Hogmanay 09

We started the trip by taking a train up - about a 3.5 hour train ride not bad. Beautiful countryside. That night we did the Torchlight parade - it's to kick-off the celebrations - well usually a torch is a flashlight - these were 3.5 foot wax sticks - it was amazing to see so many torches - I was sure someone's hair was going to catch fire! But it looked like they amazingly had things under control. Funnily I purchased 5 torches - luckily we went with friends - The Whiteheads - and they hadn't bought any yet so we shared with them!

On the bright side the torches certainly kept us warm!






We also went with our other friends The Hamberlins - so we were an imposing group - 19 of us! Restaurants didn't know what to do with us so we split up doing different activities and coming together - it was great fun.

Edinburgh is a beautiful city - my favorite thing was to do the night tour of Edinburgh Castle - it was actually a play and they had the history of the Monarchs or clans - I love when the castles 'come to life'.


They also had a carnaval and there was a super bungee ride - the men & Chandler all rode it - it flew them up so high - I have it on video - my blog still doesn't seem to like when I want to upload video - but I'll try again.

Edinburgh Castle

We are so lucky and this was a great trip - Happy New Year to all!

June 2009

I'm still catching up before we left for California for our summer vacation. Before we left we went into London with Mike's cousin and his family who were here for the summer. Now they are going to probably be moving here for a year and we are so excited for them!

In front of Buckingham Palace - Lucas with his new 'grin'

This is the Tower Bridge (the one that gets mistaken for London Bridges falling down...)

Royal Ascot 09

Here are further attempts at catching up from my computer glitches in May & June. Before we came back to the US we had a rare opportunity to go to the Royal Ascot Races through Mike's work. It was AMAZING!!!! They always have races year round at Ascot, but it is Royal Ascot because the Queen comes every day for the week (or at least part of the royal family).

We had to dress up and wear hats - Mike had to rent a "day suit" basically a tux with tails, waistcoat and all. I felt like My Fair Lady or Holly-go-lightly. It was an amazing day and it was the nicest dress I've gotten myself in ages!!

We got to sit in a Royal Box - we arrived at 11AM, for Champagne and treats (Mike & I had sparkling water). Then we sat for lunch at our specific seats and were served a 6-7 course lunch - the main dish was beef wellington -

We also got to have a special view of the Royal Parade - the Queen arrives at 2pm each day of the race week to start off the races - there are 6 races - the first one started at 2:30. Her carriage stopped right in front of me and we were right next to her - then after the carriages rolled away they let us on the green and we were 6 feet from her - they didn't let us take photos on the green with her on it.


The Queen, Prince Andrew and either Princess Beatrice (who I think it is) or Princess Eugenie

This was the horse I bet 10 GBP on in the 3rd race and won!!! It was an American Horse, English Jockey, and owned by a Shiek

We also got another special tour - they took us to the "Inner ring" on the inside of the track by the finish line - where only photographers normally stand - to watch one of the races - it was sooooo incredibly quiet and then all of a sudden the horses run by right and the ground shakes. The horses are beautiful and just muscle and skin!

It truly was a wonderful day - we had gotten a sitter for the kids and they were excellent - we were there all day and it went soooo fast! They kept bringing food into our box as well it was unbelievable.

At the end of the race day they sing songs at the band stand - most people stay for it - it is a wonderful memory that I will hold dear to our UK stay for sure!!

Easter Catch Up Pt. 2

My Great Uncle Kingmun (he is a great uncle, but he's my grandmother's youngest brother) and Aunt Reina came to town to visit us for the Easter Weekend. I keep ranting and raving about how incredibly light they pack! They had each a VERY tiny bag - like the small overnight suitcases that fit in the overheads - and small backpacks - that's it! And they were gone from the states for 2 weeks - I was so WOW-ed! I couldn't do it! Not for two weeks anyway.

Well it was very fun having them out - the first of our extended family to come visit us. We dropped them off at Hampton Court for 3 hours on Easter and they really enjoyed themselves there. There is a huge new display for Henry VIII - to celebrate the anniversary of his coronation 500 years ago - for those of you that don't remember which one he is - he's the one that changed the face of England's religion forever because he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn (and then beheaded her...and a few others) and since Catholics do not believe in divorce he created the Church of England and basically outlawed Catholicism.





