Bowling in Guildford

For an outing during summer holiday, Madison, Lillian and I joined our friends, Freya and her mum Becky, for a game of bowling.

It was traditional 10 pin bowling with computer scoring. It is the same as bowling in the states- including the ugly shoes.

With the help of bumpers and a ball shoot, Madison and Freya enjoyed bowling together . Lillian slept the entire time we were there. (amazing the child can sleep in a crowded and loud bowling alley).

Madison had 3 spares and Freya scored her first strike. This was only her second time bowling, (Bowling does not seem very popular in the UK).



Final scores:
Freya 89
Madison 77
Aliza 82
Becky 74

After bowling, we went to Stokes Park in Guildford for a picnic and play.

It was a great day!

Relaxing Weekend at Home

We rode the train into Guildford to do a bit of shopping.
It was nice to pick up a few bits and bobs on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Sunday we played Rounders in the park. It is the British equivalent of baseball (shorter, heavier bat, soft round ball, no gloves).
We took turns bowling (pitching) and rotated playing the field and batting.

By no means was it an organized game but we had a lot of fun.


We played with Jim and Emma (the owners of HGL), their 8 year old daughter Bethan and another couple Paula and Gary and their 8 year old son George.

After Rounders, we relaxed over a cuppa tea and Jaffa cakes while the children had a bit of play on the playground. Then it was home for supper.



Skinny Lillian is still wearing her 0-3 month clothing but I could not resit putting her in one of her 3-6 month rompers for a day at the park. She looked so cute in her yellow romper and matching hat.

Business Trip to Liverpool

We left early Tuesday morning (6am) to make the 4 hour drive to Liverpool where Rob was completing a project with Rolls Royce. We decided to go as a family since Rob would have the evenings free to spend with us and it would give the girls and I the opportunity to explore another new place.

Liverpool has been voted the Cultural Capital of England for 2008 (yippee).
But we were not staying in Liverpool. We were staying in Bootle (8 train stops from Liverpool Central).

We settled into the hotel with a picnic lunch packed from home and with Rob off to work, the girls and I took a long nap.

Tuesday evening we all went on the train (not far from our hotel) into Liverpool to explore the sites of the area and to help me plan out what I would do with the girls the following day while Rob was working.

We learned that there are many shops and a few museums to visit in the area (like the Liverpool Cathedral) although like all things in England, everything closes at 6pm. We settled for a gourmet dinner at McDonalds (the other restaurants stopped serving children at 7pm).

Wednesday was a terribly rainy day and after spending the morning at the hotel and having lunch at KFC with Rob, the girls and I headed out on the train to Liverpool. Much of our day was spent running from shop to shop to avoid getting soaked.
Despite the rain, we made an amazing discovery....

SUPERLAMBANANAS (statues with a lamb's head and banana tail).
** for all of my Chicago relatives and in memory of my Grandma Joan- the European Cows!

All throughout Liverpool there are 118 of these statues to discover. Each statue was purchased and decorated by individuals and will be auctioned off at the end of the month with the proceeds going to various charities.

Madison and I found 16 of the statues during our exploration of the city and enjoyed looking for them. Unlike the other tourists, we did not have a map of where the statues were located and thus the ones that we found were by sheer accident. The statues were displayed everyone (in the malls, along the sidewalks, in window displays and restaurants).

While we had hoped to find more (Madison's goal was 29) it was great to simply come across one of them as we walked along, rather then trying to follow a dictated path.

Here are the one's we found (names below each picture).


Superwagbagbanana

Superlambanana- Port Traits

Boyle Sebastiam and 24 Hour Superlambanana

Superlambanana- Baa Netiz

Superlambgranada

Superlambanana- I love Granaland

Pete Price's Super Laugh Banana

Superlambanana-Walking Towards the Future

Superlambanana- Friendship Forever

Superlambanana- Petite Fleur

Superconnectedlambanana

Twinnylambanana 2

Superlambanana- Reflectana

Superlambanana- Baa New World

Superoyalambanana


Wednesday evening we visited Crosby Coastal Park to see Antony Gormley's exhibit "Another Place". One of Rob's co-workers suggested we go there - we did not know what to expect. When we reached the beach, we were surprised to see what looked like people standing still scattered along the beach - even very far off shore. Had it been high tide, I would have been in horror of the thought of these "people" drowning! We soon discovered that the people were statues.

Some details: this exhibit consists of 100 cast-iron statues of life size figures (the artist's own body). Each statue weighs 1300 pounds. The statues are displayed along 2 miles of the foreshore, stretching over half mile out to sea. Each statue is shown at different stages of rising out of the sand, all of them looking out to sea, staring at the horizon in silent expectation. At particularly high tides all the figures will be completely submerged under water.

Seeing this exhibit at the sunset on the horizon was awe-inspiring. It was a truly beautiful site.

Thursday morning we packed to go home and made one final train trip into Liverpool to visit Albert Dock.

First we went to the Merseyside Maritime Museum (Liverpool is a well known shipping area - many large ships such as the Titanic, Lusitania, and several others-were either built, funded, or launched from Liverpool). The museum was filled with exhibits of the different boats and the changes that have occurred in the engines and structures of the ships. This was definitely more of a Rob thing then for the girls. Each of us found something of interest.

Albert Dock is also the location of the famous Beatle's museum, but we couldn't be bothered.

The drive home took a bit longer then we expected due mostly to traffic, a food stop, and trying to find an open petrol station. But we did make it home safe and sound. There was a terrible rainstorm as we were driving but as we stopped for dinner we looked to the sky to see a beautiful rainbow. God is good!!

I can say that it was fun to visit Liverpool and we definitely enjoyed the sites we did see but it is not high on my list of places to return.

