Thursday 16 April 2009

Merry Time in Maryland





The boys and I have just returned from Hagerstown, Maryland. We made a quick trip to see Baby Florie, Stella, Todd and Amy. We couldn't wait until Christmas to meet Florie and as we all know, little babies are only little once!


The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there and so we stayed outside as much as possible. Todd and Amy have this great long driveway and the boys made good use of it on every ride-on toy available.

My brother Todd is a teacher and the Chaplain at a boarding school in Maryland. He and his family live on campus. Their school was not on holiday during our visit so we were able to see many parts of their day to day routine that we'd never seen before. We attended Palm Sunday service in the St. James Chapel with Todd celebrating. We ate 2 times at the refectory. We watched the tail end of a Lacrosse match. And we were able to meet many of their friends and colleagues.


We loved each part of our trip. We were there 4 nights and while it may seem like a long way to go for such a short period of time, let me tell you why. Try to imagine my family and Todd's family mixing together. We LOVE one another, don't get me wrong. We have 3 boys, spaced 3 years apart and they have one almost 7 year old girl and one 4-month old girl. Their house is quieter, cleaner, slower, better smelling, calmer and really just plain opposite from ours. And Stella and Christopher, they are like oil and water. Love and hate. Sibling rivalry even though they are not siblings. So 4 nights is just right. We left wanting more time together and everyone had fond memories of the visit. At least that was what my family said. You'd have to check with Todd to get their side of the story.


Within 10 minutes of arriving, we'd let their indoor cat out, tied a rope around a bicycle and another ride-on toy to practice our doughnuts, changed an explosive poopy diaper, and given Uncle Todd a heart attack by stopping inches from the street on the said ride-on toys. For me this chaos is normal. For Todd, it makes his heart race and just provides him with endless sermon material.

Stella and Christopher got along famously this visit and each of the boys loved holding Baby Florie. Christopher had a particular fondness for her. He sneak away inside to check on her and to ask Amy questions about her. Or maybe get a chance to hold her while no one else was close by. I enjoyed sitting outside with Amy, watching my crazy children play in the sunshine with Stella, catching up with Todd, holding baby Florie, and just being together.

The children played for hours in the corn field behind their house. They collected corn, shucked the corn, attempted to make bird feeders out of the corn and they set up a picnic in the corn field. They even "washed" their hair in the bucket of kernels.

One afternoon, we headed to a dairy farm close by for a chance to feed the calves their bottles. What a treat. One of the calves was 1 week old! I've never seen a creature drink its mama's milk that fast!

One the way home, the boys and I stopped by the Hershey Chocolate factory for a quick tour and a few yummy souvenirs. It was a fabulous trip! We miss them already and look forward to seeing the FitzGeralds at Christmas!





*Sorry for the overexposed pics. I was having a few camera troubles.

Child Protection Laws

Many things here in Scotland are a little more worldly, relaxed, or just managed differently than in the conservative south. My boys seem to have learned way more than I am confortable with. But when they do have laws of protection, they mean business. On thing they take very seriously in the UK is Child Protection. And one part of the Child Protection Law involves photographs. And your right to take them of other people's children.



My dad was asked a few times during his last visit not to take pictures of the children at their practices. You see, if every parent has not signed a release for their children to be photographed during school or sport functions, then they are not allowed to be photographed as a group. Even if 79 have, if one hasn't, we can't take a picture.




The week before the holidays, Ethan participated in the school theatre production of Bugsy Malone. Each Tuesday, during the last 2 periods of school, the P5, P6, and P7 children take part in a chosen club activity. This year, Ethan chose theatre. He had so much fun preparing for the production and playing his part as one of the gangsters. We loved watching him perform and only wish we had pictures of him in costume and on stage.




Shhhhhhh...don't tell but I did sneak a few shots during the performance. Just not very good ones. Any pictures I've had of the previous Christmas shows and other school events just slipped by and for some reason, it's okay to take pics during the games but not practice.




Here's Bronx Charlie.