Halloween on Park

J was the ghost of a casualty of war, adult J was a rainbow dragon, M was a rock star dolphin (notice dorsal fin) diver with pet orca. It was a mellow evening in our new neighborhood. Scary highlight was a sleeping gorilla man who grabbed people's arms when reaching for candy. Comedy scary was J leaping out of coffin, albeit slightly premature of victim's actual approach.

Birthday Supper, Caribbean Beach Resort

Happy Birthday sung in Spanish and English as J had been working hard to teach us some, as this is the state that once ruled by Spain and we now know, thanks to the amazing restaurant staff, even has a proper fort at St Augustine. The sugar level was off the charts and followed marshmallow roasting down on the white sandy 'beach' of our Caribbeean themed resort.

Donuts in RVA

So here's the challenge for the latest English guest...

Take four donut shacks/vans/barns/drive-thrus - consume, review and rank. So from Yoder's Mennonite sour dough to the caramel bacon of Sugar Shack to the apple cider of Carter Mountain to the factory joys of the glazed rings of Krispy Kreme...

The winner is Sugar Shack, closely followed by Krispy Kreme, even though the machine wasn't running - oh girl, what a result!

And just to clarify, in this game there are no losers, this is the premier league of Richmond donuts.

The birthday cakes...

Carrot cupcakes - an unusual choice for the girl intolerant to cinnamon, raisins and marzipan decorations. So somewhat bland carroty creations with carrot hearts went to pre-school and were followed by an Italian orange party cake with fairy, thanks, as ever, to the Silver Spoon.

Concave and caramelised due to mid-baking gazing from J but totally delicious and intense. It took a two-parent body-windbreak to get the candles lit on our cliff-edge pagoda.

Belle Isle Family Hike

Heading out across the high river for a wild church hike - canoeist bobbed by as branches and ice shards were hurled into the churning rapids...

A survivor's s'mores fire-pit back at base - marshmallows and Hershey's chocolate squashed between Graham (pronounce Gram) Crackers, for the uninitiated.

No McVities chocolate digestives here.

Cakes for 8

Well one batch was pink swirled meringues with raspberries - Thank you Ottelengi! The second batch was the traditional family-favourite chocolate cake and not pictured was the wonderful party cake - a choc-cherry sponge filled with pomegranate seeds and citrus peel on top.

Plus I forget the due-date butterfly cupcakes for the dentist's office - Thank you J! I think the baking season is now over.

Bake Day, St Mark's

Communal baking with a cause.

Soccer snacks

OK super-soccer-mom status has to be deferred as the stress of getting these beauties to the sideline had me roaring at the kids when I failed to park effectively despite their guidance (!) and then had to hike two blocks with all the stuff to the pitches.

However the utter satisfaction of a tray cleared in seconds and many return rounds of orange smiles and no remarks about the lack of sugared drinks, which means I'll be back for another shift.

Before possession of the cake, M got possession of the ball for quite a decent amount of time too.

Dessert

The girls present ice cream on the skateboard... Guest No. 1 for 2013 was impressed as the sweet trolley was rolled out - mango, raspberry, golden caramel swirl, chocolate & coconut, pear and cookies & cream .

Little Italy, Northbeach

There's the famous Mama's on Washington Square but we didn't queue, as Tony's Pizza opposite was more our style. We took to the sidewalk seating for a Californian (ricotta) and a New York (cheese) slices followed by a second trip to Alimento Deli for gelato - caramel, lemon and raspberry sorbet... The servings were stalled for the final, intense moments of European Cup football. Someone got promoted!

The 'Roadtrip' party...

... happened amidst loud, chaotic shrieks (of joy!).

We covered ground whizzing from ice cream for breakfast c/o Bev's, with Pizza Angel soundtrack special, on to a London Olympic Park assault aka obstacle course in the back yard with ramps, paddling pool, mini car, bikes, bean bags and planks across treasure pits.

Before 3-D art map production with reversed cereal boxes for each child's home (a late-night challenge even with double-sided tape), plentiful paint and a giant map of the Fan.

Finally P's Florentine Pizzeria delivered, the Prosecco & pomegranate appeared, cake candles were lit and the child-to-adult ratio rose, before peaceful life resumed.

Phew!

