Meeting Maggie

We had a wonderful surprise last week when I looked out and saw that a DOG was happily running around in our garden with an apple in her mouth, wanting someone to play with her.

The college gardeners come by to maintain our grounds once every week or so, and Maggie belongs to one of our gardeners. They come in through the back gate, so we might have missed her had we not happened to look out at the moment we did! We became fast friends... Come back and play whenever you like, Maggie.


With sweet memories of our precious Howitzer "Howie" Poage
July 2005 - September 2010

"Okay, girls... Get in closer to the T-Rex and smiiiiile!"

**Disclaimer: Yes, I know this particular dino is not a T-Rex, but the one behind him is! :)

Most mornings go according to plan: Bright-eyed kids by, or before, 7am (Lord, help me), breakfast, get dressed & ready to get out, GO somewhere. This morning, however, the girls and I stayed in our jammies until after 10:30am! :) What to do on the afternoon of a cold day that got off track in the morning? Hit up the free museums!

The girls are at the perfect age for this because they are VERY into dinosaurs right now. I was surprised at how well it kept their attention! The displays were incredible... even from my perspective as a "usually-not-so-crazy-about-museums" kind of girl. I really enjoyed it. (Maybe it's just because I'M the parent now and I have full control over how quickly we go through the exhibits!) :) Of course, we stopped at the gift shop on the way out to pick up a souvenir for each girl. I used to LOVE souvenirs... best part of the trip as a little kid! But, when you're living in the "trip," souvenirs are not a common thing. The girls were due for a little something. They had about as much fun shopping for the souvenirs as they did with the dinosaur bones!

So, the day was saved! Thanks, free museums, for sending us back on our way a little more educated and a lot more exhausted. Bedtime routine made easy. :) ...Now, what to do tomorrow?



Below: Avery wanted to take a picture of me and she asked me to point at the sky... Didn't really want to point at the sky, but I now have a new sympathy for my children when I ask them to do silly things for the camera!



Moving out of dinosaurs and into artifacts...

Below: Avery posing with the Egyptian Mummy and giving us her best "Mummy face"






Running around outside the museum...

Ahhh, England...

If I come back looking like this, will you all still be friends with me? :)


Ah, who am I kidding... My body has NO idea how to get this skinny...

Buggy Cam! :)

Something occurred to me today on the walk back home from the city center: "Why not video this walk so that my friends and family back home can get a glimpse of our everyday lives here?" :)

This is one for the Grandparents! (and for those who don't easily get motion-sickness as it does get bumpy from time to time!) Please forgive the terribly shaky footage. I literally just held the camera between the hands I had on the back of the stroller, or "buggy" as they call them here. (Hence the title of "buggy cam.") It's a lengthy video, but the actual walk is still longer. I cut out some things! :) Just be warned that it's not the most exciting video, but it is true to life. If you're in a hurry, skip to the walk through the market and the scene at the very end when I show the stroller.

AND --a disclaimer that Collin asked to add-- Today was trash and recycle day, but they hadn't yet come to pick up the garbage from the front. Our house doesn't usually have piles of rubbish greeting us on our arrival home. :)

Come and take a walk with us... Enjoy! :)

Why I love Wednesdays in Oxford...

Wednesdays are Farmer's Market days... You can load up on fresh produce for half the price of what you would pay at the grocery store! ...And that makes for one happy Steph! I made bruschetta today from produce I still had from last week, and it tasted gooo-ood. This week, the sky's the limit. I even bought parsnips! Those huge green apples are going to be cored & filled with butter, cinnamon & sugar and then I'll bake them and serve them with vanilla ice cream for the perfect Fall dessert. The potatoes and leeks will make a yummy soup... The tomatoes, peppers, lemons and shallots will probably find their way into some sort of fajita business... Zucchini because it looked good and I'm an unrealistic optimist about what my kids will eat... Pears, strawberries and grapes won't last 2 days around here with my two fruit-eaters... and a baguette because, well, do you ever need a reason for a baguette?


Finally... We found a pumpkin today! We've been searching for a couple of days now and the stores we had seen selling them were sold out the past few times we tried. But today was our lucky day! Nevermind that it cost us 2 pound 50, which is just under 5 US Dollars. I probably would have paid double that just to have a pumpkin for my sweet girls who have been asking so nicely for one. Welcome to our house, pumpkin! (Cute sidenote: Tonight Avery asked if we could carve the pumpkin into a "lantern." Pretty clever, Aves!! Jack-o-lantern!.. Sometimes I forget that they're always listening and absorbing everything we say, whether or not they really understand. Pretty convicting.)

Creepy-crawly craft time with two pretty pumpkins

Celebrating Halloween "American Style!" (I don't think they do the innocent/commercialized version of Halloween over here that we do back home... it's all pretty dark looking here.) Thanks to a package sent by a sweet friend, we all got to have a little fun decorating pumpkins and making creepy-crawly things out of fun-colored pipe cleaners! Great way to spend an afternoon.







On display for all to see... :)


...And more seasonal window fun...

Matriculation Day!

Yesterday. Was. Incredibly fun.

Just getting to mill around among the group of students wearing their sub-fusc cloaks and carrying their mortar board hats was a blast. There was excitement in the air and a feeling of celebration permeated the crowd. The highlight was getting to watch Collin as he participated in a tradition of "Croquet & Pimm's" on the lawn. Suddenly, he was British. :) He just looked British! They all did! And he looked smart and handsome and just plain wonderful. What a fun day. Definitely one that as a family, we will never forget.



Above left: Julia tries to blend in with the MBAs - Hands in her pockets, leg out... So cute. Above right: Avery and Julia with our friend Ellie Claire, and with Burbank (the College "mascot") in the background.






Above: Collin standing with the President of his College Below: The kiddos try to keep themselves busy after they grow weary of watching "all the Daddies" as Avery kept saying...


As an American I tend to recognize this attire as a graduation costume, but it's funny how I never stopped to wonder why we wear that to graduate! I, like perhaps some of you, just went along with it and didn't question. It never occurred to me that our "cap and gown" of the 21st Century in North America is really a shadow of how centuries of scholars have dressed in the past. (Who knew?... And this entire outfit --the tuxedo, bow tie, cloak, cap-- is what Collin will wear EVERY time he takes an exam here. AND each exam for anyone studying anything at Oxford University is given at the Examination Schools, which is the building pictured to the right below. Intimidating!)



Croquet & Pimm's!



Avery & Julia having hot chocolate inside the lounge, where we sought shelter when the rain came! The picture of me and Collin below was made by Avery! She's getting pretty great at making pictures.