End of School Activities

It seems like the end of school isn't quite as crazy here in England as it can be at home (the British are much more sensible), but it has been busy.  So busy, in fact, I have once again fallen down on the job when it comes to the family blog.  Here is a brief update on what we have been up to the last few weeks.

• On 29th June, Sloane had Sports Day at her school.  Sports Day is similar to our Track and Field Day, but the best thing about Sports Day is it is run by the teachers.  It was in fact a very organized event.  Instead of competing by grades or classes, the kids compete by houses (it is very Harry Potter).  The kids all dressed in thier house colors and competed in a number of events.  Unfortunately, Sloane's house, the Unicorns, came in last, but I think she still had a fun day.

• On Saturday 2nd July, Sutton and I participated with a large group of ladies from One Church in Race for Life.  This 5K race for women raised money for cancer research, and it ended up being a beautiful day to be outside.  Our "team" decided to all wear angel wings and halos, and we had runners and walkers.

• The Fourth of July fell on a Monday this year, so the girls unfortunately had to go to school on our US holiday.  Sloane didn't mind because she had a school trip, but Sutton wasn't too happy.  To try to make the day more festive, Sutton and Sloane decorated cookies and cupcakes to take to thier friends at school. 

• The first week of July Keith and I both took our UK Driving Theory tests.  We both passed our tests, and we even got all of our multiple choice questions correct.  Over the next two weeks we took a couple of driving lessons, so we could try to figure out a way to pass the Practical Driving Test.  Obviously, we both knew how to drive, but the UK driving test is very hard (around a 40% passing rate) and we needed all the help we could get.  We were both really nervous to actually take the test, but last week, we both passed and now we have UK driver's licenses.

• Sutton had her Sports Day on 11th July, and she ran in a relay with some of her friends.  Her house, the Vikings, came in 3rd out of 5 houses.

FDM Fun Run

This morning we all participated in the FDM Charity 3K Fun Run in Brighton at Hove Lawns by the seafront.  FDM is Keith's company, and they sponsored fun runs in Brighton, London and Manchester to raise funds for The Prince's Trust.

It was a small, short run that we thought would be fun for the family, but some of us had more fun than others.  Sutton and Sloane were not really excited to get up and go run on a cool, wet day, but Lucy was really excited.  Sutton ended up twisting her ankle in the first 100 yards, so she sat out while Sloane, Keith and I "ran".

After the organized run was over, Sloane, Keith, Lucy and I walked along the seashore.  Keith and I felt like we needed a little more exercise, so we did some sprints up the rock beach.  Because it is steep and there is little traction, it was a really hard workout.

Lucy really wanted to run on the beach and check out the water, but she had to settle for walking on the paved walkway.  Dogs are not allowed on the part of the beach we were on between May-September. 

There weren't many people down at the beach today because the weather wasn't too nice.  It was cloudy and drizzly, and the temperature was just in the mid 60's.  We are hoping for a better day tomorrow.  The forecast is for highs in the low 80's - a real heat wave.  Hopefully, we will be able to return to the beach tomorrow to catch some rays!

The Big Church Day Out

The Family at The Big Church Day Out

A few weeks ago, on the last weekend in May, we went to the Big Church Day Out with a big group of people from church, and it was one of my favorite events here in England so far.  The Big Church Day Out is a two day event held on the beautiful grounds surrounding Wiston House in West Sussex.

Wiston House

The Big Church Day Out was just a short drive from Brighton, but it was out in the lovely countryside on a spur of the South Downs.  The main event at the BCDO were the artists on the main stage.  This year's artists were The David Crowder Band, Tobymac, Israel Houghton, Newsboys, Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin.  The event also included a smaller stage with artists throughout the day, a tea tent, rides, bouncy castles, pony rides, and a food avenue.

Right after church on Sunday, we packed a picnic lunch, loaded up the car and headed to the BCDO.  Everyone from One Church gathered together in an area and settled in for the day.  Despite having lovely weather all week, things turned cold and windy on Sunday.  As you can see from the pictures, we were all pretty bundled up.  It also threatened to rain all day, but luckily it held off.

Our One Church View of the Stage

Trying to Keep Warm

The David Crowder Band (yea Texans!) opened up the show, and they were amazing to see live.  One of our good friends who organized the day out for One Church, Mike, knew how excited we were to see the David Crowder Band, so he arranged for us to get to meet the band after their set.  It was amazing!  After their last song, we went backstage and waited for them as they packed up all their equipment (surprisingly, they didn't have people that did that for them). 

