A week (or more) in pictures

I have A LOT of updating to do, so I thought I would run down the major bits (ha, there's another one of my English phrases that my mom caught me on) of what we've been doing in the last week or so. I'll bullet point and add a few pics that go along...

• The boys and I went to the Discovery Museum in Newcastle with some friends -- it's such a great place for kids and it's free! They had a great time playing in the water play area, dressing up in the Fashion Works, and exploring the Science Maze.

• I received a breadmaker from Freecycle (you should seriously check this out if you haven't already -- it's a great way to recycle the junk in the back of your closets or receive things secondhand for free!). I have been loving the fresh bread smell that is in the house and we're all enjoying the yummy results (there's a pic below of my first loaf). We're having cheese, onion, and herb bread with our pasta tonight!


• During the school holidays this past month it is common for us to have at least 5 boys (including my 2) in or around our house all the time. One of the moms commented that they're like a bunch of bees to a honeycomb. :) Here is a picture I snapped when they were all playing Playstation. They are usually outside on the slide or riding bikes and scooters, but every now and then I let them play the PS2.



• Silas received a 'new' bike from some of his friends down the street. The older boy had outgrown it and so they wanted to pass it down to Silas. This was perfect timing since Silas has nearly outgrown the little bike that he already had. He has been favoring the scooter lately but now he's practicing quite a bit on the new bike.

• We went to Scarborough in Yorkshire last Friday. We visited the castle ruins there, saw a visiting pirate exhibit, ate some pub food for lunch, walked along a path next to the North Sea, ate ice cream, played at a sandy beach (these aren't always found on the coast), rode on a 'pirate ship', and had fish 'n chips for dinner. Here's a pic of the boys and me walking at the castle. I'll post a slideshow of this visit later.



• Yesterday we went to Richmond Castle with E's best friend that lives down the street and his family. It was our last day with the borrowed car so we thought we should get out and do something with the 2 families while we had the chance. It was an absolutely gorgeous day (the weather has improved from a week ago) and we pretty much sat and watched the 4 boys climb castle ruins, roll down grassy hills, and play hide 'n seek in the gardens. At one point the dads joined in with the boys and they tossed around an American football and tackled each other. Fun times! Oh, I also got to have my first taste of hot tea from a 'flask'...Brits can't be without a cup of tea for very long! ;) I'll post a slideshow for this day as well, but here is a pic of the 4 friends.

So that's been our busy last week or so. The boys are heading back to school a week from this Wednesday. I guess I'll spend some of this week shopping for school uniform stuff and a new lunchbox.