Stryker Invasion: Our Time Across the Pond

A Year of PWOC

2011-09-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons that my blog did not stay up-to-date last year was because I served as the President for the PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) at our base. It was a lot of responsibility, but it was incredibly fulfilling (and I pray, that it was glorifying to God).

My year started off with training. I was incredibly fortunate to serve with a wonderful and gifted group of women who made up the executive board. A group of us traveled to the Europe PWOC Leadership Conference, where we received training in our positions and quickly bonded! We were given a fabulous theme for the year which was "Shine in the Light of His Glory."

We held a Fall Kick-Off night last September and we sponsored weekly Bible Studies which began around that time as well. We had a few Girls Night Outs during the course of the year, and even began a book club that met every couple of months.

At the beginning of December, we held our second-annual women's Christmas brunch. Since last year's brunch was so successful, we decided to hold the breakfast at a bigger facility. We had an incredibly talented woman in our midst (Kate W., who by the way, is now the current President-that's her playing the guitar).She and her husband Joe, transformed what is typically a cold, concrete-floor facility, into a Western mountain lodge, complete with a chuck-wagon to serve the meal from. It was a lot of work, but it looked incredible!!! I wrote a skit and gave a talk about why God chose the shepherds and a star to pronounce the birth of his son. The skit was really cute! I had my two friends Alicia and Amanda play the parts of angels holding a casting-call for the birth-announcer. Here's a picture of the cast.The brunch was just wonderful! I loved seeing how so many women used their gifts and talents to make it happen... and with such attention to detail. It was great!

For me, the climax of the year had to be our winter retreat. I kind of took this on as my project for the year, enlisting plenty of help from my board. We decided to hold the retreat at a youth hostel in the sea-side fishing village of Whitby. The facility turned out to be amazing! Yes, it was a youth hostel, but it was a 4-star youth hostel that overlooked the harbor and the incredibly picturesque Whitby Abbey! The itinerary for the weekend was closely modeled around retreats that I had been on with my previous church back in MD, allowing for plenty of time on Saturday afternoon for sight-seeing and shopping!The title for the retreat was "How Clean is Your House?." I was inspired to write a 5-scene skit about a woman who has a maid service come to her home and give it a good cleaning, metaphorically speaking. Each scene found the women in a different part of the house: the attic to look at her past, the bedroom to evaluate how she saw herself in the mirror, the kitchen to see what she was feedng herself, and the basement to see what dark secrets were lurking there. Each session for the retreat included some worship, one scene of the skit, and a brief talk. There were a few small group sessions scheduled throughout the weekend, and lots of time for game-playing and socializing in the evenings.I left the retreat feeling completely fulfilled and utterly exhausted! Once again, it was an incredible amount of work. But it was so satisfying seeing a vision and passion becoming a reality! I suppose the same could be said for the whole year. It was incredibly challenging, but I learned so much... prayed SO much, and really experienced the goodness of God in so many ways.

Christmas 2010

2011-08-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

We felt particularly blessed this past holiday season because we were able to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas with family! Ethan's mother and brother spent a week with us over the Christmas holiday.

But before they arrived, a few festivities already took place, including the children's annual school Christmas pageant. (How I will miss these after we move home!) Both Tim and Maddie played the part of angels this year (how fitting!!!!).

Christmas Eve was delightful. After a lovely meal, we cuddled on the couch and sang Christmas carols (it was so nice to have Mom here to play the piano!), nibbled on some cookies, drank some egg nog, read "The Night Before Christmas," and opened one gift each!Christmas morning was a lot of fun!! Collin's favorite gift seemed to be his tricycle which he enjoyed riding around the house. Tim was excited about his new sledge, and Maddie rocked out on her Paper Jams guitar. Ahhhh.... the glorious mess!Christmas dinner was of course accompanied by Christmas crackers, complete with jokes and crowns! I think that this will remain a tradition for us for years to come.We ventured out on the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) to Fountains Abbey. (Oh yes... did I mention that we had a white Christmas??!!) We enjoyed taking some lovely photographs, and taking part in a service that they hold there every year on Boxing Day. I think it's noteworthy to mention that this service is a culmination of a walk/pilgrimage that hundreds of people participate in each year. They begin at Ripon Cathedral, and walk 4 miles to get to Fountains Abbey to commemorate a similar journey that took place back in 1132 by a group of local monks! We did not participate in the walk, but we certainly appreciated the free admission!

Tim was thrilled that we had plenty of snow during his school holiday. That meant plenty of chances to test out his new sled! And we even had the right kind of snow to make a snowman for the front yard! (We didn't have any carrots, so it had to have a celery nose.)We all enjoyed a day trip to the village of Skipton, where we toured Skipton Castle. We really appreciated how well restored the castle was (it was nice to tour a castle with a roof during the middle of winter!). Here's a brief tour:
The gatehouseThe CourtyardThe Banquet HallA Medieval potty (always fascinating!)Stairs down to the dungeonA nice shot of Maddie and GrandmaEthan also took his mom and brother to take some unique and foggy shots of Bolton Abbey.
It was a very special Christmas season indeed.

Family Photo Shoot-Swap

2011-07-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

I usually like to have our family picture taken for our annual Christmas card. But last year, I didn't know what to do, since my good friend (and amazing photographer) Christy, had moved back to the States.

Well, when we were leaving our friends' wedding back in October, we drove right past the sweetest little walking bridge. I told Ethan as soon as I saw it that that is where we needed to have our family picture taken!I mentioned it to my good friend Leslie, and asked if she might be interested in doing a photo shoot-swap... she would take our family picture, and I would take their family picture. And thankfully, she had a really nice camera!

So, one crisp and chilly Sunday after church, we loaded all 10 of us into our cars, and headed to the little walking bridge. We took a lot of pictures, hoping that by sheer chance, we would end up with a picture or two with everyone smiling, or at least looking in the camera's direction. Thankfully, we each had a bunch of nice pictures to choose from.Leslie said she will be in charge of finding next year's perfect English countryside location. But, I don't know if she'll be able to top this one!

Tim turns 9!

2011-07-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

This past November, Timothy celebrated his 9th birthday!

What a joy it was to be able to celebrate while my parents were still here. We had our own little family party on his actual birthday, and a party with friends the weekend after. Our gift to him was a skateboarding/scooter ramp for the driveway.Tim chose to have a bowling party with the boys from his class. (There's a bowling alley on the base.) It was the first time that many of his friends had ever gone bowling, but we all had a fun time!I even took a stab at making a bowling ball and pin cake for his party. (It wasn't too hard actually- 2 round 9" pans to make the ball, and a 13x9" size cake, cut in half the long way, stacked and shaped to make the pin)!

Is is possible that my baby will turn double digits next November???!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-07-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

If ever I was thankful at Thanksgiving, this past Thanksgiving is probably the one I was most thankful-est for (yes, I said "thankful-est"). And the reason that I was so thankful is because, even though I live across the ocean from my family, I was able to celebrate the holiday with not only my parents, but my aunt and uncle as well.

My parents made the long journey to the UK to be with us (and the journey was especially long for my dad, who had to travel from Florida first). The one thing we didn't account for during their trip, was the weather. It was bitterly cold... so cold in fact, that we woke up to snow on Thanksgiving morning! (Did I mention that my dad had just come from Florida? Well, let's just say that he wasn't too pleased about the snow.)

My Aunt Marsha and Uncle Stan only had to come from London to be with us. My Uncle Stan is a college professor and was teaching a course there for the semester. We hadn't seen them in a few years, so it was wonderful to be together, and share our experiences.

Our Thanksgiving meal was wonderful! Being with my mom on Thanksgiving meant that there was very little stress about prepping the turkey dinner. She is nothing short of a pro! The following day, we went into Harrogate where we went to the Pump Room Museum and learned about how the natural sulphur springs brought tourism and wealth to this area. We then had lunch at Betty's Tea Room, which is the best tea room around.After my aunt and uncle returned to London, my mom, Maddie, and I decided to take a trip to Stoke-on-Trent. I have blogged about this before. Stoke-on-Trent is known for their production of fine china!

We went first to the Wedgewood Museum and Factory, where we were able to learn about the process of making and painting fine bone china. We watched videos which showed us how painstakingly some of the pieces were painted, and left with a much humbler appreciation for the hefty price-tags.

After Wedgewood, we headed to my favorite place in Stoke-on-Trent, which is the Burleigh Factory. My Mom already had a few pieces from Burleigh at home, so I thought I would add to her collection as an early Christmas gift. And, since we were there, I had to add to my collection as well!!

We decided to head back home after this, and what should have been a 2 1/2 hour drive, became a 4 hour drive due to some newly fallen snow. It was a VERY scary ride. At one point we found ourselves at the top of a hill, looking down at the s-curve road down below, where a bus was stuck on a bridge! (A bus full of elderly people, mind you!) We were SO grateful to make it back safely, and will forever remember the china that we risked our lives to get that day.

Aside from the snow, we had a wonderful time being together. So much to be thankful for....

MUCH More than Taco Bell

2011-01-01T14:27:00.000-08:00

The weekend after Veteran's Day, we took a trip to two other US bases about 4 hours south of us. These bases are both much bigger than our base, so they have more "Americana" to offer, including Taco Bell!

When we arrived, we found the food court, and helped ourselves to some Taco Bell and Baskin Robbins! What a treat! Both of these bases have hotels that we can stay at for a really reasonable price. I think it was only $45/night, and we had a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen! It was fabulous!

These bases also have larger stores than what we have at our base; one specifically had a much larger selection of toys! So, we spent some time our first morning wandering around the aisles with the kids so we could get a feel for what they might be interested in for Christmas. (And later that night, Ethan went back and did a big chunk of our Christmas shopping, while I was putting the kids to bed!)

It was a really nice weekend to get away, and get a little US fix without spending a ton of 0money. But the best part of our weekend had nothing to do with these bases, but with a little air field about an hour away.

Ethan's grandfather, Roger William Stryker, served in the US Army Air Corps (Air Force during WWII as a navigator. He was stationed at what was called Debach Air Field when he was only 18 years old. When Ethan's uncle came to visit the UK, he was able to see Debach Air Field, so we thought we would give it a try.

We looked it up on-line, and found that there was a museum at Debach, and that they had a few events each year, mostly in the summer. http://www.493bgdebach.co.uk/
They listed a contact number, so I gave a call the day before we left, not really expecting much.

Well, we drove to the air field, and when I checked my voice mail on the way, I found a message from the proprietor saying that they would be glad to meet us there. We were surprised, and again, not quite sure what to expect. While we were waiting for them to arrive, Ethan walked around a little bit, and then we went to see the memorial. (In this photo, Ethan is holding his grandfather's Bible which he kept in his pocket during missions.)By that time, the couple arrived who were the owners of the air field. We learned that the airfield was passed down to them from his father, who owned it before and after the war. This couple has made it their personal hobby and passion to restore the air field, and collect items of interest from during the war. They were unbelievably kind and gracious to meet with us and give us a personal tour of the air field.
We started in the control tower, where we were able to see a model of what the air field would have looked like. And amazingly, we were able to find a picture of Ethan's grandfather on the wall with his flight crew (he's in the upper left - it incorrectly says "Strykes"). They only had a sampling of photos displayed, and his was there. Words couldn't describe our joy to have been able to make this connection, so far from home.Next, we toured the infirmary where there was a large display of models and artifacts from the time period. They also took us to see a collection of automobiles from the war that the owner was restoring. It was very impressive. They even had a model of a bomb shelter.If all of this weren't enough, the owners made a call to their archivist, Darren, who practically dropped what he was doing to come and meet with us. He took down Ethan's contact information, and for a month or so following our visit, he forwarded Ethan everything he had with Roger Stryker's name on it. So now, Ethan has an extensive collection of information regarding his grandfather's missions, promotions, etc. What a treasure!

This whole visit turned out to be so much more than we ever expected. We thought we would go, take a few pictures, and that would be it. Never did we imagine to get an in-depth, enthusiastic, personal tour by the owners. We never imagined we'd see a picture of Ethan's grandfather there. And we certainly never imagined to be linked up with someone who could provide us with such an extensive written record of his grandfather's activities during the war. It was a Veteran's Day weekend we will never forget.

