Holiday Doings in London

We spent Saturday doing holiday stuff in the city. It was very, very cold so we were really in the spirit of things. Walked the Christmas event in Hyde Park - saw a very good Father Christmas there, walked up Regent Street and did some toy shopping at Hamley's Toy Store - my kid's favorite place in London. It was even 'snowing' out on the side walk in front of Hamley's. Looked down Oxford Street at the lights, but as you can see at 4:30pm on Sat. Dec 15, there is absolutely no way to walk down Oxford trying to keep up with your kids. We bailed and went down into the tube station. Then we ended the day ice skating outside in Canary Wharf. Very fun way to celebrate the holiday season in London.

another funny sign

we speak the same language, but we would NEVER say "keep out" this way. Sign is at the Burleigh Pottery factory.

English Pottery

I joined some friends on Friday to "do the English pottery tour" in Stoke on Trent. That is ground zero for all the famous English plate makers. We didnt really tour any factories, it's more along the line of a buying tour at the factory stores. Were there at opening at 9am and left at closing at 5pm. Some good, quality time with my friends who are headed back to live in the States within the next week+.

Famous last words....."I'm not really going to buy much..." didn't hold up. I bought several items. Just couldnt pass up things that I either couldnt get in the States or that I just "had" to have to remind me of my time here. I had lots and lots of fun and would be more than willing to take any of you visiting to the Burleigh or Spode or Wedgewood or Portmerion or Emma Bridgewater.... factory stores. See what I mean. There is just too much to turn away from. It's about a 3 hour drive from here, but well worth it if you have a way to get all your purchases back home. Just for the record, Burleigh was my favorite since it was actually the factory where all the items are still made and also has the most traditional "English" look, but bought several things at Spode too.

Open 24 hours????

This sign at my local store cracks me up. What part of 24 hours is this? Are they open 24 hours a week? too funny!

I guess they dont have "truth in advertising" laws here.

Christmas Markets in Germany

This past weekend I had a fun opportunity to go shopping in the Christmas Markets in Germany. We hit the markets in Aachen and Cologne, Germany. Aachen was a small, quaint affair with lots of character. Cologne on the other hand, is a HUGE shopping mecca. Not only were there 6 different markets, but hundreds of shops too. The town was packed. Lots of Christmas gifts being bought - especially knitted caps, gloves and scarfs. I still dont understand how Germany cornered the market on Christmas, but they claim it. No Santa though, it's all St. Nicklavs or Father Christmas. Many of the locals could speak a few words of English, but currency IS the international language, so we had no problem buying!!! The very famous Kathe Wohlfahrt store was beautiful and packed with people. I think it might be the original Christmas store. We made our way back through my favorite city, Brugge, Belgium. Their market was low key, but I hit my favorite Chocolate shop - Pralinette. YUMMY!

We drove on a "coach" known as a bus in US. It was an all-lady trip and tons of fun. It's a long time to ride on a coach, but that way there isnt any limit to the amount of bags you can bring home like there would be on a airplane. The ferry crossing back home was very wavy. The winds were very high and they had only made 2 crossings on Sunday. We got on the 2nd boat luckily. There were lorries lined up for miles waiting for a ferry in Calais, France. But for some reason, they were letting the coaches on the ferry instead of the lorries. lucky for us.

Thanksgiving in England

Here in England, the 4th Thursday of November is just a regular ole day - schools open, banks open, etc, except for the American community - We try to celebrate Thanksgiving. On Thursday DA and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral for the American community Thanksgiving service. It is a very highly attended event and the US Ambassador was there and spoke. They also had the color guard and posted the US flag. It made me really appreciate how long it had been since we have seen the American flag flying.
At our house, we actually celebrated with a feast on Saturday due to the fact that we had invited guests and they couldn't get here on a weeknight with school and work the next day. We hosted 22 people on Saturday. It was a fun day, but the cooking was interesting. I had to make about 10+ shopping trips to try to find American ingredients. I even placed an order at Albertsons.com and had corn bread mix shipped over. The most expensive cornbread dressing I've ever made :-). I had ordered a turkey and ham from a local butcher. I had been forewarned that "you don't eat the turkey skin" and when I went to open the turkey, I found out why. They trim turkeys a little differently here. It had feet still attached and many stray feathers. ew!!!! There were still feathers attached that I couldn't pluck out. After I cooked it, I peeled all the skin off so as to not offend the guests. I did, however have to deal with stray feathers in the stock and gravy. They just wouldn't go away. I was missing a good, clean, plain butterball turkey. (Had to buy a fresh one that could be delivered on my cooking day because my frig is not big enough to hold a turkey to defrost it.)
As I was planning the menu, I would make a list of ingredients, try to find them at the store(s) that week and if I couldn't locate a main ingredient, I would go back to the cook book, pick a new recipe and start again. fun, fun. In the end we had a very traditional feast with all the trimmings and it tasted very good - if I can say so myself. (no fried onions on the green bean casserole - had to do without that one, couldn't be found). One of our guest families was an English family. The dad said he recognized the turkey and the ham and NOTHING else. They graciously tried everything and I think he even went back for seconds. success. B's guest was a little girl from France. It was her first Thanksgiving meal too. She liked the meat. hmm. Not sure we made too good of an impression on her.
You'll be glad to know that the seating hierarchy remains intact in England, adults at the big, nice table, teeny boppers at the next table and little kids at the card table in the corner. It was a packed house. We even had the traditional Cowboy game on the TV. DA had taped it on Thanksgiving day and replayed it on Saturday. Really felt like home with American football on the tube!
One thing that really stood out is that "black Friday" concept doesn't exist. I don't know what the kickoff day for Christmas shopping is in England, but it certainly wasn't Friday. No stores opening at 1AM, no stack of flyers in the newspaper, no grandiose news coverage of eager shoppers, nothing. I have to say I am much more relaxed about Christmas because I am not being bombarded with the shopping message. In my mind I know that I should be frantically shopping, but in reality, I'm just relaxing after a busy Thanksgiving and enjoying a calm day.
Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Happy shopping.

