Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

 Many months ago, Liz offered to watch our kids while we went 'house hunting' over Eric's spring break.  Soon, Rick also said he wanted to help her watch them.  Soon, I changed why they would be watching our kids.  Soon, they said they were retiring, so we could do whatever we wanted because they had nothing but time on their hands.  Man, I want to be them when I grow up...

 Grandma and Grandpa arrived at our house on Thursday afternoon during the KU/Oklahoma State payback Big 12 Tournament game. I gave them a quick rundown of what to expect, and then Grandpa accompanied the boys to their soccer practice.  Might as well get them on the schedule right away!

The next morning, we did a bit of schoolwork and then Grandma and Grandpa took Dom downtown to do packet pick-up for the half-marathon...oh, yeah, they signed up to do a half-marathon the morning before Eric and I flew to London.  Why not? 

They had a good time just checking out downtown, noting places to visit in the next week.  And as a result, my kids had more experiences in downtown Montgomery in the few days they spent with Grandparents than they have had in the entirety of our time here in Alabama.  Boom!

On a side note, it is a remarkable realization to have a child you have been around since birth go from being someone you need to take along everywhere you go for their safety, but it is a lot of work, to being a person you take along for company and their presence makes the trip more enjoyable.  I've experienced this quite a bit with Will and Dom (and Molly on occasion...but, she can be a little more difficult..because 'No' does not have quite the same effect on her).  And lately, Dom has been this way with his grandparents.  Nana takes him to the Rally House, Grandpa takes him to run errands.  And now he accompanied his grandparents to do a packet pick-up.  Pretty cool...but, I've probably gone on too long.  I just think it is really neat.

 Anyhow, the next morning, Rick and Liz went for their run...not waking up a soul because they are like Elves.  Not Santa Elves.  Tolkien Elves.  Because they run, too.  And the rest of us watched a bit of soccer and packed.  Because who packs before the morning of an international trip?

 We headed to the airport 2 hours before our scheduled flight like all responsible travelers should do.  And while we drank overpriced beer and ate overpriced nachos due to having A.L.O.T. of time to kill at our tiny regional airport, Grandma immediately started grandma-ing...by baking a cake with Molly.  Because Molly asked her to...(pro-tip...Molly is always asking to bake a cake...I do not give in, she is pretty use to disappointment)

 Along with soccer practice, Grandma and Grandpa were in charge of taking the boys to Boy Scouts (including Dom's crossing over ceremony Saturday night).  They also had to take the kids to piano, art class, and PE.  I wrote a schedule with drive-times...because I am super duper helpful like that.  Others might have cancelled...not me.  I'm super helpful.

 Molly and Grandma exercised together.

 They took several field trips throughout the week including the Capitol Building:

 Dairy Queen:

 The Zoo:

 The Pie Bar for a Pi Run and Pizza on Pi Day (I know..I missed Pi Day.  But, mark your calendars for July 22.  Otherwise known as Back-up Pi Day (22/7 ~ 3.14))

 Grandma also made Molly a quilt...are you kidding me?  And John got one too, because fair is fair. 

 They also played Go Fish

 Shot off Rockets

 And used this thing that you need to call Will so he can pronounce it for you. (I just asked him...it is an atlatl...sounds a lot like adaladdle...yup...actually that is a lot of fun to say.  Probably why he doesn't mind repeating it over and over and over again)

 Launching the rocket was a team effort.  Check out John's shirt...he totally missed us despite all of the fun they were having.

 Which included playing Suspend.

 Grandma and Grandpa also got the special experience of being in our home during opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.  That's right: Brackets!  The boys did a superb job of free handing logos.  I loved getting the updates from Grandpa about Will's perfectionism...along with that perfectionism comes a lot of passion to his art and ownership.  NO ONE colors Will's logos except him.  Grandpa learned that the hard way.   They also got to see some of Molly's handiwork:

I believe they got all of the pictures up during the first games.  However, they were well finished by the time the boys watched the first number 1 seed ever lose in the first game!  By then Grandpa had taught them this little routine:
Grandpa: Hey...where is the University of Virgina?
Everyone as loudly as possible: On the Bus!!! (as in...on the bus home...because they are LOSERS)

This little routine has various variations about what all supplies they will need on the bus and getting the engine started.  And even now I can probably say to John: Where's Duke? and get a response of 'On the Bus'....yup, totally worked.  He is going to really struggle in Geography.

