One Year in England

Well, a year ago today we flew out of the states to begin our new life in England. My, how time flies. So, as we look back at our experiences and things learned over the past year, Tom and I have put together our Top Ten List of our first year here...


10. Seeing Jacob in his school uniform for the first time
9. Experiencing a true European Christmas whilst in Belguim
8. Seeing 'Wicked' in London's West End
7. Bi-weekly grocery delivery (how did I ever live without this???)
6. East in the Lakes District with long lost cousins. We awoke to snow...complete with bunny tracks!
5. Sitting in a London Park, people watching
4. Legoland on the 4th...Tom's dream finally coming true. Would we ever get out of miniland?
3. Being okay with 3 inch spiders in my house (this has taken a bit)
2. Hanging out with our British friends and having them say, "I keep forgetting that your American" - perfect compliment and acceptance!
1. Wonderful travel memories from the top of England down to Switzerland. Thank goodness for the Eurotunnel and Leapsters! And the van...I guess!


Not bad for a move that we never thought we'd make. Ahh, the memories!

Then...

Now.

Saturday at the Trout Farm

It was a beautiful autumn Saturday this past weekend, so we decided to head to the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are what you think of when you think of England - old stone houses with rolling hills in the back garden. We visited the town of Bibury, which is home to a Trout farm which raises over a million rainbow trout. We had so much fun! We were squealing with excitement over feeding these fish! How great to spend an afternoon outdoors with fish!

You Know You Live in a Small Town When...

Well, I always thought that growing up in Hudsonville gave me a small town experience. No, I think Beaconsfield takes the cake. You just never know who is watching as I have found out in the past few weeks.

I went to a new playgroup with Jeb a few weeks ago and starting chatting with a woman. She looked at me a few minutes into our conversation and said, "Don't you have two older boys?" Surprised, I said "Yes, how do you know that?" Her reply, "Oh, I've seen you in Sainsburys (our grocery store and the place to be seen) before with all three." I froze. Images flashed in my head of me in Sainsburys with all three boys...was I yelling at them? where they running around? why would she notice us? She said not to worry, she has 5 older brothers, so when she sees a woman with boys, it brings back good memories. I chose to believe that we looked like the perfect family when she saw us!

But it doesn't stop there! Just yesterday, at my usual playgroup, I met another American. After talking for a while and explaining that we moved almost a year ago, she said, "Oh, I've heard of you...you're the one who came with three kids when your youngest was 4 weeks old." Now, that is just crazy. I'm learning that you always act proper in this small town of our - you never know who is watching or who is talking!

Stop the Rush and Just Enjoy

Last night as I laid in bed I thought of my three, jet-lagged, boys who had to be woken each morning this week for school and how it would be just my luck that Saturday would be the day they got back on track. Do I know them or what?! Yep, 6:45am Aiden was yelling at Jacob because he thought he took his blankie. I guess it makes sense that he thought that since earlier in the week (when they couldn't sleep at bedtime due to jet-lag), Jacob tried to reach Aiden's blankie from the top bunk unsuccessfully and plummeted to the floor headfirst. After checking for no major injuries, I had a bit of sympathy, but not a whole lot. But I digress...

Back to today. With the two boys up we started the days preparations for a trip into London. Our plans centered around Buckingham Palace and the final day to visit the state rooms. We'd pair it with the changing of the guard ceremony. But, as Tom discovered late on Friday night they only do that ceremony on even days. Today is the 27th. Details, details...they seem to be my demise this week. At any rate, I went to a plan B: The Transport Museum.

Again, with the two boys up and shortly there after, three boys up, I made lunches while pushing the boys to change clothes, throwing Cheerios at Jeb and in the end helping Jacob with his homework. We sat down to breakfast after having to wake the one remaining male in the house, Tom. And we were out the door to the train by 9:00.

I never realized how peaceful a Saturday morning can be (despite my overly excited boys). It was a bit cool and foggy, but beautiful. So many spiderwebs on the hedges as we walked and for the first time, I was thankful for spiders and what beautiful creations they make OUTSIDE THE HOME!

The day went relatively smooth. The boys didn't enjoy the transport museum as much as we thought - the manequins in each train and bus scared the daylights out of them (kind of crept me out too!) And the palace was amazing to see...the recommended viewing time of 2 hours was cut down to 45 minutes for us, but it was still great!

