Our Days in the UK

Our favorite Roman ruin, handily located a few minutes down the road, has some pretty amazing mosaics already preserved in a big temperature-controlled building. But a few years ago they discovered a new set of mosaics in another part of the villa. They don't have the funds to excavate and properly preserve them, so instead this year they planned a two-week long excavation to uncover the mosaics. They will laser scan and photograph them, and then...cover them back up! The best way to preserve them is to keep them under dirt until they have enough money to properly take care of them uncovered. I think they are trying to raise funds to do that, but in the meanwhile, as of next week the two-thousand-year-old mosaics will be put back under dirt and grass. (If my preferences dictated economic outcomes in the world, Hollywood and professional sports would get a lot less money and old stuff would get a lot more!) Fortunately, for the past two weeks, visitors have been able to see the

When my mom was in town a few weeks ago, she took the kids on their first-ever canoe trip. They went at Slimbridge Wetlands Centre, which is a great place for a first canoe trip, because the entire area of water is only a couple of feet deep, so even if you fall out (which is highly unlikely), you just stand up and walk to the shore. According to my mom, the kids did great. They paddled the whole time, learned how to steer, and had a blast. They saw a bunch of birds, some fish, and a snake (grass snake, not adder.)   According to the kids, grandma did great, too, except for the one time when she got so distracted by birdwatching that she ran the canoe into a tree and Justin consequently dropped his paddle in the water. They got the paddle back. Not sure if my mom saw the bird? In any case, we will have more canoeing in our future!

We love home education in our family. We primarily adopt the philosophy that kids (and people!) learn best when they want to learn. We spend some time on the basic building blocks of math, reading, and writing, so that our kids have the tools they need to learn whatever they want. Most of our days are spent crafting, reading, exploring outside, and learning about this new place we call home. So, when we went to the #homeedinsight picnic last week in Cheltenham, we made "The World is My Classroom" T-shirts for the kids to wear. My friend organized the picnic as part of a national day of home ed awareness and lobbying in response to some fairly terrible proposed legislation regarding home ed here in the UK. I don't know enough about politics here to say whether it will pass or what will happen, but I do know that all across the United States and Europe there is an increasing push for the government to take over child-rearing.  Generally, I think, people who advocat

You see the iconic red phone booth in this picture? It's our village phone booth. But it's not really a phone booth anymore. No, it's a... defibrillator, of course! Please allow me to introduce you to our very own village defibrillator. About a decade ago BT started closing down phone booths (due to underuse). But people protested since the booths were so iconic. So BT gave the option of paying a sum to keep the line if villages wanted to raise the money. Some villages do still have their phones. But the vast majority opted for a second option, to pay a very small sum to keep the phone booth, but to have the line disconnected.  In most of these villages, they have now installed defibrillators. So if any of you have a heart attack when you come to visit, rest assured you will be well cared for (in true British red fashion.) Although I'm not sure the exact logistics of getting someone having a heart attack down to the village phone booth to use it. Or maybe it&

The kids have loved exploring the river, but it can get pretty silty and rocky at points so they like to wear shoes. Justin wore his winter boots for awhile, but Eric suggested we look for water shoes. We found some serendipitously at our local Aldi and I bought a pair for each of us. As a consequence, we've been exploring the river quite a lot. We generally spend our Sundays after church parked in the shady spot by the river relaxing and rivering. We also hosted Becca's birthday party in this spot! It's one of the only outdoor places that has stayed cool (and green) during this hot dry spell. Anyway, Eric has ventured really far down the river. He took both kids through the village via river, and he and Justin headed a few miles down the other way out toward the neighboring village. Here are some pictures of the kids playing pre-water shoe. You will notice Justin's gigantic black boots. After this particular expedition they actually got stuck on his feet because

A friend encouraged me to check out the lavender farm that is just a few minutes from our house. The lavender only blooms for a few weeks in the summer, and it happily coincided with my mom's visit, so we went to check it out. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was so beautiful! With the fields of lavender stretching as far as the eye could see and the unusually hot and dry weather, it felt a bit like we'd accidentally hopped on a ferry to France. The farm was a feast for the senses. We could see beautiful shades of purple stretching in every direction, we could smell the lavender every time we brushed against it, and when we stopped walking and paused to listen we could hear the most amazing background buzz of thousands and thousands of bees. The buzz was almost my favorite part! Next to the lavender fields, the farmers created a little wildlife walk, and also left some meadows open to re-meadow in proper English meadow fashion. Apparentl

So, apparently, we like traditions that revolve around food . We've always enjoyed homemade pizza, usually on Fridays. Since we've moved here it's turned into an Official Family Tradition. The kids set the table fancy, and write up a menu. I make dough, sauce, toppings. It is a nice way to start the weekend. Here is my kitchen station: onions caramelizing, sauce saucing, dough rising, and basil being chopped. Here are the kids setting the table fancily. That paper is the menu they hang up every Friday. Taken by Rebecca. I'm chopping something... Here's our basil. We got it especially for pizza night. Here's a sign so that Eric doesn't get lost on his way downstairs to the restaurant from his office :) Here are the kids' pizzas before going into the oven. Becca likes caramelized onions and basil on hers (and it has to be heart-shaped.) Justin likes olives, basil, and extra mozzarella. He doesn't care what shape a