On to Cambridge

After York we took the train down to Cambridge to see Gran Helen. While we were there we were also visited by the Oaktains, who cunningly rented an airbnb just down the road from Gran Helen, with patio doors that opened onto the orchard, giving the kids tons of space to run around. We visited the Natural History Museum, and the Computing History Museum (which Bluet and Caroline loved and Ilona and Madeleine hated (Bluet wanted to live there, presumably to play Sonic the Hedgehog for the rest of her life). We also took a walk to Granchester, and the double decker bus back. Oh, and the guided bus to St Ives (not that one).

Videos of Connecticut life

The last few days have been very cold here, and the water in our garden amongst the trees is frozen into what Bluet regards as an ice skating rink:

Meanwhile, Wilder is continuing to learn everything about the world. First, here is how he says goodbye to his sisters every morning when they board the school bus:

And here is how I entertained him for half an hour whilst his sisters were in German class:

And finally, Wilder shows you how to enjoy music: First, get the volume and sound right, and then you can dance, putting your hands in the air like you just don't care

Some American Videos

Just in case you've run out of things to watch on Netflix. Right now Wilder is starting to speak, and sometimes makes a little sense (he seems to answer yes to questions sometimes), but mostly he says 'gum'

First Day of School

It's been a while so maybe we can work backwards from where we are now to Wilder's birthday, and see what happens. So yesterday was Bluet and Ilona's first day at their new school. Bluet is in Second Grade while Ilona starts kindergarten. They were both overly excited to discover that this meant that they would get to ride the school bus every day. It stops just outside our new house (which should come up in a later post if we are going backwards), and picks them both up around 7:30AM - so a nice early start for everybody, especially as we now have to make 2 packed lunches and 2 snacks every day.



Here we all are waiting for the first bus yesterday. The excitement levels in the house about riding the bus got so extreme that we had to go out many minutes early to wait, and so were outside for a while. Then the bus arrived, they both clambered on and off they went to school. The bus then returned around 13:30 to return Ilona (kindergarten has half days for the first week) and then around 15:30 to drop off Bluet. Both of them were extremely happy when they got home, and Bluet was so excited to go to school this morning that she had trouble sleeping last night.

British Visitors

Last weekend Gran Helen and Uncle Nick came to stay with us for a few days. We went a few nearby places with them and one long excursion (see next blog). Here are some pics from their visit:


Choosing what to wear


Ilona down by the river



& showing Bluet the photos she'd taken there



Taking Bluet to walk to school


Dinner in the garden



On the porch with gifts from the UK



Sushi for lunch

Tired on the tram

Bus home

Girl at the bus stop

Here is Bluet at the bus stop this morning, waiting for the bus to playgroup. She is carrying her new bag that is really for kindergarten..

Still weeks behind....

But fortunately we didn't do much this weekend other than throw paper aeroplanes around in the garden. So more from when our visitors from York were here. First, we tried to get all the cousins to pose together - with moderate success.

Next, a BBQ in the garden, complete with marshmallows for the kids (Bluet tells us she doesn't like them once they gooey). Note the coats as perhaps it wasn't quite warm enough for a BBQ. Except we are British.

 
The next day we clearly went somewhere on a bus, because I have a photo of Ilona on a bus

And then on a tram - I hope one of these photos will remind me where we went. Ah yes, it was the picnic playground, where I showed Angela and Simon the closest thing Switzerland has to a car boot sale (so it was Saturday). And then we drank some coffee while the kids played.

Then back home again. And now, I think, to Sunday morning when we went for a walk up the hill behind our house. Despite the blue sky it was very very windy

So there you have it, we had a lovely visit from Angela and Simon and the cousins. As you may know Gus developed chicken pox while they were here so could not fly back on time, so the visit was extended, which was very nice for us, to have family around for longer. But on the Wednesday morning we had to fly to Spain, leaving the other Collins' to enjoy more Switzerland (see here here and here). Our trip to Spain is coming next. Here is Ilona on the plane there.