Wow, it is hot again this summer! The high for today is 39 degrees C (which is over 100 degrees F!!!) Boy do I miss my air-con. I am trying to figure out where we can go to escape the heat of our house that doesn't require too much time on public transport or cost too much money. Brad is heading to the horse races today. The blazer was a no go for him for sure.
July has been a busy month! And August will be the same of course, with all the birthdays and the travel to the US. Rebecca came to visit at the beginning of July en route to Copenhagen/Amsterdam for her bicycle teaching course. We had a nice time. I had to work the three days that she was here unfortunately, but Brad and his co-workers went to Wimbledon on the Monday, and she joined them. I am so glad she was able to do that, and they even got to watch Coco beat Venus Williams on Court 1 for only £10. And they didn't even have to queue at all!!! I took the morning off, and she and I went and had brunch in the village, trying to celebrity spot with no luck. But I did like going to work at noon!
Lauren went on her residential trip to Condover Hall. We had a bit of drama with the rooming situation, but it all worked out ok in the end. They didn't have unlimited access to their phones thankfully; they were only allowed to have them in the evening after dinner. The first night she called very teary and said she wanted to come home, but then the next 2 nights when she called, she was a lot more upbeat and happy. But she was really happy to get home on Friday! They did lots of outdoor activities like archery, climbing, ziplining as well as some water sports.
The last day of school was 19 July, which was a very rainy, yucky day which meant no time at the park after school. Uncle Bob arrived around 3:30 after a long delay in Detroit! He was supposed to arrive at 6 AM. He and I went into the city on Saturday. We saw Big Ben (under all the scaffolding), Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Sqaure, St. Pauls and the Tate Modern. A few of my favourite places in the city. Rebecca has plans to take him to the Transport Museum and Burough Market next week when they are here for about 18 hours!
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Our first visit to Cornwall
and the hype is worth it! What a fabulous place.
We have heard everyone talk about Cornwall for the entire time we have lived in England so we decided we should go for it. And we invited Mum Mum and Nana and Papa to join us.
We left very early on the Saturday of May half term, hoping to miss most of the traffic. It was somewhat successful, but it took almost 7 hours to get there. However, we did see Stonehenge from the car, which is the closest I think I need to get to it.
We arrived to Harrowbeard House in the village of Marhamchurch, Bude about an hour before the grandparents, who had quite an adventure with it being Papa's first time driving on the left side of the road! I think they took most very small, narrow roads and avoided most of the motorways. The house was perfect: 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms with the MOST amazing view of the rolling hills of Cornwall. We could see several fields full of cows and sheep.
Brad, Nana and I went to Morrison's to get some groceries, and it reminded me of Florida at Spring Break...carts full of water and boos and many empty shelves. We couldn't find any tomatoes or avocados. As we were all tired from travelling, we walked down the road to the local pub. We had a great time, Lauren organised everyone to vote on Kahoot quizzes to do when we got home. We all made a list of topics and then had a vote. Very democratic.
Overall, the weather was typical of England: some rain, some sun and mild temperatures. We had only day that was a total washout and the last day was the most beautiful!
Sunday, it was rainy in the morning but in the afternoon, we headed down to Bude. They were having a fair right by the carpark that Brad had chosen for parking so we couldn't escape a few rides, but they were pretty inexpensive! We all had a go on the bumper cars, which was super fun!
Monday, we went to the Eden Project which was a much lauded place about an hour drive from Bude. It was quite a place with 2 different bio-spheres: one for wet and humid and the other very dry. Both contained very interesting plants and animals. Lauren really enjoyed taking photos.
Brad and I were able to take a day to ourselves to explore, which was one of the sunny days. I think the kids even went for a walk as well. Brad and I went to Port Isaac first, which is the town where Doc Martin is filmed, and they were filming that day! Not that we know anything about it, but it was definitely a draw. It was a VERY cute town! We had some great food and did some shopping and walked along the Southcoast path and had a lovely time just sitting and enjoying the peace and quiet. Then, we drove a little further south to Padstow, which has been made famous by Rick Stein, a chef. It was way more commercialised than Port Isaac and much busier. They were quite a few people crabbing. We had a nice time there as well and had a great dinner at a place called Beef and fish. We got back before the kids were alseep.
ON Brad's birthday, Brad, Mum Mum, Papa and I went on a 3 mile walk from Bude to Widemouth (pronouced Wid-muth not Wide-Mouth) along the South Coast path, which was breathtaking!!! It's hard to even describe the views and the rocks.
