My Dad's Visit

Well, yesterday we had to take my Dad to Heathrow Airport so he could fly back to the States. We had an absolutely wonderful time over the past 10 days and didn't want him to leave. ;o(

We had quite a busy week while he was here with us. The girls and I met him at the Peterborough Train Station at 9:45 a.m. on Friday. We spent the first few hours just visiting and eating lunch. At 3 p.m., we went to Brett's school to attend his weekly Celebration Assembly. Dad was exhausted from his trip, so thank heavens we had rain on Friday afternoon (gotta love that England weather!) which cancelled Brett's baseball game that evening. We stayed home, ate pizza, and Brett, Kendall, Kameron, & Dad fell asleep by 7:45 p.m.

Saturday morning we decided to head to Stonehenge for the day. It is about a 3-3.5 hour drive from Peterborough, so we were all ready to get out of the car by the time we arrived. After visiting Stonehenge for about an hour or so, we headed to Hampton Court Palace (Henry VIII's palace) for a bit. It was supposed to rain all day on Saturday; however we were pleasantly surprised that it only started raining on our drive back home.



On Sunday, we visited Warwick Castle. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed touring the castle and watching the various demonstrations that were taking place.


We took Brett to school on Monday and headed to B&Q (a store like a Menards) to purchase materials to make window screens for our house. I absolutely HATE bugs in the house and because of that don't open the windows at all since none of them have screens...so Dad offered to make us window screens so we can enjoy summer breezes throughout the house. Kendall & Kameron were very big helpers -- they enjoyed helping Papa carry around the wood in the store. ;o)



Brett participated in his school's May Day Celebration on Tuesday morning. We started off the morning attending a church service with all of the school children. On our walk to the Elton School's football field after the church service, Kameron decided to rub her little leg on a bit of stinging nettle (or as Kami calls it -- "stinging metal"). After trying to figure out why she was screaming bloody murder, we realized what she had gotten into and began searching for the dotleaf (I believe is what it is called). Thankfully we found it in time for us to rub it on her leg and calm her down before the festivities started on the football field. We enjoyed watching Brett and all of his classmates perform the May Pole Dance.



The weather cooperated all day on Tuesday so we hurried home after picking Brett up from school and then went to Alconbury for Brett's baseball game. He did excellent!


After taking Brett to school on Wednesday, we drove to Cambridge to visit a few family members, Maurice & Sheila Beeton. We enjoyed spending a few hours visiting with them and eating lunch before returning to Elton to pick up Brett.



The girls normally attend Gymmies class on Tuesday; however since Brett had his May Day Celebration on Tuesday, we changed their class to Thursday this week. They both did very well and showed Papa what they have been learning (while wearing their new leotards, of course).


Brett attended the Multi-Sports program after school on Thurday and after we picked him up, we headed to Waterbeach (just a few miles from Cambridge) to visit with a few other family members, Ken & Miriam Day and their family. With it being a school night, we needed to return to Peterborough in a reasonable time for baths and bed, so were only able to spend a little over an hour visiting with them.

Ken & Miriam Day along with their daughter & granddaughter


Ken & Ruth Cupit


We took Brett to school on Friday and headed to the Stamford Market so Dad could experience an English market. We walked around and shopped for a little over an hour and then went to Lincoln Cathedral & Castle for the rest of the day. Upon our return to the Peterborough area, we met Mike & Brett at Pizza Express (my favorite pizza place in England) for an early dinner.



With Saturday being Dad's last full day with us, we decided to go to Woburn Safari Park. The park is a little over one hour away so the drive wasn't too bad. We all enjoyed driving through the park and seeing the various animals. Following the drive-through portion of the park, we enjoyed lunch and then went to the indoor play area so the kids could burn off some energy. After dragging them out of the play area, we walked through the rest of the park to see the other animals. After enjoying a full day at the safari park, we drove to TGI Fridays in Milton Keynes (about 1.5 hours from our house) for dinner.



As I said earlier, we took Dad to Heathrow yesterday morning so he could catch his 1 p.m. flight back to the States. As always, it is very sad to see him go -- but we are looking forward to hopefully seeing him again in August (if we can find reasonably priced flights). ;o)

We are now off to Munich for a week-long holiday. I'll post photos as soon as we get back....

