Never Say Goodbye...

So here we are, back in Colorado... Been here just over a month now and are settling in little by little... Its been a rough road but we are getting there.

Let me just start by saying what a fantastic experience we had while living in the UK - I really wish there were words to describe how amazing it was... on sooooo many levels, it was so great! We grew closer as a family, learned just how far we can push ourselves (pretty damn far, btw!). We absorbed so much incredible history, learned how to live in a totally different way than we had become so accustomed to in the US, and best of all, we have made some lifelong friends who are from all over the globe! We brought home many treasures from our European travels, but the thing that means the most to me is all of our new friends...

Oh it was SO hard to say goodbye to all of our WONDERFUL friends in Northampton - I cried everyday after we returned from our road trip to Germany etc... it was one goodbye after another - parties for the girls, dinners with friends, and a night out at The George... I cannot tell you how much I will miss living in England - even for all the times that I winged about missing "home", in many ways Brixworth was home for us, and I think I realized it too late - DAMN!

Never say goodbye

Click on the photo above to see more pix


I think the hardest part about leaving in such a rush was the saying "goodbye" to the people... When we arrived in England, we were all about the go go go go, see, see, see, see, do, do, do,do... The first weekend after we arrived, we went to Warwick Castle and there were very few weekends subsequent to that where we didn't go to try and see something... Somewhere along the way, we started making friends... not just mere aquaintences, but real friends - and as we were making our preparations to move back to the States, we realized that we hadn't spent enough time with our friends... I so regret that - it really was so hard to leave the people, I just can't put into words how much I treasure the relationships we forged while in England - I promise to stay in touch and I guarantee we will be back as soon as we can for a visit!

As I said, we are adjusting to being "home" again - its a bit of a shock to the system to be honest, and we are hard pressed to find anyone who really understands what we are going through... In many ways its as hard readjusting to life in the US as it was to adjust to life in the UK! More on that later...


It is late, so I'll sign off for now - I know I owe a lot more details and pix - I just have so damn many pix and so much to say that I get overwhelmed and just actually do nothing...

Cheers!

News...

Oh we had such a great holiday! I promise to get some pix and stuff in here soon!

For those of you who don't know, we have recently learned that we have to move back to Colorado in Mid September and we are going crazy trying to get everything done!

Pat is already back in Colorado and will be returning to collect the rest of us on the 13th and we will be flying back to Colorado on the 19th - its all happening very fast and its incredibly overwhelming...

We all have very mixed emotions about going home - we are partly excited and partly devistated. This has been a brilliant experience for all of us, and we are very sad to see it end. We have met some amazing people and seen some amazing things - just can't believe its over and don't want to say goodbye...

Anyway, I'll try to get my act together this week with stories and photos from our fantastic road trip to the Continent - stay tuned!

Oh My God - things are going CRAZY!!! I'm sorry I don't have time to write much, but I wanted to post some pix real quick. Last weekend we went to Hampton Court Palace - the very famous home of Henry VIII among other monarchs - I had been dying to see the place, so it was good to finally get there! It is a MASSIVE complex and there are a few rooms which have been pretty well preserved from the Tudor time period - its particularly cool because it is the 500th anniversary of ol' Hank's coronation. Don't know if you all know about him, but he was a bit of a bastard... you should read up on it - fascinating stuff!

You can just click on the pix and go to the web album.

Hampton Court Palace Aug 09

Weekend before last we decided to have an overnight in London... As usual we crammed in as much as we could... we stayed on the South bank near Shakespear's Globe Theatre - a very nice area, loads to do and see... We visited the Science and Natural History museums - both absolutely FANTASTIC! Also went to Camden Locks to look at all the crazy people and check out the market - I LOVE that place!!!

London July 2009

Anyway, that's all I've got for now - I'll be back in a couple of weeks with more!

Your Local Sports Page + Zoe turns FIVE!

Sorry mates, I know it's been a while again... Not sure how I'm going to compete with Adrian's recent blog on the big Ainsworth 20 year reunion, but I'll do my best.

NOTE: Clicking on the photos below will take you to a web album with loads more snaps.

Most importantly, our baby Zoe turned five on the 23rd of June - I honestly do not know where the last 5 years have gone- Zoe is so proud to be 5 too - for her it means she is a big girl now, although I think she struggles a bit with not being a baby anymore. We've had more emotional outbursts from her in the last month than we have in the last 4 years! Oh well, either way we are so proud of her and the young lady she is becoming...

Zoe's 5th Birthday

We also had school sports day (kinda like track and field day). Not exactly like I remember it - they do this thing with teams so that no one has to feel bad when the lose... I say when better to learn about disappointment and competition than in primary school?! Seriously - it was really lame... and it was so FLICKING HOT! Of course we all bitched and moaned about how hot it was and how they didn't have enough water for the kids, and oh, they really should have cancelled the event, and if there was just a bit of a breeze... of course the next week it rained every day and I was nearly suicidal due to all of the drastic weather changes, and my poor children did not stand a chance of surviving my mood swings - ughug!

Sports Day Brixworth Primary 2009

We've had a couple of very busy weekends with birthday parties and backyard barbecues, but in between those we went to a British motocross race - first time ever taking the kids - much fun was had by all! We spent the Saturday in Shrewsbury which was having a carnival and parade and stuff. While there we visited the castle and abbey, which were somewhat unimpressive compared to the other stuff we've seen here in England - one very cool thing about Shrewsbury is all of the half timber buildings all about (easily4-600 years old...).

Iron Bridge &Shrewsbury 2009

Spent the night in our favorite hotel chain Premier Inn and then headed out to the races on Sunday... it was a warm and sunny day and the track was in a great location - lots of trees and places for kids to play - it was also great because it was a relatively smallish event compared to the massive European races Pat and I have been to, so it wasn't crowded and annoying - people could actually go to the toilet without waiting in a cue for 30 minutes, and the rubbish was all in trash cans and not strewn all over the venue...

British MX June 2009

To be honest, I have no idea who the guys were racing, but I took the opportunity to practice taking motorsport photos - not easy - I have lots of blurry crappy shots, especially when I took the camera off of the "auto" setting... I have a few that turned out ok, but I still have a long way to go before being published in Racer X...

Over the 4th of July weekend we went to a local village which holds a Steam Rally and Large Horse Show - all kinds of fantastic old steam machines and gorgeous horses- made me think a lot of my grandfather - he was passionate about steam engines and horses - word up Gramps!

Also lots of classic vehicles of all sorts, cars, caravans and, of course, motorcycles... Loads for the kids to do too - bouncy castles, a fun fair, circus acts, etc. It was a wonderful day out - with good weather to boot - can't beat that!

Hollowell Steam Rally July 2009

This past weekend we were psyched for the Duxford Airshow - all WWII themed, it was amazing! I could not believe what I was seeing! First an American air museum full of American military aircraft - we were grateful for this museum as it was a bit wet as the day started out - we were all a bit worried because the "ceiling" was low and it was drizzly and crappy. But as the morning wore on it warmed and brightened up - perfect weather for an airshow! We saw Spitfires and P-51 Mustangs, B-25s, a B-17, some Piper Cubs, a Messerschmidt, and some other bad ass German fighter, then some Soviet military air craft, some aerobatics, bi-planes, tri-planes - it was really incredible. Another really amazing thing is that one of the stalls had 4 of the original Band of Brothers signing autographs, including Malarchy and Buck Compton! sosososososos cool - it was so surreal to see these real American heroes sitting there right in front of me - I was awestruck... Pat spoke to them and got their autographs - amazing...

Duxford Airshow July 2009

Yesterday we went to a Folk Music Festival in the village up the road from ours - it was another really nice day out - more relaxing (much needed!) I took in the music and a couple of pints of proper English cider - dang, that stuff packs a wallop - it was a spirtual experience drinking it... I think I even saw the disembodied legs of a woman with red knickers and black stockings floating above me at one point - weird...

CHUFFED!!!!

God, I've been wanting to say that since the first time I heard it! I am absolutely 'over the moon' (another favorite saying of mine) because I PASSED MY UK DRIVING TEST today!!!

And I didn't just pass - I aced the baby - no faults WHATSO-FLIPPING-EVER!!!!!!!!!!!

You would not have wanted to be around me these last weeks since I passed my theory test and scheduled my practical exam... Every driving lesson felt like a driving test that I was failing - just the thought of being judged on my driving made my heart race and my blood pressure rise - my lord I've been such a basket case I don't know how anyone has been able to put up with me!!!

Thanks to all of my friends who told me I could do it, and to my family for believing in me even when I didn't!

Now I need to get down to some details on our trip to Greece - but first, I have to crack open that bottle of wine from Provence that I've been saving for a special occasion!

Cheers!

A Little R & R in LOVELY Crete

From Mamma Mia- The Collins UK Experience goes to Greece

Sigh... after a week of sun and sand and eating my weight in tomatoes, olives and cucumbers, I am very relaxed and happy... yet sad because we had to leave one of the most lovely places I've ever been...

Please note above that you can click on the link below the photo to view my Picasa photo album from our trip to Crete.

I promise to write more later, but I wanted to get the photos up for you all to enjoy.

Yamas (Cheers in Greek :))

Bloody Hell - How Did I Get So Far Behind?????

Good Lord! I am sooooo far behind! Between bloody relatives visiting (kidding!) and milestone birthdays and weekends away and just life, I haven't taken much time to collect my thoughts and make a posting... So sorry to those of you who try to visit the blog regularly :(

So here it goes - let me try to summarize the last couple of months...

Once we came back from our visit to Colorado, Adrian (Pat's "funny" brother) and Andrea (our awesome friend and dental hygienist - also happens to be "funny" brother's girlfriend) came out for a visit. We met up with them in London and spent a weekend hanging out with them, then the following weekend they came out to Northampton and spent a couple (thank God it wasn't longer than that- I can only take so much "funny", you know?!) of days with us.

Hello...
Tower Bridge

ahhhh the love

Chapel in Tower of London

Auds and Pops at Tower of London

The "Gherkin" from Tower of London

motor

Partying in Stratford on Avon with Andrea and Adrian

Seriously though, we had a great time with them - we all get on really well and it was cool having family out to see where we live and what its like for us here - I think they enjoyed themselves - they are threatening to come back again before we move back to the States...

The next weekend was my birthday and Pat surprised me with a weekend at Whittlebury Hall - a hotel and day spa. He kept the girls and me and a friend spent the weekend relaxing, getting massages, sitting in the whirlpool, reading by the swimming pool, drinking too much wine and doing it all over again the next day - it was a wonderful surprise - I loved every minute of the non stop pampering!

Whittlebury Hall - Hotel and Spa

Me and my friend Yvette having dinner after a lovely day of relaxation

The Spa

It's really weird being 40 - its like there is no room left to be considered "young" I mean, I know its just a number, and 40 is the new 30 and all of that crap, but still, it's really a milestone and it was a bit hard to accept. I mean at this stage, you aren't really "old", but you aren't exactly "young" either - I'm not exactly having a mid-life crisis or anything, but you do start to think about things differently somehow... anyway...
The weekend after that we traveled to Kent and visited a few castles (Scotney Castle and Bodiam Castle), went to the site of the Battle of Hastings where William the Conqueror killed King Harold and

Scotney Castle in Kent - LOVELY

Scotney Castle - the main 18th Cent house

Scotney Castle - the ruined 14th century Castle - like a dream!

Big tree and girls at Scotney


More Scotney

More Scotney
became the first Norman King of England - fantastic! We spent the night in Dover and visited Dover Castle the next day - we had a warm clear day and it was brilliant! Dover castle has its origin during William the Conqueror and was in use through WWII! There are all of these cool underground tunnels that the British used during the war to plan the rescue at Dunkirk as well as other important ops during the War. There was also a hospital located underground there - its the damnedest thing seeing windows right in the white cliffs of Dover!

Bodiam Castle

Attack of the killer ducks at Bodiam Castle - they heard Audrey crinkling a crisp packet and the lot of them came RUNNING! Hilarious!
From Dover we popped up to Canterbury and visited the cathedral there... Canterbury was a very important religious center for the nation for many centuries.

More Bodiam

Dover Castle

Medieval tunnels at Dover Castle

Medieval Tunnels at Dover

WWII Era tunnels at Dover

WWII installation at Dover Castle

There were also a set of Medieval tunnels at the other end of the castle which also have a very interesting history.


From Dover we popped up to Canterbury and visited the cathedral there... Canterbury was a very important religious center for the nation for many centuries. The Archbishop or Canterbury was historically a very powerful man - sort of the "Pope" of Britain - of course that was until the Tudor reformation of the church, when Henry the VIII became the reigning religious and secular leader of the country. The cathedral itself is stunning - when we went inside there was a service on and the choir was singing - it was a truly beautiful experience - even for a tremendously agnostic person such as myself, it was an unearthly experience - just beautiful...

Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral

Elizabeth I in stone at Canterbury

Fan Vaults inside Canterbury Cathedral

The following weekend we stayed pretty close to home - only venturing out to Cannock Chase so Pat could go for a mountain bike ride - the kids had a play at the park and we hiked around while I played with my DSLR camera learning some fun little tricks - but, oh, I have so much to learn!

Then it was suddenly Easter weekend and my sister was on her way for a weeklong visit.

I'll make a separate posting about that visit as this one is getting a bit LONG!

I hope all of you are doing well - we think of all of you all often and miss you always!!!

A Poet and Didn't Know It...

before...

Oh the pride! I am so bloody proud of my daughter today, I could absolutely BURST!!!





Audrey was entered into a Poetry Competition a couple of months ago, was sent home with a poem and a cassette tape (cassette tape? who the hell has a tape player anymore??)... We eventually located a tape player, and Audrey diligently memorized her poem - in the end, it was good that we had the recording, because she really picked up on the nuaunces of how to present the poem in an appropriately dramatic manner. Apparently, one of her teachers also spent a fair amount of time with all of the children who were entered in the competition, which turned out to pay off in spades!


All of this preparation culminated in a weeklong music and drama competition in Northampton - I originally did not understand, but the whole town of Northampton was involved, and there were entries from several schools!


We arrived at the venue (a church in town) and the place was heaving with nervous kids (all 8 year olds for this session) and their equally anxious parents... None of us really knew what to expect so we sat around and drank tea (is there any place in this country that you can't go to and have a cup of tea and a biscuit? The quick answer, is no...) at around 9:25 we were allowed into the church itself and everyone settled in - we were amazed to find that we would have to listen to 35 poems! Audrey presented 17th - she was incredible! Sure, there were other kids who really delivered their poems really well, and others who really struggled - all of the Brixworth Primary School kids were very well prepared - I was proud to be a part of the whole thing.


After the 35th poem, the adjudicator (why couldn't they just call her a judge? Very intimidating!) got up and began to present awards - again, I had no idea what to expect... She started out with many kudos for all of the children and there was much clapping - then she began handing out certificates. Three children were presented with 3rd place (all Brixworth!) 4 children presented with 2nd place (3 were Brixworth) - none were Audrey... Part of me thought, well, you can't win them all - I wonder who/how many get first place? another part of me thought, Audrey better damn well be one of those in first place!

And, Drumroll, please........................................ First place goes to ................................ Audrey Collins! OMG! OMG! My hands flew to my mouth and tears immediately welled in my eyes! I felt like my daughter had won the Nobel Prize or an Oscar or something, I was SO DAMN PROUD OF HER!!!! Audrey couldn't believe it either - she was absolutely beaming!

AFTER!!!

Anyway - a very big day, for Audrey - congrats kiddo, you are the best!!!

So I was Gonna...

do this big blog about my birthday - turned 40 and all, you know... But I just am over it, so I won't bore you with my middle aged rantings!

What do you think of Pat's artistic contribution there? Nice, eh? He has developed a new routine when we are out for dinner - he draw's our portraits - very flattering (Audrey on the left, Zoe on the right...)

Anyway, the birthday was fantastic - Pat surprised me with a trip to a spa with a friend! I've never been so relaxed - it was cool having two days of just chilling and massages and steam rooms and whirlpools and reading a book without interruption - very nice THANK YOU PAT!!!

We also enjoyed a nice visit from Pat's brother Adrian, and Adrian's girlfriend (who was our friend and dental hygenist FIRST, by the way...) We spent a couple days with them in London then toward the end of their visit they came to lovely Northampton for a couple of days - very nice time!

Now it is the mid term break and the kids are off school for two weeks - very interesting juggling work and kids -they are really good though, and we make time during the day to do some fun things, although they really needed the break - its been nice not to have to go through the big morning routine each day... Tomorrow we are taking them to Drayton Manor theme park and on Saturday my sister is coming to visit! We are very excited to have Kari here because she has never been to Europe before! She's coming on her own, no kids or fiancee's or anything! I'm very proud of her!! I'll be sure to include some pix from that visit as well

When Life Serves up Lemons...

Just kidding! Life is great! We just got back from our first visit to Colorado in over a year!
Oh, yah - the drawing is mine! I've been taking art classes to help maintain my sanity as a work from home type... Its been a lot of fun and I have a few items that I'm actually kind of proud of (this isn't one of them...) ahahahaha

My first ever watercolor! From picutre of a poppy field just outside our village


Globetrotters unite - the Collins' at Heathrow's new Terminal 5

Anyway, we spent 10 warm, sunny, oxygen deprived days in Colorado. My first stop? TARGET!!! God I love that store! We went there no fewer than 4 times during our stay - I think I want to live there when we move back... no seriously...