Halloween Fun

2010-12-31T14:08:00.000-08:00

What a fun Halloween we had this year! Tim and Collin dressed up as skeletons, and Maddie was a black cat.We once again went to the Halloween festivities on base. They had all sorts of kids' games and crafts, and even face-painting. (And yes, they take their face-painting very serious around here.)On Halloween afternoon, we enjoyed carving our pumpkins. Maddie and Tim each designed their own (Tim got his idea for a puking pumpkin on-line), and I carved Collin's into a Yankee symbol.
And on Halloween evening, we joined our good friends in the village for some food and drink, and then went out for some trick-or-treating. I think I blogged about this last year, but it's worth saying again: trick-or-treating in our little village is such a wonderful experience. Actually, trick-or-treating is not much of an English tradition. But since there have been several Americans in the village over recent years, we have started to "Americanize" it a little. Anyway, it was such a sweet time, and had such a sincere community feel about it. It's one of those things I hope my kids never forget about our experience here.

A (mostly) British Wedding

2010-12-29T06:06:00.000-08:00

Near the end of October, Ethan and I were invited to attend our friends', Ellen and Steve's, wedding. Steve is an American that Ethan knew from work and church, and Ellen is a local gal, that we've gotten to know from the church home-group that we attend. She's got a lot of spunk, and we just love her.

I was so excited about attending a British wedding! Although, I have to admit, I was a little nervous about what to wear. In all of the British wedding movies I had seen, there were women wearing big, frilly, feathery hats. In the end, I decided against the frilly feathers, and found that thankfully, the women wearing those kinds of hats were a minority.

The wedding was so lovely. It took place in a small, village church that Ellen attended as a child. Ellen looked incredibly beautiful, and the ceremony incorporated a lot of the personality of the two of them, which was so nice.The reception took place at a luxury castle hotel (I wonder how many "luxury castle hotels" there are in the US?) called Swinton Park. Both the exterior and interior were gorgeous!The elements of the ceremony and the reception were very similar to what we've been to in the states, with a couple of exceptions. The cake was more of a fruit cake, which is traditional in the UK. Thankfully, the bride, knowing that this might be a problem for the Americans in the crowd (including her new in-laws) actually had two cakes: one British, and the other was more of a sponge cake, like we're used to in the US. The other main difference was the toasts. Apparently at British weddings, more people other than the best man and maid of honor are asked to give toasts. At Ellen and Steve's wedding, toasts were given by Ellen's father, Steve's friend, and Steve himself.

It was such a wonderful occasion. The only sad part about it all is that Ellen doesn't yet have her visa, so she can't move to the States to be with Steve until that is finalized. And yet, we'll be sad when that happens too, because it will mean that she will be leaving us.

But of course, we are so happy for them both and wish them all the best! Congratulations Ellen and Steve!

Charlie and Lola

2010-12-29T05:57:00.000-08:00

In October, the kids' school took part in World Book Day, and the students were allowed to dress up as book characters. Since Maddie had just lost her first tooth, it made us think of a Charlie and Lola book called "My wobbly tooth won't ever NEVER fall out." Hence, Tim and Maddie became Charlie and Lola for the day!

Happy Birthday Collin!

2010-12-27T06:17:00.000-08:00

Back in September, our Collin (our baby- sniff, sniff) turned 2! As much as I didn't want to admit it, I have to say that he was already showing signs of the terrible 2s, so he was ready!

On his actual birthday, we had a small family party. Our big present for Collin this year was a new Little Tykes Car.

He got a lot of other wonderful presents from family including a car ramp, a Little People farm, and plenty of cars and trucks (he loves cars!). And of course, he had some extra fun with the bubble wrap and styrofoam peanuts.The following weekend, we invited a few of Collin's buddies and their families over for a party with a farm animal theme (he was really into naming farm animals and making their noises at the time).

Collin was so kind to help me make his barn cake for the party. Thankfully, it was nothing that a little hay couldn't cover up.

And, in true kid form, he ate the icing off of three cupcakes at his party (without really eating any cake).Happy Birthday Collin!!!!!

Proms on the Hill

2010-12-27T05:53:00.000-08:00

This September, we once again attended Proms on the Hill.

Proms is an annual event at the base where Ethan works and has been a British tradition for many years. Here's a little history about Proms from Wikipedia:

Although earlier promenade concert series had existed, the first Proms concert was held on 10 August 1895 in the Queen's Hall in Langham Place, under the auspices of impresario Robert Newman. Newman's idea was to encourage an audience for concert hall music who, though not normally attending classical concerts, would be attracted by the low ticket prices and more informal atmosphere. In addition to promenading, eating, drinking and smoking were all allowed. He stated his goal as follows:

"I am going to run nightly concerts and train the public by easy stages. Popular at first, gradually raising the standard until I have created a public for classical and modern music."^[2]

So basically, Proms is an less-formal orchestral concert for the layman. For our Proms, the orchestra is seated on an outdoor amphitheater. The Americans are encouraged to invite our UK friends for the evening, and we all gather and bring along food, chairs, etc.

This year, we invited some of our closest British friends, who all happen to be families from Tim and Maddie's school. We all brought along food and drinks, and had a wonderful evening. I should note that a big part of our enjoyment was the perfect weather. Last year, I remember I sat there shivering in the Yorkshire wind, and the concert seemed to last f-o-r-e-v-e-r. But this year, there was no wind and no rain (yes, this is noteworthy for this region).

This year also happened to be the 50th Anniversary for the base, so there were a few added surprises to the event. They had a stunt plane flying over us at the beginning of the concert. (As you can see, Collin was entranced.) They also had some extra fun fireworks in the middle and end of the concert.

It really was a wonderful evening. I love community events like this where people all gather just to be together. We brought along glow-bracelets for the kids, and let them run around the nearby field (always being able to see where there were even when it got dark!). It was a fun night for all.

As we were leaving, our friends asked if they could come again next year. They are of course welcome to, but I can pretty much guarantee that the weather won't be quite as nice as it was this time. (But then again, they're the ones who are British, so they're used to it!)

First Day of School

2010-12-27T05:03:00.000-08:00

I know these pictures are a few months late, but better late than never....

Here are a couple of pictures of Tim and Maddie on their first day of school this year. Tim is a Year 4 this year, which is the equivalent of 3rd grade. He is the only student in the school who is a Year 4, and he is in a combined class of Year 3-Year 6 students. This works very well in his favor as it challenges him to do work above his grade ability.
Maddie is a Year 2 this year, which is the equivalent of 1st grade. She is in a combined class of Reception (4 year-olds) through Year 2s, which means this is her last year in the younger class (sniff, sniff).We went to a parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago, and both kids are doing great! Tim is excelling in Math (no surprise there), and Maddie is a fabulous reader! We are so proud of them both!

I thought I'd throw this picture into this post too. Maddie lost her first wobbly tooth back in September!

Ripley Scarecrow Festival

2010-12-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

Ever year, at the end of August, the local town of Ripley hosts a scarecrow festival.

I have to mention that it was much different than I expected, but so much fun!

I've blogged about Ripley before, because Ethan and the kids and I went to the grounds of Ripley Castle last year. While there, we learned that an Inglby family ancestor (the Inglby family still resides in the castle), apparently fought off some wild boars that were attacking the King at the time. Thus, there is a boar theme throughout the village of Ripley.

That history should shed some light on the scarecrow festival, as all of the scarecrows were in fact boars! Scattered and hidden throughout the village were scarecrow boars of all kinds. Villagers who wanted to participate would make a scarecrow that characterizes a famous person/character, and give it a name that has "pig" or "boar" in the title.

When we arrived at the festival, we purchased a quiz sheet for a few pounds and began our search. We had to walk all around the village and find as many scarecrows as we could (we had to look high and low as some were even on roof tops!). Our quiz sheet had all of the names for the scarecrows, so we had to match the number of the scarecrow with the name. It wasn't always easy, but it was a lot of fun!

Here are some of our favorites:

Pig-nocchio
The Red Boar-on

Boar-atThis was one of those festivals that was so sweet and so simple... it makes me want to bring the idea back with me to America. What do you think... Do you think Americans would be up for a scarecrow festival like this?

Gillen Highlights

2010-12-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

Alyssa Gillen was one of my college roommates, and is forever a friend. She lives in New York, and has three children who are pretty close in age to my children- Caleb (8), Cassidie (6), and Serena (3). She and her husband Kevin were brave (or crazy) enough to bring all three children over the ocean to visit us this past summer! I know it's been a few months since they came, but I am still pinching myself at the thought of it!

Here are some highlights from their week-long visit.

Fountains Abbey- The kids made their own paper versions of stained-glass windows, and got their faces painted.Ripon Cathedral
Day trip to the Lake District- We visited Beatrix Potter's Home (Hill Top), and The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction Girls' Day Out in Harrogate for some shopping and lunch at Betty's
Day Trip to York
We started our day at the National Railway Museum

Outside the museum they had a lot of fun activites for the kids, including the human hamster ball. (I was practically crying-laughing the whole time the kids were in there-- too funny!)

York Minster

Knaresborough Rowing on the River Nidd We spent the last few days of their trip in northern Wales
We really had a wonderful time being together. Yes, we saw some wonderful sights, but it was just so nice to be together with good friends. Alyssa and Kevin are the kind of people who are so much fun -- I kept wondering if I really knew how to have fun without them! Yes, we had our fair share of "moments"- kids throwing up in the car, waiting in long lines, waiting for food with cranky kids, etc., etc., but we always seemed to find a way to laugh out of the situation.

Until our next adventure together.......

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2010-10-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased that the kids' school places a lot of value on drama! Last year, Tim's class performed two plays: A Christmas Carol at Christmas-time, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory towards the end of the year.

And who was cast as Charlie, you might ask? Well, that would be Tim. I'd love to be prideful and tell you that they picked him because of the natural acting ability he inherited from his mother; but he was actually selected because no one else wanted to play that role and he wanted to be helpful. That's my Tim.

Anyway, it was a wonderful production. They actually performed most of the script from the movie version I remember as a kid (without the songs). Here are a few pictures and clips from the performance:

Tim as Charlie in the shared bed with his mum and grandparents
A clip of Charlie opening his birthday presents from his family
All of the Golden Ticket winners with Wonka in his boat
A clip of Charlie and Grandpa Joe when they sample the Fizzy-Lifting Drink

I thought it was so clever how they portrayed that!

A few days after this play, the school held its annual Leavers' Ceremony. It's a graduation ceremony of sorts, where they say farewell to the Year 6s who will be moving onto high school the following term. This year, the school had 4 students graduating. Also, Tim's teacher, Mrs. Waller, was leaving the school for a teaching job that was taking her to Malaysia, and the school headmistress, Mrs. Buckton was moving on to another school as well. The ceremony was bittersweet. The children sang some songs (including "So Long, Farewell" from Sound of Music), and the Class 2 band performed songs on the musical instruments they had been practicing on all year. Here are two clips from the Leavers' Ceremony:

(So sweet to hear this song being sung by British kids).

And what first band concert would be complete without "Drunken Sailor?"
(And yes, that's Tim's teacher on the trombone. She took instrument lessons along with the kids. Doesn't that say so much about her as a teacher? We were so sad to see her go.)

I have to say, for such a small school, I am very pleased with all they do with the performing arts!

Summer Highlights

2010-10-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

(I realize that I am months behind in my blog. So sorry.... I have been busy to say the least, with my new role as PWOC Pres., sewing with my friend in the afternoons, and just life in general. Anyway, I will do my best to get back into the swing of things....)

We'll start with some highlights from this past summer. We went home to the States for just two weeks at the end of June/beginning of July. Highlights included:

spending time with Grandma Stryker and Uncle Luke at their home near Ithaca, NY
boating and enjoying the nearby lakes
going mini-golfing with Grandma
playing in the inflatable pool and playing baseball in Grandma's back yard
visiting with Great-Grandma Phelps
going to the Corning Museum of Glass
visiting with my college roommates, Tanya and Alyssa, and their families
spending time with Grammy and Papa, Uncle Jesse, Aunt Babe and cousin Summer, Uncle Jay and (almost) Aunt Ashley, Aunt Katie and cousin Logan in East Hampton
special time with my cousin Jane and her three kids, as well as my Granny
lots of time in the pool and at the beach
our annual family bivouac (including fishing and searching for crabs)

It was a very special time. Actually, since moving here, it seems like our time at home is all the more precious to us.

Sometimes, it's just the simple joys of being together...

Squirty Cream

2010-09-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

Back in June, our church had it's annual barbecue at a local farm. It was organized by my friend Debbie, who is an American. She is fabulous at organizing our church's events, and tells how it has taken her years to "train" the Brits how to do church functions American-style!

This year for our church barbecue, Debbie decided that she would show our English friends what an ice-cream sundae bar was for dessert. She had people bring ice-cream and all different kinds of toppings. On the day of the barbecue, she asked me and a couple of other ladies to "man" the cans of Reddi-Whip (which the Brits call "squirty cream") so that the kids wouldn't use too much. (We all know what kids do with Reddi-whip --- they either squirt it wrong and waste all the gas inside, or they pour it down their throats without limit!)

