the rabble. We got there first, and Indi and I enjoyed an hour together over a cuppa (green tea for me, Hot Choccy for Indi!). It is such a rare occasion for it to be just us, it was really lovely. Soon enough though, our peace was shattered and the mob arrived. Covent Garden was full of entertainers as usual and we watched the fun for a little while, but tummy’s were rumbling, so we headed off for lunch at Jamie’s. All very nice as usual, sat up on the high tables, Logan was loving being at a big boy’s table! Following lunch, we wandered about the market, and enjoyed some more street entertainers, especially the Scotsman in his boxer shorts up a ladder (you had to be there)!!

Before we headed back to suburbia, we took a little detour and rode up to the top of the Shard. Great views, really worth a look if you get a chance! We even managed a glass of bubbles up there!! But soon it was time to hit Waterloo and the train home, it had been a great day out for all, but we were all in need of some time with our feet up!!

It was my last day back home before heading back to Kuwait, so we went for a blast of fresh air at the Lookout. Kids loved climbing all over the playground and they even built a house from the branches left around the place. Pretty impressive really! It was a nice quiet and chilled out day, just what I needed before heading off again for a another 7 weeks in the sand before the Christmas break, and the big move!

Claire, Libby, and Katie, were still in Binfield, and it was halloween! So the costumes came out, they all dressed up in their goulish garbs, but sadly the weather wasn’t kind, so trick or treating had to be limited to Joyce’s over the road! Luckily she was fully prepared and even joined in the dressing up!!

As it was almost time to submit all our docs to get Lyra and the kids their visas for Kuwait, we needed to update Kai’s passport. Thankfully we didn’t need to adopt the crisis mode that we needed for Indi’s so the process was all done, nice and calmly… made a nice change!

November kicked off with a bang, with a night at the O2 Arena to see Imagine Dragon’s! This was Indi and Kai’s first live concert (and I missed it, sob), they loved it especially Indi, Kai thought it was a bit loud!! They were joined by Maria, (their old Headmistress from Jennetts Park!). It was a major trauma getting there as traffic was horrific and the sat nav seemed to want to play games! I even tried to guide from Kuwait! However, it was all worth it, and I think it won’t be the last gig these two rockers want to see, although not always with their Headmistress!!

I continued to buy things for the house, one Saturday I went to see a fridge freezer, bought it, and bought their car too for Ly!! It was a great find, and even managed to use it to get the fridge home! Bonus!

Ly and the kids headed up to Northampton for Guy Fawkes and the Brien Papworth Birthday trilogy. Watched the fireworks in Abington Park, all had a great night. Then enjoyed sparklers madness back at Abi’s. The following day, it was lunch at the Greyhound with Max and Blake. Not a bad weekend all round!

Back in Kuwait, I took delivery of my new car, Ford Explorer! And bought a rather nice, rather large new TV! Now that’s my kind of shopping!!

Logan had a ball (literally) at his buddy Isaac’s birthday party. They loved the huge ball pit and soft play area, covering themselves in the balls, laying face down in them, so lovely to see… and then to top all of that, lots of party food and cake! Logan Heaven!

Indi and Kai continued to excel at their horse riding lessons, they are cantering now, and Indi is even having a go at some jumps! They are of course always under the watchful eye of Logan, normally whilst munching on peperami and being videoed by Mum!!!

Ly kept up the momentum on her Arbonne journey, grabbing every chance to learn more, and look at how she could make it work in and from Kuwait. No small feat while single handedly looking after 3 kids, and preparing to move overseas… I’m a lucky man!

Indi found her new school Garth, fab, she really loved the extra freedom and responsibility, plus all the diverse subjects she started just gave her such motivation. we are so proud of how she immersed herself in this new environment with such positivity and confidence. Her continued positive approach to learning fills me with pride, her ability to adapt to her changing circumstances with a smile on her face and spring her step is lesson we could all take from our lovely girl.

Kai too, was excelling at Jennetts Park, the stability of 4 years in the same class really showed as his confidence continued to grow and he became a clear leader amongst his class. I couldn’t wait to see how he did in the bigger, more stretching environment of his new school TES in Kuwait. I knew he was going to make me proud.

