A Mommy-Daughter-Date weekend in London

May 31, 2009

Madison loves drama.

She really really loves drama... and singing... and being on stage...

Jeanne found out that Rowan Atikinson was soon to leave his role as Fagin in Oliver she decided to try to get tickets. Although Scott's parents were visiting and we had just come off of a long week in Ireland, Jeanne decided to take off for a day of theatre with Madison. It was a Mommy-Daughter date that we will never forget. The tickets were hard to find at the time though. But looking on Ebay she was able to find two Saturday matinee tickets for a reasonable price. It was great to see a Mr. Bean adaptation of Fagin.

When Jeanne was booking she also noticed that Joseph and the technicolor dreamcoat was coming off and the last performance was that same evening. A few phone calls later Jeanne had 2 BOX seats to the final show.


Box seats for us were a new experience and we LOVED it! It was fantastic. Madison had been working on many of the songs for a later concert so she was singing right along. The seats were absolutely amazing! Lots of legroom and lots of fun!



(I am actually writing this 6 weeks after the fun weekend and I still have Joseph songs going through my head!) It was FANTASTIC! We missed the final of Britain's got talent (which we had been following all week). We then stayed at a London hotel for the evening. We tried to find a replay of the final of Britain's got talent (which we had been following all week), but couldn't find one on the tv. Sigh.

The next day we avoided ALL newspapers and TV programs that talked of the results of the show. It was hard but we somehow avoided all of the clues around us and were able to watch it the night of our return. Hooray!

Traveling Ireland on a Tightwad Budget (didn't work)

May 22-29, 2009

We had planned this vacation for quite some time. Scott's parents came to visit during the kids Summer mid-term break and we planned to see the southern half of Ireland on a driving tour.

So after Lawrence and Saralee acclimated to our time zone we drove over to the northern tip of Wales for a ferry over to Ireland. Scott flew over after work on Friday and actually beat us there to Limerick (close to the western coast of Ireland). He rented a car (because we already had a full van of 7 people). It was a long day of driving that didn't stop there!

Limerick

The first day in Ireland we took it easy. We just drove into Limerick to see King John's castle and then out to Bunratty Castle.

King John's Castle

King John's castle was interesting if you follow the Robin Hood story...King John was the unpopular king whose brother Richard was well liked. Not much was left of the castle but there were several exhibits that were interesting...especially the one about the foundations!

Bunratty Castle

As we walked around the grounds toward the castle we were SHOCKED to see two EXTREMELY large dogs (on a leash thankfully) walking towards us. They were authentic Irish Wolfhounds. And they were huge!...almost the height of Christina!







Bunratty Castle was interesting and TALL!












The narrow stairs seemed to go up and up. The first main hall feels like it is the main hall of the castle, but if you continue up there is yet another even larger hall. The furniture had to be brought in via the windows as the stairs were too narrow to bring the long planks used for the kings tables!


Lawrence knows when he's out- numbered!





The grounds also held sample buildings of what village life would be like in Ireland long ago. At first it seemed like it was just a few homes they relocated to give the impression of what a village would have been...but then it kept going! There actually was an entire village! It included just about everything you could think... a church, a wealthy landowners mansion, a mill, a farmers house (with stable INSIDE the house), doctors, store...just everything you could imagine.




Here is Madison's favorite house. It was the home of a well-to-do farmer in the area.





Since we were traveling on a super tight budget (and there were eight of us traveling) we We however, opted for the Shaffer Super Supper... pizza sandwiches cooked on our convenient portable grill!






Our dinners quickly became a long night of cooking with just one grill...but the demand was great! And everyone seemed to love the pizza sandwiches. Other nights we grilled burgers and hot dogs. Jeanne would grill while we watched an hour of Britain's got Talent. By the end of the show everyone was fed and full.








The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren

Another famous landmark of Ireland is the dramatic coastline of the Cliffs of Moher. Although a bit windy, we did enjoy the views!










They had an interesting museum that was built into the hillside. So after we went out to see the cliffs and the lighthouse we were able to warm up in underground.





Next we headed off to the Burren area. It was an EXTREMELY rocky area where there seemed to be no topsoil and only rocks. It was really interesting and different from anything else we have seen on our travels.






Unfortunately Madison's foot found a crevice in the rock (they were everywhere) and really hurt her ankle. She eventually did recover but it did put a damper on the day a bit.



The Ring of Kerry


We drove around a famous circular drive. It is known for it's fantastic views of ocean and mountains. It unfortunately was a bit cold and rainy, but thankfully it cleared up a bit when we came to a beautiful beach.







We were due to make sandwiches for lunch so it was perfect! A front seat view over the ocean!


