Back to School

Sutton and Sloane started back to school in September.  This year they are both at the same school, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, and it has been so nice having them at the same campus.  This is Sloane's first year at secondary school, and she is in Year 7 (6th grade in the States).  Sutton is in Year 10 (9th grade in the States).

 

 

Cornwall Trip

We were hoping that our visa applications would be approved quickly so that we could go home to Texas for the summer, but unfortunately, that did not happen.  Because we didn't have our passports back, we were not able to leave the UK for a vacation.  By the end of the summer, we definitely needed to get away, so we decided to go to Cornwall for a week.

Cornwall is a peninsula located in the far southwest corner of England, and it is know for its dramatic coastline.  Besides Cornwall's beauty, it is also know for Cornish pasties and delicious cream teas.

On Saturday we drove to Cornwall in our tiny car, and we learned quickly that our car is made for parking easily in town not cross-country trips.  We stayed in a really nice place just outside of St. Austell which was a perfect combination of self-catering and a resort.  We had a residence with our own kitchen, but we also had a concierge that helped with reservations and information.

On Sunday we had a relatively nice day (remember this is England), so we decided to head to a beach while the skys were clear.  We went to nearby Porthpeon Beach which is on the east coast of Cornwall.  We took a packed lunch and stayed at the beach all day.  That evening we had one of the best meals we have eaten since we have been in England, so we were all quite satisfied.

On Monday it pretty much rained all day, so we just stayed at our place and played games, ate and watched movies all day.  It was nice to just hang out and not have to do anything but relax.  On Tuesday the weather cleared, so we tried to fit in another beach day.  This time we headed to the north coast of Cornwall and went to Watergate Bay.  This is a big beach that has lovely sand and is popular with surfers.  We ate Cornish pasties on the beach for lunch and stayed until the tide came in and the beach disappeared.

After spending most of the day at Watergate Bay, we headed up the coast to the Bedruthan Steps.  The Bedruthan Steps are located halfway between Newquay and Padstow, and they are dramatic, beautiful cliffs.  After we worked up an appetite exploring, we headed to Padstow to eat at Rick Stein's fish and chip shop, Stein's Fish and Chips.

On Wednesday we headed to the Eden Project which is located near St. Austell.  The Eden Project is one of the most popular attractions in Cornwall, and it features artificial biomes that house a tropical environment and a Mediterranean environment. 

Thursday we drove to St. Mawes, and we took the ferry to Falmouth.  The highlight of the day was definitely the food we ate:  crab sandwiches and cream tea.  That night we ate another amazing seafood meal at Sams on the Beach.  Our vacations are usually all about the food.

On Friday we went to a National Trust house nearby.  Lanhydrock House is a late Victorian country house with beautiful gardens on a wooded estate.  Later that afternoon we went on a 3-hour kayaking trip up a nearby river.

 

We headed home on Saturday morning, but unfortunately, we hit stand-still traffic due to a wreck about 30 minutes into our trip.  We had to turn around and head back where we came from to take another route towards Plymouth.  Despite the added time in the car, it worked out for us because we were able to see the Mayflower Steps and eat some more crab sandwiches.  It was a long trip home, but it was definitely worth it.

Summer London Visit

One of the great things about living in Brighton is it is easy to go to London when you need a day out.  I can usually talk the girls into a day in London when they are out of school on break even when I can't get them to visit a castle or cathedral.  Luckily, on our trip to London in August I snuck in some culture without too much complaint from them.

While Keith slaved away at work, Sutton, Sloane and I took the train to London for the day.  When we got to London Bridge Station, we walked across the street and wandered through the Borough Market.  It was too bad that it was too early for lunch because there was some amazing food on offer.  We also saw the Golden Hinde, a reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake's Tudor ship, when we were there.

We continued to walk along the Thames until we came to the Tate Modern.  I had never been to the Tate Modern, so I was excited when the girls agreed to go with me to see the Damien Hirst exhibit.

