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?

family fun

Sample a bit of our craziness from day to day...the following pictures were taken on our recent trip to the USA...most of them in Colorado.

Sophie and Riley body painting at the Children's Museum. I held them each on my shoulders to get to the top part of the screen. They had a lot of fun with this! And no messy clean-up! This is magical art!

At the Art Center, our very own private pottery lesson. First there was a demonstration, then we made our own turtle sculptures...(sorry, turtles, no picture...messy hands!)

No hiding the glee from this face! It's amazing what a little hot air can do! BounceTown became an instant favorite...and we had the place to ourselves. A highlight was being timed to see who could do the obstacle course the quickest. Lucy, unfortunately came in last. (She had to have her "un-quick" mom help her up the wall, etc...I don't even know if I was even supposed to be on the inflatable toys! ...shh, don't tell!)

Early morning in the hotel...Lucy only got 2 of the leftover curlers! Riley luckily had none.

Lucy's favorite toy of the trip...a phone (still in it's proper "talking position"!) I think this picture was right after the BounceTown...all that running around can wear a girl out!

Easter Egg Hunt

The purpose of our visit to the States was mainly business...job interviews. But we did find some time to have fun with family. Michael's brother Gordon and his family drove up from Springville, and Brad was finishing up a rotation at the hospital in town. We missed Brian and Carly with their two boys, but enjoyed being together with those of us there.

Easter Saturday we attended the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Hillcrest Country Club. The kids each submitted their coloring page as their entry ticket (nobody from our group won a prize for their coloring, too bad!)

Prior to the hunt they met "The Easter Bunny," sampled cookies, and sipped juice or cocoa. There were three groups in separate locations of the golf course, one from our group made it into all three. We had seven serious egg hunters, but with 100+ contenders, there was some real competition! Our kids collected plenty and then willingly shared the loot with thier cheering parents. Good kids. (But I'll pass on that stepped-on marshmallow bunny!)

Lucy waiting with Grandpa

Feeling victorious after her first egg hunt...finally got the hang of it!

Such a pro at this game!

I think there was a plan of attack from the very beginning!

All of the grandkids with thier lovable grandparents!

Cousins.

Lucy grabbed Grandpa's finger from the beginning...she knew he'd take her to see the candy! (I love this picture!)

Cricket -- the name of the game

Here are the results of my formal introduction to cricket.  Turns out you aren't allowed to 'throw' the ball (ie bend your elbow when 'bowling').  Tough to unlearn 34 years of conditioning!


Here I am trying my hand at Bowling.  Not so bad as to choke a dog!

Natalie:

"When I picked Michael up from Worcester College, I asked him how it was...kinda like baseball, right? Nope! Not even close! I had some learning to do!

You can go to the following link to learn a bit more about cricket...just like I did!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket

These are the grounds at Worcester College where we had the game.  Pretty cool!

Crossing the Pond

Our 2 week Spring Break started off in one of these...

Sent Michael wishing that he had one of these...

Was spent trying to keep Lucy occupied here...

And gave us all time to read books and catch up on our writing, right, Sophie?

Crossing "The Pond" with three kids is not an easy task...especially when there are delays, missed connections and an upset stomach involved! Lucy deplaned wrapped in a blanket, compliments of BA! We eventually made it through customs in Chicago, but not before our next flight left. The added bonus of seeing Dallas was unexpected, but we were able to enjoy soft heavenly comforts of American mattresses and a Continental breakfast (wherever that name came from!) Fighting off our own individual helpings of jet lag, we made it to Boise the next day. Ahhh! Transatlantic travel is....hmm!

Glad we made it.

Open-Air Cinema

Friday night I drove to Basildon Park with my friend, Amy, and we sat in the open air and watched "The Duchess." We met about a dozen other ladies from our church and with all the snacks and munchies we contributed, had a feast while waiting for the sun to go down to begin the showing. There were about a hundred people there with blankets and picnics, but we were by far the most fab group there! Basildon Park is a National Trust site and is known for being the site for films such as Pride and Prejudice, Marie Antionette, and the Duchess...although that last one is purely hearsay. It was a beautiful setting and such a relaxing atmosphere! It did get quite cold and the blankets I had brought weren't exactly quilts, not even warm! We all had on warm hats, gloves, and coats, or some arrangement of all three! Thanks to Ruth for organizing the gathering and for the extra camp chair that I borrowed to keep my patootie warm. Such a fun memory!