It is so good to be at the home of friends! We slept in, stayed in our pjs, enjoyed coffee and tea late into the morning while catching up with Leah and Kristian and watching their kids play. Since Kristian was working from home today, Leah got the day off as Mom, and we took advantage of that to have a girls’ day in the Carlisle town center. We caught the bus right in front of their house, and hopped off at the head of a pedestrian area, and a street loaded with charity shops. Of course we hit all of those and found some great treasures. The town center of Carlisle has a series of pedestrian streets and covered mini malls, with stores ranging from second hand shops to elegant boutiques. Next we went to Debenhams, a British department store similar to Macy’s. Courtney was on a quest for a Union Jack duvet cover for her eldest son’s birthday. He had seen it online and had hoped she would find it. And bonus! It was 20% off ! TK Maxx was our next stop. They call it TK Maxx here because there was already another store called TJ something or other. It was on the top floor of an old train station with a glass roof which was cool, but it was kind of like a greenhouse in there. The heat probably saved us some money (our husbands will be glad) because we really didn’t want to linger in the sweltering store.

Leah took us to her favorite lunch spot, a cafe called Merienda tucked away in a quaint side street. We both had homemade tarts with chili jam, sun dried tomatoes and cheddar cheese. The best part of lunch, though, was having time to sit and catch up with Leah, sharing what is going on with our lives on both sides of the Atlantic.

We returned back to their house to find Kristian reading in the garden, watching the boys splash about in their little pool. They had enjoyed the warm, sunny day as well. We played with the boys, and had spaghetti for dinner. After dinner, I helped Matias with his reading homework – a little taste of being “mom” was good for me! He is coming along well in his reading, but says his favorite subject is maths. Yes, maths with an “s,” as they say here. Short for mathematics. Oskar was quite interested in watching the GoPro video footage we were reviewing, and not happy when bedtime came. Of course it looks like broad daylight at 8:30pm, so I cannot really blame him!

So now, we are snuggling in for girls’ movie time… watching the BBC’s “North and South” and having tea and coffee and biscuits. Perfect way to end the day!

Enjoying the Journey with Mr. Thornton….

Heather and Courtney