Labor Day Weekend: Dover Castle and Sandwich

We had quite the exciting weekend. Ray had a four day weekend for Labor Day, so as soon as the kids got home from school we left town to go to Kent. We found our way to our holiday park and settled in for the night. The plan of the weekend was to see some castles in Kent as well as make our way to the Goodwin Sands. Unfortunately we found out that the Goodwin Sands is a sandbar in the middle of the bay, so we were not able to collect "Our Sand" as Lexi put it. Have no fear, we had a ton of fun all weekend.

We started with Dover Castle. We made our way to the top of the castle and got a wonderful view from the top.  Neil even managed for find a spot to Skewer the Moo.

Neil skewered Misty on the top of a trebuchet.

Our Royal Family.

In one of the tunnels the kids found a patch of light, so they both wanted 

to be in the "spotlight". I see no acting future for either of them lol.

After Dover Castle we drove around a bit trying to find the Goodwin Sands, which as I mentioned we couldn't get to since it is a sandbar. We decided to explore some more of Kent, and went to the town of Sandwich. Yes, Sandwich! It is right next to some other unusually named towns: Deal, Worth, and Ham. I'm sure you can image the bad jokes that came along. So, what's the Deal? Is it Worth going to Sandwich. Should we get a Ham Sandwich in Sandwich...would that be Worth it? Is it a good Deal? ect... We were all cracking up over these bad jokes, ok Ray wasn't he was just shaking his head in disbelief as the jokes got worse. All joking aside, Sandwich is one of the most preserved medieval towns in England, so I wanted to stop there and check it out. 

Sandwich Signs!

We didn't stay for the Sandwich Festival, but we got some ice cream in Sandwich and played on the playground. Neil took his ice cream cone paper and took a perspective photo as if it was a hat for Misty.

Later on that evening we returned to the holiday park. They had some cheesy evening entertainment. Lexi ended up winning a game, and they gave her a t-shirt.

London 2012 Olympics

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Olympics here in London. What a great time to be here!

Our excitement started by watching the torch relay. It ended up being a parade that started with large buses/trucks from corporate sponsors.

Kids waiting for the torch

Then there was a group of torch bearers that came with one guy holding the torch. I read somewhere they each hold the torch for about a mile or two then pass it on to someone else. Several of the torch bearers were nominated by their community because of their volunteering and contributions for the community.

We got tickets to three events, but BBC offered 24 channels broadcasting live of all the events. The first event we went to was shooting. Ray and Neil went to the Royal Artillery Barracks to see the 50m pistol finals and skeet. 

Neil outside the shooting venue.

One of the things Neil commented on was how touching it was to see all the emotion that the Korean man showed when he won the gold.

After everyone had packed up, the officials started taking questions from the audience. Neil was selected to ask a question. He asked about the flags that were at the end of the shooting range and what the colors on the flags meant. They only told him it helped the shooters determine wind direction, which he said he already had figured it out beforehand but so he didn't get his actual question about the colors answered.

At the venue they had the torch for visitors to see. So Neil and Ray got their picture taken with it.

Next was synchronized swimming. This was really cool because we got to see the Olympic Park. Ray and Lexi joined me for this event.

Welcome to Olympic Park

Olympic Stadium

Aquatic center this way (crowd control with foam fingers lol)

This is how close our far our seats where, but it was alright because we could see good enough.

This is me and Ray, as you can see I was so excited to be there :)

Awards ceremony for synchronized swimming. Russia won gold, China won Silver, and Spain won bronze. I will say that the people for Spain cheered the loudest. The Spanish are VERY loud people who are sports enthusiasts (see our Barcelona trip) lol. We decided that Ray was too quite to live in Spain lol. 

The last event Ray took Lexi to Taekwondo because they have been taking classes together for the past year. This event was held at the Excel expo centre, which is in the Docklands area of London. 

The Docklands

Excel Centre 

Lexi enjoying herself at the Taekwondo event

Well that was our Olympic experience. We had so much fun and are very thankful to have had this opportunity to experience it.

Farnborough Air Show

Friday Ray and I were discussing what to do this weekend. During the conversation, one of Ray's to see if we wanted tickets to the Farnborough Air Show. A bit freaky, but it was much appreciated.

The kids love air shows. It goes back to living in Seattle where we'd go to the air shows that had hydrofoil races in between flying demonstrations. While there were no hydrofoil races, the kids (including Ray) had a blast.

The first thing Ray wanted to see was the Virgin Galactic display. They actually had Space Ship Two there. We were surprised to find out just how soon they will be making tourist flights into space. Before next June Branson and his family will take the first flight into space, and thereafter the will start flying the 500+ passengers they have already reserved their space flight. Price to go up into space: about $225,000.

The kids loved all the rides they had. Misty especially loved all the toddler rides. 

Almost everything here was free, so the kids had a lot of fun in the family zone.

Misty loves train rides.

While zorbing sounded cool, the soggy field they played in got the kids all muddy :(

Neil spent an hour putting together a model airplane. 

He forgot to grab the paint kit to finish it at home though.

There was a toddler tent where they can crawl around in pop-up tunnels and make some crafts. 

This is Misty after she made her crown. At first glance this is just another cute picture of Misty, 

but look closer at her face and you can't help but laugh.

Misty got to see Peppa Pig and George....oink!

Ok this was CRAZY! The Mercedes had a kids driving course the kids got to go on. 

These are real cars that they are ACTUALLY driving.

Both of the kids surprised us at how well they handled the whole driving experience.

They both were able to move all around the obstacle course, including parking in reserve, without knocking over any cones. They also both claimed the instructor didn't even have to step on the brake (they were drivers ed cars).

