Scarborough Marsh Field Trip

Sadly Raf's end of year party was cancelled at school, but fortunately I was able to attend the school trip to the Scarborough Marsh. It was a super morning with my favorite almost 8 year old. 

He's young enough that it's still cool to have mum there - and to even sit with me on the bus.

There were super guides. And frankly I learnt a lot.

Mud. Lots of it. How deep does it go? Layers and layers...

Algae..

Fish.

Food chain... Raf was the algae!!!

Really great group of kids. We've really lucked out in terms of the school and his classmates this past three years. May it continue!

The Roman Baths

For Raf, this was one of his most favorite experiences - hitting the Roman Baths in the beautiful city of Bath. 

Imagine trying to sleep with these three!

Before we hit the Baths, we had a picnic in a lovely park. We could have spent all day there. 

Not something you see too often in Portland - but there are so many amazing buskers in most cities in the UK. This was an especially impressive one (though a bit rude!).

And then we entered the Baths...  pretty impressed by the ceiling.

We thought we'd times Harriet's nap perfectly. She fell asleep just before we were due to go into the Baths... and then, as we entered, we were told that strollers weren't allowed. Oh lord. She didn't take being woken up well.... But she recovered fairly quickly.

The Abbey in the background.

It was a self-tour, with radios for us all... with a special channel for the children. They loved it, and really got into it.

Here, they're talking to a "Roman", who was in character the entire time.. 'What's an airplane', she asked? Children loved it.

Over 2,000 years old. Very, very cool.

Tasting the water. I thought it was foul, but Raf quite liked it.

A really amazing day with their cousins. All of them (except Hatts for her little breakdown) were so well behaved, so curious, and so into it!

Bourton-On-The-Water

Our first proper day in the UK saw a very jet lagged Raf, who was probably fighting off an illness. He was supposed to play soccer with Rory but ended up sleeping all morning. He finally felt well enough to head out on a little mini trip to Bourton-on-the-Water, a nearby little place in the Cotswolds. Lots of little cottages, a lovely little river with ducks, and even a red telephone box for the children to enjoy. And the first of many, many ice-creams... ! Freya joined us for the adventure, and was a very helpful big cousin.

Hattitude!