The kids liked seeing them. (Pau Pau if you look closely Tristan is wearing the pretty cream sparkly dress you bought her) It was a great visit although brief - we sent them into London on the train and they had a ton of museums on their list of things to do.

We also went to Lo Stivali an Italian restaurant here in Cobham - it was yummy! The funny moment was when we sat down and they put the menu in front of us - it caught on fire from the little candle they had on the table!

So we had a very fun visit - Hi Uncle Kingmun! I know he reads the blog - can't wait to see the pictures you will put up on YOURS!




For Easter our friends the McAuliffe's who live by us had an impromptu Easter Egg hunt and we ended up bringing our ham over to share and eat with them and another family - the Minors who the dad is our soccer and baseball coach. We had a good time and it was nice to be with some other families and kids.



Chandler, Brady, Donnie, Ian & Lucas


The day after Easter was a bank holiday so Mike did his first European Sprint Triathlon. It was by Hampton Court and the swim was in a swimming pool instead of the dirty Thames River - but I think the Olympic length ones will be in the River. I dropped him off early and then went back home to nap - the other kids didn't want to get up to hunt for parking to try to see him on the bike route so instead the kids made posters.....


The upper windows say "Good job Dad, We Love our Dad"



Actually before Easter we got a trampoline from a friend that was moving back to the states - there is a lot of movement in the spring and early summer for the people moving back to the states and in July people will move in like we did last year. The trampoline is from one of Tyler's friends that moved back to Chicago - it was a great deal for us!



We also gave Tristan her first cereal - my how time goes so fast. She wasn't too excited but she kinda swollows it - we are working on it. She has a horrible Eczema rash and impetigo on her sideburns - she rubs her face constantly so it is so hard to keep her hands from rubbing her face. Ian had the same thing. We're going on 2 months now and numerous creams... I think I'll be going back to the Dr's this week for Plan C....





So that was last week - I have loads more pictures from this week... this has been a busy Spring Break for us!

Everyday Livin'

I've had several friends ask me what it's like living out here in Jolly Ol' England.... I thought I would post a few of my own observations even just for my own sake before they become rote.

They say nothing is bad, just 'different'......

1. Driving has been an experience - the most obvious change of course - being on the wrong, uh I mean 'other' side of the road. I notice I tend to favor the left so while on the highway I tend to hit the little bumpy road things. Round-a-bouts are our friends - have you ever thought about how long you sit at stop lights just waiting? Well Round-a-bouts are helpful - during rush hour it's a little aggravating because it feels like you are sitting there forever - but generally you flow pretty well - the rule is - the person on the right has the right of way.

You must leave 30-60 mins early to go ANYWHERE - because there are no straight routes - all circles. You must always have coinage with you - there are very few free places to park.

Generally drivers are also more considerate here - since the roads are so narrow people are very kind about making room, waiting, flashing to let people go ahead of them, merge in...generally of course...

2. Health Care - well very different - the largest thing for me to swallow was they don't use gloves to draw blood or put in IV's. A few people do it - but 8 out of 10 times they didn't. The private drs are very forgiving when you are late (because you are driving in circles). There is free National Health Care - today I got free ointment for Tristan - no co-pay!

3. English isn't english - to name a few:
Boot - Car Trunk
Bonnet - Car Hood
Bin - Trash Can
Rubbish - Trash
Sort it out
Ring you up
Post

4. Everything closes early and isn't open on Sundays - No late night target runs - most of the stores close about 6 or 7pm each night and most are closed on Sunday -which is refreshing - so there really is lots of shopping to be done on Saturdays.

The stores all remind me of going to Vegas or SLC - they all seem to have grocery stores within them - like the super Walmarts & Targets - unfortunately I can't find everything at them like we do in Vegas. It's a wild goose chase for many items. There are 4-5 different kinds of Sugars and Flours so you have to be specific on which type you are cooking with - I've yet to find a large bottle of vanilla!

Oh - and you must bring your own recyclable shopping bags - some stores charge you - and you have to BAG your own stuff EVERYWHERE - kinda sucks.

5. But we're at the gateway to Europe for certain! All of friends go to great places for vacations - Egypt, Austria, Paris, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece - back to the states NY, Florida - it's very fun.

