At the end of the play there was about a 45 second death scene where the wolf is shot by Miss Riding Hood as the narrator said
The kids competed in running events where they put forth great effort, but the events that they really excelled in were held the week before. Madison won first in her grade for long jump (3rd in the combined event) and Bryce won first place in shotput for the entire school. It was fun seeing them get their awards.
So June 18 Bryce went to Birmingham to compete and took 4th place (narrowly losing 3rd place). The Dustin's and Demientieff's were there to cheer him on. It was quite exciting! We are so proud of his efforts!
They came home and tried to adjust from jet-lag.
bank holiday that we decided to take advantage of the free time. We were able to see the White Cliffs and Canterbury Cathedral before overnighting at a Dover hotel.
Arromanches is a spectacular beach with the man-made harbor that has parts that still exist today. The kids had a great time walking around the grounded harbor parts. The weather was so much better this time of year than when we came Christmastime.
There were a few other highlights that we all enjoyed. First, the crater holes along the cliffs...the kids really enjoyed running and sliding down the deep grass lined pits made from dropped bombs. We had a beautiful sunny day which made sitting (and playing) along the coastal cliffs all the more enjoyable.
Other highlights of the Lawrence and Saralee's visit is our visits to Lincoln cathedral and Castle. I think these sites were Saralee's favorite. The Lincoln Cathedral is amazing, but I think Saralee really enjoyed the giftshop and surrounding medieval buildings. Across the way is the Lincoln castle which has a dismal history as a prison. The chapel was particularly frightening. They took prisoners hooded and placed them in steeply tiered cubicles to listen to a sermon. They weren't allowed to talk or see other humans. They were able to walk hooded around in circles and go to chapel...that was it. The rest of the 22 hours of their day was spent in a small, cramped, dark cell . No talking or communicating with anyone at any time. They abandoned the isolation "rehabilitation" technique when a staggering 10% of the prison population went insane. The tour guides are amazing and it made for a fantastic day...especially when we stopped at a fabulous chocolate shop on the way home.
Vivian Ruby
She lived to be 98 and will be missed.
This time in Rome we opted for searching for apartment rentals. Scott was able to find one that had two nice rooms with adequate beds and a kitchen. But the one very strange thing about this apartment was the barbed wire toilet seat...can you imagine? Okay, it's encased in plastic...but still! Sometimes (especially after walking through shopping stalls) you definitely wonder about Italian fashion designs! The location was very near a train station and bus line-so we really couldn't complain! The big bonus (from Bryce's viewpoint) was the internet cafe located right below us on the ground floor. Bryce is really into internet communications with his friends back home...a typical teenager. 
On Monday, March 31 we took the early flight so we had a good portion of the day remaining after we landed. We decided to go to the COLOSEUM (Christina's favorite) and because it was a convenient bus ride away. It is amazing to be among such historical monuments. It also is amazing to see the sheer size of structures that could be built so long ago. The coloseum actually was built over a lakebed...so the foundation isn't the best and it still has stood for thousands of years. If you factor in that it had been pillaged of many of the supporting metal connections and stonework it isn't surprising that a lot of it collapsed with earthquakes. Even so, it is an amazing structure.
The next day we finished up the Coloseum area with a tour of the PALENTINE HILL and walked through the ROMAN FORUM. At the far end of the Forum up the hill we visited the MAMMERTINE PRISON where Paul was thought to have been kept before he was killed (as seen on "the indestructible book" dvd). Right outside the prison, the kids talked Scott into some ice cream...that was the start of a week long (daily) obsession with Italian ice cream. Long discussions followed as to which flavors were best and which combinations were best. A lot of sharing and "I should have got that one" followed.
What I found most amazing about Rome was how new and old are mixed. A busy metropolis with subways and tall buildings can share the same wall as an ancient Roman acqueduct or monument. It is completely interwoven. 
Ever since we came over here to Europe, Bryce has commented on how he would love to drive a mini-cooper...I don't think so! When we were here 11 years ago with Bryce we got a cute picture of Bryce next to the "iddy-biddy tar"...things have changed.
The next day was Wednesday so we decided to go to the VATICAN. We thought it would be interesting to see the Pope if possible. (Bryce also really wanted to see the Pope-mobile)The weather was nice and it had been decided that the POPE would do an outdoor mass outside St. Peter's Cathedral. So we were able to see him! It was quite different for us to be part of a Catholic mass with it's grandeur and formality. I was left wondering what Peter, a simple fisherman, would 
think of this church that was founded on his (Peter) being the rock of the church. But putting that aside, we were able to visit the VATICAN MUSEUMS (the Sistine chapel). The museum went on and on with priceless artifacts and works of art. The hallways were seemingly endless with their massive paintings, frescoes, marble statues, tapestries...anything and everything of extreme value. 
