Birthday Present!

I got a package in the mail today...in it, the most funky and fun necklace! And, for the boys, two ring pops. Thanks to my girls for remembering, for going to the trouble of sending it, and for choosing such a gorgeous necklace! I LOVE IT! And I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Here's just a peek at my awesome bling:

Wearing my new necklace on the metro, on our way into downtown
Newcastle. (Click the picture for a bigger version so you can see my
necklace in more detail...you know you want to...go ahead...click it.)

Kara and I cheesing it up in Tynemouth. There's my cute necklace again.

And here're the boys, licking away at their ring pops as we step out in Whitley Bay with our guests for the next 10 days, Jer and Kara and their little love, Emmie.

"Thanks for the ring pops!" - Merrit and Ollie

Date Night in Newcastle

We asked our most awesome babysitter, Brioni, to come over and watch all three kids and, like the champ that she is, she said yes! Of course, what's not to love about our little angels? :)

Off to Newcastle. First we had a drink at one of the most traditional pubs in Newcastle.

Then we spent about two hours walking around the city centre, working our way down to the River Tyne. We knew that we wanted to show the river and the bridges at night to Jer and Kara. All the lights are so pretty!

Walking under the Tyne Bridge.

Under the Tyne Bridge. The Millennium Bridge
is in the distance.

The High Level Bridge and the Swing Bridge.

We crossed the Millennium Bridge, which is for bikes and
pedestrians only.

From the center of the Millennium Bridge.

We were getting hungry, but it was late and the only restaurant still open at 10:00 was an Indian restaurant. Lucky us, it was DELICIOUS. It was Kara's first time eating Indian food. And Jer, who's not a fan of spicy food, got a three-chili dish from the menu by accident. Omygosh, I haven't laughed that hard in months...Jer's face was purple and would blanch to the touch  as if he had a sunburn (Kara showed us that neat trick). Of course, that just Mike going, and he kept going. And going. He had all of us rolling in the floor laughing. Awesome. 

So then we got back in the car and I realized that I'd missed a text
from our babysitter, asking about Emmie. So I'm sort of panicky
in this picture. All was well. But you know, I felt bad that I missed
her text. 

Going Away Get-together for Carlo

Mike took Jer out last night to a dinner to meet a bunch of the folks from Reflections, who were all getting together to send off one of the own, Carlo. Carlo has taken a job with a game development studio in Copenhagen, Denmark. Carlo was one of the first people that befriended Mike when we first moved here, so it's a bit sad to see him go. Here's the gang:

The group, which is very international. Countries represented are: Italy,
Brazil, Poland, Germany, Egypt, Hungary, Spain,  and America (woot!).
That's Jer at the far right.

Carlo.

We Love NC (Newcastle) ;)

A 20-minute ride on the metro puts us in Newcastle's city centre.

Happy travelers. Jer finally borrows a jacket! 

We split up...Mike and Jer took ALL THREE KIDS while Kara and I went
window shopping at H&M and other clothing stores. She bought a cute
hoodie, and we had a nice break from the kiddos.

Here, Mike shows Ollie a whole display case of Driver: San Francisco,
the game he just helped finish! How cool is that?!

We met up with the boys and kids at a pub just across from
Grey's Monument, in the center of Newcastle's Grangier Town. We got
a table on the third story. What a great view.

Though I couldn't quite get used to seeing Merrit leaning against the big
clear window pane. Heebie-jeebies. The kids had fun watching the
double-decker buses go by. Kara and I watched the fashion on the street.

A picture of the Theatre Royal, which is undergoing
some renovations. We really do need to get tickets to see a play here one of these days!

Freakin' awesome Chinese food at a restaurant called Hei Hei.
Their coriander lamb chop appetizer is to die for.

Kara and I headed home on the metro. Mike had a dinner for a friend at work and Jer went with him. We all met up later that night for a date night out on the town. More on that in a separate post...

It's a Small World at the Holy Island

Unbelievably, when we got to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Jer ran into someone he knew!

We were all sitting in the beer garden of a pub called The Crown and Anchor Inn having lunch (delicious crab sandwiches, quiche, and ham-and-cheese paninis, mmm), and Jer goes in to get more napkins.

And he's gone forever.

Mike's just about to go in and check on him when here comes Jer arm in arm with someone we've never met.

Turns out, this guy is an old family friend of Jer's parents. He can remember when Jer was just a kid. They haven't seen each other in years, but recognized one another from having just reconnected on Facebook.

And then they run into each other. In a pub. In one of the most remote spots in England. That is just crazy.

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is only accessible by a causeway that's impassable at high tide. We spent so long in Alnmouth that we got there later than anticipated. No worries, we just had to make sure that we got back to the causeway by 2:45 and no later. Actually, come to think of it, at least we would probably have had a place to stay if we'd gotten stranded, thanks to Jer and his long-lost family friend! :)

But, we played it safe and decided not to go inside the Lindisfarne Castle since we were short on time and didn't want to rush. So, we took our time. We ate our delicious lunch in peace.

My crab sandwich. First time I have seen tortilla chips in England!

The boys rolled around in the grass and wrestled and chased each other, with the Lindisfarne Priory in the background and the sounds of sheep bleating over behind the wall.

Emmie and Ollie explored the walled-in beer garden while we, well, drank a beer. 

We also tried a free sample of the famous Lindisfarne Mead...it's made from honey, fermented grape juice, herbs, and water from an artesian well; then it's fortified with spirits to give it a little kick.

Merrit tried the teeniest of sips, but didn't like it.

We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the other side of the island (one mile) so we could walk the hill to the castle entrance. It was a slightly chilly, very windy day. The rocky outcroppings at the top of the hill, beside the castle, were fun to climb. We goofed off, took pictures, and took in the view of the North Sea on three sides.

Storage buildings made out of ship's keels (is that the right word?).