"Everything is Awesome" or "The Bowers of RI's Trip to England"

Justin, Margaret & Casey made the hop across the pond last week.  The soundtrack to their delightful stay was courtesy of the Lego Movie, "Everything is awesome. Everything is cool if you work as a team."   Henry & Oliver introduced  the them to the joys of the movie early on during the visit and the song reverberated through the house the rest of the week.

After arriving Thursday night they were up bright and early on Friday eager to see some of the English country side.  I leapt at the opportunity to finally use my "Pub Walks" of England guidebook and bring them on a 4 mile hike in Hambleden, a quaint English village a few miles from our house.  The hike begins and ends at one of our favorite pubs, The Stag and Huntsman.  Sounds good, right, i.e., what could go wrong?  The first three miles were perfect - great weather, great scenery - Casey even 'claimed' to see a deer.  After three miles we were LOST.  It  is more than apparent that whoever wrote the guidebook had more than a few pints while writing it.  For example one passage along the hike read, "Now take care! When you are a few yards prior the top of the hill white waymark arrows beckon you off to the right. Take the half-right turn (150 degrees) away from the present track and keep right at the fork. Be sure to follow the fields well over to the left as you walk under trees for the next few hundred yards. You'll see a cluster of trees, take a left and then go straight on into the open across the fields."  Mind you we were in the middle of the country and everything looked exactly the same.  Trees and fields everywhere.  We crossed our fingers and headed East (or was it West) and in a distance saw a village.  It wasn't Hambleden but it led us to a main road that got us there. 

It started out so well.

 

Here is Casey, Justin and Margaret trying to look calm.

Me hoping that Justin wasn't packin' heat.

Thanks to my expert navigation we finally found our way out of the woods...

 

After a hearty lunch at the Stag we headed home and got ready for the boys' performance in Captain Hook.  Here is Henry as Michael, a kid in pajamas.

And here is Oliver the pirate.

 

 

 After the show we headed on over to Higginson park and the surrounding area for some fun.

5 time gold medalist and Marlow resident Sir Steve Redgrave posing with Henry, Oliver, Justin and Casey. 

 

From Wiki:  Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave is a retired British Rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000 as well as a bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Games, totaling six Olympic Medals. With five gold medals and one bronze, Redgrave is the most successful male rower in Olympic history, and his achievement of being the only Olympian to have won gold medals at five different Olympic Games in an endurance sport has led to him being hailed as Britain's greatest-ever Olympian. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2001.

Umm, what number do I push for Facebook?

Saturday began with a dragon hunt through the tunnel beyond our garden towards the Thames.  Here is Beth and Casey, a/k/a the dragon. 

The Knights (plus the Queen and Beth)

 

Protecting the Queen

Henry and his Godfather

 

Justin and Henry doing their best Sound of Music routine

 

 

 With some time to kill before the arrival of the babysitter we took a boat trip down the Thames.

Then we were off to London for some sight-seeing, shopping on Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Covent Garden followed-by dinner and a show, Billy Elliot the Musical.

Wiki: Billy Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot.  The music is by Elton John and has won 10 Tony Awards.  The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes. The story of his personal struggle and fulfillment are balanced against a counter-story of family and community strife caused by the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) in County Durham in North Eastern England.

Margaret, her new 'London bag' and the rest of the crew in front of Punch & Judy's in Covent Garden.

 Brothers?

On the train ride home Margaret learned that she was nominated for the ice bucket challenge.  Here she is on a very cold night in England. 

 

 

Team Bowers of RI spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday visiting the sights of London and Windsor.  The Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, the Horse guards, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, etc. - you name it, they did it.  They also tracked down some Dr. Who, Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes landmarks (I didn't have the heart to tell them that they are all fictional characters).  Here are some of Margaret's pictures that I borrowed for the blog:

 

 Dr. Who

The Tower of London.   In honor of the 100th anniversary of World War I, the Tower was transformed with ceramic poppies to pay tribute to the Great War's fallen troops.  Each of the 888,246 poppies represents an allied victim of the First World War.

 

  Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4

 Sherlock Holmes

 

 Roar! (a family tradition)

 I love the little girl's expression

 

Tuesday night was member's night at the Marlow Brewery, home of Rebellion Beer.  Live music, BBQ and pull your own pint.

 

Cheers!

 

The next day we took a road trip to Stonehenge.

 

Wiki: Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones erected sometime between 3000 BC to 2000 BC.  Archeologists agree that it is the longest running practical joke in world history (kidding).

 

Sorry Jesse and Cassidy but I think this is the Christmas card next year...

We had such a great time and were very sad to see them go.  The week went by much too fast.

 

And a special thank you to Casey.  You were amazing with the boys. They had so much fun playing with you.

 

Everything is awesome!!!