David and Amy Handyside: July 3, 2009

The evening of Friday, June 19, we walked down to the park near Eric and Lee's house to give the kids a bit of play time.

Joshua enjoyed being a monkey.

Daddy and Joshua had fun bouncing one another on the teeter-totter.

And Daniel decided the slide was the way to go.

Saturday, June 20, Eric and Dave went to watch rugby at a local pub that had the station that was carrying the rugby game. The Lions were playing the Springboks. The Boks won!!! Lee, Joshua, Daniel, and Amy met up with Dave and Eric in the road on the way to the train station. We were all travelling by train to Howth. When we got there we saw they were having a fair; this caused much rejoicing in Joshua.

We walked on the pier and saw lots of fascinating things....

The seals were begging for some grub.

One of the seals was quite small, yet it's eyes were the largest of the bunch. Eric decided this was the 'special needs' seal.

The view from the pier was fabulous!

Joshua had the best view.

Lee was overjoyed at the fun!

Dave showed Joshua all the amazing sights.

We found the footstep of King George IV and were surprised at the smallness of it.

Dave has evidently been job searching while we are in the UK. I think it is rather cheeky of him to proclaim himself 'clever', but I wouldn't mind having him to clean my house.

Then we walked over to the fair where Joshua, Dave, and Eric had a whirly-twirly time on the Dodge-Ems.

Joshua, Amy, and Dave got dizzy on the roller-coaster.

We left the fair and walked down to the fish and chips shop. As we were walking Joshua and Daniel were holding hands the whole way. It was very sweet!

Lee, Amy and the boys played at the park while Eric and Dave ordered the fish and chips. Despite the look on his face, Daniel was having a ball with Joshua on the giant swing.

We had our picnic in the park and soon were on our way back to the train station where Joshua found a pole to climb before we left for Dublin.

Sunday, June 21, we went first thing to a church at a college just around the corner from Eric and Lee's. People were quite friendly. There were less than 30 people attending including ourselves and all the children, yet there were at least 8 countries being represented.

The father of one of the church members was there from Bulgaria. He didn't speak much English. He gave a lovely farewell to the church members as he was leaving the next day to go home. At the end of the service he came and spoke to Daniel in his native language. I don't have a clue what he said, but Daniel seemed to know. Daniel just kept staring up at him and smiling. Then he reached out his arms to the man and pretended to give him a big hug. (Daniel was strapped in his pram at the time so he couldn't give real hugs).

After church we walked home and had lunch and lounged around a bit after.

Mommy hugged on a head someone had misplaced.

Eric decided ice cream sounded good and went to get us some.

When he got back we had super-duper banana splits.

Not long after our super-duper banana splits Ken Jenkins came over for a couple of hours. He had just flown into the country and was to be working in Victoria for 6 weeks. It was great seeing the Doc again. The last time Dave had seen him was in August 2004 and the last time Amy and Joshua had seen him was in April 2003.

While Dave and Doc were busy catching up Eric was busy firing up the braai.

Lee was busy preparing the fish for the barby.

Daniel found it more exciting to spin the wheel on the scooter.

Soon we were all fed up and having our tea. Then it was time for Doc to leave, but not before checking out Dave's kidneys as he was struggling a bit with bilharzia. Evidently, it can lie dormant in one's blood and then show itself at a later date.

That night we had a great time playing Carem. Then we put the boys to bed and had more fun playing Settlers of Cattan while drinking tea and eating scones.

Amy LOVES scones!!!

Whipped fresh cream, strawberry jam and marg on top of a yummy scone....

what's NOT to love???

Monday, June 22, we got up at 4:30am in order to fly back to Newcastle. That day we mainly napped and lounged around.

That evening Gogs got wet giving Daniel a bath in the sink.

Joshua wanted to join in the fun.

Then we had fun tuggling together in bed before entering the Land of Nod.