So, there I was at my station at the toppings table, with the can of squirty cream in hand. I asked each kid who came up if they would like some. It didn't take me long to figure out that the American kids would ask for it, but the British children did not. In fact, I noticed that I was getting some strange looks for even suggesting it. One girl responded to me by saying, "Squirty cream on my ice-cream?...... NO!" (How preposterous of me for asking!)

I finally asked a British mother about it, and she told me that it is not customary for squirty cream to be put on ice-cream. Squirty cream was reserved for a few choice desserts like pie, but that was about it.

The kids seemed to have no problem with sprinkles (which by the way, they sometimes call "hundreds and thousands").... they heaped those one by the spoonful. And they also had no problem putting fruit on their ice-cream. My friend Debbie had a big bowl of cherries at her station, and the British people were trying to scoop them into their sundaes by the spoonful. Debbie had to politely teach them that they just get one cherry... on top, of course!

The ice-cream sundae bar was a hit! The kids and adults all enjoyed it. I even noticed a few British mothers who stood gaping at the sundaes saying things like, "I didn't know you could do this with ice-cream!" Leave it to us Americans to teach other cultures how to make something bigger and better.

Knaresborough Bed Race

2010-08-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

I've heard of some unusual races back in the States, but never before have I heard of a BED RACE!!

The local town of Knaresborough has held a Bed Race for the past 45 years! This year, the weather wasn't just nice for the race,... it was actually beautiful! And we were determined not to miss it.

For the bed race, teams decorate a wheeled metal frame (not really resembling a bed too much), which they first display and then parade through town. Then for the race, the teams drop the decor, and then run the race through the village pushing their beds. The race eventually ends up in the River Nidd. The teams have to push their beds upstream for a little bit, and then heave their beds out of the river towards the finish line. Prizes are awarded to the team that is best decorated and the team that completes the race in the quickest time.

When we arrived in Knaresborough, we found a spot on the sidewalk to watch the parade (and found some friends to watch it with us!) It was so much fun! The town crier led it all off, and the beds came one after the other. Each year, the Bed Race Committee chooses a theme for the decorations, and this year's theme was: occupations. The floats were very clever- there was one that looked like a restaurant table, one made to look like a house with chimneys for the chimney sweepers, a boat with fishermen, a surgeon's table, etc., etc.The parade finished up near the starting line for the race. At that point all of the teams dropped their decorations and got into line for the race. Because there were so many teams (90 in all!), the teams began the race in 10 second intervals and were timed.

The teams pushed their "beds" through the town and wound up in the river. We were sitting on the edge of the river, near the finish line, so we were able to see the teams push the beds up and out of the river. It was not an easy task!! And the more teams that went by, the slippier the slope got!

As I mentioned before, the Bed Race has been a tradition in Knaresborough for 45 years! According to the Bed Race brochure, the first bed race was held in 1966, and had only 4 beds competing. Regarding the first-ever bed race, the brochure reads:

Things have changed these days as the occupants of the beds were described as 'each graced by a gorgeous girl in an eye catching frilly negligee.' Three of the four were actually beauty queens including Miss Yorkshire and Miss Italy.

I can only imagine those beauty queens' surprise when they were raced right into that cold river!

All in all, the Knaresborough Bed race was a lot of fun! It's one of those small town traditions that I would love to bring back to the States with me.

Day 7- Pisa

2010-08-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

On our last day in Italy, I have to admit, we were feeling a little burnt-out. We had planned on visiting a walled-town like Lucca in the morning and then Pisa in the afternoon. But the thought of driving anywhere in the car for more than a half-hour with the kids was enough to make me start getting tics. Thankfully, Pisa was less than a half-hour away, so we decided to go there in the morning.

What fun it was approaching the city and spotting the Leaning Tower! When we entered the city center, the Leaning Tower was there to greet us, and we were ready to have some fun with it! For those of you who don't know the history about why the Leaning Tower leans, well....

The Leaning Tower was built to be a free-standing bell tower for the nearby cathedral. Construction began in 1173, but before the year was out, the tower was already showing a slight tilt. This was due to a poorly laid foundation and a very loose substrate (aka- a mucky soil underneath). At one point, architects tried to compensate for the lean by making the rooms on one side of the tower taller than the other side. This obviously didn't solve the problem, but it did result in a visible curve to the tower. In any case, the tower was finally completed in the 1300s. Towards the end of the 20th century, a lot of effort (and $) was put into making the tower more structurally sound. They ended up pumping tons and tons of soil out from under the tower, which has stabilized it sufficiently...for now.

Anyway, moving on. Pisa's Cathedral Square, also known as the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), houses three important buildings: the cathedral (Duomo), the baptistry, and the afore-mentioned bell tower.

We headed to the Baptistry next. Construction of the Baptistry began in 1152 and it was completed in 1363. The exterior of the Baptistry was lovely and ornate, compared to the rather bleak interior. Inside, we saw the carved pulpit, and the font, which was designed for performing baptisms. The most notable thing about the Baptistry is it's amazing acoustics. The ceiling is shaped like a dome, and sounds just seem to hang in the air (or bouce around, I suppose). Every half-hour, an employee of the Baptistry sings to demonstrate the acoustics. We were fortunately able to witness this. She would sing a note and it would remain for several seconds. Then she would sing another note, and then another, so that you could hear a perfect chord! Sung by just one person!! It was very cool!

We left the Baptistry, and then headed over to the Duomo (the cathedral). We were stunned by how ornately decorated the interior of the Duomo was... just beautiful!By the time we left the Duomo, the sky had turned a scary gray color, and it looked like a thunderstorm was threatening. We decided to make a run for it back to the car. It turned out to be a good decision. As Maddie likes to say, "It was chucking it down!"

We left Pisa, and drove to a nearby US Base called Camp Darby. It was delightful to go to their Commissary and load up on some American snacks. But, it was even more delightful to make our way to the Post Office on the base. We were able to mail a box of dirty laundry to our post box back in the UK for free! That way, we wouldn't have to worry about the weight limit that we barely passed when we flew to Italy. Phew!

We spent or last afternoon in Italy back at the hotel. Collin took a nap while the kids enjoyed the pool and water slide. Although, I must admit, it was a little stressful as the pool had no shallow end for Maddie and we didn't have floaties. And, get this.... they don't allow you to swim in public pools in Italy without swim caps. We hadn't thought to bring swim caps (of which we must have 20 at home). So, we had to shell out 4 euro per cap to let them swim (I actually only bought one, and told them to take turns. I know, I'm such a cheap meanie, but it was a matter of principal at that point).

Our last meal in Italy was at a delightful restaurant not far from the hotel. Pizza, risotto, pasta... and of course, we finished it all off with gelato.

Ciao Italy! Thank you for so many incredible and delicious memories!

Day 6- Florence

2010-07-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

Our sixth day in Italy was dedicated to all things Renaissance- the city of Florence! We took the train into the city, and headed straight to the Uffizi Gallery when we got there. (Actually, first we stopped for some breakfast at an Italian bakery and bought some bomboloni, which is basically the Italian version of a doughnut! Yum!)

The Uffizi Gallery is the premier museum of Renaissance art in the entire world! Not unlike the Louvre in Paris, the collection is so big that it is difficult to take it all in in just a few hours.... especially with three young children in tow. The U-shaped building itself was an amazing masterpiece of architecture, and the ceilings inside were so ornately decorated. As far as the art is concerned, Ethan and I struggled with appreciating it as much as, perhaps, someone with an art history background, might. But, it was still a worthwhile time. I think my favorite pieces that I saw there were two Botticelli paintings: The Birth of Venus, and Primavera (both painted in the 1480s). They were both larger than life... just amazing!When we left the Uffizi, we headed over to see the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. As you can see, this bridge is lined with shops. It was originally built in Medieval times when the shops were occupied by butchers. But today, most of the shops sell jewelry.

We also walked to the Pitti Palace. Originally built in Renaissance times, it has been occupied mostly by weathly Florentines, but was once used as a power base for Napolean himself.

After some lunch near Dante's home (as in Dante's Inferno), we headed over to the Accademia Gallery, where we had an appointment to see David.... that's Michelangelo's David, of course. I have to admit, David was impressive. At over 17 feet tall, he was certainly a sight to behold. David was carved by Michelangelo between 1501-1504. In 1504, the statue was unveiled to the Florentine Republic and, because of what it represented (David standing victorious over a larger opponent) it boosted the Florentine's confidence as they faced their own larger opponents of rival city-states.

At the Accademia, we were able to see other statues of Michelangelo including a series of his called Prisoners. It was amazing to see how the figures emerged from the stone. We were also able to see a incredible exhibit about musical instruments that the kids especially appreciated.

When we left the Accademia, we headed to see the Duomo. But, not without stopping for some gelato first. (And by the way, if you haven't seen how they display gelato in the window, this is what it looks like.) I know... tempting.

The Duomo is a magnificent centerpiece to the city of Florence. Also known as the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, this cathedral was constructed from 1296-1436. The cathedral complex also includes the Bapistry which is one of the oldest buildings in all of Florence (constructed between 1059-1128). One highlight of the Baptistry is the set of bronze relief doors created by Lorenzo Ghiberti.Ethan and Tim decided to walk up to the top of the Cathedral Tower to get a better look at the city. Here are a few of their photographs.We finished up our time in Florence with pizza for dinner. And no, we were still not tired of eating pizza!Over all, we enjoyed Florence, but I think we would have appreciated it more if we had a better understanding of the historical significance of this Renaissance city. The city itself was pretty neat, but I think we were spoiled by the charm of seeing Venice first.

My next post will be my last Italy post (sniff, sniff). Get ready to LEAN!!

Day 5- Cinque Terre

2010-07-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Our next day in Italy was a travel day. We had to drive from our agriturismo near Lake Garda to the west coast of Italy, since our next hotel was located outside of Pisa (about a 4 hour drive). We decided that we would travel a round-about way and go a little north on the west coast to see the Cinque Terre before heading south to Pisa.

We hadn't heard much about the Cinque Terre, except that a few friends had told us it was beautiful. We learned from our travel guide book that Cinque Terre (prounounced "CHINK-wah TAY-reh") means "five lands" in Italian. These five villages are located on the north-west coast of Italy along the Ligurian Sea.

Our drive to the western part of Italy was a lot more pleasant than we expected. The kids drove us crazy of course (we are clearly in the "are-we-there-yet????" stage of life), but the views were spectacular. We didn't expect to see so many mountains! And then there were MOUNTAINS! It was all I could do not to hang out the window to get better pictures.

Anyway, in our travel book, we learned that only one of the five villages of the Cinque Terre had public parking, so we set the GPS for the village of Vernazza. The other option was to drive to a city south of there and travel by train into the villages. But why do that when we already had a car to get us there????

We found out VERY quickly why people travel by train to get the the Cinque Terre. The roads were unbelieveably windy and steep. We learned the topography of the area VERY quickly. The villages are set on the coast at sea level, and you have to travel down the mountains to get to them. Windy, steep, and to top it all off- foggy! It was not a pleasant combination, and it made for a very stressful descent. The hairpin turns made the purple line on the GPS look like a big knot! I have to admit, I was scared, and I don't scare that easily. But, we had gone this far.....

We finally made it to the village of Vernazza only to find that the parking lot (yes, there was only one) was full. Thankfully, there was one spot left on the road. Ethan had to climb out of the passenger seat after parking it to make sure that we were over far enough, but we did it. We then had to walk about a mile down to the village (all the while thinking, we're going to have to climb back up this hill when it's time to leave!!)

This is what the road looked like behind me when we were walking (yes, that's what we drove down). You can even see the haze that was just starting to burn off as we got there. I was so intrigued by the Italians passion for growing grapes here, and amazed at how they would grow their vines even up the side of steep hills. Amazing! This is our "HOORAY, WE MADE IT HERE ALIVE" shot.As we walked into the village, we noticed how many people there were! There were tourists (particularly Americans) everywhere! I couldn't help but wonder how they all got here. It was at this point that we also noticed the train station. A train arrived, and even more tourists started spilling out. We would have spent more time kicking ourselves for not taking the train, but truthfully we were too hungry. Our first priority was food. We found a local pizza place and ordered a pizza margarita for the kids (cheese pizza), and a pesto pizza for the adults (this region is the birthplace of pesto, after all).

