Happy Birthday to my fantastic children! They are 8 today! We had a great week end in Warwickshire and Stratford upon the Avon. We saw jousting in the rain on Saturday. Today Allie and Mom went shopping and had early afternoon tea. Jack and Dad went to the Castle and had lunch at the oldest pub in Warwick. We were home by 8 for some birthday cake and a movie.

Jack, Allie, Sadie and Lana eating ice lollies on the back porch. These are the new friends that we met on the plane. They live in West London and have us over for an early dinner on Wednesday. The kids all played very well together. We plan on meeting with them again in a few weeks.

The kids and I went to London on Wednesday. We had lunch at The Safari Cafe. They loved it. Then we walked around the streets of London for an an hour and went to visit with friends that we met on the plane over here.

They just could not get the sword out of the stone!

Taking a break in the garden. Mom and dad having a beer and Jack and Allie have an ice lolly!

Some more beautiful scenery around the castle.

I love this picture! I know that you cannot see the kids faces, but they were laughing and having a great time with each other!

My sweet Allie in a tree in one of the gardens!

These are the first few steps to the top of the castle. There were over 2,000 to climb. The other picture was taken at the top to give a perspective of how high we actually were at the top!

This is me and the kids in front of Warwick Castle.
This is the token picture of me for the week-end! It
was a fantastic time with beautiful weather. We
ended the day with a fantastic dinner at a small
cottage in outside of Warwickshire!

Jack and Allie shooting real arrows at Warwick Castle! They thought it was very cool!!!

These are two of the peacocks that were in the garden. Allie followed them around trying to get them to open their tails. I am glad that they were tame!

This is a beautiful picture of our beautiful children! They are in front of a fountain at Warwick Castle. The greenhouse is in the background. This is in one of the many gardens that surround the castle. This one is Peacock Garden. There are live peacocks roaming through the garden. They are beautiful! The kids discovered that they like granola bars!

Jack and Allie in the picture window of Shakespeare's house. This is in Stratford. We spent all day Sunday here and plan to go back this coming week end. There is a jousting festival at Warwick castle that the kids want to see and then John and Jack are going to see the Warwick Dungeons and Allie and I are going shopping in and having manicures in Stratford!

Jack and Allie are doing some of their work outside today because it is so beautiful! They are learning so much! We have been working on addition with carrying, subtracting with borrowing, multiplication, division, letter writing and many other things. Jack always seems to be done quickly while Allie is obcessed with details and takes forever to finish!

This is my first English meal!! It is Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy and Yorkshire Pudding. Allie and John have ordered it out and loved it so I attempted to create it! It was definitely a success! Everyone enjoyed it. I also found out that they sell individualized Yorkshire Pudding tins so I will be bringing those back to Ohio with me!

Monday May 17, 2010

Back to work!! The kids really are having school! We have worked on many different things. They are keeping a journal of their adventure. My mother is giving them 50 cents a page for an incentive. We have school in the morning and then we go explore in the afternoon!

These are pictures at Trafalgar Square. The kids had a gret time throwing pence into the fountain and once again, chasing pigeons!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day! We had a fantastic time!

The picture to the left is Big Ben. The picture to the right is the London Eye. It is a slow moving Ferris Wheel that slowly circles to give you an entire view of London and Westminster.

Hard to the the kids, but these are the steps to Saint Paul's Cathedral. This is where the old lady fed the pigeons in Mary Poppins. The kids enjoyed chasing the pigeons here. They are enormous and not relly afraid of people!

This is Jack and Allie with Big Ben in the background. This was our first trip to London. We took a hop on hop off bus tour. There were about 25 buses and you get on and off at your leisure. We all had a great time!

This fantastic tree is outside our kitchen window and right in the middle of our backyard. It is called a Monkey Puzzle tree. The monkey must solve the puzzle to climb the tree. They are from North Africa and can withstand extreme temperatures. We are thinking of trying to find one for our yard however, they are not child friendly and are very expensive. The trunk has spikes all around it and the branches are also covered in sharp bristles, hence "monkey puzzle". It reminds me of a tree you would see in a Dr. Seuss book!

Jack and Allie at their first "England" Birthday party. They ahve made great friends with the kids next door. Tabitha is 7 and Kit in the picture with Jack is 10. They also have an older brother Max. They get along as if they have know each other for years. Our apartment complex sits in what used to be ther garden. They are wonderful neighbors and have been so very helpful to us.

Here are a few more pictures of our visit to the castle. The kids are really enjoying the architecture and history. They really seem to be interested in all of our new surroundings.

One of the many beautiful pictures of Windson Castle. This was our first family adventure. The kids were amazed that people actually live here. Allie wanted to meet the queen and ws a little upset that it was not an option on our tour. The castle and gardens are beautiful!