The World is a Book

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page". - St. Augustine of Hippo
Wow! Quincy came home from London at about 11 a.m. They had taken the 10 hour overnight ferry from Portsmouth, England to St. Malo, France and then a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from St. Malo to Vannes. They were dirty and worn out but apparently had a wonderful time. I will post a few of the more than 250 pictures that he took during his trip.


I think Quincy really had an exceptionally good time as the translator and helper for so many of his friends.

He loved the visit to Oxford (he even bought himself an Oxford sweatshirt which just might join the rotation of his many Notre Dame sweatshirts!) and the guided tour of the Globe Theater was the high point of the whole trip.

He loved the views from the London Eye and took some great pictures from the top.

While he was regaling me with London stories all afternoon, Tabitha was learning all about and getting certified in scuba diving! She dove more than 15 feet today, down to the ocean floor where they saw all sorts of sea life. She loved every minute of it and got over all fears within the "first 30 seconds". She thought this was fantastic and can't wait for the opportunity to go again. While waiting their turn to dive, the kids did some coastal "fishing" where they walked out at low tide and gathered all the shellfish that they could. She came home with a big bag of mussels and clams. Yesterday, they gathered oysters and snails but she dropped her whole bag in deep water and was only able to bring home one oyster that she salvaged. So, tonight, I had to pull out my cookbooks and a bunch of pots and cook up a big "mess of seafood". It was fun and only a little sandy as we munched our way through the whole lot. It was hilarious to hear her tell about the French kids who if they accidentally opened an oyster while prying it off of a rock, just picked it up and slurped it out of the shell! Taba wasn't quite brave enough to do that but she did try everything else. While Taba was out on the ocean in a boat, Calvin was out on a boat in the port. His class began a 6 week gym class session in rowing! I would love to learn to row but apparently my 9 year old gets to instead.... Anyway, they will go once a week for 2 hours to learn all the techniques. He thought it was great fun and of course, loved being the "brain" as much as being the "brawn". Max just had a normal day...