26 August, 2007 – Today is the August Bank Holiday (Daddy not working!). We drove to Nottingham to discover the Belvoir Castle – family home of the Duke & Duchess of Rutland. Napoleonic Wars re-enact in the Park. Guns and cannons fire as they perform drills and re-enact terrifying battles. We also experience life as a Napoleonic soldier at their living history camp.
Yi Xuen with a “Spitfire”
25 August, 2007 – Duxford is Europe’s premier aviation museum – as well as having one of the finest collections of tanks, military vehicles and naval exhibits in the country. This famous heritage site began as an airfield in the First World War and also played a vital role in the Second World War, firstly as an RAF fighter station and later as an American fighter base. We visited the ‘AirSpace’, 5 Hangars, American Air Museum and Land Warfare Hall. The children felt sorry for the victims in the World War.
22 August, 2007 – Another trip organized by the Mother-Toddler group. Together with Denise and Debra, we took 1 hour drive to Belton House, near Grantham (about 40 miles from our home). Belton House is a country house (built between 1684-88) and is surrounded by delightful gardens, magnificent landscaped park and a large children’s adventure playground. Belton has been described as one of the finest examples of Restoration domestic architecture. The tour of the Mansion was really amazing. One of the room has been allocated for the children. They can touch and learn about various old fashioned items and to dress up. Mei Mei look pretty in the victorian dress.
19 August, 2007 – It’s the Wong’s Family Day today. Desmond, Patricia, Uncle Robert, Auntie Andrea and our family all gather at Amy’s house. Children were very excited. Emily and Mei Mei were playing dressing-up. We had buffet dinner at night. We had Chinese roast duck, char-siew, noodles and rice (sponsored by Uncle Robert), Amy’s delicious cottage pie & curry chicken and yummy English Bread Pudding (baked by our little chef – Joshua and Emily).
It’s always nice to meet family members when we are living far from home.
23 Jun, 2007 – The Summer Fete is the main fund raiser for the PGSA. With the rare dry day in this summer, people flocked to the event and had a great time. I was touched to see a lot of people contributed and shared the workload on that day, including students, parents, teachers and villagers. However, Yi Hong was upset as he didn’t win any prizes in the lucky draw.
16 Jun 2007 – We went to Perkins’s Open House on this rainy Saturday. This year, Perkins Engines (Daddy’s company) is celebrating 75 years of engine manufacturing. They had organized lots of fun and educational activities for the employee and family, like musical band, children’s amusement ride (with a huge merry-go-round), exhibitions etc. Yi Hong brought ‘Theo’ along. Theo is his school’s Teddy Bear. Students are taking turn to bring him home and to write on ‘Theo’s Diary’. Lewis (Yi Hong’s schoolmate) approached Yi Hong when he saw ‘Theo’. They soon became friend. The children wish they could go to work with Daddy everyday.
12 August, 2007 – We went to Burghley Park on Sunday morning. Burghley House is one of the largest and grandest houses of the first Elizabethan Age. It was amazing. Full of so much story. It was visited by Queen Elizabeth I before. The famous movie like The Da Vinci Code, Pride & Prejudice, Elizabeth The Golden Age were filmed there.
We had our ‘English lunch’ in Stamford, the finest stone town in England. Beautiful buildings. Beautiful town. Before we moved to UK, Danny had considered to find a house in Stamford during his home hunting trip here.
4 August, 2007 – We visited Amy (Danny’s sister), Mark, Joshua and Emily in Nottingham (the Robin Hood’s Home). We had our ‘picnic lunch’ at Amy’s house before heading to Sherwood Forest Country Park for the 23rd Annual Robin Hood Festival. Children enjoyed watching the Robin Hood characters in the field. The boys bought some toys at the gift shop and started ‘fighting’.
We had BBQ at Amy’s house later at night. Yi Hong enjoyed playing in Joshua’s room (warning: Girl is not allowed in this room). Emily helped Mei Mei to dressed up like a Barbie Doll and Mei Mei thought she really was. Mei Mei loves it so much that she refused to get changed.
It was an enjoyable Saturday and the children wish they could stay over.
24 Jul, 2007 – The Glinton Mother-Toddler group had organized several activities in the summer holiday. Ferry Meadows was the first one.
At the heart of the Nene Park, running for 6 miles along the River Nene, Ferry Meadows provides unrivalled opportunities for leisure activities. There are meadows, lakes and woods, where we enjoyed pleasant walks and picnic. Yi Hong had accidentally thrown Jessica’s Peppa Pig ball to the lake. Luckily, the park ranger was very kind and helped us to ‘rescue’ the ball.
The kids enjoyed the train ride although it was a short ride.
Danny, Min, YH & YX 