As I am sitting here typing this blog, my mouth is salivating at the sheer thought of this pizza. It was by far, the best pizza I ate during our time in Italy, and perhaps the best I have ever had in my life. The crust was a little crunchy and oily, the sauce sweet, the cheese all melty and smooth. But the best part was the pesto that they spread on top. OMG. I can feel a little bit of that warm basil-oil dripping down to my chin even now, wishing I was back there. It was THAT good.

After lunch, we walked further down the main street, which was lined with shops and restaurants. We eventually came to a little cove which gave us our first glimpse of the sea. Just beautiful. And then, a few steps further, the street opened up into a little harbor. There was a small beach where people were swimming, a breakfront protecting the harbor, and a church sitting right on the shore.Naturally, the kids wanted to play in the water. I told them that was fine as long as they didn't get too wet (I didn't have any change of clothes with me).
They stayed dry for all of one minute, I think. I couldn't be mad though... they were having too much fun!

After that, we walked up to the castle which overlooks the whole village. Back in the 1300-1400s, the Cinque Terre was terrorized by North African pirates quite often. So this castle served as the look-out for pirate raids.

As anticipated, the views were stunning. This is the view of the coast to the north, over-looking the harbor,and the village of Vernazza. Tim climbed the tower to get a better view. And just when I thought I had seen it all, I looked at the view of the coast to the south. It was so gorgeous. I decided then and there that this was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been to on earth. It made that crazy drive worth it.

After the castle, we topped up with some gelato of course, and headed back to the car. We decided to try a different route out of Vernazza to get back to the main highway to see if it would be any easier. It took a little longer, but the views from the road overlooking the sea were incredible.
The Cinque Terre was amazing! If you ever get to that area, I highly suggest you visit there. Just remember to take the train. Oooh, and have the pesto pizza!

Day 4- Lake Garda

2010-06-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

We spent our 4th day in Italy at Lake Garda. If you know my husband at all, you know that he is a lake man. So, we decided to spend the whole day touring the southern end of the lake.

We started off our day in a town called Sirmione. Sirmione is located on a small peninsula at the southern end of the lake. When we crossed the drawbridge to enter the old town, we were greeted by Scagliera Castle. This castle was built in 1259 and was occupied by the della Scala family. It is easy to identify the castles which were owned by the della Scala family, because they all have the trademark fishtail battlements.We spent some time wondering around the castle and enjoying the view.After we left the castle, we walked a few minutes until we came to a beach front. Our day had begun with some drizzle and raincoats, but now the sun was shining brightly! We gave the kids a few minutes to wade in the water and throw rocks (Collin loved throwing rocks).We then walked along the path by the water for a few minutes until we came to a resort near the end of the peninsula. We enjoyed a nice lunch (pizza, of course!) with a beautiful view of the lake. One the way back, we walked alongside an olive grove, and we noticed (by smell at first) one of the natural sulfur springs that can be found under this part of the lake.We left Sirmione and headed to a town on the eastern-southern side of the lake called Lazise. We found a primo parking spot right on the water's-edge and took a stroll into the main tourist area. The town was packed with people, and the sun was warm! Boy, did it feel nice. And to make it even nicer, we all got a tasty gelato!! Yummmm!!!After walking around the village, the kids were anxious to get in the water. We had brought their swimsuits. The water was cold, but of course, the kids didn't care.After drying off and getting dressed again, we headed to our last destination for the day: Bardolino. Bardolino is another tourist town on the eastern side of Lake Garda. The village was just lovely. The cobblestone walkways were lined with cute, little shops. We walked down to the water and strolled along the boardwalk.After our stroll, we found a nice restaurant to eat at. Since it was my birthday, I splurged on a seafood risotto. Unfortunately, Collin didn't get the message that it was my birthday dinner, and so it was another tag-team eating experience. Thankfully, the sunset was lovely as we were taking turns walking around with him.It really was a beautiful day at the lake. The weather was perfect, the kids got to swim, and we all drove back to the agriturismo exhausted but content.

Le Bianchette

2010-06-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

When we were making lodging reservations for Italy, I was hoping to find something a little more authentic than hotels for our whole stay. Somewhere, I read about agriturismos, which are working farms that have been converted into inns. I found a place called Le Bianchette Agriturismo which wasn't too far from Lake Garda, so I made a reservation for two nights.

Le Bianchette was a real, authentic, working farm. Set on top of a hill, you could see the grape vines which seemed to stretch for miles in all directions. I had another one of my "pinch me" moments as I watched my kids running between the rows of grapes on an Italian hillside. Just amazing!

On our first night there, we made a reservation to eat at the inn's restaurant. We were going to have a full Italian meal. Up to this point, we had only eaten a slice of pizza here, plate of pasta there. But for Italians, a full meal consists of an antipasto (appetizer), primo piatto (first course; usually pasta or soup), and secondo piatto (second course; meat or fish dish, usually served with vegetables on the side). And of course, there is usually plenty of wine and conversation between courses.

Our antipasto consisted of small toasts of bread, coated with a kind of ricotta cheese spread, and topped either with tomato sauce or a nice slice of salami. The primo piatto was two, yes two, different types of pasta: the first was almost like a beef strogonoff but not as creamy, and the second was an incredible, creamy pasta with ham. Oh, it was so good! The secondo piatto was very thin slices of beef and chicken, and the chicken was coated with a lemon sauce. The second course was served with bowls of vegetables and a platter of melon with slices of prosciutto. As usual, Ethan and I ate tag-team style, with one of us outside watching the kids play on the small playground while the other ate. But when dessert came, everyone was back to the table. We were served slices of ice-milk cake, similar to ice-cream, but not as creamy. And my piece even came with a birthday candle in it! :)

Our room at the agriturismo was just fine for our needs. Tim and Maddie enjoyed sleeping in the bunk bed, but Collin could easily crawl out of his crib onto our bed. Needless to say, it took him a long time to fall asleep. That wouldn't have been that big of a deal, except that we were woken at the crack of dawn by the farm's roosters. Yes, it was a real, working farm.

The farm had chickens, cute baby chicks, turkeys, hares, and ponies (the smaller one was only 2 weeks old when we were there!). The kids really did enjoy seeing all of the different animals.

And as we were leaving, the hostess gave us a bottle of the white wine that is made from their grapes. We were able to bring it home, and I suppose we will save it for a special occasion.

I think it was definitely worth the experience of staying at the agriturismo. The only thing I would change was those stinkin', noisy roosters!

Day 3- Verona and Lake Garda

2010-06-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
-Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare

Our third day in Italy started with a 2 hour drive, heading inland from Venice. Our first destination was Verona. As you may remember, Verona became well-known as the setting from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's Capulets and Montagues were actually based on two feuding families from Verona: the Capellos and Montecchi. Besides the Romeo and Juliet hype, the city of Verona has some Roman ruins that we were excited to see.

When we arrived in Verona, the clouds were just starting to roll in... not the best sign. And before we even made it into the city center, the rain started to fall. HUGE raindrops and thunder. We found shelter in an entrance to the Roman Arena. This arena is the 3rd largest Roman arena in the world! It was built in the first century, and was used to entertain crowds of up to 25,000 spectators who would come to watch gladiator battles, executions, and plays. The day we were there, the arena was being used for a music awards show, which meant that it was closed to the public (grrrrrr....).Well, as the rain continued to pour down in buckets, we made a run for it, and found a nice pizzeria with outside tables under a canopy that we could eat lunch at. And thankfully, the rain calmed down while we ate. After lunch, we walked down the main tourist street, Via Mazzini, to Piazza Erbe. Piazza Erbe was a lovely, scenic spot with an open market, fountains, and statues.From there, we walked to the House of Juliet. As you enter the courtyard to the House, you walk through a short tunnel that is lined with love notes. Inside the courtyard, you can gaze upon the balcony, and a bronze statue of Juliet. The problem is that although this house was built in the 1300s, the balcony wasn't added until the 1950s. It was still fun to glance at and imagine, though. You may notice that the right breast of Juliet is a little smaller and shinier than the left. That's because the local legend says that people who rub Juliet's breast and wish for love will find it. It took me about 5 minutes to take this picture without someone posing and rubbing!

We finished up our time in Verona with a gelato of course, and continued on our way. This picture was taken just as we were leaving Verona, and it is classic Italy to me. Everywhere we went there were tall, skinny cyprus trees in the horizon. That, and red poppy flowers. And of course, vineyards. There are as many vineyards in Italy as there are fields of sheep in North Yorkshire-- grapes everywhere!!

Anyway, our next destination was Lake Garda. We had a very scenic drive up to the northern end of the lake. We found ourselves in the foothills of the alps, and we enjoyed driving among the mountains.Our first glance of the lake came when we arrived at a town called Torbole. We were a little disappointed at how hazy the sky was, but we still were amazed at the view! The contrast of the lake with the mountains and cliffs was gorgeous!

We continued our drive south, along the eastern side of the lake. After a brief stop to feel the water (can you see how clear it is??!!), we eventually arrived at a town called Malcesine (pronounced Mal-che-see-ney). We had hoped to take a cable-car ride up to Mount Baldo, but didn't think it would be worth it since the sky was still so hazy. So instead, we spent some time walking around the village. Before long, we came to a charming, cobble-stone path that led to a castle overlooking the lake. The view was beautiful.At this point, we were late for our agriturismo reservation, so we had to get going. The second place that we stayed at was an agriturismo, which is basically a working farm that is an inn. My next blog will be about Le Bianchette, and the authentic Italian meal we had there that night.

Bidet and Squatter Fun

2010-06-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Cultural experiences come in all shapes and sizes. Part of our cultural experience in Italy had to with, yes, the toilets.

First of all, every hotel that we stayed in had bidets in the bathrooms. If you don't know what a bidet is, I will let you Google that. Anyway, not being very bidet-experienced, we all refrained from trying it.

Except for Collin.

On our first morning in Italy, just before we were going to head out into Venice, Collin was "exploring" in the bathroom, and somehow managed to turn the bidet on... full spray. Needless to say, both he and the bathroom floor were completely soaked (not to mention that he was also quite shocked at his discovery).

Another thing you may be interested in knowing about public toilets in Italy, is that it is sometimes very difficult to find one. And chances are, if you do find one, you have to pay for it. (We were fortunate enough to get the family rate of 3 euro once- about $4). You're best bet is to use the toilet when you eat somewhere as most restaurants allow their paying customers to use their facilities.

But, be warned! If you've found a particularly cheap place to eat (which we did on a few occasions), the toilet facilities may be cheap as well. They may even be.... (dunh, dunh, dunh)... squatters.

A squatter is nothing more than a glorified hole in the ground. There are ridges where your feet go, and the rest is up to you and your thigh muscles. The boys had no problem of course, but it wasn't so easy for the girls (especially poor Maddie who doesn't have the strongest leg muscles).

So there you have it. More information about Italian toilets than you cared to know about.

Venice - Day 2

2010-06-08T13:36:00.001-07:00

On our second day in Venice, we decided to take a load off our feet. We plopped Collin in his stroller (that boy is heavy on your back!) and decided to get around via vaporetto (water taxi).

We began our day with a leisurely ride down the Grand Canal. It was amazing seeing all of the action on the water... vaporettos, gondolas, and plenty of delivery boats. We watched the boats full of produce pull up to the market, boats delivering bottled beverages and gelato, even a boat bringing a coffin to a funeral. There were boats everywhere, and somehow, they never seemed to collide.

We enjoyed seeing all of the buildings along the canal-
fancy homes and hotels, museums (this is the Peggy Guggenhein Collection), churches, the underside of the Rialto Bridge, and the Rialto Market. If you look down this side-canal, you can see the "garages" for the fire boat/engines on the right. Yes, they have boats for everything here! We took our vaporetto to Piazza San Marco, which is the main square of Venice. The Piazza is the home to a few museums, a clock tower, Doge's Palace, and St. Mark's Basilica.
St. Mark's Basilica was an amazing sight. The basilica was built in the 11th century, and houses the actual bones of Mark (as in, the author of the Gospel of Mark). St. Mark's symbol is the lion, so there are many lion statues and representations all throughout the square and the city. Entrance into St. Mark's Basilica was free! Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside. I found this interior picture on the web. Basically, the interior of this church is a gold-shining masterpiece. The ceiling is completely covered with mosaics, representing characters and stories from the Bible. You can only imagine the amount of effort that went into decorating this place! What a sight it was!

For an additional fee, Ethan and Tim decided to climb up to the roof to get a better look of the Basilica and St. Mark's Square. Here are a few pictures from their higher perspective.After our time at St. Mark's Square, we ate a quick lunch (pizza and foccacia), and headed back to the vaporetto. This time, our destination was the island of Murano, just a short distance away. Murano is an island located in the Venetian Lagoon which is known for its glass. I had read that you could watch the craftsmen do glass-blowing demonstrations there, and I thought that would be fun for the kids to see.