The travel part was without incident - and we were all notably calmer than we were a year ago.... We are just a team of globetrotters now, I guess !

Wait! How did this picture of the surface of Mars get in here? Oh, right... its South Denver from the freeway - how can they call it "Colorful Colorado"?

Best Buy and Rocky Mountain High!

Bullet the Blue Sky - sigh -

I've missed the blue skies of Colorado!

Pikes Peak from our Hotel

Yes there were 4 trips to Target for everything from toothbrushes to clothes for the girls to goldfish crackers to eyeshadow... Then there was a full day at the Flat Irons Mall (OMG, what a fab mall!!! Maybe I'll live there when we move back...), a trip to Best Buy, Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx. And that was all in the first two days! I bought so much stuff that we needed to get an extra bag just to bring everything back to the UK in!

Shopping with Grandma

And the food! Oh my - Three Margaritas, Pei Wei, PF Changs, Chik-fil-a, Outback, Red Robin, and even a few LOVELY home made meals: A mini-wild game feed (mmmm antelope and pheasant!) courtesy of Tom and Lorraine Thorson, World famous chili rellenos at Jeff and Sue Slavens', and lasagne at Kari and Josh's place - A HUGE thanks to you guys for your hospitality - we LOVED it!!!

Mexican Food with the "gang" - the spooky dude in the hoodie is actually my 12 year old nephew - Hi Kieran!

We stayed in Denver the first 3 nights in Colorado to hang (read "Shop") with my mom and sister, then we cruised to Colorado Springs to spend time with friends and Pat's bro, Adrian - oh yah, and to work...

The Embassy Suites in the north end of town was fantastic! We got a smokin deal on a 2 room suite - it was nice because we could put the girls to bed and then be out in the front room watching TV or working without keeping them up (trust me, they needed their sleep!). We finally got over (I use the term "over" very loosely...) the Jetlag by the time we go to the Springs - the first 3 days we were in America we were all up, and I mean up and awake and ready to go at 3am - oh that totally sucked...

The pool at the Embassy

All our Girls (Audrey, surrogate daughter Alex ,and Zoe)

Eating out is EXHAUSTING (Zoe fell asleep before we got to our hotel almost every night we were gone zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) Andrea and I are enjoying ourselves and our VICTORIA FILET - oh, makes my mouth water just thinking of it - sigh...

Did I mention that the weather was OUTSTANDING? I haven't gone anywhere without some sort of jacket and scarf in over a year - and I kept getting HOT during our visit to Colorado - oh yes, I know its so dry and moisture is really needed, but oh I love a mild winter in the Rockies!

The all new Toyota Sequoia -Jawa Sandcrawler Edition

This frigging car was bigger than most houses in the UK - but yet only cost $30 to fill the tank - INSANE

Anyway, the hotel was fab - for $89/night we got the 2 room suite, indoor swimming pool and hot tub, free cooked breakfast each morning - PANCAKES (they do not have Ihop or anything like that over here, so we were THRILLED over the pancakes :)) AND free cocktails and snacks every evening- come to think of it, maybe I'll live at the Embassy Suites when we get back...ahahahaha

Me and my sis hangin' at the pool

Having said all of that, my FAVORITE part of the trip was seeing all of our old friends... we invited everyone to happy hour at Old Chicago's on the Friday night and I could not believe the turn out! It makes me tearful just to think about it! I hadn't realized how much I had really missed our friends, and it meant the absolute WORLD to me that so many people showed up!!! It was funny because we had two separate parties going on - one in the bar upstairs (which is where we were originally ALL supposed to hang out) and another one in the restaurant downstairs for the folks that brought their kids (we thought kids were allowed in the bar til 8pm but we were wrong - I was very grateful to Old Chi's for accomodating us - they set up big table for us in the restaurant so the people with kids could stay :)) We did not bring Audrey and Zoe with us - I know they would have loved to see all of the other children, and I feel a bit bad, but in the end it was better that they weren't there because it was a late night, and I really enjoyed being able to focus on catching up with my friends...

Monkeying around at Fox Run Park after visiting the house - it was so weird to see other people living in OUR house! they are doing a great job tho - couldn't ask for better tenants!!

Pat at Palmus (Palmer Park - he knows the trails as well as the back of his own hand)

It was interesting being back in the States for a while - the differences in the two cultures were really highlighted to me... like Pat kept saying, America is like bloody Disneyland! Everywhere you go there is a store or a mall or a restaurant - any of which I would be quite happy to go into and buy something... The old shopoholic in me sprung to life IMMEDIATELY, completely overthrowing the 12-step program I had struggled through to beat my shopping impulses (ok, it wasn't a 12 step program, but shopping in the UK is kinda like rehab - like going to a bar with no booze or a casino with no slot machines... It is no place for a shopping addict to be sure).

Other obvious differences? Cheap gas, food and booze, really good showers, no proper ale, fresh dry air (and I use the term "air" very loosely - my lord we ran from the bar to our hotel one night and my lungs were absolutely burning with oxygen deprivation! Its going to be hell getting back to aerobic condidion there after eating the air over here!!), blue sky, super bright sunshine ( I felt like I'd been living in a cave for the last year; the sun seemed SO very intense in Colorado!).

Its not really fair to compare the two places because they are both so totally wonderful (they both have their ridiculous bits too, btw...) in their own ways... I feel so extrodinarily lucky to be able to call both Colorado Springs and Brixworth "home". It was a relief to not feel like a total alien when we were in Colorado - everything felt just as it had before we left - I was worried I would feel like a stranger in a strange land, but it was fine! The thing that bothered me the most is how far away my memories of England seemed - I am more determined than ever to tuck as many English and European experiences under my belt as I can over the next year - I don't want this to seem like a far off dream when we go back, I want to keep it real and keep all of my new friends close - its been too cool of a thing to let it fade away...

The Peak from Quantum PPO facility

We got home this past Saturday, and the jetlag is sooooooo much worse coming this way - we've all been up til midnight every night and getting up in the mornings is such hell... We are desperate to get caught up on our rest though, because Pat's bro Adrian and Adrian's lovely girlfriend Andrea are coming for a visit this week! we will meet up with them this weekend in London, and then they are going to spend a few days driving around the English and Welsh countrysides, then they will come and stay with us in Brixworth!

Birthdays and Snow Days

Well, couple of bits of big news: 1) Audrey turned 8 today! 2) It will not stop snowing and the Brits have no way of dealing with it!

We are so proud of our big girl Audrey - she got her ears pierced as a birthday gift, and the experience seems to have released a young lady! She pointed out today that she was only 6 when we first got here, and now she is 8! I honestly do not know where the time has gone - it seems like just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms, marveling at the little being that I had produced, and now I'm here marveling at the lovely young girl that she has become! I don't mean to sound like a doting mother, but she truly is an amazing kid - her musical abilities alone are well beyond anything I will ever be able to comprehend, she is playing the recorder now and still loves to sing - its like being around someone who speaks a language that you can't understand - she just oozes with music, it is in her very being...

Audrey is also really excelling in school - I think she must have a photographic memory or something because she can spell like you cannot believe and reads books like they are going out of style - thank goodness the library is right next door - heaven knows she may read everything they have there by the time we move back to America!

She was broken hearted today when she couldn't go to school because of the snow - she just loves school, loves learning, friends, teachers, the lot! I am beyond proud of her!

Which brings me to this whole snow situation... Last Monday it snowed. The English countryside covered in a fluffy blanket of snow... London brought to its knees because they have no effective way of moving the snow out of the way of busses, taxis and underground trains... We all had a laugh that Britian could be so deeply affected by a couple inches of snow. When the kids got out of school we ran down to the farmer's field and had snow ball fights, made snowmen and best of all, went sledding! It was the most fun I've had in the snow since I was a kid! We had the best time- we didn't have any of the proper clothes and were soaked to the skin and frozen by the time we got home, but we didn't care, it was such good fun!

Tuesday, we went back out again - it was a bit muddy, but we didn't care, the snow, we knew would be gone by the next day, so we played like there was no tomorrow. Wednesday was dance class and the snow nearly gone, so we kinda went back to normal.

Then Thursday we woke up to a veritable blizzard... School was closed, and that afternoon we headed back to the farmer's field. The whole thing had kinda lost its magic, but we were still determined to sled and snowball til we just couldn't stand it... On the way home the kids were whining and wet and totally over it.

Friday, we got up and got ready for school. The snow seemed to be done - or was it? about 45 minutes before we had to leave for school it started snowing again - big fluffy flakes. I thought, oh, they surely won't cancel school today! So out we went into the fluffy white only to find the head teacher turning us away at the school gate - all of the parents rolling their eyes and grumbling over the impromptu school holiday - the kids skipping and shouting with delight at the prospect of another snow day... Pat finally came home from work about 1pm and it took the whole neighborhood to get the car up the driveway - you should have seen us out there clearing a path with garden spades and toy shovels... not a snow shovel to be had anywhere! The kids made a half hearted attempt to play in the snow, but they really were quite over it at this point and came inside to play polly pockets or some damn thing...

Saturday was mostly dry and there was a lot of thawing that went on, but the walkways and parking lots were just packed ice and downright treacherous to walk on or drive through. We decided to take the bus to the town center to get Audrey's ears pierced and take her to lunch for her birthday - we had planned something a bit more grand, but with the weather the way it had been we were worried about getting stuck somewhere so we toned it down a bit. Audrey was really nervous to have the ears done, but once she saw the amazing selection of earrings in Claire's, she became quite brave and went for it! I was actually a bit tearful watching my baby get her ears pierced - there was something about it that just represented her becoming a big girl, it just really moved me! And she was so proud and excited! All she could talk about was not being able to wait until she could wear the earrings she had picked out. We had a nice lunch at a place called Buddies USA - a burger joint that is kinda trying to be like a Red Robin or something. Its good, but its no Red Robin :)

Sunday it began to snow again, but not a lot - so we got up today, got ready for school (oh I was so ready to have the house back to myself!!) It wasn't snowing or anything, but when we got to the school gate it was locked... I felt like such an a-hole! I hadn't even checked the school website because it seemed like a perfectly fine day (plus, did I mention I was ready to have the house back to myself?) Poor Audrey was devistated because she was just so excited to show everyone her newly pierced ears - plus she and Zoe both were totally ready to be back at school again with their friends (and... oh yah I already mentioned the whole house to myself thing, didn't I?)

The day started deteriorating by about 11am and the fog and drizzle rolled in - it was the most dismal weather... and now, it is snowing again...

We are going to Colorado next week - I can only hope that the lovely weather they are having will last, but I think it is more likely that it will start to snow as soon as we step off the plane and will carry on until we leave... oh well. Nevermind...

Happy Birthday to my super wonderful big girl!

Mulled Wine and Mince Pies

"Fat Baby" Adipose from Doctor Who - all the girls got a cuddly fat baby from Dad

Well, we had a very nice couple of weeks off... Christmas was very relaxing and quiet. Even the time leading up to the big day was relatively relaxing. I did most of my shopping on line, and because I had to get everything for family and friends at home shipped by Dec 10th, I was done pretty early!

I didn't do as much baking as I usually do - that doesn't seem to be the big thing over here. They are big on the mince pies, Christmas pudding (which is more like a drunken sticky dense muffin than a pudding - but they use the word "pudding" differently than we do...) I also discovered mulled wine, which is a spiced wine with fruit and cinnamon served warm - its really nice with a warm mince pie. I tried Christmas pudding too - served up with some heavy cream spiked with brandy- yum. In the end I did make some fudge and macaroons. The fudge was a challenge because they don't have marshmallow cream here... I found a recipe which called for marshmallows - which they do have here, but they are not the same... It turned out ok, but not quite what I am used to. Having said that, everyone who tried it LOVED it and asked for the recipe - isn't it odd to imagine Christmas without fudge? My mother and grandmother always made fudge and sugar cookies and 500 other varieties of cookies... if we are still here next Christmas, I'm going to bring out the big guns and bake for real!

One other fun thing I did to prepare for the holidays was to make my own wreath! My neighbor is a florist and held a workshop showing us how to make a holiday wreath from scratch! Mine had spruce and ivy and holly and dried fruit and cinnamon sticks - it turned out pretty good and I had so much fun at the workshop chatting with other women from the village and, of course, drinking mulled wine and eating mince pies!!

So for Christmas, I think everyone got what they wanted - Audrey's big gift was a Nintendo DS, so far her favorite game is Cooking Mama (thanks Unka D!), Zoe got a dollhouse and a digital camera which takes still photos and videos - the kids have had a blast making silly little videos! Pat got a solar powered watch that communicates with the atomic clock in Greenwich, and I got a fantastic digital SLR camera... I have a lot to learn about how to use the thing, but the basic photos it takes are amazing!

New Webkinz from Grandma A

New jammies from Gramma C

Shattered from sooo much Christmas excitement! We all got sick leading up to the big day - Zoe was even running a temp on Chrismas day, poor thing!

On Boxing Day we were invited our neighbor's house for lunch and drinks - the kids played and we drank and ate - it was a lovely extension of Christmas - I still have no idea what Boxing Day really is... any excuse to eat and drink more and have an extra day off of work!!

We made a day trip to Cambridge to try out the new camera - unfortunately the colleges were closed and it was sooooo cold out that I snapped a few shots and we spent the rest of the time checking out the sales - hee hee

Cambridge

By the beginning of the second week we'd had enough of being stuck inside because of the cold, so I took the kids to an indoor play area and they ran for three straight hours. On New Year's Eve we went to some friends' house and partied the night away - first time I've made it to midnight in a few years I think! Everyone slept late the next day and on the weekend we visited the Cotswolds - a truly fantastic area - totally quaint stone buildings with thatched roofs and stuff - it was lovely!

Chipping Camden in the Cotswolds, Quaint defined!

400 year old market area in Chipping Camden

Believe it or not, it was one year ago this week that we moved into our new home at The Croft. I really can't believe that a whole year has passed by already... In many ways I'm already sad that we only have a year left here - two years just doesn't seem long enough to do all of the things that we wanted to do while we are here! Again, I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity and plan to attack the coming year with a new gusto - still have so much of this country to see, and so many things we still want to do on the Continent - I better get busy!

First - I'm going to bed :)

later hommies!

Merry Christmas!!!

Wow - I cannot believe it is already Christmas Eve! The presents are wrapped, the stockings are hung and the kids are absolutely manic with excitement!!!

I've been thinking a lot of all of you back in the States - I really do miss you all and wish you the very Merriest of Christmases and hope for all the best in 2009.

2008 had a lot of ups and downs for all of us - some of us gained a family member or friend, some of us lost one, and some came very close to losing one... I actually have had all three happen this year: I gained a lovely new niece, lost a new friend here in the UK - (Rest in Peace Herbert...), and have had to endure the angst of watching my mother struggle with breast cancer from 4000 miles away... (she is ok now, but the battle will carry on...)

The older I get, the more I realize how very fragile life is and I try with everything I have each day to appreciate my life and the people who I have been so lucky to know during my time on this planet.

Its been quite a year for us, making new friends, seeing new places, watching co-workers get laid off and move on to new opportunities, learning new customs, getting in touch with old high school friends (one of the highlights of my year!). It really has had its ups and downs living in a foreign country, but the overall sense is one of tremendous accomplishment and pride... I don't think I really appreciated what a massively huge thing it is to move your whole family to another country - I got so wrapped up in the details of moving and setting up a new household and organizing trips and packing lunches and ironing uniforms, that the enormity of the whole thing evaded me for quite some time.... Now, one year later I look back at my blogs and photos and I realize how incredible this whole thing has been and will continue to be. It has changed me forever - in a good way - I have learned so much about so many things, its overwhelming to think about - this experience has opened my mind and my eyes...

You are all in my thoughts at this lovely time of year- all the best

xo Lari

Provence and the Cote d'Azur - A week in the South of France

Ok - I think I have recovered from the stress of the planning and activities of this trip to actually talk about it now... This holiday was supposed to be relaxing - but I was so worked up by the time we got to Provence I was ready for the funny farm! I really need to learn to chill... Don't worry - the whole trip was not a disaster of stress- we had such a great time, and I can't wait to go back - Brangelina have good taste in places to live - I wish I could live there - its beautiful in every way...

Seriously - planning a week's vacation ANYWHERE is stressful and time consuming - and this trip was no exception to be sure! Do we stay in hotels, Chambre de hotes (bed and breakfast) or maybe a gite (cottage)? How will we get there? Airplane, train, car, some combination thereof? Will we drive straight through or stop somewhere? Its too far to drive straight through, so where should we stop?

In the end, we decided to drive, stay in Beaune on the way there and Dijon on the way back (hotels). We picked a gite near Fontvielle - in the countryside away from the bigger towns, booked it for the week, but took a midweek overnight trip to Monte Carlo and stayed in a Hotel in Nice. Driving meant a ferry - do we take one that goes over or under the Channel? We opted for over... Then there is the worrying about how does the ferry work? will we be on time? what if we miss the ferry? OMG we have to drive our "left hand drive" car on the right side of the road! What if the hotels and Gite I picked suck? I about worried myself into a frizzle...

