Blue Pool, The Tea Room and The Wareham Bears

Today Margie and Brenda (wife of Chris' coworker, Bob, that is here visiting for a week) ventured to Blue Pool. It is termed a "site of scientific interest" because it was a former clay pit (the Romans were the first to use the clay approx. 400yrs. ago) that was then abandoned in the 19th century and filled naturally with rain water. What is unique about it is the wide variety of shades of color within the pool. It is indeed very blue and really clear. We did the walk through the woods around the lake and looked at the letter markers (A-Z) and looked for all the fairy doors (and kept a checklist) as we went. Luckily it turned out to be a gorgeous sunny morning and we timed it just right (it quickly changed to pouring rain when Margie dropped us off around 1:45pm). We also kept our eye out for the fox cubs but didn't end up spotting them. Then we stopped for tea at the team room and Ethan scored some ice cream. We pinpointed that Cream Tea does not mean some sort of special tea with cream but tea that comes with two scones and clotted cream (butter) and jam.

Alley way to our townhouse:

Hanging out waiting to leave:

Hailey looks like she is scolding Ethan here:

Blue Pool and the mysterious different shades of blue:

Lounging in the sun outside the teddy bear gift shop:

Hailey is still obsessed with her coat(s) and wants to one or both on even when we are just at home. She's been wearing her new rain jacket (I got sick of everyone asking about Ethan's "brother" (green is a unisex color, people!) when she wore the green raincoat). Hopefully turquoise with lemons will be girly enough. :)

Just hanging out post nap:

Shipping packages

It all started when I was after some tinted moisturiser and face wash (my face is so dry and sensitive to everything else lately) that they didn't sell anywhere here. So when I realized that a $60 Sephora order with just a few makeup items was going to cost $40 in shipping and customs, I opted to send it to my sister to have her ship it instead. It had to be cheaper, right? And then I could make it worth my while and have her ship stuff from REI that I got with our dividend and a bra from Nordstrom I got with my $20 Rewards. (Both of these rewards coupons arrived the week we got to England of course!) And then well, Patagonia had their 50% off sale and if she was shipping a package anyways...  Well, it cost me $61. 75 in shipping which was more than expected but ok, one time thing. But THEN I just got a bill from Poole Depot for £72.49 (approx $109 USD) customs and VAT! WTF? So altogether I will be paying $170.78 in shipping and VAT and customs etc for items totalling $210.59. I can't contest because it is JUST over the taxable amt. for the customs part of it. Had I known I wouldn't have got the Patagonia stuff too. I am considering just refusing the pkg and having it returned since customs/VAT is $109 (over half what I actually paid for the items!). Ugh! I called a few times and I guess I can request a form before we return to file to get back just the £45.15 VAT part of it. Omigosh, never again. Now I know. Had I known, I would have only shipped what I really needed which was the makeup. I am flabbergasted!

Yesterday we went to play group and then went to look at another school for Ethan (would start now and go through July)-I think we'll send him to this other one instead. It's more hands-on, play-based, individualized learning which seems more up Ethan's alley. I was scared about him going to these super structured programs that might not be the best fit (and afternoon timing which is bad for everyone's naps). Either way, starting public school in Sept and going from like 8:45 until 3:30pm every day is going to be quite the shock for Ethan (it doesn't seem like any kids are "held back" here--they are such rule followers. It seems so cut and dry--if they are that age well then they must go to Reception.) Anyways, He seemed to really like it-he just jumped in and started playing like he had been going there for ages (and cried when we had to leave-he didn't want to go and didn't want to give up the toy he was playing with and it was clearly nap time). It seemed really flexible about hours and how often he goes too, which is nice--you just split up the 15hrs how it works best (I think we'll do 9-1 M, W and Th and 9-12 on Tues). I'm hoping that it is the best mix of Ethan being able to last that long, it being enough time for Hailey and I to do some things or go somewhere and Hailey not falling asleep in the stroller on the walk to pick him up and take him home. Plus, we can still all go somewhere together on Fridays since he won't have school that day. After mulling it over, I'm hoping that works best. It's a delicate balance and guessing what will work best for naps is sometimes a crap shoot. My goodness, that would be great if they could both nap at 2 still. Hailey has been a mess lately and falling asleep for 10min or having a 40min. Stroller nap and that is it for the day. She has definitely switched to one nap now and unfortunately it is a challenge for her to make it until the afternoon. Hence no blog posts, no time  when they don't both nap. :)

We stopped by the mall crèche and I called the Everyone Active gym to figure out their rates, classes and hours etc. Yah, I may be able to go to some workout classes once again. Although it is a mile each way to walk Ethan to his  school and then I have to drop Hailey at the mall childcare so it's kind of a hassle but there are hardly any gyms with childcare and none are nearby.

