Family Time

(Lesley: Sept 4) At Helen and Dave’s we got caught up with Lizzy and Becky and met Lizzy’s boyfriend (also a Dave).  We ate Eaton Mess (a jumbled up Pavlova -mmm!) and ratatouille, a family favourite.  John rekindled his love of English beer.  Then after a few days, we packed up, said our thank yous and goodbyes.  Helen, Dave and Lizzy headed back to work and we moved on to another of John’s sisters: Mary, in Kidderminster (near Birmingham). 

Yesterday, Mary and David took us on a tour of Cadbury World and we ate lots of chocolate.  We wandered around Birmingham and the Symphony Hall (where every member of their family has played!)  We had a look round the Art Gallery, the canals and had supper out at a nice pizzeria.  Mary and David have a big garden as well so the kids: Sam Mhari, Reuben and Rachel have being shooting arrows, playing swingball, climbing the structures and playing in the blow up pool and waterslide.  We had a lovely picnic at the summit of Clee Hill, and walked round Bewdley and some other cute towns.  We have been singing too, and did a recording in their studio tonight.  It was very fun.  Mhari thinks she is a real star.  Sam’s voice is changing so he was jittery but thrilled.  It is quite the experience singing in a real recording studio.  David recorded several tracks with kids and adults.  He will have Mary add some violin bits soon, then send us an MP3 version.   I was a bit intimidated by the whole singing into a microphone thing, but whatever, I’ll get over it.  I can’t take myself too seriously. 

We did a British version of s’mores tonight over the BBQ: 1 British portion bag of marshmallows (18), skewers soaked in water (as marshmallow sticks), milk chocolate digestive biscuits (no graham wafers to be found in Sainsburys, Tesco or Asda), and Cadbury hot chocolate to drink while roasting marshmallows over the BBQ.  They were great! It’s all been great.  New adventures are in store for us tomorrow as we are on the move again. We will meet up with Ann and Stanley, John’s parents.  We are not likely to have internet access next week, in our caravan on the farm in the Lake District. Maybe Mhari will get a chance to write something for her blog (according to which we are still in the Toronto airport).  Maybe we will start some home schooling with the kids next week. Isn’t it back to school week? Yes, that might be a good idea.

Until next time, Lesley

Photos: Mary on top of Clee Hill, Close encounters of a fleecy kind, and Bewdley.