BBQ English Style at the Gerrard's

Our friends Juliet and Steve Gerrard invited us over for a BBQ this Saturday afternoon. We had been at an antique fair up near Bourne all morning so we looking forward to kicking back. Steve and Juliet are some of the greatest hosts and always go all out for events at their house. You can tell Juliet is a teacher in training as she had loads of little things for the kids like a candy hunt, water bombs, and water squirters along with all the toys and games in the house. Harrison and Addie had fun finding their sweeties before dinner.

English BBQ always have quite the spread and one main theme I have picked up on is MEAT, MEAT, and more MEAT. Where as I think at most American BBQs you may make one or two different types of meat and then have loads of potato salads, cole slaw, macaroni salads, warm side dishes...the English make sausages, burgers, chicken, lamb kabobs, ribs, and hot dogs all at one go and most people will take 2-3 pieces.

Inside there was a big old pot of chili made up and next to it, yes, a bigger pot of rice. One thing quarky thing Kevin and I learned several months ago was that chili is treated like a curry here and is served with rice..on a PLATE of all things. I love it though and it actually tastes really good that way. Other goodies were couscous salads, lettuce salads, and pasta salad. Also since it was summer time and were at the Gerrard's there were plenty of good summer drinks to be had like a pitcher of Pimm's accented with apple, orange, and lime chunks and bits of fresh mint and topped off with Schwepp's lemonade.

Now the next best thing about BBQs here are all the puddings that come out afterwards. In good form and being the curious American I had to fill a plate filled with samples of each one of these goodies to make sure they were good. There was a strawberry and chocolate cream torte, lemon cake bread, chocolate and caramel brownies, Victoria sponge cake with "fat free" whipped double cream, strawberry shortcake, chocolate fudge cake, chocolate crispy treats and a fruity flan.

What a great time had by all and I got to know a few people a little more and finally place names with faces, especially Juliet's sister - Nicholette and her mum, June who I've run into several times now.

Strawberry Picking at Hill Farms

English strawberries are amazing and the ultimate sign that summer is here. Eventhough it is towards the end of strawberry season my friend Juliet and I wanted to take the kids out for the day and pick our own berries. We went to a place called Hill Farm just outside of Alwalton.

With my new mobile phone's camera I've been able to take lots of fun on the go pictures and I grabbed a quick snap of the three of us before we started berry picking. Harrison looks so excited....

The kiddos - Harrison, Ella, Addison and Robyn - ready to get picking.

There was one more patch of strawberries left to pick from way in the back of the farm so we had a bit of hike to get there, but there were still quite a few left. I think the kids ate about as many as we collected in our baskets. I was going to be strict with the kiddos about not eating any but Juliet was such a dear and told them to go ahead and eat a bunch. I did happen to sneak a couple myself and they were the absolute best berries I'd ever had. The strawberry fairies must have gotten upset with me though as they sent a bee to get stuck in my toe and I literally had to pull it out of my toe. I can tell you that number one - you should never wear sandals while berry picking and number 2 - it really, really hurts to have a bee stuck in your toe. I thought I remembered some old adage that mud would take the sting out of a bite so I spit on some dirt and rubbed it on (sorry I know that sounds really gross but I was desperate and we were a long ways from the car.)

I managed to make my way back out in the field and get Harry back on track with collecting berries instead of eating them all. He actually did quite well and nice call on my part for putting him in a black shirt as anything else would be stained beyond belief.

After the kids got plenty bored and Juliet and I got our containers filled with berries we headed back to the farm's little picnic and play area.

Then Juliet and I took turns watching the kids while they played so we could go pick some raspberries as well. The play equipment was all made up of what looked like old tires and stretched out smooth rubber from this crazy swing to the slide and some other climbing frames.

Ella and Addison had fun being queens of the mountain.

For our first and probably only English strawberry picking it turned out to be quite a fun experience despite my bee sting. We collected about 4-5 pounds of strawberries for about 11 GBP and I got about 2 pints of raspberries for about 4 GBP. Now they were all so fresh that we ate as many as we could in the following day or two but then I had to freeze the rest of them to make jam or a crumble later on. I'm looking forward to when the sweet corn is ready...about 1 1/2 months later than when it is in prime peak in the midwest US.

