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...

Pouring in Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Lane climbed the tower with John

Salud!  First night in Florence!

Photograph by Lane

Family Photo - Lunch in Florence

Climbing the Duomo

View from the Duomo

Piazza della Repubblica

Boar's Market

Lane - Ponte Vecchio in the Background

Gelato!

Venice - Rialto Bridge

Piazza di San Marco

Highlight of the Trip: Feeding the pigeons!

Waiting for the Water Bus

Murano, Venice

Venice Sunset

My Autumn View

View from Our Front Yard

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!)

Ryan and his buddy, Dilsher

 

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...

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! 

Seven Stars Sandwich

Baguette, Flora, Ham, Turkey, Cheese, Lettuce and Pasta!

Ryan gave it a thumbs up!

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!

My Little Egyptian

Bread-making

Carving

Pharaoh's Court

Lane's Amulet

 

The Start of School

Last week, the kids started school.  I have to admit, I was pretty excited (see photo).  We had a great summer break... playdates with friends, the Olympics, our trip back to the States, and then just enough time to adjust to being back in the UK before we were all ready to get back into the routine of school.

And now, at the end of the second week, my little girl (ahem, big girl) is off for a weekend with her classmates.  They are headed to an outdoor adventure camp to make apple cider, work as a team on a ropes course and fly through the air on a zip wire.  Unfortunately, she is just coming down with a cold - so I'm saying special prayers that she'll feel well and sleep well.  It was a little tough to see her go.  (Literally, it was a little tough because she wasn't looking out the window of the bus... She was already busy playing a card game with her seat partner.)  I think she'll have a great weekend...

California Trip - Weeks 2 and 3

Well, my lack of blogging is evidence that weeks two and three in California were a whirlwind.  It was a good whirlwind - packed full of fun, for sure - but left us with almost no time to catch our breath!

After our first long and relaxing week up by Malibu, we headed down to El Segundo.  Five days was not nearly enough time to hang out with all of our dear friends there!  We had full days with dentist and doctor appointments, then the kids had a great time spending their evenings at Vacation Bible School at OCF.  My mom came for a few days to get some more time with the kids and we squeezed in a couple of extra visits with friends.  Then we were off to Palm Springs!

Palm Springs has become an annual tradition, and we didn't want to miss it this year!  I felt like a rechargeable battery soaking up the sun! 

Then we headed back to Malibu (via the outlets!) to hang out with Mary Beth, Roy and Jaclyn and make our annual visit to Disneyland!  We headed out early to get in line for the latest ride at Carsland and it was worth the wait!  We drove back after dark for our last night in California.

On Thursday, we loaded up and, after a last visit with the cousins for dinner, got on the red-eye back to the UK.  As we walked in the door, I can honestly say that it felt good to be home. 

And now, we're starting to get back into the swing of things...  The laundry has been going for three days.  This afternoon, we made a fun trip to the Littlewick Fair.  Tonight, we're hoping everyone will (finally) sleep through the night.  Tomorrow, John is back to work.  Next week, the kids are back in school.  Good-bye summer, hello fall!  (Ahem.... "autumn"!)

Lanie & Bella

Ryan & AJ

Lanie & Sarah at VBS

The Girls in Palm Springs

The Kids in Palm Springs

 

Ryan's 1st time on Splash Mountain!

Malibu Sunset

California Vacation - Week 1

When I started this blog, it was meant to be a way to keep family & friends updated on our adventures and life across the pond.  However, it has now grown into my personal scrapbook, too - a way to remember this season of our lives.  That said, I've decided to include updates on our time back in California here.

Our summer vacation has been off to a fantastic start...  We've spent Week One in Malibu and Santa Barbara - visiting with family, hosting our annual bible study BBQ at the Ludwigs' house, making time for an Ojai overnight for John and I, and working through our "to do" list.

Oh the "to do" list... a unique feature of this vacation is that there is much to do... There are fun things - like spending time with friends, boogie-boarding at the beach and going to Disneyland.  And there are just things that need to be taken care of while we are back in town - appointments with dentists and doctors, repairs to be made to the car, groceries to buy that we can't get in the UK!  

In planning this trip, I have been very deliberate with the kids to say we are "going to California" this summer, not "going home."  The truth is, two to three years is a long time in their young lives, and I am committed to helping them to feel safe and settled in our home in Holyport.   Now that we are here, I know that it will be a little bit hard to head back to England.  Mostly, because this really is a vacation and not "real life" in California.  Hotels, parties, American Girl Cafe, multiple sleepovers, beaches, bounce houses and Disneyland did not round out a typical week for us when we lived here, but this is what we've come back to!  That said, we are soaking up every minute of it!

First Stop

Carly's Wedding

Ludwigs, Worths & Ratnathicams

American Girl

Zuma Beach

Time with Nana

Ojai Valley Inn

Cousins