Breaking News - Boy from America Handcuffed in Court Drama!

It's true.  There we were in a dramatic presentation of a court case reenactment set in the 18th century, and the "eye witness" Daniel Green, who was present simply to observe the trial, was, in the end, handcuffed by the bobby.  Outrageous!

In other news, this blue-coated family is winning converts, as evidenced by their South African friend Werner (red and gray ball cap), with his BLUE coat.  This is the Blue Coats 3rd rugby match, and, after helping to explain the Super Bowl to Werner, he obliged to explain a rugby match to them.  (You may recognize Will Kynes, of hair clipper and St. John's tower fame, next to Werner.  Then there's Will the Scribe, also an American and friend, who was WRITING ABOUT THE MATCH...FOR THE SCHOOL NEWSPAPER!  I was ON THE FLOOR!!!  He knew about as much about rugby as we did.  I saved the newspaper article from the next days paper---I could not believe that I had been at the game that he had described--it was written masterfully.  I guessed I had drastically underestimated his understanding of the game, until, that is, the next time I saw him, and he, with a twinkling in his eye said, "I have a good editor.") 

This picture makes me laugh for another reason, too.  Notice that three people are watching the game:  the one who understands it, and the two who want to play for their birthday party.  The others? Great smiles. :)

Shepreth Wildlife Park, Playground Edition

So, one of the most celebrated aspects of our day at SHEPRETH WILDLIFE PARK actually had nothing to do with wildlife.  Into this unassuming cafe, positioned between the lemurs and the lynx, we ventured to thaw our frozen-in-place appendages, when what to our wondering eyes should appear, but a magnificent room, all Nerf and good cheer!  Yes, we had just discovered the most elaborate indoor Nerf playground we had ever seen.  It was astonishing...like the first time you discover bubble gum inside your Blow-Pop...  Here, Daniel and Victoria are bombarding Caleb (armed ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM with his own launcher) with balls from these impressive Nerf cannons! Thus the war began...twas splendid. :)  

What would a playground be without a zip line across the "remains" of a sunken ship?!?  Do you see that Caleb's head is pointing DOWN in this shot--that is his HEAD with the black cap on.  Heaven help me.

...or without an enormous pirate ship, complete with tunnels, secret passageways, slides, and gangplanks?!?

So, all in all, memories were made here...the only thing that could have made it any sweeter is if friends like you had been with us...I mean that...

Now, on to some other very important breaking news:  have you ever had one of those moments with your children when you think, "Well done, our training and teaching are paying off!"?  I had one of those moments recently.  We were trekking thru town one day when the children, all three, grabbed me, and said, "MOM!!  LOOK!!"...and then proceeded to usher me into this shop.  "What in the world?!", thought I, and as I turned around, I realized that my remarkably astute children had ushered me into...the CAMBRIDGE FUDGE FACTORY!  I was so proud.  They ARE listening.  Living with me is making a difference.  :) 

This reminds me of a funny story, which I'll share after these mouth-watering shots of

 the Cambridge's own "Fudge Kitchen":

So,  here's the story.  Over here folks just don't understand home schooling, which I'm doing with the children.  Plus, in general, the British just don't take their kids out and about with them as much as Americans do.  These two things combined have resulted in some very confused, and quite frankly, disapproving glances, as my kids are the ONLY children we ever see during the day around town, when all other children are in a "proper" school.  So, an astute ally suggested that when I am asked about the children (which is almost daily), that I should speak language the English would understand, like, "these are the Green children, and I am their private tutor. Their father is studying abroad for several months, and they are in my care."  Then smile confidently and politely, as if to say, "any other questions?"   I'm seriously considering pulling this off sometime...Brad is worried...he knows I just might...:)

1st Day Homeschooling!

It is true. We have officially homeschooled our first day. Actually, we all enjoyed it--it was typical of any first day of school, where we got organized, expectations laid out, and everything in line to "hit it hard" on Monday. The kids are all excited, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it as well. Thanks to the kindness of Mrs. Wagar (Tori's 2nd grade teacher), Mrs. McGough (Daniel's 3rd grade teacher), and Mr. Byrd (Caleb's 5th grade teacher), the children know what to do, how to do it, and I am well prepared. How I appreciate each of them!

The absolute funniest thing happened today at the laundry mat for our flat (as they call our apartment). The kids and I had ventured over to begin our weekly washing routine. Little did we know what lay before us. We had already been told that there are no dryers, so we had already located the drying racks in the apartment, and made our strategy for carrying home all the wet laundry to dry all over the flat. So, we loaded our clothes in 2 of the machines (photo courtesy of Brad Green), but I could not find a place to put in the detergent. "They must just sprinkle it on top," I thought. So we did that, then began loading two other washing machines. After a few minutes, Caleb said, "Mom, when does the water start?" I looked at the 2 already rotating machines we had loaded with all our dirty clothes and the dry detergent and figured maybe over here it just takes a while for the water to kick on...After ALL 4 machines were loaded with detergent, dirty clothes, and lots of money, Caleb asked the all important question, "Mom, the water still hasn't started. Could these be dryers?" Obviously not, I thought...and then...no place for detergent...no water...gasp...oh no...yes, you guessed it. We had just loaded everything to be washed into their 4 new DRYERS!! O dear. You can only imagine what the next few minutes entailed...needless to say, our clothes are now very clean (you know, with detergent in both the real washing machines and, thanks to us, in the dryers as well) and put away until next week...

The best part of the day was our family game night. We played spoons (even though the picture looks like we're playing WITH spoons, we actually played the game, "Spoons." :)) and Go Fish, and had loads (not to be confused with our loads of laundry) of fun!! We are enjoying family time and are so thankful for the opportunity to be here. Culture note: For snacks during our famiy game night we ate--get ready--something called," digestive biscuits"--I'm not making this up--Tori loves them. They are actually

cookies (biscuits) half-covered with milk chocolate, and I'm not sure what the "digestive" part is all about. Some things are better left unanswered. :)