All the noise

I always joke that Ruth started talking about 10 minutes after she was born. But, seriously, little Ruth was quite a talker. It seemed like she was telling me something, or asking me something, every waking moment from the time she could talk until she started reading books on her own, for her own enjoyment, which is when I noticed a drop off in the constant chatter. Somedays, it seemed rather incessant, but it was always conversational. She'd talk about horses, friends, books, clothes, whatever came into her cute little head, and, of course, all things pink. I didn't always want to talk about those things, but I did almost always understand what the sounds were coming out of her mouth. My boys are different. Sound emanates from them constantly, but it is mostly just noise, as far as I can tell--an obnoxious outpouring of onomatopoeia. It is loud. And, It. Never. Stops. Even when they are reading or eating or sleeping, there are noises popping out of their mouths that they seem utterly unaware of or able to control. And, I'm not going to lie, sometimes it absolutely drives me crazy. I'm not talking about the stuff that is conversational here, because we do have lots of great conversations. I'm just talking about the stuff that seems to serve no purpose, at least to my way of thinking. What on earth are all these noises for, and why, for the love, can they not be silenced even for brief periods of time? Boy moms, do you know what I'm talking about? Does it drive you crazy, too, or is my introverted, silence-coveting self just being overly sensitive? If you have any tips to help me keep my sanity in the midst of all the noise, I would really love to hear them. And, if not, just send some quiet thoughts my way.

Day Off

I have previously alluded to the fact that we have set up our homeschool schedule a little differently this year. Instead of having "days" of school, we have "sessions." We always try to start a session* by 8:00 am and finish by 12:00. In this way, we can finish two sessions in a day. The typical weekly schedule we set up, by mutual consent of all parties involved, has us doing two full days of class (four total sessions), followed by a half day, followed by two full days, and then a full day completely off. For us, for now, this seems to be a good balance of work and play. We work on weekends, if that is when the school days fall, unless there is a particular event or activity we want to do that only happens on those days. All that to say, we have been working since we arrived in Wales, and today was our first full day off, so we took the opportunity to explore our surroundings and just have some fun.

First up on the agenda was a horse riding lesson for Ruth at a local stable. Ruth has worked very hard this summer, researching riding facilities in various places and contacting them to find out about the possibility of riding. This is the first one that has worked out, and she was so thrilled to be back in the saddle, even though it was an English saddle, and she had been used to primarily riding Western in the States. She did a fantastic job, and we all had so much fun watching her!

After that, we took the long way home (but, really not that long), so that we could drive along the Welsh coast, which is absolutely beautiful! We are looking forward to more opportunities to visit the coast and beaches throughout our stay here.

Once we had had our lunch, the boys helped me pick apples from the tree in our yard. I then peeled, cored and sliced them, dusted them with sugar and cinnamon, and baked them, with the goal of producing (at the kids' request) something akin to the baked cinnamon apples at Chili's. The jury happily claims that I got pretty close.

When that was done, we decided to head over to the leisure club, access to which is a perk of staying in this house. It is a lovely space and has plenty of fun things for everyone to enjoy. The little boys spent most of their time trying out the bikes and other ride-on toys, while the older two enjoyed the big-enough-for-big-kids swings. There was also a pony paddock, a goat enclosure, and a delightful duck pond, as well as a very nice indoor pool, which we did not take advantage of this time but will definitely do another time. The weather was amazing, so we didn't rush to leave.

In order not to stray too far from our ancient Greek theme, though, Jeff and the kids watched a movie that Jeff loved as a kid called Asterix and the Twelve Tasks, which is an animated twist on the twelve tasks of Hercules (who is the Roman version of the Greek god Heracles).

Our last act of fun for the day was an early surprise birthday party for Weston. His birthday isn't until November, but when Jeff and I found out that some of the Rugby World Cup games were going to be played in Wales while we were here, we knew we had found the perfect gift for our sports lover. The tickets were delivered to the house today, so we spontaneously decided to turn it into a party. While Weston was in the shower, after dinner, we all hid behind the couch. When he came in, we jumped out and surprised him. He thought we were just surprising him with dessert, because he had smelled the brownies baking. He had no idea what else was coming. He was flabbergasted when he found out what was going on, and when he opened the package, his reaction was priceless!

I would say we definitely made the most of our day off and are now refreshed and ready to get back to work tomorrow.

*For those of you curious about what a session looks like, it is this:
Ruth's sessions consist of Literature, Spanish, Algebra II, and English Grammar. Weston and Max have (at their appropriate levels) Math, History, Spelling, Grammar, Reading, and Language. (This last started out as Spanish, but they both recently decided to give Chinese a go. They are both very enthused about this new venture for the moment and are working hard, so they can translate for us when we visit China next year.) And, Clay works on letter sounds and reading, as well as Math "from the green book." He also sits in on whichever classes he wants to sit in on and has learned quite a lot that way. 

