Brighton!

Tim and I had big hopes of goin on a quick European vacation weekend like most of our American friends in London. Due to Tim's work schedule and our desire to save money while we are here, we are lagging far behind in the travel throughout Europe department. So we had an idea to go on a quick family vaca before the girls and I left for the US. Some ideas were Paris, the west coast of Ireland, Berlin... we decided to stay much closer to home and traveled just over an hour by train to Brighton. It is an English seaside resort town that's on the southern coast (English Channel) of the island. There is a mix of tourist traps, lovely shopping and good food. A perfect 3 day weekend with small children.

The girls loved the pier that was along the boardwalk just beyond our seaside hotel. Who wouldn't like carnival rides on a giant dock dangling above the frigid English Channel?

Due to a foggy and chilly Sunday morning (our last day in Brighton) we almost returned back to London early but were unable to change our train tickets. It turned out to be fortunate for us because the day quickly became our favorite day of the trip! We weren't up for another pier visit or shopping and the water was much too cold for a third dip, so we wandered back to the grounds of the Royal Pavillion which we toured the day before. One of the things that the English do quick well is relax and picnic in parks on a lovely (or not that lovely) day! The sun came out and warmed up nicely. We had a fantastic time lounging about in the park listening to local musicians and having ice cream. This is something that almost never take the time to do normally. I think its against our American genes... always must be busy doing something!!

July 4th in London

Holy Cow! I am so far behind in this blog - I really am disappointed in myself. I never know who really reads this, but I also do it for myself and my family so I can look back and get details of certain events. When I write about things 3 months ago details get missed!


We our second annual 4th of July party at our house in London on July 3rd (although the guests completely changed). It was a really lovely day with the weather behaving just as one would think it might be in MN or IA rather than London. It was sunny and warm with lots of bees! This year we had a mix of Americans, English and Welsh people celebrating with us. Interestingly enough, Tim and I had a couple of comments from Americans regarding the English and the 4th of July and if there might be any hard feelings about the day... uh no. People generally don't pay attention to the day, although if mentioned they'll say "oh yeah - that's your independence day, right?" No hard feelings have been left lingering over the past 234 years or so. :-)


The English contingent at the party was actually made up of our neighbors at #7. They are a lovely couple with a little baby girl. Piers took all this pictures and more. I am talking him into helping me with our Christmas card this year. Stay tuned.

The other family that was over consists of an American mom who married a Welshman and they live in Chiswick with their two adorable kids. Like all the American moms I know, I met her at the park. Thank goodness for the park!

On the actual day, July 4th, we had a party to go to at friends' house just near Abby's school. We hitched the bike trailer to the Rockhopper and peddled (somewhat ridiculously) over and enjoyed another warm sunny afternoon in London. This was more of an official gathering of Americans, but one Brit slipped through the front gate!