Our Final Day In England

Wow, it's hard to believe that today is our last day in England. We are going to make good use of it. Today, we are going to a Safari to check out a whole bunch cool animals that we have really only read about in books. It's one of those drive through places where you hope the animals don't attack your car. Should be fun.

Yesterday, we visited Warwick Castle. It was great. The big highlight, the boys loved climbing the narrow, dark, spiral staircase to the top of one of the castle's towers. We also saw a jousting match and an awesome collection of armour and weapons.

We have been having a great time with Mark. We are really impressed with the place that he lives. It's a sprawling 3-bdrm bungalow with awesome high ceilings, a large kitchen with large island, huge dining room encased with windows on two sides, which reveal the beautiful country setting. Cool, Mark actually lives in the country here and it's awesome. Pretty sweet bachelor pad, awesome cook too.

Our trip here went really well except my purse got stolen at Paddington Station in London, sometime upon our arrival there, Thursday. Everything was in my purse except my passport, thankfully. We checked rail car over several times but came up with nothing. Our only other hope was to check out the lost and found/forgotten baggage claim. I got lucky as it was brought there; however, the thief obviously rifled through it. Everything was there except the British pounds.

So, our trip to England has been wonderful, but it did not go without incident. The boys are missing a lot of stuff from home and are ready to fly out tomorrow.

Cornwall Chronicles: The Final Days

Well, it's been a 11 full wonderful days here in Cornwall, England. For those who don't understand England, Cornwall is a county much like Saskatchewan is a province. Cornish folk will therefore say they are from Cornwall as opposed to the actual town they are from much like I say that I am from Saskatchewan as opposed to just saying Glenavon. Where the heck is Glenavon anyway? Get the point?

The time here has been awesome. We toured the countryside, had great visits with Mark and Laura and the kids. Since our last blog post, the weather went a little down hill with lots of rain; however, we did manage to visit the town of Lizard yesterday. It was another beautiful spot with jagged cliffs and rocks reaching into the ocean. Yesterday afternoon, Clay and I and the kids walked into town and picked up a few things from the local tourist and butcher shops. Yesterday was also a special day because we got to try a local favourite called Pasties. Pasties are pastries filled with stewed meat and vegies. They are actually awesome. We were very impressed by the Pasties.

Anyways, we have been received and treated very well by Mark and Laura. They gave us a wonderful vacation so far and our time with them was well spent. What an awesome way for Clay to kick off into parental leave and me to return to work. Tomorrow, we head back to London and then an hour north to Milton Keyes to visit Mark Burmaster. As exciting as it is to see Burm, we will leave Helston with a tear or two in our eyes knowing that we will not see Mark and Laura and family for a long while and the kids will be so grown up the next time we see them. We recommend and encourage anyone who has made the slightest of promise to come to visit Mark and Laura to do just that. Their hospitality was great and the area is spectacular.

That's about it for now. I haven't posted any photos this time because Laura, just updated their blog. So, you can't check out the photos on their blog.

Cornwall Chronicles: Surfs Up

Yesterday started as a very ugly, rainy day. Who knew that by the end of it, we would be would be at the beech? Sunday morning, we went to church. Everyone behaved rather well except Grace.
Riley and Brodie sat with Mark and Laura and were complete angels. After church, we head out for lunch at the mess at the base where Mark works. That was neat to see. By the end of it, everyone was so tired from trying to be on their best behaviour that all the kids went for naps. Great.

Nap time for the kids and Moms, but not for the Dads. Clay and Mark decided to head out to Gwithian beach for a little surf action. Clay, who was running a fever and couldn't regulate his body temperature, pumped himself full of something and made a go of it. The two men came back a little more educated in the difficuties of surfing and Clay got a little prize for his efforts. The marks above and below his right eye should be gone in about a week. Apparently, surfing isn't easy and it can hurt.

