Category Archives: Ronan

Baaaaa-ank Holiday Monday

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Today was a bank holiday here in England and so Ryan had the day off of work.

Since the boys were already off of school for Easter break,

we were able to get two days of country walking in this weekend.

Yesterday we walked for four hours and today for nearly five

as we went on a seven mile walk through the English countryside.

We saw deer both days. Today we also saw the following animals:

cows, horses, pigs, llamas, chickens, goats, birds, chickens, and fields of sheep.

I love sheep. Especially the way the dot the rolling hills behind our house.

But they are even cuter when you have to walk through

a field of them and have them ‘bah’ ing in chorus around you.

I hope you like photographs of sheep

because I took quite a lot to share with you on the blog.

Pink Wellies by Hunter, black leggings & scarf from my closet, and I raided my husband’s closet for the jumper.

The deer that we saw today running through the meadow.

Trying to get my boys to not shout, as to scare the wildlife, was proving challenging today.

Then we came across the sheep.

There were so many little lambs running about the field.

Here was one feeding from their mummy.

My babies obliged me with having their photo taken with the sheep.

There was a whole field full of sheep.

The lamb were definitely my favourite. So cute.

Maddox said he was very glad to see the sheep because it was his first time being so close to them.

We eventually found our path through the field and what could be cuter than watching your family among the sheep.

My husband with our our sons and the sheep in the background.

*photographs belong to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2013 All rights reserved. | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk
**Please contact if you want to use any photographs or for more information regarding photographic services.

Dick Willows Farm Shop

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This past week I had the opportunity to go to my first farm shop, since relocating back to England.

Dick Willows is forty minute walk from our house making it quite convenient.

Sadly Dick Willows is leaving its location just as I find this gem.

The silver lining being that while they are here everything is currently 30% off.

On Friday I was taken here by my friend Libby and we browsed around,

enjoyed a chai latte with scone, and then picked up a few food items.

She also introduced me to how amazing the combination of

chutney, cheese, and bread/crackers and how delicious it can be.

So the following day, despite the heavy cold rain, I dragged my family back with me.

It ended up being lovely despite the weather conditions.

The boys had a lot of fun browsing the antique section

as they hunted for treasures to purchase.

Ronan finally settled on a cool dark red dragon figure.

I found some vintage fabric for which I plan to make couch pillows.

Maddox picked up vanilla fudge and Ryan found his cider.

You can actually come to Dick Willows and do cider tasting.

I should add that if you are in the Bath area you can still purchase the cider

from the weekend market in town.

All in all it was a great two days out and I am still

quite gutted that its closing down.

Yes. The cider is really that bright orange.

It tastes quite yummy too.

Artwork by my son, a Third Culture Kid.

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TCK (Third Culture Kid) Ramblings:

“You know you’re a TCK from multi cultural background

when your brain instantly blurts out appropriately answers

in languages you now seldom use.

Tonight for me it was German.

Last week it was Thai.”

– Bonnie Rose

Mothering Sunday

Meet Zia Zoë

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A con to living the expat life is being many miles and many more miles away from family.

In my life my family is already quite small and scattered across the United States already.

My mother lives in Arizona, her father lives in Arkansas,

my father’s brother lives in New Jersey, and my sister lives in Washing DC.

Thats my family.

Zia Zoë with her nephew Maddox

My sister Zoë and I are five and half years apart in age…to the day.

Our half birthday’s land on each other’s birthdays.

She was still just in elementary school when we moved from Italy to the United States.

I was on the verge of graduating high school and ‘too cool’ to hang out with my younger sister.

In University I was ready to build that relationship and she was busy growing up in high school.

Since her graduation from Uni we have finally met on the same plane, but now separated by distance.

I really look forward to the short moments of time we get to spend together.

I was fortunate to have a week last summer and a busy week at Christmas with my sister.

Zia Zoë with her nephews Ronan and Maddox.

My boys having special time with her means a lot more to me now that our dad is no longer with us.

When its the two of us with Ronan & Maddox

I see us filling our dad’s shoes so they can experience his life through us.

Loss is hard and distance can equally be challenging.

It is why I really enjoy having Google Hangouts,

especially since many people can join in with no charge, compared to Skype.

Video chats are a luxury my sister and I did not have

when we were growing up as a military family living abroad.

It makes me quite interested to know what technology will be available

when my own children have children.

Zia Zoë with her ~~nephews~~ superhero and villian.

Side note: My boys call my sister Zoë, Zia, which is ‘Aunt’ in Italian.

My mum is called ‘Nonna’, Italian for grandmother.

The six years my family spent in Italy alone has impacted our family culture.

With my ~~little~~ sister Zoë and my two sons.

Hastings, England

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I have lived near the coast for the majority of my life. Somewhere between living in Naples, Italy and on the island of Oahu I have realized that the ocean is like a home to me. Its vast stretches of blue becoming a calming element for a nomadic wanderlust person. While I am not partial to cruises, traveling to towns that reside on the coast are definitely my thing. On this month last year we decided to take our boys to see a castle. Our bus connection fail through and it led to an unexpected detour into the town of Hastings. Although the castle there was also closed, we enjoyed a beautiful day exploring the narrow streets and hidden treasures Hastings had to offer. This day trip reminded me that sometimes its best not to focus on plans, but enjoy the voyage and the experiences that happen along the way. It ended up being one of my favourite Valentines Days spent with my family.

We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Ye Olde Pumphouse.

64 George St Town Centre, Hastings TN34 3EE

I definitely reccomend this place if your feet take you to Hastings.

Welcome to 2013

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A new year and we began ours with a move, a new job, and new house. This is our first house to live in since my husband and I got married almost ten years ago. It has been really nice to get out of the small flat and into a place with lots of storage space and room to enjoy family time. What I love the most is where we are situated in Bath, in the town of Batheaston. It is like being in the shire and my favourite aspect are the sheep we can see from our windows. It is a great place to call home and I feel so blessed to be here with my family.