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England 2022 Series (Pt 4)

The Ameri Brit Mom3 Comments

Our fourth week in England was a lot more chill than the others. We still traveled a lot and made the most of each day, but the pace was a little slower. Most of the week, it was just the four of us doing our own thing, but we still had some larger family outings too. The girls went to Puxton Park with their auntie and uncle while Sam and I enjoyed an afternoon tea in Yeovil and some drinks at a local pub. This week we also went to an indoor play park in Eastleigh, shopping in WestQuay (Southampton), a steamfair in Lyndhurst, and a bootsale and a traditional roast dinner in Bishopstoke.

As we enter the final week of our trip, it’s been fun to look back on all of the adventures we’ve had so far this summer with our English family and friends.

Check out Part One, Part Two, and Part Three here.

The Ameri Brit Mom

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Chance: Five Minute Friday

The Ameri Brit Mom11 Comments

It’s Friday, and finally the heat spell has broken in the UK! This week the weather broke records and while it felt like we may all just melt we have survived in a country lacking the infrastructure to stand up to excessive heat. I’m joining my positive writing community at Five Minute Friday for this week’s theme: Chance.

What are the chances that I will make it home next week without delay?

I’ve been following the news out of London Heathrow, and things are looking grim. So many long-haul delays and flight cancellations flood my newsfeed. I’ll be heading home at the end of the month, and I am not looking forward to all that is involved with airport travel.

Security can take ages when you travel with a family of four. I’ve stood in lines at Customs for over an hour with a whining toddler in tow. Airports are not always the most efficient at moving people from Point A to Point B.

The chances are pretty high that we will spend more time than at the airport next week.

And if I am stranded in an airport next Friday, chances are that I’ll not be able to join in on the weekly link-up.

Here’s to hoping my chances are better than I’m predicting for arriving home without interruption. If all goes to plan, I’ll be joining you all next week from AMERICA.

The Ameri Brit Mom

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Propose: Five Minute Friday

The Ameri Brit Mom1 Comment

Happy Friday from the UK! This week I’ve done a lot more relaxing and reading and that has been my way of coping with this British heat wave. This morning I am joining my favorite little writing community with our Five Minute Friday prompt: Propose.

This weekend our family is embarking in our first ever camping adventure. I’m embarassed to admit that at my age I have never camped in a TENT. Cabin adventures are some of my favorites, but when my sister-in-law initially proposed a family camping trip I was a bit nervous. I love the great outdoors–so don’t get me wrong. It’s just the idea of only a thin layer of fabric separating me from the nocturnal animals that has kept me from really pursuing this type of experience.

Now, it’s the morning of the trip and I find myself excited. I’m looking forward to all of the family time ahead. We have packed some great foods and plenty of drinks that I am also looking forward to devouring. I even walked into town yesterday and bought a new book to read while camping.

So while I was nervous when this idea was proposed initially, I am pleased for the day to be here and to be preparing to make these memories with my family. Who knows, this may be the beginning of a long line of camping trips in our family’s future.

(Photos of this trip will be here next week so be sure to check back!)

The Ameri Brit Mom

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England 2022 Series (Pt 2)

The Ameri Brit Mom2 Comments

It’s the second week of our family excursion to England to visit family and friends. We will be here the entire month of July and each week I’ll be checking in with photos and short descriptions of what we’ve been up to. Our time has been filled with making memories with those we love so we can store those up in our hearts until we meet again.

Check out Part One here.

During this second week, our itenerary has taken us to The Play Shack in Hedge End, Bognor Regis beach, Itchen Valley Country Park, and the historic city of Winchester. We’ve visited with my mother-in-law and her partner along with my soon-to-be brother-in-law. My husband’s aunts visited from Dover as well and enjoyed being worn out by our energetic children at the park. Our menus this week have been filled with the customary British foods: fish and chips, sausage rolls, picnic sandwiches, and I tried cockle for the first time on the seafront (not sure I’d ever order again, but it was fun to give it a go!)

Week Two Photos

The Ameri Brit Mom

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England 2022 Series (Pt 1)

The Ameri Brit Mom5 Comments

Our family has made is safely to England and as we continue to adjust to the change in time, we have already experienced many adventures. We flew from Detroit to London Heathrow and despite rumors of delays and nightmares in UK airports, things went smoothly all the way through.

At this point in our trip, we have been to Eastleigh and Drayton. We’ve spent half the time with my father-in-law and the other half with my mother-in-law. Aunties came to visit in Drayton and we spent the weekend feasting with them. Already, we have visited two country parks: Staunton and Lakeside. Of course, we have stopped at nearly every playground we have passed on our pedestrian journies. Reuniting with family (and the girls’ COUSIN) has been a blast and I am thankful that our girls have not lost any time getting comfortable with life in the UK.

