And now...the rest of the story

Besides walking into Redhill on Saturday, the week was reasonably normal, although Maggie did lose her front tooth almost as soon as we got back from Scotland. Otherwise, we spent the weekend resting up from our trip and preparing for a return to normal life. The kids missed trick-or-treating, although a survey of the neighbors showed that nobody else really did much trick-or-treating either, and the kids ended up getting a few things from the neighbors, and some stuff courtesy of their Nanny and Poppy. In the end, the rest time was probably time well spent, as my week ended up being quite hectic. I ended up working late every day during the week, which makes for uninteresting conversation, not to mention short blog posts.

We did meet with Dalton's teacher one evening, and she said that he is doing well in school, and that he just needs to work on his handwriting - something that we've been harping on for the past year or so as well, since his handwriting has simply deteriorated since the end of first grade. He's pretty conscientious about most things to do with school, but handwriting is simply not one of them.

We also celebrated our second Guy Fawkes day on Wednesday, when we went to a local pub for a bonfire and some fireworks, not to mention a hog roast and a couple of pints. I'll post some pictures later - we actually were able to get some cool ones of the fireworks, plus you need to see Maggie's smile without the front teeth.

Hallowe'en, Guy Fawkes, and the Brighton Car Run

I think the title sums up the past week fairly well, at least in terms of the more exciting stuff. Michelle has fallen ill again, running a fever and now sporting a cough to boot - that started on Tuesday, as I recall, and has been on again, off again, throughout the week, probably because she hasn't really gotten to have more than one day of rest at a time.

As I'm sure you're all aware, Wednesday was Halloween - and I took the kids out trick or treating that night. There are a couple of minor differences between the US and UK versions of Halloween, one of which is that here, all the kids dress as something scary. (Some of us might find the Power Rangers and things of that ilk scary, but stick with the more traditional notion of scary, and you'll be closer to the mark.) So, we dressed Dalton as a ghost (not, as one of our neighbors may have suspected, a member of the KKK) and Maggie was a witch. After trick or treating, we went to a neighbors for snacks and treats. It was quite fun.

That was followed by our Guy Fawkes celebration this weekend. Guy Fawkes was this guy who tried to blow up Parliament several hundred years ago, and was caught. So, now, every year, the British celebrate his capture with Guy Fawkes Night, on which they build bonfires and shoot off fireworks. We were invited to a neighbors for the celebration, and we had a really good time watching the fireworks (as an aside, I think they sell fireworks here that you just can't get in Alabama, which, knowing the people from Alabama, just might be a good thing), toasting marshmallows, and watching the bonfire. Technically, Guy Fawkes Night is November 5, but it was generally celebrated this weekend, from all appearances.

Then there was the Brighton Car Run. This is comprised of several cars, none of which is newer than 1930, which make the drive from London down to Brighton. They take the road which runs right by the train station, and so we went up to the Feathers to stand and watch the cars. There were even cars that were steam powered, with one that had a guy shoveling coal. That was really quite fun also, even if Dalton was dragging his feet on the way up. We also spotted a Lamborghini (hardly an antique, but still a very neat car). So, I'm putting pictures from all of the above, below.

I'm also updating my previous posts with pictures. Apologies for being so slow lately.