 Apparently, they got a second DQ trip...lucky kids.

 And more cupcakes were made.

 As well as a lovely cake for the parents (that we enjoyed with afternoon tea for a few days!)

 Eric and I arrived home late Saturday night, and incredibly Rick and Liz did not meet us at the door with their bags packed ready to leave.  In fact, they seemed in great spirits, if a bit exhausted.  But, I appreciated all of the stories about what had gone on in our absence. It is not easy taking care of 4 kids at once (and I was pretty nervous about how it would all go).  And they did way more than we do on a weekly basis.  I'd have been exhausted, too!

A happy reunion occurred the next morning, with the longest hug from John and he didn't venture too far from my side for the rest of the day.  So, I guess they missed us.  But, I know they loved the week they got to spend with Grandma and Grandpa.  Maybe we can do it again in the next 5 years.  Maybe?  Ok, we'll get back to you about that!

Thank you to Rick and Liz for such a wonderful gift for our family!  You are the best!

Dr. and Mrs. B go on Holiday

Last Fall, I was sitting at the computer thinking about life and thinking about how we really enjoyed our trip to England in October of 2016 and how our friends that gave us free lodging would be moving back to the states June 2018 and how if we wanted to get back over there, we really needed to go over Eric's spring break...and so I checked airplane tickets.  Turned out on that particular day...they were $700 out of Montgomery.  Crazy!  I contacted our friends and my in-laws who had offered to watch the kids so we could house hunt for the next assignment over that spring break.  Everyone was supportive of a trip to England...except the airlines that increased the price to over $1000 in the couple hours it took for me to make a decision...

I told Eric about the afternoon's events and he was pretty disappointed I didn't just jump on the opportunity.  I felt deflated as well.  A whole week off from being a Stay at Home Mom is a break that does not come every year...or decade.  I set up a price alert figuring it was a long shot at best to get prices as low as I was willing to pay for a spur of the moment trip.

But!  Delta came through.  A couple of weeks later we were packing for a camping trip when I got an update that the price had dropped even more and the times were better.  Eric threw his wallet at me and about 30 minutes later...we were booked on flights to England! (sorry for that long story...I know the picture above pretty much gave it away.  Not many 700 year old churches around these parts)

Eric and I flew to England without kids on March 10th.  The miracle of flight is incredible.  In just 12 hours of travel, we were walking around Bath, England. Not that I have many pictures of Bath.  I will blame jet lag.  However, the next day, Eric planned a day to trip to Gloucester and Blockley where these pictures were taken.

Gloucester has a beautiful cathedral were used in the filming of Harry Potter.  I had a twinge of guilt that I hadn't found the funds to bring Will and Dom...but, I got over it.

See?  I wasn't lying:

Within the sanctuary, Edward II was buried. 

 As well as Robert of Normandy, the son of William the Conquerer

And now you know about as much as I do on their historical significance.  That said, the boys and I have been reading up on the monarch of England, and I'm sure both of these men were in the book.  Cue guilty feelings again...And, yet, I still got over them!

 Following Eric's home run selection of Gloucester Cathedral, we headed to Blockley, a town in the Cotswolds where Fr. Brown Mysteries is filmed.  This is the one show that Eric and I watch.  I watch it because I enjoy the ridiculous British humor and caricatures and he watches it because he loves me.  I admit, some  most of the story lines are over the top, but it is Arthur Weasley as a Catholic Priest...what is not to love? 

And it is apparently not so popular that this little town was over run by fans.  In fact, Eric and I were the only ones.  It was perfect.  We just walked the quiet streets and even took a brief sojourn on a public path which intrigued me 18 months ago, but I didn't venture to explore with four kids, one of which would refuse to walk on occasion...

One day, I would like to do a walking tour of the Cotswolds.  Though, perhaps during a warmer month.  Do they have warmer months in England?

I did buy a tea towel with a bicycle riding Fr. Brown.  It is perfect.  In related news, I've traded my shot glass collecting habits for tea towels.  Much more useful. 

