Day two back in the UK

Everyone in the family, but me of course, seems to have adjusted to the time change so since I can't sleep I'll start trying to update the blog (patience please because I have a lot of posts to add...)

Well, the trip home was good. The girls did a fabulous job again. Virgin Atlantic is an awesome airline & I will be flying them home as much as possible. I started the flight by giving both of the girls some Benadryl. It was a night time flight so I was hoping to help them get adjusted to the time change & also get some sleep myself. Well, Brittney slept the first few hours but Sophie didn't shut her eyes for longer than an hour the entire flight. She was a good girl, but needless to say I couldn't get any sleep if she wasn't sleeping.

We landed at Heathrow to be greeted by RAIN, not a gentle rain but a down pour. Kevin flew home a different airline, landed about 20 minutes ahead of us, and was getting the rental car - which meant, I would need to take the luggage & the girls out in the rain to meet him. For those of you who have never flown into Heathrow, there is no covered drop-off & pick-up curbs...nope, you get to walk out in the weather, across 4 lanes of traffic, to your companion. Needless to say, I wasn't the friendliest person to be around! But, I slept for the ride home while Kevin dealt with 2 very energetic girls!

We arrived home to a clean house & dogs happy to see us. Claire had stocked the fridge & pantry with the basics - milk, fruit, carrots, bread, etc. That was an awesome treat. After greeting Duke & Daisy, seeing the treats from Claire, I stumbled up the stairs to MY BED & fell asleep. Sophie and I slept for about 3 hours. After forcing myself out of bed, I came downstairs to find Kevin snoring loudly on the couch (remember, he slept on the plane ride over), Brittney was playing with her friend Emily, and Claire had left a note... A little disturbing to think that 2 different set of visitors had entered our house without Kevin or I even knowing (glad to know we have 2 watch dogs...). Oh well, it was the rest we all needed.

Later in the evening Claire & Paul brought dinner over so we could catch up. It was a great time. You know, it is a lot easier to come back when you have such awesome friends. THANKS A BUNCH for everything Claire.

Monday was a good day for everyone. Brittney had friends over to play while Sophie chilled in front of the tv (still a little tired from the travels). Tonight Brittney & Emily have had a sleep over (I can hear them upstairs - yes, at 5:15 in the morning the girls are trying to keep quiet but not sleep). Claire & Lynn came over for tea and visiting time. It was just enough time to catch up before we had to worry about dinner and getting ready for school (it starts on Wednesday for the girls).

I have unpacked 4 of the 6 suitcases, done 3 loads of laundry, made 2 quick trips to Tesco, tried to catchup on email, sorted the mail (not paid any bills yet - yuck), and actually fixed dinner. I think I am doing pretty good... so why can't I sleep! Oh well, I better try to get some rest in before the family wakes for the day. I will post more later since I need to update everyone on the wedding, family visits, etc. Until then, sweat dreams everyone!

First Week in the Good Ole USA

Well we are here & we hit the ground running... The girls were absolutely fabulous on the trip over. They travelled so well that they made it a breeze. Kevin met us in Chicago & we drove home together from there. Whitney was waiting for us when we got home; she had diet coke & milk in the fridge and the air beds inflated and waiting on us. It was an AWESOME treat.
I left Saturday morning for Florida to spend a few days with my mom. You know, it hasn't rained in Florida in months but guess what I brought... yep, rain & quite a bit of it. We were able to get plenty of shopping in (don't need sunshine for that) and a trip to the beach. We connected with family and visited the "little" church I grew up in (now it is a campus with a mega-church feel to it).
The girls went camping & rafting with Nana & Jim. They got to spend the night in Walle (camper), have smores by the camp fire, and stay up really late. They came home covered in mosquito bites but had tons of memories to talk about.
Kevin has enjoyed spending some time with Randy, our contractor, working on the house. I am pleased to say that construction is moving along very smoothly & speedily. Randy has done an excellent job of keeping the work site clean & the house very liveable. It is pretty cool to see the outline of the finished project (still many years away though). I will post some pictures later on to show the progress...
Today, we have been fishing with my dad in our lake - everyone, and I mean everyone, but me has caught a fish. Our dock is covered with wasps & no amount of wasp spray has cleared them, but I seem to be the only one brave enough (or stupid enough) to fish off of it -not that it has given me any advantage. We hope to catch enough tomorrow to have a fish fry for the family & the construction workers, so I hope my luck turns.
Well, as Sophie just pointed out, I am the only one not laying down, watching the Olympics...so, I am off to bed. Hope everyone is enjoying this last month of summer. The Duffy's are glad to be back at Duffy Dunes!

It is sooooo hot

The weather here in the UK has been extremely warm. Remember, I grew up in Florida, so to a large degree I am used to HOT weather and high humidity. But over here, it isn't so much the heat as it is the lack of AC; you have no where to cool off. There are times it is hotter in the house than it is outside, and the night time... oh my, that is really uncomfortable & makes for not so good sleeping.
Last summer I did purchase a portable AC unit, but let's just say it doesn't do the job. Kevin decided it was my placement of the unit so he readjusted it - still really warm in the house.

Oh well, so we need to find creative ways to cool off... hence the visit to the Burghley House Water Garden. It is a small garden that has lots of water fountains and water walks through out. I bought a season pass for the family. We have been once (& I will post some pictures once Holli puts them on her blog :-) ), and we will visit more before returning to the states in 9 days. It is the perfect set up. There is only one way in & one way out. There are benches and grassy places that I can sit with a book while the girls run around & play. Sophie loves to "wash" her hair in the fountains, & Brittney just runs around like crazy.