Well that's it for this installment - fun little tidbits to be remembered....

Uncle Ryan in London

Uncle Ryan is our official first visitor to our new house! He was in France about the same time we were and was able to jet through London for the weekend before heading back to NYC. We hope it is the first of many trips!

Mike and the 3 bigger kids took him into town and they got to go to the London Bridge and the Tower of London. It was raining cats and dogs but they made the most of it!

Big Ben & Parliament!

London Bridges Falling Down!

Watch where you sit!
Chandler's France project that is due tomorrow - he has been working on it for a couple weeks. We included pictures of our trip as well. Good thing I brought a bunch of craft stuff! Unfortunately I've been going through my things and I'm missing TONS!!!

Ah Paris

Louise put lots of pictures on her's too....


Tyler's favori: Chocolate Chaud, pain du (au?) Pomme, Tour Eiffle et Notre Dame
Chandler's favori: Quiche Lorraine, petit dejeuner, dejeuner et diner
Ian's favori: pain du Pomme et Tour Eiffle
Lucas' favori: baguette - TOUR EIFFLE! (avec Dora the Explorer & Sophia)
Michel's favori - crepes!
Et Moi? La France est magnifique!


Parisi's on their home land

Je t'aime

Glowing in front of the L'arc de Triomphe d'etoile on the Champs Elysees

Cruisin' in the Rain

La Seine

Notre Dame

La Louvre

Tour Eiffle

Tuesday Happenings

Well I've been slightly delinquent in my posts because I've been playing with my new toy. I'm converted. I love my IPhone. I always knew I "should" get one because I have my MacBook and it would be easier - well I love my new phone. Now I can get emails where ever I go!

This weekend we had soccer (football) and football....Tyler has been working on a huge Family History project for her Language arts class and Chandler has a big report due on a country - he picked France - lucky for him we're going on Saturday so he can bring back a few little things to display for it. The kids have been really busy at school. I thought I should fill you in on what they're doing.

Lucas really likes going to school all day now - I think he's gotten used to it and doesn't come home quite so exhausted any longer. He loves to talk about Carmen and Jack, and then says he wants them to come over and also to play with Hayden & Callie. He comes home and can spell his name in order to log onto the computer to play Nick Jr. and play a Dora the Explorer game.

Ian started cub scouts - but because they don't do it through church here - he joined through school - but because he's in 3rd grade - he's a Bear not a Wolf (it's all Chinese to me) but he still wants his Wolf since Chandler got his - so we're going to end up doing double work for him. As long as he is enthusiastic that is fine. His birthday is Thursday - the night we have a Trunk or Treat at the school. He voted to go - and decorate the car - of course I didn't bring any Halloween decorations so I've been trying to find things - they have quite a few things but I hate to buy too much. I also hope Ian remembers we had a bday party for him before we left (especially since I can't find anything he wants in the stores here!) On Tuesdays he's also in a Computer Club after school right now - he really enjoys it - they have all new IMacs at the school - in July we saw them installing them all - it's terrific. He is doing well - his teacher is amazed how much Ian soars at reading - I told him he was born with a book in his hand.

Chandler begrudgingly joined Webelos - but of course once he is there he loves it. They only meet 2x month unlike at home. I think at home he was getting a little burned out with it every week. The bummer was it was the same time as track at home so he really wanted to do that with his friend Duncan. Last week he got to go into London for a field trip to the Natural History Museum - he talked about it for 3 days straight. Chandler's teacher love him - she lived in Lafayette so we do live in a small world! Chandler is in a chess club after school on Tuesdays - he loves it and he's getting better and better.

Tyler went to her first school dance on Friday night. She brought a friend home after school and they went to the dance. She said when they'd play slow songs the few couples would dance and everyone else would line up like wall flowers! We haven't gotten her in dance yet - part of it is me - I'm kinda tired at night - and our nights go fast here - it's getting darker much sooner - like by 5.