So happy to be back in the saddle again

Panorama of the Welsh Coast
(Note the fish-shaped shrubbery in the far left picture)

Abundant Apples

Fun at the Leisure Club

A Big Surprise

Going Greek

This year's summer reading list has been significantly different for me from years past, as I've been preparing for and teaching Ruth's high-school level literature class. Some of the classics we've read have included Oedipus the King, Agamemnon, The Histories by Herodotus, Medea, The Birds, and, currently, The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides. It's not been light reading, but Ruth and I have both stretched our brains in wonderful ways and have had some fantastic discussions. As a family, we also listened to The Iliad, as we were driving into Greece earlier this summer. Additionally, Weston has been ravenously reading all the Percy Jackson books, and the boys and I have been studying about ancient Greece in our Story of the World book we use for history class. Tonight, we watched a fantastic version of The Odyssey, to go along with some of our lessons. It's starting to seem like it's all Greek to us! :) If you catch a theta or psi in any of my future writings, you'll know it's probably taken over my whole brain.

Where in the World Are The Watts: Part 3

My sister has put our travel itinerary in her calendar, so that she can easily see where we are at any given time. She told me the other day that she was entering in some appointment or event in December and realized she didn't have any notes about our whereabouts at that time, and she admonished me to send her an update. I thought some of the rest of you might be interested in an update, as well, so I'm sharing it here. If you want a recap of the first part of our journey, check out the first two parts of "Where in the World Are The Watts:" Part 1 and Part 2. Those two posts will show you where we've been since May and where we'll be through November. The chart that follows will tell you where we will be between the end of November and March, if you're interested.

When	Where
November 29-30	Tours, France
November 30-December 7	Bordeaux, France
December 7-12	Canillo, Andorra
December 12-26	Barcelona, Spain
December 26-January 2	Valencia, Spain
January 2-3	Consuegra, Spain
January 3-10	Benalmadena, Spain
January 10-12	Seville, Spain
January 12-13	Alcanena, Portugal
January 13-20	Porto, Portugal
January 20-21	Santander, Spain
January 21-22	Ferryboat from Spain to UK
January 22-25	London, England
January 25-February 4	Brighton, England
February 4-11	Paris, France
February 11-20	Orieces, France
February 20-23	Moscow, Russia
February 23-29	Trans Mongolian Train
February 29-March 6	Beijing, China
March 6-13	Xi'an, China
March 13-14	Hong Kong
March 14-15	Bangkok, Thailand
March 15-16	Train from Bangkok to Koh Samui
March 16-31	Koh Samui, Thailand

Moving Day

We left Beer this morning and headed to Wales. Ruth had an orthodontist appointment (because there is still a whole lot of normal that happens even when you're on an around-the-world trip), and then we stopped for lunch at a little cafe, before we finally made it to our new home for the next 21 days. We haven't yet had a stop this long, but we are excited about being in this lovely house (which seems like a mansion after our last couple of stops), in this sweet little town, for such a length of time. The boys have already familiarized themselves with the backyard and are looking forward to picking all the apples they can eat. Ruth has already taken advantage of the real laundry room, complete with washer AND dryer. And, Jeff has stocked the full-size kitchen with all kinds of goodies for us for the coming weeks. And, I, as you can see, am basking in the free flowing WiFi. It's a good, good life. 

Our 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home feels like a mansion to us!

Little boys need yards and this one is perfect!

Beer Beach

Yesterday afternoon, we walked over to Beer Beach and spent several lovely hours there. The beach is entirely made of smooth rocks of various sizes and colors, which was paradise for our three young lads. We also stopped at Ducky's beach cafe for ice cream and "cream tea," which is a local specialty and was absolutely delicious. We visited the fish market but ultimately decided we'd like to have someone else dress and prepare our fish, so we didn't buy anything. Finally, we made our way to the playground for a swinging good time. While Jeff had the kids corralled there, I decided to explore the coastal path and take in the sweeping vistas of the Channel. At one point, I lost my footing and splattered all over the ground. All kinds of thoughts go through your head when your are flat on your rear on the side of a hill. Turns out I'm pretty shallow and not all that concerned with my well-being. My thought process went like this:

Did anyone see me? No, thankfully, there's no one around.

Did I break my camera? No. Thank goodness.

Did I tear my pants? No, but they are filthy. I'll have to change before dinner, but I was going to wash them the next time we did laundry anyway, so it could have been worse.