Upon returning from their surfing paradise, the weather had sharply improved. So much so, Mark and Clay both suggested that we head back to the beech after supper. That's exactly what we did. It was absolutely beautiful. The drury sky turned to rays of sun as the
swells of wave rolled in continuously. The beech was beautiful fine sand speckled with stones polished by the ocean water. It stretched for miles. The ocean was framed by rocky cliffs to the right and the town of St. Ives in the distance to the left. Wonderfully impressive and super fun for all of us.

Cornwall Chronicles: The Parks

Yesterday, we all ventured out to a little park with a big duck pond and playground. It was a great spot for the kids because we got to feed the geese and beautiful swans. I don't think the kids have ever been so close to birds like that except Grandma Stajniak's chickens. Of course, we were a little nervous about the kids by the water as one of the swans started eating Laura's knee
and the girls were just a little too close to the water when throwing their bread crumbs. It was a really neat experience though. Then, went over to the play structure, which had a huge slide. It was about three stories worth of climbing for a quick few seconds down.

Today we went to an amusement park called Flambards. It was a great little park with rides perfect for the age of our children, but also for older kids and adults too. There were train rides, tea cups, a rocket ship and small ferris wheel; however, the high point of the rides was the roller coaster. This wasn't a wimpy roller coaster by kids standards. It was fast enough with enough twists and turns to give us adults a good rush, but small enough for Riley, Brodie and Lochlan to give it a go without crapping their pants. The boys were super psyched about the roller coaster. The morning at the park knocked the crap out of them as almost everyone here except Fiona and I are sleeping. Clay and Mark were also feeling a little on the sleepy side this afternoon. They went out into town last night and came home relatively early but well on their ways in a very happy state. So, they needed naps today too. Infact, the tea cup ride made Clay look a little woozy, and he wasn't even on the ride!

Cornwall Chronicles: The Cousins

One of the greatest part about being here is having the kids all together to play with eachother. It is so awesome to see Lochlan and Miah again and to meet Olivia. Everone has grown and changed so much.

Miah - She is one of the greatest little talkers in the world. It's amazing how many words she can string together. She is barely 2. Her voice is the cutest part as it is deep and wraspy. She is absolutely adorable.

Lochlan - Still as cute as ever, he has already inherited one thing from the Cornish folk of Cornwall County. Lochlan has quite the accent. Mark and Laura don't hear it as much, but Clay and I have noticed. He goes to school every day in the morning so he is exposed to it a lot more than Miah.

Over the past few days, we have visited the town of Falmouth, the National Seal Sanctuary, and downtown Helston. It has been great. Mark helped Clay build a sandbox and the girls are getting really well acquainted. We have been up to a lot of touring around and fun stuff. And, although we have noticed a lot of things are super small, the fridge, oven, and roads, the bathtub was big enough to fit the five older kids. That's about it for now. More to follow.

Cornwall Chronicles: Church Cove

Yesterday, we visited Church Cove. It is a sandy beech layed between two towers of rock. On one side, there is a golf course, on the other farmland. As we drove to the place, it was amazing to see a farmer bailing hay on this chunk of land plateaued upon a high rocky ridge, bordered only by the ocean. You wouldn't want to fall asleep in the tractor here.

The beech was beautiful. There was a little stream that ran parallel to it about 300 feet from the shore. The kids had a great time playing in the ocean and the stream. Mark and Clay and even more fun trying to dam up the stream. It was an awesome morning, topped off by a picnic lunch.

We Made It!!!

Hi Everyone,

This is just a quick blog to let everyone know that after 24 hours of travelling, we made it to Mark and Laura's house last night at about 11 pm. That is equivalent to 4 pm Sask time and 6 pm Ontario time.

We had a really good trip. The kids were great and travelled well. Grace was the hardest to deal with but faired alright....mind you, I wasn't the one who had to hold her for the most part. Fiona slept through a greater part of the flight and did really well with the take off and landing.

So, now we are in beautiful Helston, in Cornwall County. We arrived so late that we last night that we couldn't really see much and it was raining beside. But, the view from the windows of Mark and Laura's house is quite beautiful. We are looking forward to more, that's for sure.

