Visiting the Seaside

Due to illness, schedule, and plain old life, we haven't been able to do as much sightseeing as we had hoped when we first bought our car.  But we did make it to the seaside a few weekends ago and it was great.  

We went to Weston Super Mare, which is advertised as a resort town, and it definitely was.  Neither of us have ever been, but it fit what we think Atlantic City must be like, minus the casinos.  A great place to go once to experience, but also inspiring to try another beach!

Helena and her fairy sand castle.  You can't see it, but the flag on top is a star sticker flag, something she brought from home.  She was prepared.

Benj is a boy who is very sensitive to texture, so it took him a little while to get used to the feel of the wet sand under the water that he couldn't see...but once he was over it, he had a blast.  (And yes, he does have underwear on in this picture!)

  

Helena rode the carousel while Benj took a nap.  There were many other extra activities you could do as well, but we mostly stuck to the beach.

My favorite part was the wall that separated the ocean from our mini beach, called Madeira Cove.  The cove was separate from all the hub-bub, there was no sinking sand to worry about, and it was quite shallow so the kids could explore the water a bit.

But you can walk along the wall, and during high tide, the water will reach the top of the wall (sometimes flood the walkway) on the ocean side, so it's like you're walking on water.  There were lots of kids crabbing off the side of it, something our kids desperately want to try sometime.

"Fancy an ice cream?  Have a Mr. Whippy!"  These signs were everywhere.  A Mr. Whippy is a classic British treat - soft serve ice cream in a cone with a Flake chocolate bar stuck in the top.

A Helpful Chart for Understanding Where We Live

Thanks, Millie, for sharing!

Calendar Dates

So there are two ways of writing dates using slashes:
1) month/day/year
2) day/month/year

In the United States, it is always #1.
In Canada, it is always #2.

Not a big deal once you know it, unless it's a date like 07/09/2015.  This kind of date requires some extra brain computing, as you have to stop and think about where the date is coming from.

So today I realized there are three ways of stating your birth date.
1) the (day number) of the (month number) - the 8th of the 9th
2) the (day number) of the month - the 8th of September
3) the month (day number) - September 8th

Brits say it using the first pattern.  Americans who have only been in the UK for a short time say it with the third.  Americans & Canadians who have lived in the UK for a long time mix the two by stating their birthday with the second pattern. 

Interesting...just wanted to share a little cultural learning I had today at my mum's group!

Third Time Around

The news is out - or at least should be out by now - we're adding to our family with baby #3 at the end of June! 

Helena & Benjamin are incredibly excited. Helena asks me questions regularly about the baby - 'How long is the baby's hair?' or 'Do you think she'd like to sleep in my room?  I will take care of her at night.' Benjamin is currently all about pretending the baby is crying and then coming over and hugging & kissing the baby. John is elated to be having another girl, yet he & Benjamin have already made their own family boy's group called 'Team Snuggle'.

For me, this pregnancy has been a really different experience. While very happy about having another baby, I just didn't feel excitement. But I think I've figured that out - from almost the beginning, we were pretty sure we were going to find out the gender; then when we did find out, it was like someone had hit the excitement switch because immediately I was so excited. I think knowing that we were going to find out caused me to unconsciously put everything on hold until the 20-week ultrasound. It's now 18 weeks to go and I can't wait!

Cakes vs. Biscuits

Two things we learned rather quickly:
1) Biscuits (a.k.a. cookies) are a necessity in England, and they are almost never homemade.
2) Cake is the overarching word for dessert and it is the dessert of choice; for example, it is what you are asked to bring to lots of different events and  it is what the schools sell to earn money (rather than a bake sale).

What's funny is cakes are not taxed but luxury biscuits are (I think luxury biscuits are defined as those that are at least partially covered in chocolate).  Not a huge deal, unless you're the company that makes Jaffa Cakes.