On the final day, the grandparents went off to a town just north of Bude while the other 5 of us went on a 15 mile ride from Wadebridge to Padstow. Drew was a bit apprehensive to be on the back of the bike with Brad, but all of them did really well. The ride was very beautiful and it was amazing how much the water came in while we were biking! We were able to see a beautiful sunset on the last night from the local school, which was just up the road from our house.
On Saturday, Brad and the kids left around 7 AM and were home before noon! Mom and I went to the Exeter Cathedral since we had a bit of time before our train left and we had a nice brunch in Exeter before taking the train back to Wimbledon.
A few numbers from our holiday:
Tubs of clotted cream consumed by the adults: 4
Bottles of gin enjoyed: 1
Puzzles worked: 2 (we had to purchase a second one after we finished the first one in 3 days!)
Football goals purchased: 1
Scones eaten: too many to count! We tried all sorts
Games of Hand and Foot: a lot, and Alison is hooked!
We have heard everyone talk about Cornwall for the entire time we have lived in England so we decided we should go for it. And we invited Mum Mum and Nana and Papa to join us.
We left very early on the Saturday of May half term, hoping to miss most of the traffic. It was somewhat successful, but it took almost 7 hours to get there. However, we did see Stonehenge from the car, which is the closest I think I need to get to it.
We arrived to Harrowbeard House in the village of Marhamchurch, Bude about an hour before the grandparents, who had quite an adventure with it being Papa's first time driving on the left side of the road! I think they took most very small, narrow roads and avoided most of the motorways. The house was perfect: 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms with the MOST amazing view of the rolling hills of Cornwall. We could see several fields full of cows and sheep.
Brad, Nana and I went to Morrison's to get some groceries, and it reminded me of Florida at Spring Break...carts full of water and boos and many empty shelves. We couldn't find any tomatoes or avocados. As we were all tired from travelling, we walked down the road to the local pub. We had a great time, Lauren organised everyone to vote on Kahoot quizzes to do when we got home. We all made a list of topics and then had a vote. Very democratic.
Overall, the weather was typical of England: some rain, some sun and mild temperatures. We had only day that was a total washout and the last day was the most beautiful!
Sunday, it was rainy in the morning but in the afternoon, we headed down to Bude. They were having a fair right by the carpark that Brad had chosen for parking so we couldn't escape a few rides, but they were pretty inexpensive! We all had a go on the bumper cars, which was super fun!
Monday, we went to the Eden Project which was a much lauded place about an hour drive from Bude. It was quite a place with 2 different bio-spheres: one for wet and humid and the other very dry. Both contained very interesting plants and animals. Lauren really enjoyed taking photos.
Brad and I were able to take a day to ourselves to explore, which was one of the sunny days. I think the kids even went for a walk as well. Brad and I went to Port Isaac first, which is the town where Doc Martin is filmed, and they were filming that day! Not that we know anything about it, but it was definitely a draw. It was a VERY cute town! We had some great food and did some shopping and walked along the Southcoast path and had a lovely time just sitting and enjoying the peace and quiet. Then, we drove a little further south to Padstow, which has been made famous by Rick Stein, a chef. It was way more commercialised than Port Isaac and much busier. They were quite a few people crabbing. We had a nice time there as well and had a great dinner at a place called Beef and fish. We got back before the kids were alseep.
ON Brad's birthday, Brad, Mum Mum, Papa and I went on a 3 mile walk from Bude to Widemouth (pronouced Wid-muth not Wide-Mouth) along the South Coast path, which was breathtaking!!! It's hard to even describe the views and the rocks.
On the final day, the grandparents went off to a town just north of Bude while the other 5 of us went on a 15 mile ride from Wadebridge to Padstow. Drew was a bit apprehensive to be on the back of the bike with Brad, but all of them did really well. The ride was very beautiful and it was amazing how much the water came in while we were biking! We were able to see a beautiful sunset on the last night from the local school, which was just up the road from our house.
On Saturday, Brad and the kids left around 7 AM and were home before noon! Mom and I went to the Exeter Cathedral since we had a bit of time before our train left and we had a nice brunch in Exeter before taking the train back to Wimbledon.
A few numbers from our holiday:
Tubs of clotted cream consumed by the adults: 4
Bottles of gin enjoyed: 1
Puzzles worked: 2 (we had to purchase a second one after we finished the first one in 3 days!)
Football goals purchased: 1
Scones eaten: too many to count! We tried all sorts
Games of Hand and Foot: a lot, and Alison is hooked!
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