But I get ahead of myself... let me start now at the beginning of the trip:

We were meant to catch our Ferry to Calais at 9:30 on Friday morning, so instead of having to worry (there is that word...) about missing the ferry because of traffic crossing the Thames, we decided to get a hotel about 30 minutes from Dover on Thursday night. We left after rush hour and got to our handy dandy Premier Inn about 8pm and visited the adjoining pub for some compulsory refreshments... The kids were SO excited about staying in a hotel and going on a ferry and going to France - and all I could think about was: did I remember to bring the (fill in the blank), and did I turn off the gas oven last Tuesday after baking that pizza? is the iron plugged in? did I turn my "Out of Office" on? Pat was stressed too and we were a nighmare on wheels - thank goodness for the girls who keep us in the moment, you know?

The next morning it was, yes, cold and rainy. We enjoyed our nice Premier Inn breakfast (I love that chain of hotels - they are like the McDonalds of hotels, you always know what you are going to get and its always a good and cheap place to sleep!) Our anxiety building as we approached Dover, we easily found the docks and followed the sort of clear signs - all I had was a printed out e-mail confirmation for our Ferry ride and as we got closer to the check in we were more and more apprehensive about whether we had what we needed or not - what if we didn't? Where would we go? what would we do? what if we missed the GD ferry? Turns out there was nothing to worry about (there it is again) and we found our place in the throng of cars and lorries waiting to board the ship. I, of course, drank too much coffee and had to pee but I was afraid to get out of the car, lest we have another "Eiffel Tower Incident" where I've left the family waiting in a queue that moves faster than expected and screwed the whole works up... but nature calls and off I went - leaving the rest of the family to WORRY that I wouldn't get back in time - turns out I got there JUST in time...

It was so cool watching the caterpillar of cars weave across the pavement and up the ramp into the massive ferry - it was impressive to see how many vehicles could fit onto the thing! Not knowing the "drill", I took my time figuring out whether or not to bring a coat, my backpack the kids (kidding) out of the car while Pat applied the required headlight adjuster thingies (need those so you don't blind oncoming traffic with the "left hand drive" headlights) and a GB sticker, when suddenly this alarm started to sound and we were being hustled into the passenger portion of the ferry...

Ok, major crises averted, we survived the embarkation of the ferry... but would we survive the journey? "how long will it take?"," how long have we been on the boat?", "mommy, why do I feel like I'm going to barf?", "can we get a toy, drink, snack, magazine?" And we had only just begun! Ah, but kids will be kids :) It was a very choppy journey across the channel that day - its a wonder we didn't all barf, for heaven's sake! The ferry was really very nice, lots of comfortable seating, shops, snacks, a bar (too bad we had 6 hours of driving ahead because we could have both used a pint or two :) ) The journey only took a bit over an hour and disembarking was a snap - 'right side, right side right side' we said aloud - counter clockwise, counter clockwise we said at the roundabouts... After a few short minutes Pat was cruising with confidence in his left hand drive car on the right side of the road...

Not much to worry about between Calais and our first stop Beaune - except for the tolls... now I know what you are thinking, what is the big deal? E-470, you pay your $2 and you go on your way... well multiply that by at least 10 and put all of the signs in French and you get a little ..... worried... We must have dropped over 100Euros on TOLLS during the week we were in France - yes, the roads are in excellent condition, but DANG you pay for it!

We drove through the Champagne region - not much to look at - just flat fields and long stretches of highway... The highpoint was the rest stop with the free bouncy castle. The kids really needed to blow off some steam, and it was a lovely day so we let them bounce their brains out :) We also went through the Burgundy

region, which is where we spent our first night in France - a lovely wine town called Beaune.

Breakfast in Beaune - our hotel (Hotel Central) is in the background

Beaune was really beautiful - we picked it as a place to stay because it was recommended in the Rick Steve's book. That guy knows what he is talking about when he recommends places to go! It was about dinner time when we got there, so we piled out of the car, took the necessary bits up to the room and headed out to explore the town.

Our hotel was close to the town center (thus the name Hotel Central...) - in the town center there was a lovely square surrounded by historic buildings with restaurants and shops in them. After peering into the windows of the wine shops and boulangeries (bakeries) determining which ones we would visit the next day when everything was open! For diner, we finally settled on an Italian restaurant - I swear, we eat more Italian food when we go to France! After pizzas and pasta and some nice local wine and beer, we made our way back to the hotel to get some sleep - we were all exhausted from a day in the car...

The next morning as we headed out to the town center we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was market day - oh how I LOVE markets!!! In the square was a carousel- of course the girls got a ride - and a few antique stalls - I found a lovely copper pitcher and an amber glass bottle -really cool... and we went to the bakery and got some wonderful pastries for breakfast!

The market was full of wonderful colors, and smells and sounds - the kids had 10 Euros burning a hole in their pockets and they bought some fun little trinkets and I bought a scarf (I always buy a scarf...)

Then we took more Rick Steves advice and visited the Hotel Dieu - a 15th century hospice -it was amazing. From the outside it looked like any other building, but when you got through the gates there was all of this multicolored tile and spires on the roof - and the way they have preserved the medieval rooms inside, was spectacular - so interesting that there was such a thing as a hospice 600 years ago... Leave it to a socialist country to cover that base - they always have had better health care there, I guess...

Promise more soon - gotta get some sleep!

High Atop a bluff in Nice



Its all in the wrist...

Missing all of you at Thanksgiving!

Last week didn't feel very Thanksgiving-y to me. We had just suffered a week of layoffs at Quantum (180 people, on top of the slashings my team suffered in August...) and the plants in the US were shut down - yet I still had to "work" because Europe, obviously, does not celebrate Thanksgiving. The kids were in school, there were spelling tests and play dates and visits to the library...

The bright spot was Pat's birthday on Tuesday- we celebrated at the local pub The George which has thankfully been totally remodeled on the inside - new owners, new chefs, new decor, new clientele - it is so nice to have a real pub in the village. Until now, we did not even darken the doorsteps of any of the three crappy pubs in Brixworth. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAT!!!!!!

Anyway, I took "vacation" on Thursday and mostly just messed around the house, worked out and, oh yeah, TOOK EVERYTHING OUT OF THE GD KITCHEN because it is being remodeled on Monday - yes, another fantastic adventure in a Collins kitchen. After the "flood" in May, which basically ruined the cabinets and nearly poisoned the whole family with mold spores, we are finally having new cabinets installed. This will be the THIRD time I have emptied all of the cupboards in this kitchen expecting this remodeling to be done. WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASSSSSSSSSS! I'll be sure to let you know how it goes... They are telling me it will only take a week to complete. We are, understandably skeptical. Of course, our experience in Colorado was an extreme version of "what could go wrong, did go wrong" I honestly nearly laughed at the contractor when he told me they would be done by Friday HA!

We also took Friday off, took the kids out of school and waded through the fog and chill and headed out to Bath to take in the famous Christmas market that was on. After sitting in traffic in Bath for over an hour, we finally found a park and ride and made our way to the market. It was just the kind of thing I love - stalls with ornaments, and jewelry and trinkets and gadgets and mulled wine and mince pies, cheeses and chocolates, scarves and soaps - sigh, I was in heaven... On the way out of Bath we sat in traffic for another 45 minutes and headed out to our hotel - the traffic in that city was unholy to be sure....

Bath Abbey - Bath is called Bath because of the amazing remains of an ancient Roman Bath and Temple - didn't visit this time because I was in a shopping frenzy - but we've been before and will take the kids before we go back to the US :)

A few of the magical stalls at the Bath Christmas Market

More Bath Christmas Market

On Saturday we decided to go to Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Again, we hit ungodly traffic - turns out there was a big rugby match on - Wales vs. Australia. We checked out Millineum Stadium and the big weird Millineum Centre, which Torchwood/Dr. Who fans will recognize immediately...

Cardiff Millineum Center - I'm slightly embarassed to say that I recognize this from Torchwood...

We were going to try to check out Cardiff Castle, but there was no parking because of the Rugby, so we bagged it and went to a castle about 5 miles away called Caerphilly Castle. That's the crazy thing about Wales in particular, there are castles EVERYWHERE! :)

Caerfilly Castle

It was colder than a brass monkey biting a witches tit out there -seriously, the wind, and the damp and the ugh, it was so frigging cold... but, although we bitch about more than we did when we first moved here, we still didn't let it stop us from checking things out with the enthusiasm of a summer tourist in a baseball cap (no one wears those here, btw...) bermudas and a loud hawaiian shirt. We made the compulsory visit to the toilets - THREE TIMES!!! and wandered all about this ruined castle built in the 12th century.






I never get tired of touring castles and trying to imagine what it must have been like to live during those time... I mean, we were freezing our bits and bobs off, and we had Thinsulate and polar fleece and Windstopper and YKK zippers, not to mention a nice diesel motor with a fantastic heater to pile into after our adventure - how must the poor people who lived here 800 years ago have felt dealing with the damp and the cold and the drafts and wet and the clouds and oh my, I just cannot imagine! We got it good, you know!? Anyway, cool castle, check the pix.

Today we had to finish getting ready for our kitchenless week (*snicker* I almost got through that without laughing! A week, come on!) Ordered ready meals to be delivered with my shopping from Tesco tommorrow, boiled up a bunch of rice and noodles for my picky miss Zoe, finished moving all of the food and dishes out of the kitchen, did a bit of tidying up, worked on my painting - oh yeah, I'm taking an art class - I really love it - It's nice to finally have a hobby of my own that I really enjoy and I am able to make time for - its good having older children, I must say - as much as I miss having babies, it is nice to have time for myself now :)

Then, I made a little Thanksgiving dinner. We have all of our kitchen crap in the dining room (which I had been using for all of my art stuff, that is now crammed in a corner...) The dining room table has all the dishes and pans and canisters on it and under it. In front of the dining room table is the kitchen table. This would not bother me so much, except, as I mentioned this is the THIRD GD TIME WE'VE DONE THIS since we'be been here!!! ACK! Oh well... The meal was nice and we all went around the table talking about what we are thankful for, and I found myself missing my family and Pat's family...


As I washed the dishes, I thought of the dozens of times I've stood in other people's kitchens listening to the football game in the family room and the sound of little kids running up and down the stairs, me washing while another family member was rinsing, while yet another was drying and putting away. Depending on who's house we were at, I might have a couple of glasses of wine under my belt, and a third sitting in the windowsill above the sink. Once the dishes were done, we busted out the desserts and got a whole new set of dishes dirty again - once those were clean, it was time to get the leftovers out so everyone could have a sandwich (this was a big tradition at my grandmother's house) I actually used to have very mixed feelings about these holiday gatherings - all of the rigamaroll to get somewhere at the appointed time with the assigned dish, seeing people I hadn't seen since the 4th of July or before, catching up, remembering old times, looking at someone's photos from a big vacation, or new baby... While our little dinner with just the 4 of us was wonderful and intimate - I managed to cook just enough, because we don't have room in the microscopic excuse for a fridge we have for leftovers - still had the sounds of kids running around and the glass of wine... I do have to say, though, I missed the family bit, the rigamaroll, the pictures of the big vacation, baby, wedding, the catching up... And I'm glad for all the times I took the trouble to go to those sometimes dreaded family events, because like all memories of things and events past, I only remember the good parts it is nice to have such lovely memories when you are so very far from home during this special time of year... Plus, they don't have frigging pumpkin pie or jellied cranberry sauce here - no wonder the Pilgrims bailed!

Cheers!

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

Ok - I'm going to break from my usual format briefly...

I have become a political insomniac - I am unable to stop watching CNN and MSNBC video clips on the internet... When not logged on, I am so desparate to see the latest gaffe or candidate attack or poll figure that I even watch Fox News - which is the only American news channel we get over here - even some of the presenters on Fox are bewildered at the turn of events in this election! Thank God for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart - If I really want to keep up with gaffes, and good republican/Fox News fun poking, I can tune in each night to watch one of my all time favorite shows - Who needs CNN - How I truly have come to hate CNN international with all of their "international stories" Don't they know, THE US IS ELECTING A NEW PRESIDENT! Jeezus... It actually is a refreshing reminder that the US is not the only country in the world and that there is a lot going on that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the US - but that's another renegade blog entry - I digress...

Before we went on vacation, Pat and I sent in our absentee ballots - As I was 4 years ago, I was DESPARATE to have my vote counted - it didn't count for much last time, but we didn't have much to vote for I guess... This time, I feel encouraged and hopeful that the Democrats will pull this one out... Its even starting to look like Colorado is going to go BLUE this time around - it makes me proud as hell!

Its amazing to watch the US election from a foreign country - It is actually occupying the airwaves quite a lot here - most people are getting annoyed with it, but are also eager to see a change in US leadership - even The Times - my favorite UK newspaper has alloted a large portion of ink to the US election - in outright support for Obama. They did let Carl Rove have his say, but I don't know why - what a hypocritcal windbag! There was a fantastic arcticle in the front page section of this past Sunday's paper written by Peter Millican, an Oxford philosopher who is known for having created a computer program that analyzes author writing styles. Apparently the Republicans tried to involve him to compare Obama's autobiography and a book written by William Ayers - trying to "prove" that the Obama book was written by William Ayers. When the Oxford professor indicated that he would work on the project (for $10,000), but would release the results regardless of whether the claim was substantiated (which he doubted it would be...), suddenly interest in making the comparison waned...

Anyway, I know you don't all see things the way I do (but I love you anyway), and that is what makes America so great! So, if you haven't done it already, get your ass out there and vote tomorrow and lets get back to business (and let me get back to sleep!!)

peace out

Oooo La La A Weekend in Paris!

The fun started at 4am last Thursday - we had to catch a 6am train to London to pickup the Eurostar at 8:30. We were all so excited there were no problems getting the kids out of bed or out the door or anything!

I have to say, that I really like traveling by train - the key is to not pack too heavy or too many bags because they will be with you the whole time. When traveling inside of England there are no security checks or anything so you can bring on food and drink, pocket knives and corkscrews, and hairspray bottles larger than 1mL!


On the Eurostar, there is a security check similar to an airport, but you can have your bottle of water, pocket knife, large hairspray, etc - it just can't be in your pocket :). You go through French immigration right after security so when you get to Paris, you just get off the train and head to the Metro (subway) and go on your way! Going back to the UK from France was not as smooth... I have a theory that the French do not actually want people coming and going to and from their country... Once you are there the public transportation systems are fantastic - its just getting there and out that is a challenge...

I love Paris! It has the coolest vibe - so many amazing historical buildings and landmarks all around, but also oozing with culture and class. The people are attractive and fit and soooo put together - there is no question who the locals are when you walk around Paris!

For some reason it was absolutely mad the weekend we were there, apparently it was the end of "Fashion Week" and there was some French Aerospace Exhibition that took up the Champs Elysee and Concorde area - there were airplanes and helicopters and parts thereof all up and down the avenue, it was amazing - and there were soooooo many damn people!

Friday, Pat had to work, so the girls and I went to to an area of Paris called Montmartre - this area is known to have been the cradle of many famous artists careers, and even today everywhere you go people want to sketch your picture. Its also famous for the Sacre Couer a very unique looking basillica (below) The things the girls will remember about this area is the double decker carousel and the ungodly number of stairs you have to climb to get to Sacre Couer! :) When we got back to the hotel, we popped over to the very convenient little supermarket across from the hotel and got some snacks - fantastic cheese and meats, mustard and BREAD - my GOD the bread in that country is unsurpassed! I have more bread stories so stay tuned :)
oh and Orangina, which the kids LOVE and would drink for every meal of the day if I'd let them, and the Vin - oh so many choices, so low a cost and so little time!! If I lived in France I would eat bread and cheese and drink wine for every meal - I'm so not kidding!!

Nummy baguettes and Orangina!

That night we went out for Italian food - they have surprisingly good Italian food in France - especially the Pizzas...Dining in France is truly an experience - the restaurantaurs are so happy to have you in their restaurant, they are happy to make substitutions to accomodate your picky kids and they will be happy to have you sit at your table and enjoy your meal all night long if you want - the French know how to eat - I think I must have some French blood in me somewhere!

The next day (Saturday) was a bright sunny mostly warm day - fantastic for sight seeing in Paris! Our first stop was the Tour Eiffel. The lines for tickets to go to the top were unholy, so we decided to wait until later and we popped down to the Seine to catch a boat to Notre Dame. Notre Dame is such a work of art - inside and out, I never get tired of looking at it....


After Notre Dame it was time to eat! We found a little sandwich shop/bakery and a grocery store and gathered up a lovely lunch for all of us. Zoe had an apple and a baguette (this was her staple meal for every lunch - dinner we added yogurt and carrots :) )Pat and Audrey had ham and cheese baguettes and I had the most stunning Mozzerella, tomato and herb sandwich on olive BREAD with olive oil - OMG I have never had a tastier sandwich experience - not even at Quiznos - or Travellis - top that!!!

We found a park area to eat our lunch and stumbled on this mall which was essentially underground and a flea market of sorts - it was so cool! I ran across so may awesome things that I would have loved to bring home, but they were too big to lug around Paris and onto a train so I had to restrain myself :) the kids loved it and spent some of the 5Euro I gave them on little bits and bobs at the flea market - ahhh the apple never falls far from the tree, does it?

The Louvre





Then we hit the Seine for a nice relaxing river cruise - as the sun set we chilled on a river taxi that basically went up and down the Seine until the sun went down. I got some great photos and we all got some much needed sit down time!


