Final Day Trip

Last year we took a 3 day holiday with some friends from the ASHA shop up to the Peak District---beautiful woods, quaint English villages and we stayed at an amazing hostel. An old stone manor house that (thankfully) didn't fit my hostel stereotype. Our friends wanted to go away again, but that wasn't really feasible this year so....we opted for a daytrip with them.

A Model Village was the attraction they recommended so we headed off with curiosity.

The kids loved it as everything was at the right height for their viewing pleasure. Nicholas was thrilled with the trains chugging throughout the villages---he pushed people out of the way and chased after the trains. It was cute and was the start of an obsession.

"Choo-Choo" is the favorite word of each day and his train set easily occupies him for an hour or two. Ahhh....we love little boys!

Daytripping....#2

Where is it?

From London, drive south for 2 hours, hop on a ferry and you are in the English Channel on the Isle of Wight! It is a charming island of roman villas, medieval castles, historic houses and measures just 23 miles (E/W) by 13 miles (N/S).

Waiting for the ferry...and notice the ever-present ball in his hand. :)

Our afternoon tea location for PROPER tea and scones. And Clotted cream, of course!
The gardens were stunning and Nicholas enjoyed checking out the fish in the water features.

Daytripping... #1

Nicholas is 18 months old and loves to hold our hands while taking a walk. Usually he is hoping to "swing", but we think it is just precious as he holds out his little hand to grasp ours. One of the best feelings in the world.

We were daytripping this week. We've covered a lot of ground by car and had fun exploring!

Our first trip was to Kew Gardens, the Royal Botanic Gardens, near London. We spent the day picnicking and walking the grounds (and boy, is it expansive!) with our good friends from NLMG. Here are a few shots.

Couldn't resist a snap of one of my favorite flowers----hydrangeas.

Kids Klub

The last week of July was our annual and ever popular Kids Klub. 170 Kids showed up! Fortunately, our team from SC was impressively organized and pulled the week off like a bunch of VBS pros.
Our teammate, "M". The kids LOVE him!

Recap

We are back in action, just delinquent in posting! So a recap is a must. :)

Dostana headed for an evening out of Bhangra dancing.

Here are shots with some of my favorite people.

A view of the club....
This time of summer is always sad as our interns head back to the States. Some girl time was in order. We headed out shopping, then dinner and an evening stroll along the Thames. Ahh!

We miss you guys already!

Nico hamming it up for the camera.

Now...Quarantine for Mum

Yup....I've got it now. A chest infection rather than Nico's tonsillitis, so I'm on antibiotics and have been on couch duty for the last few days. Been catching up on my American sitcoms!

Nicholas has also gotten a lot more "dad" time too ...he has been trekking around town with Dad and the short-term teams from Chattanooga and South Carolina. :)