Am I hurt? Not seriously-- just a couple of bumps and bruises-- but I will definitely be sore tomorrow.

Wait. There's no one around. I could have killed myself and no one would have known.

But at least I didn't tear my pants.

Jeff and I had a 5-minute date on the beach, while the kids ordered their ice cream.
Believe me, that counts. So, we needed a selfie to prove it.

Ice cream on the beach

Our cream tea was absolutely delightful. 

All of the rocks were special and needed to be brought home.

Beer Beach 

We felt there could be pirates lurking anywhere.

There is simply no joy like an unlimited pile of rocks to throw into the sea!

Cute little beach huts

Right after I took this picture, I found myself down on the ground in a most undignified position.

Beer Beach, with our caravan park on the hill in the distance

Fun for everyone!

Clay was happy to find a statue of Tom and Jerry

Pure Poetry

So much in homeschooling, as in life, is trial and error. We try something, and if it doesn't work, we try something else. And, we keep on doing that with every kid, until we hit upon something that works, which may not be the thing that worked for another kid. My kids are all brilliant (of course!) but sometimes, I will admit, I do feel like I am beating my head against a wall, trying to put knowledge into their heads. Last week, Weston got into the poetry lessons in his Grammar book, and I can tell you there were real tears as we tried to work through the lessons in the book. It wasn't pretty. And, I knew that game plan wasn't going to work. I was wishing (but not really) that he was old enough to relate to the scene in Dead Poets Society, where Robin William's character proclaims that "Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do..." But, then I realized, that, though Weston may not be old enough to care about wooing women yet, there is another love in his life that I might be able to use to the same end: sports. So, I tracked down a copy of "Casey at the Bat." With all my hopes of teaching rhythm and rhyme resting on this one tool, I stepped up to the plate. The subject matter was instantly tantalizing to my sports-minded student, and by the time we were done with class, he was begging me to let him read it "one more time" and to rewrite the ending to make it "better." Truly, it felt like a homeschool home run. It doesn't happen every day, but I'll take my victories where I can get them.

New Normals

New normals are our new normal, and, as I mentioned in a post the other day, flexibility is the name of the game. Situations we could not have easily imagined a year ago seem to materialize in our lives constantly now. One example of this is our current living situation, which has us in a two bedroom trailer house, with a tiny kitchen that contains no coffee pot of any kind. We gave Ruth the diminutive extra bedroom, because sometimes a teenage girl just needs a little privacy and some space. So, all three boys are sleeping in the living room, on the fold-out couch and the other sofa. I'm not complaining, because there is truly plenty of room for everyone, and we are all finding that we need less stuff and space than we used to believe we needed. I'm simply making a point that things are different for us than they once were, and we are daily learning lessons in flexibility, patience, and creativity. Because of the close quarters and the elusive wifi inside our current home, we have adopted a new bedtime routine, which, at first, seemed frustrating but has now kind of grown on us. After baths, Jeff will bring Clay into our bedroom for a bedtime story, which will become progressively more boring until Clay (and maybe Jeff) falls asleep, while the older boys and girl read in their beds until the appointed lights-out time. During that time, I will slip out to the car, where there is a decent and fairly consistent wifi signal. I will take care of whatever business I need to take care of and soak up the glorious impenetrable silence, which, as an introvert living with incredibly loud and needy people in small spaces, I desperately need. (I also need this when we are living in large spaces, just to be clear.) When I come back in the house, everyone is enveloped in sweet slumber. I will then move Clay to his bed in the living room, having avoided the whole brothers-in-close-quarters arguing and roughhousing routine, that can easily spiral out of control at bedtime, especially when beds are being shared. It is starting to really feel like we win all the way around. So, if you had asked me a year ago if I'd like to live in a two bedroom trailer house with four kids and no internet or coffee pot, I would have quickly said, "No way, Jose!" But, our new normal really isn't all that bad, and we are discovering that there can even be freedom and joy in finding and embracing new normals. Are there any "new normals" in your life? How have you had to be flexible, patient, and/or creative as you've adjusted to them?

My "new normal" improvised coffee pot

Sometimes, embracing a new normal can be sweet!

Stonehenge Rocks...And so does Beer

We got up early this morning and set out for Stonehenge. This was the thing Max has been looking most forward to on our trip, and he was giddy with joy all day! The rest of us were also pretty pleased with the stop, especially since the rain held off for our visit and the tour buses didn't start showing up en masse until we were leaving. What a fascinating and mysterious piece of history Stonehenge is! We were amazed to learn that Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids were being built around the same time, and we are thrilled to be able to say we have now seen them both! After leaving the Salisbury Plain, where Stonehenge is located, we made our way down to the little coastal town of Beer, where we will spend the next ten days trying to get some school and work done. We are staying in the Beer Head Caravan Park, and though our caravan is small, it suits our needs just fine. Besides that, it has the most magnificent view of the English Channel, which certainly doesn't hurt anything!

