Highest peak in the North East, check!

Last week of school started with field day. This year it had an olympic theme so each class was asked to choose a country to represent. Naturally, I chose the UK. We designed our own team GB strip and made some flags...bobs your uncle, we looked the part!

We held the opening ceremony and declared the games open. It was organized like Bliss in that all children were signed up to do different events some of which were olympic style - sprints and relays - others were not...have you ever heard of the teacher bob sled event? The lucky teacher gets put on a sled and pulled by the whole class to the finish line. I thought it would be slow but no...they were very speedy! They also did the marathon water challenge where one at a time children had to fill up a sponge with water, run it to an empty pot, squeeze whatever was left out and into the pot, and then hand the sponge to the next team member. It was great fun!

I also had an end of year celebration at Toots (of course) with families where we swapped gifts. The children had made me a wonderful book of pictures of themselves, memories and of course favourite British words...loo was rather popular! As usual, the end of term itself was rather anti-climatic and hectic. Just getting everyone out of the door and on to buses was an achievement in itself. It was lovely to go to Gritty's pub with staff for an end of year drink or too. I think because I'm not leaving right away, it hasn't really sunk in...and that's because there are more adventures to be had!

Like today...after a manic, whirlwind last few days of school, what do I do to celebrate? Rest and recuperate? That would be boring, no its time to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the highest peak in the North East USA. Kalie's dad offered to be our guide so we set off at 6am (a truly ungodly time on the first day of the holidays) so we could begin our climb from Pinkham at 8:30.

 

The weather conditions were perfect and we hiked up the Tuckerman ravine trail, clambering over boulders and taking in the breathtaking views which included snow still on the ground.

 

We made it, thanks to Kalie leading us up at the speed of a mountain goat, in 2 3/4 hours - a P.B for her dad. Everything was so quiet and still until we got within 5 minutes of the summit. Then we could hear a distinct throb of a motorbike...

...or rather several motorbikes! A road runs up the other side of Mount Washington so people can come up the lazy way and today several hundred bikers decked out in leathers on Harleys did just that. The top is therefore not particularly wonderful and we did have to queue to get this picture.

However, breaking away from the crowd and walking to the other side of the weather station gave us back some peace, quiet and uninterrupted views. We had our picnic gazing out over the Presidential range and marvelling at the weather. It can be horrendous on top of the mountain as nothing stands between it and winds gusting from all directions. In fact the highest winds ever recorded were at the top - a mere 231 mph.

It was a really beautiful hike up and back. You can see the route we climbed up in the picture above. Pretty spectacular. A really great way to commence summer adventures!

A trip to Monhegan

Monhegan Island lies about 10 miles off the coast of Maine. It has long been a summer destination of artists including Hopper, Rockwell Kent and the Wyeths. I had wanted to go since I saw the Hopper exhibition last August and, after a thwarted attempt in October, we finally got to go! This time, Theresa booked us a night at The Island Inn so we wouldn't have to rush round like mad things. After all the rain last week, we woke to bright sunshine on Saturday and headed to Boothbay to catch the ferry.

The peace and serenity began as soon as the boat left the harbour and we sat on the top deck soaking up the sun. We arrived on the island, left our bags at the inn and set off with a trail map through the village,

into the woods

and emerged on the other side of the island where we were met with the landscapes Hopper and other painters have made so famous. A great spot for a picnic!

 

Then we headed south around the island, clambering up and down the rocky shore and taking in the much painted Monhegan shipwreck and the signs of Maine Island life. 

 

 

Beautiful but exhausting. Time for some nibbles in an adirondack soaking up the last of the day's sunshine before watching the sunset from the restaurant windows. It's a hard life but someone's got to do it!

 

Amazingly, I managed to drag my butt out of bed and over to the other side of the island for another 4:50am sunrise. The effort was rewarded almost instantly by a sighting of a porpoise playing in the sea below the cliffs and not another soul was about.

 

I have to confess I went back to my comfortable bed for a while before enjoying a wonderful breakfast, time exploring the galleries and basking in the sunshine gazing out over the harbour.

