Busy, Busy, Bumblebees!

The last few weeks have really flown by! I can't believe it is already Tuesday night (well here, anyway) and I haven't updated the blog from this previous weekend. Things have been going really well for us over here. I think we both feel completely comfortable and living normal, daily lives.  I've been finishing up my online course for my 4th graders, and soon I'm going to start being a student again as I take a few classes to add to my educational license.  Jeff is busy, busy at work! Have you noticed he has yet to write his V.I.P blog post? I'll get him to do one, although I only have 10 more months to do so! 

As for this past weekend, we were planning on going to an outdoor cinema at one of the local historical spots...but the weather wasn't cooperating.  We did learn that the UK is being hit hard by Hurricane Bertha, so we've been getting a crazy amount of rain here in the last week or so.  The newscasters say "It is monsoon-like." ha! It makes me laugh, but we have had some hard rain. 

Jeff and I just chilled on Friday, and on Saturday we woke up to drive to Cambridge (just north of London) to visit our very good friends, Andrew & Julie.  Now if this isn't a small world, I'm not sure what is...they are on a job relocation assignment for the next year. So we are lucky enough to have some close friends to hang out with from America for the rest of our time over here. Crazy, right? So I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about the two of them and our travels together.  In Cambridge we walked the city, stopped at a few local pubs, and basically just spent some quality time with everyone.  We played some frisbee and had a nice dinner. 

 The boys are reunited...

 

Julie & Andrew

We stayed the night in Cambridge, but woke up early to head to Newbury where we visited the Highclere Castle.  Doesn't ring a bell? This is where the famous PBS show, Downton Abbey is filmed.  The exterior of the house and the grounds were amazing. We did go inside the castle, and I hate to burst many of your bubbles...but it was a letdown.  The house is currently owned and lived in by a family, so we were unable to take any photographs.  Along with the "No photography" rule, we were disappointed as the rooms were so much smaller than T.V. makes them seem.  We also realized that the show is not 100% filmed there so we were only able to see the library, entry way, Lady Sybil's bedroom, Lady Grantham's bedroom, and the dining room.  The rest of the interior is filmed off the grounds on a set.  We definitely do not regret going there, as this was on our bucket list. I am thinking we may have just put a little too much excitement on the visit. 

I was laughing pretty hard in the car when the road's name was "Road". 

Selfie. 

Part of the gardens. There was a sign that said not to touch any of the plants, as some of them are poisonous. 

Love this artsy shot Jeff got in the weeds because it reminds me of the intro to the show. 

Off I go, short post this week! It is fajita night, and some friends are coming over...so I need to get to preparing! Woohoo...Mexican food!