It's Freezing!!!

Monday we woke up to freezing tempuratures. Our first this fall. No big deal really, except that DA rides a scooter to the station and the kids and I ride bikes to school. It was COLD! !!! DA announced when he arrived home after dark that I might have to drive him to the station during the winter unless we make another trip to the store to buy even more winter gear. We may figure out very quickly that a scooter is not a English winter transportation choice. But the kids, well they insist on riding bikes unless the rain is pouring because they would rather be wet and cold than wait in traffic. amen to that.

Guy Fawkes Day

Well, now we know. My impression of the Guy Fawkes celebration is that it is the English equivalant to our 4th of July. The celebrations have been going on all weekend with formal firework shows and lots of backyard fireworks too. It gets pitch dark about 5:00pm now (yuk!!) so the backyard shows started early in the evening. For the last 3 nights we have had about 4 hours worth of "booming" in the neighborhood. It makes for a lovely show from our conservatory - fireworks lighting the sky all around. They sell fireworks at several shops in the village, even the local grocery store sells them inside the store (seems a little dangerous). As I understand it, the English are celebrating the failed attempt of Guy Fawkes & friends to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I to rid the country of Protestantism about 400+ years ago. Apparently, since he was going to blow the place up, they light fireworks today in celebration of his failure. They blow things up cause he couldn't???! Obviously, I dont have a real grasp of the celebration, but we enjoyed it anyway. Now you know as much as I do.

Autumn in the country

This week the weather has been just "brilliant". That's my new favorite English word. The air is crisp, the sky is blue and the leaves are gorgeous. I have included a couple of shots I took in the area. With this being my first real autumn where I get to see trees in all their colorful glory, I have enjoyed driving around on local "leafing" trips. I've never been to the New England area in the States, but now I know what Old England looks like. Wish you could see it too!

Halloween in England

Yes, they have Halloween in England. Celebrated on a much smaller scale though. Not as much trick or treating as there are private Halloween parties. The kids had a big party at school tonight. Tons of people and lots going on - about 1500. There were some major overachievers when it came to decorating the boot of their car for Trunk or Treat. Very creative and fun. The weather was clear and fairly warm. Didnt have to mess up their costumes with a boring ole jacket. B and L came home with plenty of candy. We parked a pretty good way away from the school to avoid all the traffic and walked through the woods with flashlights. It was foggy and very eery. Just perfect for Halloween. Happy Halloween from my surfer dude and sweet, purple witch.

ahh. holiday in October.

We went to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands last week. Never heard of it before, hasnt been on my "places to visit" list or anything, but the travel agent said it would be warm and sunny in October. SIGN ME UP. we finally felt the sun and warmth. wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed lazing by the pool and on the beach for a week. We finally have a tan - fleeting as it is. Lanzarote is basically a lava covered volcano off the coast of Morrocco, but it is a part of Spain which is 600 miles away!!!???!!!. The island is very simple, somewhat primative and literally covered in lava rock. The beaches are very nice and beautiful. The last major volcanic activity was in the 1800's, but the developement since then has been limited. I didn't see any dirt - everything is varying degrees of whole to crushed lava rock. The sand is brought in on the beaches. The landscape is said to be like the moon. We drove up to the top of a volcano on Fire Mountain where they had demonstrations of holes in the ground that were so hot they would catch a tree branch on fire within seconds. The pebble rocks we were standing on were too hot to hold due to the heat underneath the ground. There is a restuarant on the volcano too and the food is cooked over a hole in the ground. Our meals were baked by lava heat. cool, huh? There doesnt seem to be much natural vegitation, but somehow they grow grape vines on the island and produce wine. I have included a photo of the wine vineyards. There are rock walls around each vine to protect them from the hot winds blowing off the Sahara Desert.
The driving was dangerous - for everyone else - we rented a little car and DA took off driving a stick shift for the 1st time in years, back on the RIGHT side of the road, driving up the steep side of a volcano. It was too much to handle at one time. Roundabouts going in the opposite direction. He turned into the wrong lane so many times. I laugh at our total "PITIFULNESS" on the driving front. And we realized that his US license had expired so they wouldnt rent him the car. I had to rent it and agree be the only driver, except I can't drive a stick shift and I wasnt willing to learn on volcano mountains.
The receptionist at the hotel told me they NEVER had Americans there. In fact, I didnt see or hear any one that appeared to be American for 8 days. very strange feeling.
I got to celebrate my birthday while there and we rode on this crazy flying fish thing out in the ocean that day. Interesting way to turn 43! DA and L loved it, B and I held on for dear life not wanting to get thrown off. After the fact I can say it was fun. oh, did I mention the water was FREEZING! another reason not to get thrown off. Arrived home at 1:30am and made the kids attend school the next morning. They were tired even after a relaxing holiday. Now we are moving onto the next thing - Halloween in England. photos: vineyards, lava fields, Papagayo Beach

