Visiting the Dodds in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England - Tuesday, June 30 to Thursday, July 2

On Tuesday, we left Notting Hill for a short drive out to the countryside to visit his sister and her lovely family. Chris and I arranged to pick up the girls at school. We took Frances home, while Rachel stayed after for dance practice. We met Susanne back at the house, and Frances (yes, the seven-year-old!) cooked us a delicious dinner of salmon and mixed vegetables. Afterwards, we attended Rachel's school show where she performed vocally and on the recorder. Great job, Rachel! See photo below.

Rachel performing at her school summer concert. What a ham! I love her!

Chris, Susanne, and I spent a fairly lazy Wednesday afternoon relaxing and drinking tea. After picking up the girls, we went for a short hike in the Chiltern hills a short drive from their family home.

Rachel (clearly very hot) in the pink hat, and Frances (chose her own hiking cloths) in the multi-colored dress

A lovely dinner on Wednesday evening, prepared by my wonder sister-in-law! Delicious cheeseburgers and home-made "chips" (thick-cut French fries for my American blog audience).

It was a lazy afternoon!

We said goodbye on Thursday morning before the girls went to school. It was another day on the road for us, but we were glad to get up early and say goodbye to the nieces!

Visiting Paul and Marion, Notting Hill, London

No pictures here, but we had a great visit. Marion made a delicious spaghetti Bolognaise. Chris surprised Paul by setting up a wireless Internet connection for his birthday. Brotherly love!

Fair Oak Farm, Mayfield, East Sussex, England - Friday, June 26 to Monday, June 29

We stayed at Fair Oak Farm, consisting of a converted barn, cow shed, and feed store, pictured above. Over the course of the weekend, 14 friends from Chris's university years stayed and enjoyed the festivities. By festivities, of course, I mean eating, drinking, and playing croquet.

Chris's shirt reads "Prose before hos" with a portrait of Robert Burns. What a catch!

At Bewl Water, a lake near Fair Oak Farm. We lost the friends on the country roads on the way to the lake, so we had a few hours to ourselves in the English sun!

Chris, Gilles, and Kathryn during the croquet wars.

Two of the guests joining us for every meal. Pure white peacocks. Only in England!

Vacation 2009

Chris and I are just back from our trip to Europe. I have carefully outlined each portion of our trip in its own post with pictures.

Enjoy!