Well, after all of the excitement of visitors from home, reality set in. We now had 1 week until the movers arrived. This all seemed doable at the time, but then remembering that when we came here, we each had 2 suitcases plus a carry on and now the new airline restrictions are 1 suitcase. So we spent the weekend trying to sort out what each of us will need for the next 3 months, that can fit into a suitcase and weigh less than 50 lbs. There were some hard choices. In the middle of all of this, the kids were STILL in school(that is the recurring theme here) so we had to keep out a few extra pencils, markers etc as various end of year activities/projects came up. That said, Frank then had several emergency trips to Germany that week...he managed to be home the morning the movers arrives, but had to leave in the afternoon. We found out later some things that did/not get shipped from his office. But within 5 hours, our house was packed and we were back to camping with 1 pot, and everyone having 1 fork, cup, bowl and plate to their name. Having done it all before, everyone slipped right back into this Spartan living.
Now came the interesting part of selling our furniture, etc. It seemed daunting at first, but after the first few things sold, it became addictive. We've had fun posting things, watching the e-mails come in and then people show up with a van and cash and out life gets simpler and simpler.
School finally ended this week and we had lots of awards and general happiness all around. Bridget received the Math award and the Athletics award... funny, in case you don't remember that I spent the first 6 weeks we were here trying to convince them that she needed to be in a higher Math group, and, did I tell you all she broke/shattered the school record for javelin and did her own personal best by 22 cm!! Nick got his SAT's back..those big end of yr 6 exams that he had to take extra classes for all year. Well, he smoked them, getting 5's..the highest you can get. Matthew earned highest marks in his class, so all things considered we were feeling pretty proud !
Now we are vagabonds until we can get into our Seattle house on Sept.1. So, we will travel for the next few weeks. We leave on Tues for a week in Greece..never been, looking forward to some relaxing at the beach, then a week- 10 days touring through Northern England, the Lake District, Hadrian's Wall, Yorkshire and Scotland. All looks to be filled with hiking, biking and running around castles. We come home for a coupke of days..with any luck all of the furniture will be sold by then...and then fly out to Seattle on the 19th of August.
Poor Bridget has to hit the ground running, as she has her Freshman retreat starting on the 20th and then try-out week for sports on the 23rd. First Day is Aug.27th. I am sure she is up to the challenge. The boys and I will be busy getting new school supplies, clothes etc and driving by our house everyday looking longingly at it :)
I will try to post pictures of our travels, and keep you all posted on our whereabouts..so you can hide if you need to :) The clock is ticking and we can't wait to see all of your smiling faces. You will be happy to know that we are having a going away party here. Friends are giving it for us. It won't be quite the crazy Green Lake event, but we are looking forward to spending some relaxing time with everyone before we go. There have been so many great people who have opened their hearts and homes to us that we feel so grateful that the universe took care of us on this year of wild adventure!
Sunday 25 July 2010
Thursday 8 July 2010
Day 2/Erasmus Bridge
We were right in the middle of the Erasmus Bridge for the start of Day 2. It was beautiful and we were so CLOSE to the riders, I don't know how they do it ! I got my up close picture of Lance and the other leaders in the yellow jersey and some great shots of the bridge .
The Prologue
It was a warm sunny day, until Race time. Then the rain moved in. So we took all of the weird hats and bandanas that the pre-race parade had thrown at us and out them on to stay warm and dry. Nick decided it was best to just take a nap, rain and all! Bridget found a little quiet dry spot against a building, that way she didn't have to be seen with her weird parents :)
Our own Tour de France
At the Tour, there were no end of biking things for us to try including this crazy gizmo where you peddle yourself upside down and around! Here are Matthew and I racing in the Prologue, with our pedal power pushing a little man on a bike across the field. Here's Frank on the off-road course.
Ferry Crossing to Rotterdam
Our ferry crossing from England to Holland was a delight. We boarded at9:30 at night and went straight to bed :) The ship departed around midnight and we arrived outside Rotterdam at 8 in the morning. A very civilized way to travel !
