Full Armor of God

  

Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.  Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.  Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness.  For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.  In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:13-17

Marathon Relay

The Girls of '95 challenged the Girls of '94 to the Go! St. Louis Marathon Relay this year.  As with every race, it sounded great the day we signed up, but we were not as excited the day of.  In fact, Deb and I both campaigned hard the week before to cancel.  In the end, we still did it (although one of our girls, Shelley, couldn't run and was replaced by a '93 girl, Michelle).  I really am so glad we went through with it.  The weather was perfect and it is always fun when you are not running your leg :)  

My portion of the relay was Leg #2, from downtown to Forest Park - 7.5 miles.  I had not run in 2 weeks and my body was in shock!  I was able to run about 4.75 miles before I had to walk for the first time.  By then, I had entered Forest Park and proceeded to walk any hill I encountered.  My overall time still averaged out to 11:06 minute miles which is not bad considering that I probably walked about a mile total.  I can't wait until next year when I get to run the first leg which has two benefits:  it is the shortest leg at just under 6 miles and you get your run over with early and can enjoy the rest of the relay.

Needless to say the Girls of '95 (who are all training for a 1/2 marathon and have been running faithfully) kicked our booties!

Jen, Angela, Deb, and Michelle pre-race

Cowgirl Delaney

Pre K had a Western Week this week culminating in a dress up day and a Western feast.  I think Delaney makes an adorable cowgirl!  At the feast, she had baked beans, BBQ potato chips,  and hot dogs.

England Day 9 and Home!

As with most vacations, we were sad that it was coming to an end, but happy that we would soon be sleeping in our own beds!  Today was a super long day.  We were up at 6:00 am and I promptly blew the fuse in our hotel room when I tried to plug in my blowdryer!  I looked like a real winner as we traveled that day.  All of our flights were on time and uneventful as far as turbulence goes.  But it was just a loooong day.  We flew from Manchester into London Gatwick airport, collected our bags, took a 45 minute taxi ride ($200!!) to London Heathrow where we had a 5 hour layover before our next flight.  Luckily, we found a cafe that had a play area that entertained the girls for a good while.  Our 8 hour flight to Chicago was trying.  Harper was having a hard time falling asleep because we were flying toward the West and into the sun.  Our bodies told us it was 9 pm but our eyes told us that it was still daytime.  A couple of hours and a dose of Benadryl later, we all finally got some rest.  In Chicago, we had to collect our bags yet again, go through Customs, and catch our final flight to St. Louis.  The girls and I slept the entire hour on that plane.  Brian R. picked us up and delivered us safely home by 10:30 pm - 22 1/2 hours after our day started!!  Delaney hugged her bed pillows as if they were long lost family :)  

If you know anything about me, you know that I would not be able to go to sleep without unpacking our bags and starting a load of laundry.  I had to be up at 5:30 am to get ready for work, but the extra half hour I spent getting our stuff sorted made me sleep well :)

I would say it took our family a good 5 days to recover from the trip because we didn't have any down time until Saturday when we finally got a chance to sleep in and relax.

Allan and I are SO proud of our girls.  They were super travelers and never once complained that they didn't want to go somewhere or that they did want to go home - honestly!  They were pros at flying and going through the security lines at the airport.  Sure, we had normal sisterly fights and 3-year-old tantrums, but overall I would says that the trip was a big undertaking and a huge success!  I can't wait to go again! 

Our trans-Atlantic flight was on a double-decker plane!  Too bad we were peons and not even allowed to take a peek at the second level :(   I though it was very cool that we had a female pilot!

Still smiling after 10 hours of travel.

Because we had children and were early to our gate, we were the very first people allowed to board the plane.  Thankfully, we were able to secure the first row of seats behind a partition which enabled us to have extra leg room and space for the girls to sit on the floor and play.  It was a lifesaver for that long flight!

England Day 8

Today was our last full day in the UK.  It was Easter and it felt a little weird not to be getting dressed up to go to church.  Thankfully, the girls didn't ask why the Easter bunny hadn't brought them baskets!  Rachel and Andrew met us at beautiful pub for a traditional English breakfast (so not only were we skipping church, we were eating breakfast in a bar! :))  It was delicious. 

Allan showing off his Large breakfast.  The black thing in the upper corner of his plate is Black Pudding.  It is actually a type of blood sausage.  I tasted it, but it really didn't have much flavor.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at Stephen and Gaye's and packing our bags.  The whole family came over for Easter dinner at about 3:00.  Some of the best memories of our whole trip are of the family sitting around the big kitchen table laughing and joking with each other!