Rockin' Out to the David Crowder Band

Sloane "Helping" with the Equipment

Unfortunately, David Crowder had to rush off right when he got off stage to meet his wife at the train station, but we did get to meet the rest of the band.  They were all really nice, and we talked about England, Texas and Baylor.  After a few pictures, we stopped bugging them and let them enjoy the rest of their day.

David Crowder Escaping the Cameron Paparazzi

Us with the Band (Minus David Crowder)

We also enjoyed the rest of our day.  The girls rode some rides, we all wandered around the grounds and of course we checked out all the food stands.  I must say the highlights were the Higgidy Pies (owned by our church friend Mark), the fresh donuts (except the second one - that put me over the edge) and the chips stand.

The Girls Getting On the Ferris Wheel

Me, the Sheep and Michael

Mark Cooking Up Higgidy Pies

Higgidy Pies for Dinner

The BCDO lasted all day, but we didn't.  We almost made it to the end, but we left a little early especially so we could get Joslin home.  She was freezing, and she had to get up very early to head back to America the next morning.

The View Leaving the Parking Lot

I can't wait to go back to the Big Church Day Out again next year.  If anyone wants to come join us, May is a lovely time to visit England (I am sure the weather will be better).  Trust me, you would love it.  It is sort of like the Austin City Limits Festival without the heat!

Ireland



We finally had a visitor from the States come stay with us for a few weeks.  Joslin, a friend from Lake Hills Church in Austin, came to check out Brighton.  Joslin also wanted to go to Ireland, but she didn't really want to go on her own.  Being the nice person that I am, I offered to join her for a long weekend in Ireland.

On Friday two weeks ago, Joslin and I took a train to Gatwick to catch a flight to Cork, Ireland.  When we landed in Cork, our plane taxied past a private jet on the runway.  The jet had a red carpet leading to it with men in uniforms lining the red carpet.  As our plane was parking, a line of black cars pulled up in front of the red carpet.  Unfortunately our plane pulled up and parked on the other side of another parked plane that blocked our view of THE QUEEN as she was departing from her historic visit to Ireland.  It was a pretty exciting start to our Irish vacation.

We rented a car in Cork (I drove since I was the most used to driving on the left side of the road), and then we drove to our B&B in Kenmare.  On Saturday we set out after breakfast to explore the Ring of Kerry.  Unfortunately, the weather was cold and rainy, so we did not get to get out of the car as much as we would have liked.  The Ring of Kerry is about a 110 mile circular route around the Iveragh peninsula in the southwest part of Ireland, and it is spectacularly beautiful (even in the rain).  The roads can be very narrow and winding, but fortunately there were not many other cars and only a few tour buses that can clog the road during the busy summer season.

Killarney National Park.

Cold and Wet Day.

When we returned to Kenmare (almost 6 hours later), Joslin and I went across the street from our B&B to check out the old church and graveyard that our bed and breakfast was named after.

Our Bed and Breakfast in Kenmare.

The View from the Back Porch of our B&B.

Warming Up with a Little Irish Whiskey.

The next day, Sunday, we set out to explore the Ring of Beara.  The Ring of Beara is a 121 mile road around the Beara Peninsula.  It is a little less traveled and touristy than the Ring of Kerry and perhaps even more dramatic.

This Was the Type of Single-Lane Road I Drove On All Day.

When we got to the town of Glengarriff, we stopped and took a short ferry to Garnish Island.  This small island is known as an island garden of rare beauty with plants and trees from around the world.  The island was privately owned and the gardens were created around 70 years ago, and it was left to the Irish people in 1953.

View From the Ferry.

Seals on the Way to Garnish Island.

On Monday we drove from Kenmare back to Cork, and we stopped at the Blarney Castle just outside of Cork.  The Blarney Castle is of course known best as the home of the Blarney Stone.

This is Me After I Kissed the Blarney Stone. 
You Have to Lie Back Upside Down to Kiss It - That Guy Was There to Make Sure I Din't Die.

View From the Top of Blarney Castle.

We stayed in Cork our last night in Ireland, and we watched President Obama address the Irish people in Dublin.  He was definitely a hit, and it was actually quite nice seeing an American get such a nice reception and positive press for a change.

Sadly, we didn't have any celebrity sightings at the Cork airport on our way home.  Obama left Ireland a day ahead of schedule to avoid the Icelandic volcano ash cloud, and luckily, we were able to beat the cloud home to the UK also. 

Ireland was absolutely beautiful and the people are incredibly friendly.  I can't wait to go back, and hopefully the whole family can join me the next time.