Most Special Sunday Roast....

We've had a pretty eventful past few days, so we wanted to relax and enjoy this lovely Sunday. But to make this Sunday even more special we invited the Beales' family out for some leisurely fun. Michael even offered to make us up a very special Sunday roast dinner as well. So he brought everything and then some. While he started up the dinner we took the kids out for some boating on the lake. Gemma checked out the row boat with Kevin and the kids, while Emily and Kyle tried out the kayak.

Harrison was a good little boater and really enjoyed himself. After a bit, Gemma and I went out on the kayak together and explored the far side of the lake. Kyle chased after us with the single kayak and really made us nervous with how wobbley he was. Well, all stories have to have a fun ending. We were all making our way back to the dock and no more than 6 feet away, Kyle topples over and ends up in the water. We were all laughing so hard...and the poor kids were crying because they thought he as hurt.

Kyle was a good sport and we worked on getting his clothes cleaned while finding him some other clothes to get by for the rest of the day. This is the best outfit we could come up for him.

With life jackets still on everyone moved over to the tennis courts to hit a few balls and shoot some hoops. Debbie told me later that when we she pulled up to the house and saw us all out their playing, she just had an amazing feeling come over her. It really was so nice to just have space to play. This day was making me feel like a family get together we would have back home.

After plenty of playing outside we moved inside. Addison got Debbie to do some dancing.

Lellie got Harrison to sit still for about 2.6 seconds, but she kept working on as many cuddles as she could get. This young lady has become such a special part of our family that I'm almost contemplating either adopting her or kidnapping her in my suitcase. I don't think her mom and dad really want to loose her yet.

Then the Beales' pulled out some special gifts for us all which was way too much as they had already brought over gifts last week. But these were all very unique to us all which made them so special. Kevin got a set of cuff links with the crest of Cambridgeshire as Michael works for the Cambridgeshire police and Debbie is part of the Cambridgeshire NHS. Debbie presented me with a little sterling silver charm of a double decker bus. I had totally forgotten to get my England charm and they remembered! Also Emily gave us all a beautiful Union Jack quilted pillow with a stitching in the back from our favorite "Supersitter Lellie."

The kids each got a Union Jack piggy bank with their names on them.

I caught Michael getting the roast all ready.

Then we laid out all the food and filled up our plates.

I LOVE English Sunday Roasts!!!!

Sitting down together as a "family" for dinner.

Harrison gets in some play time with his best friend - "Tyle" (Harry gets his T's and K's mixed up). Kyle is really a great guy and we enjoyed having him spend today with us as well.

No meal is ever complete in England without puddings and we weren't short on them today. Apple blackberry crumble....

swiss roll, and I made up some no-bake chocolate cookies! Oh, soooo yummy!

Gemma had also done some backing and made up some jam tarts and cupcakes to share with us as well.

What an amazing day and an amazing family to spend it with...we love you all so much!

Relaxin' at the Lake Lodge

After Emily got off work, Kevin went to pick her up for her second job...babysitting for us every night for the past and next week!!! We love her!!!

We checked out the tennis court and basketball hoop, but got the basketball confused with a football apparently.

Then the kids wanted a boat ride so we got them suited up.

Kevin was very brave to take the kiddos out in the little dinghy. There wasn't much room for any extra weight and it took him a bit to sort out the ores. Emily and I just watched for a while. Then the two of us hopped in the two person kayak for a bit. We found that somehow the boat was set up that some water found it's way into our seats so to say the least we had wet bums for while.

Happy 50th Sarah!!!!

Dearest friend Sarah turned 50 this Wednesday and we surprised her with a night out at Fratelli's in Stamford. She was having a big do on Saturday, but we wanted a little special time with her and Simon alone. They such a lovely couple and have really enjoyed their friendship over the past 4 years. They were instrumental in getting us involved in the village and teaching us plenty about English culture (and language)!

I think they are the single reason that I learned to like wine so much as we would drink plenty of it together!!!

Sarah's birthday party was a super blast. Simon worked very hard to get the Peakirk Hall all spiffed up. There were many familiar faces to us there so it wasn't hard to spark up a conversation with loads of people. They had a DJ and food and plenty of drinks. I am so glad that were able to hang in England long enough to help her celebrate such a special day.

Final Friday...

I woke up this morning and saw that the sun was out and since it was my last Friday, I thought, "Why not head up to Stamford one last time to the market, to see what I could see!"

I invited one of my dearest friends Kerry to come along with me. We both had our youngest kiddos with us, but she'd never been to it yet and I thought it would be fun to share this memory with her. Kerry can always make me laugh. She is just full of enthusiasm and speaks what's on her mind, and even if it's negative it comes out totally funny. I love the stories she tells of her days going to Ascot, riding horses, and of her family - they are a crazy crew!

Kerry holds special place in my heart as when her son first started school I approached her right away to make her feel welcome. It's always awkward for me starting and wished someone would have taken me under their wing to show me the ropes, so I was paying it forward with her. We hit it off immediately, and us both had kids similar ages we had loads of playdates together.

After school we stopped at the Glinton park for a picnic and play time. We got a special treat after a few minutes as Stash and Peter came walking through the park to play for a while as well.

Stash and Harry riding together on the elephant slider that they replaced the little kids playhouse that burnt down after a practical joke on Bonfire Night.

Me with my friend Joanna...so wonderful to get to know her over the past couple of months. Wished we could have gotten to know each other more earlier on, but just because I'm leaving doesn't mean this friendship has to end.

