Garden House School beware
Well, today’s the big 900-metre Cross-Country Race for which the girls of Avery’s school have been preparing for weeks. I might have mentioned: there were tryouts, and the top five girls in each form were chosen to represent King’s College in their best style against two schools: the dreaded Garden House School who so roundly trounced Avery’s netball team last month, and Kensington Prep about whom nothing is really known. Well, Avery has a huge grudge against Garden House to begin with because when we were applying to schools for her, Garden House wouldn’t even let her apply. Too full up with far cooler children, was the general attitude it seemed. So added to that was the pernicious defeat in netball, and let me tell you, those girls had better watch out today.
Avery of course had no interest in representing her school; she merely ran as fast as she could and came in sixth. She was hugely relieved to find that she had missed being in the running, so to speak, by just one gull. However, one gull turned out not to be able to fulfill her duties (naughty pictures of her found on the internet? we don’t know), and Avery had to step up, to her dismay. So many a pickup at school has been punctuated with complaints about training: how tired her legs are, how Miss King didn’t even run with them, she just walked across Regent’s Park as they ran all the way around, and met them on the other side. And she had candy! The injustice. Anyway, today’s the day, in Battersea Park, so I and some other mothers shall go cheer them on. Of course it’s raining. However.
Lovely playdate with Kelly and Anna here this week. Finally the garden got some use! And tomorrow is a big festive early Easter party, to benefit a children’s charity, at a hospital garden in St. John’s Wood, with a petting zoo! Should be fun. I’ll bring my camera. I’ve been busy this week planning Avery’s and my spring break trip to Sheffield, in Yorkshire, to see the British Open Show Jumping Championships! Horses running through rings of fire, people doing somersaults on their backs, who knows what else in addition to the real event, the show jumping. Royal Girl Zara Phillips will be competing! I’d love to see somebody I recognize from Hello! magazine. Then I’ve got to get hotel reservations and train tickets for our trip to Scotland that week as well. We have to entertain ourselves while John visits every major Asian city, a real bummer in terms of timing, of course. But the sleeper train to Edinburgh! John and I did that 15 years ago, as newlyweds, on our mammoth castle-hopping trip to Scotland, and it will be fun to take Fifi with me this time… what fun! And I think it will be lambing season in the heathery hills.
