Keeping up with the Culveys – Feb 2013

So young Logan arrived on the 4th October and the whole family dived into the all encompassing needs of this little man! It has been more than 6 years since we had brought a new baby into the world but we soon got into our stride and even Indi and Kai loved the excitement of having Logan at home. While Lyra was pregnant, we did have a nagging concern that Karim, our favourite Egyptian might find life with a baby in the house a bit much and we would soon be searching for someone new to help.... How wrong could we have been!! Karim and Logan have quickly become inseparable, the poor boy is continuously engulfed by a frenzy of kisses from Karim, I fear, we may never get rid if him now!!

The visitors started before Logan had even left hospital! As is traditional, Chris was the first down for an audience with Logan, in fact Chris assisted in the transfer of Logan from the hospital back home. He was swiftly followed by Nanny & Grumpy, we enjoyed a lovely sunny day together and even road tested Logan’s push chair for the first time!!

Chris. in a moment of madness decided that he would host a sleep over at his place for Indi, Kai, Kyra, Keira, and Cam! they all got dressed up in Halloween gear and enjoyed an early Halloween party at Heyford Football club and then retired to torture Chris for the rest of the evening at his place! In general, I think things went well, but I‘m not sure he will be offering to take on a clan of this size again!!

Before October was out, we bundled ourselves into the car (we had forgotten just how much stuff you need to take with you when there’s a baby involved!!) and hit Northampton! We spent the afternoon with Crazy Nana. As you would expect, Logan and Crazy Nana had a lovely time and spent the afternoon having a cuddle! Auntie and Uncle were there too, so Logan had a very nice time being the centre of attention!

Once that party was complete, we headed to Abi’s and get ready for party number two! Oh yes, Logan was being treated to an introduction of socializing Culvey style, so one party a day is just not enough!! Party two was for the younger element of our circle, so the champagne was put on ice and we all wet Logan’s head, while he got acquainted with everyone.

We were so happy to have been able to bring Logan up to meet Crazy Nana that weekend, because just a few weeks later we received the shocking and tragic news that Crazy Nana had died in her sleep on 23rd November. The shock of this is simply impossible to explain. Olive was a shining light in our lives and we could not fathom that she was gone so suddenly.  Everybody who had the pleasure of knowing her will agree that she was a truly special person who’s beautifully positive and selfless approach to life was a joy to be a part of.

Crazy Nana, Mum, Olive, you remain in our hearts and give us plenty to smile, laugh, and cry about as we remember our lives that were brightened by your friendship and love. We know you are enjoying your new life and keep a watch over us, we will continue to make you proud.

Over the coming weeks our lives were turned upside down with the grief of losing Crazy Nana, and all the challenges of organising all that was Olives and making the preparations for her funeral. One thing that does shine through these dark experiences though is the strength of the family, everyone came together, and stepped up to do all that was necessary, we also have to thank our wonderful friends whom without, I am not sure we would have got through such a difficult time.

Life of course had to continue, and Christmas was coming, at the beginning of December we took the kids to Lapland UK, where they helped Santa get ready for Christmas! It was a magical day, with ice skating, meeting husky’s and reindeer, all topped off with an audience with Santa himself!

 Lyra and I also had my work Christmas Party, at Blenhiem Palace with a night at Mal Maison in Oxford which is a converted prison! It was a magical evening in a stunning location and was a welcome escape for a few hours. Chris had all three kids for the night and did a cracking job (how is he still single!!??), his sleepovers are always something to look forward too for the kids as they love the special treats and movie nights with Uncle Christmas!!

We said goodbye to Crazy Nana on the 12th December, it was a cold December day, but a day that was warmed by the incredible turnout. The service started at the Crematorium for a simple service, and then at the Church in Nether Heyford where there were so many people wanting to pay their respects that they had to stand while Olive’s life was celebrated  through an emotional eulogy from Chris (Big respect, MH), Olive’s favourite poems from Les and Auntie Irene, and Lyra, Indi, and Kai recited the ‘Ode to Crazy Nana’ that Lyra had originally been written for Olive’s 70th birthday in the summer.

