Horse Riding Lessons for the girls

October 19, 2008

For Madison's birthday in July we promised her horse riding lessons...but had trouble actually following through with the gift as we were traveling so much. But when the fall rolled around we finally found a horse riding instructor for her. It actually was the instructor for our neighbor (and good friend of Madison's who is now a nationally ranked teenager rider!)

Anyway, Madison now has the chance to learn about horses and horse riding. In England you really can't believe the amount of horses and trails that are all over. It is so common that our driving test had several questions about what you do when you come across a horse and rider on the road. The British are serious about their horses!

When Madison finally started the lessons she instantly loved them! It didn't take long for Christina to start asking for herself too.

Due to the flexibility of the riding facility we soon had two girls happily taking lessons. It has been a fantastic opportunity for them!

The girls are now pulling for a horse back home... (now what do we do?)

All for the sake of updating a picture

What a week! Nearly 2000 miles in 6 days!

And it all started with a picture we took nearly 12 years ago.

I know it seems ridiculous. It was this photo that we used for our Christmas cards back in 1997. My family was perfectly sized for it now, but with Christina growing so quickly and I was afraid that by next spring she might not fit! I WANTED this picture updated with Bryce (big), Madison (medium) and Christina (little)!

I started trying to fit the vacation into our schedule but I found it difficult to get all the way to the Rhine Valley and then not keep going to see Neuschwanstein castle...then Dachau concentration camp is right there...then only an hour and a half away was Salzburg (which Ryanair flies to). This was a perfect one-way drive. The problem is that renting a van for 6 is difficult...even more so for a one way. Neither could we afford to waste Scott's vacation days nor the kids school days. SO....I came up with this plan.

The idea was to drive to Salzburg, Austria and pick up my family who would catch a ryanair flight (for only $10 per person) and drive home touring Salzburg, Dachau, Neuschwanstein castle, a quick visit to one of Scott's relatives and then up through the Rhine valley. Good idea... but it was a long drive for a short amount of time. BUT I thought of an American friend to come with me on the way there...Gloria! She got to go to some cool places on the way and I got a fun travelling buddy. Good deal!

So October 1 we set off on our 2000 mile journey. I got to preview all of the sights I would take with my family on the way home. We really had a fun trip.

Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg is a beautiful city that we didn't do justice with our fast schedule. We only got to see enough to know that we want to go back again and explore that region. Scott and the kids had to leave the house at 3 am to make it to the airport. Scott picked Christina up and put her in her carseat...forgetting her shoes. So the first stop was the shoe store! Then we had only a few hours to see Salzburg...not enough. So we narrowed it down to the house where Mozart lived and the castle on top. The Sound of music tour would have been nice, but we'll see it next time. The funny thing was how bits and pieces of the sound of music kept creeping into our heads. Between Mozart and Julie Andrews- I think there might be something to the hills being alive with the sound of music...

Dachau Concentration camp

The Concentration camp just outside of Munich was quite sobering. They didn't allow Madison and Christina into some of the exhibits, but it was definitely great for Bryce and Jordan to see the camp. We saw this between two wonderfully beautiful sights (Salzburg and Neuschwanstein) which made the contrast all the more shocking.

Neuschwanstein Castle
Fussen, Germany

Yes, I actually took this photo! Neuschwanstein Castle has now become our families all-time favorite "magical" castle. It was actually designed by a painter and then had to be built from the painting! WOW! I don't want to ruin the surprise of the visit for some of you. So skip the next few paragraphs if you want the inside to be a surprise to you.

Okay- on with the description, the Rick Steeves guide says to ride the bus up see the bridge and view of the castle first, then walk down to the castle. I am SO glad I bought his guidebook! It is definitely a hike up! You buy your tickets in the valley and they give you an hour to make it up to the castle. I don't know if I could have made it in an hour and then with no energy left to see the rest of the castle! The castle is undergoing some exterior renovation so the view isn't quite as impressive as it could be otherwise. The kids decided to hike up the hill on the other side of the bridge. It was a great view! The weather was gorgeous and the trees had begun to change colors. You just can't get much better than this!















You may notice a few more Shaffer family photographs...that's because Jordan has become our family photographer!



