Mom and Dad's visit. . Part Two: Sandwich. . .

For anyone who doesn't know, I grew up in a town called Sandwich, Illinois.  Most people who hear it never forget that name.  My parents still live there (about 27 years now) as does my brother, Mike, his wife Beth, and their two daughters, Brynn and Anne.  When we asked Mom and Dad what they wanted to do while they were here, Dad's immediate answer was visit Sandwich, Kent here in England.

After our day in London, the next morning we were off to Sandwich.  It is a small village and very charming.  We walked around, saw a bit of the events of the festival that was happening, and even hit some shops.  I got a clock for my mantel that I have set to US time; kind of nice to have gotten it there in Sandwich.

Gotta love those narrow streets!  At times during this day it was a toss-up as to whether the cars and the people/strollers could actually fit on the street at the same time!

Entertainment with period dress and music. . the girls loved it!!

The courthouse gate (front left of picture) was dated from the 1500's (or something crazy like that!). . and you could just walk right up and touch it.

Mom and Dad's visit--Part One: London. . .

My mom and dad were our first visitors to our new UK home. . they flew into Heathrow on July 21.  It was the first time out of the States for both of them.  Keith and the girls and I went down to London the night before so that I would be able to meet them at the airport; their flight got in around 6 am our time.  It was wonderful to see them come out of the terminal and to have my first hug from back home be my parents!!

We headed back to the hotel on the Hoppa Bus--the shuttle bus transit system for Heathrow.  It was early so the girls were still asleep, but I snuck in and grabbed Hannah and Maggie to come out in the hallway for hugs.  After breakfast and some showers, we grabbed the Hoppa back to the airport to catch the Tube (London Underground train) into the city.

Since Mom and Dad would be fighting jet-lag, we planned on just doing some sightseeing on one of the double-decker buses.  It was the girls' first trip to London as well, and they were insistent on riding one!  Here are the pics from London:

At the hotel

On the Hoppa bus

Dad getting friendly with the "locals"!!

The sight-seeing was just too much for her!!  Luckily, she is getting really good at stroller snoozing!

We hadn't planned on seeing the British Library and just happened upon it. . my mom is a school librarian, so she was thrilled!

St. Pancras International train station

Platform 9 3/4 of Harry Potter fame at St. Pancras train station. . .we decided to walk (a LONG way) to get to it and were all a bit disappointed that it wasn't grander!  But at least we can say we have seen it!

This ship in a bottle was a statue. . so it was as big as maybe a car.

Shot of Thames, London Bridge, and the HMS Belfast.

London Bridge

London City Hall (one that looks like a helmet) and the Gherkin Building (one that looks like a torpedo)

The London Eye on the left and County Hall on the right--on the Thames.  Keith and I stayed at the Marriott in the County Hall building when we came over for our house-hunting trip.  It was very nice. . thank you, Caterpillar! :)

Close-up of Big Ben

The Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace--built for Queen Victoria, the longest reigning monarch in British history.

Outside of Buckingham Palace. . .it is only open for tours in August and September.

In front of Buckingham Palace. . like this picture, even though we aren't looking in the same direction!!

Hannah reading the paper on the Tube.

"British things" I like. . .and things that are changing. . .

It is fascinating to hear the words that the girls are genuinely picking up with a bit of an accent. . .the vowel sounds in their words are definitely shifting a little!  For example, instead of saying "paht" for pot, I noticed Maggie now says "pawwt". . .don't know if you could understand my phonetics there, but it is cute when she says it!

I catch myself saying "lovely" and "for a bit. . ." and "a bit of" a lot. . .we have officially switched to using "holiday" for vacation (like it better anyway!). . .Keith now always pronounces "route" as "root" (it comes up a lot at work when they "rowt" issues) even when it's not Route 66.


And we were watching a movie set in Philadelphia the other night and we both realized that the driving scenes looked like they were on the wrong side of the road!!

I continue to have a bit of  a love affair with the different words for things. . .right now, I am liking:
knackered=worn out
bin it=throw it away
whilst=while (so fancy!)
elevenses=small snack around 11 am--like tea/coffee and biscuits
touch wood=knock on wood
one-off=doing something once. . .like "Do you go to that restaurant all the time?"  "No, it was just a one-off"

A new friend said the rain was "tipping down" the other day. . .I think that was what she said anyway--with the accents, it can be quite difficult to catch sometimes!

Maybe the cutest one of all, though, is that Charlotte now says "Hello" without the H sound. . we are working on " 'ello luv". . she'll be the most British Brummel of them all!!

First day of school. . .

Our first day of the 2011-2012 school year started off with a bang. . .and a thud!  I decided that we didn't have enough going on with starting school and all, so I got up first thing and fell half way down the stairs.  I landed pretty hard on my right arm, back and bum. . .blacked out a little and got nauseous from it.  At this point Keith figured out something was wrong but I assured him that I was just going to go all the way down stairs to the bathroom in case I got sick.  Bad idea!  This is where he takes over the story because I don't remember the next minute or so.  He went back to get Charlotte, who was fussing, and I went on to the bathroom.  That's when he heard the thud; I had walked to the bathroom and passed out, falling backwards and hitting my head on the door to our Harry Potter closet.  He came down to see me out cold on the floor.  I woke up to him trying to wake me. . .scary stuff!  He insisted on taking me to the A&E (Accident and Emergency Room) after we took the girls to school.  All was fine. . .I had a CT scan and everything. . .all clear.  I wasn't keen on getting the scan, but I am glad that I did because my head hurt pretty badly last night.  Today, I am feeling really beat up and sore. . .and realizing that I am getting older because I don't bounce back like I used to!!

Even though she was at the school last term for a bit, and even though she is officially a Year One student, if we were in the US, this would have been Maggie's FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!!! 

And Hannah, our brave and accommodating girl, started yet another new school when she joined Maggie at Saint Peter's Catholic School as a Year Three student (2nd grade)!  That's two different preschools and three different grade schools so far for her!

They both did really well and came home with big smiles and stories to share.  Hannah already knew some of her classmates from church, but also told me about some other girls that she played with or sat by.  And Maggie was thrilled with the fact that she had older kids in her class.  They combine the Year 1 and 2 (K and 1st grade) students and split them into two classrooms which then come together in different combinations throughout the day. 

The two girls whose faces you can see are Hannah and Georgia, her friends from church.  The other girl is a classmate.

Maggie and Jenny, who was new after Maggie last term.

Our little blue-eyed big girl.

In the scrum to hang up bags--she was glad her hook was between Georgia and Hannah.

I take it as a great sign that today, on the second day, Hannah went running in when the whistle for her year group sounded--she barely remembered to say bye to me!  I look forward to a great year at St. Peter's!!