The question is, is it a biscuit or is it a cake?  Here are the factors HM Revenue & Customs considered when making their decision:

• The product’s name was a minor consideration.
• Ingredients:Cake can be made of widely differing ingredients, but Jaffa cakes were made of an egg, flour, and sugar mixture which was aerated on cooking and was the same as a traditional sponge cake. It was a thin batter rather than the thicker dough expected for a biscuit texture.
• Cake would be expected to be soft and friable; biscuit would be expected to be crisp and able to be snapped. Jaffa cakes had the texture of sponge cake.
• Size: Jaffa cakes were in size more like biscuits than cakes.
• Packaging: Jaffa cakes were sold in packages more similar to biscuits than cakes.
• Marketing: Jaffa cakes were generally displayed for sale with biscuits rather than cakes.
• On going stale, a Jaffa cake goes hard like a cake rather than soft like a biscuit.
• Jaffa cakes are presented as a snack, eaten with the fingers, whereas a cake may be more often expected to be eaten with a fork. They also appeal to children, who could eat one in a few mouthfuls rather like a sweet.
• The sponge part of a Jaffa cake is a substantial part of the product in terms of bulk and texture when eaten.

Looking at all the above info, they decided Jaffa Cakes were enough like a cake to be labeled a cake, and thus not taxed.

Idiom

A friend was over today and talking about how chaotic life was at the moment, ending her long list of events with "and the in-laws are having kittens."

I was surprised at such an ending but commented on how that will be fun. 

Oops!  No, someone "having kittens" is a British idiom, or at least one from the North (as that's where she's from and location dramatically affects things like this), which basically means someone is panicking.

Sweets vs. Desserts

Helena usually eats school lunch. There are foods that she's quite used to, like pasta with tomato sauce or fish & chips, but then there are also things like beef rolls or cheese & onion plaits that she's tried and liked.  At times, however, she prefers to take a packed lunch (or what she calls a "pot" lunch, as that's how packed sounds to her when spoken with a British accent).

Last week she asked if she could have dessert in her lunchbox, because there is always dessert with a school lunch.  That sounded very reasonable to me, so I added a pack of gummies.  When I picked her up that afternoon, she was quite concerned "Momma, I can't bring gummies to school.  They are not allowed!"

So this morning I asked about the gummies.  Her teacher replied that they really prefer children not bring sweets to school.  I explained that I was happy with that idea, and that the only reason I'd packed them was because there was always a dessert included with school lunches.  She then went on to explain that dessert to them is a piece of cake, a biscuit, or a chocolate bar.  Those things are fine but not sweets.

As you might guess, this is one of those things that doesn't completely make sense to my North American mind but I'm happy to follow the rules now that I know them!

Uncle E & Helena

Helena & Benjamin loved having people around that they knew!  It was particularly fun to have Uncle E here without his kids, as it meant that our kids wanted to interact with him rather than their cousins, and he was more available to interact with them!  Helena particularly took advantage by walking & talking with him wherever we went.  They even shared fish & chips at a restaurant!

Blenheim Palace

At the end of October, we had our first visitors and visited our first British tourist site.

As there's no direct bus route from our village to the palace, our day started off with a 25-minute walk on a public footpath.  

 

Helena was thrilled to be at a real-life palace. 

 The palace was built in the early 1700s.  The land and 240,000 pounds were given to the first Duke of Marlborough as a gift from Queen Anne, because he had led the victorious Battle of Blenheim.  By the time the seventh duke was in charge, all of the money was gone and it was hard to get more, as dukes were not allowed to work.  He sold all the books in the huge library. After the ninth Duke of Marlborough married a Consuelo Vanderbilt and thus her money, he bought books by the yard in order to refill the library.  Can you imagine buying books by the yard?

  

It was the most gorgeous day we've had in the U.K., so exploring the neighboring village and the Pleasure Gardens of the palace was most enjoyable!

The kids were thrilled to take a train to the gardens.  Here's Benjamin waiting for the train to start!

By the time we were walking back home on the public footpath, the fog was settling back in.

The meaning of hockey coffee

What is Benjamin referring to when he asks for a hockey coffee?

A walkie talkie!