Visit from Dad/Papa Vic

On Friday, my Dad (Papa Vic) arrived to visit us. ;o) We are having a fabulous time visiting various places and just spending time together. The kids are keeping all of us busy with their activities. Dad is planning to stay with us until Sunday afternoon, May 25, when his plane leaves around 1 p.m. ;o(

On Monday, we leave for Munich, Germany, and Innsbruck, Austria, for a week-long vacation (oops, I mean holiday); however will plan to post lots of pictures from both weeks as well as many details on what we have done.

Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day!!!

On Friday morning, Kendall & Kameron and I enjoyed going to Nene Valley Railway with the girls' Playgroup. We took a train ride from Wansford to Yarwell (about a 15-minute ride) and watched the trains use the "hangers" to zoom past and pick up bags with mail in them that needed to be sorted and sent to other locations. And while I know I'm not doing it justice by explaining the process, it was very neat to see and the girls enjoyed it. ;o)

(Kendall & Kameron with their friend, Ian -- a child of a Caterpillar ISE)

Following our visit to Nene Valley, we attended the weekly Celebration Assembly at Brett's school. During the Celebration Assembly, the head teacher recognizes children for their hard work (both inside and outside of school). Brett received his Bronze certificate for hard work for the summer term. He is now working on getting his Silver certificate and hopefully will receive it within a couple weeks.

(Brett -- first boy on the right -- receiving his Bronze certificate)

On Saturday morning, we attended Brett's baseball game at Alconbury. He, again, did very well and is thoroughly enjoying playing ball (especially now since the weather is decent here).

(Brett making a run for his team, the Blueclaws)

(Kendall & Kameron playing with flowers at Brett's game)

Mike left on a trip this morning (Sunday) so the kids and I spent the day hanging out together and enjoying the beautiful weather we are having in Peterborough. We have had great weather for about 2 weeks now and I am dreading the thought of it going back to normal (rain, rain, and more rain). We spent the morning hours shopping at Queensgate Mall in Peterborough and then went to Ferry Meadows (a nearby park) and enjoyed a picnic, fed the ducks and geese, kicked the "football" around, and played on the playground during the afternoon hours. While it was very difficult not being in the U.S. spending Mother's Day with our family, I had a fabulous Mother's Day with our little munchkins. ;o)

(Enjoying our picnic lunch)

(The kids enjoyed feeding the ducks and geese.)

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Little tidbit of information (thanks, Corrina, for letting me use your calculations) -- The price of diesel right now in the UK is 1.23 GBP per liter (it was about 96 pence when we moved here). There are 3.85 liters to a US gallon so that equates to about $9.45/gallon of fuel.

Tuesday activities

Today was quite a busy day for us. After taking Brett to school, the girls and I headed to Gymmies class and the girls enjoyed 45 minutes of exercising. They really love their new leotards (or as the girls call them "leotarts"). They acted like quite the little gymnasts today with their new garb on. ;o) Following Gymmies class, we headed to Holli's house to attend the monthly ISE (international service employee) Tea. There were a large number of ISE wives and kids in attendance and we had a great time visiting with them and enjoying the sunshine in the garden. (It was about 78 degrees and sunny today in Peterborough!) Straight from Holli's house, we headed to Elton to pick up Brett from school and then rushed home so we could eat a quick dinner before going to Brett's baseball game at Alconbury. While the baseball season has gone on for about a month, this was only Brett's second game as the weather hasn't been very cooperative. Brett did very well this game and it looks like he now has his niche back for playing ball (after getting rid of his fever, etc. that he had during the first game). ;o) (I also have a video of Brett playing baseball; however my computer has been acting up and won't allow me to download it from the camera right now. As soon as it begins working again, I'll post the video of Brett at bat.)

May Day Celebration

Happy May Day! I believe May Day was officially on May 1; however it was celebrated in England today (May 5). With it being a bank holiday here, schools were closed and many, many, many people were off work. In Elton, a nearby village where Brett goes to school, there was a big May Day celebration during the afternoon hours. Individuals and some businesses had put up stalls selling a variety of items (anywhere from food to jewellry to plants to ceramics, etc., etc., etc.). Brett's school, Elton Church of England Primary School, had a stall set up offering nail art and games (tombola and lucky dip) for the children, selling cakes, goodies, Sangria (which we called May Day Punch), and squash (a fruit drink). There were two of us in charge of the May Day Punch and because it was about 75 degrees and sunny here today (I know, very hard to believe!), the drinks were a huge hit! It still shocks me that we are able to sell alcoholic drinks trying to make money for the school. All in all, the school raised over 350 pounds (approximately $700) during this event -- not too bad for a couple hours of work. ;o)