Really ...I'm embarrassingly out of the loop.

I went to a friends house Monday morning (after arriving home from the airport at 1:30am) and she said our other friend would be late because she was watching "the game". Game, what game? I had to be informed that the World Series Final game had been played. How weird to be so out of it. I didnt even realize the World Series was going on. duh. They were big Red Sox fans, so they were very excited about the outcome. We had been focused on the Rugby World Cup finals last week (really) and were bummed when England lost.

Brrr.....

We have officially entered the cold weather season here. I am freezing! and it's not even winter yet. I've gotten out all the heavy coats and gloves. DA's hands were like icicles last night after riding home on his scooter. He even had his heavy riding gloves on. It's going to be fun to figure learn how to live with a real winter day in and day out. Especially when my son keeps leaving his jackets in his locker. Locker 3, Home 0. He might be FREEZING this weekend.
The kids are out of school on mid-term break along with the rest of England. We have some fun things planned. I'll fill you in next week. We started the break by attending the Sound of Music. DA and I really enjoyed it, but the kids were a little glassy eyed with the opera singing by the nuns. Reminded me of my brother's face when we were kids and the sisters wanted to watch Miss America. you know when they would all come out and sing in that high soprano voice for the Talent competition. same look on my son's face. HA.

Joined the Cambridge Punting crew

On Saturday we took a quick day trip to Cambridge. I expected to see big "Cambridge University" but instead it was more like a collection of small colleges, i.e. King's college, Queen's college, Trinity College, etc. They were all beautiful, old, picturesque buildings. The leaves on the trees are in full autumn color mode which made for a very scenic drive to Cambridge. Once there we HAD to go punting down the river like every other tourist that visits. For those of you who have been there, I'm guessing you all know what I'm talking about. DA had it in mind to ride on a boat guided by a college punter. B had it in her mind that Dad would steer the boat. Guess who won?? DA punted up and down the river much to his daughter's delight as she helped with her paddle. It was so crazy on the river with all the boats and novice punters. Some of the hired punters even make a game of running into "do it yourself-ers" which one of them hit our boat really hard. DA managed to stay on the deck. It was a very cool and crisp day, so I'm glad he managed to stay dry. It was probably our first outing in England where we didn't buy any souvenirs. Maybe we are transforming into more of a "local" (but with a slow Texas accent.)

Supposedly, this red leaf covered building was used for Harry Potter movie.

Cross Country Team

L is on the Middle School Cross Country Team. The team is made up of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. They had their second meet this week. The really cool part was that it was at Primrose Hill. This would be like having a track meet in Central Park in New York. You are running through the park with the London skyline in the background. The middle school course was 3K (about two miles); mostly uphill and downhill. L ran the course in a little over 15 minutes and finished in the middle of the pack. He had a great day and he is working hard to improve his time for the next meet.

Our Tex Mex fix

This week we were treated to a tasty care package from home. Included in the package was a sack of fresh, authentic, delicious, thin, crispy, salty tortilla chips. This morning I woke up to this sight....


B was enjoying chips and salsa for breakfast. Just a little Tex-Mex fix first thing in the morning!

PS. I had a few too!!!

As you can see, the sun was shining today which made for a beautiful fall morning. Just a great way to start the day with a breakfast of champions. Ole'

State Fair of Texas

Guess we're gonna have to miss the State Fair of Texas this year. bummer. Saw on my computer the video of the human cannonball on Dallasnews.com. I'm sure the kids would love to have seen that in person. We were reading the 1000 Places to See Before You Die book last weekend and the Texas State Fair is one of them. Been there, done that, and wish we were there this year. If you go, enjoy a corny dog for us and maybe a funnel cake too!

