Sports and Feast Day

This past Saturday was Sports and Feast Day for our local village.

Feast Days have been celebrated for centuries in English villages as a way of honoring Christian saints. Our village has a record of foot and horse racing being a part of Feast Day way back in the 1700s and continuing well into the 1800s. And although participation dwindled at the beginning of the 20th century, Sports and Feast Day started up again and had remained a part of this community since the 1970s.

The program for the day began with a "Fancy Dress" (costume) competition. The theme this year was the circus! There were some very creative entries. Timothy dressed up as a clown:After that, the races began! There were all types of races for all ages. A lot of them were familiar to us:
Running RaceBean Bag RaceEgg & Spoon RaceWheelbarrow RaceThree-legged Race, and Sack RaceThere was even a running race for the mothers and the fathers! Ethan and I participated, and we each got 3rd place!!

There were also some races that we had never heard of before:
A Backwards race (where the contestants run backwards)Sledges ("sledge" means "sled")- in this race, 2 people pull a third teammate on a plastic sackand Slow Bike Race- for this race you try to come in last! But, your bike can't tip over and you can't go backwards at all.

After a free tea time with tea and cakes, the competitions resumed with an Obstacle Race, an intense Egg-Throwing Contest, Musical Hoops (Musical Chairs), Tug of War: girls vs. boys (the women won!!), and a high jump contest.

It was a jam-packed day at the races. Timothy competed in just about every one, and since his age group was 5-7 year olds (he's 7), he did very well, winning first place many times. And each time he won, his prize was money! They had different local businesses sponser the races, so you won money for getting 1st, 2nd, or 3rd prize. 1st prize was one pound fifty (p) pence, 2nd prize was one pound, and 3rd prize was 50p. Tim earned around 5 pounds total, and Ethan and I each came home 50p richer!

The Sports Day also had a bouncy slide and swings, which is where Maddie and her good friend Alex spent most of the day. There were also stands for Tombola (like a raffle), ice cream and juice, and Bric-a-Brac, where they sell donated items.

After the competitions, everbody went home to rest and get ready for the village barbeque that evening. For the barbeque, everyone brought their own meat to cook and a dish to pass. Thankfully, there were tables and chairs set up under a tent as the weather got a little misty!

I've got to say, I love how the British barbeque! People brought nice tablecloths, silverware, and glass stemware that evening. Some even brought candelabras! Our American family stuck out like a sore-thumb with our sweatshirts and jeans, hot dogs, and processed cheese for our burgers!

It really was a wonderful evening. The kids ran around and played with their friends, and we shared some glow-sticks that my friend Liz shipped over (thanks Liz). Some of them had never seen glow-sticks before!

Ethan was also in his element. There was free beer for the evening! But this wasn't just any beer: this was cask ale, which he got to hand-pull himself. He was a very happy camper!

All in all, it was a wonderful day. On base they had a big Fourth of July carnival with free rides and fireworks on Saturday as well. But, I think we made the right decision being a part of our community's Sports Day!

Summer-izing

Well, it's officially summer. And believe it or not, the high of the day is supposed to hit almost 80 degrees here. AND, at this exact moment, the sun is actually shining. This of course, could change in a matter of minutes. To truly appreciate English weather, you must value its unpredictability.

Now that we have passed the summer solstice, the days are starting to get shorter again. A few days ago, the sun was up some time around 4:30am, and there was still some light in the sky at 11pm. It's been nice having the long days. The hardest part is putting the kids to bed when it is still light outside, and Collin waking early to a bright sun peeking through his curtains.

I love it when the days get warm enough for me to open some windows around the house. Today is one of those days. I love how the distinct smell of the rose bushes out front carries in through the house. Every time I smell those roses, I think of how grateful I am for my circumstances.

However, one thing I don't particularly like about opening the windows is that there are no screens on them. English homes do not have screens in the windows. Period. So, as I am typing, I have about 3 flies buzzing around the room. But truthfully, it isn't too bad. At least there are no mosquitoes around here, or big moths. And I certainly have never seen those big june bugs like the ones that stick to the screens at my parents' house on Long Island. If England had those kinds of bugs, I'm certain that their policy on screens would quickly change.

It probably goes without saying, but you won't find any homes with air conditioning or outdoor swimming pools around here either. It seldom gets hot enough for the air conditioning, and you probably wouldn't use a swimming pool enough to justify paying for it. Also, it isn't as humid here as the East Coast of the US is. I was surprised by that considering that England is surrounded by water. But no, it may get warm, but we've yet to feel a HOT & HUMID day like we knew every Maryland summer day to be.

Truthfully, I do miss some of the sunshine and heat. Do I miss the humidity?... no. The big bugs?... no. I'll gladly take the flies through my open windows.

Play ball!!

The baseball season is in full swing up at the base again. Hooray! It's been a long winter waiting for the season to start; especially for Tim.

Timothy has moved up to the minors league this year. This means that he no longer hits off a tee, but the coaches pitch to the kids. He's been training for this for a few years now, and is really ready for this level of play.So far, he's done really well. He tends to hit the first pitch that comes to him, and as our resident lefty, he often hits somewhere between 1st and 2nd base. Here's one of Tim's first hits of the season:



Maddie is old enough this year to join the Pee-Wee league which plays tee-ball. Daddy is coaching her team, just like he did for Tim last year. She really seems to enjoy fetching grounders, running the bases, and swinging for that ball! But her favorite part about playing might just be getting to wear the uniform. She is always very excited to put that on!
(Don't you just love her pink glove?)

