As in the “Battle of Hastings” country. Nothing about this trip went as planned. We missed our train. The train we did end up on was packed and we had to stand with our bicycles at the end of the car. We wanted to visit the Herstmonceux Castle and Science Center, but we were blocked by a Medieval Festival. We wanted to …

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Why run away to the circus when you can build one in your own living room?

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It’s performing arts week, apparently, which is perfect because the rain and grey have not let up. AC surprised us with tickets to Zippos Circus. It was my first circus. Sam’s too. We all loved it.

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“Oh, help! Oh, no! It’s a Gruffalo!” We were introduced to Julia Donaldson’s classic picture book a couple of years ago when Grand-mère gave Sam a copy of the book for Christmas. Donaldson’s elegant and humorous rhyme translates well to the musical stage. I especially enjoyed the “G-G-G-Gruffalo” song. Nearly everyone …

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And we face the hordes at Hove Park. It was worth it to be in the sun.

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The good news? My toe is feeling much better. The bad news? The doctor had nothing to do with it. He has no idea what caused the apparent trauma. But I did convince him to refer me to a podiatrist, known in the UK as a chiropodist, apparently.

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This weekend it’s been rainy, cloudy, and grey with a chance of grey. Friday night I developed a mysterious toe pain. The mystery is that out of the blue, it hurt to walk on my left foot. I have my suspicions, and we’ll see what the NHS doctor says this week. So between the weather and the foot, hiking was right out. …

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It took us three trains and three hours to make our pilgrimage from Brighton to Canterbury. These are our tales. If you’re expecting something bawdy, you’ll need to read Chaucer. The Mexican Food Lover’s Tale One of the things we miss from the States is Mexican food. So when our friends from London suggested that we …

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Sam’s latest literary obsession is Narnia. We’re currently reading the third book of the Chronicles (in publication order), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in which the children access Narnia through a painting. The other day Sam said, “I need to get into Narnia.” I asked her if she’d tried the wardrobe in her room. …

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New segment at the start of French class: we make a craft that we use later in songs or activities. These milk jug top ladybugs (ladybirds here in the UK) are pretty easy to make: all you need are milk jug tops, stickers or googly eyes, a permanent marker, and pipe cleaners for antennae. Like the lemurs of a few weeks …

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