Normandy

During the last term break we took a trip to Normandy. We decided to take the ferry over because AJ has been so crazy about boats. Although it takes longer than the train, it was nice to be able to have lunch and walk around a bit and it made the little guy happy.

For a while anyway.

We decided to stay in Honfleur and rented a typical house in the center of the city just around the corner from the harbor.

Several of our days were spent just walking around looking at the buildings,

shopping at the art galleries,

a whole lot of time was spent watching this boat dredge the harbor,

and, of course, our trip would not be complete with feeding a few pigeons; however, this time they got a bit more than they bargained for when AJ started pelting them with French fries...

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is grocery shop. Because we had a kitchen we ate most of our meals at home and were able to try some of the local favorites. The house was right around the corner from a bakery, so we "sampled" quite a few things. In fact, by the third day, the woman on the bakery knew us and sent Sam home with a bag of goodies for us to try. Spencer ate three baguettes a day and all the kids loved the ham so I didn't feel quite so bad about all of my "tasting". Well, that and Sam probably ate 3lbs of cheese.

While there, we toured the beaches and visited the American memorial and I will never forget the expression on Owen's face as we came up the knoll and saw the graves -with his eyes wide and mouth hanging open, he just stopped. The whole D-Day tour was very moving, but the magnitude of the battle did not overpower the coolness of the tanks and boats until they saw all those headstones. Judging their reaction, they will not forget.

From the beaches we headed to Mont St. Michelle and had a great time exploring the tidal island.

The next stop was the walled city of St. Malo. We had dinner at a cafe on top of the wall and watched an incredible storm.  Walking back to our car we were treated to a rainbow over the city. 

We spent one day driving around the immediate area and visited the resort cities of Deauville and Trauville and we stopped at a beach in Villerville that was covered in mussels that were left by the receding tide. The kids were amazed and Sam hungry. 

April 1, the opening day, we visited Giverney. I have to say that Giverney was not at all what I expected. I liked Monet's house more than I thought I would (the kitchen and dining room are to die for) and the gardens were smaller than I thought they would be. Don't ask me why, but from his paintings I expected them to be bigger. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful place.

From there we followed Monet's path to Rouen to see the Notre Dame cathedral. Rouen was not at the top of our list, but were glad we decided to stop - it is a great city.  We toured the Notre Dame Cathedral and while there the boys saw a sword on an alter.  When I explained it was dedicated to Joan of Arc and when they learned she was burned at the stake right in Rouen they were amazed - I think we talked about Joan of Arc the whole way back to Honfleur. 

It was one of those memorable trips where everything went right - the sun came out every time we stepped outside and rained, even hailed, like mad the rest of the time. It seemed like all of the trees were in full bloom. There were no crowds and if there ever was a line we managed to miss it. The wine was fantastic and the Calvados better. Even AJ was well behaved, which might have had something to do with him being very proud of himself for letting us know (loudly) each and every time he saw a cow (by the way, there are a lot of cows in Normandy). It was a great trip and Spencer is already asking when we can go back and has suggested his birthday.

The First Edition

I suppose I should be grateful that we have a dryer at all -  a lot of people here don't.  I have seen a lot of outdoor clothes drying contraptions: airers, lines, hexagonal things, things that retract, on and on.  Actually, I find the whole thing a bit amusing since the sun never seems to shine here, but I guess that is a whole different complaint. 

I would like to say we dry our clothes like this because we are being environmentally responsible and, yes, that is part of it, but really the dryer that came with the house is horrible.  It smells.  As the heat intensifies, so does the smell of dirty socks.  The other problem is the door - when you open it, the little port hole it dips down so that when you go to close it again you have to wrench it up to get it to latch.  Next downside, it holds 2 towels.  It has two settings:  hot and no heat.  The best part, when it is on, you can open it and it still runs and the clothes self eject.  It is a First Edition, do you think that might have something to do with it?  Perhaps they got all of the kinks out with the Second Edition?  I sure hope so. 


