"Hiya" or "'ello!"- the British Hello!
It was a good week. Ups and downs - exactly what life promises.
 |
| Just thought you'd like to see our new English version of driving in England |
 |
| The kids playing on the playground at the ice cream social |
 |
| Front main entrance |
 |
| The back garden |
 |
| Walking out to the playground |
 |
| A couple of the different play places |
 |
| As you can imagine...Ike's favorite building; the gymnasium |
They were all able to meet some new classmates, they met the Head of School, Jeremy Lewis and enjoyed seeing the campus BEFORE the first day of school.
But don't kid yourself, the kids are still a little nervous. Ike especially- he's really missing and recognizing how great we had it in Ripon...friends, school, teachers, the house..etc.
It has been a blessing seeing how a move like this can help your children's perspective change and develop. He's learning something I learned many years ago...
The grass is not always greener, it's just more grass. :)
A couple days later Anne volunteered to go with me into Windsor to go school-supply shopping.
Windsor is a charming and beautifully quaint, but VERY busy little town. Parking there was one of the most stressful things I have ever done. It's crazy tight and extremely narrow. It's where the Windsor Castle is and where Eton Preparatory School is located. (Eton is where the Royal's and upper-upper class attend school. The boys actually wear tuxedo tailed suits to school. It's so unbelievable to see them walking out of school. I should have taken a picture!)
 |
| Anne shopping on Peascod Street |
 |
| Windsor Palace and the Queen Victoria statue |
 |
| Carrying our HEAVY bags back to the car park. Funny story...When you leave a car park, you're supposed to pay first and then take your ticket and slide it into the ticket stand where the barrier gates open and let you out. Well, I didn't know this so when we went to leave, the gate wouldn't open! A security guard came on the loud speaker and told me to turn off my car, put my hazard lights on and go down a flight of stairs and pay for my parking! I was mortified! We had a line of cars waiting for us and I had to make the WALK OF SHAME down to the pay booth in order to get my ticket to work!! Anne said, "Mom, we should just go do more shopping. We have the best parking place now!" Okay, now onto the real highlight of the week... Dover Castle and the White Cliffs of Dover   We were invited by the Frost Family to drive about an hour and forty-five minutes away to the breathtaking town of Dover and and see the white cliffs as well as the castle. What a fun day! 
We hiked along the cliffs for about 2 1/2 hours and witnessed some of the most beautiful scenery I've every come across. You could even see France across the English Channel. Incredible!
 
The kids loved picking up the "white chalk rocks". They were covered in white chalk when we left!
       Honesty, you couldn't take a bad picture!
We made it to the light house at the end of the hike.
With the Frost's - Sean, Alyson, Katie, Tyler, Anne and Trevor
We made it back for a much needed picnic together
Onto DOVER CASTLE!
       "How to Train your Dragon" castle!             
Our gallant knight saying goodbye to us as we left the castle's activities.
Sunday afternoon, we had the great opportunity/invite to visit one of Spencer's UNLV colleagues in Putney just south of London about 5 miles and have dinner with her family and Spencer's Professor and dear friend at UNLV. It was such a delightful afternoon catching up after all these years. Jenn made a delicious dinner with all sorts of American flavors we can't get here, but they can get at the base. So yummy!
Dr. Robert and Barbara Ackerman and Kyle and Jenn Herwitz
|
Amazing adventures!
ReplyDeleteSo fun!! I'm excited to get to follow you on your amazing adventure!! I hope we get to come visit you before you leave. I hope the first day of school goes well for the kids, I can't wait to hear all about it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Britt- does Ackerman live over there as well?
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing week!!! Thank you so much for sharing all of this! We miss you all so much and I'm trying really hard not to be unbelievably jealous!! I loved the stories about your shopping trip and parking…priceless!! I remember looking at the beauty of the white cliffs of Dover…I wish so much I had been able to see all that you saw! So awesome! Loved all the pictures of the kids everywhere…THEY ARE SO DANG CUTE!! Is Ty as tall as Anne?? Ike will be blessed with good friends there…I just know it…that will be such a tender mercy and will make life so much easier for him and for all of you! I wish so bad that we had been able to FaceTime longer! That school looks absolutely amazing! What an unbelievable experience for your children…so different from our experience in Morocco! Can't wait to see the next posting! You will treasure this FOREVER!
ReplyDeleteGORGEOUS!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously small world, first your friend from Idaho and now Ackerman. How cool! We love reading your blog. The kids' school looks amazing. The cliffs of Dover are stunning. It's one of the boys' most vivid memories of their trip over their with Bry.
ReplyDeleteSo.... I want to know the little details, like is the washer and dryer the same? What kind of food do they have and not have? Did you have to buy all new curling iron and alarm clocks and what are the mobile phones like? How are the prices? Is it a big grocery store or lots of little ones.. What's the house like inside? Did you get your leak fixed? I know it's not like you move to the Middle Ages..... But kind of, or at least where they happened. :-) What special things do they have? I know nothing compares to Canadian slurpees with gummies. :-)