When we arrived to Murano, we found a main canal lined with glass shops. They had plenty of figurines of all kinds, jewelry, chandeliers.... basically, anything you could make out of glass, they had it. It took us a while to find a glass-blowing demonstration, but we finally did find one (that didn't charge us admission!). The kids enjoyed seeing the men working with the red-hot glass: blowing it, rolling, shaping, and breaking off the excess.

We headed back to the "mainland" of Venice after that, and were refreshed with some more gelato! We did some more wandering and a little shopping (I bought a necklace and a clock made from Murano glass).

Around 6pm, we thought we should start looking for dinner, with the plan of having an early meal before heading back to the hotel. Well, that was easier said than done. Venetians apparently don't do "early meals" because we couldn't find a restaurant that was open and in our price range. Once again, Venice became a labyrinth of alleys and canals, with no place to sit down for dinner. We realize now that most restaurants don't open until 7pm (yes, we wandered around that long!). But, we found a perfect place, overlooking the Grand Canal, that served some fresh pasta for a reasonable price. Yummmm....We finished up our time in Venice with a vaporetto ride back to the bus station. Sincerely, Venice was such a magical and romantic place. Ethan and I will have to go back, just the two of us, someday.

Ciao Venezia!!

Next blog: Verona.

Venice- Day 1

2010-06-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

Last week, our family traveled to Italy. Yes, Italy. Of all the places in the world I have ever wanted to visit, Italy has been #1 on the list. If you read my previous posts, you would have heard that we were supposed to go a month ago, but a certain volcano kept us from flying. How grateful I am that we were able to reschedule our trip... and tack on a few extra days as well.

We spent the better part of our first day traveling to get to Venice. Our flight was about 2 1/2 hours away (not too bad, but it seemed much longer with a screaming 20 month-old!). We picked up our rental car and found ourselves back on the right side of the road (we drive on the left side in the UK). We found our hotel which we chose because it was on the mainland across the causeway to Venice (much cheaper to stay on the mainland), and purchased bus tickets to get into Venice.

Our plan for that first afternoon/evening was to get lost in Venice. We discovered that it wasn't too hard. As you probably already know, Venice is a series of small islands that have been built up in the Venetian Lagoon (117 islands, in fact). The islands are connected by bridges, and people get around on foot, by gondola, private boat, or vaporetto (water taxi). There are no cars or roads in Venice... only canals, bridges, alleys, and campos (open spaces scattered throughout the city).

We were just mesmerized by what we saw. Venice is so charming. There's something about the weathered buildings with their wooden shutters, and the blue-green water running under the small bridges everywhere, that makes you fall in love with the city. We couldn't stop taking pictures... it was just so beautiful.
All we did that first evening was walk around. As I mentioned earlier, it wasn't difficult to get lost. But there was no need to worry... you really can't go anywhere too far. And when it was time to go, the signs were clearly marked to get you back in the direction of the bus station.(Collin split time that first day between a baby-backpack and his monkey harness.)

As we walked around, there were a few things that we began to notice. Every once in a while, we would come upon a well. We learned that years ago, each neighborhood would have their own well as a source of fresh water. Maddie's job during our time in Venice was to spot the wells and count them. Over the course of our day and a half there, she counted 28!We also began to notice that every tourist stand and shop was selling carnival masks. Carnevale is a major event in February in Venice, where the locals and tourists wear fancy masks and costumes. Tim and Maddie each chose a Carenevale mask as their Italy souvenir.For dinner, we came upon Campo Santo Stefano. There were a few restaurants around this open area, complete with plenty of outisde tables and chairs (no highchairs though-- we only had one restaurant with a highchair during our entire time in Italy). We ordered some pizza, pasta, and risotto dishes for dinner. The campo area was a perfect spot to eat, because while we waited for our food, the children ran around with the other local children and climbed on the small monument there.Dinner was followed up shortly by gelato. Gelato is now my most favorite dessert in the whole world! It is like ice cream, but much denser and more flavorful. Gelato shops could be found wherever we went in Italy. It was delicious! Our family theme for the week was "Gelato everyday!!!"We eventually made our way to the Grand Canal, and came upon the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge is beautiful, and the view is even better! The Bridge itself is lined with shops and of course, tourists!

By this time, we were all exhausted, it was getting dark, and the kids were all tired of walking. Venice suddenly became a labyrinth that was difficult to find your way out of. We were all exhausted by the time we made it back to the hotel. What a full day it had been!

A Journey Through Time

2010-05-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

I love my kids' school. I really do. I know there are some disadvantages to being in a school so small, but from my point of view, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, the kids had a presentation of some projects that they had been working on at school. Both classes had the opportunity to work with an art teacher who integrated some projects into the themes that the classes were focusing on.

Tim's class did an investigation about the local history of Bishop Thornton. They had school ledgers going back about a hundred years, and they interviewed a local family who has had attended the school for generations. All of this research helped them to develop a script called "A Journey Through Time." The play was about two students who travel through time (on a time-traveling tractor!) and attended their school about 70 years in the past.

The script itself was impressive, but what made this play spectacular was that the students made the scenery, props, and their own puppets for the characters! The puppets' heads were made of dyed wool, and the students even sewed the clothes and shoes themselves. Tim's puppet's name was Anthony Stobbs, and Tim's job was to hold his puppet (a different student was his voice). This video clip is Tim's big scene.

Here's a picture of some of the cast with their puppets.After the play, we headed downstairs where the students had displayed some more of the art projects they had been working on. Maddie was showing off some Plastic Art that her class did. They layered different plastic scraps, covered it with wax paper, and the teacher ironed it for them to make a melted piece of art. Maddie's class also felted their own wool, and made a 3-D map of the city of York (where they had taken a field trip). Tim's class had made drawings based on a train ride they took from the country into the city of Leeds. The drawings showed the differences in architecture as they progressed closer to the city. The parents were also able to learn about the process involved in making the puppets, and we were able to look through the school ledgers the children had used for their research.To me, this is education at it's finest. The students did their thematic studies by integrating unique art experiences into it, and then presented it to the parents at the end of the unit. I loved it, and left the school feeling so assured that my kids are in the best school possible for them at this stage.

Housestead's Fort and Hadrian's Wall

2010-04-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

After our day at Alnwick Castle, we drove down to a town called Hexham and stayed the night at a place called the Boatside Inn (we highly recommend it by the way- real ales, good food, and great rooms). Anyway, the next morning we went to see Hadrian's Wall.

Hadrian's Wall was built by the Romans during the reign of emperor Hadrian. The Romans had conquered the land, but needed help controlling the crazy Britons to the North. So, they decided to build a physical wall that would span the entire width of England! Construction began in the year 122 AD.

A significant part of the wall still exists, and there are many walking, hiking, cycling paths that you can take to experience it. We decided to first go and see Housestead's Fort along the wall.

For being built in the second century, it's amazing how much of the fort still exists. The fort had barracks, a hospital, a granary, and latrines. We were all very impressed by the toilet system they had way back in the second century.

After we left the Fort, we drove about 5 or so miles down the road to see a different perspective of the wall at Crag Lough. The scenery was just gorgeous, and the wall was incredibly well-preserved.

Feel free to click on the video below. I took so many pictures that day that I decided to put them together as a slide-show (there are some captions).

The kids had so much fun climbing along the ruins and Ethan and I enjoyed experiencing a little history. We all appreciated being outside on another sunny, spring day.

Alnwick Castle

2010-04-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

When we found out that our trip to Italy was canceled, we decided that we should take an over-night trip up North to see Alnwick Castle and Hadrian's Wall.

Alnwick Castle (pronounced "An-nik") played the role of Hogwarts School in the early Harry Potter films, so it has been on my list of places to see for a while now. Historically however, this castle has been inhabited by the Percy Family: the Earls and Dukes of Northumberland, since 1309. In fact, the current Duke of Northumberland and his family live in the castle even today.

The first view of the castle was amazing! We enjoyed the huge field of daffodils that greeted us, as well as the soldiers on top of the turrets.After a quick glance around the grounds and inner courtyard, we were able to go inside to see the castle's State Rooms. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but these are a few shots that I found on-line, which include views of the red drawing room, the library, and the dining room.Back behind the castle, they had a section designed for the children called "Knightquest." The kids could dress up as knights or princesses and do some training exercises to become a knight. Tim and Maddie had a great time having a go at archery and making a dragon charm. Collin loved bowling, of course (balls are his favorite toy nowadays).I thought the "Knightsquest" was such a great idea! What a clever way to get the kids more involved and have a more meaningful experience.

We finished up our time at the castle by strolling the grounds and watching the kids have fun rolling down the little hills. By the way, here's a shot from the first Harry Potter film and my picture of where it was taken.We then headed next-door to the lovely Alnwick Gardens. The gardens were gorgeous! We were greeted by a huge, cascading fountain. And if that weren't enough... at the base of the fountain was a bunch of ride-on John Deere tractors that the kids could play with. The kids LOVED it! They could fill the front scoops of the tractors with water from the fountains, and go and dump it anywhere they pleased. Tim's expression was pure delight, and didn't change the whole time he was riding on the tractor.When we were finally able to drag the kids away from the tractors, we took a nice stroll through the gardens. We started off in the bamboo maze, and then made our way to the walled gardens. The kids were fascinated by all of the fountains, and I was delighted to find some resident white doves.It was such a wonderful day... nice, warm weather, beautiful castle, and lovely gardens.

The Truman Show?

2010-04-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ethan is often convinced that his life is the Truman Show. He often says how he gets a sense that the circumstances in his life seem so orchestrated or bizarre that they couldn't possibly be coincidental. I usually joke with him about it, and tell him that it can't be true or else they would have to pay me a lot more to play the part of his wife!!

Anyway, I have to admit that this past Thursday felt like we were indeed in the Truman Show.

I don't know if you remember the movie, but Truman's character, played by Jim Carrey of course, wants to get off the island that he lives on, and go to Fiji. When he finally pursues it and goes to the travel agent, he learns that the earliest flight he could get was in a month, and there's also a poster depicting an airplane being struck by lightening with the logo "It could happen to You!"Well, last Thursday we were supposed to take a long-awaited trip to Italy. You have to understand that Italy is on the very top of my list of "Places to see while we are living in Europe". I have spent countless hours researching, reading books, booking flights, rental cars, places to stay, etc. Then last week, it took me a good three days to get the house in order, do all the laundry, pack the suitcases, etc. in preparation. Last Thursday, we woke up at 5:15am, got ready, drove 45 minutes to the closest airport, and were at the long-stay car park when Ethan read a sign:

"All flights canceled."

Ethan immediately asked why, and learned that a volcano from Iceland had erupted and it was deemed unsafe for planes to fly due to the ash in the air.

How bizarre. (cue the Truman Show theme music)

We looked up at the blue sky above us, and wondered why the big man in the sky wasn't letting us go to FIGI!!!... I mean, Italy.

We went into the airport anyway, and got the information we needed to request a refund for our tickets, collected our car, and drove home. By 9am, we were back where we started that morning.

We spent the rest of our time that morning seeking our refunds, rescheduling our trip for next month, and pouting. To keep our spirits up, we had pizza for lunch and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.

Of course now, we have learned what HUGE problems this volcano has caused all over Europe. Although I didn't feel this way at first, I can honestly say that I am glad we didn't go on our trip. We have so many friends from here who are now stranded at their holiday destinations: France, the Canary Islands, Egypt, Italy, the US. I heard that the British School system is missing roughly 10% of their teachers! And I know that if we were away when this all happened, that our trip would have ended up being a lot more stressful and a lot more expensive than we would have wanted it to be.

So, now I can look forward to our next planned trip. We're going at the end of May, and we will get to stay two days longer than our first trip was planned for!

Now, I just hope that the "big man in the sky" will let us go......

American Football

2010-04-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

We are so fortunate that the base has an active sports program for the kids. Although it doesn't seem to be the right time of year, the current season is football.... AMERICAN football.

Tim just loves it. He can't wait to get out on that field running drills, thinking through the plays. I just wish the weather had been more cooperative for him this season... too many practices were canceled due to mushy fields.

Anyway, I got to watch part of a scrimmage a couple of weekends ago. Tim did great! For the first play that I saw, the other team had a pass completed (a big feat!), but Tim got the runner's flag at about the 1 yard line. Then, when Tim's team had possession, he scored a touchdown.

And then a few minutes later, he had an interception!

It was an exciting scrimmage, to say the least!

