Review of 2023

Well, 2023 is nearly over, and it's that time of year again, when I look back through all our photos and try to summarise what we've been up to in just1 page! So here goes...

The beginning of the year was fairly quiet, apart from an evening watching Abba Voyage (a belated birthday treat for Fee) which was incredible, and an afternoon Segway experience in a local park.

In March, Fee took a class of 30 year 6 kids on a week's trip to France. With visits to some WW1 memorials, museums, bakeries and a chocolate museum, it was great to see all the children practising the French they'd been taught, and Fee learnt a few new phrases too, after spending a day in A & E with one of the girls!

In April, Lucy undertook a week's work experience in a café-boutique in Lille.  She had a fantastic time and it really helped to improve her French, ready for her A level French exam. 

May and June were a little bit tense in the McCusker household, as Lucy was doing her A-Levels and Adam his GCSEs.  However, we managed to de-stress by doing lots of sport, including canoe trips and a canoe safety and rescue course, plus a bit of family skiing at Xscape.  The cricket season was also well under way for Adam (his first year of playing with the adults, which he really enjoyed).

Fee and Bri also had a night out at the Royal Albert Hall, seeing James in concert for Bri's birthday.

 After their exams had finished, Adam celebrated by going to see a county cricket match with his friend, and Lucy and Fee spent 2 days in Lille, shopping, sightseeing and visiting the café where Lucy had worked at Easter. 

July was a busy month, which started with Fee's cousin's wedding up in Scotland - a lovely weekend spent catching up with family and celebrating with the happy couple. We were then treated to the most amazing production of Les Misérables at Adam's school. Adam played the role of Javert and made us very proud!

 

Adam also had his end of year 11 prom. Lucy didn't have a year 13 prom but enjoyed some nights out with her friends to celebrate the end of her school days!

July was quite a momentous month for Fee, as she left the school she had been teaching at for 18 years, after successfully obtaining a job at a middle school to teach French. It was an emotional last day but definitely the right time to move on.

Fee and Bri celebrated the start of the summer holidays with one of Fee's 50th birthday presents, a gin workshop, where we made our own gin and tasted a few too many samples! Fee also had the amazing experience of singing with her choir in Covent Garden. Despite the rain, there were big crowds and it was great fun.

In August, we celebrated the kids' A level and GCSE results with a holiday of a lifetime: a cruise around Japan and South Korea.

Those of you on Facebook will probably have seen all the photos and read all about our amazing experiences, the highlights of which were Mt Fuji, a ride on the bullet train, the amazing food, the contrast of old and new in Tokyo, the Gamcheon cultural village in Busan and being served our dinner by a cat robot! It truly was an amazing trip and one we will never forget.

As soon as we got back home, Fee started her new job (which so far is going well, although has been a very steep learning curve) and Adam started his A levels. He's still at the same school and is studying Computer Science, Film Studies and Creative Digital Media.

Lucy is taking a gap year before studying Psychology at UEA in Norwich. She is currently working at a cafe/bar in town, which she is loving, despite the odd awkward customer.

Brian is getting his teeth into some new projects for Fujitsu and is now going back into the office a bit more. 

Other Autumn highlights included a day at the Canoe World Slalom championships and several weekends away for Brian, canoeing and ongoing training for Midshires Search and Rescue. He has now qualified as a team leader and is helping to train new Search and Rescue technicians.  Adam has started a part time job at Halfords and Fee has been singing at lots of local Christmas events, including bringing some much needed Christmas cheer to the elderly patients in Bedford Hospital.    

We hope you are all well and looking forward to eating lots of mince pies and chocolate!  Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year 2024!