I think AJ has found the best use for this First Edition:

Mother's Day

You may be surprised to learn that Mother's Day has come and gone here in England.  When the notice came home for the Mother's Day reception in March, I thought I was really loosing it.  Here "Mothering Day" falls on the 4th Sunday of Lent and was historically a day that people visited their "Mother churches" and a date that servants were given off to return to their families and attend church.

King's College Chapel

To commemorate the day, we decided to see something new and headed off to Cambridge.  It was fantastic!  Actually, it is a lucky thing that my first visit came after the move or Sam would have a bigger commute. 

Great St. Mary's Church

There was a market in the center of the city, and we found a stall that sold baguettes.  While I was buying the baguette Sam headed to the pasty shop to get us a snack.  When I returned the pasty was gone so I headed back for more.  I returned again with piping hot pasties only to find the children feeding the "better than what we have been getting in Essex" baguette to the pigeons.  Before we knew it people were watching and in the blink of an eye, a tourist gabbed the boys (see arrow), threw her arms around them and documented the "British boys" feeding the pigeons. 

A bit stunned, we decided to move along and see some of the sights.  That was when tragedy struck Laney's face.  Actually, it was a cobblestone that stuck her face.  It was cold and she decided to put her hands in her pockets.  Worried that she was going to miss out on a bite of this piping hot pastry filed with cheesy vegetable goodness, she lunged and tripped over my foot.  I'm sure you can fill in the blanks on this one. 

Yet again, we were attracting attention to ourselves so it was time to move along.

We strolled the streets for a while, looking into courtyards as we passed.  We went in the first that welcomed visitors and stumbled upon a chapel with a "princess" (in Laney's eyes) practicing a classical piece on the grand piano.  As if the little church was not amazing enough with its stained glass windows, the sound that came through the piano and filled the church was truly amazing.

We had a nice meal at a pub and I was treated to a beautiful view of the river and boats.

Of course no trip to Cambridge would be complete without a trip punting down the River Cam.  Okay, so my trip could have been complete, but the boys were dying to go on a boat.  So we struck a deal and agreed on the one way trip which proved to be perfect for AJ. 

Owen, Laney and Spencer in front of the Mathematical Bridge

I must say it was beautiful with the bridges and seeing all of those beautiful buildings from that perspective. The added bonus was watching the other tourists try to punt themselves back up the river on the blustery day, now that really worth the ticket.

And to finish off the day - a silver man.  Yeah, not so sure about this one either. 

I had a wonderful Mothering Day. I hope you do too. 

Nothing Like The Last Minute

It had been a while since I had been to the Netherlands to see my grandmother and I had a yearning for some Mergpijpjes (kind of like a petit four only with marzipan rather than fondant) and with a bank holiday on Monday, we decided to make use of the time.  Okay, truth be told this was an 11th hour trip.  Really we woke up Saturday morning, had a cup of coffee, got to talking and by noon we were packed, had a hotel and train reservation and were on the road.  7 hours later we were there.  We traveled one hour by car to Dover and drove our car onto the train that took us through the Channel Tunnel and 35 minutes later we were in France.  We then traveled though France to Belgium and from Belgium to the Netherlands.  Although the weather was beyond lousy, we enjoyed our time with Oma and seeing a few sights in The Hague. 

For anyone interested, we stayed at the Novotel in the center of  The Hague and it was really nice.  It is right across from the Binnenhof (the location of Dutch parliament) and attached to the Passage (a shopping arcade built in 1885).  The hotel was clean and served a very complete breakfast buffet.

Sunday we bought our Strippenkarts (long tickets used for public transportation) and rode the tram from the city center to my grandmother's flat by the dunes of the North Sea.  The kids loved the tram ride, watching the giant waves and eating lots of Stroopwafles (a cookie that is two thin waffles with a caramel like syrup in the middle) with Oma. 

We had a bit of time to show the children a few things in the city and Laney was, of course, particularly enthralled with Princess Maxima and Queen Beatrix.  Having just celebrated Queen's Day on Friday there was plenty to see.  We walked over to the Noordeinde Palace, but Laney was disappointed when I told her we could not go in and say good afternoon, or even "goedemiddag" (she was working on her Dutch). 