California Dreamin'

With the variety of CDs and songs that we listen to on a daily basis, there is one that I have found to be one of the kids' favorites. We sing along to California Dreamin' while we take Brett to school as well as on our way home (by their request). They like singing the song because it seems that the "sky is grey" alot in England and I explained to them that L.A. is in America. So with as much as they enjoy singing this song and as much as I enjoy listening to them, I wanted to share it with you. ;o)

Visit to Knebworth House

The weather in England was absolutely beautiful this past weekend -- I know, very hard to believe -- so we decided to go visit the Knebworth House which is near Stevenage (one of the towns between Peterborough and London). While it was gorgeous in Peterborough when we left Sunday morning, during our drive to Stevenage the weather began to take shape and look more like England (lots of clouds and rain). Since it was raining when we arrived in Stevenage and we didn't want to walk around the estate in a terrential downpour, we decided to drive to the Galleria Mall which is located about 10 more miles down the A1 to enjoy lunch. We really didn't know what type of restaurants to expect at the Galleria; however were very pleasantly surprised to see they had a Chili's Bar & Grill. ;o) After we enjoyed a delicious lunch and realized that the rain had finally stopped, we headed back to Knebworth House.

Knebworth House is one of England's stately homes. It is famous for its rock concerts (Rolling Stones, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Oasis, Robbie Williams to name a few) as well as the home of Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer Lytton (author of the words 'The pen is mightier than the sword'). While the tour of the house was interesting (albeit very long with 3 kids that were ready to go outside to play), the kids were more excited to keep an eye out for Batman (as Knebworth House is where a portion of Batman was filmed). ;o)

We had made a deal with the kids that as long as they were good during the hour-long tour and didn't disturb anyone in our tour group, we would let them play in Fort Knebworth, a really nice outdoor playground area (also equipped with a couple of huge slides). ;o) The kids behaved as well as we did during the tour so it was soon off to Fort Knebworth for some playtime.

I'm back....

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in over a week -- Mike was in Belgium all last week and the kids were keeping me more than busy. ;o) Just a brief update on what we've been up to this past week...

Brett started coach pitch baseball at the Alconbury Royal Air Force Base. He did very well at practice but his first game on Saturday, April 19, left a lot to be desired. He didn't even try to hit or catch the ball -- which is totally unlike him. Ended up, this week he has had a sore throat and a fever and has had to stay home from school so I'm sure he wasn't feeling 100% at the game. His baseball game scheduled for this evening was cancelled due to rain, so we look forward to seeing him enjoy playing the game next Tuesday. Brett also started participating in an after-school Multi-Sports program at Elton. (I called it "mult-eye" sports one day and he corrected me and said, "Mom, the proper way to say it is 'mul-tee'." Those simple little comments definitely remind me that he is using the English terminology and accent more often than not.) ;o)

Kendall & Kameron enjoyed their weekly Gymmies class. We enjoyed lunch with a few of our friends prior to going to the class so the girls were not only able to burn off some energy after they ate lunch in the play area at the restaurant/pub but also at the gymnastics class. It made for a nice quiet afternoon before we went to pick up Brett from school. ;o)

I have been fighting off a cough/cold for about 8 weeks now. After my Mom and Mark visited -- and my Mom heard how bad was cough actually was -- she talked me into going to the doctor. ;o) For the past month, I have been going to the doctor once every week for them to do a variety of tests and chest x-rays. At first they thought it might be pneumonia or bronchitis...but ends up that I'm 33 years old (can't believe I just admitted how old I am) and have lived in England for just a little over a year -- and they are saying that I have now developed asthma. Unreal! I went to the doctor yesterday for him to discuss the chest x-rays with me and while I was there (since I also had Brett with me since he had to stay home from school because of his fever), I asked if he could briefly look at Brett's throat (since I thought I saw swelling and possibly a few white spots -- although I really don't know what I'm looking for)...and he told me that doing that is not their standard and he couldn't do it then. Alrighty then...I need to gently keep reminding myself that we are not in the U.S. and the NHS (National Healthcare System) doesn't operate the way the doctors do in the states (especially since it would have only taken him about 30 seconds). Can you tell I wasn't a very happy mom?! Anway, today I went in to see a nurse to have a spirometry test (to test my lung capacity). After all of the testing was through I asked if she could quickly look in Brett's throat just to see if she saw anything (I thought "second time is a charm", right?! Wrong!). She told me that nurses can't do that...it has to be done by a doctor. When I asked a few more questions, she simply said that if it is tonsilitis or strep throat, they can possibly put him on an antiobiotic after a doctor sees him either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week -- depending on whether he gets to feeling any better in a few days. Until then, I just need to keep him home and give him Calpol or Paracetamol (the English version of Tylenol). If I recall correctly from the states, the doctor wants to see you almost as soon as the swelling or spots show up in your throat. Again, just another gentle reminder to me that the NHS is a bit different than what we are used to in the U.S. After experiencing this side (while most of the care here is fairly good), I can honestly say that I was definitely spoiled in the U.S. (and I loved it!) ;o) More updates to follow (I promise!)...

