September 2017

September was back to school month for us and what a difference from last year. Last year we had just moved in and the kids were starting new schools with everything unfamiliar. This year they went back to the same schools, familiar places and familiar faces!

I love the school photos this year so I'm breaking tradition and posting them on the family blog!

In early September we drove to Oxford for the day, about an hour away. We let the kids pick where we ate lunch - here they are with their cheeseburgers and milkshakes at Byron's.

We happen to love Magpies (the bird). Like us, they live in both Utah and in England.

We stopped in for a quick tour at one of the colleges to learn a little about Oxford. We didn't realize that the University of Oxford is actually made up of many small colleges - 38 total. So even though it is a large university it has a small college feel to it.

Rachel's favorite pen here is the Lamy, a German fountain pen that she uses at school. Here she is standing beside a life-sized Lamy at a stationery store in Oxford.

A popular activity in Oxford is 'punting'. This refers to boating - a punt is a long, flat boat that is very stable in the water. The punter stands at one end of the boat on a small platform and uses a very long oar to propel the boat through the water (similar to a gondola). This is a narrow section of the Thames so many punters get stuck in frustration, especially when there are lots of boats on the water. We decided to rent a pedalo instead and pedal our way down the river.

September brought with it some visitors! We were very excited to have Dave & Lisa spend a few weeks with us and enjoy the UK. Here they are in Trafalgar Square the day we saw the National Gallery.

A day out at Hughendon Manor, a nearby National Trust site. In the 19th century it was the country house of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. The gardens and grounds were as impressive as the house and we were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day.

Rachel wanted to create her own slime so we found a recipe online, got the ingredients, and 'gave it a go'. The kids had a great time and the result did bear some resemblance to slime. It was a few days before the kitchen stopped smelling of shaving cream.