Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice everyone!!

I don't think I've mentioned this before in the blog, but the days have been getting really long here. We are at 54 degrees latitude in our part of England, which is considerably more north than what we're used to. As a result, we have an early sunrise and a late sunset.

The sun has been rising in the 4am hour (this morning, it was 4:33). Fortunately, we have thick curtains in all of our bedrooms, which helps block out the sunlight. The only problem we've had is that Maddie occasionally wakes up earlier than usual. Besides that, it's actually not too bad. At the very least, it helps get me out of bed in the morning.

The sun has been setting in the 9pm hour (last night, it set at 9:42), and we still have twilight well into the 10 o'clock hour. It's been really bizarre putting the kids to bed, and then looking outside to sunshine. Here is a picture I took of our house at 9:00 last night.
(Don't you just love the climbing rose bushes?)

And here's one that I took at 10:00.
Around 10:20 last night, Ethan drove down the road to take these shots.
So, what did we do today, on the first official day of summer? We put on our sweats and jackets and played in a family-fun baseball game to conclude Tim's t-ball season. Although we have had some beautiful, warm days, they are few and far between. It's been in the 60s everyday this week, with rain, wind, sun, and clouds on a repeating basis. It's making me very anxious to go visit the States next week. We will be flying into JFK on Wednesday 6/25, and will return on 7/12. I'm hoping that we will have a nice mini-summer while we're there.

Anyway, it has been a neat experience having these long days. The problem is that in the winter time, it will be the exact opposite-- very short days and a lot of darkness. I can't say that I'm looking forward to that.

Volunteering at Bishop Thornton

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of volunteering at Tim's school for the morning. (Yes, Tim's school is still in session, and the last day isn't until July 22nd!! Isn't that crazy??!! The schools here have more week-long "holidays" throughout the year, which I suppose accounts for the late school year). Maddie's preschool on base ended last week, so she came along with me. We both really enjoyed ourselves.

Tim's class is made up of three grades, Reception (ages 4-5), Year 1 (Tim), and Year 2 (ages 6-7), and is taught by a wonderfully enthusiastic and expressive, Mrs. Ward. There are only 8 students in the whole class! I was able to watch the students participate in a whole-group phonics lesson that challenged each of the students at their level, and I then helped some of the older children who were writing their first book report. I also watched a maths (yes, they call it "maths") lesson, where Mrs. Ward again challenged each at their level during a whole-group activity, and then split them up to do different activities according to their abilities.

I know I mentioned this before, but the classroom is really wonderful. It is filled with everything you would want in a classroom for your kid: educational toys everywhere, reading center, building center, art center, Smartboard and computers. One of the corners of the room is designated as a rotating center, where it changes as the class theme changes. For example, last half-term the class studied houses, so there was a house corner with a play kitchen, etc. Their theme now is "The Sea," so the corner has a pirate boat, sea artwork, and (magnetic) fishing poles made by the children, along with a treasure chest, maps, and Brucey and Jaws, the class's two new pet fish. The outside play area is also like an extension of the classroom with scooters, water and sand tables... there was even a small tub filled with green spaghetti!! I just love it. The whole atmosphere just peaks a child's curiosity and sense of adventure. I really am so fortunate to have my kids begin their school careers here.

It was really a treat being in the class, and seeing what could be done with only 8 students. Each of the students received a lot of personal attention from the teacher and the teacher's assistant. There was also a neat sense of comradery in the classroom.... the children were almost family-like in how they all got along with each other. Actually, knowing how my kids get along, this was more like "heaven-like."

Mrs. Ward made a special point of including Maddie in all of the activities, and Maddie just loved it... so much so, that she didn't want to leave at lunch time. I don't know if I've mentioned this in the blog before, but Maddie will actually be attending Bishop Thornton this Fall. She has been visiting the school occasionally during their preparatory "drop-in" sessions, and every time, she asks me to leave! She already knows all the kids in the class (such a social girl), and is fully prepared to leave me all alone at home to go off to school. I didn't think I was ready for my 4 year-old to be away from me all day already, but with the baby coming at the end of September, it's starting to sound ideal.