Tuesday, June 23, Amy spent the day blogging while Joshua worked on his scrapbook and Dave took Liz shopping. Late that evening we went to ASDA to turn in Joshua's coins and get cards and presents for Rob.

Wednesday, June 24, was Rob's birthday. Eric and Lee flew in early that morning. Dave went to pick the up from the airport. When they got to the house everyone was still asleep so the three of them decided to go get breakfast baps from the curb-side diner. Baps are a Newcastle favourite; the bun is kinda like a burger bun - only better- and then it is filled with some sort of meat and the English favourite of brown sauce. The guys brought us all back some.... bacon, egg and onion with brown sauce.... YUM! We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon wrapping presents and signing cards and having tea with the whole family.

Later that afternoon, Gramps came over to give Rob his birthday card. Rob was out when he arrived so Joshua kept him entertained by chatting with him in the garden.

When Rob came home we all sat around the garden and had a cozy time soaking up some sun.

Soon it was time to open presies. You will notice that the card reads "Pete" and, of course, this is not Rob's name. Dave and Michael, Dave's brother, call him Pete Robbie. Evidently, there was a man in Zimbabwe by this name... it is a joke of some sort, but not knowing the man I have no idea what the joke is.

Joshua spent hours on his card to Grandpa. He wrote lots of words on it and even made up of few of them.

Then he and Eric spent some quality 'guy time' looking at an electronic catalog.

Grandpa couldn't wait to get into his gifts! He got lots of fun things from his children and grandchildren... digital photo frame, bible cover, shirt, a frog pot the he and Joshua are to paint together with Basil seeds to plant in it, another shirt, a giant chocolate cake with caramel fudge on top.. YUM!

Then it was time to chat with Michael and his new wife, Nicola, since they were missing. =(

While Dad was chatting with Micks, Lee and Eric celebrated with a little dance.

Then we were off to Nando's in the Metro Centre. Nando's is a Portuguese chicken place that was started in Africa. We all LOVE

Here await the hungry birthday crew....

Dave, Joshua, Eric, Lee, Rob, Liz

Liz, Gramps, Mark, Louise, Katie, Daniel

Thursday, June 25, we decided that the baps we had for the previous day's breakfast we so good that we would have some more. After breakies we were busy preparing for our camping trip. We did some shopping for the trip at Argos, Poundland again, ASDA, Aldi, and Snow and Rock. Yet we still didn't find all we needed which meant that we needed to stop on the way to the campsite.

That evening we went to see Uncle John and Aunty Laura. They had been downtown Newcastle for a doctor appointment and had come back with a snazzy new pair of orange sparkly shoes for Aunty Laura. They thrilled us with stories of Dave and Lee's grandmother, Nancy, who had passed away at only 58. Dave and Lee even had a quick chat on the telephone to Janet, John and Laura's daughter, who was at that moment in Spain on vacation.

We were soon to leave there to head over to Gramp's house. He filled our heads with visions of airplane crashes and attempted to fill Joshua's belly with more yoghurt, but Joshua was not so keen that time.

We didn't have long to stay at Gramp's because we were due at the allotment to start the braai. Rob, Liz, Eric, Lee, Dave, Amy, Joshua, and Daniel were all there having a good time eating sausages, chicken, sadza, potato bake, and crisps before cleaning up and heading back home before dark.

Friday, June 26, we spent the morning packing for the camping trip. Daniel spent most of that time in the cooler box.

Then we were off to Durham to see if their Argos had the gas range we were looking for... THEY DID!! So we had success, but only after being stuck in skinny little back roads for over an hour. We DID go right by Durham Cathedral and Hatfield College, so that made the trip a little more interesting.

Next we were on the motorway with our destination of Sherwood Forest. We were stuck on the motorway for HOURS!!! We stopped only a short time in York to eat fish and chips at 'The Wetherby Whaler'. The road was practically a complete dead-lock for a long time. What should have been a 2 1/2 hour trip turned into over 5 hours! Once we reached Clipstone and then Sherwood Forest Holiday Park we were more than pleased to get out of the cars and set up camp.