Week One Photos

The Ameri Brit Mom

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Trust: Five Minute Friday

The Ameri Brit Mom3 Comments

It’s Friday and my first weekend in the UK. I’ll be here throughout the entire month of July and so the next several FMF posts will be inspired by my travels abroad to spend time with family. This week our prompt is Trust.

When we travel abroad there is a wealth of trust we put in others. We trust that the pilot has been trained and knows the flight path well. We trust that TSA is completing the security checks to prevent dangerous people from embarking with us. We trust the airline to check our bags in correctly instead of damaging or losing our cargo. We trust customs officers to let us cross the border. We trust that taxis and trains are running on time to get us to our final destinations. All of this trust is to ensure that we are safely delivered and the mission completed.

Have you ever had a flight where trust was misplaced?

I’ve flown to England every year since 2007 and so I have a mental list of times when my expectations were not met by those I trusted to get me from Point A to Point B. I’ve had luggage lost. I’ve had to spend six hours on the tarmac. I’ve had flights delayed and flights cancelled.

Luckily, my most recent excursion was free from mishaps. My trust in the airlines and their personel was not betrayed (this time). And as I sit here, thinking about our journey from Columbus to Detroit and then to London, I am thankful that things went off without a hitch this time. These next few days will be spent adjusting to the five hour difference from EST. There will be lost of naps, exercises, and reading sessions to help my body adjust to moving ahead in time.

The Ameri Brit Mom

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Guess: Five Minute Friday

The Ameri Brit Mom6 Comments

It’s Friday and if you’ve been here for a while you know that means Five Minute Friday! On Fridays, I join other writers from around the globe to publish a post inspired by the same topic. This week, our prompt is Guess.

Guess what is coming up soon?

The Ameri Brit Mom is gearing up for the annual trip to England. The name of this blog comes from the fact that I am American married to a British man. We spend one month every year visiting his family and friends back in his hometown. Our trip is just a couple of weeks away and I guess you could say that we are getting excited.

While in England, we usually end up traveling quite a bit. Our homebase is with my father-in-law in Eastleigh (a borough of Southampton). My mother-in-law lives in Portsmouth. My sister-in-law is in Yeovil. And there are various family members scattered throughout in places like Brighton and Dover. I will be doing my usual posts which showcase our journey and travels while in England.

Here are some posts from last year to get you excited about what’s to come:

Quarantine in UK

A Father’s Day English Cream Tea

Long Awaited Cousin Time

Summer in UK

The Ameri Brit Mom

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PiYo Week 2 Recap

The Ameri Brit Mom2 Comments

(This is a non affiliate post and based solely on my personal experience using the Beachbody PiYo program developed by Chalene Johnson. Results may vary.)

As I increased the rigor of my workouts this week I was met by the challenge of simultaneously experiencing jetlag from travel to England. For the first 8 days of the trip I am required to quarantine at my in law’s home. As far as finding time to work out, I am without excuse. I am pleased to say that the only day I did not work out during this second week was the day of my flight–which would’ve been quite impossible really. I did, however, complete some of my standard flight exercises to keep the blood flowing and logged over 10,000 airport steps navigating three different airports.

In my Week 1 post, I give more details about PiYo and the meal plans that accomodate the daily exercises. This time, I want to share with you the workout calendar for the entire 8 week program.

Major observations of this second week of PiYo:

-Sweat workouts were appropriately named as completing those high intensity regimens made me sweat more profusely than any workout I’ve done in a long time.

-The day after my flight I found it difficult to balance my body and so I struggled most on that day.

– I am doing my best to fit my workouts in every day while in England, but it has been challenging due to being in quarantine with all of my in-laws in the house and kiddos who need a lot of entertaining.

– It is also more challenging to eat according to a meal plan while away from your own kitchen and familiar foods.

-The 20-45 minute workouts each day have improved my attitude and outlook each day.

Now that I am nearly out of quarantine and settling into a routine in England I hope it will be easier to work out each day for the remainder of the trip. I don’t recommend starting a new program prior to a month abroad, but I’m determined to show that it isn’t impossible to stick with it when your health is such a high priority!

The Ameri Brit Mom

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England 2018: Week 1 Review

The Ameri Brit Mom6 Comments

I cannot believe that we’ve been in the sunny UK for one week now. Packing a year worth of visits into one month really makes time fly. Watching the girls connect with their British family and heritage makes all of the hassle of travel worth it.

This first week was spent adjusting to the time difference and reacquainting our family with those we love in England. While here we stay with my father-in-law in the house where my husband grew up. Along with us for the week my sister-in-law and brother-in-law are also staying in the house. It’s a packed house, but we enjoy the company. We stay in Eastleigh which is a suburb of Southampton along the south coast of England.