Buy Leather

Harrison Michael Dea was an ornery little bug today. The little man thought it would be fun to color with his sister but instead of using the coloring books I got out used my wicker furniture cushions. I guess luckily the crayons were washable but I had to do lots of scrubbing with upholstery cleaner. Addison was enjoying the fact that she got to use a little tooth brush to help scrub the crayon spots. Harrison got a pretty stern talking to and a time out for his actions. Well, would you think he learned his lesson...NO...this little stinker some how got a hold of another crayon while I was out of the room and did it for a second time. This time he had to sit up in his crib for awhile while I cooled down and got the cushions cleaned up...again! Needless to say this is why I talked Kevin into buying black leather furniture for our living room to combat against such actions. I did get about 95% of the crayon out and am hoping the sun lightens up the rest of it over time.

Bike Ride at Rutland Water

Today our adventure was to go bike riding out at Rutland Waters on the well known bike paths there. Kevin bought a new bike rack to fit on our car so we loaded up our two bikes the bike trailer and seat. There wasn't much room left in the car after we added us and our picnic in with it.

We had an amazing ride which was only about 1/4 around the lake and back.

The views out from the lake out onto the countryside are so beautiful. It has been pretty dry this summer so lots of the grass was turing golden color along with the beautiful wheat fields that are ready to be harvested. Then the dots of bright green trees amongst the nearby village was picture perfect.

Of course we had to make a stop at the play park so the kiddos could get there exercise as well. Look at those legs...she sure is growing and becoming more independent. After our little play we headed back to the other side of the lake for our picnic, but in true English fashion the sun disappeared and it got pretty darn cold, so we ate very fast!!!

Flying Home Alone

Since Kevin headed back to the UK before us, it was up to me to get the kids home on my own. I wasn't too worried about it but I new it wasn't going to be easy. I started to get a bit worked up at the Cedar Rapids airport as they ran all over the place like little tasmania devils, but once we said our good byes we made it through security fairly well and settle for a few minutes on the other side before we loaded the plane.

As we got on the plane, I tried getting our stuff settled in with a carseat, a large back pack, and the buggy board from the push chair. Well I didn't get the buggy board placed well in the overhead compartment because it came down straight onto Addison's head leaving quite a mark. We had a full flight loading and I was trying to get stuff settled while catering to her and settling Harrison. Our short flight was going to Dallas/Ft. Worth which was two hours and it went pretty good. I set up the DVD player for them and Harry took a short nap.

At Dallas I got the carseat set up in my little Maclaren stroller with Harry and Addie on the back on the buggy board and on goes my napsack with juice glasses and blankets rolled up and strapped on the sides. We looked like quite a crew and got lots of interesting stares. We found McDonald's to catch a bite at because I knew the kids wouldn't eat airplane food. We got a call from Kevin on my mobile as we text him to let him know we made it...it was about 1AM for him, but it was good to hear his voice.

When I thought everything was going great then all heck broke loose. I looked for a baby change station and couldn't find one and asked a lady inside where to find one and she knew no English (wait a second I'm in America, not France....what???? oh, yeah I'm in Texas....close the border). Well I was going to have to improvise. I brought the kids in the toilet to get them changed into their PJs to be comfy on the ride. After Addison went potty I grabbed the PJ's out of my back pack and somehow dropped Harrison's bottoms in the toilet bowl. I gasped and my heart sunk. I grabbed them quickly. I got Addie dressed and rushed out to find a sink, soap and air drier...no flippin' air driers!!!!! So I wrapped up his bottoms in some paper towels and had to stick them in my bag, poor guy was going to have to sleep on the plane in his jean shorts. Getting ready to load the plane was a bit stressful as well since the kids wanted to run around and not stand in line, but a nice gentleman and his wife helped me with the car seat as I rustled up my little ones.