It was around 8pm by the time we got in the line to buy tickets to go up in the Eiffel Tower - and it was still a ridiculously long line! It was starting to get cold and we hadn't had dinner yet, so I got out of the line to go to a little kiosk and grab a snack. It took so damn long that Pat and the girls got all the way to the security check point and had to get out of line while they waited for me - DER!!! I felt like such an ass!!! So we went back to the end of the GD line and ate our sausages and fries (that's all that was left at the kiosk...) Fortunately, the line moved pretty quickly and we got to the elevator going up by around 9:30 or so it was late, but not horrible...

We grabbed some ham and cheese crepes (baguette and yogurt for Zoe) and a couple of beers and Oranginas at a little bistro that had a take away window and ate on the Metro (subway) on the way back to the hotel. We sat in the room and munched on goodies from the shop across the street until like midnight and finally got everyone in bed and asleep.

Phew - it was a whirlwind, and as usual, we crammed a boatload of activities into a short amount of time - it was fun but we were all shattered the next day when we had to battle the French end of the Eurostar system - we almost missed the damn train because it was so disorganized getting everyone checked in - man I hate that!!!

Our next adventure commences next Friday when we leave for Provence for a week - I am really excited for this one! We have vowed to try to relax on this trip and enjoy the warm and the sun and the food and the beach and the food and the food!

Ciao!

yay Paris!

Summer Holidays - British Style...

Ok - Summer? What Summer? Good Lord even the Brits have been bitching up a storm (pun intended...) about the lousy weather we had this summer - they claim that its global warming causing the rubbish weather and that even 3 years ago, summer was fantastic. I think they are deluded - its England for godssake - no one has any illusions that the weather here is EVER sunny and warm. I have found my self REALLY enjoying the nice days when they come about - and they are admittedly few and far between, but they are very welcome, indeed! The thing I can't take is the day upon day of clouds and rain with no sun at all. That truly kills me - when the sun does finally pop out, I have the urge to strip down and expose as much of my flesh as I can get away with so that I can take in the glorious rays of vitamin D packed sunshine as I can get. As it is, I think I can only actually get away with rolling my sleeves and turning my face skyward...

Right... Summer holidays - how has an entire month gone by since our vacation? I guess we've had a lot going on with school starting and stuff, but still... Anyway here we go.

After floundering around at the last minute trying to find a deal in Spain or Greece or something, we wound up going to the Lake District (in England...). While I was disappointed that we would not be going to the Continent, it turned out to be a fantastic choice! I found a little cottage called Steps Cottage (everyone names their houses here...) which was located halfway between Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere. Bowness is located right on Lake Windermere - we actually stayed in Bowness in 2001 (when I was pregnant with Audrey) during a 2 week tour of the UK, so it was cool to come back with our kids and see it through different eyes.

But let me start at the beginning... Everytime we go somewhere, we look for National Trust sites to visit on the way, and this trip was no exception. First stop: Little Moreton Hall. This place is a quintessential British half timber house built in the mid 1500's. It is in amazing condition and you really get a feel for what it must have been like to live during the medieval period. The floors on the upper levels are all uneven and you get vertigo just walking across them - if you dropped a handfull of marbles in the middle of one of the rooms they would all roll (rapidly) to one of the corners. Touring around these places is so interesting, it makes you wish the walls could talk - the things they have seen that we will never know - cool to think about...

Next we carried on straight to Windermere to pick up the keys to our cottage. It was Saturday afternoon in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the UK - and lets just say that the roads are not set up for it - total gridlock... But picking up the keys was a piece of cake and we carried on down the road to Steps cottage. The cottage was situated just off the main road between Windermere and Bowness - a tiny little whitewashed house basically in another houses driveway. Walking in the door you are in the "kitchen" it reminded me of an efficiency apartment or galley kitchen - just a long skinny room with a couple of cabinets, a dishwasher, clothes washer/dry (yes a washer-dryer all in one machine- weird...), sink and small stove on one side - the other side a dorm room fridge (which is actually quite common in many homes here...) and a little overhang counter and barstools. Turn right, there is a living room with TV etc - carry on through the living room and there is a small open space leading to a bedroom, bathroom and set of stairs down to the second bedroom.

I must say that I love the idea of a vacation in a cottage - the kids had their own space for the week and Pat and I had our own space - we could watch tv and hang out after the kids went to bed without having to worry about keeping them up, like you do in a hotel.

Plus, you can save a ton of money by being able to make your own meals, pack snacks and lunches. It is also nice to be able to do laundry! That way you don't have to pack as many clothes and save more room in the suitcases for souveniers!

After we relaxed for a bit, we wandered down to Bowness to explore a bit and find something to eat - the buildings all around the Lake District are made of the most beautiful deep blue-gray stone - the buildings, contrasting against the bright green hills and trees draped in misty low clouds all meeting with the lovely Lake Windermere.

We were all pretty tired after a long day of driving, so we headed back to our little home away from home. The next day called for rain (shocking, I know...) so we made plans to visit the Cumberland Pencil Museum - yes really... we also wanted to see a couple of outdoor sites: The Bowder Stone and Castlerigg Stone Circle. The photos speak for themselves...

The pencil museum was really cool - no REALLY! And it was packed! You never really think about pencils being invented, but they were - in the 1500's graphite was discovered in Cumberland and at some point they figured out that they could write with it, then they figured out that it got their hands dirty, so they made wood casings... ok - wake up now, I'm done... It was really interesting though. And the best part was the shop at the end - Derwent, maker of artist quality pencils, graphite, color, watercolor, etc is the company that owns the museum and they had all kinds of goodies for me :) The kids really enjoyed it too - again, there was a little quiz to keep them engaged with the exhibits and when they were done, they got some free watercolor pencils for their efforts!

After our adventures, we headed home to chill, then down the road for a meal at one of the many Italian restauants in Bowness. Food good - price RUBBISH! It is the biggest pain in the ass going out to dinner with kids in this country- its bad enough that a main course is between 9-15 Pounds, (translate $18-$30) PER PERSON -then kids meals are always at least 4 pounds each. And with Zoe being so picky, its hard to make the kids share because Zoe only likes two things and Audrey loves food like I do... it is always a battle. As much as I used to like going out to dinner, I have learned to actually avoid it here because it just doesn't have the conveinience factor that we have in America - or the variety for that matter! Anyway, we had a nice meal and took a walk by the lake.

The walk to Bowness was always an adventure. There was an area where the road crossed a small stream and was really green and tree filled - very Lord of the Rings -we always joked that there was a troll living under the bridge and tried to scare one another. I have to say that the kids are at such a fun age - no strollers, or diapers or baby bags - just two awesome little girls and their clueless parents enjoying ourselves together...

Next day we visited Carlisle Castle and the Cumberland Brewery - on the way we stopped by Aire Force, a fantastic waterfall

Then it was Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's house. This turned out to be a whole day deal - it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the country. They have timed tickets, so you have to wait in a queue to find out what time you have to come back. Oh, and there is only enough parking for about a tenth of the people who come to see it. We had to park in the next village up the road and got the last spot in this tiny little lot. We were worried about walking down the windey road, so we decided to take a public footpath through a sheep pasture - did I mention that it was really rainy this summer? It was like walking though a sheep shit laden bog of smelly sloppy splattery hell - after a few steps I just picked Zoe up and held her under my arm (her feet were covered...) Audrey and I had on our Keen like sandals and our feet were slathered in shmud (shit+mud = shmud) Fortunately, there was a nice little stream that we rinsed our feet off on. Unfortunately, my khaki colored pants were spattered all the way up to my ass... Nevermind... we were going to see Peter Rabbits house!

On the way to Beatrix Potter's house

The one and only Hill Top, one of Beatrix's homes (we are now on a first name basis...)

in the Lake District. She used this home mostly as a studio, and didn't acutally live

here regularly

The kids were so totally excited - they have loved her (Beatrix Potter) books since they were both really small and they continue to love them. Before we went to the Lake District we watched Miss Potter, which is a biographical film about Beatrix Potter's life - it was really good, the kids even enjoyed it. I highly recommend it- she was a very interesting woman with a very interesting and sometimes tragic life.

When it was finally our time to visit the house, it was totally worth the wait. The kids were given a copy of The Tail of Mr. Samuel Whiskers, which I had honestly not even heard of before! All through the book are illustrations of Hill Top! The kids were thrilled to go through each room and try to find a page in the book that matched it. One of my favorite things was the doll's house and dolls that she based her story "The Tale of Two Bad Mice" I've read that book to the girls a hundred times at least, and that dolls house had the little fake food and everything, as well as the Lucinda and Jane dolls! Outside was a lovely garden all still kept as she would have had it. We, of course had to buy some of the books they had for sale in the book shop - we even got book plates that show that we got them at Hill Top!

Other highlights of the week were a Windermere Cruise and visits to Furness Abbey, a beautiful ruined abbey, Townend, a brilliantly preserved 17th century yeoman farmer's home, Sherwood Forest and Hardwick Hall, a FANTASTIC AMAZING SUPER COOL Elizabethan house

The Major Oak - purported to be the meeting place for Robin Hood and his Merry men

Strolling through Sherwood Forest

Whats up next? We are taking the Eurostar to Paris on Thursday. Pat needs to go to Quantum's field office there for business and we just decided that we should all go. I have to suffer the nasty looks of judgment at the school's office when I take in the excuse note - God I hate that! Apparently the British government is contemplating charging families as much as 100pounds per kid tor taking days away from school for reasons other than illness. People take their kids out during school all the time because the prices for air travel and hotels etc are SO MUCH CHEAPER, its truly ridiculous. My neighbor said she would be happy to pay the 100 pounds because they are still saving so much money on their holiday... this place is so crazy...

Seriously, how the hell did they park that car without high centering?

After that, the girls are off school the last week of October, so we are going to find some sunshine in the South of France. We are renting a gite (a cottage) near Avignon and will spend one nite in Nice. It will probably take me until Christmas to get that update on line :S

We sure do miss everyone back home - for all of our great adventures, not a moment passes where we don't think of our family and friends. We sure hope some of you are planning to come visit - we really would love to have some company!!! A friend of ours from Quantum, Cornell, was over here for business and made a point of coming by before he traveled back to the States - we really enjoyed having him here - you should have seen our girls, they were sooooooo excited to have another American around! So - come see us, ok?!

out

.

ld

Another School First

So, our baby started "big school" this week! Zoe was scheduled for the afternoon session (half days for the first week) so it was hard watching big sister get her uniform on and pack her lunch first thing in the morning - Zoe was ready to go right away!!

I've been a wreck for days over the whole thing, but by the time Monday got here, we were all ready for everyone to be in school!

The schools are really good here about making sure that the children are really ready to start school. Zoe has had 3 different visits as a part of the preparation - a half day to just hang out and play in the classroom with her new teacher and classmates last July, and then later in July a "fun day" with her mates from Sunny Socks (pre school). Then, last week we went in for a one on one with the teacher - she found her peg for her jacket and p.e. bag (yes they have to change clothes for p.e. 3 times per week!), where to put her lunchbox, et and mom and dad got to visit with the teacher while Zoe explored the classroom on her own.

Like I said, by the time Monday came around the anxiety was gone for both she and I. She looked so DAMN cute in her teeny tiny little uniform and she was so excited - it was cool.

I got a little emotional on the way to the school as we walked hand in hand all alone along the pavement... we just talked like we always do about her panda and kitty and their starring roles in her dreams, about her new friends in school stuff like that... and I looked down at her and really could have cried.

We passed all of the where does Zoe's stuff go tests and then settled in to read a few books while she worked out her nerves. By the time the third book was read, she was sending me on my way...

I felt so alone as I walked away from that school... it was more bewildering than sad - such a transition - especially after spending the last 6 weeks with both of them under my feet nearly every day, it was just weird to be by myself... Why is it that you spend so much time wishing they would get big when they are small - then when they get big, you wish you would have enjoyed them more when they were small?

On the other hand, it is so cool having 'big' kids - they both have such fantastic and different personalities and there is so much we can do as a family without the worries that you have with super small kids - we are enjoying the hell out them right now!

School Days and Anniversaries

Yes - I know I owe an update from our trip to the Lake District! We've been having broadband issues again, so I'm way behind...

But - PRIORITIES!


Today is a big day in the Collins household at 1 The Croft!

Today was Audrey's first day at school - she started Year 3 (Second Grade) She was so excited she was up at 6:30 dressed and ready to go! :)

Zoe starts primary school next Monday - sigh - my babies, where have they gone!!




Today is also Pat's and my wedding anniversay! 13 years - wow! If someone would have told me on that lovely day that we would be living in the UK with twolovely daughters, I would have thought they were mad!!

Thank you for the beautiful flowers :)
Its been a very adventurous and wonderful 13 years - here's to 130 more :) I love you, Pat!!!

Singing in the Rain

We were faced with another rainy forecast for the weekend, but as always, we still managed a fun, if damp Northamptonshire weekend... We wanted to stay close to home because next weekend we are headed to Lake Windemere for a whole week! More on that in a couple of weeks!

So, we went to Rockingham Castle which is only about 20-30 minutes drive from our pad in Brixworth. It is an impressive castle which has a 900 year history - all the way back to William the Conqueror... Its really interesting to think about what the "castle" must have looked like 900 years ago - basically a wooden building with spikey wooden poles making a fence around - kind of like what you see in Braveheart, then a couple of hundred years later a big stone building with just one big room with a fire in the middle - no chimney or anything... Then abandoned until the Watson family bought it in the 1500s and turned it into a fashionable Tudor era home with amazing wooden beams and stone floors, chimneys, windows, all of the modern upgrades!

Unfortunately we couldn't take photos inside - I wish I could have, it was really nice - and the art collection was really impressive - portraits of Elizabeth I, Mary Bolyn (Lizzie's auntie...), also original seals of both Henry III and Elizabeth I - it was way cool!

Pat was thinking of bringing this one back to go with the KTM he will buy

within 5 minutes of hitting US Soil

Audrey at Rockingham Castle, Northamptonshire UK

Notice the booklet in Audrey's hand above - she's got an "I Spy" quiz provided by the castle shop - most of the sites we go to have little quizzes for the girls and they love them! Audrey used to be quite shy, but has become much more brazen after so many quizzes and now seeks out the stewards in the various castle rooms to get help with the questions in her quiz - we have all learned a lot more than we might have without Audrey's help!

A split second after I took this, Zoe nearly tipped over with the weight of this helmet!

Rockingham Castle

Rockingham Castle- still home to the Watson family who first bought the castle in the 17th century. This castle is mentioned in the Doomsday book - William the Conqueror ordered a castle to be built here after the Battle of Hastings in 1066

The "Wild Gardens" at Rockingham Castle

Rockingham Castle Gardens

The girls in the garden during a "sunny spell"

We've seen lots of castles and gardens - this is my favorite garden so far - Lovely!!

16th Century original cobbled road preserved inside the Rockingham Castle grounds - SOOOOOO COOOOOOOL! Kitchen, scullery and brewery to the right - thats what I'm talkin bout

Rockingham church down the hill from the castle

We also visited Stoke Brurne - a historic canal village with a museum chronicling the history of the British waterways. Before there were trains, there were canals and the "long boats" which were used to haul everything from coal to lumber. Apparently the advent of the canals was contraversial for its time (mid 1700s) and their construction was viewed as destroying the environment - like when a bypass is built today - interesting...

It was "chucking down" rain, and it was windy and cold to boot - I swear, summer just forgot to make a stop in England this year! The village was split down the middle by the canal, and it is as quaint as quaint can be! The canal boats that were moored along the "cut" were lovely - many people travel about in their long boats in the summer like Americans "RV" - it seems like a very relaxing and peaceful way to travel...

Blisworth Tunnel - nearly 2 miles long - an amazing

engineering feat for its time

Quite surprisingly, this chap mentioned the weather as he passed us by - the Brits are not the friendliest folks, but they are always up for a chat about the weather... notice the pint on the roof of the boat in front of the cap'n :)
We were lucky as we were strolling about - we got to see some one go through the locks. we hope during our time here to rent a long boat and take a short holiday on the waterways!

Wish us dry weather for our trip to the Lake District - aw screw it, if we wanted dry, we should have gone to Spain!

Summer arrives in the UK - don't blink, or you'll miss it!!

Audrey and her mates on a trip to the Twycross Zoo

I KNOW - Another month gone by with no proper blog update - what is the point of a blog if you don't update it! We've had a pretty busy July... Zoe had her visit to the Primary school to get ready for her big debut in September, both girls had their Sports Days, we took a couple of weekend vacations to Wales and Blackpool, and now the girls are FINALLY on summer break! Yes, your kids are getting ready to go back to school, mine just got out - and they only have 6 weeks off, which seems soooooo short! So we are making the best of it - they are taking trampoline gymnastics and we've got plans for play dates and playing in the paddling pool in the garden, horse riding lessons, some swimming and a week long holiday in the Lake District.

Most of July was rubbish weather - truly cold and rainy and nasty - it didn't even feel like a proper July! Although, toward the end, it got really nice - I even got to wear shorts a few times!