Field Day and Art Museum
Nick and Matthew exploring space and shape at the Tate Modern Art Museum and Matthew brining home the winning relay on Sports Day
Wednesday 7 July 2010
June
WOW, what a month we have had. After Ireland began the month of visitors. Frank's parents came and survived a week with us and the phrase "it's just a 1/2 mile walk" became our rally cry, or death toll depending on whom you ask :). They did a bus tour of downtown, spent a day at the Imperial War Museum visited old friends up north and helped us usher in the World Cup. We watched the US-England opener in our local pub. At 1 point all Frank and I could do was try to figure out if we had a clear path to the door in case the US won! These people take their soccer seriously..a tie was bad enough...we watched in silence and then quickly slipped out...whew!
Next we had MJ and her 12 yo Liz come and visit. Terry and brother Sean were off at the college Baseball World Series and the girls weren't interested...I wonder why? Anyway, now we brave Wimbledon tennis tournament. There is a whole culture around this thing that we quickly became indoctrinated into! We went Day 2. Our dear friend Mary, whose daughter is a ball girl this year, dropped us off near the sign for "The Que". Yes there is a giant road sign. You then proceed to a line(que). You either get in que for tickets today or tomorrow. If you are in que for today, you proceed through a lovely archway whereupon you given a booklet entitled "Guide to Queuing at Wimbledon" and a numbered ticket. Now in the booklet is a list of rules around how you wait. For example, you are allowed to bring food, it just can't be "smelly". You can bring alcohol, but not more than 1 bottle of wine per person, etc etc etc. The Que itself is the social event with all the local residents coming down after work/school and hanging out for an hour or 2 before you get in. We were able to see some great tennis up close and even saw the Williams sisters playing doubles..ok we saw their heads when we stood on tip toes...security around their matches was intense. It was all so much fun that the second week we went 2 more times, learning that if you leave our house on bikes at 5:30, you can be sitting, watching a match by 6pm! Since it still stays light until 9-10..we had some late night rides home....lots of fun and it brought renewed enthusiasm for tennis lessons.
The next week brought the Jackson/Collins crew from Seattle. They too survived some Wimbledon time with us and Chris, Bridget and I became "ninja tennis fans" weaving through crowds and finding seats. After a long week of sightseeing, we all braved a Ferry to Rotterdam to see the first 2 days of the Tour de France. It was amazing because Holland had just won a spot in the semi-finals of the World Cup the night before and the city was ROCKIN'!! Add the TDF craziness and it was a happy place. Beautiful city, lots of fun stuff to do while waiting for the race to start...we did a crazy biking thing that you bike yourself upside down and over, like a roller coaster, we all "rode " the prologue on bikes attached to little biking men that raced around the course and did a computer simulated version..all with us on 10 speeds...we saw the big names: Lance, Contador, Cancellara, etc etc and had great seats. Day 2 we saw the ceremonial start on the Erasmus Bridge...standing in the middle of the bridge was spectacular!
We all made it back to the ferry to rest on the sun deck and relax on our way home watching the rest of the race on TV's all over the ship.
This week brought fame to Bridget as she broke the school record for javelin so will have her name permanently on the board/books at her school. She felt she needed to leave something behind so there was proof that she had been here. Nick has his Yr 6 play next week and then a Prom...yes you heard me...a prom for 10/11 yo's. The jury is still out as to whether he is going. Matthew continues to plug along with tennis/football and sports club with Nick and is busily on the birthday party circuit.
The biggest news of all is that the movers are coming in 1 WEEK. Yes, I now have to think about what I can live without for the next 3 months.
I will post some pictures of our adventures and hope to try to keep this up until we leave and can't wait to see everyone' smiling faces again. I can't believe a year is up, I can't believe the kids are still in school and can't believe that I already am ordering uniforms for the fall!!!
Hope everyone has a great summer!
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