Marla (plus two)...

Here's a photo I took of Marla just this evening. It gives a good idea of how big her tummy is getting. With two of the little devils in there, what do you expect?

Softball last weekend...

Last weekend I played in the Windsor softball tournament for a hybrid team made up of players from three different teams in the Bristol League. It is easily one of my favourite weekends of the year (having really enjoyed it last year too). Marla did not come and camp with me this time, but she and Griff did come to watch us play on Sunday. Our team, the Grandslammers - unofficially called the Friendly Slamming Raccoons - had five games on Saturday and three on Sunday, and while we did not do as well as we would have hoped or even expected, we all had a great time. I was able to play in four games on Sat and one-and-a-half on Sun before my knee brace broke. It was incredibly annoying but at least I got to play most of the weekend.

This photo was taken during the fifth game on Saturday (my fourth of the day) and is a shot of me just after I hit the ball. I hit two home-runs in this game, but I don't think this is one of them.

Incidentally, I am currently in the process of trying to get the broken knee brace replaced by the NHS, which looks like it might be a struggle. In the meantime I will be wearing my old one.

Concert in the Park...

On Sunday evening we went to see the Gipsy Kings in concert at Dyrham Park just a few miles north of Bath. It was a great evening with good weather and a fun atmosphere. We took a picnic and were able to take folding chairs and blankets. Some people even took folding picnic tables. Anyway, it was a good concert and a great evening.

Today has not been so kind to London...

While there is nothing I can say that has not already been, or will be, said about the bombings in London today, I should at least mention it here. It is a remarkable contrast, from the high of yesterday to the low of today.

London wins 2012 Olympics...

What a good day it has been. Despite being second favourites to Paris, the London bid to host the 2012 games was successful. Apparently the final presentation by the London team was by far the best and some are saying it is what tipped the scales in their favour. People are also saying that having Tony Blair in Singapore lobbying on behalf of London just a day before he was to host the G8 meeting in Scotland was a key factor as well.

On a personal level, I am really happy about it. If we are still living in the UK in 2012 I'm sure I will try to attend some of the events and maybe even volunteer to work at the games. Of course, that is a long way off. I'll be 38 by then and will have two six-year-old children, so who knows what state I'll be in.

For those that are interested and weren't able to find it, here is the breakdown of the voting:

First round

London 22
Paris 21
Madrid 20
New York 19
Moscow 15 (eliminated)

Second round

Madrid 32
London 27
Paris 25
New York 16 (eliminated)

Third round

London 39
Paris 33
Madrid 31 (eliminated)

Fourth round

London 54
Paris 50 (eliminated)

Nerves...

Today, for some reason, I am feeling terribly nervous about the prospect of being a father of twins. I don't know the reason why it has suddenly hit me. Maybe I will stay like this forever now. I hope not. It might just be a phase. Things are getting closer and more real (yesterday we started clearing out the room where they will have their nursery), which might be contributing to my anxiety, and we have started talking about things in real terms, such as details of feeding, etc. I'm sure that when the time comes we will cope with things just fine. But for now the scale of the task ahead of us appears large indeed.

So I will think of other things for the moment. We went to see Batman Begins on Saturday. I loved it. It is well balanced and excellently paced throughout. There are good performances and I think there is a very nice character-driven story. I think that the people involved in the making should be very proud of what they have produced.

There is a cluster of birthdays at this time of year. Andy's on June 30th, my Dad's on July 3rd, Pauls on the 6th and Rachael's on the 13th. Andy's celebratory dinner at La Tasca was excellent - followed by great Italian ice cream from a vendor near the Abbey - and then on Sunday we had a lovely dinner (prepared by Joe and Ruth) at my parents' house to celebrate Dad's birthday.

By the way, happy 4th of July to those Americans tuning in.