We finished the packed day with a trip inside the St. Peter's church. It was absolutely breathtaking in its wealth and grandeur. When you enter the cathedral you are taken aback by the vast space and height all in beautifully carved and fluted marble. The floors are beautiful marble inlaid slabs. There is gold highlights everywhere. Far in the distance you can see a canopied altar of gigantic proportions (maybe 3 storys tall). Within the naves on either side are more chapels, famous paintings and insets dedicated to various popes. There is no part of the church that doesn't have painstakingly intricate detailing. We have spent the past 6 months visiting castles and famous beautiful churches and I was very taken aback by the magnitude and splendor of work here. 
Unfortunately, my knee was bothering me a bit so I stayed behind with Christina while Scott, Bryce and Madison climbed 327 stairs to the top of the dome. They enjoyed the exciting climb and the fantastic views.
Madison and Christina tried out the accoustics of one of the ampitheaters there.
(Yes, the city had at least 3 Ampitheaters!) Another interesting discovery was that the typical houses each had open courtyards with water pools and sometimes fountains in the middle.
We had a chance to see their usefulness...although Bryce still preferred the challenge of jumping over the puddles himself!
Our last day in Rome was Saturday April 5. We finished up some of the sights we missed...the SPANISH STEPS. We had previously went to TREVI FOUNTAIN because the kids wanted to make sure that they would come back to Rome someday. (If you throw a coin over your right shoulder that is supposed to mean that you will come back again someday).
Then it was off to VENICE! The kids had been really looking forward to the seeing the canals and boats. We were however, a bit disappointed at the extreme cost of the public boats. I guess they have to make what money they can to repair the 
infrastructure... Anyway, we opted to purchase a carefully timed 24 hour pass on the boat/bus/rail system. This meant we had to walk all the way to our hotel. The kids were tired but after a lot of ups and downs over stair bridges with our rolling luggage we made it to our hotel. We were VERY pleased with the accommodation. The kids quickly forgot that they were tired and hungry with the elation of their kingly room. Bryce was in heaven with a king size SOFT bed all to himself. In the morning we were surprised to see that the room had a canal view also. They had just begun a 6 month repair to the canal behind us so it spoiled the view a bit, but it also was interesting to watch them work!
We headed off to SAN MARCO (St. Mark's) SQUARE but were stopped by a gondola man. Since it was Sunday morning, he convinced us that it was the best time to go on a gondola ride. He claimed that Sunday morning there aren't motorboats to contend with as well as delivery boats and garbage barges...etc. So we went and weren't disappointed. He had excellent english and we thoroughly enjoyed a long ride.
Next came the birds. Madison aptly sang "feed the birds...euro a bag...euro...euro...euro a bag". The kids really enjoyed their time here. Actually we ended up feeding the birds several days... Christina never quite braved the aggressive pecking so she wisely opted to put the corn kernels on her shoes and watched them eat. 
That evening we enjoyed a nice meal along the Grand Canal next to the Rialto bridge. I don't think the girls will ever tire of spaghetti.
We were able secure a spot to go on the secret itineraries tour at the DOGE'S PALACE (right next to St. Mark's Basillica). It was well worth it! We were able to get a tour of the prison Cassanova escaped as well as a structural view of the roof rafters. Okay, that doesn't sound that exciting unless you're an engineer...but it was pretty amazing when you later saw what it supported. We also got to go through secret doors that were hidden in the panelling...COOL! If you plan on going 
to Venice sometime just plan ahead...because the tours fill up quickly (only 25 per tour). That afternoon we took the "bus"-boats to both MURANO and BURANO. We didn't spend much time in Murano...just caught a quick glass blowing demonstration. We then hopped a bus-boat to Burano which is the lace/fishing island. It is much less crowded with brightly colored houses that aren't as tall. It actually seemed CLEAN!
We woke to light, misty rain that continued thoughout the day. Even so, we really enjoyed just walking through the city streets and shopping. The kids had found Italy soccer balls at a store on the RIALTO BRIDGE that they wanted as souveniers the day before and this last day in Venice we finished with a sweatjacket for Bryce and some glass heart necklaces for the girls. 
We explored a fishmarket and we all enjoyed some fresh fruit. But as we were leaving the market, Madison had a very close-call. We were all walking along a sidewalk (Madison trailing behind Jeanne) between a fish stand and a building when we heard a big POW! We all jumped around and there was Madison standing frozen. People came running around the stand and looked at her. At first I thought she had accidently knocked over something big, but there wasn't anything knocked over. Then the stand worker kept looking up, so we all looked up too... but we didn't see anything. Madison then started whimpering and saying how her eye hurt. It wasn't until we saw the shattered rock/plaster that we realized that a piece of the building fell right in front of Madison. We think that it was big enough that it could have knocked her out. Scott carefully removed the chunk of plaster from her eye and later a chunk from Jeanne's hair. We reported it to a tourist office who assured us that it would be taken care of because they have strict reporting of any building facade faults. 