A major difference between life in Eastleigh and our home in Ohio is that everything we could possibly need is within walking distance. We travel by foot as often as we can and we log well over 10,000 steps per day throughout our stays. It’s nice to have the option to travel by car, but with a metro center less than a mile from the house we take advantage of the opportunity to move our legs and get outside.

Life moves at a slower pace here. In America, life is packed so full. It’s the American way. But in England, most shops and venues close for the evening around 5pm. This encourages families to spend more time together in the home. We’ve done so much during the days while here, but our evenings are generally spent around the dinner table, playing games, and just hanging out with the people we love.

Some of the things we did during our first week:

-went to a new cinema in Southampton to catch the release of Uncle Drew (a basketball movie which was totally my husband’s choice)

-swam in the Fleming Park paddling pool

-signed Arianna up for her very own Eastleigh Library card

-swam at Romsey Rapids, an indoor water park

-participated in my first ever cycling class is Twyford

-met up with students and teachers from the school where I work. They are currently traveling abroad for a foreign language trip and part of their itinerary brought them to Portsmouth, a fifteen minute drive from Eastleigh. An added bonus, my cousin was on the trip!

-attended the Cheese Festival in Portsmouth and walked along the sea

-worshipped in the town square during the annual Eastleigh Churches Together service

-drove through the lovely New Forest to pick up my brother-in-law. (Side note: In the New Forest horses have free reign of the roads and town. Wild horses are beautiful!)

-shopped in Eastleigh’s Swan Center

-watched on television as England lost in the semi-finals of the World Cup

 

Some foods we’ve eaten:

-Cottage pie

-Fish’n’chips

-Traditional English Breakfast (fried egg, sausage, bacon, beans, chips)

-Paninis

-Lots of Costa coffee

-Traditional Roast Dinner

-Mac’n’Cheese waffle from the Cheese Festival

 

Milestones

My girls also had some big milestones during this first week. Arianna learned to ride a bike without training wheels. She enlisted the help of an elderly neighbor, but within thirty minutes she was off! I cannot believe how quickly she picked it up. Aleah started belly laughing and can now roll from her back to her belly. Aleah also splashed in the water at Romsey Rapids for the very first time.

I am looking forward to all we have planned over the next few weeks. I will share weekly recaps so stay tuned to see what all we get up to while staying with family in England.

The Ameri Brit Mom

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The Big Issue

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While America may be dealing with a few hot debates such as gun control, Trump vs. Hillary, and transgender bathroom selection, over in Britain the big issue is whether the country should REMAIN or LEAVE the European Union. Today is election day. By this time tomorrow a resolve will be reached based on the voters of this country.

Since my stay in England began a week and a half ago not a day has gone by when the topic hasn’t been brought up. Signs are all over the villages. Taxi drivers have polled us on our opinions. Civilians feel the need to post or share their opinions openly. So although I am not claiming to know much about the referendum I will share with you some of the common reasons I’ve heard for both sides of the argument.

European Union (EU)

The European Union – often known as the EU – is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. It began after World War Two to foster economic co-operation, with the idea that countries which trade together are more likely to avoid going to war with each other. (BBC) Since its beginning the EU has fostered trade amongst its members and has allowed for people to move about freely between the belonging nations as well. There are many reasons why people choose sides in this debate, however, I am going to focus on the two biggest issues I’ve been informed about: business and immigration.

Remain

Those in favor of remaining in the EU believe that the benefits reaped from the membership boosts the British economy. They see the trade relationships as essential and the immigration as providing workers for jobs that many within Britain would likely not fill. To those who favor remaining in the EU immigration isn’t seen as a stigma because the people who are flooding into the nation are not taking the jobs that many of the citizens are going for. Rather they are willing to work more manual labor jobs at lower wages. (As an American citizen this scenario reflects the Mexican immigration issue.)

Leave

Overall those in favor of leaving the EU feel that their membership in the union is causing England’s business and economy to be held back by certain EU rules and regulations. Mostly, those sympathizing with this viewpoint are those who are involved in big business. Another reason that I’ve heard often enough during my stay is that Britain needs to secure its borders against immigration and being a member of the EU has made that impossible. This argument only makes sense if the immigration that one finds troubling is the immigration of people from other EU nations. Many people have cited the immigration of Syrian refugees and even I understand that to be a completely separate issue from the referendum. The referendum would only protect the UK’s borders against European immigration by requiring passports for travel in and out of Britain as well as a trip through customs.

Tomorrow the results are believed to be tallied. I assume it will be close so it’s hard to predict an outcome. If I had to guess based on those I’ve been in contact with I would say that the vote will be to remain in the EU, but my experience is very limited and the people I’ve spoken to are all roughly from the same area in England.

Best wishes, Britain, as you make this important choice!

The Ameri Brit Mom