After the service, we all headed over to the Heyford village hall for tea and cakes and the opportunity to share our abundance of stories about life with Olive, Mum, Crazy Nana.

As hard as it was, we had to get on with our lives, Christmas was just around the corner, and to help us get in the mood, we met up with a great bunch of our friends at the Albert Hall for a Christmas Carol singalong. It was a fabulous day and a great escape, all topped off with a comedy dinner in Bella Italia, they were just not ready for a party of 30 plus people to descend on them!! It was hilarious!

The week before Christmas arrived and it was of course a frenzy of activity! Lyra and the kids were focused on getting everything set for Christmas at home, I was rushing over to Moscow and Denmark for my last travels of the year, and of course we were all sorting out presents for the festivities! As if that wasn’t enough, on the Thursday night the Higgo’s of Brisbane descended on us!! We hadn’t seen them for 9 years! they hadn’t met India, Kai, or Logan! We met at our fave local fish restaurant for a lovely dinner, then it was back to ours for a beer or two and a good giggle at a few photos of life together in Korea!! It was brilliant to see them, lets hope it isn’t another 9 years before we are together again!

Finally the weekend before Christmas, I finished work and we headed straight to Northampton! Friday night was The James Taylor Quartet at the Picturedome with Jane, Guy. Chris, Abi, and her new man Steve, it was the start of Christmas! Saturday we spent a very civilised afternoon with Jane and Guy at Fawsley  Hall, then on the Sunday, Jane hosted a lovely dinner at hers that meant we could sit back and enjoy our Anniversary (11 years!) with good friends.

Christmas Eve started at Abi’s where we had a lovely lunch with Dee, Tim and Astrid, and Co. before it was time to hit the road home before Nanny & Grumpy arrived for Christmas day at Blamire Drive!!

Christmas day was a blur of eating, drinking, and presents galore! Chris, and Nanny & Grumpy shared the day with us and we all enjoyed a day at home. Joyce and Jim invited us over the road for a drink too in the afternoon, then we collapsed holding our bellies, satisfied that we had fulfilled all the traditional expectations of ridiculous eating and drinking....

Nanny & Grumpy headed off on Boxing day to see Bert, whilst the rest of us continued the eating fest at our local The Peacock Farm with Lisa, Scott, Spencer, and Emma.

As I was off work until the New year we decided that we should head into London and visit London Zoo, something we had all wanted to do for a long time! Karim came too, although didn’t arrive until sometime after us! It was very cold, the kids invested in ear muffs to keep out the chill, and despite Lyra’s best efforts she was unable to convince Kai to not get the comedy penguin one’s... take a look at the photo’s, you’ll know what we mean!!

Despite the cold we had a great day, and as always the kids loved seeing all the animals especially the birds!! On the way home we stopped in Chiswick for a quick Italian, which after our long day trudging around the zoo, was very welcome!

Well, New Year’s eve arrived, and we headed to Northampton, again! We had been invited to join Dan & Caroline at their place, there was going to be 16 adults and about 20 kids! It was not going to be a quiet night!! The kids ran wild upstairs, and I mean wild, adults had to attack in pairs for safety!! Dan and Caroline put on a great night, including the rounds of jaeger bombs and slippery nipples! As we approached midnight the party was invaded by a conga line from next door, and to our surprise, Vicki and Darren were part of it!! What a great bonus! The evening drifted into oblivion as the Jeager bombs got stronger, but it was a cracking party and our wonderful baby Logan had slept through the whole thing!! 2013 had arrived....

After such a big night out for new year, the sensible thing to do would be to have a quiet day and head straight home... but not us!! Oh no, we arrange to meet old friends in a pub with 9 kids between us!! Mental! A lot of fun though, it was great to see Mel, Mentesh, Sally, Mark, and ALL the kids!! They hadn’t seen much of each other for the last 4 or 5 years but they seemed very happy to pick up from where they’d left off.