Having said all of that, Logan was not going to be out done, having started Nursery as a nervous 2 year old, he was flying, his confidence was through the roof, and he happily stepped through the stages, until he was in Pre School and loving it. He has made some lovely friends, and talks about them with such passion. He is going to follow in his Brother and Sisters footsteps and love to learn, and love his schooling to the fullest.

A clear sign that Christmas is coming is the Jennetts Park Christmas Fair, and this year it was boosted by an Arbonne stall, sharing lots of great, vegan, chemical free toiletries and make up, along with the great wellness products. The day went really well, and was good experience. The kids even managed to get an early check in with Santa!!

The joy of technology these days means that Lyra can shop for 2nd hand furniture needs for Kuwait from the comfort of her sofa back in England, so many of my weekends tasks included (normally with Karim in tow too) driving around meeting people Lyra had contacted via the various FaceBook groups selling stuff. One of the latest was a 6m trampoline, just like the one we had in the basement last time we were in Kuwait, just like the one we had in the garden in the UK, it so it was that we were going to have one once again!! The guys at work all joined me one Friday morning to help with the large task of taking it to pieces, transporting it to the new house in Surra, than re-assembling it in the basement… It wasn't easy, that’s for sure, but we managed, and within a few hours we were sitting feeling rather a proud of our mornings work!

Despite not quite being December, it was time for the kids to get all dressed up and look for Christmassy scenes to pose in front of for the Culvey Christmas card, this is always a challenge, not to find the places, but to get 3 kids all looking lovely at the same time!! But the mission was eventually accomplished and as reward, they enjoyed a trip to the panto! Last year of course, Indi was starring in it, but this year was happy to enjoy being a positive critic in the crowd!

With December upon us, it was time to get focused on Visas! Lyra needed several trips into London for medicals, docs legalisation, or notarising, but eventually, success! The residency visas were issued and a big hurdle to getting to Kuwait was achieved! Hooray!! Izzy was ready to come, despite our best efforts to find her a home in the UK. Not because we don’t love the old Mutt, but because it is pretty tough to be an animal in the desert, and all that heat. However it seemed that destiny was telling us that she must stay with us, so she got her injections and paperwork up to date, and we booked her a ride to Kuwait, a few days after we arrive.

The time had come to start the long goodbye process. With so many people to see one last time before we headed off again, we started in early December with the kids sleepovers. I say we, but as I was in Kuwait, this is of course all of Lyra’s handiwork. And it was no mean feat. Back to back sleepovers for Indi then Kai, is no joke!

So Indi went 1st, with a mix of her old buddies from Jennetts Park, Mia and Olivia, and few girls from Garth. it was a kind of pyjama party / singalong disco, with many selfies!

Logan loved it, but Kai seemed to be keeping a low profile. The girls hung out in their onesies and chatted until late. The following night it was the boys turn.. James, Harrison, Daniel F, and Tamtej were Kai’s sleepover buddies, and Logan was right there again in the thick of it! As you would expect there was a lot of tech and video gaming, and no singing or dancing!! They spent the night camped out in the lounge! In the morning they still had enough energy to bounce themselves silly on the trampoline!

I was using the time to get around to as many markets as possible, and had trips to Poland, Turkey, Morocco. and Russia! It was great reconnecting to the key people in these markets, and meeting all the new members of the teams. It gave me a great insight into the challenges ahead, and gave me a starting point to build from.

The Jennetts Park Mom’s (and Darron) had a great night out to say a big bye to Lyra, after a few drinks in the pub, they hit the curry house and they forced Lyra to do tequila slammers! Who would have thought!

I was still buying stuff! Fitness benches, shelving units, beds, dining room table and chairs, you name it, every weekend I brought more and more to the house so we would have the essentials for the first 6 weeks while waiting for our stuff from UK to arrive.

Sleep over part 3, followed soon after 1 and 2, this time it was Sammy and Ewans night. The boys had been such a key part of the fun of living in Blamire drive that we couldn’t leave without having one more night these guys. Both Kai and Logan have got so much from these two great boys. As you would expect, it was a lot of video games, and noise, but they had a great night and camped out in the lounge for the night as usual!!