Speaking of spending money, our biggest splurge throughout our week was daily tea.  This is a fantastic tradition, by the way.  One that Eric and I have attempted to continue since returning home.  It really hits the spot on a cold afternoon.  As does a slice of chocolate cake!  I suspect we will particularly employ this tradition next year in our new home farther north, which Molly is all for!

My filtered photos.  Turned out rather nice. If I do say so myself. Thanks Instagram!

On Tuesday, we continued to not have any real plans aside from visiting Oxford, Cambridge, and eventually ending up at our friends house.

In Oxford, we visited one of the college grounds...and I don't know which one it was.  It wasn't particularly memorable, though we did turn the corner at one point and found a statue of John Henry Cardinal Newman.

And after several misfires, we located the cemetery where JRR Tolkien was laid to rest along with his wife, Edith:

As we drove into Cambridge we saw the US military cemetery for the soldiers of World War II.  It was a beautiful site.  Particularly in contrast to the cemetery outside of Oxford where several of the tombstones were in disrepair.

There was a sea of white crosses and stars of David, each marking an American who gave his or her life overseas.

As well as a wall for those whose bodies were never recovered.  Including Major Alton Glenn Miller.

And Lt. Col Vance, for whom Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma is named.  Much of the stress of the earlier excursions melted away as these sacrifices put our own troubles into a bit of perspective.

And then we entered Cambridge and were met with blue skies and breathtaking architecture.  It was a wonderful place to have our afternoon tea and relax a bit.  Which was good in that we were about to find a parking ticket on our car.  Ah well...What is 25 pounds between allies?

We headed to our friends' and arrived in time for a delicious meal and to sort of plan an overnight trip to York the next day.  I didn't know much about York, but Rick Steve's highly recommended it in his tour book.  And I'm so glad we made the 4 hour drive north to see it.

Eric and I got a few hands of cribbage in while stuck in traffic on the A14...or it was another A...All I know is that I was winning when the traffic started moving again.

York was amazing.  It has a lot of history that Eric and I were unaware of. And random beds of Crocuses.

There has been quite a bit of excavation done, so one can see where the Roman city once stood as well as the Medieval City.  The York Minster is incredible and has stood since the 1200s.  It is also the site (though not the building) where Constantine was declared the Emperor of Rome.  Who knew?  Probably a lot of people, but not this particular person...

It was also incredible to just walk along the streets of York where the shops had stood for several hundred years.

I mentioned to Eric that visiting Universal Studios ruined me for this place a bit, because I just felt like it was all a facade.  Yet, it isn't!  It's all real!  The above is The Shambles, which we walked along at least 10 times.  At the end of the street were three wizard stored dedicated to Harry Potter paraphenalia.

  They all sold the exact same things...well, we only saw the invisibility cloak in one.  It was out of our price range.  Much to Will's chagrin.

The next morning we headed to the Minster and roamed the interior for a couple of hours.  There was so much to see and read.  Memorials cover the sides and are on the floor.  Actually there are memorials in nearly all of the churches we visited.  The above made me smile because it goes on for a bit about the (most likely) richer woman, and then throws in that her sister is there as well.  Sort of like how in Hamilton, Peggy is a bit of an afterthought.

We watched the chimes ring.  Because...John loves this sort of thing.

Then we went downstairs where we were surprised to discover St. William of York's crypt!  We knew very little about him, and quite honestly, weren't entirely sure he existed.  Yet, here he was! (Third time I feel a twinge of guilt leaving Will over in the colonies)

On the other side of the lower level is a museum with much of the history of the area dating back to Roman times.  And a very old copy of the bible...which I can't remember much else about.  Except it was old.  Did I mention that?

On Friday, we went back to Cambridge to walk around a bit more.  Our friend came along and it was nice to spend time with him in the RAF pub.  Ultimately, this is what Eric really wanted to do. 

I ultimately just wanted to have the leisure to walk around and look at things at my own pace.  Not feeling rushed to get through because a child would be getting hungry or tired. 

Though it was 60s on Friday,  we drove to Heathrow the next morning in a snow shower.  Not too bad at the early hour, but cue the 4th time I felt like Will was missing out.  Ah well, he was having a pretty good time back in Alabama.  But, that is for another post.  This one has gone on long enough.