Thanksgiving and the Hip Hop Show

Thanksgiving proved to be another interesting twist for our adventure. As you would imagine, we are on the wrong end of the traditional thanksgiving story so we figure we would need to evolve how we approach it. As Thursday is just another work day and school day, the turkey didn't get stuffed until Saturday. We started the day with a noontime Christmas bazaar in Newmarket. This was highlighted by Maggie's hip hop class putting on a smashing rendition of Michael Jackon's Thriller. This was the test run for the show that they will put on later in the season.

Then it was on to Thanksgiving preparation. Vivian was truly flying without a net as many or our normal kitchen tools we did not have. Plus, she didn't have GiGi, Debbie, or Kelli as part of the preparation team. Of course, the boys missed their fishing trip that has become part of the Wilmington Thanksgiving tradition. We'll mourn later. Rather than dial into details, We'll just leave it that the meal was a smashing success. The Gibson's came over for dinner and our new friend Autumn also joined us. She takes Vivian to the air force base to shop for the foods that she most misses in America. Her husband is currently deployed so we were thankful she could join us. It was a wonderful way to spend our first thanksgiving away.

To continue the Thanksgiving celebration, we were invited by some new friends to an annual Thanksgiving Open house in Cambridge. The wife works with Marshall and is a doctor from Hungary. Her husband is from Russia and they have 3 kids. Delightful family and it was fun to get to know them. We then went to the home of an American couple that moved to Cambridge from Seattle over 5 years ago. He came on a 4 month assignment with Amgen and they have delayed returning to the states. They absolutely love the diversity of the lifestyle in Cambridge and it made for a fascinating afternoon. There were over 60 people there and we had some fabulous food. The host, her mother and two other ladies started cooking yesterday and basically put together a feast that we all enjoyed. The kids didn't want to leave which meant it was a success.

I'll close with a picture of John. I would normally spin some story to set the scene but as I approached this picture, I figure I'll just let the picture tell the story.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Snow in Broomstick Corner

Marshall Sr. has returned from Wilmington. It was actually colder in Wilmington than it was in the UK; until he returned to town. After a nice welcome dinner at The Three Blackbirds (the pub in Wooditton) with our neighbors, we settled down to a nice cold night in the Old Pump House. We awoke to a nice white dusting of snow. This is where we would insert a picture of the kids dressed up in their warm clothes sledding down the hill but alas, this snow didn't quite reach those epic proportions.

On the news front. MJ's orthodontist decided he needed to lose a couple of molars so today was extraction day. MJ was a trooper through the whole event. Mom didn't fare as well but she survived. Maggie and John went over to a friends after school. They live on a great farm on the edge of the next village over. They have a barn and lots of mud. The kids had an absolute blast. Thursday is out for Thanksgiving. Just can't seem to get the locals into the spirit. We are looking to have turkey on Saturday at our house with some friends. We are then heading into Cambridge on Sunday for a Thanksgiving open house with someone from PPD that only Marshall has met. Should be fun.

Our American Week

Marshall flew to the US on Sunday. He is in Wilmington and glad to be back for a few days. He is happy to be driving his Seqouia on the right side of the road! He enjoyed watching some American football with some of the guys on Monday evening. One of his first purchases was some solid anti-perspirant/deoderant. Two weeks of roll-on was more than enough for him!

Vivian went to "America in England" on Tuesday. A friend, whose husband is deployed with the Air Force, took her onto base for some shopping. Vivian was like a kid in a candy store and went a little crazy! She was so excited to see all of the familiar name brands and to buy some of the items she hasn't been able to find in the England stores. She bought lots of favorites for the kids too. Here is a picture of what the kids came home to on Tuesday after school.

Some of the items you don't see are: Hidden Valley Ranch, Gatorade, Jif, Grape Jelly, Miracle Whip, Pepperidge Farm Stuffing, Corn Bread Mix, a few cake mixes, Pretzels, Crystal Light, Bounce, Jello, Graham crackers and lots more. She didn't realize how many things she hasn't seen in a couple of months!

Vivian had a slight dilemma when she got home. She bought a turkey for our Thanksgiving meal. Unfortunately, it was too big for our English freezer. It took her a couple of hours but she finally found a home for it for the next week. Her friend, Jayne, has 2 American fridge/freezers and had room in one of them for our turkey.

Today, Marshall and Maggie played basketball after school. Many of the British children are just learning so it is more instructional than competitive. But Maggie and Marshall enjoy showing off their skills!! Maggie won the "Player of the Week" award last week.

John woke up this morning with some red spots on his abdomen. I mentioned it to his teacher and she asked if he had had chicken pox because it was going around. Needless to say, John has chicken pox and did not stay at school. He started with 6 spots. By lunch, he had 9 spots. Tonight he has 15. We are hoping that the vaccine will allow for a milder case. They don't vaccinate for chicken pox in the UK.

The true test will be to see if Marshall and Maggie break out. They both had the chicken pox booster shot earlier this year. So, they have had 2 vaccinations. We'll see how well those vaccines work, won't we???

We anxiously await Marshall's return from the States to see what he brings back.....

Ely Cathedral and Wicken Fen

We've been out of touch for a couple of weeks. Marshall has been off to Hong Kong and Singapore. Vivian has held down the ship while he was gone. They did get to celebrate Guy Fawks day (bonfire and fireworks) and managed to slip in a trip to the War Museum. With Marshall heading back to Wilmington in the morning, we decided to stay close to home.

Ely is about 20 minutes from the house. It is famous for Ely Cathedral, a magnificent place that was constructed starting in 1083. The site actually has evidence of a monastery that stood in 673. The tower is over 200 feet tall. John was too young to climb so Maggie and Dad made the trek. It was quite the view from on high. The cathedral is noted for its stained glass windows as well. It was quite beautiful. We were also able to hear the Ely boys choir while we were there and the acoustics were incredible.

Ely is known as the capital of the Fens. Until the land was drained in the 17th century, it was basically a marshland. Wicken Fen is a nature reserve and is all that is left of the fenland. It has amazing trails all through the fens. There are Konik ponies and highland cattle. There were towers scattered over the walks that you could climb up into and you could see birds and horses and a whole bunch of other forms of wildlife.

Last stop of the day was a cafe on High Street in Ely. This was just down the street from Oliver Cromwell's house. He lived here when he was leading the rebellious Roundheads against King Charles I in the English Civil War.

La Bonne Petite Souris

The last part of our interim tale involves teeth. Little John had yet to lose any teeth and decided Nice would be the spot. To really make it memorable. He didn't stop at one. To say the least, the second tooth made quite a hole in his head. Maggie decided she shouldn't be left behind so she pulled one as well. Interesting fact is the fairy pays in euro in France. We then had to exchange this for pounds on the trip home. MJ decided to play as well so he lost one of his braces brackets. Lucky that he has a trip to the orthodontist scheduled this week.

When you dig into the Wiki story of the tooth fairy, it is interesting. "In early Europe, there was a tradition to bury baby teeth that fell out. Some academics hold that the Tooth Fairy evolved from the tooth mouse depicted in an 18th century French fairy tale. In "La Bonne Petite Souris," a mouse changes into a fairy to help a good queen defeat an evil king by hiding under his pillow to torture him and knocking out all his teeth."