Sissinghurst castle and London: attempt 1

It has been almost 2 weeks and we are finally winding down and starting to embrace the slow travel way of life.  Josie definitely slows us down and we are beginning to see how impossible it is to do too much in a day.  This is creating great conversations as a family about what we want to make sure we get done in a day and how to find fun all around us.  England has been pretty gracious with us too.  As we figure this travel thing out we've at least been able to ask people in English where to go and what to do.  But man have we made some mistakes!  Our first attempt into London took us 3 hours to get from our place to where we wanted (should have taken us half of that)!  The parking didn't work, we had to fill out forms to get this discount for the train but it meant lining up twice, then we had to figure out how to get from one train station to the next.  But!  We learned.  And it was really encouraging that together as a family we talked about how to make it go smoother next time, how we should plan our London day and (and this is key) what kinds of food we need to pack so we don't get hangry (hungry + angry).  

Today there was a small 'hooray' of success.  I went to pay at the little grocery store we've been buying our groceries from (which I found out is the Sunterra Market of the UK meaning we are paying way too much for our groceries but it has some really cool foods) and the grocery clerk recognized me from last time when I told her our story and she thought we were crazy and asked us how we were doing!  One of my goals was to get to know a town and to become a part of it (well as best as you can in 2 weeks).  I wanted us to really feel like we could get a picture of how people live and what it would be like to have a little cottage here.  And being recognized was one of my goals within the goal.  So, check!

Tomorrow we are off to Rye, church on Sunday at the little baptist church beside the grocery store (maybe to see my new friends there!?!) and then London again on Monday.  (Harry Potter here we come!).

On the Sissinghurst Castle grounds

I was off on a bench nursing Josie when I heard, Mom check out how high Ella is!  Ei.  Yi.  Yi.  

On the train!

The only one who will tolerate my photo taking

People looked at us like we were pushing a rocketship with the chariot.  

In the train station there were just random pianos everywhere to play.  Ella was brave enough to try with the promise
that if anyone stopped to watch she could IMMEDIATELY walk away.  

Isaac and I exercising 

Wouldn't be a trip without a family nerf gun fight!