Goodbye Harold. Hellllloooo William!

Sooooo, our travels have been really really really subdued lately. I told you that my children have gained a love of staying at home since living as expats. For the first three years here we visited 5 countries each year. We are now 4 months into our fifth and where have we gone? Nowhere. Seriously. This has got to end. We are captive again, thanks to the UK Border Agency, but they can't keep us from exploring this island. 
I called our favorite travel companions, the R's (now 5 instead of 4...welcome Baby Eileen)+ Bubba (grandma equivalent for us...)and planned a quick overnight to Hastings. Where is Hastings and why is it significant, you might ask. 

From wiki: Hastings (pron.: /ˈheɪstɪŋz/) is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located 24 mi (39 km) east of the county town of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900.

MMMMMKay. That's boring. Here is the exciting bit. Just outside of Hastings is the town of Battle. Battle is the site of the famous fight between the Saxon King Harold and William the Conqueror. Guess what? William Conquered. Yay, Normans! (Hey, always side with the winner.)
The battle sight is actually just a hill and field. On the site an abbey was built by Will the C. to show off how awesome he is.

Highlights from the trip:

• Em jumping into the sea. Fully clothed. Wellies full of water. 

• Augi saying: "Aaaaw. Is this THE King Harold we are talking about? The one who conquered the vikings? The one who lost to the Normans? Gawd. Why do we always have to go places that I already learned about in school."

• Finn notifying other patrons that "There are no wales in there." [it was just a WELL]

• Eileen has a word, at just 3 weeks. It's "Waa." She actually says "Waa" when she cries.

• Free admission to the pirate caves thanks to the friendly ticket counter boy and my vexing stare. Then Chris throwing his $800 camera lense across the cave. So, a once free cave trip became a very expensive cave trip.  

First stop: The Abbey in Battle

 It is always important to stop for some clotted cream on a scone...mmmmm.

 Battle reenactment

 Soooo...this is where the "Battle" was. You come here often?

 Finn: "There's a whale down there?!" Evan: "No Finn, it's a well." Finn: "That's what I said! A whale is down there!"

 Em: "Ya, we saw the whale. It was huge." Finn: "How big was it?"

 Like all good parents, we let Emmett buy a spear for a souvenir.

 I could hold babies all. day. long.

 And I often convince Em that he is still my baby.

Second stop: Smuggler's Caves in Hastings

 Don't they make a cute couple? Watch your hand, dude.

 Add some purple and green lights to anything and it'll look spooky.

And last but not least: The Royal Pavilion in Brighton

Do you know about King George the IV? He liked to spend money, party, entertain the ladies, and eat! Some say he was mentally "instable". Meh. I say he was rich and wanted to live it up! If you don't want people to spend all your country's money, people, don't have a freakin' monarchy.

 In the tradition of all good tourist spots, no photography was allowed inside, there were swarms of tourists outside, and a fence in front of the building. Here is the outside of the magnificent palace:

And a drawing of George the Cooky.

What a fun time it was! 

Spend a Sunday with us...

When I say there isn't much going on, what I really mean is that we haven't done much travelling or events. In fact, my kids are sooooooo tired of travel and site seeing that they beg to stay home every weekend. Augi is giving up Judo because the lessons are on Saturday and she just wants to have completely unstructured time at home. Emmett complains EVERY single day that it is unfair that there are 5 school days and only 2 stay home days each week. 

This was an unforeseen result of living overseas. I thought they would gain a love of travel. Instead, they have gained a love of home! Oh well, that isn't so bad. I believe it is better to have the opportunity and turn it down rather than no opportunity at all. 

So, here is what one of our "Stay Home Days" is like. 

0100 a.m.: Phiz and I finally drift off to sleep. I am kicking myself for getting to bed so late. I updated my blog and played on the computer...and before I knew it, it was Sunday. Phiz is going to be a bear in the morning and so am I. 

0330 a.m.: Em calls to me. "Moooooommmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy...I had a nightmare." OK. Come into bed with me, Em. Chris gets up and helps him make his way through the dark with his favorite stuffed toys and blankets. For those of you who don't know, we have a part-time family bed. I have kids in my bed at least 2-3 nights per week. Chris has his own room too. We all seem to sleep better when there is some flexibility to it all. 

0545: Em is awake. My early bird. "Mommy. Can I play on the computer, or your kindle?" I give it to him so I can get a minute more of sleep. 

