Legally Blonde!

March 7, 2010

Jeanne and Madison joined in a group of Caterpillar spouses, caught a train to London for a GIRLS day out!

We went to the Palm steakhouse in London for a WONDERFUL American-style steak! YUM YUM!

And then we ended the day with the musical Legally Blonde. Such a fun show! It truly was a wonderful day spent with some wonderful ladies! Although this picture is only of two others (my good friends Sarah on the left and Kim on the right), our group actually was a lot larger...19! I just didn't get a picture of everyone...

We are blessed.

Penmanship award goes to.... Christina again!

February 25, 2010

We love the awards and encouragement that they give in the schools over here. One that Christina has trully excelled in is handwriting. They really pay attention to neat writing with little flourishes even in the youngest of grades.

She was very proud- and so are we! Well Done!

Big Ben Tour! ... and then the Battle of Hastings

February 19-20, 2010

As residents of the UK we were able to obtain tickets to a tour of the Big Ben Clock Tower. It was during the kids half term break so Jeanne, the kids and Gloria all drove down to London. We parked and caught a quick tour of the Chistlehurst caves.

Chistlehurst Caves

The caves themselves were NOT from Roman times, or ancient times but actually modern times. Local farmers hand dug the soft chalky stone to form caverns for animals and eventually MUSHROOMS!

During WW2 they were used extensively as a makeshift dormitory for displaced persons who lost homes from bombing.

They also had a makeshift hospital.

Though it wasn't exactly what we expected it still was fun.

We met up at Westminster Station with Scott who took a half day off. Gloria very graciously offered to watch Christina and go to the Aquarium while the rest of the family went on the Big Ben Tour. (Unfortunately, Christina wasn't allowed to climb up with us due to age restrictions).

Big Ben Tour

Unfortunately, they didn't allow photographs... at all. But they do provide this link to view a video of our entire tour. So you can see everything we did without having to climb all those steps! And they also allow use of some stock photos, but I didn't get to take them... sigh.

http://www.parliament.uk/about/livingheritage/building/big_ben/inside_clock_tower/tour.cfm

To get tickets we actually had to contact our MP (like a US Congressman) and request tickets through him. It took several months before we were finally able to go. But the day came during the kids half term break and we met up with our local MP's assistant at the Portcullis House. There was a sneaky exit under the road that brought us right to the Clock Tower stairway. Actually, Big Ben is not the name for the tower, but it is the name that stuck. The tower is actually called the Clock Tower. Anyway, we walked up halfway to the first resting point. A ten minute talk enabled us all to catch our breath and up we went again.

stairway was square-ish and circled around and around and around. Looking down could make you dizzy.

We exited and were BEHIND the clock face. The sun shone in and we could see the minute hand move every two seconds. It was really neat! I had visions of Peter Pan sitting on the minute hand... okay, Disney's Peter Pan movie has been a long time family favorite.

Then up to the bells. Big Ben is really big! It was great to see the bells chime. Thankfully they provided us all with earplugs!

Then we went down to the mechanical room. Scott really enjoyed seeing the mechanics at work. Even for us non-mechanical people it was really interesting.

We met up with Gloria and Christina outside and excitedly talked about our tour. It really was great! Goodbyes came next and we were off again to another quick weekend in Southern England...

Battle of Hastings

After an overnight near Battle, we were off to explore. The main purpose of this trip was to see the Battle of Hastings. This was the location of a very pivotal moment in British History. On our way we stopped first at Pevensey Castle which also played a role in the Battle of Hastings. We hadn't been castle visiting in awhile so it was a fun explore for us all.

Then to Battle Abbey... Actually, the battlefield is still just that- a field. Not too much exciting to see. There is a fantastic looking entrance into a private school and a small but good museum / film area. Then we followed the path to the battle sight.

Unfortunately, there had been lots and lots of rain. So even the barked pathways were very muddy and squishy. We hiked long and far (all the while thinking how tough it would have been to be a soldier carrying gear into battle). Christina slipped and totally wiped out her backside in the mud. Yuck! She wasn't too happy either!

