Austin's Birthday

Happy 7th!

We spent Austin's big birthday in Colchester! Woo Hoo! It was awesome - the kids really like this castle. Of course, Austin requested to go to McDonald's for his special day, so we ended up going to one outside of Sudbury. May I recommend NEVER to go there?! ;) We had some issues regarding Austin's choclate sundae, but he still seemed to enjoy the meal and the McFlurry he had. Seeing as it was right after my surgery, I forgot about making him a cake - so Papa and I made a "dirt cake" for him and we had it on Sunday. Austin was a good sport about it all!

Cool in Colchester

The First Capitol of England
The city of Colchester is only about an hour away, and seeing as Jacob has not been there yet, it was decided to go to the oldest city in England on Austin's big day! We went to the Castle and went on an additional tour under the castle to the Roman 'tunnels' (for lack of a better term). Colchester has a lot to offer - there is a free museum next to the castle, The Hollytrees Museum and a free Natural History Museum that is in a renovated church.

This castle is undeniably one of the most important historic buildings in the country. Beneath the Castle are the remains of the most famous Roman buildings, the Temple of Claudius. Today if you lay your hand on the stonework of the temple it can be said that you are touching the very foundation of Roman Britain. The temple became a main target of the rebels led by Queen Boudica who attacked the town in 60 AD. The town's citizens barricaded themselves into the temple but after two days they were all killed (around 30,000 people).

London Style

Cheers, Mate!

Well, smart idea or not, we spent "Black Friday" in London. Some shopping was done, but not on the level as it would have been if we were in the States! It was an excellent day out - it rained for a bit (it wouldn't be England if it didn't, right?) and the rest of the time was nice. The search for the Hard Rock Cafe did consume most of the day - we were SO lost! It was actually quite funny ... whilst roaming around the city, we were able to see a lot of interesting things. We went to Chinatown, where we had an awesome Chinese/Japanese lunch. Jacob had sushi (of course) and all I could eat was some Miso soup and veggie spring rolls. The kids tried some of the soup and other tidbits but were not impressed. Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly, Leichester Square were also visited by the group. (gee, I hope I'm spelling these right!) After lunch, we just ambled around London, taking the tube here and there. Then came time for supper - it was agreed upon to go to the Hard Rock Cafe. We found the Hard Rock Casino just fine, but the cafe was a bit trickier. We did happen upon Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives! Eventually, we did find the cafe and 'copped a squat' for around 45 minutes to get a table. A highlight of the evening was when Austin had a chocolate sundae and the entire restaraunt sange "Happy Birthday to you" to him. (okay, so his birthday was the next day - we kind of fibbed a little bit!) He thought he was cool! All-in-all, it was one of the best trips to London we went on!

Turkey Day!

Gobble, Gobble!

Thanksgiving is AWESOME! This year, our family was blessed to receive an invitation to Ang and Josh Campbell's. Seeing as it was two days after my surgery, it was nice to eat some solid food. And the turkey ... it was the BEST! Yum, yum! After enjoying the glorious spread, we played our favorite game, Cities and Knights of Cataan. Good times were had by all!

A Fond Farewell

So long, Sandy

It is nearing the time to say "so long" to our friend, Sandy. Maaret arranged a surprise luncheon for Sandy at her fav place to eat, Charlie Chan's, in Cambridge. It was a nice day out, even with the whole 'take-the-kids-to-pizza-hut-quick-and-have-them-scarf-down-a-personal-pan-pizza-
really-quick-so-we-can-get-back-to-the-party-across-the-street'.

Whilst I was enjoying some yummy spring rolls, the food of the day was dim sum. I thought dim sum was like a meatball, but the dim sum enjoyed by our friends was similar to a bit of BBQ pork in a sweet bread. I, unlike my compadras, did not care too much for the dim sum ... kind of ended up like a 'dum sum', if you ask me. Of course, my kiddaroos had to try some of the dim sum - I only made them eat the bread part - and they gave it a big "2 thumbs down" with a bit of "ick" thrown in for good measure. Josh had the - dare I say it - chicken feet. Yes, chicken feet. He seemed to enjoy the skin, I mean feet, very well. Of course, pictures were taken of the "podacious" (ha ha, get it?) event!