The best part of the day was sitting in Green Park. A warm, sunny fall day is hard to find in England, but we got it. The boys played their little hearts out and then we collected leaves and chestnuts from one end of the park to the other. It's moments like these that you want to package up and keep in a box forever. Funny what kind of memories are made when you stop...

Happy First Birthday Jeb!

Where does the time go? It seems I was just holding my black haired newborn and yet here we are with a blonde, spikey haired one year old! Yesterday I had him weighed - he's sticking to the 2nd percentile at 17lbs, 9 oz! He's happy and boy does he love to eat, as long as he is doing it himself. I think we may have another stubborn one on our hands. This past month brought some changes...much more rolling around and stiffening of the legs - maybe we will skip crawling and the bum shuffle altogether. He is also very into Matchbox cars (yes, they are supposed to be for 3 year olds and above, but whatever.), he particularly likes to take them out of the box and resort them. Hmmm...not only does he look like Tom, but he acts like him too!! We were lucky to have 3 celebrations for Jeb. A very impromtu party with the family when we were home. Wow, we never dreamed that that would happen! Today, on his birthday we had his playgroup over - 8 very active babies. It was a lot of fun. Jeb is the first to turn one, but as you'll see from the picture, he is the littlest!! We followed that party up with our own family party. The boys were so excited to eat the cupcakes. I really didn't want Jeb to have two, but he sure didn't want me to take it away. Hmmm...diaper should be pretty blue tomorrow!!

Drop Everything - We're Leaving.

Well, last week Friday at 4:00 pm I got a voicemail from Tom to call him immediately. I was shocked when he told me that our visas couldn't be fixed in London and that we all needed to board a plane for Chicago the next morning so they could be fixed there. If not, we wouldn't be allowed back into the UK. So, the phone lines burned with me calling everyone that either me or the boys were involved with in the upcoming week to cancel. The first call was to Jacob's school and I was hoping the answerphone would kick in. Nope, Mrs. Zeun, the head mistress, answered. Mrs. Zeun is a very proper English woman that makes you straighten up immediately, so when she answered I was nervous. She told me quite simply to fill out the form when we returned. No words of sympathy for our misfortune, just a straight forward answer to my request to take Jacob from school. Anyway, after a hour of being on the phone, the packing began. For some reason, we were amazingly calm.

At 5:30 am we were on our way to the airport and on the plane by 8:00 am, a little over 16 hours from getting the news that we were leaving. The trip was hectic with Jeb wanting to move everywhere. I guess I should be thankful for the 2 1/2 hours of sleep he did get. The flight seemed to be taking longer and I wondered why we were circling over Traverse City. Captian Miracle (Not kidding on his name!) came on to tell us there was flooding at O'Hare. What?! We just left a summer of rain and we expected sun!! But, sure enough, it was pouring. We got our luggage, hopped in our rental van only to find the passenger seat soaked. Two cars later, we were on our way with three wide awake boys. So, we skipped the Chicago hotel and were off to Michigan. Being in an Explorer we realized we may need to rethink our car situation when we return for good. Two problems: 1. Three across the same row means more fighting, and 2. they are right behind us vs. being in the bench seat in the back. I may need to swallow my pride and drive a van. We'll cross that bridge when we get there!

We arrived at my parents at 6:00. Jacob was now going on his 13th hour of no sleep. Where does his energy come from? In the end he was up 16 hours straight and crashed into bed at last. The night was short with Jeb and Aiden ready to go at 4:30, but in a few days time we all got back on track. I think Tom and I were going simply on shock and amazement of being home!

Just Not Enough Time

Being at home was great, but being there mearly 5 days was just not enough time. We had such good times being with friends and family, but we didn't get a chance to see everyone. So, while I dread the flight back at Christmas, I can't wait to get a chance to see everyone.

Jacob saw his best bud Andy and when they saw eachother they ran towards eachother just like in the movies, only when they reached eachother they simply stood there until Andy broke the silence with "Hey, look at my backpack." It was great.

In some ways it felt as if no time had past at all. I guess that is the way it should be when you are with family and friends who now feel like family. But, you know time has past when you look at kids. My, how they have all grown up. How can a year change so much and yet it doesn't seem that long ago since we were home. Crazy.