June

Michael's youngest brother graduated from Medical school at University of Washington in Seattle. Michael was able to be there to celebrate with all the Daines extended family except for us in England. They especially all enjoyed time with just the brothers and parents at dinner out and a round of golf.

My sister Emilee came to visit from Philadelphia. It was a relaxing, yet packed trip! I especially liked having her all to myself during our daytrip to London. We also visited Bath and enjoyed a Jane Austen type atmosphere. (Riley was more than willing to miss a day of school for this outing...Sophie politely declined.)

Here is a family photo inside the grounds of the Salisbury Cathedral. It also houses an original copy of the Magna Carta, and the oldest working clock. It's spire is one of the tallest in all of England. It was beautiful.



Not far away is the historic Stonehenge. This was our 3rd time visiting, but Em's 1st. It really never disappoints!

We also visited C. S. Lewis's home and the nature preserve behind it. (This was less than 3 miles from where we lived in Oxford) Couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a picture of our "Lucy" in the inspirational "Narnia"!

There's a few Harry Potter sights not far from us either. Here, Sophie poses in the Hogwart's dining hall (at least the hall that the movie set was patterned after!)

Father's Day bike ride...we had borrowed a child bike seat for the last few months we were in England...so this meant freedom for me from the bike trailer!

A special daddy-daughter date for Sophie and Michael. A day in London with a matinee performance of WICKED at the London Apollo Victoria Theatre! Pretty sure they both liked it!

Close to the end of the school year and the annual field day. Sophie here with some classmates, showing off her prized stickers...1st, 2nd, and 3rd places! Well done, Sophie!

And our littlest celebrated her 2nd birthday! Blowing out the candles was a novelty she'll look forward to for another year! We love little Lucy and her fun and vibrant personality!

where in the world?

I'm going to give just a brief re-cap of the last few months. Before long the stack of pictures and the list of activities will be so long I would never get around to documenting anything. So, in case you were wondering where in the world we'd been, here's a little taste of our life over the last few months.

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill and home of the Duke of Marlborough. Beautiful grounds, buildings, and a sunny day!

We have year passes here, now! Too bad we didn't think of that before this excursion. Look what we have been missing these last 9 months! We'll have to make up for lost time in the next 3!

Loving the sunshine!

Bridge behind us was built by "Capability Brown" (what a name, eh?) but never completely finished.

Such a fun time in this maze. Beautiful and so well kept! We also enjoyed playing giant checkers, lifesize chess, the butterfly house and a human sundial!

The gardens were amazing...and so was getting Lucy to take out her binky all on her own!

A little wrestling on the lawn...daddy dogpile! Looking at buildings and gardens all day is not easy for kids...we ALL needed to release a bit of pent up playfulness!

Playing (and posing) in the long grass.

We went back a second day for a picnic overlooking the lake. Idyllic.

"The Bumps" on the Thames

"The Bumps" Race is an annual competition both for Cambridge and Oxford intramurals. We set out on a rainy day to see one of the first days. The Thames River flows right through Oxford and not too far from where we live. The main objective of the race is to "bump" the boat in front of you before the boat behind bumps you! Each college has a boat, with eight rowers plus a cox (who both steers and calls out direction for the backward facing rowers). They line up in single file in the narrow river with one and a half boat length between them. A cannon signals the start and off they go!

A bit windy, too! Yes, both of their umbrellas were blown inside out!

View from the bridge. Boat practicing and rowing to its starting position.

We brought out the camera when the rain subsided. I was lucky to grab Sophie's rain hat to borrow!

In the background is St. Hilda's men's team. Nice headgear, Hildabeasts!

And nice smiles, kids!

Walking alongside the Thames. Right before Lucy fell face down on the muddy path!

Lining up. Women's teams.

Learn more about Oxford rowing and the Bumps race here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumps_race

Gloucester Cheese Rolling

Memorial Day, 2009. Annual Cheese Rolling Festival.

Cooper's Hill, Gloucester. (pronounced Glaw-ster)

Such random hilarity!

Waiting at the base of the "runway" inbetween races.

A friend made this pretty little buttercup necklace, which Sophie loved...and convinced me to teach her how. Elementary school skills came in handy here!

Barbecue at the top of the hill. Glad that I didn't volunteer to haul the portable grill!

View at the valley...and a very small portion of the incredibly huge crowd for that altitude!

It's tradition to wear costumes and race the cheese down the hill. We saw many varieties...banana man, spiderman x 2, a cow, the mankini-man (try explaining that to a 5-year-old boy!) This celebrant (obviously inebriated!) on the trek back to the car, climbed into the pasture with a few horses. They were confused for just a bit, then figured him out and left him in their dust! We all laughed, but Sophie was angered at the guy for disturbing the horses. And, horse man didn't run so well in his flip flops!

Ahhh, relief! Stand-still traffic vs. at-capacity bladder. Winner= Michael!

Beautiful Bluebells

We found a lovely little grove of bluebells on our hike. We actually went looking for them. A good friend had told us about them and we were intrigued!

The sun was shinning and it was a beautiful day in and out of the forest. The bluebells did not disappoint!

Our own little bluebell!

Such delicate little flowers.

Amazing! They carpeted the forest floor. They were everywhere!

Sophie practicing her photography with our old camera. Riley's a great subject to capture!

The view from the edge of the forest. Typical English countryside, so pleasant. We all enjoyed hearing the little lambs baaing in the distance.

These fields are so pretty now. It's such a contrast with the green and blue. (I think it is rapeseed?) Is it the farm girl in me that loves the look of these fields? Surely not going to deny it!

May Day Celebration

Magdalen College choir kicks off May Day at 6am, singing a Latin hymn celebrating the morning. They're at the top of the tower in the distance...I think they must have microphones on! Of course, you'll have to listen carefully, the crowd is full of inebriated college students who can't turn their own volumes down for the event. Oh, and also our own kids...loud, too. They would be tired, but definitely NOT drunk! Thanks for the free balloons! Sophie was determined to get hers in a video/picture...or two!

Magdalen Tower with the choir in its ramparts. With sharp eyes you can make out a head or silhouette. The bridge between us and the tower was closed for the event...to deter college daredevils from leaping from the bridge to the River Cherwell below. Always some kind of injury with that behaviour. The river is only 2-3 feet deep there. (I would have liked to have been a bit closer to the tower.)

My sweetheart amid the growing morning crowd. (As I was focusing the camera on Michael, the couple directly behind just kept looking straight at me. I had to wait a few minutes until they finally looked away and pretended to be talking to each other!) Sorry for the wait, Michael. Lovely smile.

We first arrived at 5:45am and mayhem was already brewing! We soon found ourselves shoulder to shoulder with smokers, drinkers, kilts, tuxedos, bare skin, and a cow.

Trying to get a better view...and where did that cow go?