We digress

On Friday we decided that we would do a quick camping trip over Saturday night. We planned to leave around noon on Saturday due to some morning committments. The kids were really excited, DA enthused, I was along for the ride. We got the car all packed and headed out at 2:00 (no surprise it took longer to pack than we planned for). We immediately pull in to the store to buy gas. I hurried inside to pay while DA quickly pumped the gas. Upon leaving, I noticed that DA has parked the car at a funny and awkward angle in front of the door. I get inside and notice he has a horrified look on his face - he has just pumped unleaded gas into our diesel tank!!! The car is stopped. wont move an inch. We have been driving this car for months, we are not new to the country, we can read the "diesel fuel only" sign and still digressed back to our American roots when in a rush.
The kids and I ended up walking home with them dragging their heels all the way. DA called the service people and was told they would tow the car to the house and then come pick it up on Monday to be repaired. When the tow truck arrived (very timely I must say. Normally you can wait hours on a tow truck.) DA was so flustered that he entered the car on the wrong side, much to the dismay of the tow truck driver and he could hardly understand the guy since he has such a strong accent. It looked like we were newbies in the country! he told DA that another place could pump it and have it drivable later on Saturday so that is what he did. They pumped $100 of unleaded out of the engine and then he bought deisel fuel to fill up the tank. Remarkably, he was back home by 4:45. We DID end up getting to go on our camping trip - leaving at 5:00. First thing DA did upon leaving the neighborhood, drive on the wrong side of the road. I offered to drive since we were headed toward another disaster, but he pulled himself together. Had to change to a local camp ground since we were running so late, but it was in a beautiful area and we were able to set up camp in time to cook dinner before it got dark. Oh cooking you ask - since I am so talented in that area - it was over a one burner flame in a tiny pot. Cooks one serving at a time. For breakfast it took about an hour to fix scrambled eggs and bacon. Made me appreciate my faulty oven and hob at the house.

In Search of Mary Magdalene

Mom and Dad recently came over for a visit. This was their first time oversees and Dad’s first plane trip. They did great, but Dad kept a close eye out for any unusual terrorist like behaviors on the plane. I don’t think he slept a wink on entire flight.

The day after they arrived, Dad and I headed to the south of France to the region of Provence. We were in search of Mary Magdalene. Dad’s hobby (or obsession) is to understand the historical Mary, the Magdalene. It is believed that 12 years after Christ’s crucifixion, Mary landed in the town now known as Saintes Maries de la Mer. We traced her travels to St Maximim, and St. Baume. After the trip, I have no doubt that she was there and that her grave is at the cathedral in St. Maximim.



This was not your traditional vacation. We were on a quest. I could write about this trip for days, but I will let you read about it when Dad’s book is published. There were many highlights on this trip. Seeing the Crypt of Mary Magdalene at St Maximum was incredible, and staying at the Hotellerie de la Sainte Baume which is run by the Benedictine Nuns was great (except when one of the nuns gave me the evil nun stare for thinking I took her picture). Visiting the Grotto (cave) at St. Baume was a great walk; the grotto has been turned into a place of worship so you don’t really get the atmosphere of being in a cave. It is believe Mary spent the last years of her life in the cave. If she did, she was in pretty good shape because it is a serious hike.


There were two things that really stand above the rest. The first was the hike to the top of the mountain at St. Baume. It was a tough hike, but the summit was incredible. The second is seeing Dad at the beach. We were on a quest and we found something – just not Mary Magdalene. All beaches in France are "clothing optional," and in this case most of the women opted not to wear tops. It was a serious “American country boy in Europe” shocking moment.
- D.A.

D.A. the Sailor

Recently I was invited to participate in the Skandia Cowes Regatta. It the largest and oldest sailing regatta event in the world. There are over 2,000 boats that participate in this week long event. I had only been on a sailboat once before and that was in Hawaii where I just a paying passenger. This was an actual sailboat race and I was one of the crew. I was on a 40.7 foot Beneteau yacht, manned by a 10 man crew. The race lasted about three hours. It was a blast. I can easily see how a sailor could become very addicted. I was responsible for manning one of the winches when we tacked or jibbed. This means that when we turned I either loosened my rope (sheet) or tighten the sheet. This is all I knew how to do and the extent of my sailor vocabulary. Impressed????

Something happened on one of the jibs. I don’t know what went wrong, but the serious sailors started yelling commands and for all I knew they could have been speaking Russian (I normally would have used "German" here, but I actually can now understand some German). I finally yelled back, “do you want me to pull the red rope or the blue rope.” He politely said, “Red”. I am not sure if this was a coincidence, but on the next tack, they put me in a new spot and I nearly went overboard.

We came in 23rd out of about 70 boats. The crew was great and very patient. We were in the top 10 coming into the final turn for home. We took a bad angle and then two or three boats took our wind and the next thing you know we were in 23rd. There were some professional crews and some incredible boats. I got some great pictures and can’t wait to do it again.