After the Tate Modern we picnicked in a park, and then we headed to another museum that I had been wanting to visit, the Churchill War Rooms.  I felt pretty lucky that the girls agreed to see two museums in one day.  Of course, I had to bribe them with dinner at Wahaca, but that really worked out for everyone.

 

London 2012 Olympics

The highlight of our summer most certainly was the London 2012 Olympics.  While we were extremely disappointed that we weren't able to go home to Texas this summer, getting to attend a few Olympic events definitely helped ease the blow.

The whole country definitely had Olympic fever, so this was a really exciting time to be living in England.  The Olympic torch relay was the first taste of the Olympics we experienced, and we were able to see the torch when it came through Brighton.  Unfortunately, it was freezing outside (yes it was July, but this is England) and we only saw the torch for about 2 seconds, but it was still an exciting atmosphere and great experience.

Freezing, but determined to see the flame.

The crowd in Hove Park waiting to see the torch.

We applied for Olympic tickets almost right after we moved to England.  We applied to the lottery ticket system as British residents, and we tried for all the typical popular events (track and field, swimming, gymnastics).  Unfortunately, we didn't get any tickets the first round of the lottery, but we were able to get tickets to two events during the second round (beach volleyball and women's football).  Right before the Olympics began, they released more tickets, and we were also lucky enough to get tickets for gymnastics.

The first event we saw was the Men's Team Gymnastics Final at the O2 arena.  We took the train to London and headed straight to the O2 to eat before the event.  Our tickets were pretty high up at the O2 (very scary!), but we felt lucky just to be there.  We had high hopes for the US team, but they choked pretty early, so we happily rooted for Team GB.

 

 

The next event we went to was beach volleyball.  We had morning tickets to see one men's game and one women's game, so we had to take an early train to London.  Beach volleyball was really fun to watch, and it was amazing to see it played at Horse Guards Parade right in the middle of London.

 

By far the most exciting event for me was our last event - the gold medal match of women's football at Wembley Stadium.  I am a huge fan of the US Women's Soccer Team, and it was a relief that they made it to the gold medal match against Japan.  It was an exciting, well played game, and thankfully, the Americans pulled through in the end to win the gold medal!

 



 

 



Streeter's Visit

We really miss all of our Texas friends, so it was a huge treat to get to have lunch with the Streeters in July.  Paul and Tanya used to be our across-the-street neighbors in Austin for many years, and both of them have lived in Brighton (Paul is from Brighton and Tanya attended Roedean).

Paul, Tanya and Tilly were in Brighton to visit family, and we were lucky enough to get to meet them for lunch one day in town.  It definitely wasn't enough time to get properly caught up, but it was so much fun getting to hang out with them.  We especially loved spending time with Tilly because she is growing up and changing so fast.

We are looking forward to seeing the Streeters this summer when we are back in Texas, but we also hope to catch them again the next time they are in the UK.

 

Seussical

In July Sloane was in her first theatre production.  She was in the ensemble of the City Youth Theatre Company's production of Seussical.  Sloane had a great time, worked really hard and learned a lot about performing.  She also made a lot of new friends.  In fact, a couple of her good friends ended up being in her form at school when they started in September.

4th of July

If I made New Year's Resolutions, my resolution would be to be better about keeping up with our blog.  Sadly, my resolutions are about as reliable as my blogging, so I don't even bother.  So here I am writing about summer events while there are several inches of snow on the ground.

We celebrated the 4th of July with some of our best friends here in Brighton.  The Maskells and the Houses helped us celebrate, and the girls each had a friend come over for a Fourth of July Bar-B-Que.  It is a bit ironic to celebrate Independence Day with a bunch of Brits, but everyone was a good sport and had a great time.

Happy Fourth of July with the whole gang.

The Brits with Old Glory.

Emily, Will and Mike relaxing in the garden.

Erin enjoying some watermelon.