We walked down for the castle tour which began on the third floor. First you see his magnificent throne room. From there you proceed through the dining room (with intercom) and into his bedroom where 14 wood carvers worked 4 years...WOW! Next is his library sitting area and then around into the most fascinating part of the castle... a cave with a secret door leading up to the concert hall! King Ludwig wanted to have his castle reflect the musical works of Wagner. I was absolutely fascinated by the cave room. It was very realistic. He also had the first phone in Bavaria (to which I asked who he called...the post office down the mountain). Unfortunately, they don't allow photographs of the inside of the castle.

Up another two flights of stairs to the music hall. Note to self: I want to go back at the end of September so that I can listen to music by Wagner at the people's concert performed there in the concert hall of Neuschwanstein.

What an amazing castle!!!!!!!!!

A Visit to Scott's relative

We drove to the Tubingen area to Art and Brigetta Thomas. He is a relative of Scott's and we had met them 12 years ago. They have an interesting history also. Apparently others think so too because they were chosen to be one of 3 couples featured in a documentary. I look forward to watching it. Anyway, Art met Brigetta at a church dinner when he was in Germany post-war. They have been back and forth from the states, but have lived primarily in Germany. Twelve years ago they were serving as what the US would call foster parents. They were getting ready to retire to their renovated 14th century home (built in 1590). The interesting thing is that Scott actually helped plaster the house when he was in Germany in 1978! We really had a great time visiting them!




Next, we drove late up to the Rhine valley. We really should have allowed more time to do this trip justice. But we stayed in Bacharach at a bed and breakfast. The next day dawned to rain...not again! We braved the weather and got what I came for at.....

Rhinestein castle.
YEA! I got the photo...and Christina still fit! What a wonderful family!

Then were able to explore the rest of the castle.





































We always called this the castle with the basket...I'm so glad that we live in this century!








I thought this was a really cool spiral staircase.

Rheinfels Castle

St. Goar

Now comes the absolute highlight of the trip from my kids perspective. Rhinefels castle. WARNING: If you plan to visit allow a minimum of 4 hours to see this castle, bring dirty clothes, padded hat if possible for head bonks and active shoes, but most of all bring flashlights! One per person if possible. This is the all-time best "exploring" castle (ruins) according to my family. It is all the more exciting because they don't block off most passages and tunnels. Christina showed she really liked it when she asked "can we come to this castle again?"

Incredible fall foliage!

I guess Bryce isn't claustrophobic... YIKES!

This was in the lower portion of the castle. It was originally enormous. Only 1/3 of the castle remains and it is huge right now!


Jordan dusting himself...do you see the dust cloud?





We were having so much fun crawling through the tunnels and passageways that the kids forgot that they had missed lunch! That NEVER happens! We grabbed a quick bite and after a 3 hour drive barely made the overnight ferry back to the UK. WHEW!

Driving Licence Saga

Today was my driving test. Now for those of you who haven't experienced the driving license nightmare of the UK...here's a recap. You mail away your passport when you apply for your provisional license. And of course, Scott's father had his stroke during the 5 days our passports were not in our possession...which means we were held hostage during the family emergency. But it all worked out okay. Then you study for your theory test. When you feel ready and can spout out braking distances and overall stopping distance at various speeds, and rules that you wouldn't believe you can then schedule your test. Time slots for the theory test are around 3-4 weeks out. It is 50 questions on a computer PLUS 14 videos testing your hazard perception. If you pass both of those then you can schedule for your practical driving test. You most likely will need to have personal driving lessons with a private instructor to help you understand the maneuvers that are required. When you are ready you can reserve via the computer a time about 3-5 weeks out. The overall pass rate for the practical test is around 40%.

Today was my big day. I scheduled it right before I left to drive to Salzburg, Austria with my friend Gloria. She is driving one way and flying back while the rest of my family is flying into Salzburg on Saturday and going to do the return journey (more on that once I return). I really wanted my test passed before I left because October 12 is our one year mark for being over here. We can legally drive on our US licenses for one year but after that we may be at risk with our automobile insurance. Since things are so expensive over here, I was very nervous about the insurance risk of driving over my one year mark.