So far, the weather has been cooperative about half of the time. Games were rained out one weekend, but we had gorgeous baseball weather the other two weekends. Let's hope it can continue!

On the Move!!

It's official... Collin is crawling! About a month ago, he started getting up on his knees and rocking. Then last week, he started moving. And now this week, he is into EVERYTHING! My little explorer!



So far, his favorite things to get into are the paper recycling bin, the VCR (which he has already pulled down), the wires for the kids' Smart Cycle, the garbage, the concrete fireplace base, etc.... basically anything that makes a fun sound when it crumples, or is dangerous, or gross. Fortunately, he hasn't figured out how to open the cabinets yet. He tries to when he is in his walker, but fortunately, the cabinet doors are blocked by the walker. Phew!

Last month, Collin started clapping, and just last week he also started waving. Of course, he usually waves about 3 minutes after the fact or for no good reason at all.

He's also getting a good start at pulling himself up. In fact, the other day I laid him down for a nap, and after about 15 minutes, I noticed that his usual wimper was more like an "I need you mommy!" cry. I went in to see what was going on, and found him standing in his crib, holding on to the railing for dear life! I suppose he got himself up and didn't know how to get himself back down.

Love my little mischief maker!!!!

London with Family

My family flew in and out of London for their past trip because the airline tickets to London were far cheaper than a flight up north. That meant an additional train ride up to us and back down to London. So, to make all that traveling worth it, we decided to all go down to London a few days before their flight home so my parents could see the sights.

The train ride down took a while, followed by a long ride in the tube (subway), and a 10 minute walk to our hotel. We were pretty drained by the time we reached our Holiday Inn. But, we ventured out anyway to Kensington Park.Kensington Park contains a memorial playground for Princess Diana. Let me tell you, this is no ordinary playground! They designed the playground with a Peter Pan theme. There were tepees, a pirate ship... it was incredible! Unfortunately, it was also completely crowded. But, it was certainly worth seeing. (Tim is in the orange shirt up top!)Since we were there, I was hoping to go see the famous Peter Pan statue which is also in the park. I saw it clearly on the map, but didn't exactly understand the scale of my map. We walked for about 15 minutes when I realized that this was a big park, not unlike Central Park in NYC. So, we didn't get to see the statue this time. Too bad. (This is what we missed.)The next day, we decided that the best way to see most of London with the least amount of walking was to do a tour bus ride. We rode on a sightseeing, double-decker bus, which provided narration of the sites. (Maddie having fun with Summer on the bus). We saw Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. Part of the fee for the bus tour also included a boat tour on the River Thames. The boat dropped us off near the Tower of London where we were able to see a catapulting demonstration (they were launching water balloons!). What fun!It was a lot of fun to be together in London. It was difficult at times managing 9 people in and out of the subway (including two strollers which often had to be carried up and down to the platforms, etc.). But it was certainly worth it!

The next time my parents come, they've expressed interest in heading up to Scotland. My mom's father was born in Inverness which is very close to Loch Ness (as in the monster). Here's to our next adventure together!!!

Bolton Abbey

Last Sunday, my parents and I decided to go to Bolton Abbey for the afternoon. Bolton Abbey is located in a town called Skipton which is about 20 minutes from our house.

Before we went to the abbey, we headed to the Bolton Abbey train station where they were having, "A Day out with Thomas." My kids aren't that into Thomas, which is a shame, because this was a Thomas-Mecca of sorts. But, we still thought it would be fun to ride an old-fashioned steam locomotive through the Yorkshire Dales.

The train ride was neat, and the cars we sat in were authentic, old train cars. We even got to ride in a private car which was cool. The kids got to blow Thomas' whistle and we all got our picture taken with him. We watched a lame-o magic show for a few minutes, and as with most activities this week, we topped it off with some ice cream.After we returned from our train ride, we decided to drive over to Bolton Abbey. All I had previously heard about this place was that there were ruins left from the Abbey and stepping-stones going across the river that you could cross. I had no idea that this place would be such a treasure!

Indeed, there were beautiful ruins on the grounds; not as big as Fountains Abbey, but still quite beautiful. And yes, the river Wharfe was flowing, complete with the stepping-stones that we just had to venture across. It was not easy walking across with Maddie. At some points I just had to pick her up like a football and walk. But, it certainly was an adventure we won't soon forget.

What I wasn't expecting at the Abbey was all the people. There were crowds and crowds of people... children in their bathing suits.... families barbecuing their dinners. I quickly figured out that I had found the local "beach."

My kids wanted to get into the action and asked if they could wade around for a while. The water was cold, but they didn't seem to mind.Ethan and I and the kids actually returned to Bolton Abbey this past weekend with our friends Kelly and Dan. This time we came equipped: bathing suits for the kids, blankets to sit on, sports equipment, etc. The kids had a great time playing in the water, and they quickly made friends with other children playing there. The boys brought their mitts and had fun playing catch in the field next to the river. And yes, that is a cow that you see in the picture. The fields near the river are open pastures so the cows move freely where they want to graze. That means- watch out for cow patties!

At one point the other day, I left Ethan resting with Collin so I could watch the kids in the water. When I returned, this is what I found.Ethan was asleep and didn't realize that the cows were munching grass not ten feet from his head!

Bolton Abbey is my new treasure spot in North Yorkshire. I look forward to taking the kids back there on warm days this summer. And no, it may not compare to the beaches I know from the States. But of course, I don't know of any beaches in the States where you can look upon the ruins of an historic abbey, swim with the ducks, and sunbathe with the cows.