4th of July

That's right, we even celebrated America's Independance Day in the country we beat!! haha. It was a pretty good day. We got together with friends and family and had a big bbq, followed by a great game of baseders (it was a combination of baseball and rounders). Bases were set up a little different, a bigger bouncy ball, and some rules adjusted but overall it was a good game of baseball. It rained a little and there was some slipping around- everyone had a good time. This will be one of the days I'll remember and it's days like these that we'll miss when we leave for Florida- not long left.

Camping

We decided to go camping up in the Lake District (Northwest England). After I realized that Rachel had a few days off, I booked the same time off and we decided to go camping where we've never been before. We went to Windermere lake in the south part of the Lake District. It was good. We got there, started to set up our tent and since it was dry all day we didn't worry about the rain clouds. Out of no where, as we took out our tent, the clouds decided to let it all out. We hurried as quickly as we could to put it up and eventually we did it :) Luckily for us after a couple hours it stopped, the sun came out and we could enjoy the rest of our trip. We went on two walks/hikes. One was to a castle that was close by our campsite and the other was up Loughrigg. We also took a ferry across the lake and relaxed by the tent. It was very pretty up there and seemed like we were somewhere else. Neither one of us have seen England look like that.

Summer days.....

We've had some good summer days recently- it's been sunny quite a few days in a row. We've tried to do things outside- shopping in stratford upon avon, playing games outside with friends, flying kites, going to the park, etc. We've loved it and we've been trying to get somewhat of a tan before going to Florida so we don't stand out completly :)

Fort Myers, Florida

We are very excited to let everyone know we're going to Ft. Myers in Florida. I'll be attending the Florida Gulf Coast University to become a teacher and Rachel's planning to attend Edison State College to get her RN qualification. We're leaving the end of the summer and can't wait!!

Golf Tour

These pics were taken on the same day......the weather sure can change! The end of April, 10 other guys and me, went on a golf tour in Cornwall (southwest coast). We went for 4 days, golfed 3 and played 90 holes of golf!! 18 in the morning and afternoon on both thurs and friday and then another 18 sat morning. We had different competitions going on. We were split in teams- England Vs the rest of the world (Globetrotters) I somehow made the England team, don't know how that worked. Points were awarded each day. We played best ball, team best ball, singles and doubles. We ended up loosing by a couple points and then on the singles competition, my friend Chris won. Such a great 4 days! I loved every minute and will return in future years to compete.

Easter Holidays

The week following Easter, Rachel’s family and us, all booked off a week and did something different everyday. We did quite a bit of traveling back and forth everyday to do the activities, but they were worth it- we had a lot fun. On Monday we took a boat ride on a river, going through a lock which was cool to see. Tuesday, we went to a big lake and biked around it, plus a peninsula, totaling 25 miles!! Wow, were our butts sore the next day from sitting on those seats. Wednesday, we went to the snow dome for tubing and ice skating. Thursday, we headed to the southwest coast and did boogie boarding. The water was about 42 deg!! It was freezing. My hands and feet were numb. Everyone gave up after a little bit of being in the sea (waves were a little slow coming in) but I stayed out and glad I did cuz I started catching more waves. My feet were so frozen though- we got some hot chocolates to warm everyone up afterwards. Friday we went to a place called GoApe. It’s pretty cool. You’re up in the trees (like an ape) about 50 feet or so and there are cables connecting them. To get from tree to tree you have to cross using different ways. Some are cables to walk across, tunnels to crawl through, zip lines, wood planks, hoops, etc. You clip and un-clip yourself to each cable. Finally on Saturday, we all went to see Monsters vs. Aliens 3D. It was pretty crap, but the rest of the week made up for it. This was a really good Easter break for us.

England V Ukraine

This was a fantastic time down in London at the new Wembley Stadium. My father-in-law, Rob, me and my friend, Chris, went down and saw England vs Ukraine. It was really good. It was cool hearing everyone singing the national anthem, 'God save the Queen.' It's the same tune as 'My country tis of thee'.....so I sing along but with the american verision! :) Hoping to go again in the summer.