Sunday events in England

Today was a beautiful day. The skies were clear and blue and the air was fairly warm. We had lunch outside at a friends house at a "welcome the new preacher from church" party.
I was a little nervous all afternoon though. Not because of the party, but because I sent my precious 12 year old son into the city with 70 other kids for a church youth event. 12 years old! in London! without his parents! riding the train and tube (subway) and going on a photo scavenger hunt. I was very nervous. He had his cell phone and money and I knew he could read the train schedule and get back to our village if he needed to by himself. I told him if he got lost, "Just get back to Waterloo station. You know how to get home from there." At 4:30 the phone rang and it was him. I could hear crazy noise in the background. He was just calling to say Hi and that they were having fun. Probably all the kids had their cell phones out and he felt like he "needed" to call someone too. Fortunately they arrived safely back at the local train station and reported that they had a blast. I think it was the most fun he's had in a while. His favorite story being that they had to find someone who would take a picture with them while they were all picking their noses. They found 2 bus drivers who agreed and they got bonus points for having found 2 volunteers. LOVELY.
Then while I had all that on my mind, B came home from her horse back riding session and told me she was thrown off the horse!!!! now for any of you who know her bike riding-wreck-broken leg ordeal where she wouldn't get back on a bike for years, you know this had the potential of being a horseback riding career ending event. DA reported that her fall was softened by a little horse manure and she popped right up and back onto the horse and finished her lessons. whew. She handled her first fall exactly as she should, getting right back into the saddle. Albeit, a little stinky and dirty!
For any of you who have heard of the foot-mouth disease that is making all the headlines in England, we live smack in the middle of it all. We have to serlize our feet both coming and going to the stables. We've heard it may affect our travel to the States that we are living in this zone, so just hope for our sakes that it doesnt. The kids are really looking forward to traveling home for Christmas and I dont want a little foot-mouth disease to mess up the trip.
Hope your Sunday afternoon was a little more relaxing.

Camping on the Jurassic Coast of England

(this took place in July - forgot to publish it!)

While B & B were off having a mother/daughter weekend, L and I headed to the southern coast of England. With the beach only two hours away, we thought this would be perfect time to lie on the beach and enjoy the July sun. We have also wanted to start doing more camping and hiking and the Jurassic Coast seemed like the perfect location to start our English camping life.

Logan and I camped and cooked all our food at the campsite. U.K. campsites are not that different than in the U.S.. You get an extremely diverse mix people. You had families who looked like they had been there a long time, a group of ex-military guys, several all guy tents, and the English version of rednecks. There was one girl who apparently had been told she needed to wear boots for their camping trip. She had on four inch, high heel, white patent, over the knee boots. It coordinated very well with her white halter top and tattoos. Everyone was very nice and mostly just did their own thing.

L and I started Saturday morning being going on a long hike. We walked about seven miles and ended the hike on top of the highest point in the area. We got tired of zig zagging up the mountain, so for the last half a mile or so we just went straight up. For the first time L seemed to have more endurance and beat me to top and led all the way back.

After a nap, which I desperately needed, we headed to beach. It was packed. We put down our towels and headed for the water.... running out as quickly as we had run in. The water was absolutely freezing. It was so cold L wouldn’t even go in. Some of the people would wade in a little ways, but most just played on the beach. L ended up going to the arcade and I took another nap on beach dreaming of the heat on the beach in Destin last summer.

It was a fun weekend and we plan to do more camping. We want to go into the Lake District in England and into the highlands of Scotland. This will be wild camping in the forest, not at a campsite, but we are running out of time this summer. It is already starting to cool down. I am not sure we ever had a summer.

observations of an American child in England...

B's observations for the week...
Sept 9 - Driving through our village there is a small round a bout. As we drove through it, the car in front of us started backing up (dangerous!), having not turned correctly to go through the round a bout. B's comment from the back seat, "Americans". After I laughed I asked why she thought that. She said Americans never drive right in England.
true, very true

Sept 10 -As we are riding our bike through the neighborhood she says as she points to a house, "American's must live in that house."
"Why do you say that?" I ask.
"Because they have a sprinkler watering their grass. English people dont have sprinklers!"
I have no idea if that is true or not, but I have to admit I havent seen a sprinkler system since last year in Texas. Funny that she noticed it too and assumed they MUST be American.

Sept 13 - "Mom, I think it's time we stop riding our bikes to school. It's too cold in the morning." What!!?!!! Never thought I'd hear that in September.

Sept 14 - last but not least, yesterday I went to the local Costco (1 hour away) and did some shopping. There are a few American foods I can buy there. After opening the cupboards this morning, both the kids were so excited. Upon seeing a box of Snickers bars, B asked, "where did all the American food come from?" Never thought Snickers bar and a box of Oreos would represent all of America's food, or wait, maybe it does....