Anyway, I thought I would leave you with a few British words/phrases that Tim has learned at school:

• The letter "Z" is actually pronounced "zed" here. When they sing the ABC song, it ends with "....W, X, Y and Zed." I don't know if they sing the last line or not, because zed certainly doesn't rhyme with "me."
• They play "Monkey in the Middle" but they call it "Piggy in the Middle", and "Tag" is called "Tig."
• All the time, Tim is saying how he has "loads" of something, instead of "lots."
• When beginning a race, it's not "Ready, set, go!," it's "Ready, steady, go!"

So cute!

Brimham Rocks

Last Sunday, we had an incredibly nice day, weather-wise. So, after Maddie's nap, we decided to go to a place called Brimham Rocks. Brimham Rocks includes about 400 acres of moorland, which have incredible rock formations scattered about. It's a great place for hiking and for taking pictures (I think I took over 80 pictures!). The views were just spectacular! And, it's less than a 15 minute drive from our house... and it was FREE!

Tim treated this place as if it were a huge playground. We'd turn our heads, and before we knew it, he was on top of another rock. I thought Ethan was going to have a heart-attack! Fortunately, Tim left with only a scuffed ankle (and that was from the gravel path).

Enjoy the pictures.

Tropical World

Last Monday, the kids both had the day off from school. I thought we could have a little field trip to a nearby city called Leeds. There is a Harley-Davidson shop there, so I thought we could go and get a Fathers' Day gift for my dad, and then find something kid-friendly to do.

As I searched on the internet, I found a website for a place called Tropical World. The website wasn't the best, but it said that they had some gardens and a bunch of tropical insects and animals. Admission was only 3 pounds ($6) for adults, and the kids were free. That seemed pretty cheap to me, which is normally fine, except that it led me to believe that I shouldn't expect much.

After the Harley shop, we headed over to Tropical World. (By the way, I just love our GPS. I just type in the address for where we're going, and it gets me there with so little hassle. I didn't know this city of Leeds at all, and it made my life so less stressful to not have to figure out and follow directions. Just love it!) Anyway, Tropical World. When we got there, we were greeted by a lovely garden and pond. It was just picture perfect with the fountains and stone bridges. There was a beautiful variety of flowers, and the kids enjoyed watching some baby ducks and finding the fish swimming in the pond.
We then paid our 3 pounds and headed into Tropical World. Let me just tell you... it was worth a whole lot more than $6! There was a great variety of butterflies, fish, birds, reptiles... even monkeys. My favorite part was the Nocturnal Zone. You could see all kinds of nocturnal animals, and they were very active. The fruit bats were especially cool to watch!So, for 3 pounds (plus 2 more for ice-cream afterwards!), we had a great day out.

British Birthdays

Last week, we celebrated my 34th birthday. Ethan was kind enough to take the day off from work, and we drove down to a city on the East coast called Hull. We had heard that there was an aquarium there called "The Deep," and thought that might be a fun way to spend the day.

"The Deep" was pretty cool. It is more modern than the aquarium in Baltimore, although it is also much smaller, and didn't have quite as much to look at. Still, we enjoyed seeing a good variety of fish, an active octopus, and a shark & stingray feeding. My favorite was seeing the life stages of jellyfish. The baby jellyfish were kinda cute!

After the aquarium, we enjoyed a nice stroll through the city center of Hull. It's always fun walking along the pedestrian walkways and seeing what kinds of shops they have. Ethan found a pub with a kind of beer that he hadn't tried yet, so the kids and I waited outside and played. Here they are playing on a monument outside of an old church.
When we got home, Ethan grilled a delightful steak dinner. It was the best steak I had had in a really long time.... just delicious! We then celebrated my birthday with some thoughtful gifts and cards, including a rechargeable battery for my new camera! Hooray!!