The Great 12/12/12 Birthday Bake-off

The birthday menu was specific and considered so I got in the kitchen early with sous-chef J and we began the process of whipping up some 24 mango yellow and dirty lavender  iced cupcakes with sprinkles, mainly on floor. Then added in one felt & pipe cleaner fairy I'd manage to create late one night. Brushed off the Union Jack cake stand and got out the IKEA turquoise bird napkins - an aesthetic cacophony that I may need therapy for.

Next was the chorizo soup with chickpeas aka garbanzo beans and kale with home-made stock - we did it all! Consumed communally and with little ceremony in the basement of the school, amongst a rising tide of noise.

Then back home for the brewing of a bolognese sauce and vegetarian equivalent, before I went on strike, bought a greek salad from Shields Store and left the pasta to the master.

Phew... next the full-proof, family-recipe Birthday Cake for the party, but not today!

Easter eggs in Mineral

The Easter bunny in Mineral had heard that too much chocolate was not a good idea and instead hid pennies and dimes around the place in plastic egg-cases of pastel hues. Much joy and maths followed in the counting of the hoard.

Back across the wood on Phil's sunny deck we did a dash of egg blowing and painting of our own. The sun baked them dry in minutes, though the rustic twine was too thick for subtle holes and their longevity is not going to challenge the 25 year mark achieved in Malvern.

Easter at Fox Elementary

I'm a little off eggs having got 19 children blowing them (cage-free and organic!) and then dealt with their contents' disposal down the school loos... Returned for the slightly less visceral joy of painting them. The results were wonderful and bright.

Later a parent had laid out an Easter egg hunt in the front gardens of the school and the kids all wore bunny ears and scampered about. M came home and repeated the treasure hunt for J and shared her spoils, though the fake colours and sugar saw her awake far into the night.

Disneyland, Anaheim

Most people have decided whether or not they like Disney Parks before going to one. I was with two adults who had thought this would be their one and only visit, and two kids -- M, who had been looking forward to this day for about a year and thought she'd like to live here, and J who doesn't really plan ahead but would be right behind her sister, just on principle.

I though, am a veteran of Disney Parks and while I hate myself for it, I love them.

Sala, playing the true Fairy God Mother role had arranged that we'd get a carriage to the Palace, but be able to stay long past midnight. The carriage meant we didn't need to deal with horrible Los Angeles traffic, and the overnight stay meant early access to the park.

We spent the first ninety minutes doing the P'ter Pan, Dumbo and Tea-cup rides while the queues were short and the breeze cool. Then we embarked on our first long wait to meet and greet The Princesses. M & J were awestruck by Ariel and Belle (who didn't know her husband - The Beast's real name - which was Prince Adam), and we were impressed by Mulan's mustering of warrior Girl Power (now used by J for difficult moments on the potty!). We then spent an easy crowd-free hour milling around the Royal Auditorium where the girls were trained in regal hand waving followed by a gentle story-time with Snow White.

The Disney Corporation did us proud and everyone's dreams came true.

Valentine's Day 2012

You might say it's all rampant commercialism but when you're in Kindergarten and every kid in your class has either written you a card or given you a gift - chocolates bound in pipe cleaners to look like bejewelled rings or heart-shaped tattoos or simple sweetheart candies - all contained in your own heart-decorated bag and you've made a crown and all the older kids have chalked the entrance to school with love hearts... You can't help but smile when you finally sit down at home for a little taste of everything (some vile!), with the prospect of the neighbours' boys joining you for the feast.

Parental input included tracing out 20 bags of assorted heart shapes for the class and commenting (not an editor's pick) on this BBC news story...

Cupid's algorithm c/o BBC News

Halloween, 1900 block, Hanover Avenue, Richmond, VA

I've enjoyed Halloween in the past and so long as the kids are polite, in fancy dress or at least wearing a mask, they're welcome to knock at the door. It is a great way to meet the neighbours. And so with a small amount of effort I'd usually got one of the best Halloween houses around (though the smarter kids had begun to note the same ageing ghosts from earlier years). Anyway, all those efforts paled tonight at Hanover Avenue's Halloween street party where unless you have a 20ft Galleon in your front garden, The Cat in the Hat themed porch (with Thing One, Thing Two, Sally and I), or a reconstruction of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, you're just not even trying.

Spot M the Witch in the blur.

Halloween on Hanover Avenue