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| Shuttled by limo to the Monster High Ball |
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| Beauty stations, crafts, activities... |
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| ...and dancing! |
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| Our Little Skeleton |
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| Trick-or-treating in the rain! |
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween
It was our first Halloween here in the UK and we weren't sure what we were going to do... The holiday here is a bit darker (more ghouls and ghosts than we usually see in the States), so we didn't want to go overboard, but we did want to get in some trick-or-treating! John ended up getting Lane and some friends tickets to the Monster High Ball (fun!) in London, then we came back to the house to meet up with John and Ryan for dinner and trick-or-treating on our cozy little close, and wrapped it up by watching Spookly the Square Pumpkin!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Italy
It's hard to believe that we were in Italy this week! The weather was chilly (and rainy), but we made it to got to the top of the Duomo during a break in the rain, visited Piazza di San Marco just days before it flooded, and ate lots of yummy pizza! Here's our whirldwind tour of Pisa, Florence and Venice in pictures...
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| Pouring in Pisa |
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| Leaning Tower of Pisa |
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| Lane climbed the tower with John |
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| Salud! First night in Florence! |
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| Photograph by Lane |
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| Family Photo - Lunch in Florence |
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| Climbing the Duomo |
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| View from the Duomo |
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| Piazza della Repubblica |
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| Boar's Market |
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| Lane - Ponte Vecchio in the Background |
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| Gelato! |
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| Venice - Rialto Bridge |
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| Piazza di San Marco |
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| Highlight of the Trip: Feeding the pigeons! |
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| Waiting for the Water Bus |
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| Murano, Venice |
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| Venice Sunset |
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Ryan's First Soccer Match
Ryan could not have been more excited last week... He had his first football match against another school. Mind you, this was supposed to be a "friendly" match, with no one keeping score. But he was so excited to travel on the mini bus to St. George's in Windsor (amazing... with a view of the castle from the field) to play a "real" match.
He started out as goalie, which was a little rough. They scored on him a couple of times. (I have to say, the boys on team they were playing looked like they were all a year older than our boys!) Later, he got to move into an offensive position which, I think, suited him better. (Funny how kids are different - Lane loves to play defense!)
He started out as goalie, which was a little rough. They scored on him a couple of times. (I have to say, the boys on team they were playing looked like they were all a year older than our boys!) Later, he got to move into an offensive position which, I think, suited him better. (Funny how kids are different - Lane loves to play defense!)
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| Ryan and his buddy, Dilsher |
Thursday, October 11, 2012
The Mystery of the Missing Swimsuit
So, while there are many wonderful things about St. Piran's - no place is perfect. Lane had her first brush with others' "imperfections" a few weeks ago...
When it came time for swim class, her bathingsuit was not in her bag. However, another classmate found her name label on the classroom floor. It had been clearly cut out of the bathingsuit. :(
Our guess is that someone (who forgot their swimsuit and is of average size in Year 4), panicked and took Lane's suit. We are choosing to believe that it was not someone who did it to her specifically for any reason.
The school handled it all very well - gathering the girls on more than one occassion and giving the culprit the chance to fess up, and giving anyone who knew anything the opportunity to anonymously write down that information. The school also very quickly replaced the swimsuit at their expense. Quite honestly, I think that the head of the middle school was a bit horrified at the whole situation.
Unfortunately, the mystery is unresolved. As a momma bear, I wanted the perpetrator to be found and punished. However, Lane is pretty unfazed by the whole thing, so I'll (reluctantly) let it go...
When it came time for swim class, her bathingsuit was not in her bag. However, another classmate found her name label on the classroom floor. It had been clearly cut out of the bathingsuit. :(
Our guess is that someone (who forgot their swimsuit and is of average size in Year 4), panicked and took Lane's suit. We are choosing to believe that it was not someone who did it to her specifically for any reason.
The school handled it all very well - gathering the girls on more than one occassion and giving the culprit the chance to fess up, and giving anyone who knew anything the opportunity to anonymously write down that information. The school also very quickly replaced the swimsuit at their expense. Quite honestly, I think that the head of the middle school was a bit horrified at the whole situation.
Unfortunately, the mystery is unresolved. As a momma bear, I wanted the perpetrator to be found and punished. However, Lane is pretty unfazed by the whole thing, so I'll (reluctantly) let it go...
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The Seven Stars
Although not everything has been perfect at St. Piran's (I'll save that for another post...), the educational experiences that the children are having there are incredible. For the first half of this term, Lane has been working in her design technology class on a custom sandwich. Her sandwich is the Seven Stars and comes with a baguette, ham, turkey, cheese, lettuce, flora (margarine)... and pasta! She had to do taste tests with classmates to decide what combination would work best, design and create the packaging (complete with price, barcode and "use by" date), and put it all together. When she brought it home, she sold it to me (I negotiated her down to half price - pointing out that I had provided the ingredients for her to take to school) and she, Ryan and I all tried some. I have to say... it was pretty tasty!
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| Seven Stars Sandwich |
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| Baguette, Flora, Ham, Turkey, Cheese, Lettuce and Pasta! |
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| Ryan gave it a thumbs up! |
Monday, October 8, 2012
Egyptian Day
Well... I've gotten a little bit behind in my posts due to an iPhoto problem - but I'm up and running again and wanted to catch up on all that's been happening since school started.
Earlier this month, all of the Year 4 classes participated in Egyptian Day. A wonderful company called History Off the Page comes into the school and runs an all-day Egyptian experience for the kids. They get to spend the morning working on various crafts (pressing olive oil, carving soap, making wax perfume cones...) then spend the afternoon at a feast in the royal court. Ryan's class did a Seaside Day last year and it was also spectacular. The kids have a great time and learn so much!
Earlier this month, all of the Year 4 classes participated in Egyptian Day. A wonderful company called History Off the Page comes into the school and runs an all-day Egyptian experience for the kids. They get to spend the morning working on various crafts (pressing olive oil, carving soap, making wax perfume cones...) then spend the afternoon at a feast in the royal court. Ryan's class did a Seaside Day last year and it was also spectacular. The kids have a great time and learn so much!
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| My Little Egyptian |
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| Bread-making |
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| Carving |
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| Pharaoh's Court |
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| Lane's Amulet |
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