Kids' Activities

During our time in England, Brett, Kendall, and Kameron have been keeping us quite busy.

This year will be Brett's second year playing baseball (last year was actually t-ball while this year will be coach pitch) at the Alconbury Royal Air Force Base. He is very excited that Spring is finally here and he can begin playing baseball outside. ;o) Practices will be every Tuesday night at the Base while the games will be played on Saturdays. He's going to play for the Cubs when he gets older... ;o)

Kendall & Kameron have been participating in a gymnastics class ("Gymmies") at Sims Gym in Peterborough for about six months now. They attend one session each week for about 45 minutes and absolutely love it. As you will see from the videos, Kendall doesn't mind swinging around and flipping over the bar; however, Kameron is still quite hesitant. Both girls will do all of the other activities without any hesitation. So when Kameron let Miss Karen flip her over, it was a very big deal in which she was then able to go "ring the bell" (so everyone would clap for the good job she did). ;o)

Luck of the Irish?!

We left Holyhead, Wales, on Saturday, March 29, to head to Dublin, Ireland, for the week. While we were very excited to be travelling by ferry for the first time, little did we know (okay, little did I know), that the water was going to be so choppy that some of the waves crashed above the boat and we should have taken Dramamine before we got on the ferry. Key word there is definitely BEFORE. ;o) Needless to say, the kids and I were showing a bit of green before we even arrived in Ireland. Definitely not a great way to start a vacation!


(Getting ready to drive onto the ferry to Ireland -- they didn't know what was in store for them!!!)


(Driving onto the ferry...)

After we arrived in Dublin, we drove to The Maltings Guesthouse in Birr County (a wonderful bed & breakfast that was built in 1810 and used to store Guinness Malt for many years) which is in the center of Ireland. While it should have only taken us about 2 hours to get there from Dublin, our wonderful GPS system "Jane" decided it would be nice to take us through extreme country one-lane roads in a very harsh rainstorm -- so unfortunately it took us about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to get there instead of the standard two.


(The Maltings Guesthouse -- our B&B for the week)

We decided on staying in the middle of Ireland so each day we could drive to a different section of the country. On most days, we only drove about 2-3 hours to get to our first destination. We visited a ton of great sights on the trip -- Giants Causeway, Blarney Castle (and the Blarney Stone), Cliffs of Moher (closest location to the U.S. without being in the U.S.), Dunluce Castle (kitchen literally broke away from the castle and fell off the cliff in a terrible storm), Kylemore Abbey, Ha'Penny Bridge, Guinness Brewery and Storehouse, Dublin Castle, Hill of Tara, Powerscourt Waterfall, Waterford Crystal Factory, Cahir Castle, the Rock of Cashel, Bunratty Castle and Durty Nelly's Pub, Birr Castle, Trim Castle, Glenmacnass Waterfall, etc., etc., etc. As you can see from the list, we saw a TON of sights while in Ireland; however I won't bore you with details from each (only a few) -- but I will post pics for you to view. ;o)


(Giants Causeway)


(Giants Causeway)


(Birr Castle -- right next to our B&B)


(Cliffs of Moher -- the kids were waving to all of our family in the U.S. from this location hoping they could see them.)


(Powerscourt Waterfall)


(Dunluce Castle looking down where the kitchen fell from the cliff)


(Blarney Castle -- and after seeing the Blarney Stone at the top of the castle, there was NO way in the world we would be kissing it!)


(Waiting at the Guinness Brewery for their "free soda")


(Hill of Tara)

The weather for the first few days of the trip made it seem like we were still in England (overcast, breezy, and rainy). The only horrific weather day was the day we drove to Northern Ireland (about a 4 1/2 hour drive from our B & B). We stopped at a store to purchase new windshield wiper blades (they call them "windscreen blades" here) and I stood outside attempting to hold an umbrella ("brolley" here) in a freezing wintery mix of rain, sleet, snow, etc. with this poor person that was changing the blades for me. Giants Causeway was the first sight we went to in that area and the kids had to hold onto our legs to ensure they didn't blow into the ocean. Thank goodness the weather perked up for the most part for the rest of the week and it was fairly nice for the rest of our trip.