Its funny, we've been here 7 months now, and it feels like time is getting away from us! We are starting to feel desparate to get out and see even more than we've already seen - if only we didn't have to WORK!!! I spent so much time planning our little short breaks and stuff, that suddenly, summer is nearly over! So, I tried to throw together a holiday to the Continent for August, but I just couldn't get anything together - then I tried to get a holiday cottage in Cornwall - um, everyone goes there in August... I must have looked at 500 different cottages and they were all unavailable or WAY too expensive! So, the Lake District won out... I know it will also be very busy, but we got a killer deal on a cottage because it was so last minute, and we had planned to go there anyway, so... it will all work out. You have to book these cottages for at least a week, so we will be burning valuable vacation time - speaking of which, did you know that people here get 6 weeks of vacation, which is fully vested the day you start your job? I've had to scrape and save up to accrue the 4 weeks that I have, and I can't ever accrue any more than the 4 weeks - that is totally unfair - wah... Enough complaining! I owe you guys some stuff!

I've attached a bunch of photos - I hope you enjoy them!

Looking out across the fields on the way to take Zoe to pre-school, I noticed that one of the fields was purple with splotches of red - beautiful, but I could not figure out what it could be... On the way home from one of our weekend outings, I noticed a footpath leading into the field, so the next day I headed out there.

What did I find? Poppies! Thousands of purple poppies spotted with thousands of red poppies! Amazing! So I took Thousands of pictures :)You haven't forgotten the church, have you?
What are they for? How many poppy seeds does it take to make a good batch of Opium?
I love poppies and poppies love me...
I've never seen purple poppies before! We have pink ones in our garden as well

Have I talked about the lane leading up to Zoe's pre-school? there is a stone wall and a large pasture. In the summer, the pasture has cattle - young silly cows, who think all humans who are on foot have a load of hay to feed them and they often approached the wall as we walked to and from school... We always got a big kick out of it...

Ok, girls, all together now, give me a high G!

Getting ready for "Fun Day" at the primary school
The primary school in the village hosts a "fun day" for all of the children who attend the local pre-schools that feed into it. Its a fantastic way for the kids who will start up in September to meet their teachers, the other children who will be in their class and to get acquainted with their new classroom. Zoe was so excited to take her lunch and to go to "big school" and see Sissy! She really seems ready - and I'm so relieved :) Its hard for me to accept that she is going to start school - if we'd been in the US she'd have had another year of pre-school before kindergarten - here the first year of school is called "Reception" then they go to year 1, year 2, etc.

Audrey will start year 3 in September - she is 7 going on 17 - heaven help us! She has just blossomed over these last 6 months and I am so proud of her. She's also lost 3 teeth! She has loads of friends and is doing fantastically with her school work. They are both out of school for the summer - they've got 6 weeks off. It was weird having them in school in July - and even weirder that they only will be out for 6 weeks!

Sports day at Brixworth Primary - Go Audrey!!

Sports day at Sunny Socks - Go Zoe!!

Triangular Lodge at Rushton Hall - built in 1593 as a testament to the builder's Catholic faith. The whole building is full of 'threes" symbolising the Holy Trinity - very cool

We've also been off on some of our weekend hijinx - Triangular Lodge, Blackpool, Wales and Wales - yes, Wales twice... After a long weekend in Blackpool we went through Wales on the way home and stumbled across a fantastic little town called Llangollen and we just had to go back! More on that in a bit...

Blackpool - what can I say about Blackpool? A popular seaside town full of campy amusements and chip shops. A Dr. Who museum, piers with fun fairs and a good old trolley running along the coastal road. Don't forget all of the hen, stag and birthday parties - Brits love to celebrate the fact that they are about to get married, or turn 30 or 50 or whatever with everyone they know - they all wear matching t-shirts boasting the event "Sophie's 30th birthday - Blackpool 2008" or by dressing up in comically slutty outfits and parading about like college girls on spring break - oddly the pink cowboy hat with fuzzy pink trim is a favorite accessory. One hen party we saw had all the ladies dressed as cave women - I would have loved to see that group at about 1am!

And it was GD cold! Raining, blowing, COLD! You would not know by the picture above that it was JULY!!! But, as always, we don't let the weather here dampen our spirits or keep us from having a good time!

We visited the piers and had our candy floss (cotton candy), took in some of the amusements and had an early night, for the next day, we were going to Pleasure Beach - home of the most roller coasters in Europe -yeah baby!

I loved this ride! Can you imagine this being allowed in the US??

This little kid drop tower was Zoe's favorite ride - we visited MANY times!!
Zoe doing a jig while Audrey and Dad hit the roller coaster

On top of the world getting ready to ride the loopdloop roller coaster After a full day at Pleasure Beach- phew!

Taking the Trolley back to the hotel - it was a double decker!

Cool old trolley

The next day was a beautiful day - the sun was shining, it was warm and nearly all the vomit had been cleaned from the street corners from the previous night's partying follies - does it get any better?

The girls had never really been to the beach before and they were just gleeful as they drenched their clothes jumping into the waves. I wish we would have had enough time to hang out at the beach, but the girls had school the next day and we had planned to visit a castle in Wales before going home, so we could only stay for a while, but it was true quality time!

When we got to Wales, we decided to check out a popular mountain biking area before we went to the castle - we foolishly decided to grab a snack at the cafe - have I mentioned that every public establishment in this country has a cafe? You can get a jacket potatoe or breakfast roll (bun with egg, bacon and sausage) or a bowl of chips (fries) or a scone and tea ANYWHERE. Problem with this place is that it was really busy and badly managed - we wasted a ton of time waiting for a bowl of chips with 'chili' and a 'salad' - they do not get salads here... I got a bowl of room temperature greens with no salad dressing - they didn't even have any of that nauseating 'salad cream' which is like runny sweet mayonaise - actually its not even that good ;) Anyway, we got out of there about 15 minutes before the last entry to the castle, so we started hauling ass over to the castle, we flew by this amazing ruined abbey, which I would have LOVED to have visited... then we hit this town - right on a river, with colorful flags flying across the streets, the sidewalks teeming with tourists, a market on down one of the side roads - we decided right then and there to bag the castle (hell, its been there for 900 years, whats another week or two?) and we parked and explored the lovely and picturesque town of Llangollen in North Wales.
Cool ruined castle on hill overlooking Llengollen

We loved Llengollen so much, we decided to go back the very next weekend! Pat took his bike (yes the one that got stolen a week later...) and went riding on the Sunday. On Saturday we visited Chirk Castle, and had a wander about the town - apparently it always feels like there is something going on there - its beautiful and busy and there is no where near enough parking!

Chirk Castle - originally constructed in the 12th century

Is there any doubt that there is royal blood in our ancestry? Sheesh...

I love this tree...

Chirk Castle Gardens
Big tree at Chirk Castle




Steam train in Llengollen- we took the ride up the hill in the vintage cars

This sign is why they decided to let "y" be a "sometimes" vowel - how the hell do you pronounce that anyway??

Our hotel

Why can't they always get on like this?

Horse drawn canal boat - this is how they transported stuff around the UK before there were trains or motorways...

Beautiful home right on the canal

one of the work horses that pulled the boats

After a full day of boating, railroading, shopping and mountain biking, we decided to check out the ruined abbey that we'd blasted by the previous weekend. Valle Crucis Abbey - from the 13th century. It was absolutely fantastic - I just love these places, in some ways it breaks your heart to see them in this condition - while I'm not a religious person, I still find what Henry VIII did when he dissolved the abbeys and monestaries in the 16th century unfortunate, at best... On the other hand, when you see these places in such worn condition, you really get the feel for how incredibly old these structures are, and you just can't help but marvel at the incredible industry of the builders of the time - if this kind of stuff interests you, I highly recommend the book Pillars of the Earth and its sequal World Without End by Ken Follet - I think I've plugged these before, but I just loved reading about the Medieval period!

Silly hat day in the Northampton office

Rainy day fun at the Croft



Cheers!

Heinz Baked Beans - a most versatile food indeed!

Heinz Baked Beans... Certainly a versatile item found on every pub menu and in every God-fearing Brit's larder (pantry). Heinz baked beans are quite like the Van deKamps pork and beans that American's eat with hot dogs and hamburgers on the 4th of July (but without the pork...)

Baked beans are a part of the most important meal of the day - breakfast... yes, beans for breakfast. Beans, a fried egg (or two), bacon, sausage, potatoes, sauted mushrooms, a baked tomato, and, of course, toast and tea or coffee.

I personally love the full English breakfast - it is amazing how much it can vary in the various parts of the country - the beans of course are always Heinz, but the variations come in the sausage mostly... So far my favorite was our last visit to Wales, we stayed at the Royal Hotel in Llangollen - fantastic breakfast! Sometimes you get tinned (canned) mushrooms, which are foul at best...
For the lighter appetite, you can always get your beans on toast with a cup of tea...

At the pub, you'll find the baked beans served up on a jacket (baked) potato topped with shredded English cheddar. On a quick side note, it is astonishing the variety of fillings there are to choose from to fill your jacket potato with - it is a rare day where you could select the basic butter, sour cream and chives, oh no, this is far to simplistic. the Brits will eat tuna mayo (tuna salad), coronation chicken (chicken salad with sweetcorn), coleslaw, chicken curry, all sorts... I personally have not gotten more adventurous than beans and cheese on a potato, and I frankly thought I would explode - coleslaw on a potato, really??? Yes, really...
If you are lucky enough to be at a pub or snack bar with a kids menu, the chicken nuggets or sausages (not just for breakfast!) with chips (fries) are always served with a choice of baked beans or peas - I'm not sure how legumes became such an important part of the British diet, but there you have it.

The thing that I find the most amazing about Heinz baked beans is their utter inability to retain heat for any length of time. You could microwave or cook on the stove a can of Heinz baked beans to the point of absolutely scalding - the minute you scoop them onto a plate and serve them up for breakfast, lunch, dinner, what have you, those bloody little bits of protien packed goodness are as cold (if not colder) than the moment you opened the tin (can). I personally believe that there is great potential for the use of the Heinz baked bean in the high tech industry as a heat sink, but they are a little messy...

Promise to make a real posting soon, but I just had to share my baked bean ponderings with you.

Birthdays and Barn Dances!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!

Today is Zoe's 4th birthday! I can't believe my little baby girl is so big! We had a nice party for her at Hullabaloo (an indoor play area and adult hell zone) on Saturday. Her first birthday party with friends - so exciting!! We certainly missed our family and friends, though - to me kid birthdays are a party at our house with close friends and family, so it definitely felt different this year.

I decided to make the cake myself after the sticker shock

of what it would cost to have a

"custom made" cake (₤30 for an 8" round cake

- yes that's nearly $60!!!)

PRESENTS!!! Zoe and Audrey with our neighbor's

kids, Caitlin and Cameron

Make a wish!

Thanks to the Grandmas for the awesome presents!!


Tonight we had a meeting at the school for parents of children starting Reception in September (its like kindergarten, but they start a year sooner here). We saw her classroom, met her teacher and bought some uniform bits - you know, its hard enough sending your child off to school, but that we have to do it a year earlier this year is kind of tearing me up!! I actually have mixed emotions about it - part of me is really excited for her - I think having both girls at the same school will be better - and I will be glad to get her out of Sunny Socks (pre-school) They are great there, but the facility and curriculum leaves a bit to be desired...

The Barn Dance!

Saturday night we went to a barn dance at one of the local farms. It was a riot to see all of these Brits in their cowboy hats and boots (I don't even own a pair of wranglers for God's Sake!). There was even a guy there wearing overalls with no shirt underneath - dear lord... It was held in a huge barn about a mile or so from where we live. We walked down with a big group of people from the village - I can't tell you how excited I was to have a night out!



The barn was set up with a bunch of seating made out of hay bales, a big open dance area and a trailer all surrounded by hay bales where the band sat (fiddle, guitar and accordian). Don't forget the BAR! I was drinking Carlsberg Export - a very high alcohol content Lager - hell, if you are going to pay ₤2.50 for a can of beer, you might as well get your money's worth :)

Me, the Carslberg and my awesome neighbor, Julie

The band had a caller, just like square dancing - I was immediately taken back to 4th grade - all kinds of swinging your partner and promenading - it was excellent!

There was a Ploughman's Supper, which was basically some ham, cheese, bread and I think there were some sort of vegetables on the plate - and I had my first pork pie - OMG - it looked like a ball of spam baked into a pie shell, but it was TASTY! It is, to me, the equivalent of eating Taco Bell tacos (what I wouldn't give for a TACO!!) when you are drunk - soooo bad for you, but taste sooooo good :)
The long walk home...

We so busy having fun, we forgot to really take any pictures, which I'm mad about! It really was such a cool experience - I guess we'll just have to go next year!!

Last weekend was Father's Day - we went and saw Indiana Jones, which was fun! We also went to a mountain biking place that was also set up for families - Pat rode and we had a picnic, and the kids played at the playground - it was a beautiful day and good fun!









Fin...

More Springtime in Britian...

Dang, I've been going through my pictures and we have really been BUSY this spring! I can't believe it is already the middle of June!

In April, Audrey had two weeks off of school for what they call "mid term" so we took some time off work and took the kids to Drayton Manor (an amusement park) and also visited Stoke on Trent (also known as "the Potteries") Well known for dishes and art pottery. In May we had a couple of bank holidays (three day weekends...) which made it possible for us to take a couple of more overnight trips. One weekend we covered Avebury, which is a huge prehistoric site with dozens of huge stone circles, a giant manmade mound and a prehistoric burial mound - it was really amazing!! Also stopped by Stonehenge, then went to Salisbury, which still has the entire Medieval city wall in tact - they still close the city gates in the night. Salisbury also has a fantastic cathedral which boasts having one of the 5 remaining copys of the magna carta.

Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury

The Cloisters, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury

I really have a thing for cloisters... Salisbury Cathedral

Cool carving, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury

Ok, maybe I just have a thing with cathedrals... Salisbury Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral, Salisbury

After Salisbury we went on to Wells. Pat and I have been to Wells before - he used to work with a team over there before Quantum shut the facility down and moved all of the work to the U.S. It is a fantastic city - known as Britian's smallest city. It has a fantastic cathedral and is home to Europe's oldest residential street. We stayed at a 400 year old hotel in the town center called the Crown Inn. If you've seen the movie "Hot Fuzz" you'll know what the outside of this hotel looks like because it is featured in the film!

Wells Cathedral, Wells

Cool Stone Dude, Wells Cathedral

Oldest Residential Street in Europe, Wells

Our last stop during this overnighter weekend was Chedworth Roman Villa - tucked away in the middle of NOWHERE is this amazing ruin of a 2000 year old Roman villa, complete with central heat, a mosaic floor dining room and of course a proper bath house that no Roman home would ever be without! Zoe loved it because she had her very own map of the place :) Audrey was keen on the endangered white snails which call the place home :)

May was a very busy month for us - after our first bank holiday weekend, Pat's parents came out for a visit. They spent a couple of days with us then went on a driving tour of England. We took them around our village then made a day trip to Cambridge. The weather could not have been better (and actually hasn't been since!) We took in a punt ride on the river Cam, toured Queens college and enjoyed the awesome Sunday art market in the square.

Pretty Window Queens College, Cambridge

Tulips - Cambridge

That following week, I traveled to Zurich on business. I stayed at the Hotel Hirschen in the historic town center, just a block away from the river and about a half mile from the lake. It was sooo beautiful there - I really enjoyed my stay! Some colleagues of mine from Colorado just happened to be there while I was, so we all went to dinner and then out to a piano bar - it was a really good night :) I had a chance to do a bit of shopping and bought some fantastic shoes!!! And also got to go to a happy hour with a bunch of the folks that work in the Quantum office in Zurich - it was so nice to be around PEOPLE!!! Quantum's Zurich office has people from all over the world working there, China, Germany, Kosovo, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, France, Finland, America... Its amazing! I think there may be one or two Swiss people who work there too :) So, not only was the trip a success from a work perspective, but I got to meet a bunch of cool new friends and catch up with some old friends from home - it was a good trip, but I was so glad to go home! I really missed Pat and the kids while I was gone ( although Pat doesn't believe it!).

Walking about the cobblestone streets of Zurich

At the end of May we had another bank holiday and Audrey had the week off for "half term" break. The Friday before that we met up with Pat's parents again, this time in London (they were headed home on the Saturday...). They were pretty tired from their 2 week adventure, so we just checked out the Covent Garden market, walked across the Tower Bridge and had a couple of nice meals together. It was so nice to have visitors from home - I hope more people will take their example - we miss you guys!!!

Grampa, give me candy! Covent Garden, London

Tower Bridge, London

Tower of London, London

We were all just shattered by the end of the day, Zoe even fell asleep on the train on the way back to Northampton! But, we still had a three day weekend ahead of us, so we got up the next morning, packed a suitcase, booked a hotel room in York and headed out! We kinda got a late start, but its less than 3 hours away, so we still got there by lunchtime-ish... York is a FANTASTIC city - it is very quaint and charming with a castle keep up on a hill a massive Cathedral and lots of windey streets with buildings that are 4-5 centuries old - and lots of them are haunted!! We really enjoyed our weekend there!

From the top of the Keep, York Castle

From the bottom of the Keep, York Castle!

Pat and the girlz, York Castle

York Castle

Cool Purple Paint Guy, York (check out Zoe's face - she was terrified!)

