Keeping up with the Culveys – June 2012

Happy New Year!!!

A bit late, I know, but we left you last time on New Year’s Eve, so I thought it was only right to welcome everyone to 2012! As is the norm at the beginning of the year, resolutions were set, the kids promised they were going to be good (ha ha) and Ly and I decided to run a marathon!! Yep, and we weren’t even that drunk!!

So 2012 started quietly, with a focus on being healthy, even did a week juicing to blow away last years indulgences. Alongside this we of course, started the marathon training. Nothing too scary at first, but I was in poor condition and Ly just doesn’t run, so even the first few 1 or 2 mile runs are proving tough. Particularly for Ly as she quickly developed an issue with her hip that sent her off to the Chiropractor, and limited her running to the gym.

We did manage a couple of visitors in Jan, Auntie Irene, and Uncle Michael made the trip down from Nottingham and we treated them to an odd night watching Grease (The Movie) in a theatre full of ‘Grease Nuts!’. This involved Indi, Kai and I getting up on stage to be judged for our Grease-wear! The kids won themselves some choccies for just being great generally, we then watched the movie complete with synchronized booing and cheering, it was like a pantomine! Oh and we had a weekend in Northampton to see the Gilerts over a pizza and an evening with Jane for her birthday.. , oh and Sunday lunch with Chris, Virginia, and her kids too..... did I say it was a quiet start...!

The kids were loving being back at school (of course), and the after school fun was developing, Kai started Soccer skills, and surprisingly Indi agreed to go along a support him by playing too, although she wanted to point out that she wasn’t a Tom Boy!

Before the month was out we decided to take our lives in our hands and headed up North to the wilds of Yorkshire to see Claire, James, Libby, and Katie for a weekend of Northern fun! Luckily the weather was almost Southern with a nice bit of sun on the Saturday, so we headed over to Bridlington for a run on the beach, we hit the arcades, Indi and Kai discovered the penny machines and spent simply ages rolling the 1p’s trying to knock a load of the edge! Then, of course, no day out is complete without some fish and chips in paper!! A great weekend was had by all, and it will take many years to forget the kids dancing to Madness on ‘Just Dance 3’ for the Wii!!!

As February arrived, the kids tried out Beavers, and they loved it, it was a new pack starting at the school, and even Lyra got in the act signing up to help out!  It wasn’t long before Kai was invested as a fully fledged Beaver, India decided that she would stick to Brownies! Whilst  I was up at the school to see them I noticed in the main reception was Kai’s Vision Board for 2012, he was very proud to have his work on show!

Of course Feb isn’t Feb without Miss India’s birthday! She decided she wanted a bowling party, so Indi, Kai, and a bunch of friends hit The Point in Bracknell for some serious bowling and larking about, followed by a slap up meal at Frankie and Bennies. Lots of fun was had, a new discovery was made... Moshi Monsters!! These little monsters have since taken over our lives!!

I had a week in Hong Kong for our Senior Manager Meet, as always it was a lot of fun, great hotels, great nights out, and all alcohol free, as the training is king!!

February also brought us a few days of proper winter weather too, snow!!! Kai was outside in seconds doing snow angels on the front lawn even though it had barely settled! Luckily it kept going and by the morning there was plenty to be throwing around! Kiera and Cam were down, so they had plenty of targets to hit without me needing to freeze to death out there! Yes, we found winter a bit too cold after our years in the sunny climes! Even though everyone told us it was a warm winter....blah blah blah!!

This wasn’t enough for Lyra though, as she and Steph headed out to Bulgaria to see our Ski apartment in Bansko, the snow was good, and so was the ski lessons. Of course skiing isn’t skiing isn’t the same without the apres ski, but Lyra did complain of feeling ‘a bit odd’.

Feb turned to March, and my training was going well, I was almost at 10 miles, on the other side, Lyra’s really wasn’t, her hip issue had really caused her some pain, but she hadn’t given up hope. But then she was again feeling ‘a bit funny’.

In what way?’ I asked innocently...

‘I think I might be pregnant!!!’ she says worryingly....

And she was!!!

Now of course, this was a bit of of a shocker! Not really on our plans for 2012, but hey, if there is one thing that has defined our lives in the last 10 or so years, it’s got to be to take what life is throwing at us and make it a great adventure!

So we are, Lyra is having our 3rd little bundle of joy (Aaagh!) in October!!

So I guess I’m doing the marathon alone then!

During March, I had a week back in Dubai, for TCC’s Sales and Ops Meet, and we really lived it up! Stayed at the Medinat, had an evening at Atlantis, and up the Burj Kalifa, plus a very fun night out in the desert, dressed as Arabs!! And again, alcohol free..... no beer until my birthday, train, train, train!!