back to posting

ok, ok, I went on summer vacation too. Just couldnt find time to post durning those long, lazy, cool summer days. Now, school has started and life is back on a schedule. We had a great summer, although not nearly long enough. So far, we have hosted 8 sets of visitors and have genuinely enjoyed every visit. I got a little distracted by hosting and forgot to stay on schedule with my posting. I'll do better now.
We traveled to some fun places of which I will write more later. The weather in England was unseasonably cold this summer. I have worn shorts maybe 8 times. It rained a ton and just never warmed up. Even the locals have commented on how summer never really arrived. Speaking to a lady who has spent more than 40 years enduring Texas summers - it was pretty pleasant! Although I do hate that we never got a tan - another reason to leave the shorts in the closet. We loved leaving the windows open every day and eating outside on the patio. We comment EVERY day what a joy it is to be outside WITHOUT mesquitos. It really makes such a difference to be rid of those pesky bugs.
Even now we have to wear a jacket in the mornings because it is so cool (highs in mid 60s). The days are getting shorter too. It is now dark by 8:00pm.
School is totally different being able to start the year with everyone else. Being a newcomer in the middle of the year was a complete bummer. We know our way around and arent so green. I've even offered to be a "buddy" to a new family. Amazing how far we have come since January. B is happy to go to school - huge difference from dragging her into school for months. L is ok with school too. His favorite class is Digital animation. He made the cross country team and told me today he ran 3K. I said 'how far is that'. His answer,"I dont know". We need to make the metric conversion for track or else he may unknowingly sign up for a 10 mile run.
We ride our bikes to and from school now which cuts about 45 min off both the morning and afternoon "school runs" - no tardies yet, yeah!. DA bought me a new bike for our commutes. It is sweet, but he laughs at my "comfort" bike. Sits upright and looks like an ol' lady bike. Now he can kid me right back when I laugh at his scooter. I even have a little basket on the front to carry groceries in.
I have tried to expand my baking experiences by using my weird oven. I baked some banana nut bread for a meeting this morning. I was so proud - looked and smelled so good - only to cut it at the meeting and realize the center was uncooked.!! ackkkkk! If I ever learn to cook here, it will be a miracle.

The Normandy Beaches

L and I took a father and son trip down to France to see the Normandy Beaches. It was a guided and tour and we can pretty much tell you anything you need to know about the D-Day invasion. We saw and did it all. We visited all five of the landing beaches spending most of our time at Omaha and Utah Beaches, Pegasus Bridge, the US War Cemetery, Pointe Du Hoc, and St. Mere Eglise. If these place don’t ring a bell, watch the movie The Longest Day.

We also spent one day visiting Mont St. Michel. This is one of my favorite spots in the world. It is amazing. The monks moved out in 2002 so it has lost a little bit. When they were there you could hear their singing all over the island. When the fog sets in it would be pretty eerie.

It is amazing that there is so much evidence of WWII all around. There are still 18 inch guns just sitting out in the fields. You still see the craters creating from bombings, and there are pill bunkers everywhere. Some of the other highlights of the trip included L liking goose liver pate. Of course, I didn’t tell him what he was eating.

All the museums were really good and very hands on, we sat in tanks, climbed down in bunkers, walked on the beaches, and the best thing of all was just spending time with L.

D.A. In Germany

Several weeks ago, I got the opportunity to go to Munich with a few on my co-workers. The COO, whom I support, lives just outside of Munich and he and his wife were our hosts and our tour guides. I arrived ahead of the others and spent the first day touring Dachau Concentration Camp. I was very glad I went, however, it was quite depressing. It is amazing that one set of human beings can do something so terrible to another group.

The following day was the direct opposite. Munich was fantastic. The people are so nice and seem to have so much fun in everything they do. We toured the city of Munich and saw some great sites. We went to one of the famous Biergartens. They were having a traditional music festival so there were lots of people dressed in their traditional clothing. Very festive.

We stayed in the town of Starnberg. There is a beautiful lake of the same name. This is the lake where King Ludwig mysteriously drown. One of the highlights of the trip was riding in a cab going over 210 kilometer an hour (140 mph) in a Mercedes on the way back to the airport. It was a beautiful part of the world and I look forward to going back – maybe Oktoberfest next year.

Update from D.A.

It has been a while since I posted anything. First, I want to thank Eric O. for for being the only one who defended me when Bridget posted the picture of me on my scooter. With only one gear and a top speed of 55 mph it is a long way from the Harley-Davidson that Eric, Scott B. and tour have toured around Northern New Mexico and Colorado. It gets me to and from the train station and it gets 65 miles to the gallon which is important when gas is $8 a gallon.


Each June a group of some of my closest friends spend a long weekend fishing in New Mexico. This has been a tradition since 1989. This year is only the second trip I have missed. I want the guys to know that I was thinking of them and was with them in spirit.


Work is going great. The honeymoon period is over and I am now into the daily routine. We are making great progress, but it is never as fast as you want it. The people are great and my team is coming together. I am still under-staffed but hopefully I can get that fixed in the next few months. I have had my friends from Navigator/Hitachi helping out with the technology side of my responsibilities. They have been great.



It is an exciting time to be at Barclays. We are in the middle of an acquisition - the hostile kind. We are trying to buy ABN AMBRO, but the Royal Bank of Scotland is trying to buy them under a hostile approach. This will be the largest banking acquisition in history. There will be books written about this. It has been a great first six months. It has flown by and I truly feel like we have taken advantage of this time.

