Category Archives: England

Meet up in the Park

The day before we left for Wales we had our first meet up with our friends who would be going up with us.  Ryan and I had met both Miriam and Grant at University before they even started dating.  Miriam had been my RA and we met Grant through the theatre department.  I was really excited that they would be able to be here for our vow renewal as Grant had attended our wedding ten years ago and both of them had come to the hospital to visit us when Ronan was born eight years ago.  That was the last time we had seen them and now they have three boys and one on the way.  Right away sons started playing together and we enjoyed a wonderful bbq in the park here in Bath, England.  It was a perfect start to our vacation and what would be our 10th Anniversary Vow Renewal week. 

Q: Have you ever gotten together with friends you have not seen in a long time? Best memory?

*Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 

The Royal Crescent

I have to say that a favourite part of living the expat life in England is the many gardens through out the cities.  The Brits really know how to make use of small places.  It is nice to know that even if the countryside is a bit far out of reach by foot, theres a nearby park just waiting for you to enjoy during your lunch hour.  There are several great ones in in Bath and amongst those must see sights is the Royal Crescent.  So of course when my mum came to visit we made sure to arrange a photo op in front of it.  When ever the day is nice you can find the lawn dotted with locals enjoying their lunch, friends chatting up after work, and tourists posing for their photographs.  We chose this as our meeting place before our picnic and had a game of frisbee with the boys.  While I brought my heart shaped umbrella just in case, we had a lovely day of sunshine with no rain. 
Q: Are there nice parks or gardens where you live? 
*Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 

A Perfect Sunday in England

Today has been quite a different Sunday for us.  Ryan had to go into work for several hours today and I am preparing to go into town and do something I have not done in ten years.  Amongst all the feelings of anxiousness I am looking back at how last Sunday went down.  We went to church and then decided to walk into town.  On our way we stopped into Bathhampton for lunch at the George.  It is situated perfectly against the Canal and the beautiful river boats. Being Sunday we ordered the roast for four and accompanied it with a jug of Pims for the grownups.  With all the lovely sun we have been having lately, it made for a perfect end to our weekend.  I love when our weekends are about relaxation.  Since we went on an eight hour country walk yesterday, my legs and feet are definitely feeling it this morning.  It makes me hope I can get in a little of this relaxing luxury from last weekend sometime later today. 

Q: What did you do this weekend to relax?


*Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 

Sports Day with a TCK Spotlight [VLOG]

Yesterday was one of those moments that I experience with my children that reinstates why I love raising them here in England.  As a Third Culture Kid myself, I really wanted to raise my sons as TCKs and travel with them through out the world.  I wanted their childhood to mirror my own and to give them even more than I ever experienced just as any parent would naturally feel about their children.  There is something so special as a simple school programme, like this Sports day, that can make having children so worth ever moment.  It was not about winning or losing but seeing the love of life and the joy of happiness coming from the little person you created.  
I know my son Ronan likes sports but we have not had the opportunity to have him involved in any sport teams outside of school yet.  All I knew was that he was very competitive and would be really hard on himself at school when he was not 100% amazing at something he just started learning.  Due to my work schedule last year this was my first time to see him participate in something with athletics.  I just did not realise he was so fast or that he loved running so much.  When he got home from school yesterday I swept him up in my arms, gave him a big hug and kiss.  I told him I would always love him so much and that his achievements that day did not affect my love for him but made me so proud to see him so happy.  
I have included some of the photos from yesterday below along with a special video about Third Culture Kids.  Ronan has wanted to guest post on my blog for a while now and we decided to do a VLOG format.  Thank you to all those who asked me questions on twitter and facebook for Ronan to answer.  Please let me know after you watch what you think. I know Ronan will want to read the comments so feel free to send him a shout out too. 

* Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved | http://www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 
**Video from Bonnie Rose on Vimeo.

Summer Fete in Bathford, England

Yesterday was the summer fete in Bathford, England and we had a lovely day of sunshine!  So of course we were out enjoying every moment with our boys.  There was of course a Pims tent as well as plenty of BBQ, ice cream, and candy floss.  The boys played games and even enjoyed the quad bikes before it was time to leave. The best part was getting to see my son sing and perform with his Ukulele class.  He really loves playing and has a huge heart for music.  I will let the photographs speak for themselves today as we are going out to enjoy the rest of the good weather this weekend. Cheers!

*photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 


Summer Fete in Batheaston

Yesterday we attended our second fete for the Summer season and it will not be our last.  Though we almost feared the weather would have ruined this gem of summers in Great Britain. It was set to begin at noon but we did arrive until three because of the pouring rain.  Miraculously the rain stopped and we were able to spend the last hour of it partaking in all our favourite fete activities.  There was drinking of Pims, letting the boys spend pocket money on activities, checking out the goods for sale, and the eating of cakes and ice cream. The only thing we missed out was on a delicious bowl of strawberries and cream.  However in its place we got to watch a Maypole dance with local school children.  If that was not enough dancing for my boys, they also got to partake in dancing to Gangnam Style.  I left with a happy family, a full belly, and a camera filled with documented memories and a nearly dead battery.  All in all it was a lovely village fete and I look forward to our next one in two weeks time. If the photos below are not enough to get you to a summer fete this year, I took two videos posted to Instagram as well.  To which I have to say is a new feature I highly love. However since they do not allow embedding of videos yet, insert shameless plug to follow me on Instagram here.
** Bonnie Rose Photography © 2013 All Rights Reserved – www.bonnie-rose.co.uk

Ukulele in the Park

I first wanted to take the time to acknowledge all of my readers who took the time to comment, tweet, and email me after my Wednesday post: Marriage, In laws, and Cross Cultural.  I was surprised by how many people reached out to me after dealing with very similar cultural issues with family.  It is not something I would wish on anyone else but it comforting to know we are not alone.  It is just another facet in our life as expats and global nomads.  Thank you also for those who reminded me why I love blogging and that we should blog for ourselves.  Thank you for the lovely comments on how the subject matter was approached.  
The one word that came up most frequently since Wednesday was the word ‘honesty‘ and how you as readers love that aspect most about coming to the blog.  Thank you, I greatly appreciate that feedback.  With being a Third Culture Kid and having to fit into to so many different cultures, situations, countries, etc it is nice to have a place where I can be me.  I hope that you reading this blog know that you too can be you.  You do not have to be living in fear of the expectations of others.  Be proud of yourself, love life, and live your life remembering how precious and beautiful it is with you in it. 
   
This semester my son Ronan has been learning to play the Ukulele in school.  I was actually tickled when we first visited his classroom and realised this was the instrument his year was learning how to play.  My youngest son was born in Hawaii, where we lived for three years.  Being the longest place my sons have lived anywhere it was a nice ‘home’ comfort to have a bit of Hawaii here with us.  We were able to get Ronan his own Ukulele in his favourite colour shade black. For a kid who always has a song humming off his lips it has been a great next step putting a musical instrument in his hands.  He is always practicing his cords, asking me to teach him new songs, and waking us up in the morning with his songs of serenade.  He recently learned how to play the beginning part of Sunshine of Your Love by Cream and I may be biased, but it is so cute to watch him play it. 
Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch him play in a multi school wide concert at the Pavilion in Bath, England.  Unfortunately my husband was not able to get away from work so I was busy taking photos with the DSLR, with my iPhone, and recording video our video recorder.  Yes I am one of those parents in the crowd.  However they do not want any photographs or film footage to be put publicly. So just imagine how cute a class of year 3 look and sound in their british school uniforms playing Yellow Submarine by the Beatles.  
Afterwards I took both my sons to the nearby Parade Park for the first time.  It is usually never crowded despite all the tourists, since you have to pay a fee to get access.  However if you are a Bath resident like me with your Discovery card you can just walk right in. This made it perfect for capturing photos of my son while he played music in the park.  I love the photograph below because Ronan looks so much like my dad especially with my dad’s hair as he had it the same length (if not longer) in the last year of his life.  I know he would have been so proud to have seen him play yesterday and is smiling down on him.  Here are the rest of my favourites from our spontaneous photo session in the park: 

*photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography ©2007-2013 All Rights Reserved – www.bonnie-rose.co.uk