Well another year draws to a close as I put together our "Christmas letter".
So what have we been up to this year? I want to say "not a lot" but as I look back on our calendar, we certainly kept ourselves busy.
Arran and Iona started 2010 at Indigo - a parent participation school with a constructivist philosophy. They use a different teaching method to regular schools. Arran was in 4th Grade and Iona was in Kindergarten. They both had phenomenal teachers and a great year in school. Arran was also a GATE student and had several after school classes. Both Arran and Iona attended a Science Class with Mr Mac after school. They learned about Jack and Jill and the evil Mr Fred and his minions. Oh, and they learned about science as well as defeating Evil Mr Fred!!
Summer came and went fast. We headed back to the UK/Italy for 4 weeks. It seems like a long time to be away, but we had so much to do, it went very fast. We spent a few days in London to show the kids the sights.
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| Tower Bridge |
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| The London Eye |
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| The Tower of London with a Beefeater. |
Next stop, Cambridge. We spent time with family, explored Cambridge, visited Wimpole Hall, and explored the backs of Cambridge on a punt!
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| Punting under the bridge of Sighs, Cambridge. |
A few days later, we headed up to Northumberland to see family there. We managed to visit Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum too. While at the Roman Army Museum, the kids entered a drawing competition. Iona won for her age group!
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| Sitting on Hadrian's Wall |
The islands of Scotland were our next stop. Not all of them, just Arran and Iona (of course).
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| Hmm - anyone know these two? (taken on the ferry to Arran) |
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| Wandering on the beach, early in the morning, on the Isle of Arran |
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| Iona Abbey on the Isle of Iona |
Next stop Nairn. We spent a few days there including spreading Kay's mums ashes on her dad's grave at Kinloss. Arran and Iona had a great time hanging out with their cousins.
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| On the beach at Nairn. |
When we were planning our trip, we thought "Why not spend a few extra days somewhere we have never been" thus our plan to spend a week in Italy was born. So off to Naples and Rome we headed. Our first stop was Naples. Full of history, stunning buildings, graffiti and trash. Naples was noisy and not our favorite stop! However it was a great base to visit Pompeii and climb Vesuvius.
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| Being Silly in Naples. The twin peaks in the background is what is left of Vesuvius |
We were not sad to leave Naples and head to Rome. Boy what a difference! Clean, quieter, sooo much nicer. Around every corner was history. We did the quick tourist thing and saw the main sights: The Colosseum, The Forum, The Vatican etc. We would recommend Rome, over Naples anyday!
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| Arran and Iona looking out over Vatican City |
After 4 hectic weeks away, we were glad to return home. The trip was wonderful, but home was even better!
Mid August, school started again. Iona is now in 1st grade and Arran in 5th grade. Iona is enjoying her class with her teacher Ms Vatannia. Arran is still in GATE and this year a new teacher, Mr Flynn is putting on a fantastic experience for the kids - they are running their own restaurant.
Both Arran and Iona continue with gymnastics at The Little Gym. In addition Iona has just completed her first play with the Children's Playhouse Theater of San Jose. Arran is attending the Discovery Youth Program at the Children's Discovery Museum where they look at and learn different aspects of multimedia.
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| Iona and her friends as Fireflies from their production of Dreams in Toyland | |
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Neil still works for Tensilica. Nothing exciting to report.
Kay is busy with school (which takes up a lot of time), home and whatever else she has to do.
As the end of the year draws near, we are all looking forward to our next big adventure - taking a trip through the Panama Canal. We leave on the 2nd January and can't wait!
We hope you are happy and healthy and send you wishes and pixie dust for a fantastic 2011.
Merry Christmas!
Neil, Kay, Arran and Iona