London Adventures

Look out London, here come the Sparkman's!

After only 6 weeks and three attempts, we finally made a trip to London.

We got on the train at Farncombe Station and made the 45 minute trip into the city. We arrived at London/Waterloo Stations just before 1pm on Saturday.

Since it was our first time together in London, we decided to see the traditional tourist sites. Our goal was to see as much as we could see.

We walked from the train station towards the Houses Parliament and Big Ben (which is not the clock but rather the bell inside the clock tower).
Stopping on the bridge only for a photo opportunity we continued toward our first destination...Westminster Abbey.

We walked the grounds of Westminster but did not tour inside (it was quite expensive). The church is beautiful and it was great to be up close.

Everywhere you turned there were the signature London Phone Booths and just as many people posing by them for pictures.

We continued our adventure walking along Diana Princess of Wales Memorial walk, stopping to see the Calvary, heading toward Buckingham Palace.

We only paused briefly at Buckingham Palace and hope to return on another day to see the changing of the guards.

From there we walked toward the National Gallery where we stopped to rest (Lillian of course had a diaper explosion to be dealt with and was hungry and the rest of us wanted to rest our legs).

Trafalgar Square lies directly in front of the National Gallery. The monument dedicated to Commander Nelson (from the HMS Victory) is surrounded by 4 lion statues. We could not resist to pose our Lioness with a Lion.


With Lillian fed and changed into clean clothes we wandered toward Regent Street and caught sight of Piccadilly Circus (a large TV attached to the side of a an even larger building) - London's Times Square.

From there it was to our final destination of the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge (as sung about in the song London Bridges ) is along the northern bank of the Thames River near the Tower of London.

While we did not go into the Tower of London (again very expensive) we all enjoyed walking the perimeter reading the historical signs and descriptions of the building and events that happened there (it was where Anne Boleyn was executed).



Finally we crossed the Thames (walking along Tower Bridge) to the South Bank to return to the train station and home.

We stopped at a fast food chicken restaurant (probably the equivalent of Chick Fil A but not as nice) for dinner then raced to the station (seems like we are always in a rush to get a train) and then home.

We boarded the train with moments to spare and completed the 30 minute journey home (it was a shorter trip since it was later in the evening and there were fewer stops on the train route).

Lillian slept through most our adventures but was happy to ride the train home (she loves it).

We can't wait to return to London again.
(Madison is dying to ride a double decker bus!)

Sparkle Sisters

MADISON
Madison is also enjoying play dates with her new friends in England.
Last Friday we spent the afternoon with her friend Freya. Madison enjoyed playing with Freya’s guinea pigs (a very popular pet in the UK).

I am so proud of Madison.

We were trying to encourage her to read and use her strategies and it was a battle every night. Usually with tears (mostly me since I was so frustrated that I could teach other children to read and not my own). We tried to praise her and give her encouragement and that seemed to get us no where.

She really wanted to play with the doll house from Bethan so we decided to use it as an incentive. We told her that each night she had to earn the time to play with the dollhouse (all I really wanted was for her to try her best when reading and to not give up when it got hard- she had a tendency to just give up when it gets a bit hard).

We really only intended to use this on school nights when she has to read the book from school.
First day we tried it, brilliant, she tried her best, made a few mistakes but did not give up and earned time with the doll house. Second night the same. Third night she was grinning so widely that she could really read and was doing a great job and then off she went to the doll house.
Then school was done and it was the first day of holiday, I wondered how we would be for the summer reading.

I had planned to read a book with her after I fed Lillian. As I walked by her room to get Lillian to feed her (Lillian was taking a nap and had woken up) there was Madison on her bed READING a book on her own. I had to walk by twice to see what she was doing. When I asked her about it she simply said- Mommy I am reading so I can play with my doll house.

Madison has also completed a week of swimming lessons. She had swim lessons every morning at 8:30 at the local pool. The class was made up for 5 students, including Madison.
I was very impressed by the improvements she made in just a weeks time. She has a beautiful back stroke and is perfecting her breathing techniques for her free style.



LILLIAN

Lillian is now 4 months old and doing great. She is only 10 lbs 10 oz but happy as a clam.
Her new favorite toys include her lion play gym (we won it off of Ebay) and her pink doll from Omi (Madison has named it mini baby). Both toys seem to bring her endless joy.
When she gets a bit too fussy, we can simply place her in her baby gym and she is happy.

A Stroll Through Godalming

One of my favorite parts of Godalming is the quaint village atmosphere that surrounds you as you take in the sights and sounds of our new home.
Often we are found walking in the rain from one place to another (you always need an umbrella)

The English countryside can take your breath away.
Where the back home every piece of land is covered with buildings and new construction here in the midst of the buildings and homes you can find a piece of landscape tucked away, waiting to be noticed and appreciated.

Of course, where there is land, there is also livestock.
These cows have become a familiar landmark for Madison and I as we travel through the village. It is amazing how many roads lead back to this same pasture.

As you enter the center of town, Bel and Dragon awaits you at the corner. It is a more upscale restaurant and lovely to eat at for special occasions, like our anniversary.

Directly across the street is Rob's office and right next store is the library.

As you head toward High Street, Borough Hall is on the right. This is where we attend church on Sunday mornings. It is also the local cinema.

High Street begins with the Fish and Chip.
High Street is where you complete your weekly shopping. You can find shops such as Woolworth's, Boots Pharmacy, M & Co. (clothing shop), Waterson's book shop, the Godalming Art Shop, and several others. On Saturdays the street is blocked off and opened to pedestrian traffic only.

Finally at the top of High Street is Godalming's beloved Pepperpot.
It is the landmark used for giving directions (even if it is not close to where you are wanting to go).

These are the sights of our new home. The places we pass on our daily journeys.