Although there was no tea at the palace, Laney did get the royal treatment from her brothers which more than made up for the lack of hospitality from the Dutch royalty. 

We had a nice log weekend and the kids are already planning a return visit, which is probably for the best because if left to me who knows what will happen.

Reunited

After 6+ months, Penny finally qualified for her PETS passport and made the trip.  She arrived yesterday and we were all happy to see her.  Of course, some more excited than others.  Owen did not want to leave the room until he had to go to bed.  AJ was not nearly as enthusiastic at first, but now she is all he talks about:  "Penny, ball, in, mouth, broke, ball",  "Whoa, Penny, fast",  "Penny, go, night-night, hmmm (his word for blanket because when you smell it smells so fantastic you go mmmm)".  Now all I need to do is find a way to keep him from driving his monster truck though her water bowl and all will be well.

Really

I am out of excuses.  Truth be told we have now had Internet for 4 weeks, but when I say 4 weeks that sounds like a long time, in our world, it seems like just yesterday. 

So, I guess I was delusional to think that we would move to England and I would have time.  Seriously, I thought that I would be able to hop on a train to London and see a museum with AJ.  You probably have no idea how crazy that idea really is.  First, why would I think that I could take AJ on a train?  Like he would morph personalities on the trip over?  Like somehow we were going to skip 18 months to 2 years all together?  Second, I'm not sure who I was thinking would pick up the kids from school, clean the house, pay the bills and do the laundry, but apparently it wasn't me.  I did plan on going very Euro and grocery shopping at the local market everyday, but waiting 2 hours for that minuscule washing machine to complete a cycle was not on my agenda.  Really, what was I thinking?

Actually, I know what I was thinking, I was thinking that life here would be like a big vacation, with lots of museums, walks, trips and adventures.  If you can imagine, I wanted things to be more foreign. I thought about small cars, better yet, bicycles, a cozy little house, local bakeries and shopping the markets, but was that unrealistic.  Life is, for the most part, the same here as it was in Michigan.  So, for me these past 2 months have been a mental coming to terms if you will.  

So, other than my psychological idiosyncrasies, things are going well - really well. The children love school, Sam likes his new job and we are pretty much settled in the new house. We still have paintings to hang and furniture to buy, but I think the same can be said for the house in Michigan. So, keep that in mind, and here is our life looks like in the UK: 

The Kitchen

Eating Area

Play Room

Powder Room (or Cloak Room as they call it) - Now I know you don't really care to see a bathroom, but I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that there are no toilet paper holders, mirrors or electrical outlets in any of the bathrooms. Keep in mind this is a new house - hunh?

Living Room

Dining Room

Laney's Room/Guest Room

Kids Bath 

AJ's Room

The Other Side of AJ's Room

Our Room

The Boy's Room

The Other Side of The Boy's Room (the Lego tent - my latest attempt to control the clutter)

Same furniture, same toys, same messes just a different house.  Although the stuff is pretty much the same, I hope that we walk away from these years changed people with our eyes just a bit more open to the differences and similarities too. 

Wikipedia Here She Comes

Do you think she might be channeling Gertrude Ederle?  Why else would she get to the UK and refuse to take those darned things off?  She wore them to school on Tuesday with her uniform.  It was interesting to watch the reactions of the other children and parents.  Perhaps we committed a faux pas?  Oh wait that's French.  Perhaps it was improper?  From the reactions she received, it was clear that Laney was the first to attempt such a thing.  I don't think there is a place in Wikipedia for her with this first, but keep working at it Lane.  Swimming the English Channel is taken, but I am sure there is something out there for you too.

Speaking of French, the boys have kept me laughing with their pronunciation of their new vocabulary words.  Their favorites at the moment are "zero" and "bois".  Both are said with a lot of enthusiasm and spit.  I imagine that is not proper either, but it sure is funny!

