Our Arrival, 1 Month down & Adjusting....

This entry is much over due but I started writing this when we got here and just kept adding more to it. So this is more for me to remember and all is welcome to read what you find appealing!

After a long journey we made it to our little flat in Cirencester, England. Our trip started off a little rocky, on the way to the airport Reece was acting funny and wouldn’t finish her bottle and then about 5 minutes into our drive she started throwing up ALL over. Over the Christmas break in our house of 7 kids and 8 adults there was a lot of germs being passed around and Reece happened to get sick the day we left. So Reece was COVERED and I mean literally covered in vomit and I had some on me as well, it got all over the back seat also. When we got to the airport I ran straight into the bathroom and started cleaning things up. We had plenty of time to spare so I was able to wash Reece, the car seat and change her clothes.

Our flight was full but I was lucky enough to get a front seat and Reece had a bassinet to sleep in, which was really great so I didn’t have to hold her the 9 hour 40 min flight. For me the flight was rough, I had a really hard time sleeping and Reece slept okay but I was more worried about her the whole time I kept checking on her, about an hour before landing Reece woke up for good, although it didn’t last long because just before we landed she was asleep again. We landed at 2:30pm and headed straight for the luggage carousel. The London airport was HUGE, it took us about 10 minutes just to get to our luggage and another 10 min to get to the border check point. We got to take a fast bullet tram ride to the baggage terminal, which was fun! When we arrived at the border check and we were jumped to the fast track line b/c we had a baby!! Kids can really be a bonus! J The line was very long and im sure it would have taken us at least an hour to get through so we were really happy to get through in just 10 minutes. With our 2 trolleys (carts) full of luggage we headed to the coach station and waited for our coach to arrive and off we were to lovely Cirencester.

Jacqui, a sweet lady who had been helping us over the past couple months, picked us up at the bus station and took us to our apartment. It was dark outside so I wasn’t able to see much but when walked into our place I was so excited it was super cute. EXTREEMLY small place we have but very nice. Our little family is living in a tiny little 1 bedroom apartment that is about 400sq ft. Nice and cozy! We are right in the center of town and just a 2 min walk into the town square where there is shops, restaurants and lots of fun places to see. We live right by an old church that has a cemetery in the back and some of the stones date back to the 1600’s, it’s pretty awesome. We have been here 3 weeks and have seen so much but also have many more places we need to visit.

We bought a car, its very small but it runs great. Its kind of weird driving on the other side of the road but Clinton has adjusted very fast.

Adjusting to the time change was rough for Reece, it took her about 5 days but she did so well. I would try and keep her up as much during the day as I could so she would be tired at night but her clock was still stuck. She was such a good girl and didn’t fuss too much with all the changes she was going through, food, milk, sleeping. My clock was still on Arizona time b/c I would be up at night with Reece until 2-3am sometimes so it took me a while as well.

The foods here are a little different, it’s going to take me a while to get use to the taste and sometimes lack of taste. There are many things similar to what we have in the states but it’s called something completely different so shopping is a challenge. One thing we have really enjoyed is the Pasty (pastry) shops, they are everywhere and so yummy…. But I have to limit myself or I am going to pack on the pounds! Clinton goes all crazy with the pasties but he has plenty of room to spare!

I miss my home often but I think I miss the warm weather and my spacious rooms more than anything.

We took our first trip last week to the Gloucester Cathedral, an old church that was built in the 11^th century, so much history here it’s amazing. We saw a few of the spots where some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed and we want to visit the other Cathedral’s that they used in the films as well.

Clinton is adjusting to the school system here; it is very different than the states. He has class’s 3 days during the week and no homework and no tests. This is hard for him but he is learning to adjust.

We have been here for a month now and I think we have adjusted well. We spend most of our free time walking about our little town or sightseeing around the nearby villages. Irvin & Amber (the other American couple here with us) live near so we spend lots of time together and it’s nice to have another couple to interact with.

I am very comfortable driving but my only problem is the roads are so small and very confusing. They done use cardinal directions so its impossible to get anywhere without a GPS. I often get lost and I absolutely HATE roundabouts, sadly they are EVERYWHERE. I am just not use to them and how they actually work here it is very different. The speed limit here is WAY high, most roads we would go 25 they go 40 and the freeway or highways here are all 70mph and they are not like our freeways b/c 1-2 miles down you will have a roundabout! There are not too many big roads, lots of country roads and no street lights so driving at night is not my cup of tea.

We took our first trip to London last weekend and I will have to write about that later and post pictures. It was HUGE, BUSY and loads of fun. We will surely go back a few more times before we leave.