Blunks in England

Our main reason from coming to the UK this summer was for the Olympics. We arranged, two years ago, while on a skiing trip to Denver, for our neighbours, The Blunks, to come over. Two years past pretty quickly and luckily I managed to get us tickets for 4 events, yes the online draw thing worked for us.

So the weekend the Olympics started and the Blunks arrived at Heathrow for two weeks of fun. Mum and Dad started their weekend off with a great BBQ and friends from the area come too. It was lovely seeing everyone, no photos - sorry!

We gave them a day or so to get sorted and then did a day trip out to Cambridge. I took the boys on the train and Allen drove. We met up with Jacqueline and co and went punting. We did a punt tour as there were 12 of us. The yound man punting us let all of the kids have a go - if they wanted. I've included a photo in the punt. We had a little look around Cambridge too. Jacqueline kindly took the girls back to her house and they had fun playing with their new puppy and kitten - see photo.

While we were in Holwell Dad also got his train out, I've added a photo of the kids enjoying a ride around the garden.

Next stop the Olympics.

UK visit Summer 2012

A few months have past since I have posted anything, sorry. We are very busy at the moment sorting out our house ready for the impending move. However, due to Jacob's birthday coming up, I thought I'd better get it up to date! We had a fabulous summer, mainly due to the Olympics. Although friends and family came into that equation too! I drove over to the UK with the children two weeks before the Olympics so that I could do some visiting and spend some time with the family.

I started our trip by stopping off to see the Bullements. It was lovely to catch up with Tim, Helen, Will, Issy, Sam and Alice. We spent two nights and had lots of fun. We also managed to stop in and see friends from the Netherlands who had recently moved back - The Lofts. Great to catch up with them too and see their beautiful house. I've included a photo on Helen's doorstep, unfortunately Will had already gone to school!

Next stop was Anne's in Knutsford. Again a two night stop. We had fun with Vicky and Emily. It was good to catch up. There is a photo of the children on the settee.

A drive down south took us to Janine and Paul's, just outside Gloucester. Also managed to catch up with friends Bill and Gemma, who we knew when we lived there 10 years ago. We had just one night at Janine's as I had to get back to Mum and Dad's to enjoy a girls weekend away. I also didn't take any photos while in Gloucestershire!

Mum and Dad kindly had Jacob and Abi so I could enjoy a weekend in Birmingham with Ali and Ruth. We stayed in a brilliant hotel, excellent breakfast that was really cheap. Went and saw a strange, but good, production of what happened next in Romeo and Juliet, shopped, ate and drank and had a good catch up. We saw some of the American Olympic team, their base was Birmingham, unfortunately, at the time, we didn't know any of the team as it was before the Olympics!

Back in Holwell we then had time at camp - my sister was running a guide camp nearby, which we all enjoyed helping at and also spent time with my Aunt and cousins. I love living all over the world but I also love meeting up with family and friends.

Allen then trained it over to arrive in time for our 15th Wedding Anniversary, we spent it back in Oxford - where we got married. It was a relaxing night and great to be back where it all started. Again, thank you to Mum and Dad for looking after J & A!

Next post The Blunks arrival.

Cochem

Well we're just back from a fun and relaxing weekend in a German town called Cochem. It's in the Mosel valley and Mosel wine region. We were lucky enough to have it all booked and sorted for us by a friend called Nadine. She is German, married to an American and has Kaden aged 3 and Haley aged 7. They drove too which was great for us too. We ate and drank very well and were lucky with the weather. I've included photos from outside the hotel, looking towards the castle. We went around the castle which was interesting and did a quick wine tasting session. Abi and Haley paddled in the river with Abi collecting a heart shaped stone. I've included a photo of the boys at dinner. A brilliant weekend away.

Hair cut and other

Still updating with things that have happened over the past month. We went to a British base in Germany for a fun afternoon. There was a variety of bouncy things plus a fair ground ride. Allen had the pleasure of taking our 2 on it!
I had a varicose vein taken out, I was meant to keep the bandages on for 3 days, I managed 2 and a half. The bandage went from my thigh to my ankle and when I had it done when it happened to be the hottest day of the year so far.

Abi has had a very short hair cut. She wanted to donate her hair to a wig shop here. One of her teachers has recently lost all of her hair due to chemo and it made Abi think a lot about hair.She loves her new look and I'm liking the no tangles!

Bits and Pieces

Here are a few photos from the past couple of months. We did a day trip to Amsterdam and visited the Anne Frank House, the Diamond Museum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Ritcht Museum. A lot of places in one day but we had our museum card to use so could pop in and not worry about spending hours in any of the museums. Jacob and Abi enjoyed all of them, the photo is obviously from the Van Gogh museum.
We have joined Snow World as part of a NATO group. It means we get to ski and snowboard without having to pay each time. There's a photo of Jacob, Abi and Allen getting to the bottom.

I went on Jacob's classes trip to Zanten, a Roman town that has been recreated in Germany, about 2 hours from here. It was a great day and I'm glad it was dry.

Abi's 8th Birthday

I realise this is a little late! Abi had a great birthday. It fell on a school day this year for the first time since she was born. She started her birthday celebrations the day before on the pizza bus. This is a converted American school bus that you can sit in and eat freshly baked pizzas. It only comes to our village on a Tuesday hence going the day before her actual birthday. On the 18th she opened some presents before school, see photo. I was teaching so straight after school we met up with out neighbours and went to KFC, one of Abi's favourite places to eat. We then got home and I'd made a castle cake, as requested. We invited more neighbours around for cake. We couldn't take too long as Abi and Jacob had Orcas - swim practice. Abi then had a swim party on the Sunday and had all of her class there plus a few others, and straight after that we had a lunch out in Sittard with lots of British families - a lovely way to finish off her birthday week. So as usual Abi had a nicely elongated birthday that was enjoyed by all. I've also included a photo outside Mum and Dad's new house in Holwell.

Rome 2012

Well finally getting around to posting about our Easter trip to Rome. We went to Naples for 2 days and then Rome for 2 days 3 nights. We had a great time there and need to go back as we didn't see everything. From the photos you may recognise the Trevi Fountain, where we all threw coins and made wishes. Abi was bursting to tell her wish but we wouldn't let her! The Colosseum - where we had a guided tour. The Pantheon both inside and out and finally Vatican City - there was a huge queue to go in so we just had a quick look outside and that was enough this time. The food was excellent, very child friendly, the apartment we stayed in was just right and the buses were easy to use. Rome seemed like a pretty laid back place and a capital city we would really like to visit again. The flight back here was 2 hours and our neighbour picked us up from the airport as he works next door so all in all an excellent trip. Rachael.