Easter 2010

2010-04-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

I know I should have blogged sooner about our Easter, but I've been busy getting ready for our family trip to Italy. But now that our flight has been canceled due to the volcanic ash coming from Iceland, I have a little time on my hands.

Anyway, Easter is always a fun time of year at the children's school. Every year, the school has some kind of contest; two years ago, it was egg decorating, last year was Easter bonnets. This year, the children had to make Easter gardens. I had never heard of this before, so I had to look up examples on-line. Basically, the kids get some kind of tin, fill it with soil, and put in all sorts of rocks, moss, sticks, shells, flowers... anything really, and make it look like a garden. Most children include an Easter theme with it, and include Jesus' tomb and the cross. Anyway, here are Tim and Maddie's Easter gardens (a little windblown, unfortunately).The school always has an Easter service as well, which I just love. The children do some readings and sing songs at the local church. Here are a few clips of them performing some Easter songs:

Every year on base, the youth services organization holds a base-wide Easter egg hunt for the children. There were easily 300 kids there this year, all crammed into the gym. The egg hunt is organized by age: each child is given a card with two stickers on it, and in their designated section, they have to find the plastic egg with those same two stickers. Tim and Maddie found theirs after a few minutes of looking and each received a goody-bag. Collin, on the other hand, had the most fun out of everyone. To him, the gym looked like a wide-open space covered with balls (the eggs) which he was delighted to throw and kick! He had a ball!The kids got to meet the Easter Bunny too. Collin was fascinated, Maddie was still afraid of him, and Tim was glad to indulge in the basket of free candy.Of course, no Easter would be complete without dying some eggs and making our traditional bunny cake! The kids opted for no coconut this year on the bunny cake, so instead, we decided to make him a funky blue color.We had a nice Easter morning. The kids were up before dawn of course, but waited to wake us up at 7am (as instructed!). How surprised I was to find them both already dressed for church at 7am. (I guess they had a lot of time to kill!) The kids all had fun looking for their eggs, and of course, eating them! At first, Collin was more motivated to play with his cars, but he quickly discovered that there were yummy things to eat inside those plastic eggs!After looking for the candy-filled eggs, the kids searched for Resurrection Eggs. I was so pleased with how much of the Easter story they knew this year. If you've never heard of Resurrection Eggs before, I highly recommend that you get some. It's a really great way to teach kids or reinforce the real Easter story.

We had a nice Easter breakfast that morning, followed by a lovely church service. Later that afternoon, we had Easter dinner at our friends Kelly and Dan's house. It was a very nice Easter for all of us!

Hot Cross Buns

2010-04-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

"One a penny... two a penny..."

The kids had the week before and the week after Easter off from school this year. While making plans for these two weeks, Maddie asked if we could try making Hot Cross Buns.

I didn't know much about Hot Cross Buns before moving to England, except for the song of course. It turns out that Hot Cross Buns have been made for centuries in England to mark Good Friday. They are a type of bun seasoned with cinnamon and currants and always marked with a cross on top.

So, on Good Friday, we made our own Hot Cross Buns. I found the following recipe on allrecipes.com, which starts the dough off in a bread machine.

Ingredients

3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon instant powdered milk
1/4 cup white sugar
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg white
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3/4 cup dried currants (we used chopped-up raisins instead)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons milk

Directions

Put warm water, butter, skim milk powder, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, egg, egg white, flour, and yeast in bread maker and start on dough program.
When 5 minutes of kneading are left, add currants and cinnamon. Leave in machine till double.
Punch down on floured surface, cover, and let rest 10 minutes.
Shape into 12 balls and place in a greased 9 x 12 inch pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place till double, about 35-40 minutes.
Mix egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water. Brush on balls.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.
To make crosses: mix together confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and milk. Brush an X on each cooled bun.

How magical it was to pull those beautiful buns out of the oven! The kids were mesmerized by the whole process, and were so delighted to see (and eat) the fruits of their labor.Truthfully, they weren't the most delicious things I've ever eaten. They were basically a cinnamon raisin bread in bun form. But, it was so much fun making them with the kids. It might just have to be a new Good Friday tradition.

The Auction

2010-04-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to tell you all about my new favorite Friday morning hobby: going to the auction!

About 10 minutes from my house is an Auction-house called Thompson's. Every Friday afternoon, they hold an auction. They mostly auction-off furniture, but there are plenty of other knick-knacks, decorative items, jewelry, china, etc. And there are lots of antiques!

On Wednesday afternoons, Thompson's puts pictures and descriptions of all of their "lots" for the week, along with approximate prices on-line: http://www.thompsonsauctioneers.com/
There are typically somewhere around 600-700 items! Customers are welcome to go to the warehouse on Thursday evenings or Friday mornings to see all of the lots. If you see something that you're interested in, you can put in bids three ways: 1) You can email in a bid. 2) You can go to the warehouse and submit a paper bid. Or 3) You can stay for the actual auction, and put in a bid when your item is up! I've never been present for the actual auction since it takes place during Collin's nap time, but I do put in a bid on paper just about every week.

So, my routine is: I typically go through their list sometime before Friday, and I take note of items I may be interested in. Then on Friday mornings, Collin and I head to the auction house. We squeeze our way through the tight rows lined with furniture, which believe me, isn't very easy with his stroller! I look at the items I made note of, check the quality, and typically find a few more items that I hadn't noticed before! :) I then decide what I want to bid for each item and I submit my bid. Then, if I've won something, I get an email that afternoon, and I have to go pick it up the next day.

I always bid low, unless there's something I really want. Because of that, I only win a small fraction of what I bid on. But, then it's always a delight when I actually win something, because I know I got it for a good price. So far, I've won Maddie's dollhouse (see the previous post about her birthday), a mahogany bookshelf, a coffee table, an oval mirror, some enamel pans (that I'll use as planters someday), and a pine desk that I will probably use as a kitchen work station for myself someday.And just yesterday, I won two desks for the kids' rooms! (The pine desk came with a bedside table which I've been looking for too!)So there you have it! I may not have a Target around here and it may take me 20 minutes to get to the closest supermarket, but at least I have the auction house!

Working Woman

2010-04-02T07:02:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts everyone, but this time I really do have a good excuse. I am a working woman!

I have a good friend here named Cindy who started her own alterations business on the base. She works out of her home, and people bring her clothes that need to be altered, hemmed, etc. And of course, she stays very busy with the military uniforms. The uniforms often need new patches put on, and if a soldier gets a promotion, he/she will need new "stripes" put on each sleeve.

I have always wanted to learn to sew. I received a sewing machine as a gift (from the Fitzpatricks) for my wedding, and after a few lessons from a friend (yes, you, Krista!), I tried to teach myself to quilt with it. I even bought myself Quilting for Dummies a few years ago to get started. But, I've always wanted to take a class or learn from a pro. There's only so much I can teach myself from reading books, you know?

Well, sometime before Christmas, my friend Cindy was telling me how busy she was with her business, and how she would love to have someone help work for her. I jumped at the chance to offer my services, grateful for the chance to learn from a pro, and hoping that I could actually be helpful to her.

I started working for her in January, and the arrangement is just wonderful. I go to her house 2-4 afternoons a week after lunch. I lay Collin down for a nap there, and get to work. When he wakes up, or when it's time to go get the kids from school, I stop. I know... it's perfect.

I have learned so much in just the few months that I've been working for her. I can now change the stripes on a uniform all by myself. It's taken a lot of practice, and I still get nervous when I have to change out the stripes on the formal "blues" uniform. But, I've learned that pinning is everything. If I take my time to pin the patch on well, it will stay straight during the sewing process. I'm also learning how to put the other patches on the uniforms like their name tags, occupation patches, etc. And, I've had a lot of practice sewing on girl scout patches for our scouts on base. (The key is to use clear thread, so you don't have to change the thread for every different color patch!) Cindy is also starting to teach me some of the alterations that she typically does like hemming and changing out a zipper.

I am so grateful for this job. It's like I'm getting paid to take that sewing class that I always hoped for. Cindy is the best boss I could ever hope for, too. The two of us enjoy chatting as we work, and I'm so grateful for adult conversation in the middle of my day! I've learned a lot from working with her, but mostly I've gained a new confidence over my sewing machine. I feel more equipped to try new things and take risks. Who knows how I will use these skills later on in life, but I'm just so glad to have the opportunity to put my energies towards something I enjoy learning.

Maddie's 6th Birthday!

2010-03-12T12:42:00.000-08:00

My Maddie Jane turned 6 years old last week. Happy Birthday to my big girl, who of course, is growing too fast.

On her birthday, we went to the Wacky Warehouse for some ball-pit fun, followed by dinner at the adjoining pub. We then went home for cake and presents. Our present to her this year was a doll house. I won this dollhouse at the local auction house a month or two ago. (I promise to blog about the auction house soon, because now I am hooked!) I won it for only 20 pounds which is less than $40! I was so excited! It looks like it was hand-made with love. I hope that Maddie and I can have some good mommy-daughter bonding time as we play with it, fill it, and maybe even give it a make-over!

Anyway, last Saturday we had her birthday party here at the house. We invited 6 of her friends, and we kept it to only girls this year. Maddie wanted to have a pony party, so we thought we would keep it girlie.

Can I just tell you... inviting only the girls was the best idea we have had in a long time! No offense to the boys at Maddie's school, BUT this party was so calm and enjoyable. We started off with a fun-foam craft. The girls sat and worked on their crafts for about a half-hour! (When I tried doing a craft with boys at previous parties, they only had the patience to last about 5 minutes!) After the craft, the girls had fun playing dress-up and then we ate lunch. Again, the girls sat and talked and talked and ate.... it took them a half-hour just to eat their lunch! (With the boys here, they would have eaten in about 10 minutes so they could then run around the house some more!) We played some fun games like Pass the Parcel, Pin the Tail on the Pony (Tim and Maddie decorated the game themselves), and Horse, Horse, Pony (like Duck, Duck, Goose). We then had cake and ice-cream. Here is the pony cake that I made for the party. It took me way too long, but I like the challenge!

We wrapped the party up with the girls watching Barbie & the Three Musketeers, as requested by the birthday girl.

Previous parties that we've had here at the house seemed to last forever, but this party felt like a breeze! Maddie said it was her best birthday party ever (which is exactly what she said last year, and will probably say again next year). I'm just glad she had fun.

I had to include this picture of Collin. He was able to grab the Cheetos off the counter and was helping himself after the party was over. I guess it was a fun day for us all.

Stonehenge and Avebury

2010-03-07T14:11:00.001-08:00

We finished up our trip down south by driving to see Stonehenge. Friends of our from here had warned us that it wasn't quite as impressive as they had hoped because it just sits there on the side of the highway. But, we didn't feel that way at all. As we approached and spotted Stonehenge, we both became very excited. Now passing that enthusiasm onto the kids wasn't quite as easy.....

When we arrived, we were all supplied with headphones to listen to some background information about Stonehenge. Unfortunately, the cold, rainy weather was quite a distraction. We certainly didn't feel like lingering. But we did learn and observe a few new things like: Did you know that there were three construction periods to build the stone portion of Stonehenge? We were also able to observe the "tongue & groove" method that was used to hold the top stones in place (you can see an example in this picture on top of the tallest stone). I had previously learned that these stones were brought here from hundreds of miles away, but it was quite another thing to see the stones and consider that fact. We also learned that the circle serves as a calendar of sorts.We were also able to observe other stones outside the circle that had significance (like the slaughter stone), and the mounds that were scattered throughout the surrounding area (they looked like man-made hills). Driving away, we spotted a house that had a mound in the front yard and one in the back! I wish I had taken a picture.... ah, the mystery!

After our time at Stonehenge, we drove about 45 minutes north to another stone circle that predates Stonehenge by 500 years, called Avebury. (When we got there and told the kids what we were doing, Tim whined, "Another stone circle??!!" What a very terrible life he has!)

Here the stones are not roped off, so the kids could get an up close look. This stone circle is much larger than Stonehenge, and actually surrounds the whole village. In fact, it is the only stone circle in the world that has a pub within it! Here are a few up-close pictures, and I found this picture on-line. The aerial perspective shows how large this circle really is. We had a great trip. There was a lot of driving and a lot of whining and a lot of money spent, but it's always worth it. My kids have seen Stonehenge. I really have to pinch myself sometimes!

