August 9, 2006

Dear all,

We've had another fun filled couple of weeks. The
children's friend Asa was here for awhile which was a
lot of fun. The kids played base tag each night up on
Crickley Hill. Like most things with children, the
parents are the last to know, and apparently we almost
lost Asa down the side of Crickley Hill (more than a
hill, less than a mountain) more than once. It was
really more like kid Fear Factor than tag. The kids
left the hill each night exhausted and covered with
stinging nettle rashes. Good times. The days were
spent plotting to get Asa to move here permanently.

Our friends Devon and Morgan Mann arrived a few days
after Asa's departure. They arrived in the late
morning and just as we were ready to eat lunch, Aidan
pulled on Devon's pants for her attention, looked up
proudly at her and announced, "I just put all the
toilet paper into the toilet!" Same family.
Different country.

I think I can characterize their stay in one word:
cheese. The eating of the cheese was punctuated by a
five mile hike (with the big kids) through fields and
ancient burial mounds nearby, Cheltenham Cricket
Festival at Cheltenham College, drives through
quintessential Cotswold towns, and a trip to
Portsmouth to see the old military ships. All other
parts of the trip involved eating cheese, planning our
next cheese eating opportunity or recovering from too
much cheese. Oddly enough, behind our house, I found
an application for credit from a cheese shop. I find
buying cheese on credit a very curious thing. Is this
a sad commentary on society? Are Brits simply eating
cheese beyond their means? Do these people feel
pressured by their friends and neighbors who have
moved beyond the Cheddars and Swiss into the pricier
Bries and Stiltons? It could be a matter of
convenience, I suppose. An early morning run finds
you near the cheese shop, ravenous and without cash.
I'm not sure I understand. Do they do this in
Wisconsin?

In any event, we had good fun with the Manns. Our
children worship them. Life is kind of like a circus
with Mrs. Mann around. But, sadly, they had to leave.
I'm beginning to see a pattern here that I'm not sure
I fully understood two months ago: our visitors
return home. I think I was hoping that everyone who
visited would be trapped here, like on a computer
screen. A simple double click and they'd be back.
Those goodbyes get to me...

But happily, we have a lot to occupy our time over the
next few weeks. Namely, we get to dive into the 12-15
page, over-the-summer geography projects that Michael
and Siobhan have to complete by the beginning of
school. Can you stand it? I honestly am amazed that
they haven't run away by now. I think the promise of
a new and brutal sport keeps them here: field hockey.
They'll attend a field hockey camp the end of the
month and finally Siobhan will be able to play an
aggressive, fast paced sport. The boys play field
hockey in the winter. Rugby will be Michael and
Ryan's sport of choice this fall.

Aidan is getting more and more excited for school to
start. We purchased his little uniform (same one as
Ryan wears, minus the sock garters). SO cute. He was
a little scared trying on the seemingly endless
pieces. In fact, he burst into tears when it came
time to try on his boiler suit (janitor-like, one
piece coverall the kids wear so as not to get their
uniforms dirty-I would think smocks would suffice).
"Please don't boil me, Mommy!" he was yelling in the
shop. He LOVES his "underpants swim suit" (Speedo)!
A much needed break from his brothers' constant Speedo
whining. He has his school shoes, wellies and
plimsolls (cheap, ugly black Ked-like gym shoes). All
in all, I'd say that Aidan will do well in school. He
needs it more than the the older kids did. By age
three, I realized that Michael would be a wonderful
archaeologist-he was a dinosaur loving boy with
patience beyond his age. Siobhan at three was
creative, organized and bossy: a perfect CEO. Slick
talking Ryan with B.S. up to his eye balls, had all
the makings of a great politician. They still posses
these qualities and I wouldn't be surprised if they
each ended up in these careers as adults. Aidan's
strengths, however, are more in line with that of evil
dictator. Even while learning to pray, he seems to be
characteristically possessing his
one-day-I-will-rule-the-world attitude. He is
learning the Our Father and starts off well enough:
"Our Father. Are you up in heaven?" Its the ending
that has us a bit concerned, "For I am the kingdom and
the power and the Glory forever and ever." I think
the British Prep school will be helpful in smoothing
out those rough edges that I just can't seem to reach.


Ahhh. I best start my day. I've enjoyed writing to
you and watching the eight guys sitting in their van
parked outside our front window drinking tea and
eating biscuits (and now napping). They are with the
department of highways. Yesterday, they closed the
access road to our house and tore it all up. Today
they rest. Good to know, the world over, some things
remain consistent.

Love,

T-Ann