Update Time!

So I guess I haven't really blogged bi-weekly as intended, but I'm hoping to change that- at least I will try!!

Things have been busy since my last blog (truth be told, I'm not even sure what I wrote in there!) so I will attempt to fill you in with my happenings. 

Gayle came back from India last Friday, and was off again to Sweden on Monday, so we didn't have a whole lot of time to catch up. But we did manage to spend Sunday at Ragley Hall, which was amazing- it's a beautiful, massive house that has huge grounds and a really nice play ground area for kids. So we had a great time and the kids loved it, so it was nice to spend some time with Gayle.

This week has been a bit busy for me, which is not a bad thing at all! I ended up coming down with a cold at the beginning of the week, my throat was bugging me on the weekend, and Wednesday morning I woke up and was feeling under the weather. I'm still not 100%, but I think I'll make it. 

Carolin, Matthias (her boyfriend, he's visiting from Germany), Lia and I went out for St. Patrick's day on Tuesday night. We went to a pub in Shipston, and met up with another German au pair Josie who is really nice. She was with a big group of British guys, so we all ended up together and had a great time!

Thursday I went into Stratford with Matthias to meet Carolin, and we went to Pizza Hut for lunch- Matthias requested we go there. So we had a lovely lunch, and toured Shakespeare's birthplace which was good! I also managed to get a new sim card for my phone, which gave me back all of my blackberry functions, so I was a very happy camper on Thursday! 

Friday night we went to Lia's house as her au pair family is away, and Josie and Rachel (another au pair) came over as well, and Carolin and Matthias were there too. We had a few drinks, watched School of Rock, and had a nice time together. 

Saturday took Carolin, Matthias and I to Oxford! It was really great- beautiful city, beautiful weather, and we walked all over the place. We saw the universities, and just had a great day!!

Today we (Carolin, Matthias, Lia and I) went to Warwick castle which was really great! We ended up going up the towers, which was I believe 530 steps, most of them spiral which was brutal haha but we had loads of fun running around there as well. 

I am rushing through this as I'm off to bed, but I think that's all for now. Oh- we got a pet hamster today, which I've been informed is Sophie's responsibility. Toffee is his name, and he is one lucky hamster- he has one of those crazy cages. 

Anyways, hopefully I'll be a bit more diligent at this thing in the near future!

Beth xoxo

P.S.  Word of the day: Manky. It means dirty, gross, skanky. Pretty much I just enjoy the word. 

Life In England!

Well, I made it here, it was a week ago Monday that I embarked on this year's big adventure. It seems like so much longer ago that I left! 

The family is really great, Gayle picked me up from the bus station/train station, and although we only had Tuesday and Wednesday morning together, she is really nice, and I am completely confident that we will get on just fine! The kids are hysterical, Charlie is constantly talking my ears off, and Sophie has been really helpful and nice. Dominic has been great as well, taking me driving, showing me the ropes, they all have a great sense of humour, so it has been loads of fun this past week.

The town is pretty small, but it's nice. It was built in the 17th century, and there is a garage, where you can buy some food things, and a pub. I haven't been to either yet, but I'm sure in the near future I will. Sophie's best friend Freya lives 2 doors down, and her family has an au pair as well- Carolin from Germany. She's really nice, and we see each other a lot which is fun. 

I have been driving a fair amount now, yesterday was my first solo day in the car- luckily it's not nearly as weird or hard as I thought! Mostly I'm just trying to learn my way around the area.

I have been to Stratford-on-Avon a few times now, it's a beautiful city, and I'm really excited to be able to explore more of it! I was in Leamington last night too, there is another au pair in our town, Lia from Italy, and the family she is working for has their old au pair Natalia (from Germany) to help Lia learn her way around, so we went to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was such a great movie! Even though I had seen it before, it is one you can see over and over again. 

I haven't made many traveling plans as of yet, there are talks of a trip over the Easter weekend with Kim (a friend from London, Ontario) to the Canary Islands, but I have to talk to Gayle and Dominic to see what's happening with the family. Gayle is also going to be in London (UK) from the 2nd to the 5th of April, so she thought I might be able to bring the kids down and we can run around London for a few days which I think would be great!

The weather has been fairly good for the most part, the first day I was here was completely miserable, and Sunday wasn't too nice either, but there has been lots more sun than I originally thought there would be, so that's always nice! 

Some interesting facts about the area:

1. The teletubbies show was filmed right around here. 

2. The kids show Night Garden something or other was filmed right around here as well, and Dominic was a prop person.

3. Apparently someone was killed just up the road a couple of days ago- something to do with a guy hunting on the ground, and 2 hunting from a gyrocopter and some miscommunication. Not too sure!

4. Kate Winslet lives 26 minutes up the road. You may see my photo on CNN for being arrested haha. In good time.

I think that's about it for now, at this point I don't think that this is going to be a daily thing, maybe weekly? Bi-weekly? We'll have to see!

I'm off to pick up the kids from school now, but  I will be back later!

Beth xoxo

Word of the day: Pants. The word for underpants. I got quite the funny face yesterday when I asked Connie (Freya's younger sister) if she needed to put pants on to go on the trampoline because she was wearing a skirt. I should have said trousers haha.