Anyway, my test this morning was in Melton Mowbray which is an hour away. I needed to drop the kids off at school and make it over there in a little over an hour. Nervous about being late I tried to leave early....HA! Something always goes wrong.

Although they weren't successful, the kids really did try to be ready early today, but what really made it bad was today's traffic. It was the worst I've seen since I've been here. Lines of cars everywhere and IF they were moving it was slow. I finally made it out of the school's drop off point and started on my way. God must have been looking out for me because all of a sudden I had a chilling thought...where was my wallet (with my UK driving license in it)...at home of course!

Panic!

So I quickly turned around, zoomed home, grabbed my wallet and was off again. I kept thinking...mirrors, distance, speed...mirrors, distance, speed. They want you to check your mirrors every 10 seconds and when you change speed or direction. An hour later I was at the driving license center about 10 minutes early.

Whew!

No parking spaces though. I finally parked where a nearby lady told me to and then got my papers together. Meanwhile, an applicant finished her test and drove in. The driving examiner kept looking over and giving me very nasty looks. He obviously thought I shouldn't be parked where I was. Nervously, I got out and he jumped out of the car to confront me (what a way to start!).

He somewhat angrily said "you're not going to park there are you?"
I said "yes, that's where that lady told me to".
He answered in a shocked voice "you're here for a driving practical test?"
"Yes..."
"And you're going to drive that bus?"
"yes, it's what I drive"
"Blimey!"

Then he notified me that I needed L (learners) stickers on the front and back because when I am on my driving test I am driving on my provisional license not my international US license. I am required therefore to have the L stickers.

Panic.

Then the lady who told me where to park volunteered for me to use her spare set if I turned them in after my test.

WHEW!

I sat down in the waiting room. Another friendly applicant and instructor sat down. They struck up a nice conversation. They asked me if I was going to take the test in "that bus". In response to my affirmation he said "blimey". Okay, I'm getting a bit nervous driving my big van now. They then told me that I needed a mirror for the instructor.

Panic.

They told me to ask the examiner if he had a spare mirror. Several minutes later the examiner came out and called my name...yes, you guessed it...it was the same guy who had been giving me dirty looks.

Panic.

He did have a spare mirror.

Whew.

I get in the car and answered the "show me tell me" questions okay. We drive. I forget to use my emergency brake. I'm thinking I failed already. I hit a curb when turning left. That could/should be an automatic failure. He reassured me that it was okay while he is busy writing on his paper.

Panic.

I do a 3 point turn in the middle of the road (he actually told me that he wouldn't mind if I did a 7 point turn)...nice.

I backed around the corner in reverse...not so good. A car comes and looks at me and waits. I didn't know what to do. More pencil marks.

Panic.

More driving. Pull over and out again. Roundabouts. Oops, I should have signaled earlier. More pencil marks. If I only don't do an automatic failure I can have up to 15 faults. Speed, mirrors. There are people everywhere!

I make it back to the test center and pull in. I can hardly breathe.

"You've passed".

YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!

He said he almost failed me because I should have looked around better as I was backing up around a corner. He said I did it horribly. But I PASSED! I got 6 faults...but I PASSED!

I am so relieved.


Post-Script....

INCREDIBLE! Scott went for his driving test in Grantham on Friday (different city). Guess who he got as an examiner...? The same man!

And yes, he passed too. HIP-HIP-HOORAY!

LOOK OUT! Bryce has a scalpel!

Monday Sept 29 Bryce errantly cut his finger instead of cardboard for his art project. Jeanne had misplaced her cell phone so when she happened to walk into the school's office she had quite a surprise. We hurried to the emergency room in Stamford (about 20 minutes away). I have to say that as far as minor emergencies like this the U.K. hospital system is quite impressive. Unfortunately, we have visited them all too often in the US so it was a nice surprise to be in and out in 15 minutes...no papers to sign and no long lines.

Bryce cut off the top portion of his finger so if the graft doesn't take then he will have a flat tipped finger. It didn't cut his fingernail. And of course...it just HAD to be his MIDDLE FINGER! On the way to the hospital Bryce and I laughed about a story about him back when he was in 3rd grade. He didn't know what the middle finger meant. He had seen kids on the playground do it to each other so he thought it was a form of greeting. So when walking down the hall he decided to "greet" his teacher (who he really did like). She had a horrified look and Bryce then realized that it wasn't a good greeting...he also realized that he was in trouble.