Not to be out done, Grandad came down for a few sleepovers and to help with the school runs as he has done so many times over our years in the UK. The parties continued, Indi and Kai had a Karate Christmas workout, complete with turkey hats! Ly went for a lovely dinner with Joyce, Jim, and Hannah, but then…. it all stopped, it was time for the packers to get cracking!!

Having been through this a few times before, it is a complete and utter whirlwind hitting the house! For Lyra it was just one more thing on top of getting the 3 kids to 3 different schools each day, and arranging the festivities and goodbyes over the final few weeks in England.

And then, I came home! My 3 month exile was over, we were back together as a family!

Loggie had his last day at the Creche with his favourite helper James, and his best buddy Jack, he was really going to miss those guys! All 3 said emotional goodbyes to their schools / pre-schools, each of them has had such a great schooling experience in the UK, they have been given a truly positive educational launchpad for the future. We are very grateful.

Last days of school wouldn’t be complete without a drink and dinner at The Peacock Farm! So we stuck with tradition and met the JP gang at the bar one last time…. the kids ran riot in the garden while we all reminisced about our years together, and admired a few Christmas jumpers!

Indi and Kai’s goodbye to Artemis, their lovely theatre group, was a bowling party in town. Then they all hit the arcade and got very competitive on the air hockey. Again, we are so grateful to all the team at Artemis that have given both Indi and Kai such wonderful opportunities to grow and develop their talent on stage, we will never forget all the wonderful shows and fun they have both had as part of the Artemis family. Good to be bad, will always be the outstanding memory, but there are so many that bring a warm smile.

The 19th December arrived, and that meant it was our big leaving party in Northampton!! Along with all the other things Ly was managing, she had managed to organise a great party for us to have an evening together with all our friends and family. We were over the moon with all those who managed to travel from Bracknell, and Trowbridge (Thanks Mum and Dad!), and to everyone who made time at such a busy time of year. We had a brilliant evening, the band were awesome, especially their guest vocalist (yours truly! And apologies to everyone the endured my screaming!). We danced, we laughed, and we celebrated, and we also had the odd beer and wine!!

In the morning, we all crawled out of our Premier Inn beds for breakfast in the Queen Eleanor! Proper English style, with lashings of hot tea to bring us back to life. Then it was back to the key matter at hand… get packed! We left the kids in Northampton, and headed back to Binfield to work through the final few days of packing and loading the containers (yes there were 2) ready to ship over to Kuwait! It was hard work and we were very happy to see the final doors close and hand the house over to the cleaners! We didn’t envy their task, but they did an excellent job.

So as most of our stuff headed to the port, we were left with a garage full of suitcases (approx. 10 of them) with all the things we needed to take with us to Kuwait (and of course drag around the Country over Christmas). Grandad arrived to share the burden of the cases and we packed up both cars and headed to Northampton for the Christmas celebrations to begin!

1st stop was the Premier Inn in Northampton Town Centre, this double room, that slept 4, which was going to have 5 of us in, and 10 suitcases was a little cramped, plus we had to lug them up two floors! Such fun! Once it was done, it was time for us to pop over to see Jo, for her traditional Christmassy Birthday Bash! Trouble was, we had two children that had just had enough and did not want to go.. Both Ly and I really needed a few hours of gentle socialising to combat the stresses and and hard work of the last few days (or months for Lyra) so we agreed that they could stay in the room, phones on, and answer the door to nobody!

We had a lovely time at Jo’s, Logan was a star, and managed to stay up most of the evening and kept us fully entertained! It was well worth the effort!

Following our night squashed into the tiny room in the Premier Inn, we checked out and drove over to Fawsley Hall and checked into the Royal Suite! Talk about from one extreme to the other! It was stunningly beautiful, and more importantly, huge! It was our Wedding Anniversary, and over the last few years has become a bit of a tradition to stay at Fawsley Hall. What a fabulous day it was too. We had a lovely lunch with Auntie & Uncle, Grandad, Abi, Kiera, and Cam, plus Ann & Becky! Everything went perfectly, lovely lunch,  and a few hours of relaxing chat.

