March 2009 : Trip to the Land Down Under

Marshall was fortunate (or unfortunate if you think about 22 hours at 39,000 ft) to take a trip to Australia for work. Sydney was the first stop where he was able to catch up with a friend from 7th grade (when they lived in Greenville, TN). She moved to Sydney 9 years ago and married and stayed. The sites and the weather were amazing. Trips to Bondi Beach and Manley Beach were excellent. On the left is a natural tidal pool with Bondi in the background. The walk along this beach and then up on the cliffs were amazing. Around the harbor, it was great to see things like the iconic opera house and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. There were boats galore and here is a sail boat with what looked like a 6 year old skipper and a 4 year old first mate. The other one in the background was equally young. This is a testament to how laid back this culture is.

Melbourne was equally interesting. This was where the bulk of my work agenda centered. It was also where we got to feed kangaroos and various other animals that inhabit this island. Here is the group hanging out with a mob of kangaroos (that is what you call a group of roos). Great management team for Asia Pac and it was really cool to hang out with mix of cultures. Someone was over from the US, one from the UK, two natives from Australia, one from Hong Kong, and one from India. As an added bonus, the office looked over the park where the Australian Grand Prix was being held. We were able to watch practice and some time trials from the comfort of a meeting room. The track circles the lake you see in the picture and you can see the bay out beyond. There is even a tanker out on the water. There were planes doing an show, a fighter plane pushing some serious Gs and sky divers that landed at the track. We could see this all from the comforts of the 9th floor. I'll get Vivian to facebook some pictures.

Hoosier Visitors, Framlingham, and little Lambs

This week saw our first visitors from Indiana. Sarah and Julie Perun came to see us during Sarah's spring break. It has been great having them in town. We have showed them around Cheveley, Newmarket and Cambridge and since today was so incredible, we took a ride over to Framlingham to see the castle. The first fortifications were constructed here in 855 during the reign of King Edmund. 1180 saw it rebuilt in stone and one of it's most famous tenants was Mary Tudor who stayed in the castle in 1553 while her enemies plotted to bring Lady Jane Grey to the throne, but Mary became Queen. You are able to walk around the entire wall and here is a picture of the gang on top of the wall.

The outside wall is very impressive and the castle is in great shape. From the castle, you look out over a small lake where you can see Framlingham college.

Maggie, Vivian, and John had a special treat on Mother's Day (March 22). Molton is a village over the hill from us. One of the farms opened their barns that weekend to show off all the baby lambs that were born.

Dance, hoops and gold metal

I was thinking of starting this entry with a play by play description of what it is like to have six kids sleep over on a Friday night but I am sure it would give you nightmares. Maybe we can highlight some current events instead.

Maggie had a great showing at her dance extravaganza. It was held at Tattersalls which is where they buy and sell premier thoroughbreds. It was so cool that we want to go to a horse sale this spring and we'll give you that scoop then. Maggie's group did a hip hop dance and it was excellent. Here she is in her psychedelic outfit. She is on the left side in the black leggings. Maggie was one of 3 students selected to represent the school in the area-wide Geography Bee. We are very proud of her. I think the teacher hoped she could answer all the North American questions.

John also had a nice showing. His coach selected him the gold metal winner for this section of multi-sports. This is basically the top award for quarter. On a side note, his friend Archie was one of the kids that invaded on Friday night. Archie's mom was having Archie's little sister (number 5 in the house) at home in a birthing pool. As much as Vivian is begging me to add an addition to the family so that she can experience a birthing pool, I am putting my foot down. Archie's mom is a very brave woman and when she called 20 minutes after the bouncing baby arrived, she sounded as good as new. Amazing!

Being that it is on the eve of March Madness, we felt we must invade the village of Cheveley with hoops. While we are going to pretend this is for the kids, big daddy is quite excited about the addition to the driveway. There have already been a number of battles on the cobblestone. Not quite Cameron indoor but we are loving it none the less. Here is Marshall with his friend, Jordan, from one village over.

The weather is really starting to turn and the buttercups are exploding all over the place. Marshall Sr. and John decided to slip on the wellies and slogged out to do some ditch work in the creek beside our house. Mainly wanted to get thing flowing for the spring showers. John has decided to open a new business so if any of you need some ditch work done, John, his wellies, and his stick are up for the task.

Friday was Red Nose Day in England. This is a comic relief fundraiser that raises money for underprivileged children in England as well as in Africa. People actually wear red noses, decorate their cars with a red nose and have Red Nose t-shirts. The primary school encouraged the children to make a donation and participate in Pajama Day. All of the teachers, including the head master wore pajamas. Here is a picture of Maggie and her friend Sophie.

Colchester UK, Oldest Roman City in England

Saturday, in our just added 7 seater car in hand, we set off for Colchester. This is recorded as the oldest Roman city in England. It is about an hour hop from Cheveley. It has an amazing city center. If is full of narrow nooks and crannies and we basically spent almost an hour lost as we made our way to the castle on the hill. The castle is an 11th century Norman Keep that overlooks the city. The museum inside the Keep was exceptionally kid friendly. Very interactive and many activities. I can even tell you the story of Sir John the Brave, protector of floor cleaners in mid-evil times. Maiden Maggie was not much more feared. When it really boiled down to the basics, my kids look more like a Monty Python episode than Norman soldiers.

There were several really neat museums in town and it was very kid friendly. There was a wonderful playground. The kids took a long break there. You can see the castle in the background. While the kids played with about 100 other kids from town, mom and dad took a chance to stroll around what is known as castle walk. Basically it is the walk that surrounds the castle and overlooks the park. It was quite a view. Almost like a date.

The museums in the area were geared for the kids and I can honestly say, we went in three different ones and the kids actually had fun. This contraption lets you do trace portraits using mirrors. Burned quite a bit of time in this room.

One of the neatest things we saw that day was on the drive over to Colchester. We listened to our Sat nav (GPS for those in the states) and she took us through the winding roads of the countryside. We were about 30 minutes from home when we kept running into folks on horses, dressed to the hilt. We even saw two little kids riding down the road with their parents and they were decked out in Harris Tweed vests while sitting atop their pony's. We then realized the event. This small little village in the middle of East Anglia was having a horse show. It was very interesting to see.