And what about a hooga cake?

A scuba tank!

It's a lot of fun to play Legos with him.

Benjamin's Latest Word

Benj is talking more and more all the time.  It's so much fun.  Here's his latest word:

"hockey coffee"

Anybody want to make a guess for what it means?

(It has nothing to do with this picture.)

Hint #2 - It has nothing to do with a drink, so Auntie Katie, it's not hot chocolate.

Hint #3 - He was looking for something in the pile of LEGOs... 

Guy Fawkes Day

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night.  There are firework displays and basically just a fun time, all because of a man called Guy Fawkes and a number of other Catholics back in 1605.  When James I, a Protestant, became king in 1605, a small number of Catholics protested by planning on blowing up the Houses of Parliament.  Luckily an anonymous letter was sent, giving a bit of warning, and the plan was foiled.  Guy Fawkes is the famous protester, as he was found with the barrels of explosives, waiting to light the fuse, when the cellar was checked.

Nowadays it's referred to as Bonfire Night, when there are firework displays and basically just a fun time for all. Unfortunately the fireworks have been canceled in our village tonight due to bad weather, so we'll go to a different display this weekend.

Helena has been learning about fireworks and "Guy Forks" all week.  Here's her rendition of the story:

Walking Paths

One thing that's fun about being a pedestrian in England is that there are always paths off the roads that are just begging to be taken.  Sometimes we take one and then have to take it back as we have no idea where it leads, but other times we've found great shortcuts and found nice new places to walk.  Here's Helena on on path that we use quite frequently: 

Since the path is so autumn-y, I can't help but post another autumn pic.  We have been really enjoying the colors this fall, as they're so much more plentiful than they were in downtown Toronto!

Shutting the Door

We're definitely committing all kinds of social faux pas every day without knowing it, but there was one social action different from our North American one that we noticed from day one.  Shutting the door when you leave someone's house - you don't do it here!  When you walk out of someone's house, you do not shut the door behind you.  It doesn't seem to matter who you are, whether a friend or a furniture deliverer, you just don't do it.  You let the owner of the home shut the door, even if they're not at the door with you.

We had observed this action but then I heard a friend tell a story.  She was saying how one morning the kids were going absolutely crazy and she just had to leave to go to work.  Her husband told her to just go and so she walked out CLOSING THE DOOR BEHIND HER.

Laundry

John commented this morning that our house is very British.  When I asked why, he said, "Because we have towels hanging everywhere!"

It's true - as soon as we're done with breakfast, we turn off the extra radiator and throw a wet towel on it to help it dry.  If the sun comes out and I'm not planning on doing laundry that day, the towels get put on the line to help them dry and to just air them out.  After the kids take a bath at night, their towels get hung on the railing upstairs to dry out.  Helena commented on the kitchen stinking a couple days ago.  Why was it stinky?  I'd washed towels but it was raining so they were hung up in the kitchen.  There's just nothing like the smell of wet towels - even clean ones!

But I don't really mind.  I'm just loving having a washing machine right in our house.  It's so nice not having to take at least 6 elevator rides to do laundry!  Plus, I have the greatest helper to hang up the socks.

Harvest

Canadian Thanksgiving was last week, American Thanksgiving is next month, but we've been celebrating Harvest for the last three weeks.  Harvest was originally a time to celebrate all the food that had been harvested but since the agricultural side of the country is much smaller than it used to be, it's mostly a time to be thankful for the food we have and to contribute food to those who may be in need.

Helena's school celebrated it by having an assembly to see all the food the students had contributed and to discuss where it was going to go.  The above photo was taken when Helena took her mandarin oranges and spaghetti sauce up - it's actually posted with a bunch of other Harvest photos in the entrance of the school. We've now celebrated it at two different churches, where we had a typical service about being thankful but many many flowers. Harvest is seen as one of the 3 big holidays for church flower arrangements (my friend the flower coordinator told me that!).