The Shambles, York

The High Street York - PACKED!!The girls on The Shambles, York

Haunted Pub, York

Inside the haunted pub - it is not an optical illusion - the floor is totally lopsided! I got vertigo sitting in here because EVERYTHING was off kilter!

Pat and Audrey - haunted lemonade

OMG - is that a G-G-G-Ghost???

The following weekend we took it easy on the Saturday, and then Pat and I had a big treat! A whole day out - just us! The kids were so amped to have a babysitter all day, everyone was happy! Pat and I went to the FIM World GP Motocross race at Mallory Park - it was kinda cool and overcast, but it was a brilliant day out for us! We drank cold ale, ate cheeseburgers and chips from a van, wandered about the pits, got a few autographs, watched some excellent racing and even saw a Welsh streaker - what else could you ask for!?

Whip it baby!

Welsh Streaker

There is not enough beer in this country to help me forget that sight...

Why are streakers never hot chicks?

Stefan Everts - Motogod (not bad looking either!)

Ok - almost caught up... Last week I went with Zoe on a field trip to a farm - we petted goats and cows and bunnies, but I think her favorite bit were the bouncy castles and the life size cow sculpture that had udders full of water that the kids could "milk" :) Then, for the weekend we visited Stowe Landscape gardens - the pictures tell the story of that - it was very beautiful and relaxing, although, again, kinda cold and cloudy :( Fortunately we are learning how to be prepared for the unpredictable English weather and we had lots of fun!

The bikes have to live in the house because it is too damp in the garage...

RIGHT! I think I have you all caught up now - ooooh - except for one quick thing! I now am learning what the view is like from the RIGHT Side of the car! Yes, I am taking driving lessons! I was SOOOOOOO nervous before the instructor showed up last week... imagine my shock and dismay when I got in the car and saw that it was a STANDARD - oh crap!!! She drove us out to a quiet neighborhood in Kingsthorpe (part of the main town of Northampton) and taught me some basics then had me climb behind the wheel! It was so weird shifting with my left hand, but she taught me some really good tips to help me not freak out so bad about the cars parked on the left and the cars which I feel like I am going have head on collisions with which are coming the other way! Today I had my second lesson and it went really well, I even went on a dual carriage way (kinda like a freeway), a few roundabouts and a construction zone - yay for me!

Peace out baby

Springtime in Britian!

Yes - I'm back - my God, I cannot believe how long it has been since I've written! This is supposed to be a fun way to express myself and share my family's experiences here in the UK - and it has somehow become just another thing I have to do, and feel guilty about when I don't do it! Sigh... Anyway -I'm still here, we are still having weekly adventures and here is my attempt to do a little bit of catching up!!!

For those of you who have viewed this already - sorry - I accidentally posted and never got back to adding the updated text - sheesh I have got to get my focus back!!

Right! So, yes, Audrey lost another tooth - she's only on her third one! She's got three more loose teeth so I'm sure that by Halloween we won't even need to buy a pumpkin, we'll just put a tea light in her mouth and set her on the porch!

Audrey has really blossomed in the last couple of months. She has loads of friends and has really developed a lot of confidence - we are so very proud of her (which is nothing new, but it is nice to see her come out of her shell a bit!!). She tried out for the orchestra the other day - violin :) She is very enthusiastic about it, so I hope she gets a spot. Everyone wanted to play violin so she is competing with like 30 other kids, but I think she has a pretty good chance of getting in...

Our little sprout, Zoe, is doing good too - she's had a tough time settling in here... She has (until recently) really much preferred to stay home rather than go to "nursery" (pre-school). She and Audrey have grown very close and love to play and travel together, which is really great. The teachers at nursery tell me that she seems totally normal and perfectly happy, but I've never had to drag her out of there like I used to have at Hope Montessori... We realized early on that she was a little witdrawn because she was having a hard time understanding the teachers due to their accents... then, we recently figured out that she is self concious about her own accent... We addressed both issues immediately and she seems so much better now. She has two very close friends at nursery and has asked them to attend her birthday party (she'll be 4 on the 23rd!!). I'm sure she will be fine, but I feel bad for my spunky little thang...

Ok then... so yes, its been a long time, we've had many adventures - here it is in pictures:

Oxford - Radcliffe Camera

Oxford - cool carving on the tower of one of many churches...

Half term at Drayton Manor (amusment park) Hi Thomas!

Lots of Footpaths all about the countryside - this one is

at the edge of Brixworth

Splashing about in our "wellies" after a spring shower

Springtime in Brixworth

Avebury - cool prehistoric stonehengy kinda place - with lots of sheep and sheep poop!

Lots of Pheasants - I spotted this one at Chedworth Roman Villa - a 2000 year old ruin of an amazing Roman Villa - check out the mosaic from what they believe to have been a dining room!

Cambridge - Queens College - man I love the stone carved figures and faces!! And our girlz striking a pose at Queens College

Cambridge - Kings Chapel From the river Cam; and a little Henry VIII - Kings Chapel is really his...

Ok - it is late - more later. Hopefully I will get back to this before another 2 months go by!!!

Cheers!

Float This!

Hey, two blogs in one week? Try to contain your amazement and excitement!

Last weekend we did a couple of fun things! On Friday I took the day off and we went to Pitsford Reservoir with our neighbor Julie and her kids Cameron and Caitlin. Audrey rode her bike for the first time in ages and had a total ball (the reservoir is about a mile or so from the house). There is this totally quaint "foot path" that gets you there from the village - the only shocking thing is that you have to cross this ridiculously busy road - then through the farmer's field to the reservoir. THere are all kinds of services there, a cafe, a bike shop, toilets (yes, Zoe made use of them as soon as we got there!!!! :))

There is a little maze, a bird watching hut playgrounds, etc. It was a bit chilly and windy, but we had a very nice day!

Pitsford Reservoir

On Saturday, we were invited to visit Portsmouth with the family of one of the guys Pat works with (Paul, Yvette, Emily and Sam). The Portsmouth Historic Dockyards are there - The HMS Victory (1765- oldest commissioned warship in the world!) - Lord Horatio Nelson was shot and later died on this ship.

HMS Victory

The HMS Warrior (1860) - way cool restored Victorian era warship and my personal favorite the Mary Rose (1545) This was Henry VIII's ship which sank right outside of Portsmouth Harbor in 1545 - it was found in the 70s and was recovered in the 80s - they are still restoring what is left and there is a museum full of amazing artifacts!

HMS Warrior

Audrey, Sam, Emily and Zoe on the poop deck of the Warrior

HMS Warrior from the harbor

We also took a harbor cruise and had our first family photo taken to prove that we are all actually here together!

Since Audrey is on mid-term break, we are going to take a couple of days off and go to Drayton Manor (amusement park) and Stoke-on-Trent (pottery heaven) - only about an hour or two NW of here, but we are going to get a hotel and chill for a couple of days. Then we will be heading to London - I'm planning to see Hampton Court Palace (Henry VIII amazing crib) and Pat is going to take Audrey to see the Dr. Who exhibition at Earls court - should be a fun and busy weekend!

The Cool, the Quaint and the Quirky

Now that I think I have survived my midlife shopping crisis, I'm ready to share some more interesting tidbits I've been collecting since we arrived... Can you believe we've been here 3 months now! In some ways it seems like longer, in others I can't believe that much time has passed already!

The Cool

The list of cool things here is long indeed - we have visited some amazing places in the three short months we've been here. We've joined the National Trust which is a private charity that looks after some of Britian's most treasured historical buildings and gardens. So far the various sites can be classified as cool and medieval (castles and Cathedrals, etc), cool and classy (amazing halls, courts, manors, palaces), and just plain cool.

Warwick Castle - central in the British Civil War (War of the Roses)

Farthingay Cathedral - an axe's throw from the remains of Farthingay castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded (did you know it took 3 whacks to get her head off? Damn!)

Cool gargoyle thing in ruins of Castle Rising

Kings Chapel - Cambridge

Inside Kings Chapel at Cambridge - stunning

Also in King's Chapel - a panel from the Organ case with HenryVIII initials

Bridge over river running through Cambridge campus - I love Cambridge!!

Peterborough Cathedral

Lyveden New Bield - 16th century unfinished home - said to be haunted

Charlcote Hall - the family of the Earl or Duke of something or another still live in the "west wing" we saw a lad jumping on a trampoline in the back - almost classifies as "quirky"....

On the grounds of Charlcote hall - beautiful

Tattershall Castle - Oliver Cromwell's pad from like the 1400's or something - fascinating to think about life in a place like this

Storefronts in an old Cathedral in Stamford - who says the Brits aren't resourceful?

Isaac Newton's home - this is where he pondered the concept of gravity, bent light through a prism and came up with F=MA - Damn that is cool!

Springtime in Britian means fresh rack of lamb on every Easter dinner table... Many lambs were spared this year due to Easter's early arrival (as the butcher told me - they are too small- ew)

Ice cream at Kings Chapel Cambridge - tastier than it looks!

Cool Tree - lots of cool flora around here

Coughton Court - a very important place for Catholics during the reformation period when Catholics were punished for practicing their religion - there were a couple of "Priest holes" used for hiding priests - Henry VIII had a common practice of executing priests. Interesting stuff... The Chemise worn by Mary, Queen of Scots when she was executed is on display here along with a copy of her death mask - soooo interesting!

SOOOOOO Many daffodils EVERYWHERE this time of year! Love it!

England's last remaining "unspoilt' pub, The Fleece Inn - circa 15th century!

Crisps (potato chips) and lemonade (sprite) - Audrey and Zoe's favorite pub grub!

Enjoying some locally brewed Ales at the Fleece (mine was called Pigs Head...)

Fireplace at The Fleece - see the "Witch Circles" painted on the ground? This was a typical medieval practive - they believed that witches came down the chimney and if you painted these circles on the hearth that it would drive them away...

More purty flowers - at Baddesley Clinton House this time

Of all of the things you could sculpt a shrub into, why and egg cup? Quirky to be sure...

Baddesley Clinton - 15th Century Tudor home. Check out the cool moat all around. Also known as a Catholic home during the Reformation with 4 Priest Holes - a lot of interesting stories about this place - it was stunning inside - lots of wood panelled walls and period furniture

More Baddesley Clinton

Mama sheep and her two babies trotting up the road - Quaint, no?

The Quaint

Ok, now on to the quaint...

Mail Slots - there are no mailboxes at the homes here - only a slot in the front door. Our neighbor bangs the little flap door when she comes to our door (instead of ringing the bell or knocking ) It never ceases to scare the crap out of me!

Escutcheon - we have key holes - like for skeleton keys for our doors. None of the keys are the same size shape or color. An Escutcheon is the little fancy door that goes over the keyhole. They are not insulatated - just a little metal disk - cold air comes FLYING through the keyhole. My question? Why not just call it a keyhole cover or something simple? Who knows - they also call zucchini courgettes and eggplant Aubergines- quaint defined...

Escutcheon - such fancy word for such a simple little thing.

Radiators - when you hear that a place has "central heat" do not expect to hear the rush of forced air from a furnace. Instead, when the heat kicks on you hear a "boiler" fire up and then the radiators and the pipes leading to them creaking. I've grown to love the sound of the creaking pipes. In the bathrooms the radiators are typically located below the towel rack. I love the feeling of a nice warm towel after taking a shower! Oddly, the bathrooms are always FREEZING cold, and the toilet seats are like sitting on an ice ring!

Ivy - it grows on everything and it is always green! Phone poles, tree trunks, sides of buildings, fences...everywhere..

English Mustard - SPICY! For a country that is known for its bland food, you cannot even believe how spicy English mustard is - OUCH!

Ice Lollies - popcicles :)

Washing up liquid - dish soap. I have my groceries delivered (so much better than going to the store each weekend with the whole famdamly...) and when I was on the Tesco (like Walmart) website, I was trying to find the damn dishsoap... I don't know how I had to go to the kitchen and look at the bottle of dishsoap on the sink to figure out what they called it so I could order more!

Poorly - means sick or unwell: "Zoe is poorly today" I have a hard time with that one...

Kitchen roll: Paper towels - they are about 2/3 of the width of what we are used to and have about half as many on a roll - apparently they use these instead of paper napkins at mealtime.

Tea - Dinner - yes, the neighbor just came over to pick up her kids from a playdate with Audrey and Zoe and said that it was time for their tea. I was lost the first time someone said that to me - I was thinking cakes and scones and I asked my neighbor what she typically served with tea and she explained that she meant that tea meant dinner... totally blew my image of little kids sitting around having tea and cucumber sandwiches after school - plus I felt like a total idiot :) won't be the first or last time :)

Ok - Quirky is just going to have to wait - I've been working on this posting all week and I just need to get it up there

More later - Cheers!

Today is my birthday...

Happy Birthday to me! Big 39 today! Don't feel a lot different - but that 40 number is now looming over my head - why does a number have such an impact? I dunno - doesn't matter anyway, time keeps a rollin' doesn't it? :)

I've been a bit homesick this week - while I wouldn't give up this adventure for anything, it would be nice to be able to go to Chapel Hills mall, drop by Dillards, pick up some makeup I don't need, go to the jewlery counter at Macy's pick up some bracelets and rings I don't need, of course stop by the boot sale rack and grab 2-3 pairs of boots, make a quick stop at Chik-fil-a and have some waffle fries and a deluxe chicken sandwich which I DEFINITELY did not need, pop into Bath and Body Works for some new bubble bath and anti-bacterial hand soap, Children's Place for some new clothes for the kids, Sears for some new appliances and a TV, and, and and - phew... yes, I am shopping deprived right now. The shopping in the UK leaves quite a bit to be desired - they just have not figured out the consumer-centric life that we live in the US. Maybe that is a good thing - I've been able to actually save some money since we've been here instead of spening every last dime I make... but still, a girl needs to shop - not just shop and look at things that I cannot afford or don't even want, but to BUY things to adorn my home and body with... So, my birthday present is to go shopping in Peterborough this weekend -

It was actually really funny - Pat and I were on the phone earlier today talking about our shopping adventure this weekend - I'd heard from my neighbor that Birmingham has good shopping, so Pat Googled Birmingham and started reeling of names of shops in the shopping mall there: Auntie Anne's, Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Banana Republic, Sears... I was like- 'we are so going to Birmingham - its like mini-America there!!!!" At the same time it dawned on us that he must have looked up a US mall - sure enough - Birmingham Alabama's mall has all of those stores... The Sears made it a dead give away... Oh well, I'll just have to go to Marks and Spencer and Bhs... sigh, no Chik-fil-a or Macy's for me anytime soon...

And as for bargin shopping - they have a TK Maxx here (same as TJ Maxx), but it is dismal by comparison. We went to an Outlet Mall in Bicester a couple of weeks ago - not anything like we are accustomed to in Castle Rock or Loveland - there were some fantastic stores there, don't get me wrong, French Connection, Puma, Burberry, but, the prices were quite a ways off from what I would expect from an Outlet store - a Burberry scarf was still over $80 - anyone who finds that to be a bargin has not shopped in the US...

Anyway, I got my taste of America tonight dining at TGI Friday's - I really don't care for that restaurant in the US, and it wasn't much better here, but at least it was totally familiar food and surroundings, we even had a waiter from Florida!

By the way, I share a birthday with our good friend Bart Finn - never mind that he is younger, March 19th rocks :) Happy Birthday Bart!

As always, I have lots more to write, but I've lost my ambition - here are some photos - more later :D

Audrey's birthday - a trip to Londontown!

Audrey turned 7 on February 9 and we decided to take her to London to see Wicked! I'm sure you've seen Pat's Blog, but I thought I'd add a bit of my perspective!

I was honestly a nervous wreck about taking my babies to such a massive city - but I worked hard to keep my cool so that the kids wouldn't get freaky.

The day we went was Audrey's actual birthday, so we started the morning with gift opening (and me obsessing about what everyone should wear, what should we bring - snacks, drinks umbrella, in case it rains, kleenex for the eternally running noses, wipies and sanitizing liquid for grubby hands, an extra pair of pants for Zoe in case of an accident - Good God, I'm going to need a mule to carry everything!)

The train ride was very exciting for the kids - they were really good the whole trip - and they ate almost all of the snacks I brought (obsession has its benefits). Half way to London I looked at Audrey and suddenly realized that in all the craziness of getting out the door, I had totally forgotten to brush their teeth and hair - they were both wearing the new outfits I had bought for the special day, but they looked like ragamuffins from the neck up! And somehow, in the 80 lbs of crap I had in my bag, I didn't have a comb or brush or anything... WHOOPS!

We got into London Euston train station at about 9:45 (it takes about an hour from Northampton to Central London). We then had to take the Tube (London Underground - don't call it a Subway here - subways are pedestrian walkways that go beneath really busy streets - they often hook up with a Tube stop, but not always!). We grabbed the Picadilly Line which took us to Leicster Square (pronounced Lester) - this is where all of the "cheap" ticket places are. The queues were long at all of the ticket booths - we were a bit worried that Wicked would be sold out, but it was for not - they still had seats for Audrey and Pat. I planned to take Zoe to the movies - didn't seem to make sense to pay $70 for a 3 year old to see a musical that might scare the hell out of her - besides, we probably would have spent the whole performance visiting the loo!

After we bought the tix we started exploring - it was a BEAUTIFUL day, we barely even needed our jackets (let alone the scarves, hats and mittens I had lugged along :) ) It was sunny and warm and daffodils were blooming - it was so nice!