But she finally cheered up when we made it to the top of the hill again and got to walk into Battle Abbey. Apparently after King Edward the confessor died William the Conquerer (Norman- France) was trying to claim title to the English crown from his English cousin King Harold II. Talk about family squabbles! But during this decisive battle on 1066, Harold died. Some think it was an arrow to the eye, others think he was injured by an arrow but finished off by the blade. Either way, after the battle Harold was dead and King William (a French King) took the throne and forever changed the country.

Here is a memorial to King Harold where he is thought to have died. Madison decided to reenact the scene for us...

But the battle was quite bloody and most every soldier was slaughtered. In the aftermath, William the Conquerer apparently was ordered by the Pope to pay penance for killing so many people during their conquest of England. So Battle Abbey was built and still stands today.

Lewes Castle

Pronounced Lewis, this beautiful seaside town was a sight that friends from church said was a must-see. And it was very charming. We didn't have a lot of time to walk through town, but we did get to stop by and see the castle that overlooks the entire valley area.

Parking is quite restricted but once we found a space for our big van we were off climbing to the top!

The stones were very interesting. They tended to crack the rocks open and place them into the mortar for unusually beautiful exterior walls.

On our way out of town we drove by Anne of Cleve's house. She was one of the "lucky" wives of Henry VIII...she lived! But only after agreeing to divorce did he provide a home for her. Although her house wasn't a castle- looking at his track record she was very lucky!

Then it was a 4 hour drive home. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? And finally we were!

Good weekend!

Half-Term Game day

Feb17, 2010

We decided to host a game day/night. It was great fun.

Sarah Rodman and Kim Zak

The kids all really enjoyed loopin' Louie (thanks Jared for introducing this old game to us). It was a big hit!

We ended the night with PaPa John's Pizza! Woo Hoo!

New Year in Monticello

Jan 1-11, 2010

We were excited to get back to our old stomping grounds of Monticello on New Years Day. We drove back in a borrowed van (THANKS ZEIGLER FAMILY!) and were able to stay in the plush basement of the Johnson Family (THANKS GREG & KIM!).

Unfortunately, Illinois weather wasn't great our whole visit. So on the outside we FROZE, but on the inside we enjoyed the warmth of all our old friends.

We found a new wonderful dentist in Monticello. It is really nice since they don't provide preventative dental care in the UK Christina received her first teeth cleaning (with the Truesdale bear to keep her company)

We squeezed in a game night with the Zeigler family. Now this family are true gamers! Intense competition and good fun always is to be had at their active house! Last year we introduced the game Ticket to Ride (and it took Monticello by storm!) This year it is the game Puerto Rico. It is a bit more intense so I'm not sure it will have the same popularity but it still was fun! We had such a good time at their rocking house! Thanks for the hospitality!

The cold weather couldn't keep us from our favorite Mexican Restaurant!

Excellent food and company at the Johnson's.

And a lesson learned to not talk when you are dishing out your food... Spaghetti sauce on lettuce... yuck!

We were able to go and visit our "puppies" back home. I think they remember Madison...

SNOW DAY!

Even though we were sick of the cold, the kids couldn't resist sledding. The local school was closed due to the snow and cold. BRRR!

They cleaned off a path on the ice

and build a snow ramp slide down to the frozen lake.

and off they went!

Here is a video showing the results of their hard work. Fun (cold) day!

Christmas with family

December 24, 2009- January 1, 2010

It was so nice to arrive (in between a blizzard to the west and an ice storm to
the east) back in the good old-USA! There really is something about spending
Christmas with family.

When we arrived, Jeanne had Christmas presents to wrap that had been
ordered online and delivered tothe US. So after she got caught up we finally
had Christmas in the afternoon.  The kids were quite patient and we had a
quiet and relaxful day enjoying Scott's parents and their cute dog Gus.

