Vacation!
This is going to be a quick rundown of the vacation we took in July: we went to England for two weeks, visiting lots of family and friends.
The kids managed the flights (direct flights - 10-11 hours each way) quite well: they were bored but never got upset. They didn't sleep much, unfortunately, so they arrived quite jetlagged at our first stop, my uncle Miles and aunt Margaret's place in Lancaster. Their house is set up wonderfully for kids, due to the presence of local grandchildren, and Iain and Ria had a great time playing with all the toys. It's just as well, as it rained for several days, so there wan't much to do but play with the toys. Alastair, Bev and Rowan showed up, along with Cherry (a cousin) and my dad who was passing through England on his way to Spitzbergen. Ria just fell in love with Margaret, and was happily snuggling with her every chance she got. The first few nights of sleep were a bit disturbed for the kids (and so for us as well), but they were both happy.
Next we went to Alastair and Bev's place - we got to learn how Rowan is doing (very well! What a sweet little boy...) and see some of the sights in their area: Salt Mills, the local canals, Harewood House (well, its adventure playground - oh, and the penguins), and the local parks. Then we drove cross-country to Mum's where we enjoyed her back-yard, the toys that her next-door neighbour (who runs a daycare) kindly lent us, and the excitement of Bourton-on-the-water.
Finally, we were off to London, and after a rather stressful episode returning the rental car (next time, we're planning it differently) we arrived at the rather nice Highgate house of my old friend David, his wife Delphine, and their son Adrien (six months older than Ria, and quite bilingual in English and French). There we explored the local hills (straight up and straight down, and quite frequent), and I got to hobnob with various celebrities: Douglas Adams (in Highgate Cemetery - an unremarkable headstone), Karl Marx (also in Highgate Cemetery - a large monument, surrounded by the graves of assorted Communists who managed to arrange to be buried near their idol), and Terry Jones of Monty Python (quite alive; he walked past us outside the restaurant where we'd just eaten). Our last night we spent at a hotel near Paddington, where we got together with Uncle Tom and Sarah for a nice walk and dinner. Another flight, and we were home! Then we had a few nights more of disturbed sleep, but everyone is back to normal now.
The kids managed the flights (direct flights - 10-11 hours each way) quite well: they were bored but never got upset. They didn't sleep much, unfortunately, so they arrived quite jetlagged at our first stop, my uncle Miles and aunt Margaret's place in Lancaster. Their house is set up wonderfully for kids, due to the presence of local grandchildren, and Iain and Ria had a great time playing with all the toys. It's just as well, as it rained for several days, so there wan't much to do but play with the toys. Alastair, Bev and Rowan showed up, along with Cherry (a cousin) and my dad who was passing through England on his way to Spitzbergen. Ria just fell in love with Margaret, and was happily snuggling with her every chance she got. The first few nights of sleep were a bit disturbed for the kids (and so for us as well), but they were both happy.
Next we went to Alastair and Bev's place - we got to learn how Rowan is doing (very well! What a sweet little boy...) and see some of the sights in their area: Salt Mills, the local canals, Harewood House (well, its adventure playground - oh, and the penguins), and the local parks. Then we drove cross-country to Mum's where we enjoyed her back-yard, the toys that her next-door neighbour (who runs a daycare) kindly lent us, and the excitement of Bourton-on-the-water.
Finally, we were off to London, and after a rather stressful episode returning the rental car (next time, we're planning it differently) we arrived at the rather nice Highgate house of my old friend David, his wife Delphine, and their son Adrien (six months older than Ria, and quite bilingual in English and French). There we explored the local hills (straight up and straight down, and quite frequent), and I got to hobnob with various celebrities: Douglas Adams (in Highgate Cemetery - an unremarkable headstone), Karl Marx (also in Highgate Cemetery - a large monument, surrounded by the graves of assorted Communists who managed to arrange to be buried near their idol), and Terry Jones of Monty Python (quite alive; he walked past us outside the restaurant where we'd just eaten). Our last night we spent at a hotel near Paddington, where we got together with Uncle Tom and Sarah for a nice walk and dinner. Another flight, and we were home! Then we had a few nights more of disturbed sleep, but everyone is back to normal now.