San Frangriffco: The Green and Pleasant Land

For the past seven and a half weeks Annie, Tom and I have been touring England and Wales whilst Dan has been working in Brazil.

We managed to get together with more than 90 friends/family over the seven weeks - including meeting five children who were born after we moved. We spent a week in a cottage in Devon, we spent a week exploring Longleat Forest in Centre Parcs. Annie and Tom have tried surfing, horse riding, tree trekking, tennis and archery. They have been learning how to cycle without 'training wheels'. We have climbed four castles, visited five museums and I walked the streets of London with a friend from California. I got to visit my old church in Bucklebury, spoke at the Sunday service there and enjoyed a wonderful BBQ with special friends afterwards. I have run along cobbled pavements, green overgrown bridle paths, wet grass, an old railway line and up the side of a Welsh mountain. We have been here to celebrate my Grandmothers birthday, my Mother in Laws birthday, Tom's third birthday and - despite the distance - Fathers Day.

In order to fill in some memory blanks I took the children to our old neighbourhood and Annie had a tour of her former pre-school. The children saw where both Dan and I went to primary school, my old family home, and where Dan used to play football. Annie remembered more than I thought she might, but I wonder whether Tom will remember much of this trip. I certainly will - ironically, he has started calling me 'Mommy' with an American accent ever since we landed!

Happy Birthday Tom! An American theme for the party - no wonder you have adopted the accent!

Dad with Tom at the South Devon Railway. Thankfully now potty trained, Tom was able to use the loo on a steam train after which he walked into the full carriage and told everyone how his 'willy was spinning' as the train moved. Classy.

Annie and I tree climbing in Centre Parcs. "Come on Mummy, you are too slow!"

Ogmore Castle, Bridgend - the incredible climber (see him?) is our friend Adam from California who came to stay at Mums for a few days on his European travels. Naturally, my parents gave him the obligatory 'why the Welsh hate the English' lesson, where upon Adam was elected and duly appointed an official fan of the WRU.

Polly suggested a ride on the (small) horse

And later that day drove us to the must see Bigbury on Sea for a surf lesson with Coops

Fun in the sun - just as beautiful as California

The London Tour with Julia, and a photo at Westminster Abbey

A trip to Hamleys Toy Shop in London

Meeting up with my 'NCT' friends - five amazing ladies who I met whilst pregnant with Annie, and who I shared the highs and lows of labour, birthing plans and new born babies with. They know too much about me not to be my friends forever!

Dan's mate Jamie made the 100 mile round trip to see us - despite only being able to stay for half an hour. Seriously, I'm chewing my lip trying not to cry at the thought of how much that meant to both of us.

I love Wales, and England. I love the greenery, the history, the etiquette, the BBC, British humour, the NHS, and the sense of belonging I feel. London is a remarkable city. It's such a small place packed with cultural goodies, all condensed up together. We couldn't have done all we've done without the British sunshine and a massive amount of help from our wonderfully hospitable and generous parents.

I've actually noticed a large number of grandparents caring for their grandchildren in the UK - we rarely see this in California. There are other differences. It was a shock to smell cigarette smoke - it's completely banned in public in California. There is more road rage in the UK. Daily clear blue skies are over rated - UK clouds are beautiful! There are definitely more overweight people than in California - and I've been shocked at the number of obese children. I have found supermarkets surpisingly cheap compared to what we are used to. And despite only driving on the wrong side of the road twice, I still reach a roundabout and want to instinctively let the person who reached it first have the right of way. Yet, despite all of its charm, and knowing I could move back to the UK in a heartbeat if we had to, on our final day here I have an overwhelming feeling of home sickness. I want to go home - to California, and to Dan.

Chartwell House - Winston Churchill's home - if you haven't been then please visit! Its the most visited National Trust property in England and amazing to see his private rooms as he left them.

Hever Castle - Anne Boleyn's childhood home - more original portraits here than at the National Portrait Gallery in London (if you visit please don't bring attention to the horizontal scratch on the 16th century wooden hand carved column in the reception room - nothing to do with Tom whatsoever!)