Joshua was a big help by airing up all of the beds.

Even Daniel played a part.

The men didn't like Amy and Lee's ideas of how to set up camp so the women were sent to the naughty chairs.

Finally, camp was ready and it was not long before sleep came.

This is how we ended up. Dave and Amy slept in the big tent on the left side. Eric and Lee slept in the big tent on the right side. Joshua and Daniel slept in the small tent and the tarp covered both of them while creating a nice awning for us to sit under during rainy times.

Saturday, June 27, we had baps again for breakfast; this time Eric cooked them for us. Then we had a wonderful time reading the word of the Lord and praying together before we started our day. It didn't take Daniel long, though, until he was ready to get loaded into the car.

We drove into Edwinstowe and headed to the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre. From there we took a 20 minute walk through the wood to the Major Oak.

This giant tree, with a waistline of 35 ft, a height of 52 feet and weighing an estimated 23 tons, has been here for about 800-1000 years. The exact age of this magnificent tree can only be estimated. Its huge size is a clue, and yet at the same time as some oaks grow faster than others, the enormous trunk conceals the real answer.

Height=16 metres, average diameter=337 cms, measured by Alan F.Mitchell in 1990, species robur.

Its large canopy, the leaves and branches, with a spread of 92 ft points to it being a tree that has grown up with little or no competition from oaks nearby. This has allowed the large branches and network of leaves to spread out. Its huge trunks forming as the tree demands food, water and structured support which increased during its continued growth, as it still does today.

This is not the Major Oak. It's just a jolly, big tree.

We spotted some wheat growing in the middle of the road.

We spotted those same love birds that we had seen at Ardgillan Castle in Ireland!

Here we all are standing in front of the Major Oak. It doesn't look like much in the picture because we are so far in front of it so I have included an old picture of a man sitting under it.

One might think that the man is sitting beside it and the woman is behind it when in fact, the woman is standing inside the tree. Rumor has it that Robin Hood and his merry men would use this tree as a quick hide-out from their enemies.

This is a close-up of part of the trunk. If you look closely, you just might see the face of the old tree.

Amy found a big, old tree. Poor thing, it had a goiter!

We thought we had even spotted the elusive Robin Hood.

Turned out to be Eric.

Daniel insisted on walking, but would only do it if someone was holding his hands.

We came across scaly characters in the town square.

This one looked as though he had been here for a very long time.

This guy was just plain SCARY!!!! No telling what he was locked up for!

Daniel got Eric to walk him around after Daddy stopped.

We found a lovely spot for a picnic.

After we ate we found Winnie the Pooh in a nearby tree.

Eric had a 'restful' lie down with his nephews.

Wait a minute! Isn't that little Midge in that tree?!?

We left the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre and headed over to Edwinstowe's St Mary's Church. We parked near a craft centre so we went in there first. Strange thing... a man running one of the shops knew Dave and Lee's Mum.... Small World!!

The sign outside of St. Mary's Church, Edwinstowe. It reads, "This is the church where legend has it that Robin Hood and Maid Marian were married. Original church built 633 AD. The present building was begun c.1175 AD."

The church had just been used for a wedding. The wedding party had walked across the street to have the reception at the 'Maid Marion Restaurant and Pub'. St. Mary's had a beautiful, old cemetery.

Joshua spotted a head stone that was really neat to us. Anyone that is a true Robin Hood fan will know who Richard Green is. For those of you who are Robin Hood ignorant, Richard Green was the actor that played Robin Hood in the BBC series in the 50's. This head stone was, obviously, too old to belong to that particular Richard Green, but we found it fascinating just the same.

After we left the church, we travelled over to the ASDA to collect some meat for supper as well as the few odd necessities. We were all very tired by this point so we headed back to camp where the guys made us supper... sausages, corn, potatoes... Yum.