Goodbye for now but see you soon!

As a goodbye present, Aanya and Anjali gave Maya the most beautiful traditional Indian outfit which we thought Maya would enjoy wearing to school. She wasn't too keen however because a) it's not pink and b) it's something new and anything different should be viewed with the utmost suspicion in Maya's book. I am ashamed to say that Andy and I enticed her to wear it by promising her cake. I know - bribery in its basest form. But she did look utterly gorgeous (Maya does, unsurprisingly, get camera fatigue sometimes and would only give me a brief grin for this picture but you get the idea of the outfit). I think once she had caught sight of herself in the mirror and twirled a bit, she was quite pleased with the result and even added a sparkly bindi to complete the picture. But after all that, school got cancelled because a government minister died in a helicopter crash. In fact, every school across the state is closed as a result of this which was quite a surprise but it seems he was a well-loved public figure.

However, it turns out that this will not be Maya's final day at school after all because.....

WE'RE COMING BACK!!!!

That's right, after our holiday tomorrow and then 2 weeks back in England, we'll return to Bangalore for another few months as Andy's company have decided they still need him (and they're absolutely right!). We are sooooo delighted. This means a few things:

- That you haven't managed to get rid of me, Maya and this blog after all
- That Maya's head will continue to wobble
- That I have another few months to encourage Maya to try Indian food
- That we're going to be running round like headless chickens, the girls in tow bouncing around in their slings, trying to see as many people as we can in the short time we're back in the UK.

Tomorrow we take the first of 2 overnight trains to head down into the far south of Tamil Nadu. First stop is the King's World Trust, a care home that Andy volunteered at ten years ago and where he has sponsored a child for several years. We've never met Paul (who's now 15) but Andy and he have been exchanging letters for years so this will be a very special experience. After a few days (and my 32nd birthday!) there, we then catch another overnight train (this time it'll be our 4 year wedding anniversary celebrated on the train!) up to the north Karnatakan coast where we'll relax on the beach for a week. Apparently monsoon is still going on a bit over there so we may well be heading back to Bangalore like drowned rats! Between the coast and Bangalore we'll spend our last few nights of holiday at the wonderful Green Hotel in Mysore that we loved so much on our last trip away. Finally, we come back to Bangalore for a couple of days before flying back to England.

I think it's unlikely I'll get a chance to blog while I'm away, but tune back in after the 20th September to hear about Maya's adventures on holiday. If you really want to keep reading my words whilst we're away (yeah, right!) then you could always take a look at my other blog which charts the ebbs and flows of my insomnia, Notes of an insomniac mother. Here it is. It was full of angst in the early days (!) but thankfully there's less of that now.

So, take care all of you, thanks for reading this and lots of love.
Maya, Becks, Andy & Lily
xxx