It was still great to get home and collapse. 

So it was back to work for me, and it was pretty much straight on a plane to Hong Kong for a week, still it was warmer than England! I arrived home Saturday afternoon, got changed and then it was in the car and we were off to see Jed and Ros! Thankfully it was an entertaining evening so the tiredness didn’t kick in until later!!

The following weekend winter started in earnest with the snow starting to fall. Lyra and I went to see a friend we had met through our meditation studies, Todd had recently purchased a Lucid Light Machine, which enhances meditation. We both had a go with it and were amazed by the impact, the experience was one of incredible colour and patterns, clearing all distraction and giving you a real sense of clarity.

While we were in Wembley, we decided to take a trip down memory lane for Lyra, we drove past her childhood home, and her Nan’s place. Thanks to Sat Nav, it wasn’t hard to find, thanks to the snow, it was pretty difficult to stop!! 

We had a week of will it, won’t it snow... then on the Friday, the decision was made and it started about 09:00. By lunch time we had more than 6 inches! I escaped from work early afternoon, and ofter two hours of crawling through the traffic and snow made it back home. That weekend was full of snowball fights, snow angels, and snow men in the forest! The kids even went on the trampoline in the snow and loved it!

Following my marathon last year, I have been struggling with pain in my right knee whenever I ran, which had pretty much destroyed running antics for almost 9 months. I had tried ignoring it, that didn’t work, I tried physio, that didn’t work either, so it was surgery. A fairly simply Athroscopy was pencilled in, so I headed down friday lunch time, was knocked out, then woke up with a heavily strapped up knee. All was good but moving around was kind of tough, and bending it was a no no.

I had a few days at home, but then it was back to work (by taxi). Each week it has been getting easier and easier, and I will be pulling the trainers back on real soon!

At the same time as I became immobile, Karim disappeared off to Kuwait for his 6 monthly pilgrimage to his Ma n Pa, and Ruby Tuesday’s!! Of course this meant that Ly had the 3 kids, and me to cope with! To ‘help’ with this, Steph came down for a few days. With Steph comes Raw food! So we agreed to road test a new program she was pulling together for her new venture Explore Raw. So it was on the juice (fruit kind) for 4 days, followed by 3 days of raw food. It was tough to begin with, but the raw meals were fantastic. I could happily enjoy raw food in my life, just as long as somebody else was making it, as pulling it together is a right faff!!

That weekend we headed over to see Mel, Mentesh, Leah, and Kayan, so the girls could have some pre-birthday fun, and we got to enjoy, not only their wonderful company, but Mel’s Mum great cooking too!! Lush!

On the 1st February we had a big surprise... Tanya gave birth to her son Isaac, 10 weeks early!! he weighed just 2lbs 14oz and was placed straight into an incubator. Thankfully he was strong and has responded well to the special care he has received, and soon he will be home with his Sister Kyra!! Tanya had been struggling for a while and had to have her appendix out on New Years Eve, so she’s had a challenging time, but everything is looking rosy now! Congratulations Tan & Steve!

Following on from Steph, was Uncle Chris, who spent a week bonding with his latest nephew, Logan! Needless to say they had a ball, and the Liverpool brain washing continued to take effect.. 

The highlight of this week though was our Princess’s 9th birthday!! Yes our India is 9!! Unbelievable, but true... India was very happy to have her birthday on a school day as it meant that she could wear her own clothes rather than her uniform! As you would expect she looked very stylish in her favourite Desigual! It was a quiet evening of present opening, as the main event was a sleepover planned for Friday night!

Friday arrived, and so did the 8 kids Indi had invited to stay! The evening kicked off with a disco complete with Indi’s new disco lights and a fair bit of Gangnam style! Dinner of piles of pizza was followed by a movie, Ice Age 4, all watched in PJ’s and Onezies! Bed time finally occurred at around 11:30, and then things restarted about 07:00 the next morning! Breakfast of pancakes and crumpets seemed endless.

