We spent today in Winchester visiting my brother and 2 of his 3 kids. We had a lovely time - Lego, X-box, river walk, board games, pizzas etc. JD and Louie really clicked over Minecraft. JiaJia had lunch and some charity shopping with Ali, Andy's ex. And then Daisy serenaded us with her sweet singing and guitar playing. They are just 1½ hours drive from us, so hopefully it will be the first of many such meet-ups.
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Had a lovely visit from Dave (brother), Sarah (sis-in-law) and Evie (dog) today. They are now just 1½ hours drive away. It was good to show them our little house and how it's slowly coming together. We were also able to watch the England football match together and share the stresses of the penalty shoot out at the end! Five years is much too long to not see your parents in person, so it was a long overdue, but really lovely, weekend today with my Mum and Dad. They showed so much interest in JD and had long chats with JiaJia. It was lovely to see them bond with my little family. And I felt very much at home, too. We won't leave it longer than a few months in future!
Nice family meet-up online today. Good to see everyone (plus a few others not pictured here) squeezed between Christmas and New Year! Wonder when we'll all be together in person next?
Really lovely to catch up with all the family on a Christmas/New Year Zoom today. We were even joined by my nephew Josh from the ambulance where he is a trainee paramedic! Online meeting technology has come such a long way over the COVID period.
With Jiajia at work and JD at school, it was a low-key Christmas Day for me at home today. So we've arranged for Santa to visit tonight and we'll celebrate our Christmas tomorrow. My UK family did manage a lovely little get-together on Zoom today though, which included catching up on all our news, a fun quiz and some heartfelt words of mutual appreciation - something which can all too often go unsaid. Happy Christmas, everyone!
Married for 60 years and still happily together. I'm so proud to call this couple my parents Happy Diamond Wedding Anniversary, Mum and Dad!
The global lockdown does have a few positives. We've been meeting together as a family on Zoom every week for a month or more now. It's proven a good way to keep in touch and support each other. 'Today's meet-up coincided with Andy's 51st Birthday!
When we are in the UK this Summer my brother Andy visited with his kids, Louie and Daisy. They gave JD a wonderful home-made quiz book all about him, Britain and his British family. We've been completing parts of it together each night this week. Great fun. Thanks chaps!
My youngest brother Andy and his children, Louie and Daisy, visited today. We started with a Wetherspoons breakfast together - fast becoming something of a Hider tradition! With intermittent rain outside we spent the morning playing Monopoly and then, during a dry hour in the afternoon, managed to visit "Lark in the Park" - a Christian community event with many children's clubs.
My brother Dave (plus wife Sarah and daughter Esme) visited us in Chippenham yesterday [top left] and it was really lovely to see them all. JD still has a few memories of when Dave and Esme visited us in China. Their visit coincided with Chippenham's annual festival which, this year, was themed around space and sci-fi. I was dead excited to see a phalanx of stormtroopers [top right].
And so our wonderful six weeks in the UK has finally come to an end. We spent our last day or so at Mum and Dad's packing our luggage, eating out and saying our goodbyes. Thankfully our suitcases turned out to be under our weight allowance (just!) and our flights back went fairly smoothly. As ever, it was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but our "real" life awaits us here, back in Kunming. For now, at least... We've spent our last few days in the UK chillin' with my parents - walks in the park, haircuts, visits to garden centres (JD attended a "Pixie and Fairy" event) and various admin - bank, opticians, post office etc It's been particularly lovely for me to see my small Chinese family
bonding so well with my wider UK family over the holidays. My parents remain very involved in their local church, despite laying down various responsibilities over recent years due to their age, so a visit to Sidcup Baptist Church is in order whenever we are in town. JD has shown an interest in all things spiritual in recent months - praying to various gods, saying grace before meals, interacting with fairies etc. So he joined in the service as best he could - singing along and eagerly joining in the children's activities. We always get a very warm welcome from the SBC church members and we feel very at home there, despite only visiting once a year on average! We're back at my parents' in Sidcup, Kent for another full and fun week. We visited "Lark in the Park" a community event my parents' church helps to put on. JD got his face painted as Spiderman, and took part in various activities such as painting, pets and puppets. We also visited Hall Place, a Tudor house which was hosting a Lego exhibition. Then at Cooling Garden Centre, we watched a Bird of Prey show and JD got to handle an owl. And finally my Mum and Dad put on a "belated" Christmas celebration complete with a tree, roast dinner, crackers, carols and presents. How do we fit it all in?
This last weekend we all got together as a family (apart from Andy's son Harry who lives in Guernsey). Despite some wet weather we managed countryside walks, Monopoly, river swim, barbecue and DVDs. It doesn't happen often, but it's fun when it does!
My only other Park Run was two years ago when I last visited Hereford. That run was with Josh who dropped out halfway, injured. This time I was joined for the 5km by my brother Dave (and his dog Evie). It was great fun to run with him - running is a hobby we share but had never done together before today. We both made it round in under 30 minutes, though Dave was ahead of me by the end.
We're continuing to enjoy our time in Hereford. It's a lovely city with parks and a river within walking distance of my brother's house. Esme has taken JD swimming in the river, despite the weather becoming little cooler than of late. Hereford cathedral is also eye-catching and Jiajia loves exploring the local charity shops. Josh is a life-guard at a nearby swimming pool, so JD and I had a fun swim at the pool, which has a wave machine and water chute tubes. We are now staying with my brother Dave and his family in Hereford. We had a nice day out today visiting Skenfrith Castle, swimming in the river there and enjoying a picnic. My nephew Josh used his police contacts to give JD a visit to police station including sitting in a police car and turning on the lights and siren. And Dave set up a visit to a forklift factory allowing JD to ride in one of his favourite vehicles. We've also enjoyed some yummy food, both at his home and out at restaurants. I may be getting too fat to tackle Saturday's Park Run!
Today we got to see my brother Andy's new house. He and his family have been looking for their dream house for about four years but have now finally found the right home in the right location. And while my sister-in-law Ali took JiaJia to Winchester's charity shops, Andy, Louie and Daisy took JD and I to Winchester's very interactive Science Museum and Planetarium for a fun visit.
My amazing Dad turned 80 this week and, as well as a celebratory get-together with his church friends last weekend and 60+ cards on his actual birthday, my brothers and I had also arranged a trip up the Shard for afternoon tea with the family. The Shard is Europe's tallest building and quite an imposing sight in the London skyline. They had a great time, by all accounts, and I was really sorry I couldn't be there in person. We even failed to get a Skype connection up. Dad also received a book of 100+ comments, compliments and anecdotes from relatives, friends and ex-work colleagues. A small momento of a life of service to others, good humour and great respect from all who have known him. Happy Birthday, Dad. We're all very proud of you. I have wonderful parents. |
AuthorPaul Hider lived & worked in China for over 20 years and kept this blog to share his rather odd life there. Past blog entries
July 2024
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