Bath

2010-02-27T06:08:00.000-08:00

The next day of our trip brought us to the city of Bath (which, I've been told, you must pronounce like "Baa-th," and not like how us Americans would say "bath"). Bath is famous for being the only place in England with natural hot water springs-- thus the name. This city was originally inhabited by the Celts, and later by the Romans who settled here in 75AD. Naturally, the Romans built the first bath house here, and it has been a spa town ever since then. In 1702, Queen Anne came to this city to enjoy the luxury of the natural springs, which catapulted Bath into a very chic place to live and visit. Jane Austen fans will probably remember that Jane herself lived here for a few years, and Bath was even the setting of two of her novels.

When we got into Bath, we headed straight to the city center where the Roman Bath House and Bath Abbey are located. While we were trying to decide where to go first, we got to watch a street performer who juggled flaming torches while riding on a unicycle! Not a bad way to start our day. After the show, we got some lunch at a local pasty store (I promise to blog someday about pasties... basically, it's a meal in a pie pastry... warm, filling, and delicious!), and enjoyed it sitting on a bench in the middle of the city square.After lunch, we headed to the Roman Baths. While waiting in line (or "in the queue"), we enjoyed the view of the Abbey next door.Back to the Baths.... As I mentioned before, when the Romans settled in Bath around 75AD, they built a bath house making good use of the natural hot springs in the area. For the greater part of the 2000 years since it was built, the Baths lay in ruins under the ground, unknown to the people living above. But now, they have been excavated restored to its former appearance.This stone shows the earliest recorded date for the building of the baths, 76AD. Here is a model of what the baths originally looked like, and how they were built upon later on.Adjunct to the baths was a Roman Temple to the goddess Minerva. Here is a gilt bronze head of Minerva, and this is a picture of the temple pediment that they are re-assembling. These are the original stairs up to the temple.Here is the Great Bath from over-head where the statues of Roman govenors look on, and from pool-side. The bath complex also included the sacred spring, the spring overflow, plunge pools, sauna rooms, and changing rooms with heated floors! The furnace was under the base floor, and then they would build another floor on top of these pilings. Heated floors! Ingenious!Apparently the Romans would come to the baths daily. They were very keen on staying clean, as well as staying in the social scene.

It was a GREAT tour, and my favorite part of our whole trip.

After we left the Baths, we decided to take a walk around the city. We started by walking across Pulteney Bridge. Pulteney Bridge is one of the few bridges left in Europe that is lined with shops and restaurants. This is a picture of the road across the bridge, and from the side. We then took a stroll up to the Circus. The Circus is a circular space surrounded by three sections of townhouses. They were built in the mid-1700s, and exemplify a Georgian-style of architecture. This is a picture of the near-by Royal Crescent. As we headed back towards the city-center, we came across the Jane Austen center. I know all of you Austen fans will kill me for not going in, but I know you would also agree that it probably wasn't the most husband-and-three-young-children-friendly kind of places to visit.

Bath was a really incredible city to visit. It had it all: the history, the incredible architecture, chic shops, even flame-juggling unicyclists. A great outing for the whole family.

Cheddar Gorge

2010-02-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

On day 2 of our trip, we headed 10 minutes down the road to the village of Cheddar. As you may have guessed, this town is credited with being the first to make Cheddar cheese. Apparently, they have an old order from a king to a cheese-maker in this town for their Cheddar cheese-- hence the name.

We started off our time there with a visit to the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company. For a small admission price, we could tour the factory and see where and how they make their cheese (which is credited as being the only cheddar made in Cheddar!). We were somewhat familiar with the process after having toured the Wensleydale Cheese Factory 2 years ago. We watched the DVD of how the cheese is made, and we got to see the cheese-maker putting the large casks of cheese into hot water to smooth them out, and then squish out all the liquid again. After the tour was over, we were able to return to the store-front and taste the variety of cheeses that they make on site. Some of the flavors were: mild, medium, mature, vintage, and cave-matured. That's right... cave-matured. I should mention that this town also has a gorge and caves (which I will tell you more about in a minute). Well, what's interesting about the caves is that they stay at a pretty constant temperature of about 11 degrees Celsius, which makes it an ideal location to mature the cheese. This came in very handy to the cheese-makers of yester-year, as it provided them with a kind of constant refrigeration. Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed the cheese and bought a few blocks to bring home with us. Yummy!

After lunch at a local pub, we got on a bus to tour the Cheddar Gorge. The Gorge is made up of huge limestone cliffs. It was very impressive. We saw both people and goats climbing the gorge!The bus then dropped us off at Gough's Caves. As we walked through the caves, we were able to listen to an audio tour that told us about how Richard Gough excavated the cave in the late 1800s. We also learned about "Cheddar Man," Britian's oldest skeleton (dating to about 7150BC), whose remains were found in this cave in 1903.
Here are some of our favorite shots from inside the caves. And of course, we got to see the Cheddar Cheese cave-maturing!After our time in the cave, we went to the Cheddar Man Museum, which was kind of creepy, to be quite honest. Then, Ethan and Tim finished up our time there by climbing up the Lookout Tower to enjoy the view of the area.It was a great day in Cheddar. Maybe not the most romantic way to spend Valentines' Day, but such is life when you travel with kids....

Wells Cathedral

2010-02-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

Tim and Maddie had this week off from school, and Ethan had Monday off from work, so we thought that last weekend would be a good time to take a short trip "down south" to the Somerset region of England.

On Saturday, we drove down to the town of Cheddar... yes, Cheddar, as in the cheese! (By the way, I mentioned to Ethan the possibility of staying in the town of Cheddar, and without the least bit of hesitation, he said, "We're going!" What can I say?... the boy loves his cheese.)

Anyway, we chose to stay in the town of Cheddar because it was in driving distance to a few places that we wanted to see; namely Bath and Stonehenge. Also, my good friend Kelly recommended a particular house to rent that she stayed in once (and from experience, personal recommendations from Kelly are golden!).

On the way to our rental house, we made our first tourist stop at the city of Wells. Wells is known as the smallest city in England, and it was made popular due to it's incredible cathedral. As a general rule, all of the cathedrals throughout England are located in major cities; but Wells is pretty small in comparison.

As we walked through the town on the way to the cathedral, we came across the market square where the market stalls were starting to close up. Just beyond the square was a wall and shops where there were two exits: one for the Bishops Palace, and the other for the Cathedral.The Bishop's Palace was, of course, the residence for the Bishops of Wells, and was first built in the 1200s. In the mid-1800s, it was restored, and the upper-story was added to it. The palace even has a moat going around it with resident ducks, which my kids loved of course. We then walked to the Cathedral, and our jaws hit the floor. It was just stunning! This picture is of the West Front which was constructed around 1230AD. There are a number of figures carved on this front which include Biblical scenes, kings, bishops, and apostles, with Christ at the top.Inside the Cathedral was just as beautiful. (By the way, I hope these pictures are all right... I wasn't allowed to use my flash.) This pictures is of the Nave, and this is the ceiling.These "Scissor Arches" look so modern, don't they? But actually, they were added to the Cathedral in the mid-1300s as a medieval solution to sinking tower foundations.

The far end of the Cathedral was closed off for a service that was going on, but we were able to see the clock. The Wells Clock is the second oldest working clock in England, dating back to the 1380s. It still has its original medieval face which depicts a pre-Copernican universe with the Earth at the center and the sun & moon revolving around it! This clock is also unique because it has a 24-hour dial, and it represents the motion of the sun and the moon, the phases of the moon, and the time since the last new moon. If that weren't enough, every quarter hour, there are jousting knights that come out in coo-coo fashion, and this guy, called the Quarter Jack, strikes the bell on the hour. It was quite a sight, to say the least!
After our time in Wells, we headed to our rental house in Cheddar. Rental homes are a great way to travel, I have to say. For the cost of a reasonable hotel stay, we had a whole house to ourselves, including three bedrooms, and a kitchen. We brought food with us and prepared all of our breakfasts and dinners at home. It was a great way to save some money, but also such a plus to have space to spread out.

Next time, I will blog about our day in Cheddar (and yes, we got to taste some Cheddar Cheddar!).

Recent Reads

2010-01-22T05:43:00.000-08:00

During the past few months, I have read two books that I think are particularly blog-worthy: The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

I have read The Secret Garden at least two other times before; once when I was a child, and once again when I taught 4th grade. It took a long time for me to read it out loud to my class, but I remember that the kids really loved it (the girls, in particular). Anyway, someone suggested that I read it during my time here since it is set in England.

After reading just a few chapters, I realized that not only was this book set in England, but it takes place in Yorkshire- the very area that we are living in! Naturally, that meant nothing to me the last time I read it. But now, it really helped make the book more alive to me. First of all, I now know what a walled garden looks like since I have seen them first-hand. I know the types of flowers that they reference in the book because I have seen these flowers bloom in the spring time around here. The book also makes a lot of references to the moors, which we drive through every time we head north-east from here. The moors are a type of habitat that are characterized by low-growing vegetation such as heather (which turns a magnificent purple). It almost looks like a desert as there are no trees; just hills and brush. And of course, the book spends some time characterizing the different types of rain... all of which I have had the pleasure of experiencing! The only thing that I had trouble with was the Yorkshire accent spoken by Martha and Dickon. I couldn't quite hear it like I wanted to (probably because the local accent has changed some since the book was written).

I highly recommend this book to anyone, but I suspect that many of you have already read it. After reading the book, I watched the movie of it that was released in 1993. Most of this film of The Secret Garden was filmed in the local area, so it was really fun to watch.

I look forward to reading this book with my kids someday when we return to the US. What a delight it will be for me to reread it with them knowing that they have shared these experiences in this area.

The other book that I read was called The Thireenth Tale. A friend of mine who is in a local book club suggested that I read it since the author lives in Harrogate. I have to admit, at first I found that this book moved very slow for me. The author is very descriptive and contemplative, which usually turns me off. But the story line grabbed me from the start, and I was hooked! The story is about an author who has never told of her past before, but wishes to do so before she dies. She hires a local woman (who is living with her own secret) to write it for her. The book follows her biography, carefully revealing clues and secrets along the way. It is a mystery of sorts, and I enjoyed it very much.

The setting for this book is also in the moors, and again, I enjoyed the fact that I could relate to the scenery and weather!

I would love to hear any suggestions of other books that I should read during my time here (particularly ones set in England). I know... I know... Jane Austin. I have had a hard time getting into her books in the past, but maybe I could do it now. Leave your suggestions!!

Panto!

2010-01-14T08:13:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Tim, Maddie, Ethan, and I got to experience another British tradition: Panto! A Panto is a type of play that is traditionally put on each year around Christmastime. The Panto that we went to see was Aladdin.There are a number of characteristics that are typical of Pantos:

The leading male character is traditionally played by a young woman (Aladdin was indeed played by a woman).(This picture is of Aladdin and his brother Wishy-Washy)
An older woman character is usually played by a man in drag (Aladdin's mother was indeed a man... very funny! And hilarious costumes!!)
The audience is encouraged to participate throughout the play. We would "Boooo!' the villain every time he came on stage and shout out warnings like, "He's behind you!," etc. The actors would prompt us with calls like, "Oh yes it is!" and we would have to shout back, "Oh no it isn't!"
There is often a sing-off between the two sides of the audience. We had to sing "Wishy Washy likes Kung-Fu" to the tune of "Old McDonald."
Pantomimes tend to include animal roles in their plays. Aladdin had a pet panda called Pandora.
At some point during a panto, a character throws sweets out to the audience. Also, the villain typically shoots a water gun out at the audience. Our villain had a BIG water gun, but thankfully it didn't reach us!
Often Pantos include a messy scene with some "goo" involved. In Aladdin, Wishy-Washy's character stood under a tube squirting out blue-goo!

It was so much fun for all of us. I couldn't help but be reminded of a year ago when I took Tim and Maddie to see Mary Poppins. Before we went into that show, Maddie had a complete meltdown. But this weekend, Maddie sat there and laughed and shouted and sang! It really was fun for people of all ages!

I should mention that we went to the Harrogate Theater to see the play. Harrogate Theater originally opened in January 1900 (and the first play that performed there was a Panto!). Since then, the theater has closed and re-opened many times due to lack of popularity (for example, it closed in the 1950s when the television became so popular!) The theater has also gone through a few refurbishments in the past century.

Last month, Maddie and I actually got to tour the theater with her Daisy Troop. We met a few of the actors, saw their dressing rooms, and saw the room where they make the costumes. We also got a closer look at the theater itself. When touring the theater, we got to see the view from one of the box seats. I was stunned at what a terrible perspective it was! You couldn't see the stage very well at all. But you did have a very good view of backstage and of the audience. Our tour guide told us that when the theater was built, the box seats (which she called "rubbish seats") were designed intentionally this way. The purpose of this layout was so that the audience could get a good view of who was sitting in them (and it was usually a person of some great importance who would go to the theater to be seen rather than to see the play).(The view from the box seats.)

