Cheers mate!

*note- this was written back in August*

Well, we made it! We are starting our new adventure in England! I'm still not sure what to think of it all. It is a lot to take in, and things have been stressful, but I think once we get settled things will be great. We have lived in 3 different hotels since July 30. I can't wait to get in to our house and to try to get back to normal and establish a routine again. Even better will be when our stuff arrives in October. It will be like Christmas!! I can't wait! The kids have been awesome all things considered. They have their best friends living on the floor above us in the hotel so they are carrying on as normal playing every day. Having the Jones here with us has made the transition so much easier on all of us!

I am finally starting to feel "more comfortable" on the roads. Driving here is kinda freaky. The roads are so narrow and the speed limit is 60 unless you are passing through a village. I think I may have had a heart attack a few times thinking that the on coming cars were going to hit us head on. And, I have yet to go to the right side of the car to get into the drives seat. Old habits are hard to beak. I think someone should follow an American moving to England around with a video camera and do a documentary. it would be quite hilarious. I have felt like such an idiot numerous times. Like when I was driving home from the grocery store and I needed to turn right, so i did. twice. not realizing it was a round about. duh. don't forget to turn on your right blinker to go left around the round about :) I'll get it some day.

Avery was talking to her grandma the other day and telling her all about England. Grandma asked her something about the British accent(which I LOVE by the way). Avery told her that since we are on base, most people speak American. But when we go off base everyone speaks English. :) I thought that was so cute!

We decided to sell both of our cars and just get some junkers to (hopefully) last us for the three years we are here. Which has already proven to be a good idea, mostly. We already got a really bad door ding in our new van which we figured would happen a lot with the narrow parking lots and all. Buying cars here has been a royal pain. Everyone advises not to buy a car within a 30 mile radius of the base because they are pieces of junk. They try to take advantage of the Americans. They do things like fix the car with paper mache and even weld 2 different cars together and make it look new. So we decided to buy a car on ebay. Long story short, it looked great on the outside, but terrible on the inside. We dove 2.5 long hours to go pick it up only to be really disappointed. it had already been a huge ordeal trying to get money transferred to pay for the car, so we were bummed. We decided to stop at a different lot on the way home. We were all tired and ready to be done, so we bought the first car we saw. We welcomed the blue beast into our family.

The last thing that the dealer said before we drove off was don't forget it is a Diesel (Andy was really excited to get a diesel because they get such good as mileage). So we pull up to the first gas station to fill up. I guess in the states all of the diesel handles are green. So Andy sees the green handle, grabs it, and starts to fill up. Luckily, we only had a few pounds on us, so he only put about 6 liters in. As he hangs up the handle he says some choice words as he realizes he put unleaded in the van! oh boy. We are not sure what to do. The squishee machine worker Apu was no help at all. Andy asked a guy who was very helpful and gave us the number to the WRONG FUEL SOLUTIONS company. obviously they must have a problem with this if there is a company who specializes in it. Anyways, we wait around for an hour for the guy to come and drain the gas out of the car. what a day. we were gone from about 7am to 9pm that day. we were glad to get home to our beds!

A midst all the stress and adjusting, we have managed to do a few fun things. One of which was a spontaneous drive to Cambridge. We Loved it. I can't wait to go back. We took a punting tour which takes you down a little river between 7 amazing colleges including Trinity, where Sit Isaac Newton went as well as where the original translation of the bible is held, and Kings college. The history and architecture are so unbelievable. We rowed under the oldest bridge in Cambridge built in the 1600s as well as the only bridge in England where it is still legal to challenge someone to a duel. ha! It was a pretty cool experience. I can't wait to go explore the inside of the colleges next time we go.

The back side of Kings college

I think this is St. John's college, I can't remember but it is gorgeous!

the bridge of sighs

one of my favorite things in England is the plants that grow on the buildings

King's College

p.s. A few of my new favorite words that I need to incorporate into my vocabulary: lovely, brilliant, smashing, bits and pieces, booty(car trunk), cheers!, and mate