Oh - and the critique for the restaraunt is this: I don't know if I will be going back again anytime soon. I was really turned off by the guy smoking behind us. It was a small place and it was kind of stinky. He must have graduated from P.U. I thought most places here in England banned smoking in public restaraunts. I guess I was wrong, again!

Dover and Canterbury - November 10-11, 2006

Dover

We're lookin' over a four lane to Dover! It was an awesome adventure to go to Dover this weekend! A small group of us (to include Jacob, Melissa, Austin and our friends Maaret, Maggie, Ang, Josh and Ashley) went down south for a few days. We started our trip on Friday, seeing as it was a "down" day. (Jacob had the day off for Veteran's Day on Saturday). In a short, few hours we were there! Wee! I had a fun time taking tons of pictures (Jacob just bought me a new memory stick and I can take around 400 pictures - I was a little disappointed to see that I only came away with 241 at the end of the day!) Unfortunately, dusk was falling quite quickly and the "Welcome to Dover in White Cliffs Country" came out a bit on the fuzzy side, but all the same I HAD to take it! (That and the Bugles on my fingers...)

One thing about driving down to the Kent area, we had to travel over the Dartford Crossing (the tunnel on the way home). Even though we see it everytime we come around the M25 this way, I thought I'd snap a shot for memories sake (sing with me ... misty water colored memories ...)

Come on and zoom! Yeah, we're in the Dartford Tunnel here - of course, not one of my favorite pictures; however, how often do you have the opportunity to take a picture whilst in a tunnel in England?










Arrival at dover Castle. Today was a bit on the windy side - okay, who am I kidding! It was very windy!

A bit nippy, you might say! Melissa is taking some photos whilst Ang and Josh are getting ready to experience the Castle!

A short distance from the castle, it's history goes underground to Hellfire Corner and the secret wartime tunnels. The medievaltunnels have been under Castle Hill since 1216. They were mined following a lengthy French siege. The idea was to enable the english soldiers to move undetected or conduct undetected operations. This castle didn't have any dungeons, but visiting these tunnels gives you the feeling of being imprisoned - the big iron-studded doors lent to the atmosphere!

Hellfire Corner - it's what makes Dover Castle so awe-inspiring! The secret wartime tunnels were extended during the Napoleonic Wars in the 18th century. A barracks for more than 2000 men was created, giving this castle the only underground barracks ever built in Great Britain. They were also used by the Coast Blockade Service to combat smuggling gangs but by the 20th century, they had been largely abandoned. The tour that we took in the tunnels was very interesting! We were taken down into Casemate, the bombproof headquarters of the Royal Navy's Dover Command. We were able to see original footage from WWII before our journey underground began. We viewed the hospital on Annexe level above Casemate, some of the quarters that housed over 10,000 troops, a canteen, a military telephone exchange, switchboards and transmitters. The original plotting table in the operations was still there! Also, the clock in the Anti-Aircrafts Operation Room was original - the clock was in sync with Greenwich time and every other clock underground took it's time from that one. The tour was very interactive. Whilst underground, you would hear the sound of an air raid and the voices of men and women going about their regular duties. In the canteen, the food even smelled real - and looked real, too! There was a lot of time and money put into preserving this wonderful historical landmark. I believe the tour guide mentioned that it took 9 years to prepare the tunnels to look like they did in WWII.


Austin and Maggie are "scaring" up some fun in the medieval tunnels. Boo!

After enjoying the medieval tunnels, we came upon some very tempting hills ... Jacob decided to do a little 'butt surfing' (nice trail!) and Josh was in charge of making sure he was safe!

Austin and his rollie-pollies! He is so funny! He had to go down a few times - he literally flew down that hillside!

Melissa, being the refined young lady that she is, decided that doing a rollie-pollie would not be appropriate so instead, she decided to run down the hill. I think she underestimated the hills steep incline ... there was a point where I thought she was going to trip over herself!

After said rolling around, Austin said he had "a bug" in his eye. That thing was pretty big and wanted to burrow into his eye! Ew! Being the concered Mom, I had to take this shot first - hey! These things must be documented for posterity! Geesh! Well, I eventually had to dig it out with my nail! Poor Austin, his eye hurt for awhile after!