Andrew and Rachel are getting married in December and hope to start a family shortly after.  They have decided that they would like to have two girls just like ours.  I take that as a compliment!  I told them that I would happily ship my girls over to them if they want more practice before their own children come :)

At about 6:00 pm, we took final group pictures and said our good-byes.

L-R  David, Jacqui, Allan, Delaney, Harper, Jen, Rachel, Andrew, Stephen, Gaye

Gaye, Paul, Liz, Stephen

We drove an hour and a half to Manchester to stay the night at a hotel near the airport.  We had to be up at 6:00 am to be ready for our flight!  After dinner at the hotel restaurant and a a little bit of an ordeal finding the place to return our rental car, we eventually all made it to bed by about 10:30.

England Day 7

Wow!  David and Jacqui had planned a full day for us! We started out early to go to a Thomas the Train event in a nearby town.  How lucky that it it happened to be on the same weekend that we were there!  As far as I know, it was the girls' first train ride.  We got to ride the train between two stations, get off and have a snack, then reboard and ride back to the original station to play on the Thomas bounce house. 

David and Jacqui

Mama and Papa

Uncle Stephen couldn't resist sticking his head out the window as we rode along.

Cool!

Papa Paul and Delaney

The next place we went was called Hesketh Farm.  It was such a neat place - kind of like a pumpkin farm on steroids but without the pumpkins and with lots of livestock :)  It was so well-run and clean.  I had two favorite parts:  one was the "maternity ward" where mama sheep were either preparing to give or had just given birth , the other was the gorgeous view of the countryside.  It was perfectly geared towards kids our girls' ages.  We spent a couple of hours and ate lunch there.

Delaney snuggles a guinea pig.

Harper almost squeezed hers to death (out of love!) before Aunt Gaye saved it.

There were several mama pigs and their piglets.  A kind of unsettling part of the farm were the signs telling how old the piglets were and at what age or weight they would be sold to the butcher down the road :(

They had buckets with coarse brooms on them that we could use to scratch the pigs' backs.  Lots of signs telling us how razor-sharp pig teeth are.  Who knew?

Lots of open land for kids to run and tables for picnics.

Delaney met a new friend at the top of the rope tower.

See what I mean about the view?

Love this girl!

and this one!!

Our last stop of the day was to the Yorkshire Ice Cream Farm.  Interesting name.  It turns out that it was decorated as a 50's-style diner and the restaurant served "American" food like pancakes, hamburgers, shakes, malts, etc.  I almost wish I would have waited to eat lunch there instead of just having dessert.  Allan got chocolate, Harper got strawberry with sprinkles, and Delaney got bright blue bubblegum ice cream.  Jacqui ordered pancakes with Nutella and bananas.  Harper loved them and has had them for breakfast since we got back home.  Great place!

The coffee bar part of the restaurant was actually an airstream trailer.  Cool!

England Day 6

We started the morning by taking a walk into the village to go to the co-op, a tiny convenience store.  On the way there, we passed by some older man standing by his gate waiting to catch a passerby so that he could ask them to pick up a pint of milk and some tea bags for him.  We were the lucky winners!  Uncle Stephen did his good deed for the day and bought the items.  Luckily, he was still there when we walked back by and paid Uncle Stephen back.  The benefits of tiny village living, I guess!

While in town, we stopped by to see David and Jacqui's house.  It is a tiny little place that is over 200 years old.  Allan and I loved that it is right in the center of town between a barber shop and a deli that sells fresh produce.  How convenient!  They have bought and are completely renovating and adding on to a house in the nearby town of Guiseley.  

Delaney plays a quick game of hopscotch on the way home.

These beautiful tulips and rustic gate are right in front of Gaye's house.

We then drove over to Ottley, the town where Andrew and Rachel live, to see their house and take a a tour of their city.  It has lots of neat little shops.

A new park was built just a couple of blocks away from Andrew and Rachel's house right by the river.  It will be so convenient for them when they have children someday.

Love the smile on Delaney's face!

Rachel and Delaney walking along the river.

Jacqui and Delaney

Unfortunately, it was cloudy and a bit chilly that day, but no rain!

Brave girl!

This river runs right through the city of town.

Of course, we had to visit a bike store!

We had an authentic fish and chips lunch at The Cove, complete with malt vinegar and mushy peas.

We went back home for another nap and the whole gang went to a nice Chinese restaurant for dinner.  My favorite item on the buffet was prawn toast.