Hopefully we will be able to raise our children to adulthood...in one piece.

Sigh.

Christina's Birthday

September 24, 2008

We held Christina's birthday party at the Activity World in Peterborough. It is a MASSIVE indoor play center. We rented out the whole facility and invited not only Christina's class from school but also the American families that live over here. Needless to say we had a full house. It was a lot of fun!


Christina's 5th birthday snuck up on us all. So we were lucky to get a reservation on her actual birthday
(even though it was during the work week). Activity World is fun for all ages. Even Bryce and Jordan found the free-fall through the elastic mesh fun (but abrasive). The vertical drop slide is also a bit extreme, but even Christina braved the slide a few times!

The British cake mixes just don't measure up to the American mixes and store-bought cakes are dry with cement hard icing. So Jeanne decided to do a birthday brownie "cake". It was a big hit with everyone. As is the custom over here, the presents are not opened until the child goes home. Also they sing happy birthday but are expected to eat their cake from a napkin after they leave the party. The brownies were a little bit easier to eat from a napkin too.


Happy 5th Birthday Christina!

First Day of School with Jordan

Jordan Demientieff, Jeanne's nephew arrived August 30. He will be with us until December 19 when he will go back home to Fairbanks, Alaska. He adjusted wonderfully to the new time zone and started school September 3.

The kids aren't exactly excited about school again...but they are excited about Jordan being here. Bryce has been looking forward to having a good friend around and the girls are excited about having another "brother".

What is a Dale?

I never knew what a "dale" was. And going to one didn't seem that exciting after all of the places we've been. So when Scott planned this long weekend for us to the Yorkshire Dales none of us were too excited. Bryce and Madison were freshly back from the US and were still tired from traveling three weeks. But it was bank holiday weekend... the last holiday of the year that Scott gets off work. He has a few more vacation days but they have already been planned. So off to the Dales we went!

Scott got home Friday and we drove 3 hours to Grassington to stay at a B&B. The main tourist attraction for the Yorkshire dales are the walking paths. Saturday was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the weather.







It was quite relaxing to walk goregous walking paths along stone walls and streams. Madison and Christina both found out the hard way that wet rocks can be slippery as you can tell from the picture.


After enjoying the outdoors we drove to a very strange place in Leyburn called "the forbidden corner". It was a sort of maze/discovery park. It was full of secret tunnels, doorways, water paths, gardens and just about anything unexpected. If anything would describe it...it would be like being Alice in Wonderland. It is a very popular attraction that has to be booked in advance (for anyone who might plan a trip to the Yorkshire Dales).












And yes, I actually fit through this narrow tunnel!...albeit not gracefully....



Sunday we found another beautiful town called Skipton we took a tour boat along their canal. It was a sleepy morning. We grabbed a quick lunch and then explored Skipton castle- known for being one of the best medieval castles in England.




















Then came the highlight of the whole trip. Scott heard about Howsteen Gorge on the internet. It sounded exciting...and it was. It is a narrow gorge where the rushing waters have carved out fabulous rock formations. The private trail hikes along, over, and through the gorge. Our kids love jumping from rock to rock. At the end of the trail was a really cool tunnel! We climbed through narrow passages with a flashlight they give and then up and out. The kids had so much fun!


On our way home Sunday I took this photo of the hillsides. I think it describes the dale better than words.




Our last day in the dales was marked by a little rain (surprise!). But we found some dry moments to walk down to another river where there was a nice walking path suspension bridge and stone crossing. Madison felt like she was in Peter Pan. As much as they tried they all got their shoes wet...but they had a LOT of fun.





















The town outside Grassington is called Hebden and on bank holiday weekend (August) they hold their sports day. It is where kids can compete in racing games and enjoy old fashioned carnival-like games. Bryce won his race for 14 & 15 year olds (Yea!!!!) and Christina placed third in a race. They both received MONEY! Okay, it ranged from .40p to 1.50 but they enjoyed spending it on the games, bounce house and food.














It was truly a relaxing fun weekend and highly recommended.