Lexi after driving.

Neil after driving.

So one thing we splurged on was paying for Lexi to go on a helicopter ride. Nobody else was brave enough to go with her, but we made friends with some ladies in line who went up with her.

It was only a 5 minute ride, but Lexi got lucky and was able to sit up front.

She LOVED it! What a wonderful experience. Everyone was so 

exhausted by the end of the day from all the fun they had.

Med Cruise Day 10: Back in Barcelona

Ray's Journal

The ship pulled into Barcelona before 5AM. We woke up to the announcement that everyone needs to disembark. Such a sad day for us.

We took cabs to the apartment hotel. The hotel was actually ready for us [surprise]! Its always nice when things work out well. After check in we all kind of just chilled in the apartment for a few hours. Then we walked a few blocks to the shopping mall for entertainment. We found a dunkin donuts!! We also found a chinese buffet for spaniards. Angie and I were the only ones brave enough to partake (everyone else had Burger King) and the word Angie came up with afterwards was “interesting”. It was a culturally thought provoking exchange. They had hardly any of the same “Chinese Buffet” items we Americans are used to. For instance they had what appeared to be onion rings - they we round fried cod. They had what looked like fried chocolate - it was fried sushi. All of their shrimp foods had the shrimp cooked whole (shell and all with eyeballs etc). Their “postre” or desert bar was fresh fruit , nuts rolled in sugar, and flan.

The rest of the day was spent in the hotel trying to wait out the rain (so we could swim in the outdoor pool) and listening to the tuberculosis ward that lived in “Grandma’s room” of the cruise ship (everyone who had stayed in that room came home coughing). We all had to leave to go home tomorrow so it was a subdued day.

Angie's Journal

The cruise was over. We got dropped back off in Barcelona. I booked us an apartment which we all crashed at for awhile. I took a nap (gasp!) for a few hours. We went to the mall/grocery store and stocked up on the things we would need for the day and evening until our flights left in the morning. It was cheaper for us to stay the night in Barcelona for the night rather than fly out on Sunday. Anyways, the apartment we got was quite comical, esp. the bathroom. The place looked very new and fresh, but cheap as if everything was build from IKEA grade building materials. The bathroom was the worst as I think everything broke in there at one point during our overnight stay. 

The day was rather uneventful, but the evening was very LOUD. The Spaniards are a loud group of people, which we learned from our earlier stay in Barcelona at the beginning of the trip. Unfortunately for us we happened to be trying to sleep during the big Spain vs. Italy in Euro 2012. Every goal the whole town either shouted loudly (and these are some loud people), honked their horns, or shot off fireworks. Then when the game ended it was complete chaos. It is a surprise we got any sleep that night, but we had a complete understanding and appreciation for their siestas. 

Med Cruise Day 9: Marseille

Ray's Journal

The port call today was short due to sailing times. We only had 8 and half hours in port. That was shortened by even more us being lazy and getting a slow breakfast, then having to catch a bus to get into town.

Both Neil and Lexi chose not to go with us today - Lexi was still feeling very tired from her sunburn and Neil was just tired (something about staying up till 1 AM every morning but it was difficult to understand him since he was mumbling into his pillow).

The shuttle bus the cruise provided took us into town and dropped us off at the local marina (A nice place for people like me, but not what we were after today). We walked 2 blocks before we decided to learn from yesterday - we hailed a cab. The cab took us to the rent a car place efficiently and he spoke english pretty well. The rent a car was actually a passenger van with a manual transmission. The thing took a lot of gas to get going into first gear and had a really sticky clutch. It was a pain to drive - but it had great fuel economy!

Last night on our balcony

Angie did the best she could to plan today. There was very little information available online for this region of France. We intended to go to a normal french town and shop their market, but the one that got the best reviews online had no market. We were a little short of time so we couldn’t look into other towns. But we did some light shopping (of the baked variety) in Loirmarine. Then we left and drove to Cocuron where the Lavender drive begins. We drove several miles of it, but saw very little Lavender. I think Angie probably thinks the day is a wash, but it was nice to get out and see the beautiful French countryside with the love of my life.

We got back to the rent a car place and our cabbie was waiting for us. The turn in process was easier than any other I have ever had. The cab ride back to the boat, though was solemn. I’m not sure if it was just everyone was tired or hungry or if everyone was regretting that this was our last night on the boat; but the cab ride was quiet. 

Angie's Journal


The kids looked warn out when they woke up, and Lexi was still not feeling well from her sunburn. So I actually let the kids stay on the ship while my mom, Ray, Misty, and I went out to Marseille. Over this whole trip the older kids have shown just how grown up and mature they have become. When we got back, we even discovered that Neil stayed in the room to take care of Lexi.

We made it to our rental car much easier today since we decided to hail a cab from where the boat shuttle bus dropped us off. I felt bad for the families who decided to skip the shuttle bus (it charged a few dollar a person to ride) and walk from the ship to town. It was easily a 5 mile hike to anywhere. I realized then how grateful I am for not being THAT cheap lol.




Ray struggled a bit with the rental car, which ended up being a 9 passenger van for some reason. There was nothing small that would accommodate our original group size of 6. Anyways, we drove through the beautiful French countryside with all the vineyards and some mountains. I was hoping to see some Lavender fields, but the area was so beautiful I didn't care. Sadly we didn't stop for pictures much because we were on a time crunch. Well also Ray was the only photographer with us that day and he was busy trying to drive the monster van we were given.


This was the last day of our cruise. We had to pack up all our bags and set them out. No more port calls, no more all you can eat food, and no more stupid towel animals lol.