On the plane the lady behind me piped up to say that she had little ones at home as well and that she used to be a flight attendant so she offered to help with whatever she could. That was nice of her so that made me feel a little better. After that things seemed to go down hill. Neither Addison's or my TV screens worked for the entire flight, they were having lots of problems and even re-set the entire system, but nothing worked so no movies for me. So I got them all set up with our new dual DVD players and two minutes into Aladdin, Addison has to use the toilet. So I had to pack up the DVD players and bring both of them back to the toilet which was the one thing I feared that I would have to actually do, but we did get it figured out. Harrison sat up on the ledge by the sink while Addie went and she stood down beside me while I changed Harrison. Washing and drying all of our hands was the tricky bit but we survived. Back to our seats where Addison said she was tired and Harrison didn't want to get back in the car seat. So I held her head on one leg and Harry on the other. She fell asleep and then I coaxed Harry somehow back into his seat without too much fuss. Then I stretched my legs across my seat and Addie's with feet dangling in the aisle as she slept and worked to get Harry asleep.

I think I slept for about 20-30 minutes when Harrison lets out a huge scream. I didn't know what was going on at first but then the guy in front of him is getting up out of his seat to use the toilet and I look at Harrison and see that his legs are pinned between this guy's seat and the car seat. I prop his seat back up and pull him out as he is screaming in a super quiet plane. I can't settle him so I work to get up and walk with him in the aisle while Addison is still sleeping and piled up on our chairs. I finally settle him but when I get back to our chairs he won't get back in his. So I sit there upright holding him with Addie's head on my lap as well and the seat in front of me fully tilted back. I wanted to cry but knew that wouldn't do me any good so I propped up some pillows and held on to Harry as best as I could and just prayed for this to all be over only two hours into our 8 1/2 hour flight. I looked at some other monitors and noticed that we were just flying by Chicago, which against better judgment should have been our connecting point....silly me.

Once Harry fell asleep I found a way to get him settled back in his seat so the moron ahead of him couldn't do anymore damage. Then I nestled in with Addison as best as I could to get some sleep myself which I know I did but didn't feel like I did.

Immigration through Heathrow was a breeze and always is with kids because they let you jump the queue. And our greatest moment was seeing Kevin waiting their for us past customs!!! He had some snacks ready for us in the car and was very happy to see us. It was great to be home and take that familiar ride home from the airport. It was definitely a learning experience for me to travel with my kids alone and I probably wouldn't want to do it again with them at this age but I can say I did it and we survived!!!

Let's go Fishin'

My dad asked me what I wanted to do on my last day in the US and I said "go fishing." He said it was the first time in a long while since one of his kids asked to do that and he was awfully excited. Plus Addison had been begging the whole three weeks if she could ride out on Grandpa's boat. Their is a little farm pond close by to mom and dad's house so my dad ran into town to get some nightcrawlers and we all headed down to the pond on the buggy. (Yes, I look like a total goof ball in this picture with the visor, but I grabbed what I could on this crazy bright sunny day and when you go fishing...anything goes.)

On our first cast, Harrison caught his first fish and it was a big ol' blue gill. Bad thing was that I forgot my camera up on the buggy. On our next cast we broke off the hook on a lily pad which in normal cases wouldn't have been a bid deal but for the first time ever my dad came fishing completely unprepared....he didn't have any tackle, no pliers, no rags, no string line...later on I found out that he assumed the whole fishing trip wouldn't last long as he thought the kids wouldn't get into it as much. So after a bit of time, Dad and Addison headed back to the house on the buggy to get more supplies, while Harrison and I caught another fish but he swallowed it so badly that I couldn't get the hook out and he died. We sat there for about 10 minutes with a dead fish on our line and nothing we could do about it....oh my.

Soon Dad and Addison got back and then we pounded the fish. Addison did really well with reeling in the fish and would hold them up well, but wouldn't touch them.

The kids caught lots of fish in the hour and a half we were out. Harrison was the game hog by catching at least 10 really big blue gill and one small mouth bass, but Addison had the trophy "Chet" (our affection name for the super huge fish on an outing) blue gill that was as big as my dad's hand.

Time to head back to the house to clean up quick and head out for the airport....what a great end to a great trip back home.

The Iowa County Fair

It so happened that the Iowa County Fair started while we were back home. Fair time was always a big thing for me since I was in 4-H and had loads of different projects to get ready. What a treat it was to bring my kids around to all the barns and fair buildings that I used to run around through every year when I was a kid. Of course my children were mostly interested in all the animals and graciously some people let the the kids pet a few of them...here a little calf.

They love the "baa baa" sheep.