Here are some random pics of Hailey (since she has been hanging out with me while Ethan naps for the past few days):

She built this all by herself:

It was really sweet when Ethan was all upset and frustrated that his Lego creation fell over and Hailey went up and gave him a hug and rested her head on him to make him feel better.

When Chris and I are talking about things we want to go do (as a family), Ethan keeps saying "But who's going to watch the kids?" Too funny.

Bath

So the drive to Bath was a lot shorter than we thought-only around 1.5hrs. For part of the drive, we were behind this guy (which you can't really tell here but there were multiple farm implements stacked on top of each other and strapped down on the back of this big truck). What appeared to be a till of some sort was sticking out on the left and was clipping off parts of the branches). I was afraid this mound of things was going to come toppling down on the road in front of us.

 

I was relieved when the road widened and we could hold our breath and pass him.

This was the first time we stayed at an AirBNB (it was a great way to stay in central Bath for a lot cheaper although it was still not cheap by any means--Bath is expensive!). It was very bare- we were commenting that the girl must be a gypsy. I do know that she works in London a lot so she rents out the place when she is not there. It was essentially a one room apartment with a bathroom and kitchen. Nothing fancy but it did the job.

Saturday we set out to take a boat down the Avon but when we found out there were just punts and row-boats to rent, we tried to find one of the guided boat trips, thinking that it may take too long and we wouldn't get to see as much if we set out on our own. Only, google maps steered us wrong multiple times in a row (I don't know what the deal is but it doesn't seem to work right in Bath) and we ended up walking all over creation instead. The good news was that we ended up getting a self-guided tour of Bath with all the big sights. We wore poor little Ethan out, walking at least four miles that morning (and had to hear his whining as a result). 

Check out this hill:

Cool bookstore:

Long curved strand of townhouses, not to be confused with the Royal Crescent:

Ah, we found the real Royal Crescent (is up on a hill, can see from all over town and the apartment we are staying at):

The Circus (circle of rounded buildings around a roundabout):

Bath Abbey (we didn't end up going inside because we made the mistake of trying to go on a Sunday):

Then we met up with my Welsh friend, Hedd, and his girlfriend Lowri. I met him on a bus in Australia approximately 10yrs. ago. Hailey had fallen asleep (and we didn't want to have to wake her up to take her out of the stroller) so we went to lunch first at this place near the Roman Baths. It was fun to share lunch and a drink and hang out with a friend and meet his girlfriend (they met when they were both in their friends' wedding party about a year ago-how cute). We are going to visit them in Port Talbot, Wales and stay at Hedd's house so it will be fun to see them again. (They just happened to also be in Bath at the same time--they came to Bristol to see a comedian Saturday night). 

Then we ventured to the Roman Baths, which were very cool:

Avove the main Roman Bath (with Bath Abbey in the background). Ethan is obsessed with the commentary device:

Looking down on the side hot spring:

Celtic depiction of one of their temples:

Ethan wanted to show "selfie stick girl" that he had a cool gadget as well. And posed to take a photo with her:

Chris and the kids found the bridge that we were looking for earlier (by then it was raining though and we no longer wanted to do a boat trip). We thought the hop on hop off sightseeing bus would be fun instead but it was expensive and we had already stumbled upon a lot of the sights.

I got to have 1.5hrs to power shop by myself while Chris and the kids went back to take a nap. (Although Hailey refused to have another nap and screamed instead-she is all messed up after going to bed really late last night and then having a 2hr. Morning nap).

I got this shirt for Ethan which I knew he would really like. He is obsessed with sea gulls and it was funny because one had stolen Hailey's whole sandwich weeks ago and we also had a library book about sea gulls and ice cream.

I didn't really have much time but man, everyone was right-this city has amazing shopping! Lowri had said she came here on several occasions for girls shopping trips.

Sunday we got coffee at Cafe Nero and did more wandering and finally found the vintage market (which was nothing special). 