We wandered over to Trafalgar Sq. where preparations were underway for a Chinese New Year celebration - there were red paper lanterns going up everywhere! We kept walking toward the Thames (sounds like Temz), walked up by the houses of Parliament just as Big Ben was ringing in midday - we carried on toward Buckingham Palace by way of Hyde Park - which was beautiful and full of people - daffodils and crocus were coming up through the grass and there were Swans and geese and even pelicans! The changing of the guard ceremony was in full swing and there were swarms of people watching what was in my estimation a parade behind bars - there are dudes all decked out in fancy uniforms playing instruments and marching around, but you can hardly see anything unless you are pressed right up against the palace gates - and even then, its just a bunch of guys dressed up in uniforms marching around - whatever...

Everyone was ready to have some lunch so we made our way to Victoria Station, which is across the street from the Apollo Victoria where Wicked is playing. We got some sandwiches from one of my favorite takeaway places, Pret a Manger (don't ask me to pronounce - I f-it up every time - its French...) Of course they had nothing there that Zoe would eat, so I had to get her a smoothie and some fruit from a different shop... We sat on benches in the train station while we ate, shooing pigeons and watching the travelers hurry by. There are tons of shops in the big train stations, which was nice - there was a Boots (like a Walgreens) - yes, I bought a comb AND a brush and some gum so I could sort the kids appearance out :)

Post hair brushing :)

After lunch we decided that Zoe and I would go back to Leicester Square for the movie - it was weird going on the Tube with her by myself - I've always been with another adult when traveling in London - we did great though - it was kind of cool having it just the two of us!

We had several choices of movies - there are like 4 theaters and 764 restauraunts... Speaking of which, Zoe was hungry (hmmmm, wonder why?) I gave in and took her to McDonalds for chicken nuggets - we needed to waste some time anyway - she chose Enchanted for her movie - we just saw it at Thanksgiving, and it is ok, but - oh well, you only go around once- anything for the kids :)

I was speechless when the ticket guy told me that it would be ₤19 for 2 tickets (yes, that is $38!), so I said, do you have a children's discount and I pointed to little Zoe... oh yes, he said, that will make it ₤17 for two tickets - which part of the theatre would you like to sit in? What do you mean where do I want to sit? I will figure that out when I get there - no -assigned seats at the cinema - ok - middle of the theatre - great. Next on to buy some popcorn... ₤10 for a small popcorn (you have a choice of salty or sweet - none of that nuclear yellow stuff either - just plain old popcorn - kinda nice actually), a diet coke (without a single piece of ice -ew) and some candy - wow...

We then had to climb 5 flights of stairs ( I am not kidding) to get to our theatre. There was a guy at the door taking tickets and showing people to their seats - not that it would have been hard to find our seats - there were only about 40 seats in the whole place - I think my family room in Colorado is bigger than this theatre was - very wierd...

Zoe's eyes were glued to the screen for the entire movie - and it was nice for me to just hang out with her - after we went out into Leicster Sq. to wait until Pat and Audrey were out of Wicked... we had a bit of time, so we wandered over to China Town, which was plastered with Chinese lanterns - it was surreal! It was like something out of a movie set -

Once Pat and Audrey caught up with us, we decided to just get back to the train station - Pat and I would have loved to go out for a meal and spend some more time wandering about Londontown, but the kids were totally wiped out and we still had over an hour on the underground and train and car before we got home.

Audrey really loved the show - Dad had gotten her a program and a green flying monkey to help her remember the experience - oddly, the first thing she said when she saw me and Zoe was, "no fair!" as she pointed at Zoe's Happy Meal box - kids...

A Big Week!

Phew! What a crazy couple of weeks!

On Friday, February 15, our shipment of household goods arrived! We had hoped that it would get here a few days earlier as we had a trip to "the Continent" planned and we were leaving on the 16th!

It was quite the coordination of efforts as we had to get all of our rental furniture (which included dishes, pots and pans, a TV, beds, bedding, etc) ready to be picked up just an hour before the sea container was set to arrive! It was kind of a pain having to unload all of the dressers and everything - plus, I had to be thinking of what to pack for our trip!

The rental furniture dudes showed up at around 9am - and so did the sea container! When I got home from dropping the girls off at their respective schools everything was in full swing. All we could really do is stand there and watch the guys pack everything up and load it in the truck. The guys we've run across so far who do these working class type jobs, are straight out of a movie - you can hardly understand them because they have really heavy accents and say things like "nuhfink" (nothing), and "me mates" (my friends) - and they have all been very nice and super helpful!

Then the movers showed up and the unloading began - the lory (truck) driver was amazing as he backed that monster up into our driveway - I am constantly amazed at how skilled the drivers of large vehicles are at getting about on the narrow passages here - although, I think that breakaway mirrors and proximity alarms on cars were invented in Europe!

It was cold and cloudy, but at least it wasn't raining! Pat and I were very concerned that we would have trouble fitting everything into the house, although in the end, we only had to put a few boxes into the garage - mostly garment boxes and toys ;) We got as much stuff as we could put away and then had to finish packing for our trip! Fortunately our flight was not until 5pm on Saturday, but we planned to leave before noon to make sure to leave lots of time to get to the airport...

We flew into Zurich, Switzerland, where the local currency is the Swiss Franc. We stayed at Hotel Allegra, which was nicely suited for families - our room had four twin beds and a futon! It was RIDICULOUSLY large! And very reasonably priced! The next morning we had continental breakfast (I now understand why they call it that - we were on the "continent" of Europe - and that is what they eat for breakfast there!) Fairly different from what Americans consider a Continental breakfast - no waffle makers, bagels or Lucky Charms... there was the coolest self serve coffee maker that made espressos and capaccinos and the like. For food there was an ice table with various types of yogurt, fruit, slices of cheese and very unfamiliar looking cold cuts - some of it looks like bologna, but I'll never know what that stuff tastes like - they are way too fond of organ meats over here - lord knows there are lamb's eyes and pigeon livers in that stuff! (yes, they eat pigeon here...). There is also a chaffing dish with bacon and scrambled eggs, and lots and lots and lots of bread and rolls - they have rolls made out of soft pretzle dough with out the salt - yum!

Then it was off to Grenoble, France - I had meetings with HP on Monday and Tuesday... It was a very nice drive, although it was quite hazy and difficult to see the mountains. We had a bit of a stress when we started going through toll gates as we entered France - all we had were a few Swiss Francs left over from our banquet at McDonalds and a handfull of Euros that we'd had since we went to Ireland 3 years ago! Oddly there was no where to stop and get cash along this toll road - fortunately we had enough to get through the tolls but I really don't know what would have happened if we hadn't had what we did!

We stopped at a rest stop outside of Geneva where there was a McDonalds - sometimes you really lean on these American chains when you are in a strange land - the food is quick and consistent and McLanguage is universal - everyone in the world knows what a chicken nugget is :) So, we broke down and had McDonalds - $30 for the four of us - and all Pat and I had were a couple of cheeseburgers and something to drink - the happy meals were like $7!!!!

I must say that Grenoble was a bit of a disappointment...as we drove into the city the air quality seemed to worsen with every mile - and the sides of the freeway were coated with litter - the overpasses and concrete barriers were plastered with graffiti... The architecture was early "projects" It felt more like Chernobyl than a former Olympic city! We stayed at a hotel call Chateau de la Commandier- it was this really beautiful property that has been around like 400 years - surrounded by a wall and a gate that is locked at night - because it is in the middle of the ghetto, I tell you! The desk clerk, Caroline, was awesome - the most friendly French person I've ever met! We asked her where to go for dinner and she recommended pizza of all things... so we went to the town center at Caroline's recommendation - unfortunately, it wasn't much better down there - the "free" parking we were at is only called free because that's where all of the car theifs get their goods - it was beyond sketchy - Pat was freaking out - I was in denial... It was really a shame because it was a very cool area - very Paris like, with Parisian architecture and even a river running right through the middle of town. On the far end is a sheer cliff with a Bastille built into the side of it - very impressive looking...

The street Caroline sent us to had no fewer than 20 pizza restaurants - and at 7pm they were all empty - just barely opening up for the night. We had a fantastic meal, and the restaurant to ourselves - the French do not eat dinner before 8pm - we felt like circus freaks...

Check Pat's blog for what they did while I was at work on Monday and Tuesday http://www.tepidbeer.blogspot.com/

The work stuff was good - a little uncomfortable at times when the HP folks would break into French and start discussing things - they were probably talking about me - I would never have known one way or the other! Lunchtime was an adventure - the "canteen" looked like nearly any other at a place of business - until you looked a bit closer... beer and wine available at the checkout, this salad bar type thing with just plain yogurt (they call it frommage - cheese) and apple puree (applesauce) - I watched closely - they put the frommage in a bowl and then added in the puree - so I tried it - it was pretty good! All kinds of desserts and cheeses - all in proper little dishes, no styrofoam plates and cups - all glass and metal. Each table had a pitcher of water and no one drank out of a bottle or can - everything was poured into a glass. More awkward times here trying to make small talk, sometimes it was just easier to let them speak French to each other - another Quantum employee from Scotland was there, so we stayed pretty close to each other - I always had someone to talk to if we were excluded... The first night we went out to dinner with HP - we didn't even meet until 8pm - I had time after work to go out with the family - guess what they had? Yes, Pizza - NOTHING else was open, and we were too freaked out by the ghetto to venture too far away from the hotel... The dinner was worth the wait - I tell you, French people eat SO MUCH FOOD - they have a huge lunch and a huge dinner late at night - I don't understand how they are all so small! There was not an overweight character in the bunch!

Anyway, by Wednesday we were glad to be heading out of France - the bad air hurt our eyes and smelled like a campfire in a landfill - seriously terrible! The bad air stayed with us all the way to Germany - we were digging the autobahn - there is honestly NO speed limit - we were going over 100 MPH and people were BLAZING past us - unreal!

We traveled through Stuttgart on our way to the home of one of Pat's team members who had invited us to stay in his home - it is a cool town, but we didn't have time to stop and check it out - it was really a privlidge to stay in someones home like we did - to see how they live. It was a little uncomfortable at times because his wife and child did not speak any English. We went out to dinner - at, of all things and Italian restaurant - the kids were having nothing to do with even the suggestion of pizza :) During the meal Audrey began to kind of make friends with the little boy and they started playing a little game where she was trying to get his candy away from him - the game continued the whole way back to the house (we were on foot) - it was cool to see that kids are just kids and have their own mode of communication even when they don't share a language... he showed us around his room when we got back to the house speaking in German, and we responded in English - it was very interesting...

Next day, we went to the Quantum facility in Boemenkirch - it was a lovely drive up a winding mountain road Pat and I had a chance to get caught up on some work and the kids colored and played video games... Then, we finally had a proper German meal for lunch - spetzle and everything - it was delicious!

On our way out of Germany, we stopped by Ulm briefly - they have boasting rights to the tallest Cathedral spire in the world - it is a beautiful church - I really wanted to stop and take a tour, but once again, we just didn't have the time, we had to get back to Zurich and we had decided that we would take some time in Leichtenstein instead... oh well, we'll just have to go back!

As we headed back into Switzerland I was reminded of our visit there in 1999 - the mountains are SO amazing there, just jutting straight up out of the ground - waterfalls cascading off of the sheer cliffs - it had been raining and the clouds just hung in the crevaces - it was breathtaking. Leichtenstein was cool - the capital (and probably the only city there) has a castle built into the mountainside - it is incredibly picturesque - we stopped to do a bit of shopping and snap some photos (and took Zoe to the bathroom).

Friday we were in the Quantum Zurich office. Again the kids colored and read books while Pat and I did some work and met some of the people we've been working with but have never had the opportunity to meet... I really felt kinda bad for the kids on this trip -in hindsite, it may not have been the best idea to do things the way we did - it was just too much in too short a time - and with all of the working and driving, there wasn't a whole lot of time for fun - although, I think that they really liked having us all together like we were, and Zoe and Audrey have really been bonding - as they rode along for hours and hours they kept themselves busy telling one another stories, or making believe they were horses, or princesses, or whatever - we'd stop every once in a while to run a bit (and take Zoe to the potty :)) and to check out the candy selection in the roadside stop :)

We took a tram/trolley to go to lunch in Zurich and the kids loved that, even if they weren't crazy about the food - it is really hard to feed a picky kid in Europe - Zoe ate a ton of fruit ang veggies that we picked up at grocery stores here and there, and not much else - I hope that kid gets a little more adventurous before this is all said and done!

Anyway, we are 'home' now and were SO glad to be here! As crazy as this whole moving to the UK thing has been, I think we have really settled in nicely, and our trip to the Continent has really helped us apprecieate the "quirkyness" of the UK - its different than the US, but not as different as France or Germany are!

Sorry for the long posting - had a lot to say, I guess! Hope you are all enjoyingit - I do appreciate your feedback (especially my brother-in-law, Adrian!)

Even though we are feeling settled here, we still really miss our family and friends - I hope that you are all doing well and are planning your trips to come visit!!!

Our Town

It occurs to me that not everyone has seen pix of our lovely village of Brixworth, our home or the surrounding area.


Yes, I am obsessed with this church... get over it...

Brixworth is a fantastic village - it has a very quaint older section full of stone houses and a couple of pubs that are from the 1600's. It boasts an old church built by the Saxons in 680 A.D. - amazingly, it is still in use!

Our house is located on a sort of busy corner, but tucked up away from the road in a cul-de-sac (The Croft) with three other similar homes. Our neighbors directly across from us are fantastic, but they are the only people we've met in the Village. We'll be attending a family "disco" at the primary school on Friday - we were stunned to find out that there will be a bar there - gotta love this place!!

We have lots of services, all within walking distance

Green Grocer - fresh fruit and veg, flowers and fish - I stop by there at least twice per week for fresh stuff to serve with dinner -

Check out the brussel sprouts - I had no idea that's how they grew! I'm no more interested in eating them than before, but, very interesting all the same - or not..

Post Office - SO NICE to have one close by!

Convenience Shop - Called the Co-op, has everything from milk, bread, beer, wine, candy, snacks, meat, cheese, frozen goods - like a mini-grocery store. Have I mentioned the fresh bread and pastries that get delivered every morining? This morning I picked up a chocolate croissant and WARM baguettes - YUM

Pharmacy -dropped some cash on allergy meds today - we all have drippy noses here!!!

Hardware store - looks like someone's garage - a little of everything in there!!

Chip Shop - Fish and Chips - then head down to the Co-op for a couple of bottles of beer - nice Friday meal!

And a Butcher and a Baker too (no candlestick maker that I know of - but there is a baby shoe shop)!

Zoe's school is on a farm - can be quite aeromatic some days - but it is a lovely walk to get there...

Zoe's school is the little building on the left.

We also bought a car last week - now I just need to learn how to drive here. Pat has been riding to work a few days per week, and that car just sits here. I don't even have the slightest desire to get behind the wheel. I tried it once with our rental car... it was unnerving at best - terrifying at worst. Its so hard to judge your left side, and the roads are so narrow, and roundabouts and weird signs and and and and... I've decided to take driving lessons :D

Ahhhhhh - things are coming together...

Ok- we accomplished A LOT this week! After what could only be described as Chinese water torture, we finally got our internet service set up. We are with a company called Tiscali - they were ever so helpful when I called to order. Then, a week later, when I thought the modem should certainly have been here, I called and they said that they had no record that it had even been sent.

I was phenomenonally PISSED and STRESSED - Here my company sent me to the UK to do a job, and I could barely do e-mail (ok, I have a BlackBerry - and a fresh case of carpel tunnel from typing with my thumbs!). After being transferred around and put on hold, I was ready to be poured into a bag... I begged the poor customer support guy to get a modem, he assured me one would be on the way within 2-3 business days. ACHK! So, The next day, I call again just to make sure something in on its way - again "I am so sorry Mrs. Collins, but we show no record that we have sent you a wireless modem" OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tore into that poor guy like he was one of my kids - "This is unacceptable, I have been waiting for nearly two weeks, I have called over and over and you people keep giving me the run-around... May I please talk to a supervisor?!" That guy was so happy to put me on hold... a few days later I had my modem... and the day after that, I had another modem :)

So Wednesday was my first day working from home for real - I have a nice little set up in a corner of the "lounge" (family room/den) It's pretty basic so far, but it will work out nicely...

Thursday we had our Sky TV (satellite) installed - I now know how a heroin addict feels when they get that fix - my Lord we have like 800 channels - and lots of American TV :) Have I mentioned at all that we had only 4 channels up til Thursday? I never realized what a glutton I was for television... Shameful...

Friday, I received my debit card and checkbook - actually it was my second debit card and checkbook - Let me explain... We had hell trying to set up bank accounts in this country. One place wanted us to write a check for ₤100 in order to open the account. Please explain to me how the F we were supposed to write a ₤100 check WITHOUT A CHECKING ACCOUNT???

Thankfully, we got a bunch of help from the relocation company we've been working with. We filled out 17 forms in triplicate and sent them to a mysterious division of a pretty common bank here in the UK (no one at thelocal branch had heard of the division we were sending everything to). Whatever, so then a week or so later I get a checkbook (looks more like a car payment coupon book than a check book - and you only get one, and there are no Snoopy checks or Font options) and a debit card - with "Mr. Lari Collins" printed on it. Nice. So I call to have it changed - no can do - have to go to the branch.... which is in town... and I have no car....AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH.