So we did our own Harvest activity, seen above.  We all took turns writing down things we are thankful for and then sticking them to our dining area wall.  I was amazed at how much our kids enjoyed it.  Can you guess which color was Benjamin's?

Helena and school

Helena loves school.  I'm having a hard time knowing what else to write!  She just loves it.  Every day she gets dressed in her school uniform and wears sturdy leather black shoes to school.  As soon as she enters her classroom she changes into her plimsolls, a pair of very simple black shoes.  Every time she goes outside, she changes her shoes.

She's been coming home and telling us about the different words that are used in her classroom than what we use at home: plaits instead of braids, pudding instead of ice cream, biscuits instead of cookies, swap over instead of switch, pants instead of underwear, trousers instead of pants, and bananas (said with a long a) rather than bananas (said with a short a).  She hasn't quite caught on to the idea of no school days yet, as every weekend day she has said something like, "You need to take me to school!  I'm really late!"

Livin' a British Life

Yes, you read that right.  We're livin' a British life because we are now in the United Kingdom.  This was not the plan when we drove away from Toronto.  We left thinking we'd be buying a house in St. Paul, Minnesota, John would be working, we'd be settling into our native country, and the kids and I would be home for one more year before school entered into our family's life.

The only thing that is true about our life now, 3 1/2 months later, is that John is working!  John was given a postdoc in Oxford, so our plans changed.  We are now enjoying life in a rented rowhouse, we're discovering new things every day about this country, and Helena is in school.

So the blog will continue - but now from Great Britain!

My Little Brother is Married!

So that's kind of old news - Rob has now been married for 3 months.  But the thought still surprises me.  How can my little brother be old enough to be married?

But he and Sarah just fit together in so many ways, and I'm so happy for both of them!

Helena & Benjamin were both in the wedding, and you couldn't have found a happier flowergirl!  Benjamin seemed to be doing well - until he noticed John wasn't walking down the aisle with him.  Then he was done.  Rob & Sarah had put ring pops on the ring bearers' pillows and in the flowergirls' baskets, and that kept Benjamin happy during the ceremony!

I just love family weddings.  And I love you, Rob & Sarah.

What a full summer we have had!

We left Toronto two and a half months ago now, and the summer has just flown by! 

 

John's brother allowed us to be introduced right back in American life by lending us his BIG truck for a few days.  A very fun yet funny re-introduction!

 

We celebrated the Fourth of July weekend with strawberries, and lots of backyard swimming! 

 

Then it was up to Bemidji to see everyone on my side and to celebrate my little brother's wedding.

There's just never enough play time with Uncle Rob!

We had our annual race around the track for a belated Father's day celebration.

Plus, we got to meet our new niece Avery and our new nephew Carson!

We stayed in Bemidji for a few weeks after everyone else had to go home, so there was time to ride bikes, 

cross the Mississippi River,

spend time with old friends,

make homemade ice cream, 

and swim in Lake Bemidji.

Then back down south for fun with John's fam!  We took walks with our babies,

had a lemonade and donut hole stand (1 donut hole = 5 dollars, 2 donut holes 25 cents!),

became good friends with cousin Mary Elise, 

read books,

spent a weekend at a cabin with Grandma and cousins,

cooked on campfires,

learned about hay bales

and farms,

 

acted like a good uncle should,

celebrated birthdays,

 

and painted.

 

Helena went down her first waterslide, 

and Benjamin had his first horse ride.

I also got to spend some extended time with my good friend Mandy - time with our families and without!

Then we've closed summer off by being back up in Bemidji, playing with a wubble, 

going on boat rides with friends, 

snuggling,

and meeting a real princess!

The summer definitely wasn't what we thought it was going to be, but it was great.  We were blessed to go on all kinds of boats - canoes, kayaks, a pontoon, a speedboat, a row boat, and a sailboat - and our kids really grew in confidence when swimming.  Benjamin's language development has grown by leaps and bounds this summer, and it was so fun to share that with the grandparents.  So much time with family was nice after being far away and then moving away again. It's been a summer that will definitely stick out in our memories.