Here is the little vermin ... thinking back, I don't even think I smooshed it, I was too concerned with Austin's eye!

Here is a picture taken outside of the medieval tunnels. We really were lucky this day - there was only one other man in the tunnels at the same time we were and there were very few people touring the castle that day! YEAH!









Here's a "group action shot" of everyone.

Ah - the White Cliffs from the car! We spent around 3-4 hours at the castle and by the time it we arrived at the cliffs, it was sunset time! Okay, it was only about 4:30, but it's close to winter time here and it gets dark pretty early!

Austin and Melissa are standing at the top of the cliffs with Dover Castle i nthe background. It was still very windy and hard to get the kids excited about ANOTHER picture!

I finally got my contacts! Woo Hoo! It looks like I also have the "Alfalfa" look (the little boy from The Little Rascals). ;)


The fuzzy wuzzy White Cliffs! We really need to go back here!


Austin is exploring the cliffs - he's trying to follow Josh up the cliffside but Austin's mother was getting a bit "foofy" and didn't like him climbing the cliff too well!

Ah - we are out of the cold and in a pub called The Eight Bells. They had really reasonable prices and Melissa dubbed the mac 'n cheese there "the worst I've ever had". We will continue our quest to find the "best ever" and will let you know.
Canterbury


On November 11, Veteren's Day, we were on our way to the Canterbury Cathedral when we spotted some chaps selling poppies. I had a nice chat with the bloke on the left about the "local boys" who fought in the war.
The Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) cathedral in England. The Cathedral's history goes back to 597AD when St. Augustine was sent here as a missionary. In 1170 Aruchbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral and ever since, the Cathedral has attracted thousands of visitors and pilgrims, as told famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Maaret and I were able to be in the Cathedral at 11:00 - the time the armistace was signed, ending WWII - and the bells tolled. There was 2 minutes of silence to remember those lost during that war. I will never forget the feeling I had there. It was a humbling and awesome experience.


We took the "park and ride" in Canterbury, seeing as we didn't want to pay too much moolah for parking. This particular bus was a double-decker and Austin and Maggie really enjoyed being up front! They even pretended to be the bus driver(s). It was cute ...

The gang at the tail-end of our trip. This pub, The Old Gate or something, had a really nice ambiance. Josh and Ang highly recommend the Scotch Broth and bread (it was a HUGE chunk-o-bread), Maaret had a cool bottle of water, and Jacob said the steak was "okay". May I state again, this pub had a really nice ambiance!



Melissa has eyes only for her Papa!
It's home at last! Classically known as the "five-ways roundabout", this is a beacon of light when you have been driving awhile and need to take out your contacts! Oh, and take the A1065 to Swaffham.

Fun with Friends

The Happy Couple!

We LOVE to spend time with our family and friends - especially if we are goofing around! Here are some fun times ...
Austin is 'wiggin' out! He tried on his sister's wig, which ended up not working for her, that is why she colored her hair blue for Halloween.
Here is Austin with our good friend, Dolche. He is a Yorkshire Terrier and believe it or not, I AM NOT ALLERGIC to him! Woo Hoo! This fact, of course, gives the kids some hope that we will have an 'addition' to our family soon!
Whilst at our favorite Chinese restaurant (The Peach Bower), our friend, Maggie, wanted to sit by Austin. She was very sad when her mum (I just said it with a British accent!) told her she had to sit next to her.
Here is Maaret, 'schlucking' it up! Hey, that looks good AND refreshing! (it may be H2O...)
Ang was a bit on the famished side, so before our food was brought, she decided to have an 'appetizer' ... tsk, tsk!
The trend that day was to stick your toungue out, I guess! I am eating a rice-cake thing which is quite yummy! Emmy was trying to steal mine, but she was unsuccessful!
Ah - my favorite friend from Diss, Peter! Here is a pic of us from one of our many trips out to see him. We miss his wife, Beryl, tremendously and still try to visit him once or more a month. He has got to be the funniest Brit I know! (Okay, my bad, he's English)