I now have the replacements, but the debit card is useless until I get a PIN, in order to get a PIN you have to send off for an activation code. Then you send the form that comes with the activation code with your signature back to the bank. then, Lord knows how much later you get a PIN.

We had our first fish n chips from the "Chip Shop" across the street - it was "lovely" :) The only thing green in that place is the sign! It is deep fried fish, deep fried chicken, deep fried chips, steak pies and kebobs - definitely not your everyday choice for dining out!

We had a decompress weekend - got caught up on shopping and rest - both girls have been sick for over a week, and I think everyone is really dealing with adjustment issues right now. I even had my own melt down - so much crazy stuff going on, a girl kinda starts to miss the familiar, you know?

I think we've all turned the corner this week. Audrey's seventh birthday is on Saturday and we are very excited to head down to London for the day. Pat is going to take Audrey to see Wicked and Zoe and I will do something a little less intense. We'll be sure to put lots of pix in our blogs from that trip! Then, the week of the 18th, Audrey is on "mid-term" break for the whole week! I need to visit HP in Grenoble, France that week, so we are all going to go and drive around the Alps in between meetings. Should be a nice week away!

More later!!!

Right! (It's not just for Monty Python fans!!)

We've been here over three weeks, and we just got internet access! I never thought I would be SO happy to see a modem! I find that I am appreciating all kinds of things that I totally took for granted in America... Here's a list of some quirky differences I've observed:



- No outlets in the bathroom - how is a girl to blow her hair dry? You should have seen me the first couple of weeks while I sat on the bedroom floor (short hair dryer cord... and the outlets are near the floor) trying to style my hair with no mirror, running back and forth to the bathroom to look into the mirror to see how I was doing.. This evolved to my sitting on the floor looking in a tiny mirror propped up on the bedstand. Fortunately, Pat is much smarter than I and when he noticed that there was no outlet in the bathroom to plug his hair clippers into, he immediately thought to buy an extension cord (why didn't I think of that????). Eureka! I can stand in the bathroom and dry my hair now ;)



- Napkins (Serviettes) are not a common meal time accessory... It took us a week of various shopping trips before we finally found some - they keep them at the grocery store with the party supplies. When we asked someone about it, they told us that they usually only bust out the napkins when they are having guests for dinner... ??? Huh?



- Shopping trolleys. I don't know if you have read Pat's blog on these, but the grocery store carts are such a trip here! They are locked together and you have to put in a ₤1 coin into this contraption on the handle which releases the cart from the one in front of it. The other bizarre thing is that all four wheels swivel (in the states, I think only the back two swivel to help you maneuver). This causes the cart to "list" to the left. YOu can never push the thing straight - the front end is always at a 30 degree angle to the left, and when it gets full it just wants to go in counter clockwise circles -its quite the workout doing the grocery shopping... When you lock your cart back up you get your ₤1 coin back :)

- Fresh Food!!! Wow, is the food fresh here! We have a green grocer right across the street (also sells fresh fish!), and a baker and butcher just down the road. I have never tasted such sweet carrots and peppers! And the pears and apples are fabulous - we've even been able to get reasonably priced berries! Most packaged foods do not have any preservatives - I was so bewildered when I saw a freshness date on all of the loaves of bread of only one week out! I searched and searched for something with a later date, but it was not to be found! Then, I looked at the ingredients - I could pronounce them all! Things like high fructose corn syrup and the like were nowhere on the label! Delicious!

I've got lots more, but I'll save them for later...

We received our air shipment of household goods on Tuesday, Jan 22! It was like Christmas! It was so thrilling to put the flannel sheets on the beds, with our own pillows and comforters - that is not something I would ever say! I made up the girls beds and set out all of the stuffed animals, books and toys that arrived before they got home from school - you should have heard their squeals of delight when they saw it all - it was actually BETTER than Christmas :)

I still regret that my wonderful long black coat was not in that shipment! I was able to find a nice fleece lined waterproof jacket that is much warmer than the other coat I brought, but it doesn't quite go over my ass, so I spend a lot of time freezing it off :) It gets much colder than I ever imagined it could without having snow - the clear days are surprisingly cold - and when the wind gets to blowing - LOOK OUT! BRR! We are actually outside a lot more here than at home because we can walk everywhere...

A typical day is to get up around 6:30-7, make Audrey's lunch. Make sure the kids are up and getting dressed, etc. Feed them breakfast and let them play or watch TV while I catch up on e-mail and run reports for work, until its time for school. We leave about 8:45 to walk Audrey to school, (doors open at 8:50). Then walk the 1/2 mile or so to Zoe's school to drop her off. My fabulous new neighbor lent us a stroller - which has been a life saver on days when we are in a hurry. Zoe is a real trooper and has walked all over this village with me, but it is nice to have some wheels, you know??? Anyway, then I walk home (sometimes I stop at the shop across the street and get a fresh chocolate croissant :) and get to work. About 3:20 or so, its time to pick everyone up from school - Audrey gets off about 3:30 and I ususally get her first, then we hoof it back up to Zoe's school (Sunny Socks - Ironic name for England, don't you think?) and head home.


It is actually very nice to get outside more - it makes me realize how much time I spend INSIDE in the States...

We've done a few good day trips since we've been here - Warwick Castle, Castle Rising, we even went to the beach last weekend - it was cold, but there were a ton of people wind surfing! Insane. Check out the pix!

More later! Cheers

The long road to Northampton

OK everyone - Here is my first attempt at a BLOG! I'll try to post as often as I can - right now, we still do not have internet access from the house (long story...) But as soon as we do, I'll try to write everyday.

I've written a bit about the move itself - what a totally insane week it was!

The Move

January 2, the “packers” came – after a solid week of sorting our belongings into “stuff going by air”, “stuff going by sea”, “stuff going in our suitcases”, “stuff going to storage” and “stuff going in the trash”, we were ready for the movers. It was an oddly low key day – which we all needed. The kids went to the neighbors and Pat and I took turns running last minute errands and supervising the movers. The guys left rather early on this day, but they seemed confident that they would have a short day on the 3rd as well – when will I learn not to listen to any type of contractor…

January 3 – There is no describing the feeling you get when a big blue sea container shows up to take your things – all of your things – to another country. The reality of what we were getting ourselves into hit us as the truck rumbled up Becky drive… There was a bunch of initial discussion and a bit of ensuing panic that we had too much stuff in our air shipment – I frantically started moving some things from the room where we were keeping the air shipment items into another room to be delivered by boat… Including, my wonderful long black, warm, raincoat that I bought before our house hunting trip – more on that later…

I insisted that the movers begin to weigh the items slated for air so we could make some decisions about what to take out if needed. They proceeded to bring up a bathroom scale and carry each box/bin/stack of clothes into the bathroom and subtract their weight from the total reading and shout it out to the “boss”. After a rather anxious 45 minutes, we determined that we were actually a couple of hundred pounds UNDER our 1000 pound limit. I ran to the other room to retrieve the items that I had moved earlier, but it was too late – it was already packed – did I mention that my WARM black coat was in there?

To make a very long story short, the movers had drastically underestimated how long it was going to take to finish packing/wrapping/loading our things – turns out we have a lot of crap – so much in fact that they couldn’t fit it all into the sea container. Our air shipment had to go into the sea container so it could be taken to Denver and repacked into D-containers (BIG cardboard boxes on Pallets), so the ultimate surface shipment would fit into the sea container, but we had to wait until about 9pm for another truck to come to take the rest of our things to Denver.

The waterworks started for me that night – some of our most treasured friends and neighbors called and stopped by to wish us well – I’d kept it together pretty well over the days leading up to that day, but now that all of our stuff was gone and I didn’t have anything else to freak out about (just that minute, anyway…), all I could think about is how much I was going to miss everyone. We spent our last night in Colorado Springs at our wonderful next-door-neighbor’s house – I wish I could say I had a restful night of sleep and pleasant dreams, but that would be a lie. I didn’t sleep a WINK – I was so wound up all I could do was lie there and think – it was ridiculous. I finally threw in the towel at about 4 a.m. and headed back to the house to finish cleaning and prepare for the walk through with our new tenants.

January 4 – We got the house ready for the 11am walk through and really enjoyed meeting our new tenants – they are from Florida and I expect that they are in for about as much culture shock as we are! By about 1:30 we were ready to shove off – it was really very weird loading the family and our suitcases which contained everything we would have to wear/play with, etc until our possessions show up in the UK, into a rental car – driving out of town and seeing Pikes Peak for the last time – all very strange…

We arrived at our hotel near DIA and had dinner with my mom and Pat’s brother, his girlfriend and her daughter, then took the kids swimming (good to get them good and tired before a long flight, right?). Next morning we went to breakfast and then chilled at the hotel until it was time to head over to the airport. Things went pretty smoothly, except that Zoe had to go potty half way through the security line – and there are no bathrooms until you get to the terminal- there is just no good way to get through security quickly – especially with kids! We made it, but it was not the most fun I’ve ever had!
The fun started when we got on the plane – apparently there was a faulty valve that they decided to replace at the last minute, which delayed our departure by nearly 2 hours. They claimed that there were 30 people connecting to the same London Heathrow flight as us, and they were asking the airlines to hold their flights for us, but couldn’t confirm that they would wait until we were airborne. We heard nothing until we were very close to landing, apparently they were going to delay the flight 25 minutes, we were going to have to RUN! So, we RAN and Ran and took a GD train, and Ran out of one terminal and into another – yes, we had to go through security AGAIN, in a rush, with kids – it was unholy… the kids were amazing, Pat and I were doing everything we could to keep our composure as we pulled off shoes and belts, unzipped laptops and DVD players, poured water into trashcans – it makes my heart race just remembering it! After we got mostly put back together, we started running again – the wrong way… then, someone from our Denver flight, was passing by on a cart and told us to jump on – so we piled onto the cart and raced down the terminal. When we got to the gate, we found it to be FULL of people! They hadn’t even boarded the plane yet – it was very difficult to process as the sweat dripped down my back and Zoe pulled on my pant leg “I have to go potty…”

We got into the line for pre-boarding only to be told we had to stand in yet another line because the machine wouldn’t read our boarding passes. At this point Audrey began to cry – I honestly wanted to do the same, but I was too damn tired… While standing waiting to talk to the gate agent, the woman at the jetway called out (screamed, really, apparently the PA system was not working…) “EVERYONE FOR LONDON HEATHROW, LINE UP!” and all 500 people who did not pre-board lined up – I have never seen anything like it… and all we could do is stand there in the other line and watch… We were amazed once we finally got onto the plane that we had been given fantastic seats – all four of us in a row in some special upgrade area between business class and coach- it was a very pleasant surprise! Poor little Zoe fell asleep before we took off – which was a very LONG time after we boarded the plane. Audrey enjoyed her kids meal while she watched a movie, well, part of a movie – she was so wiped out!

We made really good time in the air, but as we approached London, we were given instructions to circle about London for 20 minutes… 40 minutes later we were approaching for landing – because we were so late, we did not have a gate, so we sat on the tarmac for about 45 minutes waiting on a gate. Zoe slept almost the entire time, in fact, I had to wake her up to get her shoes back on and stuff…

Bleary eyed, we stumbled off the plane, went to the bathroom (of course) and made our way to immigration – this went smoothly, but it didn’t matter, because we had to wait over an hour for our luggage to show up – ours were the last bags off, sans Zoe’s car seat… kinda needed that, you know? So, we queued up (in England now, gotta use the right terminology!) in the line to deal with luggage issues – again, the kids were like angels – they were hungry, tired, thirsty, and we went to the bathroom 65 times, but they were awesome! We filed a claim for the lost car seat and were given a brand new replacement (Britax – nice!) by British Airways. Lovely to get a new carseat, yet, a nightmare to set up and install. We bumbled our way with two trolleys full of luggage to the rental car shuttle and drove what seemed like 63 miles to the Hertz office – Pat left me outside to adjust the straps on the new carseat and the kids marveled over the jets taking off about 100 yards away. After much cursing and utter exasperation, I got the straps adjusted and went to put the luggage and car seat in the car while Pat dealt with some kind of problem with the payment for the rental car. At this point the girls were past being angels and had gone full demon on me – they were running around, giggling and being generally obnoxious, which made me feel like I was going to go insane… quite literally. Pat finally came out and we got the luggage and car seat loaded, snacks into the kids and underway. Thank goodness we had our GPS, because it was now nearly dark – yes it was 4pm. We were to have arrived at 9:30 am – I have never done so much waiting during any of my travel experiences – this was truly unbelievable…

We stopped at a roadside rest stop to get something to eat since Pat and I were both feeling sleepy (didn’t want to add a car wreck to our remarkable trip!). So, we ate and drank and went potty (seeing a trend here? I think Zoe just wants to try out all of the stalls in each public restroom in every public place we visit while we are here!!!) As we were piling back into the car, I noticed that I had the new car seat straps were at two different levels – OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was absolutely beside myself – the last and I mean the LAST thing I wanted to do was take the GD carseat out of the car and undo those F-ing Straps again!!!! I figured out a way to get behind there and unlatch everything without taking the carseat out, but it was FAR from easy! I tore my hands to bits trying to get the stupid thing set up right - I was SO OUT DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

After about 15 minutes, we were on the road for Northampton. We arrived at our Hotel and decided to unload the stuff and the kids before parking the car. Zoe had fallen asleep - she'd had all the fun she could take, I suppose... When I went to take her out of the car seat I found that she had wet her pants - a lovely capper to a perfect day - not only would I need to bathe the child and deal with wet clothes, but I was going to have to take the car seat apart - again - to wash the padding..................... do they have a looney bin in England? If so, I think I'd better make reservations!

Pat, bless his soul, went to the hotel bar and brought me a MUCH needed beer, which I savoured after bathing the girls - who were now wide awake - hell, it was lunchtime at home! I ended up in Zoe's bed because she just couldn't settle down - I have vague memories of hearing her rustling around the room that night - I was delirious with exhaustion and I don't think a nuclear blast would have woken me up fully....

Next day, we were up and headed to our new home! Check in time was 10am, and everyone was on time - no waiting! Cool... Within 30 minutes a truck pulled up with some rental furniture! It was like a dream sequence watching everything happen - the estate agent showing me things and asking questions, handing out keys... the relocation dude doing an inventory on the state of the house, movers bringing in couches and beds, sheets and towels, dishes and silverware. I remember my main sense was holy shit - this house is A LOT SMALLER THAN I REMEMBER! I was cataloging all of the crap we put in that sea container, and, in fact I think the sea container is actually bigger than our house... Seriously, I think our bed is only slightly smaller than our bedroom - the rental bed is just a double bed with a headboard - we have a queen with big Mission style head and foot boards - nevermind the bedside tables and dressers we sent... And the small bedroom I was planning to use for a closet for all of us, is, I believe, smaller than my walk-in closet at home - and I had planned to put a couple of clothing racks and a dresser in there - OMG OMG OMG OMG

Thank goodness we have a "two car" garage - it is going to be FULL of our stuff!

Once again, through all of that chaos, the girls were amazing - they were running around upstairs picking bedrooms, coloring, playing with their stuffed animals - its cool how they have risen to every occasion. Don't get me wrong - they have annoyed us plenty over this experience. You know, asking questions I don't know the answers to, and wanting snacks every five seconds, oh yes, and needing to go potty every 8 seconds - ugh. But all in all, they have made us very proud! Within the first couple of days being here, we were complimented several times on how well behaved our children are - I guess the beatings have paid off (KIDDING!!) :)

When everyone left we hoofed it down to The George - the closest of the three village pubs to our house. The food is not terribly good at this pub, but the girls each found a little something to eat - they kept asking for the kids menu - not exactly standard at a country pub... again, they adapted just fine - Audrey and I shared a cheese and tomato baguette and chips (fries) and Zoe had "pizza". Pat ate "chili" I don't think they got the recipie from Wendy's - not that Wendy's has the best chili, but at least it resembles chili - I don't know what Pat's meal resembled - he ate it out of sheer hunger :)

We dropped by the office to pick up our new phones and to make some calls to set up phone service at the house, etc. Zoe fell asleep on the way there and stayed asleep when I took her out of the car. I held her for a while as I waited on hold with British Telecom trying to get a phone. She was so out, I finally laid her on my jacket on the ground. Audrey kept busy drawing pictures and visiting with the "grown-ups".

My dealings with BT were ridiculous, at best. Long story short, it will cost us ₤125.00 to have the line activated and we had to wait until 1/16 to have it done. I still don't have the internet going -we are going with a different provider for that - crazy...


Then we venture off to the grocery store. How weird it was to have to buy EVERYTHING -it reminded me of going to college... and everything was laid out differently, and I couldn't concentrate from the jetlag - I couldn't figure out what to buy -it was like I forgot how to cook - I bought some meat and some produce, but couldn't think of anything to make - I just couldn't get it together... I still managed to spend over ₤150.00 (yes, $300.00) on stuff...

Needless to say, we went out for dinner at this cool place called Two for One - everything is Two for One, which makes it more affordable than most dining experiences - the food is decent, they have good beer and it was only ₤20 to feed all of us...

Then it was back "home" and to bed.

I need to post this now - more later