The Time Has Come :-(

This is it for us, our bags are packed and bulging and groaning but not as much as we will be at 4.00am when we have to get up. The last couple of days have been such fun and the girls are even more adamant that we are NOT leaving.

Yesterday we went fishing with the girls and Grandpa, a highlight for Lily as she loves to fish with grandpa. We took a picnic and ate lunch outside in a beautiful setting with the sun shining down.

The lupins and the girls

Rosie looks like she is in this net but she is only holding
Lily helping Grandpa get ready to release the fish. (he never keeps them,,,,EVER)
Rosie and Grandpa's hands on the fishing line.

Rosie's first official fishing lesson

Grandpa giving sage advice
The advice paid off....look what she, they, caught
Picnic time

Chilling by the pond


Today we went swimming and then since I realised we were just minutes away from one of my favourite shopping haunts i managed to squeeze in a bit more shoppy. This could be one of the reasons why our luggage is groaning and if you promise not to tell I will tell you a little secret, Jacob arrived with a huge suitcase with an empty one packed inside it. We officially have more luggage then we did in China.

All good things must come to an end and this is the end for us but we will be back again as soon as the school calendar allows.

See you on the flip side.

Something Is Fishy.

Today was the sort of day that Lily dreams of when she spends time with her grandparents. Firstly her Grandpa foolishly told her last night before she went to bed that she could go in with him when she woke up in the morning. I tried to explain to him that that was a really bad idea because she would be up so early but of course he thought it was fine. Fine that is until we stayed up talking until 2.am. talking. Right on cue Miss Lily woke me up at 5.15 am. to ask if she could go and get in with Grandpa. I said no, not yet go back to sleep and by the time she woke up again at 9.45 Grandpa was already awake.

Not one to give up easily she made the same deal with Grandpa for tomorrow and Grandpa and I have vowed to have an earlier night.

When asked what she wanted to do today she immediately said,"go fishing" so of course that is what we did. I love to go down to the river here and it is literally just behind my fathers house and takes a 3 minute walk to get there.

It's a funny thing how the girls always end up in the river with the fish!

Rosie's first fishing lesson from Grandpa with a fishing rod.

Awww, love this one
Awww, this on too.

All ready to get started

I can do this
Ha ha look at me somehow I got wet!

I have no idea what tomorrow holds. Maybe some horseriding. That would be lovely. Whatever we do it will be done at a slower pace in cooler weather and outside in the glorious English countryside.

Rosie was quite cuddly with my father today so he is much happier but he has told everyone who will listen about what happened. I am thankful that he understands and doesn't just think she is obnoxious. Heck she can be obnoxious but this was not an act.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

The abslolute worst part of going to see my family is that we have to say good bye and that is just plain wrong. It nearly breaks my heart every time and by the time we get to security at Heathrow airport I look like someone has beaten me around the face with a good sized plank of wood! This time was only slightly different and the only reason I started to giggle is that we had so much luggage to control and we went the wrong way on the moving sidewalk.

Anyhoo, we are back and this was by far the best trip ever even if I do say that every time. I have a large family, I have aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and of course my daddy and his wife whom I love dearly. Add to this mix Jeanne's boys and you have an instant party. Mike is Jeanne's middle son and is the one that we are closest too and he is so much fun and a truly fantastic father to Lily's cousin Heather. Fortunately they all live in close proximity to each other so it makes visiting very easy. Lily revels in the fact that everytime we go she spends so much time with,"even more family". I think it boggles her brain that there are so many of us. We are really lucky in as much as we all get along and just love being together. My father even made a comment one evening when we had a house full that there is something wrong with us as we all truly and genuinely love to be together.

I know that you are all waiting for photos but since we have over 200 I am not sure where to begin so I will do few today and some more tomorrow.

This will give you an idea of where my family lives. It is so peaceful and I just love it. I grew up doing all the things that Lily is able to do when she goes there and I think that the same antiquated playground equipment is still there.

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We spent many hours in the sunshine down at the river and Grandpa taught Lily how to fish. She was so excited as this was one of the things she wanted to do. Heather came with us and at the ripe old age of 8 I must say she is jolly good at it. At least she didn't catch herself unlike her cousin!

Lily and Grandpa.


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Lily's very tiny fish but she caught it herself, with just a little help from a pro.


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Nanny reeling in the big one!


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Some swans came to visit


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The Gruesome Twosome


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Lily learns to cast. Note her stylish outfit.



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An explanation for the not so stylish get-up



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Heather, loving the country life. This little one is in her element outside and getting dirty.


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Just as we were about to get in the car for the drive home Nannis noticed something on Lilys shoe.......



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Nothing Like a nice hot bath after a hard days fishing. Nanny, or as Lily has decided to call her, Nannis always made bathtime a riot by adding bubbles or crazy soap or just blowing magic bubbles at them. Bathtime is about to become a huge anti-climax unless Nannis shows up to save the day, preferably with Heather.


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All Snuggled up with Grandpa, after her bath.


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One of the highlights of this trip was meeting up with some other little girls from China. This little girl lives in Olney and Nannis and her mum are good friends and so we were able to meet thiem. Lily is very proud to have China sisters in England as well. It was very nice to meet the family and amazing how the girls just hit it off. They have a connection that is so very special. They were asking each other what province they were from and all the usual questions. I loved every second of it.


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I have only covered one small segment of our trip but this post is plenty long enough for one day so I will end with one last snap shot that I took purely for Connies entertainment.We all went out for dinner one evening and printed loud and clear for everyones to see was Connies favourite dessert, SPOTTED DICK. I didn't indulge but my cousin did and said it was lovely. I was going to bring you a piece home Connie but I refrained and with that awful aroma emitting from your blog I would have to say it is a good thing I didn't. Spotted dick and the smell of rotting fish needs one good summers eve....ha ha I crack myself up.


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