Since Scotland...

Our arrival home from Scotlandwas uneventful, on time, all that good stuff. Greeting us in the garden was the summer concert. Apparently there is a cadre of good musicians in the neighborhood who gather to throw a nice late afternoon concert in our back yard. We threw open the windows and enjoyed their talent.

I must say I love the garden, despite its limitations (essentially no balls, no bikes, no pets (thank heavens on that one for us non-pet owners) etc. The "no no no" rule isn't limited to our neighborhood garden; many parks here have plenty of restrictions too. I get some of them but there is a point at which I maintain it is just grass and should be used...

ANYWAY...as for the week after our train trip, Ava wrapped up Reception at Abercorn, seemed to have a great year, ended with a long drawn out good-bye, as did Claire at ASL.

Hers began Tuesday with a "dress as you wish" and bring something to share party. So we sent fruit and Belle on her scooter.

I believe she had a great day and a load of sugar.

Meanwhile Claire and I had a lovely time at Hampton Court Palace...

Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London; it has not been lived in by the British royal family since the 18th century. The palace is located 11.7 miles south west of Charing Cross and upstream of Central London on the River Thames. It was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, a favourite of King Henry VIII, circa 1514; in 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the palace was passed to the King, who enlarged it.

The following century, William III's massive rebuilding and expansion project intended to rival Versailles was begun. Work halted in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque. While the palace's styles are an accident of fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks and a symmetrical, albeit vague, balancing of successive low wings.

One highlight was a tour of the kitchens wherein we were in the "servant" group (which meant we were informed of how we would have been treated as Henry VIII and his royal entourage blew through and consumed all the food and game in the area for a month before plundering on to the next royal property).

We checked out wings of the palace dedicated to various times of his life (young Henry, for example), saw re-enactments of events leading up to his sixth (and final) wedding, had lunch in the Tiltyard (originally used for jousting) eventually meandered back to retrieve Ava.

The following day she and I were off to Paddington Rec for her 2nd annual Abercorn sports day, which the prior week she informed me she DID NOT want to attend. However, this particular Wed. saw her asking me repeatedly WHEN we were going to leave for sports day. Claire opted out entirely, so I whisked her off to ASL for a one off day at sports camp.

Both kids, I think, enjoyed the day outdoors. After Ava's rousing round of games (which involved bouncing on rubber horses, relays, carrying water through obstacle courses, etc.) we picknicked with Abercorn friends. Later, along with Claire, we capped the day off with ice cream at Gelato Mia.

On Thursday, after Ava finished school early (begs the question: why bother with the 8:30 to 11:10 day...) the kids convinced me that we HAD to go to one of those filthy indoor play places.

I let myself be convinced, given how rarely I let the opportunity crop up.

This time: Bramley's. Which isn't terribly easy to get to, especially with new tube work. But make our way we did, and the kids proceeded to get their socks blackened while having a ball.

Friday found us at the zoo, after having eyes checked. I discovered the fine NHS covers eye exams for kids, and given I wore glasses/contacts forever, I think it wise to check in on the sight business.

Dr. Shuyler (a very thorough German opthomologist with the 3-D eye photo equipment that I quite like) pronounced both kids with good vision, thankfully.

The zoo was good, as usual, and we had a great day for it. A few hours later we opted for the canal boat ride back, happily drifting our way to Little Venice.

Joe and I ended the day with friends at our favorite French restaurant. Love their food. LOVE it.

And for the weekend, low key on all counts.

Then off to Centre Parcs! Apparently this is a wildly popular vacation in various parts of Europe. In the UK there are 5 CP campuses. We met up w/ friends at one near Warminster, known as Longleat.

A short train journey and we were soon checking out bikes. The place is huge, with hundreds of cabins that accomodate up to eight. And biking/walking is how everyone gets around. Our particular Centre Parcs was quite hilly so we decided it best that Ava would be in a trailer behind me.

Thus I had a mountain bike w/ 50+ pounds of Ava plus trailer plus asundry other items throughout the week. Let's just say these legs were tired -- in a good way -- at the end of the day.

Day one: we zipped our collective children -- 4 total -- off to a quick lunch then art program, some biking, settling in and dinner at Strada (Italian chain). Good food, mediocre service. Portions were great other than for the 3 girls who all ordered pasta no sauce. Somehow their pasta seemed to be a plate for one split 3 ways?

Day two found us dividing and conquering, Kathy with the big kids off to their trail ride, Ava off to a creative clown workshop. She had a lovely painted face and various clown crafts at the end of her session.

While Kathy got pampered at the spa in the afternoon, I took the kids to the mega pool complex and a couple hours later we re-surfaced, crashed at our cabin for a bit and headed off to dinner at a Spanish tapas place. Good food, better service.

Wed.: my turn for the spa. Can I just say I could live in a spa. Who couldn't?!? Peaceful, warm atmostphere, big fluffy robes, nice spa music and someone who doesn't talk while massaging well. My back LOVES every minute of it.

In the afternoon Ava had another craft program, Claire and the other kids and Kathy attempted to do laser tag but were thwarted. First, not enough participants, then rain and wasps attacked their contenders. Happily they didn't attack our group.

So we hit the playground before convincing Cafe Rouge to seat us for dinner...the pancake joint thwarted us. Hmph!

Thursday was my favorite -- we played a round of miniature golf in the morning and in the afternoon did some tree trekking. This involved climbing up a tree onto a series of rope courses which got progressively higher and more challenging. All of them wobbled; the most challenging was a single thin rope we inched across while hanging onto ropes hanging loosely from above.

At one point we had to leap between two platforms, and the grand finale was free fall jump.

Yes, we were attached to harnesses the entire time.

Definitely an adrenalin adventure. And very cool (once complete of course).

From the tree tops the kids tried their hand at roller skating, and then it was time for our last dinner, this time at Grand Cafe. Great space, food was fine, kids enjoyed the live music.

And Friday we were off after a quick dip! Not a bad way to spend the week, and as close to camping as I need to get. My how I've removed myself from those early 20's days when I camped in a tent for several days on end. Highlights there included really good red meat over the grill and beer cooled in the creek. Same creek I hauled my bar of Ivory into for the most rapid baths I've ever had. Yes, I was the only one willing to turn blue for the sake of cleanliness.

Today we enjoyed an outing to the Banqueting House, where Charles I was executed. Built in the 1600's, it's still used today for state functions. The ceiling, painted by Peter Paul Rubens, is fabulous.

From there we stopped at Claire and my favorite book store -- London's oldest.

And tomorrow we'll get ready for Berlin and the Hilton. Much as the cabin experience is a nice diversion, I'll be delighted to enjoy the city break and the hotel. It won't be long before the coyotes will be howling in Montana...