We ate some great food while we were on vacation (Durty Nelly's Pub, Hard Rock Cafe in Dublin, etc.), but I have to admit that luck was on our side when driving back to our B&B one night as we found a Papa John's -- one of my favorite American pizza places. After that, we searched out a second Papa John's restaurant to enjoy one more pizza before returning to England.

While in Dublin, we took a tour of the Guinness Brewery and Storehouse. The tour itself was very informative; however with the purchase of a ticket for the tour, each adult visitor receives a pint of Guinness while the children get a free soda at the end of their visit. I figured that since we were in Ireland I should at least give Ireland's favorite beer a shot...but after tasting it, I definitely would have preferred to have received a free soda instead of the beer.

The kids got very excited everytime we saw a rainbow as they were sure we would be finding a leprechaun with a pot of gold since we were in Ireland...but unforunately on this trip, the luck of the Irish wasn't with the Manwaring lads and lassies.Since we had a horrific ferry ride to Ireland, I think we were all dreading the return trip on April 5. With that being said, the kids and I all took Dramamine an hour before we got on the ferry. To our surprise, the sun was shining and the water wasn't as choppy -- although I wouldn't really know as the medicine knocked me out and I slept for the almost 3 1/2 hour trip back to Wales. The kids, on the other hand, were awake for the entire trip as the medicine seemed to have the opposite effect on them. Gotta love that medicine...

Once we arrived in Wales, we thought about doing a bit more sightseeing in that area...but all decided just to go straight home since we were exhausted. It was a long drive amongst tons of very curvy roads (thanks GPS "Jane") so it took about 4 1/2 hours to get home. Once we returned home, it didn't even seem like we were gone for an entire week; however we thought about all we had done over the past week and can't wait for our next trip. ;o)

Gone to search for a pot of gold...

I didn't want anyone to think I have stopped updating our blog ... we're just on vacation for a week. We're leaving for Ireland to tour the countryside and hopefully find some leprechauns and a HUGE pot of gold! ;o)
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We finally had a nice Spring day in England so the kids enjoyed getting outside and blowing some bubbles.

"A person is a person, no matter how small..."

With Brett being on Easter break for two weeks now -- and since it was rainy on Wednesday (go figure, considering we live in England) -- the kids and I decided to go see the new Horton Hears A Who movie in Peterborough. At first, I wondered how in the world they could turn a 20-minute story into an hour and a half movie...but I must admit that I was very pleasantly surprised. Besides the theatre seats not being as comfortable as in the U.S. (okay, I know I'm being a bit picky!), the movie was absolutely darling and held the kids' attention the entire time. The movie made me stop and think about how important every day is and how it can be taken away in an instant. I know I'm sometimes guilty of not always listening to our kids as I should since they are so small and don't really know what is going on...but, again, the movie made me sit back and realize that it doesn't matter how small they are, I always need to listen to what they have to say as they can still sense what is happening around them and really do know what they are talking about (most of the time). ;o)

I'm dreaming of a white Easter?!?!?!

Well, although we didn't have a white Christmas here in England, we DID have a white Easter. ;o) Brett woke us up Easter morning telling us to look outside as we had a ton of snow in the garden. We must admit that the Easter Bunny is quite intelligent as he hid the eggs inside the house this year rather than outside -- he was definitely thinking ahead! After the kids made a mad dash to find all of the eggs hidden in the house, we bundled them up so they could go outside and make a snowman and some snowangels. They have been quite upset that Illinois has been getting all of the snow ... so when we finally received some in England, they were thrilled! The several inches of snow we had Easter morning melted rather quickly ... and while it did snow, sleet, and hail throughout the day, nothing really stuck too much after that. On Easter afternoon, we headed to our good friends' house, Holli & Andy Kieser. They opened their house to several of the Caterpillar families living here in the U.K. Since we couldn't be with our family in the U.S. over this holiday, it was wonderful being able to spend it with an "extended family" in the U.K. The kids had an Easter egg hunt outside in some of the snow pellets that had just fallen upon our arrival at the Kiesers' house, and we enjoyed a great dinner and wonderful conversations with our friends.