Since I am on the topic of birthdays, I thought I would also mention a few differences that we have either seen or heard about for British birthdays. Tim has already been to a bunch of birthday parties for friends at school. The general outline for a kids' party seems to be the same: food, games, and cake. However, the children don't eat the cake at the party. Their slice gets wrapped into a napkin and put into their goody bag to be eaten at home. (I asked one mother about this, and she said that it is a British tradition. The children are usually too stuffed by cake time to actually eat it!) They also don't open the presents during the party. The games seem to be similar. At one party, Tim played "Pass the Parcel" (parcel means present), which is that game where you unwrap a present until you get the gift in the middle. The last party Tim went to even had a moon-bounce (I think they called it a "bouncy house.")

We've also heard that British children unwrap their presents and eat birthday cake as soon as they wake up in the morning (almost like a Christmas morning kind of thing). I don't think we will start that tradition in our family, although it is tempting.

A Failed Tea

About a week and a half ago, we invited our new pastor and his wife over for an evening tea (translation: dessert time with tea). I spent the day prepping the house so they wouldn't trip over Legos or stick to the kitchen floor, and make Ina's chocolate ganache cake for dessert.

Before they came, I asked Ethan if there was anything special he thought I should do about serving them tea. These were the first real British people we had ever had over to the house, and I didn't feel very culturally prepared. Ethan told me not to worry, and that if I did anything wrong, "Pastor Bernard would probably let me know" (he can be a little forward).

Well, after they arrived, I got the water boiling, and served up the cake. I then put out the cream and sugar, displayed our assortment of tea bags, and began filling up my tea cups with the hot water. Well, let's just say that Ethan was right. Pastor Bernard let me know right from the start that whatever I was doing was all wrong. He refused to take my tea cup of hot water.

Problem number one was that I didn't have a tea pot. The best way to prepare the tea is to have a thingy that holds the loose tea leaves in your pot (tea bags are apparently sub-standard), and then fill it with boiling water so that the water can infuse the tea. Then you pour from the tea pot once the tea has had its appropriate infusing time. So, being tea pot-less, and tea-leaf holder-less, at the very least, I should have asked what kind of tea they wanted, and then poured the water over the tea bag so it could infuse properly. It was also somehow inappropriate to ask them to dispose of their own tea bag onto their saucer. Whatever....

So, I chalked it up to a learning experience. Never have a Brit over for tea until I get a stinkin' tea pot!

The rest of our evening was fine. It was nice to get to know him and his wife (who is actually from South Africa), and to learn more about the church. He thanked me for my cup of tea as they were leaving (much like a teasing big brother would). Lucky for him, he hasn't mentioned it since. :)

York

Two weekends ago, we traveled to a city called York. We were delighted to discover that it was less than a 45 minute drive from our house, and that parking and navigating were very easy.

York is one of England's most historic cities. It started as a Roman fort, and was then a Viking settlement for years after that (called Jorvik). What's really neat about York, is that it is one of the best-preserved walled cities in all of England.
Here you can see Ethan and the kids as we made our way around the city on top of the wall. In the background, and in the next picture, you can see York Minster.
The city itself was really neat. It is full of museums, historic buildings, and snickelways (hidden alleyways) lined with shops and restaurants. As we walked around, we found out that the city was having some sort of sword festival. There were groups of performers doing sword dancing. (Don't worry... the swords didn't appear to be sharp!) Basically, the dancers would always be holding one of the ends of a sword in each hand, and weave their way through and around until the person in the middle would emerge with the swords all woven together in a star-like pattern. It was interesting.

We walked around for a while, and then made our way to the National Railway Museum. This museum holds many, many preserved trains and displays. They had trains historic to England, but also quite an international collection (like the Japanese bullet train). It was quite an extensive collection, and the best part was that it was free!
All in all, we had a great (and inexpensive) day out. If you ever come to visit us here, York is a must!