Cobh, IRELAND

Scott's nephew is a Titanic history guru. From a very young age Ethan has been almost obsessed with any and all information about the Titanic. When his grandparents were planning a trip over here and he found out that they were visiting Ireland Ethan strongly requested that they visit Queenstown, Ireland since it was the last port of the doomed Titanic before it sank. So we dutifully typed into google maps "Queenstown, Ireland" to find out where it was and if it was possible. But the town of Cobh is what kept appearing. We researched and found out that the name had changed (Irish-English conflict...).


There was an immigration and transportation museum by the harbor that was interesting too. So, Thanks Ethan for your suggestion! We enjoyed the stop!






Blarney Castle

It seems that if you visit Ireland that you just can't miss kissing the Blarney stone... well at least seeing the Blarney stone for the germ-a-phobes (smile). So we went.

The downside to Ireland is the cost of everything. Everywhere you went (except the gas stations) the costs were much higher than expected. And the Blarney castle was no exception. Everything adds up so fast!

But we were quite pleased with our stop at Blarney. The castle ruins were interesting and the climb up was broken up with various rooms and views.

We finally made it to the top and didn't know what to expect... where was the stone? It was in the MOST obscure place! You go up the stairs, shimmy along the edge of the castle wall to the far side, get on your back and slide out and arch backwards with your head down an outside hole (you are held onto by a helper man)... THEN you pucker up and smooch the farthest stone down!



I really wanted to know WHO came up with this creative legend... Well, whoever it was they made Blarney castle a lot of money!





Above a video of Bryce earning "the gift of gab"








The views were great from the top though. It is amazing how things in Ireland really do seem a little bit greener than anywhere else!


Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny is a town that Jeanne's distant family originates. So it was interesting just to see the beautiful town. We stopped by the castle, ate lunch in the car and then walked to the castle. It is a square shaped castle with one side missing. It overlooks the river that flows through the city and has a massive front garden.




We walked through the various rooms on the tour but were most impressed and surprised by the extra long hall. It had incredible paintings and carved woodwork. It was kind of an elegant folk art style. Hard to describe, but beautiful.




Jordan just stared at the ceiling.














Bryce looks surprisingly similar to one of the former owners...








Then the girls checked out the new playground. They had so much fun we had a hard time getting them to leave!











We finally enticed them to leave with a moving game of "tig" (or tag).






Waterford

We arrived at the Waterford Crystal Factory for a factory tour...only to find out that Waterford went into bankruptcy and was sold to an British company who was going to relocate the factory to the York area. Wow! We were disappointed but at least we were able to walk around the factory store (selling their inventories) and watch a historical video of the Waterford company.























This chandelier cost about $50,000. Yikes!



We drove up the coast on the way to Dublin and found a beautiful small beach to rest and play. As typical for our family, we thoroughly enjoyed playing in the surf, climbing rocks and skipping stones.









Dublin

The highlight of Dublin was easily the Trinity college library. In it is located several priceless books. The book of Kells and several other early christian books. The book of Kells was created around 800 A.D. by Celtic Monks.


It is a beautiful piece of artwork primarily but textually it contains the four gospels. In the museum it was interesting because the book of Kells was housed at a location that caught on fire more than 10 times in 14 years (going by memory)...and THEN they decided to move it to Trinity college for security reasons. I laughed and laughed when I read that.



Lawrence was thrilled to see that the college had a physics department and really wanted to take a peek. So while he popped in for a tour the rest of us went to their exhibit titled Infected...


Quite honestly, it was scary to enter. They made the hall appear like a danger zone with plastic vapor barriers and yellow warning streamers. When we finally gathered up enough courage to enter they gave us each a computer chip that we wore on a lanyard. It was an interesting concept... you were not infected when you began your journey in through the exhibit, but if you came into close proximity with someone who was infected you could and would (after a period of time) become infected. When you became infected a very small light would blip on the back of your computer chip so you would then know that you were "sick".


There also were computer monitors on each floor where you could see small shapes with identifying numbers beside them. Red meant infected and green meant clean. It was interesting because at one point the only person who was red in the entire building was Bryce. Then a group of school children came in and Bryce had a bunch of unknowing victims! Jeanne and the girls stood in front of the computer and watched the epidemic unfold before our eyes. Then the school children started to squeel and run around. Bryce was having so much fun (sounds like him, huh?)


At first Christina was a bit traumatized by the whole ordeal. She really didn't want to be infected and would wail that quite loudly throughout the exhibit. Consequently she spent most of her time standing in front of the "healing" computer.



They also had a really cool table that you strapped a wrap around your head and if you put off Theta brain waves. If you were relaxed you sent more of them. So the goal is to relax so you win...it's a hard combination!





Madison and Christina battled it out "relaxing" for about 15 minutes when finally laughter cause Christina to loose it. What a great job competing though!







It was a fun exhibit. And Lawrence had a great time meeting a fellow physicist who worked in a surprisingly similar field as Lawrence did! But the kids were tired of traveling and were in a complaining mood so all we heard was...

