Vintzels Arrive!! :)

Oh, the excitement that was stirred around here when our long-awaited friends, the Vintzels, finally arrived to spend a much-anticipated week with us here in Cambridge!  YIPPEE!!  This shot was captured just after their arrival into the Cambridge train station.  They certainly don't LOOK like they just pulled an all-nighter (or two)!

The daffodils have been SO-O-O lovely here.  The two Toris were walking along our daily path thru Churchill College when this photo was captured.  Interestingly, even though the flowers were blooming, we wore coats every day the Vintzels were here...

One of the kids' (both Vintzel and Green) favorite memories of their trip over is hurling meticulously crafted paper airplanes from the top of the tower here at Churchill College.  We allowed each child to bring up their best speciman, and then...they were off!

In turn, each child launched their aircraft into the wind to the cheers and delight of all the spectators.  Here, Reagan has just lobbed the "Hedgehog", his super-duper amazing aerodynamic wonder, into the great beyond, as Caleb and Daniel marvel in astonishment...

Next, Tori Vintzel flung her graceful glider... off it soared...and soared...and soared...winning for best glider.  The competition was stiff, but both families were represented well, and it was decided that next years international competition will be held in the US, probably in none other than...Jackson, TN!!

As we took the Vintzels around a bit, we stopped by Magdalene College, which is where C.S. Lewis taught the last 9 years of his life (1954-1963).  His office was on the second floor, the second and third windows from the right.  It was really something to think that both this college, and much of Cambridge, really, looks as it did in Lewis' day, as things don't change much around here in just a few decades...

Another Cambridge "must" is to go to an "Evensong", or evening choral service.  The most famous is the one at Kings College Chapel.  So, as photos are not allowed in the chapel, this one was snapped just outside after the Good Friday evensong, which included an all-male choir.  It was beautiful...in sight, sound, and Spirit.

One thing we've grown to appreciate here are the many crests you see all around.  In this one,  you can (hopefully) see three ships sailing in blue water under the yellow bridge.  Those two elements represent the "official" Cambridge symbols...with the bridge over the Cam River, and the ships representing the travel and trade route that Cambridge has always been...

In the next edition, our party of 9 will travel under the English Channel to Paris...will everyone make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower?  Will Brad's French save the day?  Will someone named James be asked to read Scripture at the Easter Service at Notre Dame?!?!  Which one of the children will actually touch the top of the pyramid at the Louvre?  For answers to all these and more, stay tuned for the next exciting edition...