The exhibition center at Stonehenge was really interesting.

This is a replica stone, which begged visitors to try to move it. 

The kids got a kick out of the small huts at the museum,
which are meant to be similar to the huts the builders of Stonehenge would have lived in.

This boy could hardly contain his excitement!

The older two were trying to entertain the youngest
by seeing who could stand on one foot the longest.

The Watts at Stonehenge

This would have been the main entrance to the temple, with the sacrifice stone out front.

Max studied his guide seriously and shared many fascinating facts with us.

Our home in Beer is not much to look at...

...But you can't beat the view!

Another view of the Channel from the bottom of the hill

This iconic structure outside the office is not what it seems.
There is a fish aquarium housed inside, which greatly excited the boys!
(If you look closely, you can see a couple of fish just about the poster at the bottom.)

Flexibility

One thing that travel gives you plenty of opportunities to do is be flexible. We have truly been fortunate in our travels that things have mostly gone smoothly. But, sometimes, they definitely don't go according to plan. For instance, the plan for today was to cross the English Channel through the Chunnel (a train tunnel that goes underneath the English Channel) on a high speed train. We weren't sure what time we would be able to get off this morning or how long it would take us to make the drive from Belgium, so we opted to buy our tickets at the terminal instead of online, which would have required us to choose a particular departure time. Only, they weren't selling tickets at the terminal today, because of some glitch in their system. So, we turned our car around and headed to the ferry terminal to try our luck there. Fortunately, they were selling tickets, and we were able to get on board and continue on to London, as planned, and only delayed from our original timetable by a couple of hours. This route brought us into port at Dover, so we were excited to see the famous "White Cliffs of Dover." We also thought it apropos that we docked, disembarked and drove to London in the midst of a fairly significant rain storm. That's just exactly the picture I have of England in my head.

The P&O Ferry Boat that brought us to England

This sweet boy had a blast on the boat, playing in the the "Family Lounge"

The White Cliffs of Dover coming into view through the rain

A close-up of the white cliffs

Looking back out at the English Channel from Dover

Seventeen

Seventeen years ago, I said "I do" to the man I loved with every fiber of my being and who I considered to be my best friend. I couldn't imagine at the time that I could ever love him more. I was wrong. It hasn't always glamorous--I mean, we celebrated our anniversary today with all our kids in tow at a place called "Balls & Glory." And, it certainly hasn't always been easy. In fact, sometimes it has been more work than either of us thought we could handle. But, work we did (and do!), every single day, even when we don't want to. And, you know what? We are more in love with each other today than we were seventeen years ago. I am so thankful I get to do life with this amazing man! He is my hero, and I still love him with every fiber of my being and consider him to be my best friend! We had such a fun day celebrating with our people in Ghent!

Seventeen years

This is the first time in 13 years
that the kids have joined us for the anniversary outing,
and we had such a great time!

This is what you get at Balls & Glory, a restaurant focusing entirely on meatballs.
(Despite the quirky name, the food was absolutely delicious!)

I thought it was appropriate that we saw a passionflower today while walking around Ghent.

We tried this interesting (but not delicious) local candy delicacy: Ghent Noses.

The lovely castle in Ghent

Burgers on the deck of our houseboat

Weston thought we needed a cocktail for our anniversary.

Belgium

We left Luxembourg this morning and made our way to Belgium. Our first stop was the Waterloo Battlefield, where Napoleon was defeated in 1815. For our CC friends, we had so much fun singing our history song (over and over) about that event in the very spot where it occurred! Our next stop was Brussels, where our main focus was on tracking down some of the famous Belgian delicacies: chocolate and waffles. (Don't worry, we also purchased Brussels sprouts and will have them later in the week!) Finally, we arrived at our houseboat in Ghent, much to the delight of all the kids (and adults). When we asked the kids what they wanted to do the next couple of days, they all said, "Just hang out on this awesome boat!" It doesn't happen often, but sometimes a parent CAN knock one out of the park. (Thank you, Airbnb!)

Lion Mound at Waterloo Battlefield

This is not our most Napoleonic child,
but it is the one most willing to have his picture taken.

Posing with the "chocolate" elephant outside Chocopolis

We had so much fun looking in all the chocolate shops in Brussels!

Grand-Place in Brussels

Belgian waffle time!

Chocolate horseshoes 

It was super hard, but we finally narrowed it down and made our choices.

Our Belgian home

The view from my bedroom window