Summer term

The kids are now back in school for the summer term.

After a two week break, we were all ready for back to school.  The break was nice...  we didn't do much of anything, apart from playdates and park visits.  I enjoyed the relaxing mornings, not having to hurry to get myself and the kids ready for the school run.  And I think the kids were ready for the break and a chance to get refreshed.

Susanna returned to the classroom with her third new teacher of the year.  This is the actual Year 1 teacher who was out on maternity leave.  The teacher who was meant to be there until now left at Christmas, so there was a different teacher for the Spring term.  (There is no "winter" term.)  She doesn't seem too bothered by all the change...  with 30 kids, I think there are a lot of people coming in and out anyway, helping in the classroom.  So there are still plenty of familiar faces.

Ben just loves his preschool and is always a bit disappointed on Wednesdays when he doesn't get to go.  He has a few really good buddies there and generally seems be friends with just about everyone.  There is one little boy with whom he tends to clash, but Ben still considers this boy his friend and invited him to his party.  Ben loves to talk and gets along with anyone who is willing to listen!

Both kids started swimming lessons again this week.  Ben is still doing football but we have stopped Tumble Tots as he was quite a bit older than the other children in the class.  Susanna is still in Rainbows and is starting a drama course after school.  So that gives us one free afternoon a week!

Its been staying light here until after 8 at night which has been really nice, but it makes it harder for the kids to get settled in bed.  The good thing is that I have plenty of time to go walking after they do go to bed, which has been very nice.  We've been having some nice weather and I have to take advantage while I can - you never know when it will go back to being cold and rainy!

Happy 4th Birthday, Benjamin!

Today my baby boy turned 4!  Where has the time gone?  I can't believe how much he's grown.  He is such a big boy now and I am so proud of him!

Here he is at one day old...

And at 4 years old...
Happy birthday, Benny!

4th birthday party!

Today we had Ben's birthday party at a place called Cheeky Charlie's.  Its an indoor playground that you can hire on Sundays for private parties.  Ben invited a bunch of friends from preschool (most of the boys and some of the girls...) and had a wonderful time.  He'd been to a few other parties there recently and was happy to be the person of honor today!

After playing for a while, Cheeky Charlie himself made an appearance.  Ben got a gift (a lunch bag) and lots of hugs.  

I didn't even think much about making a cake and opted to let Ben select one at the grocery store.  Spiderman won.  I didn't taste it myself, but I could guess how it was....  (and I'm still waiting for Carvel to open a shop here!)
Ben getting ready to tear into his gifts.
Ben started with the gift from his favorite girl friend, Ruby, and it turned out to be his favorite gift.

Easter on the farm

On Easter day, we decided to go on an outing.  We thought it would be a good day to go out because everyone would be home or with their families.  

We decided to visit an open farm about half an hour away.  There is one near our house, but so far the ones further away have been better!  And we discovered that plenty of people go out to do fun stuff on Easter as it was quite busy, but not unpleasantly so.

Its a great time to visit the farms as its baby lamb season.  We saw lots of babies (some born that day!) and lots of expecting mummies, but we didn't get to see any lambs being born.  Still it was fun to see the tiny animals - Susanna could have watched them for hours!

There was plenty to see and do.  Susanna spend quite a bit of time jumping on a trampoline and feeding the animals.

The big event for the day was the Pig Race - they let the hungry pigs out of the pen and they run (eventually) around the enclosure to the food at the other end.  The pigs all have funny names and people get excited and shout for them.
Some of the slightly bigger baby lambs.
Both kids got a pony ride.
Ben almost missed this because he didn't want to wait, but ended up wanting to go at the last minute.
Overall we had a lovely Easter at the farm!

Easter egg trail

Yesterday we went to Cliveden, a National Trust property not far from home, and participated in a typical English Easter activity - an Easter egg trail.  These seem to be going on everywhere at the moment.

Rather than hunting for and collecting eggs, the Easter egg trail, or at least this particular one, involves looking for posted pictures of eggs and answering questions.  The eggs were in plain sight and there were signs pointing the way, so this wasn't a very challenging hunt.  We had a list of questions about different birds, and each egg had an information sheet where you could find an answer.  

I suppose I could have taken this opportunity to educate my children about various birds of prey, including the red kite and the peregrine, but it was busy and lots of people were trying to read the signs to find the answer.

And it was raining, so I didn't feel like standing around any longer than needed to win the prize.

The prize, once you got all the answers, was a chocolate Easter egg.  

Tonight we are getting ready for the Easter Bunny to visit.  The kids need to get to bed so the Bunny has time to stop in England before heading to the States to visit all our friends there.

Happy Easter!

Licensed to drive

I just got back from my driving test.

I passed!

Brad actually passed the test a month ago (I let him go first to check things out...) so now we are both legal to drive in this country.  

