Holiday Season 2019

We had another busy December, with various school events, a trip, and a surprise visitor for the kids.

Here it is in a nutshell.

Clara was a Christmas cracker in her first school play, about decorating the tree. She delivered her line loud and clear, and did a wonderful job singing along with the songs.

Lily had her last performance in the Infants Christmas production, A Royal Christmas. She was a servant in the palace, and one of the narrators in the nativity.  She had all of her lines memorised, and did a fantastic job as usual.

Since Miles is now part of the Juniors classes (Year 3-6), he now participates in a carol service at a local church instead of a play. He read part of a poem this year. Matt went with him, and I stayed home with the girls because Lily wasn't feeling well.

I attended a live wreath making night at the school, with snacks and mulled wine. It was great fun, and I was happy with the wreath I made.

I hung it out back so I could see it

 
We also celebrated Lily's birthday. She had been asking and asking to have her ears pierced, so that was her gift from us. We took her to a tattoo/piercing shop, and she was very brave in the face of the big needle. She chose dinner at a great Greek place in town, which was much loved by all.

For Lily's party, we did a Harry Potter theme just like Miles had last year. We used the same cafe, and they did not disappoint. The games, crafts, and food were all very nice, and the children had lots of fun.

We squeezed in a couple of lunch dates and coffees with friends before school broke up.

I think this was Clara's favorite breakfast ever

Once school let out, the five of us took a quick trip (more to come on that), and when we returned, the kids were surprised by a visit from Uncle John! They were so excited to spend Christmas and Miles's birthday with him, and I think he was just as excited to see the kids. We were pretty boring during this visit, but sometimes it's nice to just relax.

Finally it was Christmas! I loved watching Clara open her gifts - she squealed with delight upon seeing each new thing. Miles and Lily were less excited, and need to work on being grateful, but they still had a great Christmas.

Coding

Namaste

 
We had a meat platter and cheese assortment for dinner, and on Boxing Day I prepared the big meal.

Betty's Christmas pudding, much better than the one we tried before

We had more relaxing time between Christmas and New Years, but we did take the new scooters out for a spin.

On Miles' birthday, we surprised the kids and Uncle John with a trip to the pantomime, followed by Miles' choice of lunch - McDonald's. Back at home, we had cake.

We said goodbye to Uncle John a couple of days later, which was hard for the kids. Now we're just trying to prepare for the return to school and our normal schedule. What a fun and exciting whirlwind!

Thanksgiving 2019

This year on Thanksgiving, I volunteered at the school once again for an American holiday celebration.

The Infants classes (which is Reception, Year 1, and Year 2) had a morning full of crafts and pin the tail on the turkey. But I had the best job of all - I helped in the tasting room. The American families brought in traditional dishes, and I passed out small portions to the kids. We had rolls and cornbread, pork stuffing, plantains, canned cranberry sauce, chocolate pie, pumpkin pie, and apple pie (with a sample of Cool Whip).

I served the foods while explaining what we were eating and some differences in American Thanksgiving and British Christmas dinner. Surprisingly, most of the kids at least tried everything, though they definitely didn't like it all. The most popular dishes of the day were cornbread, chocolate pie, and (for some) cranberry sauce. And I'm pretty sure that everyone loved Cool Whip- which was a completely new thing for the locals. The head of education, along with the head teacher and deputy head (like principal and vice principal) also popped in to sample all of the food.

At lunchtime, all parents and siblings of American students were invited to eat with the infants. The kitchen staff had prepared a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade creamed corn, stuffing, and green beans. It was very tasty, and fun to share our culture.

That evening, Matt and I had parent/teacher meetings, so we had a quick dinner of our traditional English turkey dinner pies.

The following day, we picked the kids up early from school for a surprise. Miles was slightly disappointed that we weren't "celebrating Black Friday," but he soon cheered up.

We went to lunch at Pizza Express (one of the kids' favorites).

Then we went to the cinema to see Frozen 2. We had secretly packed Lily and Clara's Anna and Elsa dresses, so they were able to dress up. All three kids enjoyed the movie and the general fun of the day.

The seats are so roomy and comfortable

We did have a big Thanksgiving meal on that Sunday, and we invited another American family from the school to join us. Somehow I didn't take any pictures on that day, but it was a great time with kids playing and adult conversation. I'll have to make a note to get pictures next year!

UCI World Championships - Around town

It was interesting to see how the town prepared for such a huge worldwide event happening in Yorkshire.

Shops were specially decorated...

And there was a special fan zone set up near the finish line.

We walked through the fan zone, but didn't linger. There were food stalls, merchandise, and entertainment.

Elsewhere in town, things were eerily quiet due to the road closures.

At the end of the week, there was a special light installation celebrating the town's spa heritage. This was my favorite part of the whole celebration.

While spirits seemed high during the racing, many locals were left with a bad taste in their mouth afterward. Large parts of our beautiful 200 acre Stray were left destroyed from the combination of the busy fan zone and heavy rains. Months later, there are still huge grassless patches. Also, many businesses in the town centre waited around for foot traffic that never came. I believe that some restaurants did well, but retail shops had heavy losses. The town council maintains that the exposure our town received will bring benefits well into the future, but only time will tell. I don't want to end on a negative note, but it seems that it largely matches the opinions of the residents. I predict much resistance if anyone suggests an event of this caliber again soon.