In London with the Ushers

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Taryn: We've spent the past four days in England with our friends the Ushers, and it's been a wonderful haven to relax, do laundry, catch up on schoolwork (okay, not so wonderful), and enjoy the company of familiar faces. I had a great time with Jenn: playing cards, making cookies, and even raking leaves to raise money for her upcoming trip to Peru. \r

On Friday our family went into London for the day, and we spent a few hours at the giant Museum of Science. Then I took a train to go meet Jenn and Pip for their dance class, which was lots of fun, although I'm still sore! The rest of the family did errands, of which there were quite a lot. Saturday, all of us minus Dunc and Pip went out to Knole Park, a lovely old park with lots of deer and trees in all sorts of fantastic shapes. We walked to the Bouncy Tree, which Dad and I had visited before on our trip last April. It's a gnarly old tree with one long, low branch running out along the ground, onto which one person (or two, or three) holds onto and, by means of people pushing on the branch, gets "bounced" high into the air, holding on all the while. We spent a while there, then meandered over to the Lord of the Rings tree, another incredible ancient tree, whose roots are like a maze. \r

On Sunday morning we walked through the passageway connecting the house to the church, of which David is the minister, and attended the service there. Jenn played her cello and clarinet (though not at the same time!) and Mom and Dad told the children's story about Ramadan and our travels in Senegal (we kids opted to stay silent and seated). \r

Now we're flying out of England in a few hours, and on to Tanzania. Cheerio!