Mike was in Barcelona last week - he's enjoying his job - he really likes it - the economy makes it a little tougher but he's always up for a challenge. He's dying for American Sports though. Funny because I'm the baseball girl, but he's the one that checks the scores. He always tells me when Basketball is starting - my rote repsonse is, "It never ends". We used to love Basketball - but I loathe it now - it's just toooooo long and they are all thugs. Not my favorite any longer. Now that we've lived here for 5 weeks (or is it 6?) Mike has already been to Greece, Germany & Spain. Then this weekend we're going to France... he needs more pages - literally - in his passport!

I got my haircut today - they did aroma therapy first with a head massage - oh not by the stylist - another girl - then the shampoo - with 2 washings (which I wondered, is that standard or is my hair really dirty?) then the cut & style....so funny. It took a really long time - not like my normal 40 mins in & out. But it was nice. Caris always did a great job with my hair and I went regularly so I think the shape was still there for the new lady to follow so I don't think it was that hard. I went and ran some errands and tried this hole in the wall Chinese place Chandler's friend keeps telling us about - well - I will tell you - it's the best Beef Chow Fun I've had in a loooong time - better than any place in Ptown!!! And they deliver!

Church is going well - we went Sunday and got there 5 mins early it didn't look like a big turn out - but by the end there were a ton of people there! Wait till I tell you my new calling - ugh, but whew I can say it isn't in the RS for once!

Well off to do some chores before those kiddies come home!

Stonehenge & Longleat & Bath oh my!

The kids had parent teacher conferences Thursday - Monday so they didn't have school. I'm happy to report they are all doing well and their teachers seem to like them - whew! Lucas' speech teacher is worried about his comprehension - meaning if they tell all the kids, "It's reading time, get a book" he doesn't always follow along and they need to "guide" him. Personally I think it is more than not - he just doesn't want to do what they are doing! Luckily we had them all scheduled on Thursday so we got a free pass on the weekend.

So Friday we drove in our little family car and here was our first stop: Stonehenge - it's over 5000 years old. It's a little strange when you drive up to it - it's right off the highway - but look at the sky - it was beautiful! It was very open and windy - but I guess there used to be a great forest around it. They have all of these "great theories" of why they were built and how they were used - wouldn't it just be funny if it were just a group of friends that said, let's have a building contest!




On Saturday we met up with our new friends The Hamberlins and went to Longleat - I think you can google it - Basically in the 60's the Marquess of this place had all this land, brought in some Safari Animals and opened up his family estate up for tour to help pay for the maintainence - and wow - if you had as much land as this guy and didn't have the feudal system in place anymore - smart idea!!

You drive your car through the Safari Park - it's so funny at some places where it says - "keep your windows up!" Well - you can see why - like here in the Monkey area - you have to be careful not to run them over - The monkeys enjoyed the treats that fell into our car from the tree at our house - we had about 5 monkeys climbing on our car!!

Sally the Camel has...... 2 humps!

You got to buy feed here - some deer actually stuck their heads right into your car!

This is the Marquess' house - he lives in the West Wing - see what I mean - kinda a lot to maintain! He even has a lake - which we took a boat on - with a small island in the middle with a silver haired gorilla! They also had a bunch of fun things for the kids - rides, a giant hedge maze the kids got lost in - the kids asked if this was going to be the zoo we always go to - umm, no I don't think so - it's about 4X if not more larger than the Oakland Zoo!

On Sunday - we went to Bath - the Abbey was behind us and the Roman Bath House is on the right behind us. They had these great self-guided tour handsets - They had numbers for the kids to punch in as well so they had Kid Commentary - Lucas had to find and punch in EVERY SINGLE one - he was very cute - I think he really enjoyed it!





It made you wonder though - the water was quite green......

It was a glorious day too - here is a picture of our friends the Hamberlins (or at least the kids!) It's fun - they moved here about 2 weeks before us - and our kids match up pretty well. Mason is 12, Marina is 10, Nicko is 6 (but matches well with Ian!) and Emma is 3 - she loves all the kids :) Mark works at Cisco with Mike in a different dept - and they are also in our Ward - what are the odds? HF looking out for us again!

Today I have to get Cman a clarinet - he starts lessons on Wednesday! We're also thinking about going to Garson's Farm and picking our own fruit & veggies - it's supposed to be fun for the kids - and since we still have no TV, still making friends, and I don't want them on the electronics all day I think it is a great option!

2 weeks we meet Auntie Nu in Paris!