Its been going well so far...  Hopefully we can make it another year or so with no trouble!

Little luxuries

Shortly after we arrived and got settled into our new (first) house, I started this list of things I missed from before the move.  I thought it would be fun to revisit it now that we've been here for a year.

1.  Mixer taps - I still miss these terribly - the hot tap is very hot and the cold tap is of course cold...  even in the bathtub where they come out of one tap, the hot and cold are still separate, so you can't tell from putting your hand under it whether you have the right mix.

2.  Automatic garage doors (keypads are a bonus!) - I'm pretty much used to this, and since the garages aren't big enough to actually put a car in them, its not something I deal with very often anyway.

3.  Napkins readily available at grocery store - I've found some - they are either very inexpensive and almost worthless, or a bit pricey and something you would use at a party, not for everyday.  We make do.

4.  Commercial-free television for kids - I think we've found one channel like this - CBeebies - which the kids love.  Otherwise, they have sort of gotten past wanting everything they see on the telly.

5.  Large and efficient washers and dryers - I miss this terribly still, and its one thing I'll be very excited about when we move back!

6.  Garbage disposals - I'm used to this now and have no trouble scraping the plates, etc. into the bin, but they are certainly nice to have.

7.  Heated bathrooms (okay, maybe its just my house, but the bathroom I will have to shower in feels like a frig) - Moving helped with this - all three bathrooms have radiators, as they should.  We still have to open the windows when we bathe or shower as there are no fans.

8.  Closets - Again, moving to a new house helped with this, and they're wonderful!

9.  Window screens (to let the air in while keeping the bugs out) - These would be nice, especially with the warmer weather we are now having.  Screens just don't seem to exist here.  Have to be extra careful with upstairs windows and kids, though.

Overall we've become accustomed to the way things are here - it really doesn't take long.  We'll just appreciate these things so much more when we move back!

One year!

Today is the one year anniversary of our arrival in England!

Where did the year go?  I can't beleive its been that long already.  

I suppose we've been quite busy in that year...  We moved from temp living into our house, and then moved again to a different house...  We learned to drive (like being 16 all over again!)...  We took a few trips (Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland)...  We entertained some houseguests (Brad's parents, my parents twice, and Tamineh)...  And we just enjoyed living near London, which is really pretty amazing.

As fast as this past year has gone, I know that the next one will go much faster!

The Easter Bunny

At the park after school today (enjoying the lovely weather), I queried a friend about Easter traditions.  I was thinking they must be a bit different since the shops here are not full of Easter baskets, Easter grass, Easter egg dying kits, etc.

Then it occurred to me that there doesn't seem to be an Easter Bunny!  And I learned that, in fact, the children here do not receive baskets full of treats from the Easter Bunny (they traditionally receive Easter eggs, but not from the bunny.)  And kids here don't dye Easter eggs.  I think some kids have egg hunts (and I've seen a few advertised) but again, not the standard.

Instead, they make Easter bonnets, eat hot cross buns, and enjoy chocolate eggs.

I better get in touch with the Easter Bunny soon to make sure he makes a special trip to England to see us!

And hopefully the kids won't compare notes with their friends...

Easter bonnet

Susanna is modelling the Easter bonnet she made for a school assignment.  It was fun to see everyone's bonnets as they wore them into school.  I have to admit that a lot were better than Susanna's, but we were going for the "I made it myself" look.

Springtime in my garden

We've been enjoying some mild weather lately, and as a result, have seen lots of pretty flowers popping up in our garden!  Its fun to see what we get, since we haven't yet planted anything of our own.  

In addition to lots of daffodils, we have seen...

Based on my own experience, I think that no English garden is complete without an old, rusty wheelbarrow thrown in the hedges!  (Our other house had one too.)
The house behind us is coming along nicely, from what we can see.  As you can see, the house is right up against the hedge.  But we can only see the roof, so no peeking in eachother's windows.

Playtime

Its fun to see the differences in children's play here... or at least what I think are differences!

For example, instead of playing "house", the kids here play "mummies and daddies".  Instead of "cops and robbers", they play "goodies and baddies".  Ben is always dressing up as a "goodie", all ready to "fight the baddies"!  

Ben is currently into every kind of boy-themed play, including Power Rangers, Batman, Spiderman and knights.  Ben has one buddy who is particulary skilled with a sword, and they love to play knights together.  As you can see from our castle photos, he is more prepared than ever to play a good game of knights!

As the weather warms and playtime moves outside, it will be time to play sports in the garden, including rugby and cricket.  Ben still goes to football classes and enjoys them very much.  Susanna has recently started going to football on some Saturday mornings... unfortunately its mostly boys so she isn't as excited about it as she would be if there were more girls.

We are looking forward to lots of play time in the next two weeks as both kids will be off from school.