My Absolute Favorite, so far

Over the weekend we traveled to Bruge, Belgium. It is absolutely my favorite place. Touted as a "medieval city", it really is a walk through the past, yet with all the charm, comfort, beauty and chocolate you can imagine. We traveled on the Eurostar train - leaving the house at 4;15am (ugh)- traveling to Brussels and then we transfered to a local train to Bruge. Cars are basically banned inside the city walls, so push bikes, motorcycles, scooters, horse draw carriages and boats are the main modes of travel. We were able to walk from the train station to the city centre. You hear and see horse carriages all around. The boats take you on a tour of the most beautiful canals. Our hotel was so nice, right across the street from a canal with a great view. The architecture all throughout the city is wonderful. I just cant say enough good things about it. And best of all, chocolatier's on every block. Literally every block. We had just been to Cadbury the day before, but it doesnt hold a candle to fresh, Belgium chocolate. We tried chocolate at several shops and really liked the Pralinette shop. L discovered truffles, and I had to stop him from swallowing $2 truffles whole. Told him to savor the taste and make it last more than 1 second. He said he couldn't help himself.

The locals we encountered all spoke English, so it was easy to order and such. They are completely set up for tourists and it shows. Everything is easily accessible. Much to DA's surprise, I actually prefer it over Paris. You can get to each site without ever getting on a bus, tube, train, taxi - whatever - to allow you the most time wondering in and out of shops, sites and chocolatiers. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Warwick and Chocolate

Last week, we joined DA on a business trip to Coventry, and I took the kids to Warwick Castle and Cadbury World - yum. Warwick is so different from all the other castle's we have visited. The Taussad's Group runs it, as in Madam Taussad's, and it is set up for family entertainment. In L's words, "it's not just some empty ole castle you walk around." There was a great archery show, a launch of a Trebuchet (huge catapult) and a falconry show. The highlight for me was seeing an American Bald Eagle up close and watching him fly. It was ironic I had to travel all the way to England to see our country's American Bald Eagle in flight, but it was magnificent. The kid's favorite fact - that they used to catapult dead horses over castle walls during battles. They have told everybody they've seen about that one particular fact. Made quite an impression on them.

On Friday, we toured Cadbury World in Bournville, just outside of Birmingham. It was fun and interesting, although I would like to have seen actual chocolate bars being made and packaged. You mainly learn about the history of chocolate and how it was introduced into England and the history of the Cadbury Chocolate line. They gave away lots of free chocolate and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves - eating more chocolate than we ever needed ;)

Upon DA's insistence...

After my last post, DA insisted I post the "real" photo. This is what he pictures in his mind as he's riding.

Dream on, baby!

The Scooter photos...

Daily savings at Train car park.......3.80 GBP


Weekly savings at Petrol station.....50 GBP


One time scooter purchase......2,000 GBP


Photos of DA on a scooter.......Priceless

You asked for it. Wonderful, laughable photos of DA on his scooter. In all his business suit, dress shoes, briefcase glory! This is NOT what he had in mind when he gave up his favorite truck back home knowing he might get a motorcycle in the UK for commuting. A Triumph sounded great, a scooter, well the photos speak for themselves. Notice the lovely "L" on the front and back. Stands for learner, but the kids jokingly tell him it stands for "loser".

We're not complaining though. It's new, cheap and gets him to and from the train station, so in the words of Martha Stewart, It's a Good Thing!

London thoughts

After living in Dallas all these years, I thought I was used to the 'busy'ness of a city. But after spending time in London, I am realizing what a HUGE city it is. It is unbelievable to me that Live Earth concert (60,000+), Tour de France (1 million +), Wimbledon, Justin Timberlake concert, all the West End shows, horse races, car races, etc., can all be full on the SAME DAY. That doesn't even count the people going about their own business - working and carrying on as usual. Where do all these people live? I am amazed that mass transit can move all these people around like it's no big deal. The police are working really hard in light of recent terrorist events and life goes on in the midst of it all. There are so many choices that we have a hard time deciding what activity to do. And the funny thing is that the roads are so SMALL. Really, 2 lanes each direction is a big road. That makes it even more impressive that so many people move about the city effortlessly.
If any of you are getting sick of our "we did this and we did that" routine, I apologize. It's just that we have never had such a variety of choice before and without any outside obligations. No teams, no home ownership issues, no school organizations - just family time to go and do as we please. It is a small capsule of time that we are trying to fill with as many "English" experiences as we can. So bear with me as I write about them all. It's as much a diary for us as it is for you to read. We'll be back in Texas complaining about the weather and eating at Mi Cocina as our big event of the week before we know it.
Cheers. (we are working on saying that like the British - we are way too cheery when we say it and the Texas accent just makes it laughable.)

Le Tour de France

Did you see us on TV? On Saturday, we ventured into the city with millions of other people to watch the Tour de France prologue stage in London. It was absolutely beautiful weather, and after the wettest June in 150 years (literally), the riders and spectators enjoyed a sunny, gorgeous day. We watched from Hyde Park. It was a long afternoon because you have to be in place early to get close to the barricades, and also there was lots going on in the park. Since we watched the time trial stage, the riders would come by every 2 minutes or so which allowed us to spend more time watching the race instead of the 15 seconds they would go by if we were out on the open road during the stage on Sunday. After the first few riders, we got right up to the barricades and were able to lean over and see all the riders. The kids spent lots of time digging in the dirt and B turned hundreds of cartwheels in the grass. DA - he had to take a quick nap in the sun after a hard day of spectating. Really, we were so happy to see the sun that we had to soak up a few rays.

