June 2017

Early in June both Rachel and Caron took part in their school's 'residential trip'. This is an overnight trip with their classmates chaperoned by several teachers. Rachel's class went to France and stayed in a lovely chateau. Carson's class went to Kent, England and stayed in a large outdoor activity center. The children were kept busy and challenged with physical activities all day including climbing, boating, archery and lots of games. I was a bit worried about sending them off for a week, but they both came back smiling and had a great time with their friends.

Rachel's class is getting ready to board their coach in the picture below. Yes, they DROVE to France, about an 8 hour drive including time to get through the 'chunnel'.

With the kids both gone for 5 days John and I decided to take the opportunity to climb Mt. Snowdon in Wales. Climbing a mountain with no whining kids in tow - sounds great.

Our Hotel in Wales

Gorgeous scenery! We didn't expect the rugged terrain and steep cliffs of North Wales. What an amazing place. Sheep everywhere. We were lucky enough to have a partly sunny hike up the mountain and a few minutes of clearing even at the top. This is quite unusual - it is very cold, windy and drizzly at the top of Mt. Snowdon, even in June!

We also did some sight-seeing in North Wales. This is Caernarfon Castle, a medieval fortress in Caernarfon.

Back at home, we've started teaching the children how to play cribbage so they can play with their grandparents this summer. So far they seem to be enjoying it!

I had a chance to attend Royal Ascot horse race on a very hot day in June with the American Women's Club. What an amazing day. It is a very formal occasion with a strict dress code and is attended by the queen herself. Hats are mandatory!

Queen Elizabeth is in the yellow hat!

On the sports front, Carson is trying his hand at cricket since that is the summer sport all boys play at his school. We thought it was similar to baseball but now realize it is very different. Carson is a good sport at trying new things and he's doing his best. Below you see the uniform, referred to as 'cricket whites'. They also have a white sweater (called a jumper here) that they put on if it is chilly. They were obviously not thinking of the laundry when they made these uniforms white...

Schools here in England have field day at the end of the year. Each of the 4 houses at the school compete in various track and field events. Below is Rachel wearing her house shirt and PE clothes. This was a race where they had to hold hands with a girl from one of the younger classes while running down the field.

Carson plays tennis on Saturdays and it is quickly becoming one of his favorite sports.

Bumper cars at Goldhill Common? Just down the street from us? Yes, it wasn't just bumper cars but a whole fair just 10 minutes walking from our house. The best part was the petting area where the kids had a chance to hold a cute little bunny.

Rachel learned how to create batik fabric at school and here is the pillow she made in her art class.

May 2017

May brought warmer weather and beautiful spring flowers. The kids also had their second round of exams towards the end of May. Even in Year 5 and 6 they have a full week of exams with one in every subject. It is quite a stressful week as we try to do as much 'revising' as possible (the UK word for studying).

A friend in my running club invited us over one day to show us her beautiful Blue Bells and her bees. She keeps a couple hives and extracts honey every fall. The Blue Bells bloom for only a month every year, they were just gorgeous!

Rachel went to a festival in Beaconsfield with her good friend Daniela after school one evening.

An old friend from San Diego stopped in for a visit on her way home from Budapest. It was great to see her and show her around London a bit. The highlights were the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. Amazing how much history there is in London!

At the end of May we went to the seaside for a long weekend to celebrate the end of exams. We visited the south coast of Devon for our first taste of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a bit cooler then we hoped but we still had fun.

We were amazed by these beach huts along the shore. One was open and some nice ladies let us look inside and told us a bit about them. They are leased and inside there is a cook top, refrigerator, counter-top and cabinets. Perfect for fixing tea or making a picnic! A great way to spend the day by the shore.

We visited the nearby Babbacombe Model Village one afternoon. This is the second model village we have seen in the UK and it did not disappoint. Everything you could imagine in a real village was here in miniature, even a dragon breathing fire onto a castle!

Car racing at the model village

Always nice to find Mac N Cheese at a restaurant!

Carson's friends from school at a birthday party

April 2017

Since the kids had a 3-week school break we ventured to Italy for a 9-day trip! We started in Rome then took a high speed train to Naples and a boat to Sorrento. We were very lucky with weather, it was sunny and in the low 70's every day! We did lots of walking and fueled the kids with pizza, pasta and lots of gelato.

Spanish Steps in Rome

Victor Emmanuel II Monument

Ruins outside the Colosseum

Colosseum - outside

Colosseum - inside

Fountain in Piazza Novana

Awaiting our tour of the Vatican

Vatican Guard

This is a standard man-hole cover seen everywhere on the streets of Rome. The letters SPQR stood for Senatus Populus Que Romanusa - the Senate and the People of Rome. Relics of the Roman Empire!

On to Naples! We couldn't wait to try the pizza here in the "birthplace of pizza". It did not disappoint, it was amazing. Only wood-fired ovens for cooking pizza around here.

Basilica Reale Pontificia San Francesco da Paola

Ovo Castle

One of the days we were in Naples we took a train to Pompeii to learn more about this ancient city. We had a great tour guide and learned a lot about life in this city about 2000 years ago. What amazed us the most was that life today isn't that much different - they had restaurants, markets, streets that were labeled, houses with gardens, theatre for entertainment and even an arena.

Battling in the arena!

After our tour of Pompeii we stopped at Mt. Vesuvius en route back to Naples. It is quite a high mountain at 1281m but fortunately there are large buses that will take passengers nearly to the top. Just a short 20 min walk is all it takes to enjoy some breath-taking views.

After Naples we were getting tired of trains so we opted for a boat to Sorrento. It was lots of fun - great sunshine, a great view of Mt Vesuvius and a quick way to get to Sorrento in less than 1 hour.

View from the top of our hotel in Sorrento

From Sorrento we took a bus ride to explore the Amalfi Coast. We have heard and read that this is an amazing place to see so we were very excited. When we finally did arrive it was beautiful and we had a wonderful day. But the bus ride was much longer then we expected - 2 hours each way! Its a short distance but the roads are VERY narrow and are just not designed for the large buses that try to navigate their very tight turns. But we were certainly rewarded with amazing scenery after putting up with the long bus ride.