I'm hungry

I'm thirsty

I'm B O R E D

I'm tired

I'm cold

I'm hot

It's amazing how persistent kids can be! Scott had to leave that evening for his flight back home. So we left the Trinity college in the hopes of finding a castle and eating a picnic lunch. But Irish roadsigns are TERRIBLE and our Tom Tom wasn't any help either...it took us to a golf course! (we live by our Tom tom and when it fails we are so lost!) We drove around for an hour and finally gave up. Lunch ended up being at a gas station. Sigh.

Scott had to leave to fly back for work the next day while we had planned to drive back. But the kids were really tired of traveling and driving so he almost had two stow-a-ways for the flight home.

Early the next morning we woke up to catch the ferry back. It was a LONG drive back and we made it about the same time Scott did from work on Friday.

Next time I think we'll fly.

Jordan's Dad came to visit!

May 5, 2009

Jordan (Jeanne's sister's son) has been living with us since the end of August 08. It was supposed to be a 4 month stay until Christmas-time. But Jordan enjoyed it here so much that he decided to stay through the end of the year! He was able to visit home in Alaska for a few weeks at Christmas but it was really short for his dad who was only able to see him for one week due to his work schedule on the North slope of Alaska.

So.... when the opportunity for him to visit for almost a week arose he took it. We were on our way home from our trip to Egypt (3 am driving past Heathrow) and we picked Jareth up from the Heathrow Travelodge next to the M25 circular road around London. It worked out great. We were all exhausted but talk about efficient!

Jordan really loves his Dad and his Dad really loves him. It was a special visit where Jareth was able to visit the school which Jordan has really enjoyed. Jareth also really liked looking at the travel map of the places Jordan has been to in Europe with us. But the time went fast and he was going back so soon! Thankfully for the Demientieff family Jordan will be coming home soon!

Work week for Bryce

April 3, 2009

In the UK, students are required to have a work experience week as part of their education. Kirkstone house school typically has their work experience the week after returning from Easter. We, however, moved the boys job assignment to the first week (of their month-long spring break). Our original travel plans changed but it still worked out beautifully for us to be able to travel to Egypt.

Anyway, Jordan landed a dream his dream job of working in a computer repair center while Bryce's assignment was to the Royal Air Force Fire Brigade. Although it wasn't Bryce's first choice it still was interesting for him.

One of the days he was able to watch Harrier jets land and take off... cush job, eh? Other days they cleaned, polished and tested their equipment. The most exciting day for him was the smoke house where they practiced rescues in a burning building
...and they let him don the equipment and go in!!!!! YIKES!

Bryce lived to tell the stories though and it will be a very memorable experience.

Another trip to the ER

Bryce was prepared to take his GCSE test in biology on Wednesday. It was scheduled to start in the afternoon. But during break time Bryce and his friends were tossing around a rugby ball when they collided going after a ball and Bryce came up the loser.

It looked like Bryce had dislocated his ring finger so the school promptly took Bryce to the Emergency room in Stamford.


When Jeanne met up with Bryce he was just waiting for an x-ray. It came back with a fracture at the base of the finger.



When Bryce curled his finger his ring finger would twist over. That meant it needed to be straightened. They gave laughing gas during the procedure. He's smiling in this picture but Jeanne stopped taking pictures when they started to work. It was very painful. But Bryce was an incredibly brave kid.


Sometimes there are moments as a parent where you wish for anything to make it better but you can't, and then you look again at the situation and realize how much your "child" has matured and are proud.

After another x-ray we were told that we would need to go to a fracture clinic next week. That's the UK heath system over here! It was further complicated because we were to leave for Ireland for mid-term break.

But a miracle occurred when there happened to be an orthopedic doctor was AT the hospital (it was his clinic day), AND they had purposely half-booked his schedule with easy patients because his fellow doctor was out at a conference. SO... the doctor had lots of free time to see Bryce. The funny thing was that the nurses wouldn't have even asked if the doctor could see Bryce if Jeanne hadn't said that we were going to have to cancel our trip to Ireland. Then the nurses tried extra hard to work something out. YEA!!!!

We went into the office and after looking at the second x-rays the doctor then asked Bryce "how brave are you?" Which meant he needed to pull, tug and bend his finger some more. After much pain Bryce had a much straighter finger that didn't twist when bent.

The teacher who had chaperoned Bryce was required to do so because she had to vouch that Bryce hadn't received any text messages or met anyone who passed information about the test that was to be given. Weird but we won't complain because she was extremely helpful and nice. As they say over here..."no worries".

To top it all off Bryce left the hospital in a blaze of glory...the teacher who brought him had a convertible and put the top down. Bryce obviously felt very cool. We (Jeanne, Grandma and Sarah Rodman) watched Bryce drive off with his good fist punching up in the air shouting "YEAH!"

On the way back to school he told the teacher "I don't want to come here again, but if I do, I want you to bring me!"

:-)