The driving was interesting, in that bad kind of way. Thank goodness it was dark and raining as I think it would have been worse if we could really see what was going on around us. Anyways, we drive on the wrong side of the road and the roads are all tight. It was a little nerve racking.

We took our first day to just settle in and work out the jet lag. It is 8:45 pm and we are hoping the kids will be off to bed. Riley, Brodie and Grace are sleeping in the same room. The boys on a blow up double mattress and Grace in the crib. Well, it was supposed to be like that, however, Grace already climbed out of the crib, onto the dresser and down from there and parked herself in bed with the boys. We'll see how that goes. Fiona will be a little harder to get back on track as she only went to sleep around two in the morning last night and just woke up from a nap about an hour ago.

That's it for now. i will keep posting updates on the blog and we'll see about some pictures.

Later from England, Evelyn

A Busy Life

Our Birthday Boy
Our Newest Little Skier

Our Little Hottubber









Our Graduate





Our life has been a busy place lately to say the least. Last Saturday morning, we held Riley's 5th Birthday party with his friends, most of them from his school. That was followed by me making a quick stop on another friends Birthday and then a supper Birthday party for Cecilia Strawson. Thank Goodness Mother's Day came to break up the pace a bit. On Monday, our friend Justin and Nicole and Yann came for a visit from Cold Lake. Fiona had shots on Tuesday (no measurements were taken) and Clay had his French speaking test. Wednesday, Clay convocated from RMC for the second time with a Masters of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering. Finally, we have made it to Thursday, Riley's actual birthday. Clay had another French test and I did more running around. Oh yeah, we are leaving tomorrow to England, and we are only going to start packing in a few minutes from now. Here are the highlights of the last week since Riley's party Saturday.

Fiona and Preston: 4-Month Photo

Yesterday, Fiona was 4 months old. Where is the time going? I am heading back to work in less than a month now. Fiona is a happy, smiley baby. She is almost always cooing and gooing except when it is nap time. She can also be a little bit of a terror if she gets over tired. She isn't rolling over yet, but is very close and likes to roll from side to side. She likes to grab her blankets and throw them in her mouth and chew on them. The jolly jumper is still her favourite things and she babbles continuously in it while she bounces around. She will be going for her next round of immunizations on Tuesday, where she will be weighed and measured. My best guess is that she is somewhere between 15 and 16 lbs. She is growing really well and fits nicely into 6 month clothing.

Anyway, we are throwing Riley's Birthday party today as he turns five on Thursday, just before we leave to England. In a few minutes, our house will be crowded with kids, so more photos and update on the rest of us to follow later. Evelyn

Ghost in the Window

OK, so it's just a refeclection. But, these photos of Grace are pretty cool. They were taken just yesterday when she woke up in the morning. She is standing on her bed, looking out the window. Yes, bed! We switched her over to a big girl bed last week. The transition actually went really well except for the first night. Little girl + big bed + big room = freaked out. But, she was cool with it by nap time the next day. There are a few more of her "ghost photos" in the slide show below.

On Saturday, we finished of the final chapter of the Strawson Sausage Making Guild. The Strawsons will be posted somewhere this summer so the next Guild will be a whole new book. I got some photos from that event, but as you will see, most are of the kids playing. The other photos are from Sunday morning. Have a great week all. Evelyn

Wishful Thinking

I commented on one of my last blog posts that Fiona's hair was growing. Yes, it's growing but not quite there yet but I just had to try and put some clips in it. Clay just shook his head at me.

We also ventured off to the Playtrium yesterday, while Riley was at school and met up with the Strawson Clan. Check out Grace's swan dive. The colour commentary is courtesy of Mike Strawson.


Finally here are some pics over the last few days. We have a bird feeder out of the kitchen window and the bird seed has been attracting Blue Jays and many other birds. Riley is just a little excited to say the least as he loves birds. Somehow, over the last few days, I caught the birds, Brodie, Grace and Fiona on film, but missed Riley with the camera.