Ol' Zetmire Hall with all the 4-H projects set up by all the different clubs in the county. I used to be a part of the Marengo Motivators....we were one of the few clubs that didn't focus on mostly animal showing, but it looks like it doesn't exist anymore. Also this place looked a LOT smaller than it did when I was 9-13 years old. It was fun to look at all the kids' projects and the blue and red ribbons.

Of course it's not a fair without fair food. The kids attempted to share a little pizza, but had too much stimulation to bother with food. I had a brat and mom and hamburger and it was a real interesting experience getting our food as well. All the 4-H clubs take turns running the food booth which was always one of my favorite things to do, but wow when you have an 11 year old taking your order and shouting it across the building and then trying to add it up in her head, it's interesting to say the least.

The big reason we wanted to make it down to the fair before we left was they were offering pony rides for the first time ever and my kids have always wanted to ride on a horse. So Grandma treated them to a ride and a little cowboy and cowgirl hat. Addison must have been quite photogenic as the local paper snapped a picture for the Pioneer Republican...the guy got her details from me...I was pretty sure they were going to post it because we probably came the furthest to see the fair.

Harrison did great and rode the pony like he was meant to be a rider. He held onto the saddle and sat very still.

We all had a great time at the fair!!!!

Time at Gma Sue and Gpa Jeff's

We had a great time back in Iowa during the summer and here are just a few random pics from more time spent with my mom and dad and the rest of my family.

My mom and did with their grandbabies...number 4 on his way in a couple of weeks.

Outstanding in their field...Harry and Addie's first encounter with soybeans.

A stroll with Grandma Sue down their really long curving drive way.

Getting the mail...have to walk about a 1/4 mile to get to it....

Bo and Addison get on very well and Grandma Sue helps with some foamy letters.

Grandpa Jeff has this gi-normous kite that he and Addison tried to get in the air, but I don't think they had enough wind. I think if they did though that it would carry Addison away.

It is very hard for Grandpa to take all three kids on a buggy ride by himself so someone usually has to volunteer to sit in the back with which ever child is willing to give up a front seat.

Addie teaches Bo how to brush his teeth.

One great thing about the hot weather is getting to eat ice lollies and sometimes with little ones those icies end up on the hot ground and melt away.

Chalk drawing on the drive way and starting all over after it rains. At one point there was an outline of Kevin on the drive and one day while he was in Peoria Addison came up to me and said, "I made Daddy pee" I didn't understand what was going on until I saw Kevin's outline with a yellow squiggly line come down from between his legs. What a silly goose! A few days later she had a glass of water from the pool and she dumped it on the "wee" and said she cleaned Daddy up.

Getting time to spend with Auntie Crystal was great as well since she was about ready to pop with little baby Brock it seemed like any day, but she's got a whole month left.

The kids miss Uncle Casey a lot as well so they just cling to him when they get to see him.

Casey's girlfriend, Stephanie, got to come over and see us as well. She's a sweetie and gets on with our family quite well.

A deep conversation between Addie and Crystal.

Casey is teaching Harrison some wrestling moves.

Fun with Cousins

The majority of our time back home this time was spent at my mom and dad's but most importantly with my little nephew Bo. The kids get to see him on Skype on the weekends when he stays with my mom and dad, but they have such a kick out of getting to play with him in person. It always takes him a day or so to get used to them but after that he can't wait to play with them. So here are a few things they liked doing together this trip....

riding Grandpa Jeff's buggy out to the oat field and picking mulberries on the way back.

playing with the air conditioning vents...Harry is perplexed by the rush of cold air streaming out...no A/C in the UK.

the boys love to eat and taco dip is apparently a favorite.

...lots of time in the paddling pool and splashing water at each other.

Addison got her share of soaking her brother and cousin.

Lots of times if swimsuits weren't ready we got in the pool anyway in whatever.

Rub a dub dub...three kiddos in the tub.

We tried to get them to pose together for a picture and once you got two of them to sit the third would just run off. This was the only picture I got of them being still together for about 2 seconds.

We also spent a few days at Auntie Crystal's house playing inside and out in the pool!!! We also got to go shopping for a day then to a park. Also we did a shopping day in IA city on the absolute hottest day ever....heat index of 106F!!! Yeah were were crazy but we played at the mall. The kids had loads of fun together no matter where they were.