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!