England #3

Hello from London.....still. We've been continuing to have a great time in England. Our friend Michelle and her son (who so generously have invited us to use their home here as our home in England) have returned from their big two month trip abroad, and Michael and Anna have had so much fun playing with them. Spring is definitely a treat this year in England, the flowers and blossoms popping up everywhere have been amazing, and each morning the air is delicious as I've gone on my early runs through the local parks. Every time Anna walks outside she takes a big whiff and sighs, "the air just always smells so good in England." And the butter, milk and bread taste different, the chocolate is creamy, and the grass is always greener.... We went on a lovely picnic in the old Essex village of South Weald to go see the forest full of bluebells, those ephemeral joys of spring. Michael climbed every tree imaginable, while I tried to pull my heart from my throat seeing him up at dizzying heights.

We have had quite a lot of fun with cousins: one night we attended my cousin's daughter's surprise 30th birthday party with a full disco. It took Anna awhile, but she eventually really let loose on the dance floor and Michael surprised us by actually enjoying being twirled around by my cousin and me while the lights flashed all over the room. Later in the evening, when the moonless sky was good and dark, they joined all the other children out on the cricket pitch (we were at a sports club) playing 40-40 till late hours, running and screaming with exhilaration for hours. It was hard to drag them away from this new game they had learned. The next day found us with my other cousins in Kent for a delicious barbecue on a gloriously sunny day. I chatted happily with my cousin, uncle and aunt, while Anna and Michael jumped on the trampoline with Jasmine and Olivia.

Many of you may know that for months I've had a small challenge with sleeping through the night; I was hoping that the time change of being overseas would knock it out, but no luck. While in England I thought I'd give acupuncture a go. It is a very respected adjunct to western standard techniques here, and actually used in the NHS as prescribed medical treatment. I can't say it's solved everything and that I'm sleeping like a baby (whatever that has ever meant!), but I do think it's shifting things a bit. At the least it's rather interesting to get poked by 30 or so needles every few days!

Also while we've been continuing to engage in the community around us in Upminster (out on the very furthest eastern edge of London), Michael and Anna were invited to share their music with the local pre-school. Last week they spent about 45 minutes playing for 20 4 year olds, talking to them about their instruments, how they practice, how long they've been playing, and letting the young students try out playing the harp and guitar a bit. It was very cute to see the younger children all wide-eyed, and so heart-warming to watch Anna and Michael share so patiently and enthusiastically their love for their music. Michael was very shy at first, but really warmed up as he showed each little one how to strum his guitar.

Our trips into central London have taken us to: museums like Dr. Samuel Johnson's house, where under great duress, but also great obedience, Anna and Michael humored me by dressing up in the wardrobe of period clothes they provided- (Johnson compiled the first respected dictionary of the English language in the 18th century. Some of it is very funny, and shows the feelings of his time: 'Oats, a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland is used to support people.'), the theater (Anna chose 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Shakespearean Globe Theater, while Michael chose 'The Lion King'; it was nice to spend some time alone with each of them and to chat about the performances), back to the Tate Gallery because Anna can never get enough of that place, onto the old buses on which you can hop on the back still - only two routes left and we know them now! and even bowling in a 1950's style alley built into the basement of a 1700's house near the British Museum!

And, of course, we had to get back to our favorite place of all: Cambridge. We had a lovely Bank Holiday Monday (in honor of May Day the Friday before) enjoying a roast lamb dinner (read lunch for all you non-English out there) and spending the day with our friends the Raffs. After such a big, delicious meal we went for a long walk around the nearby college, and returned from the hour out in the crisp air to lots of tea and toast with Marmite - a new taste for Anna!

On the frustrating side of things, my old computer was on its last legs and the Apple store here wanted at least £200 to fix it! Poor Anna has her harp cd caught in there still. However, with the help of Michelle's academic discount I am now the proud owner of a new Mac Book, and it even has a camera so when we Skype with friends and family they can actually see us too! (my computer was oooold!)

Tonight excitement is mounting around here because tomorrow Daddy arrives! Bill will be with us for 11 days, and we are all going to Spain to visit Harlowe and meet her Spanish family. We haven't seen her since mid-January so we can't wait to all be one whole family in the same time zone again, at least for a little while. And I think our eldest daughter may need some reigning in a bit....