The rest of the week was spent shopping (hoorah Wal-Mart!) visiting Scott's
siblings: Michelle in Kokomo, Cindy from Minnesota and David in
Brownsburg. We had one big Christmas get together a few days after
Christmas which was fantastic for all of the cousins (a dozen of them now)
to get together and have fun.

Bryce unfortunately had to have his wisdom teeth pulled on Tuesday. But as
the UK dentistry isn't anywhere near the level of the US, this was a good
thing. He had one really rough day but then was near normal! He was
amazing!

We ended the new year at David and Sarah's house in Brownsburg playing
our new game PUERTO RICO. It was a confusing game but definitely
addictive!

Ski trip

Ski Trip to Les Gets, France


December 19-24, 2009


We went on a ski trip with three other American Caterpillar 
employee families- The Duffy's, the Rodman's and the Zak's. But we 
were the odd family as we flew into Geneva instead of driving. This 
was because we wanted to also go back to the States for Christmas! 
So we planned to fly into Geneva, stay 5 nights/4 days (2 shorter than 
the rest of group), and then race straight from Geneva to Indianapolis 
late Christmas Eve. It was a loaded schedule that was all the more 
complicated by yet another series of freak UK snowstorms.


Actually, for the first time ever, we FELT like we were on an island. 
The snowstorms closed the airports, shut down many roads, the ice 
caused the chunnel to close as the trains failed mechanically in the 
ice. To top it all, the ports closed due to the ice.


Though our entire group was inconvenienced, we all just barely 
slipped out of the country in little windows of open travel. WHEW!


The families that drove faced massive delays parking on all of the 
highways, waiting for the ferry (actually the last one), frozen wiper 
blades, NO bathrooms in France along the road as they were stuck 
in traffic, etc... BUT they made it.


Our taxi wasn't sure if we would make it to the airport...but we did! 
We then took the only flight out of the day that wasn't cancelled...
WHEW! But our taxi in Geneva was 2 hours late because they 
assumed we weren't coming from all the cancelled flights. Needless 
to say, we were tired but elated to finally arrive in Les Gets 
(pronounced Le- Zhay).


It was a massive BEAUTIFUL chalet. The only downside was that it 
required a shuttle to the slopes. Since we didn't drive we were a bit 
of an inconvenience to the other families in shuttling us back and forth.


The other downside (or blessing) was that the ski boots didn't fit 
Jeanne, so she had to be a house mom. But after she saw another 
dad severely injure his knee (torn ACL) the second day it was 
probably a blessing... She still had fun in the beautiful house and with 
the other fun families. It was good.


The beginner skiers all signed up for a group lesson which was 
fantastic (and economical) and in the afternoon the three little girls 
(Sophie, Emily, and Christina) all had their ski school. It was great to 
see how they all progressed. Bryce quickly got the knack of skiing 
and enjoyed hanging out with Noah and Anisa, Madison paired off 
with Anna in the mornings and Brittany in the afternoons and 
Christina just wanted to keep on skiing with anyone! She was like the 
energizer bunny! Scott had one big fall that left him sore and a little 
more timid. But the rest of the trip was better as he found his favored 
route down the mountain. He was careful with his knees survived the 
trip with blisters (from wearing his boots too tight) and a sore elbow.


The families that we went on this trip with have become very close 
friends. We are so blessed to have them here in the UK. We all had 
kids around the same ages so it made for a fantastic group. It was 
really fun to spend the evenings watching movies and playing games. 
Each family took turns preparing food for the day so the work load 
was spread out. It was great!


As the trip developed into a proof of Murphy's Law, the kids and 
parents joked about all that had happened. And with great humor, the 
kids got together and crafted new words to the twelve days of 
Christmas. They sang from the balcony and it was hysterical. (And 
no, Jeanne was not the one mentioned in #1).


1- and a mom peeing by the road
2- broken poles
3- cars a convoy
4- different families
5- more wipe-outs!
6- wipers wiping (NOT!)
7- months of rehab
8- aching parents
9- hour delay
10- shuttles a day
11- kids a skiing
12- meals a making

The song and being able to laugh at our problems and mistakes 
was a highlight of the trip! Such fun!