New York

Nearly home. We stayed for a fun few days with the Bennets in New Jersey, Jamie is Janna's friend from Moody that we visited the day after we got engaged back in 1992. The family are doing great and they took us to the science museum in Liberty Park by the harbor. What an inspiring view!

The next day we went to a great beach in new Jersey where it was warm enough for us all to get into the ocean and enjoy the surf. After a lot of paddling in different chilly oceans on this trip, it finally was warm enough to get all the way in.

Beach in New Hampshire

Barbara and the boys on a busy but beautiful beach in New Hampshire. Our first sight of the Atlantic for many years (first ever for the boys). Grampa stayed in the van. Later we all stayed in a motel with adjoining rooms and took a trolley to the beach.

Back in the USA... but still on the road

After a few days in Chattanooga visiting family we headed out again on a road trip to the North East visiting friends on the way and meeting up with Janna's parents in Boston. Here we are in Pennsylvania following an Amish buggy. It turned out to have a husband, wife and baby with its legs hanging out in the sunshine. No seat belt!

Janna's new tooth

Janna had visited the dentist in TN before we left. To save money she visited a dental school in Nashville and got a temporary filling and a quote for a root canal. On the trip the filling finally came out and one night in Hove she started getting some discomfort. With trepidation we found a private dentist nearby and she made an appointment. The prices were better than those in the US! Here is the high tech machine making her crown from a block of porcelain while she waited!
While most things are more expensive in the UK, it turns out that bread, used cars and dental work are cheaper.

Life at Nanny and Grandad's

The boys have their own den up in the loft at Nanny and Grandad's. They sleep up there on two air mattresses and have plenty of space for books and toys. Often we hear the sounds of imaginative play coming from the open hatch, this time it was while Nanny was giving Gabriel a piano lesson.

Spitfire boys

Rob Lewis invited the boys to join the Model Club once a month at church on a Saturday afternoon. The boys started with a model Spitfire kit and we took it down to Hove to finish in the week. Rob said that he could set us up with a visit to the "Heritage Hanger" up on the airfield at Biggin Hill. They restore old spitfires and keep them for the owners to fly. Its not open to the public but Rob had a connection! My dad joined us along with the other boys and their parents for a fascinating visit. These planes cost millions of pounds to restore and they had four or five in the hanger plus the remains of one displayed on a wall that crashed near the coast.