Rugby World Cup

Today was the day Weston has been looking forward to for two weeks, and that Jeff and I have been anticipating for months. Having been warned repeatedly about heavy traffic and possibly ridiculous parking situations, and knowing we had a two hour drive ahead of us, we gave ourselves a good early start, leaving right after lunch, even though the game didn't begin until 4:45. Everything turned out to be super easy, so we got to Millennium Stadium in Cardiff well ahead of the bulk of the crowd. That gave us an opportunity make the first of many bathroom stops, get drinks, take selfies and watch the teams (Fiji and Australia) warm up before the match. We all chose to cheer for Australia, since we will be living there for about a month in the spring. Though the match was pretty brutal, it was very interesting to watch, and we all had a wonderful time! All the more, since our team won. I'm so glad we had an opportunity to do something so unique, and I'm especially glad we could give Weston a gift he appreciated so much.

Joining the crowd for the walk to the stadium

The perfect birthday gift for our lover of all sports

Before entering the stadium, we picked up these free signs to assist us with our cheering.
A "try" is a score in rugby, in case you, like me, need a little education in this game.

Rugby World Cup Selfie

The teams entering the pitch in a blaze of glory

The team from Fiji always performs a war dance, called the cibi, before international matches

Kick-off

Executing a "maul"

The scrum is our favorite thing!

This scrum got out of hand and turned into a bit of a brawl.

Final score: Australia 28, Fiji 13
(Check out the bloody gash on this guy's arm!)

Millennium Stadium 

This is actually a football (soccer) statue, but Clay didn't mind.
He was just happy to have his picture made with any statue.

Dyfed Shire Horse Farm

The Shire horses are huge and very sweet.
The big guy pictured in the bottom center and top right measures about 17 hands.

Pedal Go Karts

You know it's going to be a fun day when there is a tractor involved!

Other Diversions

Game Day

We are still supporting our Aggies, even though we are on the other side of the world. And, we're not being Two Percenters about it, either. Gig 'Em!

Game Snack: Potato Pile
Delicious layers of "chips" (French fries),  Mexican shredded beef, black beans,
cheese, homemade salsa, and homemade guacamole

Game action on two screens

Studentcito

Our youngest student has a fountain of academic enthusiasm welling up inside of him and bubbling over into his little blue notebook. He eagerly engages in every class and has been working on numbers and letters like a boss. He picks things up very quickly and is always so proud of his work. The other day, I was helping another student, and Clay was busy writing something in his notebook. When I looked up, he proclaimed that he had drawn a compass. It was a fairly decent reckoning, and I asked him where he had learned about compasses, because I knew I hadn't taught him. He quickly responded that Watta JJ had taught him, and, as it was a day that I was struggling with my own confidence in my ability to teach my kids everything they need to know (or anything, for that matter), I almost cried tears of joy. I have never been so thankful for an imaginary friend and was so glad to know that Clay had someone reliable to teach him all the important things in life.

Our history story today mentioned bows and arrows, which reminded Clay of what he wants to be when he grows up: a cowboy in a doublewide rocketship, shooting a bow and arrow. While I was trying to help the other two boys write summary paragraphs about our lesson, Clay kept asking me how to spell words, and I kept spouting off letters in between delivering instructions to and answering questions for the other boys. When everyone was done with their writing, Clay proudly turned in his paper, which said, clear as day, "Cowboy in a rocketship." I'm going to recommend Watta JJ for Teacher of the Year.

Working on numbers and problems from the green book

Compass

It's important to write out your goals

So proud of this sweet boy!

Picton Castle

Today was another day off for us, and boy did we need it! After a hard week of school, a few of us feeling just a little under the weather, fluctuating hormones, and several days of rain and chilly temps, we were very ready for a pretty day to get out and about. We decided to visit Picton Castle, which is about 30 minutes from our house, and we enjoyed a lovely day there. The grounds are amazing, with several different garden areas, a fantastic playground, and lots of secret paths to explore. We all feel refreshed now and are so thankful for this day to recharge in this beautiful place.

Picton Castle 

Taking the Jungle Path

Among the giant gunnera plants

Mushroom Man

The wall was built to carry people horizontally, but, of course, this one went vertical.

The first to make it to the center of the hedge maze. 

Our first time to visit a lawnmower museum

All the outlaws in the stocks

The race is on!

This giant Western Red Cedar provided a great deal of entertainment for these silly monkeys!

I love how these two love each other!

Caged

A small selection of the gorgeous flowers in the gardens

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