Running the 'Beast of Bryn' with ultra marathon runner Gareth - at times I screamed out loud running up hill, but was stunned by amazing views that reminded me of the Sawyer Trail in California

The cottage my parents rented for us in Devon - idyllic, peaceful living for a week

This is the view from my friend Sarah's kitchen in Maesteg. I've seen the view so many times before that I had never really noticed the mountain. My father was born near here so I got a real sense of 'home' looking at this view with a cup of tea in my hand and chatting to my childhood friend

Tom in the English countryside

Dan has had a tremendous experience in Brazil. During 48 days he has watched 17 matches - more than 1700 hours of football (270 minutes of which were life wasting moments watching England play). He has taken 22 internal flights to travel to 10 stadiums in 10 different cities, working 18 hour days without a day off. He is exhausted. The most memorable moments for him were listening to the Brazilians singing their national anthem at the Mexican match and getting to the Final, enjoying some of the best seats in the stadium.

Winners - Germany with the cup Dan had looked after two days before

The players walked past his seat

Dan spent his final day in Brazil hiking and taking in the view

Being apart is challenging. It's the second World Cup Dan has worked, so we had experienced this kind of separation before when Annie was younger and when I was working. I think we've done pretty well considering the length of time we have been apart. We were very fortunate to be able to fly to the UK, and stay with family who have helped support and distract us with fun, laughter and various activities. But I have had days when it's just been too much, and Annie has struggled trying to express some very grown up feelings for a five year old. Tom has realised that when I get cross with him all he needs to say is 'I miss Daddy' and I give a little! Single parenting and being apart is lonely, even when you are surrounded by family and friends who care.

Having spent the first half of our trip in Wales with my parents, we had already said our goodbyes. But when I heard they were going to be spending a short time in London during our last week my brother and I couldn't resist gatecrashing their romantic afternoon with the children - SURPRISE!!!

Brian, Marilyn and their four grandchildren - Tom got comfortable with his cousins very quickly but even by the end of our time with them he was still referring to them as 'Cousin Teddy and the other one'. Poor Harry!

Before we left for the UK we heard that our green card application had been approved. This means official residency in America (as Brits), the chance for Dan to change jobs if he needed to, the chance for me to work, and even better - we can skip the non resident immigration queue at the airport! Despite this, a family home isn't always a permanent place. Dan will probably always travel with his job, and so for a good quality of life - for our lives to be really rich - we have to live where we can spend most time together as a family.

As we take off tomorrow it won't be the green and pleasant land that I will say goodbye to out of the plane window. It will be the people who showed us how much they care. I have often been lost for words at the trouble some of you have gone to during the past seven weeks. Being in the company of such great friends and family members - day after day seeing familiar faces - made me too emotional to fully express how grateful I am for your love and friendship. You know who you are. And if we didn't get to meet up, please forgive me - even seven weeks isn't enough time to do everything we wanted to!

The Selfie Gallery is below.

My brother and I in Sheppy's Cider Farm, Taunton - it's our second family home, we were bottle fed the stuff.

The Green Machines - Phil and Michele

Hosting the NCT get together at very short notice - Faye and I

Polly, Coops and I - a night out in Devon; a far cry from the business world that we were once part of - thank goodness!

Last seen leaving San Francisco, this Scottish pair sat in hours of traffic to come and say hello.
Obviously, it was a sober evening as a result (!)

I've known her since I was two years old - a real blast from the past meeting Caroline again - many years to catch up on and just not enough time; a rekindled friendship

It's only when you work with people that you get a true sense of how they cope under pressure - I'd trust these two ladies with my life. A very overdue coffee and catch up with Sarah and Nicky

One of the best moments of the trip for me - meeting up with family friend Gareth - who I remember being born! - and being able to meet his lovely family, and hear more about his great life as we ran together. My mission is to get him to run the Nike Marathon in SF!