Next year, Harrogate Theater will be putting on a Panto called "Dick Whittingdon" which was the first play ever performed in this theater. We may just have to go see it!!!

Sledging!

2010-01-12T05:29:00.000-08:00

This has been the "winter of all winters" for England so far! There has been snow on the ground for over three weeks now, which is very rare for this area. For the past two winters, we have had occasional snowfalls which usually melted by noon-time. Last year we had one bigger snow storm that left snow on the ground for a few days. But this year, the snow seems to keep coming, and the temperature is staying low.

The kids were supposed to return to school last week, but only had school once! The roads really are terrible. There aren't many snow plows here, and they use grit instead of salt on the roads.

Anyway, back when we lived in Maryland and were deciding what things to bring with us to the UK, we decided to leave the kids' sleds behind. Someone had told us how England never gets a lot of snow, so we assumed the sleds would be useless. Boy, are we regretting that now! All this snow and no sleds.

Thankfully, our very kind friends and neighbors invited us to go sledging with them last week. We walked to a local field where there is a perfect hill. The kids had a blast, or course, sliding down the hill and building ramps to fly off of! I was so thankful for Kathy H. and Mickey S. who generously shared their sleds and patiently walked Maddie up that hill so many times while I had Collin on my back! (And for Kathy who brought us all back to her house for some hot cocoa afterwards.) Enjoy the pictures (also courtesy of my friend, Kathy)!

Christmas Card Ideas

2010-01-09T12:22:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but I always feel guilty about throwing away the beautiful family photos that people send me at Christmas. I know that time, energy, and money went into getting that picture taken, getting all the kids to smile at the same time, outfits to coordinate, not to mention the cards to be ordered, addressed, stamped, and mailed. These pictures are precious to me as they represent the people that I love (and who love me), and now that we live out of the country, the people that we miss.

So, I've found an easy and purposeful way to use these photos: I make a collage. Last year, I bought one of those boards that have the pins and ribbon across them. And last week, I cut out all of the photos that were sent to us and stuck them into it. I did this last year, and I plan on doing it for many years to come. It is now hanging on our kitchen wall, and it always brings a smile to my face. I have also started recycling Christmas cards. This is a trick I learned from my Granny who has been doing it as long as I can remember. I rip off the front cover of all of the Christmas cards given to us, with the intent of using them next year as gift tags. To be quite honest, I never understood why my Granny did this. I always used to wonder why she wouldn't just go to the store and spend $1 on 100 sticker gift tags like the rest of us. But, I now really like this idea! It reuses the cards, therefore creating less waste, and it makes very unique and beautiful gift tags. And, it's free!

These are not very creative or original ideas... I know. But they are meaningful to me, and perhaps someone else could benefit from them.

Christmas Holiday Highlights

2010-01-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! We hope that you all had a blessed Christmas!We had a very special Christmas this year. We traveled to Florida to be with my (Rebecca's) side of the family.

We flew out of Manchester Airport the Monday before Christmas, and we were so grateful when that plane took to the skies. Two days before, our area got hit with snow and ice, so a lot of the planes were grounded the day before our trip. The airport was a mad-house... people stranded everywhere! But fortunately, our plane took off.

It was a long flight (over 8 hours), and although some of the time was spent wrestling our 30-pound gorilla (Collin), we all survived. We arrived at Atlanta just fine, and after a 3-hour layover, we continued on to West Palm Beach. By that time, it was about 2am UK time, so we were completely exhausted. But, we made it, and it was so worth it.

What fun it was to be in Florida! My parents live in a development where the homes are arranged around a man-made lake. It's just perfect for the kids! They spent a lot of time riding their bikes around the lake, playing on the playground and in the sand court, fishing, and running the remote-control boats. My parents got a push-buggy for Collin to ride in, and he was so happy driving his "car" around the lake everyday. I especially enjoyed being outside and feeling the sunshine! Bliss!

It was wonderful being with family, of course. My brother Jesse flew down to be with us, and the kids had so much fun playing with him. My sister and her family live about a half-hour away from my parents, so we were able to spend a lot of time with them too. I especially loved being with my niece, Summer Grace, who kept us entertained with all of her animal impressions and faces! She is so full of life and joy-- I just love her!Some of the highlights of our trip included:

Ethan got to go golfing with my brother Jesse and brother-in-law Eric. The course was located between the ocean and the intercoastal, so the scenery was great.

Going swimming and decorating cookies at my sister's house.
We went to an incredible Christmas Eve service at my parents' church, and celebrated Christmas Eve with family and friends.

We received a phone call from my brother Jason, telling us of his engagement to his girlfriend Ashley! Congrats!
Christmas morning! Toys and Games!

Flying remote-control helicopters with Uncle Jesse.
Christmas dinner with the Schultzes (my sister's family).
A fun day at Lion Country Safari.

Barnum & Bailey Circus!
Date night for Ethan and I (we got to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie).
Shopping kid-free at Jo-Ann's for some quilting fabric.
A visit to the turtle hospital and time at the beach.

The "Low-light" of our trip was definitely the germs that infiltrated our fun. My mom and I both came down with sore-throats on Christmas Eve, and the kids each got a fever at one point. Unfortunately, it did put a damper on our fun, but we didn't let it keep us down.

Many, many thanks to you Mom and Dad, for a wonderful Christmas and vacation! We love and miss you already!

Nativity

2009-12-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, both Tim and Maddie were involved in a Nativity Play with their school at a local church. I have to say, I love the fact that they go to a Church of England School (which believe it or not, is a public school around here!). Not only do they get to say "Merry Christmas" at their school instead of "Happy Holidays," but they can even be a part of a Nativity! I LOVE IT!

The service today had lots of wonderful singing along with the play. Maddie played the part of a shepherd this time (she was an angel last year). Her teacher told me that Maddie was a little disappointed when she saw the first costume they had for her (it was brown). It must have felt like a demotion from her sparkly angel costume from last year. But fortunately, they found a prettier, blue shepherd-girl costume to appease her.

Anyway, here is her part:

And a few pictures too:

The Three Wise MenMary and Joseph

A Christmas Carol

2009-12-16T07:01:00.001-08:00

This afternoon, Tim's class put on a performance of "A Christmas Carol." Tim played the role of "The Ghost of Christmas Past," and he did an excellent job. Actually, everyone in the class did an excellent job! They had a lot of lines to memorize and there was a lot of stage direction as well. For a small class (13 kids total, grades 2-5), I was really impressed!

This is a picture of the scenery which the students painted themselves.Here's is Tim's acting debut:

And a few more pictures...Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas PresentScrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past (in the background), Tiny Tim and Bob CrachitAnd the last line, of course, "GOD BLESS US EVERYONE!"

Grassington Dickensian Christmas Festival

2009-12-14T23:34:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, we went as a family to a local village called Grassington where they were holding their annual Dickensian Festival. To get there, we took a lovely drive through the Dales. It was gorgeous.When we arrived at Grassington, we quickly found out that we were not the only ones attending this event. They were busing people in by the hundreds!!! The village was packed!Anyway, the festival was a Dickensian (as in Charles Dickens) Christmas Festival which they have every year. As you walked around the village, you could see different people dressed up in period costume. Here are a few examples:The Town CrierThis is my friend Christy with some local drunkards who were questioning her about her "camera" invention. (And yes, my children were afraid of these guys!)As you can imagine, the shops were packed with people. The streets were lined with market stalls selling their wares and some warm food (it was f-f-f-freezing!!). You could even have a go at smashing some crockery (one pound bought you five balls to throw and break as many dishes as you could). But the highlight of our day, was when we came upon the Leeds Morris Men who did a little jig for the crowd. I say this was the highlight because for their second dance they chose Ethan out of the crowd to join them!! What a good sport.

Here he is prepared with his stick. Enjoy the video:

After the dance, they awarded him with a certificate for participating. He was such a good sport. I was so proud of him!

PWOC Christmas Brunch

2009-12-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

This year, I am involved in a women's organization on base called PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). My job description is the VP of Spiritual Life, which basically means I oversee our weekly Bible Studies. I serve on the board with some incredible women including my good friend Christy Jenkins (who also happens to be the one who takes all of those incredible photos of my family... she is very gifted!).

Anyway, Christy and I had a vision this year to have a Christmas Brunch. For both of us, the churches that we left behind in Maryland would keep this annual tradition as a way for the ladies to get together for some food and fellowship, and to get our hearts right for the Christmas season. The PWOC board decided that our theme for the brunch would be "Daughters of the King," which sent Christy's and my imaginations into full-speed!

Christy did so much work organizing and advertising this event. She is also incredibly gifted at decorating. With the help of some other women, she transformed our chapel annex into a masterpiece with tapestries and lovely decorations throughout. It really was beautiful.As for me, I got to work right away on writing a short script for a skit to be performed. The title was "Daughters of the King," and the story line basically was about 4 daughters who each prepared for their father's (the King) return from war. One decorated the kingdom, one prepared a feast, one made a gift, and the other prepared her heart.... you see the analogy. Sometimes when reading the script, I felt like a fourth grader could have written it, but I suppose that didn't matter.

I also was responsible for giving the main message for the morning. I am realizing that preparing a message is quite a process, and I've been learning so much through it. Basically, my message was about what it means to be a Daughter of the King. I focused on looking at God with the characteristics of being a king, and following with the analogy, what it's like to be in His kingdom instead of the ones we've made for ourselves. I was really pleased at how it came out. Ethan helped me work through a lot of it, and it was a great experience working together.

Our brunch was last Saturday (12/5), and it was a true success. We had about 50 women attend, which was wonderful. (A few weeks prior, we only had about 20 women signed up, so to have that many there was so encouraging.) Different women set, decorated, and hosted tables (here's a picture of my table). We had a delicious brunch, some gorgeous music (with piano, violin, flute, and singing), some door prizes, a pinning ceremony for our new members, the skit (by the way, that's our chaplain playing the part of the king), and the message.I was so pleased with how well everything went for our first attempt. All of the women seemed to leave encouraged and re-focused on the Christmas message, and I suppose that's what's it's all about.

Mission Possible: Tim's 8th Birthday

2009-12-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, Tim was reading a Secret Agent book of mine, and he told me that he'd like to have a Secret Agent birthday party this year! I can't tell you how excited I was about that. It just seemed like an original idea that had a lot of possibilities.

Here are the invitations that I made for it. As you can see, the kids needed to crack the code to get the invitation details.So last weekend, we hosted Timothy's 8th birthday party here at the house. He had 7 of his friends from school come. Ethan and I both dressed up in a trench coat and sunglasses, and we welcomed each of the kids into the house through a carefully cracked door, looking for other spies who may have followed them! Ethan downloaded some music for the event, and played the theme songs from Mission Impossible and James Bond, of course.

When the kids first got here, we put them straight to work learning a new kind of code called the pig-pen code. They had to find their coded name, and write a secret message to a fellow agent.Next, we had them put on secret disguises with clothes from our dress-up box. We had some very creative disguises.After a lunch of Ethan's home-made pizza, we split the boys and girls apart and played games involving target practice (with velcro darts), and a game Tim named "Sly Spy."

We then had cake and ice-cream. Tim decided that he'd like to have a bomb for a cake. What made it extra fun was the mini-sparklers that Ethan found to be the bomb's fuse! The kids really enjoyed watching it, and were all a little disappointed when the cake didn't actually explode all over the kitchen!After the kids were done with their cake, I went to get them their goody bags. But oh no! The enemy spy had hidden them somewhere in the house, and left them clues to find them. The clues were very tricky, I thought, but not for these super-spies. In fact, they found them so quickly that mommy spy had to make up some games at the end to kill some time!

All in all, it was a great party. And now my Secret Agent Tim is 8 years old. Impossible!

Bonfire Night

2009-11-23T02:05:00.000-08:00

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder treason and plot,

I see no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

November 5th is a holiday in the UK known as Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night. Last year I blogged about the history behind this day, but in case you needed a quick re-cap, here goes: In 1605, Guy Fawkes was among a group of men who tried to blow up the House of Parliament and the King. The plot was foiled, and Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators were hung for their crime.

Nowadays, the Brits celebrate the foiling of this conspiracy by having Bonfire Night, during which they burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a huge bonfire, and top it off with some fireworks. We went to a local town called Masham with our friends, the Dales, for Bonfire Night this year. It was raining a little bit, but not enough to spoil our fun. As you can see from the pictures, the bonfire was HUGE! Much bigger than we expected! The kids had fun with some sparklers, and the fireworks were as good as any we had seen in the U.S. of A. A fun night for all!