Pulteney Bridge:

Ha, a cafe of this name seemed a little odd to us in England. However, it was packed with university students:

No time but this looked fun:

Then we took a bus to Prior Park Landscape Garden and got to use our National Trust passes:

Wow, look at that (with Bath city in background):

Only 3 other bridges of this kind in the world:

Bird calls, not to be confused with cat calls. :) (see middle bird name) Chris and I got a good laugh:

Then I carried Hailey in the ergo for the 1.3mi. walk back to the apartment so Ethan could ride in the stroller. She fell asleep the last 10min. Of course and then would not make the transfer and that was all she had for a nap that day. I finally gave up and took her with me to the Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum quickly:

Ballroom (which is rented out for events):

The fashion museum had clothing dating back to the early 1700's and was very interesting!

We tried two nights in a row to go to the Boathouse Restaurant but (after walking there three times in two days discovered) Saturday it was closed for a private event and Sunday it was closed. Ha, this weekend was full of situations like these but it is all part of traveling. Eating bagels in the car is fine too. :)

Dorchester and The Dinosaur Museum

This morning we toured the Old Town Infant and Nursery School. It seemed nice as well but for some reason I liked the other school better (this one seemed more crowded and not as interactive/hands-on). Dang it, of course the one that is in our catchment area and a shorter, easier walk and in a handy area for catching the train or running errands is not the one I liked as well. 

The first Nursery School class we went in had all the kids in a circle and one kid at a time was in the center filling up each of the little containers with the designated amount of balls (probably 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...) while everyone watched. While this might be a good way to learn patience and waiting your turn, Ethan might go crazy. I could already see him sitting close to the kid in the middle and reaching for the balls to help the kid put them in. Ha, I might be a little ADD and he might get this from me because I was annoyed just watching. One kid at a time while the whole class watches and everyone has a turn and there are around 20 4yr old kids that need to take a turn? Couldn't they do stations or something where there were less kids and they got to do more things? Ok, I am no teacher and shouldn't be critical, I just wondered about it being the best fit for Ethan. And then the next class had split up into groups and they were having practice conversations while the teacher typed away on her tablet, frantically taking notes on how the kid was doing the whole time. I couldn't help but think, "man, that poor teacher that is just typing away all day". Ok, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that he should go to the other school instead. I did like that the school was very diverse and teachers and students alike were from all different countries. Unfortunately, they didn't have morning session openings either (both schools only have afternoon ones which is super inconvenient for nap times etc). And Ethan might be a tired crabby mess towards the last half of class and when I pick him up (when he would normally be napping). At least we could still do things together in the mornings and get him to school on time no problem at 12:30. Ah, I don't know what to do! I wish that he could go just a few days a week for 3hrs/day like he did back home-that was ideal. Ah, at least preschool here is free-that's nice!

Three things I learned:

1. They call braids "plaits".

2. All the schools around here seem to have the girls in gingham dresses for the uniform. And when they are older (high school?) both males and females are in Blazers. 

3. School lunches here are free! I'm guessing they are healthier than US lunches but I still need to take a look at the menu, etc. The jury is out.

Then we caught the train to Dorchester South. 

Here is Ethan staring out the train window:

I don't know what this yellow flower or crop is but there are fields full of it (it certainly is abundant in this area):

They were doing all this construction developing the "Brewery Square" into an arts building and shops etc. I just wanted to know if the big old Brewery was still operating (some samples, perhaps?):

Any guesses as to what this is? I'd put my money on old beer brewing equipment but Ethan was convinced it was an alien spaceship:

I love this dress from Next and wish they had it in my size! (I was hesitant to buy a dress for Hailey for when she's 5). I'm curious where this picture was taken. Any guesses? 

Little Ethan-sized doors (Ethan is striking a pose here):

Then we made our way to The Dinosaur Museum and my phone went dead so I don't have any pics from there. The kids really enjoyed it though and I learned a lot as well! The saber-tooth tiger and armadillo looking animal with tail spike video were very well done and looked like real footage! Ethan wanted to keep watching the video over and over! And a huge dinosaur footprint that was discovered in the UK (a Sauropod I think). 

Here are the kids hugging Chris' legs when he got home and was prepping some stuff for the BBQ:

Oh and check this out-this size of chips is brilliant. Enough that the rest of the bag doesn't go stale or so you can cut yourself off: