Do you go to DoDs? No, I go on base...

August 31, 2009--First day of school! Four kids, three schools, two busses...The bus stop is about a 10-minute walk from our house. We have to leave at about 7:15, which is when the girls were waking up in Maryland, so that has been a bit of a tough adjustment. Ethan banned me from taking his picture as he got on the middle school bus, but the others let me snap a couple. They all have bus passes which allow them to get on these fancy coach busses (no big yellows around here). Ethan has to travel all the way to Feltwell RAF base which is about a 30 minute ride. Madeleine goes to Liberty Intermediate and Bronwyn and Colin at at Lakenheath Elementary, both of which are on Lakenheath Base, only about 10 minutes from here. They all have fabulous teachers and are doing really well!

Tudor Fever

August 29, 2009 We ventured with some friends (Listellos and Snows) to Kentwell Hall, a manor house about an hour from home. They were hosting a Tudor recreation

with about 100 people dressed in period costumes performing the typical tasks of this working manor home. These area all volunteers, I guess like our "Civil War Reenactors"; they love the period and are really into it: wardrobe, speech, the whole nine yards. They were preparing a huge feast for the lady of the manor who arrived on horseback. Then they sang prayers before sitting down to eat. (I want to know how you sign up to be the "Lady" instead of the scullery maid...) After touring the amazing house, filled with tapestries and furniture from the late-Tudor period (the family that owned the house were loyalists and backed Henry VIII when he decided to break with Rome, we headed to all the out buildings where Bronwyn and Madeleine got to make

bread in the bakery. They had a camera obscura, which was just a round room they could make totally dark, and then "magically" have a picture of the outside appear in color of the outside. Then we toured the extensive grounds where Ethan got talked into sampling "this tasty purple" flower by the resident gardener (he tasted onion for the rest of the day). We got to feed the fish in the moat, watch an archery training session, observe them making tools in the forge, dress up in period battle gear, and get sneezed on by a horse (this last event was unplanned). It was another perfect English summer day, and aside from being a little creeped out by the "Alchemist" who had all sorts of frightening things in jars, I wouldn't have changed a thing!

Cambridge August 15, 2009

We were two weeks into our time here in England, and we decided it was high time we ventured more than 25 minutes away from base. We were still in TLF, but since we had at least found a place to live and were scheduled to move in on the 20th, Kent said we could quit house hunting and start sightseeing. First stop: Cambridge. It is about a 45 minute drive from the base, and after being in our rural/base community, it was amazing to see such a large, vibrant town. We went with some new friends (the Listellos). After negotiating all the tiny downtown streets (thank you TomTom) we made it to the parking garage in the city center. First stop: the TI! We booked a guided walking tour through the town and a couple of the colleges. The university is made up of 31 colleges and they all have their own look and feel--and gated entrance. Here we are in the quad at Kings College (after touring the amazing King's College Chapel. I had never seen a fluted fan vaulted ceiling like that before.

We saw a couple other colleges, including one with a chapel designed by Sir Christopher Wren. We also made a stop down by the Cam River to look at the Mathematical Bridge (supposedly put together using only mathematical principles, no nails--although our tour guide was skeptical). But, we were all pretty tired and also terrified of dumping ourselves into the water, so punting would have to wait for another day. We also went down to the Fitzwilliam Museum, which has a pretty nice collection and a special exhibit on Charles Darwin, for his 200th birthday. Here Colin and his buddies-Blake, Drew, and Cole Listello have a tasty treat to finish off the day (the rest of us had pastries from Fitzbillies--Yum!

Bury St. Edmonds

Tuesday, August 11 we took our first real sightseeing tour to the nearby town of Bury St. Edmonds. It was about a half-hour drive through the Suffolk countryside. The town is fairly large with a large center with pedestrian-only streets full of shopping and restaurants. We walked through town to the Abbey gardens and through the gate and into the area that was once the town abbey. When we heard about the "ruins" we expected a dug out area of one building, but these were spread out over a couple acres and were very extensive. The abbey dates from the 11th century and the more modern (14th century) cathedral stands next to it. The kids had a fabulous time running all through what were once all the buildings which made up the abbey and climbing the walls. This was once a fairly prominent Abbey; Kent and Ethan read the plaque which explains that it was here that several barons committed in 1214 to coercing King John to sign the Magna Carta. It was a beautiful day, made even more fun by the happy coincidence of a Children's Fair being run on the grounds. Madeleine, Bronwyn, and Colin all took turns "jousting." We ended with a walk through the stunning gardens while we slurped our ice cream cones with Cadbury Flake bars stuck in them. Now we are just trying to figure out what to do next...

The Eagle (aka United Airlines Flight 918) Has Landed...

We left Dulles Airport in DC at about 6 pm on Saturday, August 1st. On boarding, we were delighted to discover that we had been put in "Economy Plus" but then less delighted to find that that was most likely because Kent's seat was missing a tv screen and Alyson's audio was overruled by whatever he was listening to in his seat. But those extra few inches of legroom more than made up for any technical difficulties. The kids enjoyed their movie, hated their dinner, and hardly slept at all. Colin finally fell asleep across my lap, mostly immobilizing me, but since he did get a few hours of sleep, it was worth it! We landed just after 6 am London time (five hour time difference and a seven hour flight). Here we are in the London Airport waiting for our shuttle to Lakenheath Royal Air Force Base. We met up with the Norcrosses; she is the new nurse midwife and Kent and Christie knew eachother at Travis. We just happened to be on the same flight and made fast friends. The shuttle arrived around 10 am, and we all hopped aboard for the two and a half hour ride to base. I really tried to stay awake to see the countryside, but I (and I think everyone else on the bus) zonked out. We arrived at base close to 1 pm and were met by CJ Snow, who is Kent's "sponsor," another OB/GYN, and a member of the ward. We checked into our TLF (thankfully, a four bedroom townhouse type room) and got a little settled. Then, we headed off on our first adventure. Not having the energy (or a car) to go far, we just walked around base, checking things out and stopping at a park where the girls climbed to the top of the "spiderweb." We headed home, had some dinner, and went to BED! Everyone slept for about 14 hours--definitely a Meldrum family record!

At last...

We FINALLY got our VISAs today. For something that took so long and caused so much stress and anxiety, they are pretty unspectacular, just a piece of paper pasted into our passports. But, they look beautiful to our limbo-weary eyes. We have made hotel reservations, shuttle reservations, plane reservations, temporarly lodging facility reservations. We leave Saturday at 6 pm. I don't think I'll believe it until I lay eyes on Big Ben, but it seems that we are really going!

Getting away from it all...

We were able to take a few trips while we were here in DC.  These are the highlights:  Colonial Williamsburg, Kent and Alyson in Germany, K and A in Philly for the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute, a girls' cruise in Mexico, Philly again with the Slabaughs for the Star Wars exhibit (we went back yet again for a Chronicles of Narnia exhibit...we love that place), Hershey Park, Niagara Falls, Chicago (with the Meldrum cousins and the Slabaughs), NY for the Bounce House and Strong Museum, and--last but not least--Disney World with the Mianis.  Fun!