Our ISE Going Away Do

Tonight we shared an evening with our fellow remaining ISEs and some other close friends at The Papermill in Wansford. It was a place we had always wanted to try out so why not bring everyone else there with us. It was so great to have everyone there and share some stories of the past. It was also not as sad of a gathering as many of these people we hope to see back in the Peoria area some day.

They guys....

Kevin, Kevin and Tony...

Jamie and Sarah (Wendy and Katie in the back)

Cathy Duffy enjoying her bangers and mash...looking forward to catching back up with her this summer when she moves back to the US as well.

Molly and I have become very good friends over the past couple of years. Her Lauren is good friends with Addison so we've done lots of playdates together. I am so excited for her that she is having a new baby this summer (which I will miss seeing). Her and Jim have been great friends with Kevin and I and I can't wait for her to move back as well, but that won't be for another year or so.

Kelly is our newest ISE and eventhough I got to spend a couple of months with her I think she's absolutely amazing. She carries herself so elegantly and is full of spunk. She's going to great in Peterborough and I'll look forward to her coming back as well unless they send her hubby off to somewhere else in the world. Wendy and Katie are special friends from church and we've been doing lots of girly outings together and they are very special to me as well.

Thank you so much to Holli for organizing this night out. I know she's got a lot her plate right now, but I so appreciate her making this night so great for us to spend together.

Since we were out pretty late, Emily spent the night at the house with us and enjoyed a traditional Saturday morning French toast fest with us.

Exploring the Lake Lodge

I cannot believe how we lucked out to get such a super cool place to spend our last two weeks. We so should have lined it up to be here sooner as our house has been unbearable the past few days. How cool is this to have a gated estate to stay at...you just drive up and the gates open up for you!!!

The weather was actually decent today so the kids and I walked around the grounds to explore our new "home." We walked next to the lake and found a couple little buildings housing a boat and some other things. Then we found this old outhouse out back...

Spring has sprung and all the daffodils looked so beautiful amongst the grove of trees.

A look back at the house from the grove of trees. It totally reminds me of some English movie scene from the 1950's with the haze and sun shining through. Ahhhhh....some relaxation amongst the chaos of moving....

Supersized Preschool Playdate at Kerry's

Today while our shipment is getting loaded up on the truck, the kids and I are taking a break at my friend Kerry's house along with the rest of the crew from preschool. Kerry's back garden is absolutely huge and filled to the brim with toys.

Her neighbors asked her at first if she was running a nursery with all the stuff she had, but no. She just has family who gives them loads of stuff. I think that she really does have more outdoor toys than the preschool so the kids where just overwhelmed with all the things to do. It was actually kind of fun to see how they all interact with each other as we don't get to see that much while they are at school.

The kids enjoyed sandwiches, hotdogs, and were treated with ice cream cones. Now I can tell you it's very interesting to see a mass of 15 preschool kids rush someone when they bring out ice cream.

It was so cute watching the ones who stood their patiently...

Then there were funny ones to watch like Ethan who wanted a new flavor every 5 minutes when his top scoop was gone.

Little Lucy just like having anything she could in her mouth.

Stash, Peter, and Taylor chilling in the shade.

It was great to just get to sit around outside with all the mums as well....Alison and Caroline soaking up the sun!

Juliet shows off her new haircut and highlight for us all.

Sarah and Kerry are my compadres in crime and we quite enjoy just hanging out together. Kerry obviously the hostess with the mostess when it comes to entertaining the kiddos. It was also nice to see that she got to utilize my garden furniture so well with her first garden party. What a great afternoon to get away from all that packing, while Kevin could deal with it all for a while.

Quick Trip to Tesco

We needed to pick up a few bits at Tesco to get us by for the next couple of days so I wanted to snap a couple pictures inside the Deepings Tesco for old time sake.

I'll miss you Tesco....do you ship overseas????

Let's Go to McDonald's

The kids and I have been cooped up at the house while they have been packing for the past couple of days so we needed to just get out. We couldn't go too far and be gone too long as we have to "supervise" the packers, so I thought we could escape to McD's for lunch since the weather was nice. The kids wanted to eat outside so we plopped up on the tall seats to enjoy our happy meals.

Enjoy the fish fingers while you can kiddos because they don't have these in America...or anywhere else in the world I think...at least not in France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, or the Netherlands.

But they do have loads of ketchup in America so you can spare some of it for this meal Addison.

Special Gifts

I knew we would already have wonderful memories to bring with us back to the States, but our friends have been so generous to give us a few tastes of England to bring back with us. These are all the lovely things the ladies gave to me at my surprise mum's night at the pub last night. A Union Jack teapot cozie, Union Jack candy tin, Truly Great tray, Union Jack cross stick pillow, Keep Calm and Carry On tea towel, a huge tea cup to grow herbs in and the Mrs. Beeton's British Cooking book. I can't wait to have my own kitchen so that I can deck it out in all my British stuff!!!

Jack and Holli brought over special gifts for the kids. They each got a special book - Accidentally on Purpose and You Choose. These are Jack and Holli's favorite books and they wanted to share them with the kids.

The Beales' also came over with some special gifts for everyone. Gemma has made her transformation into pre-teen and thought she would like to share with Addison all the fairy bits she had from her room. These were very, very special items and it was a very big deal for Gemma to share them with a very special girl who could use them.

These were also very, very special fairies of Gemma's that she asked me if it was okay for her to give them to Addison. I wanted to make sure it was really okay with her to give them away and she insisted that she wanted to pass them on to Addie. They had a very serious conversation about who each of the fairies are and what special gift they had. It was so sweet.

They didn't forget Harry either and found him a cute little double decker bus which of course he loved!!!