School Will Commence

Yes, school will commence in September.  I am going to continue home schooling the boys - although we came close to enrolling them in school here.  I prefer to have the option to explore much like we did on the island.  We have limited time here and we want to soak it all up and see everything we can.  Although this time we will not have our awesome tutors that we had on the island (Alex, Whitney and Cecily) and I will be going it solo.  Extra-curricular activities have begun to be sorted out - Rugby is a definite and football (is a possibility) and myself I plan on rowing.

materials ready - we will be picking up our Montessori math works when we head back to Colorado for my brothers wedding

maps on are on the wall -so many places and so little time -Isle of Wight, Scotland and Barcelona are already scheduled

so much to see in just our own country

our section of coastline

social studies/journals ready to be filled with photos and memories of our travels

had to include some treats from the farmers market today - lovely focaccia

delicious olives

there was also fresh fruit, home made jams and jellies, pork pies, any bread you choose and for you Nicole gluten free brownies - so many goodies to choose from

Birdman

This last weekend was Birdman in Worthing  - the competition is to see how far someone can "fly" off a platform that is built on the end of the Pier.  We were in London on Sat. but enjoyed the festivities right outside our door on Sunday.

just as the contestants were about to start their "flights" some eery clouds rolled in - the boys and I were surprised to see some lighting and hear a bit of thunder.  It did not slow the competition down in the least and eventually the sun came out and it was a warm day

there are 3 categories - Leonardo - what you see here - the contestant builds their own flying contraption and well most of them just "fall" into the water.  Category 2 are the Condors - they use manufactured wings such as gliders.  Category 3 are the Kingfishers - these are basically people dressed up in costumes that are raising money for charities.

one of the Condors about to take off - sadly there was very little wind on Sunday so flights appeared to be fairly short

I think this was the best part of the day - a crepe with belgian chocolate while sitting on the beach - really - nothing like it.

Just a Few Firsts

It will be our families first trip to London to sightsee  - the boys first ride on a train (not sure how this has not happened before now) - our first time to an English Premiere League Game - and I am sure we could keep the list going.  We left our flat at 6:30 am on what was supposed to be the hottest day of the year in London - when I checked the weather it said 88 degrees and 0 percent chance of rain - really??  I was hoping for cooler temps but what can you do.

Worthing train station

bright eyed and bushy tailed

the Adur river at low tide

Ro just chillin at Waterloo station

the London Eye

Dill and Jen catching up

great to meet up with family in different parts of the world - next time baby Ella has to come

Big Ben

OH silly Mike

Psst - this is where they keep the money

very regal

Buckingham Palace (I cut the bottom of the photo off to avoid looking at the hundreds of people that stand at the gate)

not sure how this guy liked the unusually high temps

time for some football (soccer for the yanks)

not sure how some fit through these

Cravens Cottage was built in 1904

the players taking the pitch

this guy was anxious to see how crazy this would get

seating in this stadium is very planned and particular I guess you could say - our tickets were in the away teams section and marked neutral.  if you have ever read or seen anything about English Football you would understand the reasoning behind this.  Once you are in your area you cannot get to the home teams seating - the fans also enter through different doors.

we sat in the stands that say Fulham (the home team) - it was very loud and rowdy - even though the away team lost the singing was non stop and we stood at least half the game - the boys heard a few choice words and Jenny and I were entertained by some language that would be very frowned upon in the US - but this is their country - their sport and it was not meant in a negative way to the female sex so that is when you role with it and enjoy the atmosphere and the experience.  The fans were wonderful and appreciated that Americans would come and visit their country and be so "interested" in their sport - it was a very positive experience and one we would do many times over.

Cravens Cottage from the road with fam - after all the crowds left

the doors for the home team

we walked along the South Bank of the River Thames before we headed home on a sleepy train ride

it was great to see family - great to figure out the trains - great to get our first taste of London - great to experience an English Premier Football Match -but we were all very happy to step off the train in Worthing and smell the cool ocean air and walk through town in the dark to our flat - it just confirmed we made the right choice in picking Worthing for our time in the UK.  We will go back to London when it cools off and make a list of free museums and maybe the aquarium for the boys.

Thank you Kevin and Jenny for an awesome time in London!!!!!!!!!