Before everyone headed off home though we had time for a live episode of Kids X Factor, complete with harsh judges, and even a few tears! All in all though, I think Indi had a great time and, we survived!!

That weekend also saw Ben turn 18, so we made the trip down to Bristol to share his coming of age! It was great to see the wider Culverhouse’s together, even if Mum and Dad were only there in body as they had just landed from Thailand a few hours earlier!

As I’m sure everyone knows, Indi and Kai love school, and this term they have had some great themes to follow. Indi has been learning about Roald Dahl and visited his museum with her class. Mummy went along too, and because of her imagination, India was chosen to role play in his chair! For Kai, they have been studying Victorian times, and even had a Victorian day at school where they went dressed for the era, Kai went in shorts (despite the cold)!! He also had a museum trip and went to a Victorian life museum called milestones with his class.

They also still love their ECA’s, the weeks are still full of Beavers, Brownies, Horse riding, Spanish, bird watching, Karate, and Theatre train!! 

For the last week before Karim returned, Grandad came down to enjoy the Binfield madness and do the school run, which Indi and Kai always love! He even enjoyed Valentines day with us! Which will have no doubt got him in trouble at home!!

Now, back before Christmas, someone had the great idea of collecting tokens from the newspaper for bargain trips to Disneyland Paris. Then, another great idea of booking the trip to go for one night, and one day, and to drive there!! Well as you can imagine, our car was pretty full with Logan’s stuff, and we were joined by Abi, Kiera, Cam, and Uncle Chris! We met near Dover early on the Sunday morning to catch the ferry over to Calais. All was going well until just after we left port some poor chap had an accident on deck and broke his leg, so it was back to port so he could get off to hospital.

This meant that we didn’t make it to Disneyland until about 4pm. We had done a great job of not letting it slip to Kiera and Cam who had no idea they were going to Disney. We were all really looking forward to seeing their excitement. We got to the hotel, and asked Kiera where we were... Disneyland she said as if it was an every day occurrence... us adults were a tad disappointed to be fair!

Once we had settled into the rooms we thought a quick swim we be just what we needed to wind down from the journey so we all piled into the hotel pool. The kids loved it, and so did the adults, although, Ly thought it was a wee bit cold, and the changing rooms I am sure were designed for people under 3ft tall only!

Still we headed out into the Disney Village that evening, and had a great dinner in amongst the Gorilla’s at the Rainforest cafe, then we hit the sack ready for the early start in the park tomorrow!

The alarm got us up very early, but thankfully it was a nice sunny day, if a little cold.. it was time to hit the park! For us adults it was a challenging day, what with a push chair with a puncture, and then 4 excited kids wandering off in all directions, we had to be on our toes! Still the kids enjoyed riding the carousels, and visiting dragon’s in their lair. We watched the parade, and met Pluto and Goofy. Then the Abi took the kids on a adventure through the hills and across wobbly bridges, while Ly, Chris, Logan, and I chilled out for a bit.

All too soon though it was time to head off to meet the ferry again, so we passed by the Disney store and everyone found a memento, then it was into the cars and time to hit the motorway. We had given ourselves about 4 hours to get back which should of been plenty of time, but we hadn’t factored in Logan! After being an absolute darling for the whole trip, he decided that it was time for the focus to be on him! He screamed almost the whole journey back to the ferry! We had to stop so much to feed or wind him we started to think we wouldn’t make it! Thankfully though, he eventually slept and we were able to get back to Calais in time.

We finally arrived home at about 01:00 in the morning to find Karim back from Kuwait too! Everyone was completely bushed, luckily the kids were on half term so they could sleep in, it was just me that had to get up for work, and Ly that had to get up for the ever hungry Logan!

Well, that pretty much brings us up to date, Logan is nearly 5 months old and thriving, and as a family we are well adjusted to having our wonderful Logan with us.

2013 is just starting, but we are certain it is going to be a great year!!

Hope it is a positive one for you all too.

With love, as always,

Dan and the Culvey’s

xxxx