Oh, Lance Armstrong. yeah, he was there----- in wax. Madam Taussad's had a booth with his figure. Of course we took some shots.

At the end of the day, I realized that I had time to get out to the brand new O2 arena and see Justin Timberlake in concert. How could I pass up an opportunity to see him in LONDON? So I went, bought a ticket and enjoyed the concert in my Tour de France spectating clothes. ALL the other people were dressed up to the 9's, I'm sure in hopes that JT would notice them from the stage. HA. I just enjoyed myself and then made a MAD dash back to the train station so I wouldnt miss the last train out. Got home after 1:00 am. It was a long, but fun day. (If you are a JT fan - it was a great concert!!)

4th of July in the UK

We saw fireworks! We made a special effort to find a fireworks show for the 4th of July. As B questioned, "dont they have 4th of July here?" "yes, on the calendar, but it's not a celebration!" There are a few celebrations around that cater to the American expatriate community. We went to Kempton Race Park to see the horseraces and enjoy the fireworks afterward. My kids unexpectedly found some friends from school to run around with, so they had a great time. We would view the horses in the parade and then B would "vote" on which one would win. We didnt do any betting, but B did her individual "voting". It was a very fun evening - a bit cold though. My kids were in there 4th of July shorts, t-shirts, flip flops and such. I made B take a sweater at the last minute and good thing - it was really chilly once the sun went down - at 10:00. They didnt play the obligatory "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood, but they did play Elvis and "New York, New York". Just a little taste of home.

Yes, we are safe and sound

I know there has been lots of news about Britian the last few days. Lots is going on - Wimbeldon, Princess Diana concert at Wembley, new Prime Minister, England goes Smoke Free on July 1st (yeah!!), Tour de France starts in London this week, and more disturbing - the terrorist threats. To calm the minds of our parents, family and friends - we are fine. Life is going on as normal, there's just a more obvious police presence. We have been in the city over the weekend and people are out and about, eating at restuarants, going to West End shows, shopping!, and generally going about their daily routines. We appreciate your concern and we will be careful. promise.
We would really like to score some tickets to Wimbeldon, especially since it is about 10 miles from our house. Hate to live so close and miss such an event, but the rain has really interferred with the tournament and we dont want to buy tickets only to be rained out. We are going to try to get close enough to see the Tour de France this weekend. They will ride around London and then the next day ride from London to Canterbury. I'm not sure where we will watch from. I think they go by in a split second so it will probably be lots of time spent getting into position only to turn around and go home 5 min. later. We'll let you know.

More fun with friends

We are so lucky to have more friends from Dallas come to visit last week. We had a great time, and the kids were so happy to have friends from back home to play with every day. There was LOTS of jumping on the trampoline - even after full days of site seeing. Rain fell almost every day, which was nothing new to our rain soaked Texas friends! but it didnt keep us from doing anything. Just break out the raincoats and umbrellas and keep on going. There were many highlights of the week - from the British museum to Windsor castle to feeding the ducks in the village to shopping on Portobello Road and browsing at Harrods.

DA and L were living it up on the D-day tour in France for a few days. I'll try to get DA to write a post about that.

Meeting a celebrity

If you have read any of our posts, you know that B is crazy about the musical, WICKED. We had a brush with greatness on Sunday. We were in the city with our guests and happened to be in Leichester Square during an event called West End Live where acts from all the big shows perform on a stage set up in the middle of the square. Right when we walked up, Kerry Ellis started singing one of her songs from WICKED. She is B's FAVORITE character, the green witch, AKA the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz story. Immediately after she sang, B decided she wanted to get her autograph. I let her walk to the side of the stage and low and behold, Kerry was out there signing a few autographs. B was wearing her WICKED tshirt and she was so happy that Kerry autographed it for her. It was definitely a highlight of our stay here. I have included a photo.

PS. we had to go see the show again last night. 3rd time this summer :)

School's Out for Summer (finally)

Being from the great state of Texas, we are accustomed to getting out of school in May, so attending school until the end of June has been a real adjustment for the kids and Mom! But finally we are out!!! The last day of school was sad because so many families are moving away, as they do each semester. The kids and parents are all saying good-bye on the last day while knowing they may never see each other again. Both B and L had friends that were moving over the weekend, but they seemed to recover from the day better than I thought they might. It was helped by the fact that one of B's friends was arriving from Dallas the next morning and L and DA were leaving for a 4 day trip to Normandy, France for "everything you ever wanted to know about Dday" tour. I included some photos of B with her friends. The 2 boys in the photo have already moved, but B really liked playing with them. One of L's friends moved to Dallas, but he forgot to get his new phone number and address for us to call him when we visited home.