Last Day of School

Well, here we are in the middle of July and it is finally the last day of school. Here in the UK the schools are broken down into 2 categories - primary school (Reception to Yr 6) and secondary school (Yr 7 upwards). Brittney's friend Emily was finishing year 6 and will be heading off to secondary school in the fall. Tradition is that the year 6 kids get to leave school in a limo - pretty nice huh. So enjoy some of the following pictures...
Sophie with her teacher Mrs. Conkey



Firetruck Lemo - how cool is that!





Brittney wants the Hummer lemo though...


Emily & Tia ~ the year 6 girls in their limo

Can't decide...

I can't decide if I am just homesick, overwhelmed with school, getting sick or what - but I could really use more sleep than normal and a magic happy pill would be nice :-). No mom, I am NOT pregnant so all of you (including mother) put that one out of your mind. I'm just feeling a little blue I guess. School is a lot harder this semester. The class is really pushing my limits, and I find it very intimidating. Kevin's work is very, very hectic right now, and I think it would be accurate to say it is pushing his limits right now as well. Most of my close friends are away for the summer so no Bible studies, no lunch dates, and no gab sessions. Gloria is here for the summer so I have been monopolizing her time but she has visitors for the next few weeks. The weather has been okay, but not a real summer - no shorts or extreme heat. I guess that is a good thing since there is no a.c. to speak of. It rains almost every day; I know, I know it is England but man, didn't someone tell mother nature that it is summer!
The girls get out of school tomorrow. They are so excited. Claire & I are going to take all the girls to Alton Towers (the place Brittney broke her arms last summer), but we are going to the water park not the theme park. I believe it is an indoor water park (let's hope) so it should be warm enough to enjoy.
Then I think the girls are going to be part of a soccer/football camp next week in the mornings. Brittney is a natural athlete and is begging to do it. Sophie wants to do it because Brittney is... Hopefully the camp will have room for the girls. Then we are off to America - YEAH!!!!!!!
I am really looking forward to spending some time with my mom & Bill. I get to be there during mom's birthday; I don't think that has happened since I got married. I am sure we will spend some time shopping, walking, talking, and eating; maybe even take a trip to the beach one day. I cannot wait! Plus, I will get to see my newest cousin and all the other cousins. It has been way too long!
The girls get to spend some quality time with all of the grandparents. They are really looking forward to it. Sophie keeps asking if she can go fishing (hint-hint dad) and make a cake with Nana Couey. Brittney is looking forward to those hikes (hint-hint Nana Downs). They want to swim in the lake, visit with friends, and enjoy the farm. I hope there is enough time :-)
Ok, I feel a little better now. Typing it out, thinking about the trip back home, it makes me smile. Sooooo I am off to do some Hermeneutics on Matthew (yeah, now you see why my class is intimidating... just try pronouncing the class).
Love to all!!

Sophie is 5 ~ WOW, time sure does fly!!!!!!

We had Sophie's birthday party in early July at Activity World (sorry no pictures from this event). Activity World is an awesome place here in the UK that is like McDonald's playland on steroids - but it is clean and adult friendly. I rent out the place so both girls can invite their school class mates and then all of the ISE families as well. We get to have the place to ourselves for 2 hours. And, since we are the only ones there the adults get to play as well. Pretty awesome.
But for the big day, Sophie had school... So after getting dressed for school we set off for Tesco to get Sophie some birthday badges. Of course I offered a lot of restraint and only purchased 3 (no neon flashing lights or siren sounds). We promptly put them on & headed off for school. While the girls were in school I was off to do that last minute party shopping.




Sophie's first gift was a new scooby-doo lunch box & drink bottle that she took to school (packed with her favorite junk food of course). After decorating the house & wrapping a few little gifts, I then made her favorite meal for dinner - fettucinni alfredo. Her birthday cake was of course...a frog cake.

And, as if you need any reminders...


BRAND NEW SOPHIE... just minutes old :-)


Sophie just one day old :-0


First babysitters




Did I mention Sophie likes frogs??? this was for halloween - created by NeeNee

Saturday, July 12th

This Saturday started like most any... my pathetic attempts at sleeping in :-) Now, Brittney & Sophie have become fairly self sufficient in the mornings. They have learned to let me sleep as long as possible; they come downstairs, get themselves something to "snack" on for breakfast, close the living room door and watch tv. Also if need be, Brittney will let the dogs out in the morning as well. However, the early rising of the sun (4am) makes the morning rest fitful at best, so the lightest sound or disturbance has me up. But this morning we all needed to be up early because Kevin was going to attempt to be "young" again. The younger guys asked him if he would like to join them in a game of b'ball. He got up early, had his shower, ate some breakfast, and got dressed for the event. Of course getting dressed includes lacing up ankle braces, considering weather or not to wear "hot" pants to protect the hamstrings, etc. Once this was over, he was off. He returned about 3 hours later, sopping wet, and limping... but he had a big ole grin on his face. He had a good time so the limping is worth it.

Later in the day we met several other ISE families at Burghley House for the Battle Proms, a reenactment of the British against the French. Jenny & her family got there first to save our place, and we were the next family to arrive. We then proceed to spread all our stuff out and place kids in various positions, all in hopes of securing a "place" big enough for us ISEs to enjoy our food and fellowship for 6+ hours. We had KFC, chips, desserts, basically just plenty of junk food. It was a blast...

Burghley House (how would you like to clean that house...)

Dad & Sophie looking cool (watching the fighter jet)

Brittney looking TOO grown up for me :-)

Canons going off

Perfect Ending to a GREAT Day!