 

All too soon it was time to leave but a wonderful weekend in a special place with an amazing friend. 

Thank you Theresa! One day, we'll be back...

Toot toot!

Way back in the 'fall', the school held an auction as a fundraiser. Teachers were asked to offer something to auction off so Emily and I offered an ice cream date at the wonderful local ice cream kaboose, Toots.

 

Finally, the summer season rolled round and we could set a date. Feeling bad that parents had paid good money just for an ice cream date with us, we organised with Martha, the owner, to see how ice cream was made. However, I didn't realise how much fun it would be.

First, the kids got to decide what flavour they wanted to make. Claire went for 'Rainbow Bears' and Camden for 'Candy Store Floor'. Whilst the machine was churning, they got to do some mixing...

Next they added their creations to the ice cream

and best of all, just to make sure they wouldn't be poisoning people, we tried some right there and then. Yummy!

But that wasn't all! After meeting some of the animals (Toots is on a farm), we headed inside the kaboose to make our own ice cream sundaes.

 

So there you have it, another awful American experience!

The Queen's jubilee on the other side of the pond/ J'aime Quebec

Most Americans I have met love our Royal family so what better way to end the exchange than by having a whole school jubilee celebration. I have to say, when I thought of the idea, I didn’t realize what a HUGE undertaking it would be. At Bliss it is relatively easy to run a themed day as each class teacher can come up with an idea, think of a rotation system that will work and off we all go. With 4 wings each with 7 or 8 classes, it wasn’t that easy. However, an amazing task force of people volunteered their time and efforts. Once we’d come up with the activities, thought about schedules and supplies, engaged the wonderful PTO, and planned a British lunch menu we were off.

Finally, and with much anticipation, our jubilee day arrived. First came staff in their royal finery – everyone looked amazing in their hats, dresses and gloves – then the children in theirs. It was a great sight to see! All the children rotated through 7 activities : hat and fascinator making, a British tea party (complete with cucumber sandwiches), boat making for the Royal Flotilla on the Thames, British bingo and fox hunting (only paper foxes were harmed), netball playing, Bliss song singing and a virtual tour of the UK.  We even had TV crews turn up (thanks to the reporter's child being in my class). It was a really fantastic day which everyone seemed to enjoy. Maybe I could become a royalist after all…

The Royal Flotilla floats along the Thames!

Time to rest after a crazy jubilee day? No…off to Quebec for the weekend, a mere 6 hour drive north. We did stop for a Toots ice-cream on the way though!

It was an INCREDIBLE drive once we got on the Old Canada Road which follows the Kennebeck river through the mountains. Full of rolling hills and beautiful vistas. Most exciting of all though, we got to see 2 wild moose by the road side. I got rather giddy and did a little moose dance!

The earlier thrills of the drive wore off quickly upon reaching Quebec and getting rather lost. Eventually we found our hotel in the old city and plopped thankfully into bed.

When we awoke, the sunshine had gone and was replaced with rain, rain and more rain. Waterproof jackets on, we headed out to explore. What a beautiful place. Full of winding cobblestone streets and little nooks and crannies.

There is even a furnicular which climbs up the hillside. A nice way to save a person's legs if they have any Canadian currency...

  

  

We wandered about a bit and then went on a St. Lawrence river cruise which explained a little about the history and some of the places surrounding the old city. It was also warm and dry, two huge advantages!

 Afterwards, we went to watch a very quaint film and light show over a model of Quebec in the Musee de fort which told us about how the British captured Quebec, wrestling it from French control after several attempts thanks to General Wolfe, and fought off the marauding Americans.

There was no change to the weather on Sunday so we made our way to the Musee de beau arts de Quebec. We saw some interesting Quebec art and some amazing Inuit sculptures inside a building that was once a prison. Supposedly, you could have good views from the top of the tower, however, we had to imagine these! Instead we enjoyed the wooden sculptures coming through the ceiling...

A flying visit to Canada but an enjoyable one. It was fun to speak my terrible French again and it was, as people had said it would be, like visiting a pocket of Europe thanks to the old buildings, the absence of a grid system and everything being in a foreign language!