After lunch we said goodbye to everyone and retreated to our room(s) for a few hours of nothing… Then before we knew it, it was time to get ready for our evening soiree. Grandad was Baby Sitting the kids in the room, so we had dinner with Jane & Guy, and Abi & Nick. What an evening, everyone was in the mood to celebrate, and we just laughed and laughed all night! Not sure what we did for the restaurant ambience, but we certainly created a very jovial atmosphere in our corner!! Then after all that, we hit the sack in Fawsley’s wonderfully comfy beds and slept…..

After a gentle start, with breakfast at Fawsley, Christmas Eve was a day of getting the final bits ready for the big day tomorrow, and then an evening at Abi’s with a steady stream of friends popping in to share some Christmas joy and Prosecco!

Then before we knew it, it was Christmas!!! The day started early as always with little people getting very excited about Santa’s visit in the night! Then Breakfast and pressies!! Once the mountain of wrapping paper had been cleared away, we had a bunch of happy children, feeling very lucky as always, but it was time to get moving, we were having lunch at Chris and Gemma’s, for once Lyra was not the chef, and she was enjoying the moment! It was a true Christmas feast, we all ate far too much (well I did anyway!), drank a suitable amount for the occasion, and sported rather splendid Christmas elf hats!! Once the washing up was complete, we crashed on the sofa’s, Gemma’s Brother and his family arrived, and there were even more presents distributed! By early evening it was all too much and we retreated to Abi’s for Christmas games…

Boxing day, was a continuation of the feasting, a lovely lunch at the Greyhound, then back at Abi’s to chill, because the following day it was back in the car and set the Sat Nav for Wurzel Country!. The Culvey Christmas lunch and gathering was fully attended this year so Mum’s was bursting at the seems! The seating arrangements for lunch were a work of art, and we all enjoyed another Christmas feast, whilst letting our belts out another notch! More present giving was completed, more cake was consumed, and then the crowds dispersed, and it was just Mum and Dad, and us to finish off the wine…..

The next day, we left the littlies with Nanny and Grampy, and we headed on to more parties!Our final leaving party was at Joyce’s. A great evening, of wonderful food, and lovely company with all our friendly neighbours in Blamire Drive, we were going to miss this bunch, we had built up a great community. As the crowds dispersed into the night once again, Joyce appeared with the Balderdash, and for the last time for a while, we laughed our way through a few rounds of bizarreness with our favourite Blamire Drivers!!

But it wasn’t over yet! Lunch time the following day, we headed to Sunninghill for lunch with Dave and Lee. We marvelled at there newly remodelled home (a truly amazing transformation), then hit ‘The Carps’ for another lovely lunch! Lots of hugs goodbye, and we hit the road again, this time to Windsor way for dinner with Andy, Dave, and Taffy! Thankfully it was a sleepover for us, so we could have a couple of beers guilt free (except those belt notches)!

Next morning, back on the road to Nanny and Grampy’s to pick up the kids again and say our big goodbyes, and give our last hugs for a few months before driving back up to Abi’s in Northampton for ‘quiet and relaxed’ New Years Eve at hers with Grandad, Chris, and Gemma.

And then it was 2016!!

Now normally that would be the end of the update for a while, but on this occasion, I feel we need to complete a journey first…

Jan 1st, was no lazy day for us this year… we needed to get down to Binfield, sort through the last of the suitcase city that had built up in Joyce’s garage, then load the winning cases into our car, and Grandad’s car and get them up to Heathrow Premier Inn for our last night in England! Once we made it to the hotel, Grandad and I had to drive our two cars to Cheiveley Services on the M4 to meet Grampy so he could take our car to look after it until summer! Mission accomplished, we headed back to Heathrow where Jed and Ros met us for our last english Supper!

Jan 2nd started early as we needed to get to the airport in plenty of time, to ensure we could negotiate all of our suitcases onto the plane, it took 4 trolleys to carry it all!! we were our own queue! Thankfully, they all went on, without a hitch, thank you Gulf Air, and that was that, we were ready to fly! One last goodbye for Grandad, and off we flew to the sunny, sandy, lands of Kuwait…..

Hope you enjoyed!

Take care, Dan & the Culveys

xxxxx