Stop The Presses

Well, in keeping with everything else that has happened thus far we are not moving into the house tomorrow. The inspection revealed that there was more to be done to the house. It had not been cleaned and the sub floor heating (the only heating) on the first floor does not work. So, the movers have been cancelled and we are now waiting to see what happens next. We'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, I might just need to make some more cookies.

Moving Day (Again)

Tomorrow is moving day!  Our inspection takes place this evening, we get the keys at 9 am tomorrow and the movers come at 9:30.  We are all so excited to get settled.  Unfortunately, all of this comes just when AJ has finally found something to amuse himself.  He loves to open and close the door and spin the barrel.   

Adaptation

The backyard at the Pump House (the place we are staying)

Everyone in Michigan is always complaining about the weather and, I have news for all of you Michiganders, the weather here is terrible too.  It is gray all of the time and it's cold. The temperature is not as cold as Michigan, but it's a damp biting cold.  Fortunately, there are some signs of spring here with bulbs beginning to sprout, but I think it will still be a while. 

In the meantime, I have some new favorite things:

• Radiators - you know they give off a really nice cozy heat.   
• Grocery delivery - well, the idea of it anyway.  All of the grocery stores deliver here and when you spend 50 pounds it is free.  It is really quite sophisticated here.  If you go into the store and purchase something, you can go on-line and it will be in your favorites.  I imagine I will get quite a bit of use out of this. 
• Prepared foods - Whilst (see, I am really getting into this) on the subject of grocery stores the prepared food isles here are amazing and, most importantly, the meals are really tasty and seem to be fairly healthy.
• Duvets - Man, I had no idea.  A fitted sheet, I think I would like all of them to be the "valance type", which is like a dust ruffle and sheet all in one and the duvet on top.  No top sheet to bunch up - brilliant!
• Jaffa Mini Cakes - Well, what can I say, they were on sale and they seem popular here, so I gave them a try.  I wish I hadn't.  With vanilla sponge cake, orange jam in a dark chocolate coating, they are like a fancy Ho-ho.  There are all kinds of jokes on the wrapper about "Jaffaholics Anonymous", but seriously, if I had a phone I might just call. 

There are a few things that I am still getting used to:

• The "other" side of the road - this is particularly hard when backing out of a driveway.
• 220v - it scares the bejesus out of me. 
• The 24 hour clock - way to much math.
• The plumbing - hmm I'll just leave it at that.
• Roundabouts - they really aren't free-for-alls.
• Carrying a sizable amount of money in coins - they coins worth 2 pounds!?
• Shifting the car with my left hand - I'm just not that coordinated.
• Writing the date in the day/month/year form - I guess I'm just thick because this is really hard to remember.
• Driving on "lanes" - sometimes I have to turn my head so I don't have anything in my peripheral vision otherwise I panic.  Really is is just plain SCARRY!
• Words like: football, trolleys, chips, biscuits, jumpers, trousers, car parks, coaches, lorries, bins, rubbish, and bits...- really this list could go on and on.
• The expression "cheers", which seems like it is used as a "thank you", oh, and maybe "you okay?" too - I'm really just not sure how to respond.
• The shopping carts with 4 pivoting wheels - can you say backache?

Whew, and that's just the beginning.  Adaptation - it's not as easy as it looks, but we are getting there.

Longing

We have been here for 3 1/2 weeks now and I've got to tell you I needed a chocolate chip cookie. The biscuits are fine and all, but I wanted that taste of home.  AJ has been a challenge to say the least and it seems that every little thing that could go wrong has, so I needed to drown my sorrows in a little butter, brown sugar, vanilla and melty chocolate chips. 

I bought all of the ingredients at the store, which was a bit of a challenge.  I guess they really don't use chocolate chips here because all I could find was a tiny 100g bag of chips and those were $1.60.  The next challenge arose when I went to mix up the dough and he measuring cup was in liters.

You know I have been wearing the same pair of shoes since we got here, but I did manage to pack my favorite chocolate chip recipe.  It, of course, uses American measurements, so there were a lot of conversions on the computer, but fortunately, butter, sugar, vanilla and flour tastes good in grams too.