Entered on 2002-02-28 at 8:43 a.m..

Weekend with the Waites -- Part 3

Saturday

As I came out of my room Saturday morning heading for the bathroom, I was spotted by a diminuitive sentry, and the alarm was imidiately raised throughout the house. As with most families with small children, mornings start early. I can personally remember waiting for the cartoons to start on Saturday morning (they began at 6am). My presence thankfully signaled the start of breakfast. We were having grapefruit followed by criossants.

At breakfast my instruction began. First Pippa instructed me on the propper way to eat grapefruit, "You have to hold it." Meaning that my attempt to just use one hand with my spoon in it, was not appropriate. Then I made the mistake of saying that I had never been instructed on the propper way to eat a criossant. Pippa took no end in delight as she explained painstakingly how to eat a criossant. In this endeavor she had ample help from her trusty side-kick Angela. It was kind of like watching the sitcom tool-time, where Tim tries to explain something but in the end Al ends up doing it for him.

Breakfast ended with a flurry of face and hand wiping. Then Angela, Pippa and I were off to the pool. The pool is just someone's private in-ground heated (thank god) pool with a shed around it. The water was wonderful, but the concrete surrounding it was not. I had to let my feet thaw a few centimeters above the water befor dunking them so they wouldn't get scalded. The whole point of our going is to try to teack Pippa to swim on her own with out floaties or other floatation devices. Her current favorite is a large foam noodle. Between the two of us, and Pippa's natural desire to be the center of attention we got her to swim unaided and doggy style between the two of us repeatedly. During which time Angela and I talked about the British and American school systems.

After swimming we all went home to change and warm up a bit. On our way we drove past the North Sea. It is not terribly impressive, very brown and nasty looking. Then it was off into the coutnryside for lunch. About 200 years ago Norfolk was a very rich area of the country and although the wealth is gone, the evidence is still left behind in the numerous and huge churches which dot the landscape. Norfolk remember, is flat so the bell towers stand out. Before lunch we headed to St. Helen's church in Ranworth where visitors are allowed to climb the 89steps and 2 ladders to the top of the tower. The view was spectacular. You could see for miles. I took some pictures and will eventually post them. We were looking out over the Norfolk broads, wich are a series of lakes off of rivers. They were formed from ancient peat bogs which were flooded by the rivers over the years. Then it was off to a local pub for lunch.

After lunch we headed into Norwich for a quick tour around. We went into the Cathedral, which was nearly as big as the one in Canterbury! (remember I told you this region used to have a lot of money). It was georgious, as was the surrounding grounds. We then set off through Norwich to see the city center and the castle. The castle was disapointing because it looked so new, and it had been converted into an art museum. Needless to say, we didn't stay long.

The children were getting tired and cranky so we made our way back to the car through some charming cobble stone streets and headed back to the house. On the way we stopped at an overlook to the city to see the skyline. Aparently we were the only ones with the idea as the couple in the car next to us were using the oppertunity to make out.

We made it home with about an hour left until Tea, bath and bed for the kids. Angela made another huge dinner, and we talked for hours.

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In other news: Becca has picked out a puppy, and we are awaiting pictures.

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