My birthday was a quiet lunch with Chris, Abi & Co, Jed, Ros, and Stephanie, plus Mum and Dad. I had my first beer of the year (Greene King IPA, lovely), and of course, all the talk was babies and marathons!

For the Easter holidays, we decided to get away to Majorca for a week in the sun. Sadly, the sun was a bit shy, but we still had a great time. Kai showed of his new found swimming skills, Abi, Kiera, and Cam came over for a few days, and I kept on running! Although, I was starting to suffer with calf problems at this stage. The long runs were taking their toll!

We flew home from Spain on Kai’s birthday, which meant it was a bit of a quiet one for him, and then the following day it was down to Nanny and Grumpy’s as Neil, Rochelle, and Ashley were over from New Zealand! I hadn’t seen Neil and Rochelle for 20 years!! It was great to catch up, and we vowed to not leave it so long next time (we’ll see!).

So, seeing as Kai had given up his actual birthday to others, he made sure he had fun for the second Easter week. They managed a trip to Matilda in the West End with Uncle Chris, and then at the weekend was the big party!! Kai had decided he wanted his party to be at the Virgin Gym, unsurprisingly it was Moshi Monster themed! The party was great, they ran them ragged for an hour in the gym playing some mad runabout games, then a feast, and lots of cake! The party then continued back home, with even more cake!! The best parties clearly come to those who wait!!

As is the norm for April, one party follows another! And this year we had planned it to be a big one, as the lovely Lyra was 40!! Of course, the little bundle of joy growing inside her put paid to that plan! But there was no way it was going to pass unnoticed, so we rented a pub, and had an afternoon get together complete with a bouncy castle for the kids (in the pub!). This party will go down as a truly unique experience for Ly as she actually remembers it!! Watch this space though, I’m pretty sure birthday party no. 41 is going to be quite a big one too!!

Sadly, a couple of weeks before Lyra’s birthday, my Grannie had a nasty fall, and broke her leg, at 93, recovering from such a trauma was going to be a tall order. Initially all seemed positive as Grannie bounced back from the operation and was sitting up in bed, smiling and enjoying the attention. Sadly though, a few days later, the shock set in and Grannie slipped into a coma. It was clear that she would not recover, but she hung on for more than a week, we managed to go and visit her in hospital a couple of times to say goodbye. Grannie slipped away in the early hours of the 21st April, just a few hours before Sally her Daughter arrived from New Zealand, it was heart breaking.

Grannie’s funeral was a sad, but lovely day with the whole family together. Grannie lived an amazing life, and we all wish her a great adventure in the next dimension.

Kai kicked off May with a great party for his school friend Callum’s birthday at the local trampolining club! Now that is a good way to wear kids out!

May was always going to be marathon month for me though, and it was off to Prague for the race. Ly and I went alone, the kids stayed home with Karim. We arrived late on the Friday night in a somewhat concerning 24C at 11:00 at night! This was not marathon running temperatures! Thankfully when we woke up on Saturday the clouds had rolled in to rescue me! We enjoyed a really nice day visiting all our old haunts, in Prague and Pruhonice. But it was hard not to be consumed with thoughts of the big run, we picked up my runners pack and it all started to feel very real. This was going to be a very big deal!.

I woke early on race day feeling great and ready to deliver on my promise to all those that had sponsored me and complete this great race for the families at the Make a Wish Foundation. It was a cool morning as we hung around at the start, but the sun was out so it felt like it was going to be a nice temperature to run.

I finally set off and said bye to Ly and headed off up Parizka.... 26 miles to go! All was feeling fine for the first few miles, my pace was bang on and I felt really good. Then disaster struck, those calf troubles came back with evengence, not just one leg but both! I could barely walk let alone run. I sat on the kerb, head in hands. I called Ly and she told me to take it slow, she would wait all day if I had to walk the whole thing. I started to walk, I at least had to get back to the city! After about 20 mins of soul searching and thinking about all those who had put their faith in me, I decided I was going to do this somehow! I managed to get into a run, albeit slowly and very tentatively, I was running. Not sure how but i just kept going, I hit 30 kms before I needed to stop, then it was walk , run, walk, run all the way to the finish!

I cannot describe the feeling of running down that home straight to the finish, it was simply overwhelming. The tears just ran down my face (Danny boy you were right!) in a mixture of relief and excitement of actually achieving it! Lyra was there at the finish and I have the medal, the finish time of 5hrs 32 mins, and an incredible memory! In total I raised £5,181 for the Make a Wish Foundation, and I am bloody proud of it!

Needless to say the next few days were a bit rough! The aches and pains were very intense, but I managed a quiet day with Ly in Pruhonice, and even managed to catch up with Sally, Mark, and their very large brood!

