Our Days in the UK

Our final stop in Paris before heading back was the Eiffel Tour. I pre-booked tickets for us to go to the summit that morning. I am including the first picture below to: 1) prove that I managed to navigate the public bus system in Paris with my rusty French; and 2) show how happy Justin immediately looks upon entering any form of public transit. We got off at the bus stop near Trocadero, walked by the amazing fountains there, and found ourselves at the base of this... But we were only at the base for a minute, before heading up the elevators all the way to the top! Pretty nice views, although I could only identify a few of the landmarks. Paris at our feet... On one of the floors there are glass floors which those who do not get scared of heights can walk on. Clearly, our kids are not worried about heights, as they happily jumped and danced on them. After touring the tower we descended and Becca asked to ride the carousel we saw on our way in. So

France wouldn't be France without yummy French food! The friends who we visited with were vegan, so we made reservations at a vegetarian restaurant near Notre Dame Cathedral. However, when we left Musee d'Orsay to walk there the weather had other ideas. A huge, beautiful thunderstorm rolled in, with high winds and torrential rain, so we opted for the shorter walk to our hotel, asked for ideas, and then went to a creperie right down the street. We made it inside just before the real rain hit, so we were glad we chose the short walk. And it was really good! We all had buckwheat galettes, and we all liked them, so I'll call that a success. Rebecca looks grumpy here, but I think she's just concentrating. Also, it was really hot that day, so we were all kind of sticky and sweaty... The next morning we had a classic French breakfast in our hotel room, with hot chocolate, orange juice, and a variety of fruit, pastries, and cheeses. The kids loved it (as did I)!

Our first stop in Paris (after dropping our bags off at our hotel) was the Musee d'Orsay. I remember loving it when I went to Paris after high school, and as luck would have it, my friend felt the same. We both preferred it to the Louvre, so that's where we took our kids. We had a few hours before it closed, so we were able to see the impressionists (our top priority) and also Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Gauguin.  Here we go, heading up to the impressionists... The kids and I have an art museum tradition of treasure hunting. We either play the game so that the kids pick their favorite picture from each room/section, or I make a list of items for them to find. This time we did the first one, and each kid took a picture of their favorites. My phone is quite full of pretty impressive impressionism (see what I did there?) so I only included a few here. I found it interesting how consistent their preferences were from room to room. Justin distinctly preferred Monet, and lean

Rebecca's most recent Garfield drawing made me smile, so I thought I would share it with you all in case you need a reason to start the week off with a smile, too. She insists that it doesn't count as her art because it wasn't "from her head" (which means she was looking at a picture while she drew it.) I assured her that it still very much counts as art. Eric offered to draw his version of Garfield looking at the same picture, and then Rebecca understood that maybe not everyone can draw what they see the way she can... In any case, my dad sent a big box of books that arrived this morning, and the box included two new Garfield books, which the kids immediately started to read. Further proof that this is the perfect post for today! In any case, I hope that whether or not you like Garfield yourself, his fat, smug grin from our family to yours at least makes you smile a little. Happy Monday!

At the end of July my dear friend S and her daughter A came to visit for almost two weeks. We met them in London on Friday and took the Eurostar through the Chunnel to Paris for two days. Then we came back to our place for another week and a half. It was fun to share our English life with our American friends, and we were sad to drop them off at the airport bus on Monday afternoon.  We started out our adventures on the train to Paris. Justin was very happy to be on the train. Rebecca was less enthusiastic about the train, but kept entertained with her iPad. I have more pictures, but they include our friends, which I don't want to post, so you'll have to be satisfied with some less-than-ideal pics of my kiddos. We shared a lunch that I packed at home on the train, and after a somewhat harrowing trip through customs, had a blessedly un-harrowing trip on the train. We later learned that many of the Eurostar trains that day experienced delays of four hours and more because of

We have had friends from Boston visiting for the past ten days, so we have been keeping busy and I have lots and lots of fun adventures to report on (Paris! Stonehenge revisited! Wales again!) But I haven't downloaded any of those pictures yet, so in the meanwhile, feast your eyes on this quintessential English village...picturesque houses lining a main street on a hill, a gurgling stream, even an old Roman bridge. We met a friend from church who was dog sitting and went for a walk in Castle Combe a few weeks ago. She showed us all around and also let the kids walk the two dogs. I expected Rebecca to greet the opportunity with enthusiasm, but was surprised when Justin also jumped at the chance to walk a dog. Both kids did a great job keeping the dogs safe. The English don't think much of sidewalks, so most places we walk around here involve watching out for traffic. (And have I mentioned the insane speed limits!?) Anyway, the kids kept the dogs on a short leash, and we all

Have you ever had a crumpet? We saw some at our local grocery store, so we bought a pack of premade ones to try them out. Of course, we served them with tea, since it seemed like that was the thing to do. The kids liked them a lot so we bought another batch for this week. I'm wanting to try making them from scratch but I haven't done that yet.  We put a lot of whipped cream (sweetened with maple syrup) and some big juicy berries on top. I didn't have any because I avoided anything sweet for two weeks to kick my sugar cravings (it totally worked, by the way...I was amazed! I don't crave sugar at all now!) Anyway, I can't comment, but it was two thumbs up from everyone else. So now we've had crumpets, scones, shortbread...I think we're slowing mastering the British baked goods :)