0620: Augi enters the room. For the love of God. I am not going to sleep any longer. I get up and take Phiz outside. She sleeps through most nights without a potty break. After cleaning her feet because it is mucky outside, we lie upstairs with the kids for a while longer. No real sleep, but at least we lie down. 

0700: Time to get up. The natives are getting hungry. Sunday morning is pancake or french toast day at our house. Did you know that Chris makes the kids a hot breakfast every single morning? Well, he does. No Captain Crunch for breakfast at our house. 

Phiz and I go downstairs to make pancakes. Phiz generally eats from some sort of tricky device. It seems like torture to me, but she prefers them over a bowl of food. She knocks this around with her nose and little bits of kibble come out and she snarfs them up. Silly dog. 

Phiz serves herself breakfast.

 The lazy bones lie in bed and play on their tablets. They get more screen time than I ever thought I would let them have. Less than your average kid, I'm sure, but more than the hour/day I plan for. 

Phiz is still working for her food.

 Kettle is on for some tea and coffee. 

 Pancakes are done. 

 Monkeys have been fed.

 After breakfast, we have a fairly simple Sunday routine. Before we do any playing, we have a quick family clean up. The kids tidy their rooms, we gather all the stray toys and objects from around the house, and the kitchen is cleaned up. Augi puts on her skates and we blast some music. Chris washes laundry all week, but I don't fold it until the weekend. Here is my pile for today: 

 We have to use some of the billions of toys we have...so it's play time while I run around and do little house chores. I  spend at least 30 minutes individually with each kid on Sundays too. Today Em and I played with playmobil. We were pirates being attacked by a dragon who was after our treasure, naturally.

 We have a constant rotation of batteries coming out of toys, getting charged, and being replaced. 

 Chris and Em take time out for a quick battle. 

 And Chris returns to his dungeon.

 One of the best things about my children is that they are so very creative and imaginative. When we shut off the electronics, they will switch right into playing. I get frustrated as I follow them around and clean up the creations, but I really do love it. Em turned the chair into some sort of space ship. 

 And Augi planned a party, with entertainment. Today is a stay in sort of day. We do try to go out every day, but it is really cold and mucky today. 

Oh. There is that pile of laundry again.  It is already noon. Where has the day gone!!!???

OK. The kids have planned a ball. My attendance is required. Phiz has finally laid down for a nap, after several attempts to make her do it in her crate. She gets very naughty when tired!

The ball involved some music and a musical performance by Augi. Em was out of costume by the time I arrived and he had moved on to another game. 
 Sometime during the clean-up, Em exiled these two from his room. He said their eyes are too scary to be in his room. OK. I get that. However, I made the rag doll and the dragon was from Santa. 

1:30 P.M. Augi decided to work on homework...writing about the book she is reading (The Lion, the Witch , and the Wardrobe). Em was vegging on the sofa chair and I was feeling great because he read the word "Free" on the tablet...but wouldn't you know it had to do with purchasing an app. So I took this moment to have a shower. I even locked the door!!!! A moment of peace.

by the way...somewhere along the way I finished folding and sorting laundry.

Laundry is put away and bags and school clothes are ready for tomorrow...

 The menu for dinner was Corned Beef and Cabbage. (St Patty's Day...) Augi painted this sweet scene on canvas while Em had a bubble bath. 

 We don't actually have a bathtub. We have a very long shower. So, I ordered a portable dog bath and we use it for the kids! It is great!

After dinner it was time for family meeting. These meetings are a hoot. I need to record one. Augi calls order to the meeting and reads the agenda. Emmett calls on people to speak. I often have to stop an argument between Augi and Chris. Emmett has to be redirected back every few minutes. We take turns choosing the family game to play afterwards. It was my turn tonight and I chose charades. Have I ever mentioned that I hate playing games? Well, I do. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up with siblings. I don't know. I like solitaire and other games. Chris' family love games so I am trying to get the kids to enjoy them. Well, Augi cheats and Emmett gets upset when he doesn't win. Aaaaa! Anyway, we will persist with the meetings and the super fun after family meeting activity! 
After family meetings the night zooms by. It is stories and bed for Em, then books and bed for Augi. 
As I type it is just before 8 p.m. Em is asleep, with the help of melatonin. Hey, he needs it! Augi is harassing me to help her with her tablet. She and I will read together soon. Then, I will prep my clothes for tomorrow (little trivia about me...I pick out all my clothes for the week on Sundays. I know...it's weird!) and drift away to sleep. 
By 9 P.M. the only sound will be Chris on his tank game. 
Thanks for hanging out with us. 
Even when we have nothing going on, we have a TON going on!