Indi and Kai started a new challenge in May too, in the form of piano lessons. Both of them have really taken to it and are doing great. They are practicing almost everyday without being told to, and seem to love it, lets hope it lasts, it’s such a lovely skill to have.

Lyra’s bump reached 20 weeks, so it was off to have scan number two! All going to plan, but of course as is usual with a Culvey baby, it is a few weeks ahead on the growth charts, we do grow them big!! As this is the final official scan, it looks like we may actually manage to have a surprise on the day, regarding whether it’s a boy or girl!

As 2012 has been about doing things, you know marathons, babies, and all, we though we’d do something else we hadn’t done for such a long time and that was go and see my Brother Gav, Rachel, Lucy, James, and Alice!! I really don’t know why we find it so hard to do, as we always have a blast. This was a short visit as Indi and Kai had a party date on the Sunday at the Bracknell dry ski centre for snow tubing!! It was all a bit chilly but they loved it, and they had to work for their fun as they had to drag their own tube up the hill each time! Isn’t amazing how much energy they have when they want!!

This year has been pretty crazy, even by our standards, so Ly and I took off for a weekend down in Somerset, just chillin in the sunshine, a real laid back experience for sure. The kids had some fun too as they spent the weekend with Nanny & Grumpy, making olympic ring doughnuts and toasting marshmallows in the fire!

Lyra met the consultant and confirmed the birth of baby 3 would be by C Section, due to the trauma of Indi’s birth and the sheer size of this one!! The C Section is booked for the 4th October! Her ‘condition’ also meant that she needed a different role with the Beavers, Lyra happily took on the role of Treasurer, then she attended the first meeting and realized what a disorganized bunch she was looking after, god help them I say!!

As June arrived, it seemed that we might actually have a summer in between all the rain, so Lyra promptly ordered a nice set of garden furniture, and I built the BBQ at last.... all was looking good, it was up and ready, I turned on the BBQ, placed a burger on it, and it started to rain, and rain, and rain,.....it would be many weeks before we actually got to sit on that furniture (bloody weather).

The school year was in to it’s last term, and that meant Sports Days!! True to form, Indi and Kai were team players through and through, they cheered on their teams with real passion. They also worked hard in there events, but I feel the Olympics is some way off for them!! They don’t mind, just being part of the team is a thrill for them, both Indi and Kai really enjoyed the experience. Indi also took part in Brownies have Talent. There was hardly a dry eye in the house when Indi finished here recital of ‘I believe in a world one day’. When the result was read out, I thought there was going to be a moment of competitive parents, but we managed to rise above it, even though Indi was the best!!! Indi also re-took her Brownie promise to become an official UK Brownie.

After many years of trying to get tickets to see Coldplay in various parts of the world, we finally got to see them at The Emirates stadium in London! We were in a bit of trouble with the kids as they weren’t invited, but Ly and I went with Abi, Tim, Astrid, and Steph for a rocking Jubilee weekend night with the boys from Coldplay. Thankfully the endless rain held off for the duration of the gig and they were truly spectacular. An amazing event, loved every minute of it, and even made it back to Binfield on the last train out of London!

Jubilee fever didn’t pass us by though and on the Bank Holiday Tuesday, we had a street party in the rain with some of our neighbours. What was expected to be a washout was a brilliantly funny afternoon of face painting and posing as members of the Royals!

Of course as a Brownie, Indi has many duties. One of these was to help out for half an hour at the Binfield fete. The Brownie stall was selling sweets, and ‘ Guess the name of the bear and take him home’ well Indi was a natural, she made it her mission to get every name sold for the bear, and her half an hour on the stall turned into the rest of the afternoon, not even the rain put her off, what a Brownie she is!

To add to her successes, Indi finally mastered her bike in June! it was a truly momentous occasion that seemed to be a long time coming, but she has finally made it, and she is already a keen biker! Kai’s next, think it may take a while though....

So, finally, for June, it was time for Mum and Dad to run away again. This time to Turkey on a Jason Vale Juicing Retreat. We left the kids with the boys (Karim and Grandad) and headed to the sun. It was a fantastic experience, beautiful setting, a great bunch of people, and a real healthy kick start. After the retreat, we spent a couple of days in Dalyan where Steph has a friend that runs a hotel. Well, we just loved the place, stunningly beautiful, nicely chilled out, wonderful beach, definitely on the list of potential locations for the Culvey’s to put some roots down.

Well my fingers are starting to bleed, so I think I will sign off here, I can’t believe just how much we fit in to our lives! Trust me, I have left some bits out!

Part two of 2012 promises to be just as full, with the summer holidays beckoning, and of course, the arrival of Baby 3 to keep us on our toes.

We will write again to announce the arrival, but until then, enjoy the photos!!

Love to all,

Dan, Ly, Indi, kai, and Baby 3, xxxxxxx