Ilton Open Evening

Every year the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton puts on an open evening at its satellite airfield in the small village of Ilton, some eight miles from Martock.
There were several Naval helicopters on show, all of which were manufactured by Agusta Westland.
I had a great time showing Cora, Euan and Violet, as well as my Mum and Dad and Lisa, all the parts I was once involved with on the Sea King and Lynx during my time at the company.


My Dad and I are pictured here in front of an old Navy Lynx. Also on display was the latest Lynx "Wildcat". About 15 years ago I was part of the "Future Lynx" development program, which is now in production as the Wildcat.

Lisa, Cora, Euan and Violet got to climb up into a Sea King. Cora even got to wear the one of the aircrew's helmet.

 





















The British Army Parachute Display Team, The Red Devils, also dropped in for a quick aerial display.
There was also some impressive flying displays with a Lynx and Sea King.

















There was a large airport fire engine at the airfield that the children could climb up into and operate the powerful hose. Euan was very excited when he was allowed to press the button to sound the horns and sirens.
















I was a beautiful summer night and I had a lovely time playing with Cora, Euan and Violet.
It also great to see my Dad walking around so well after his knee replacement surgery just six weeks prior.


On another section of the runway were a couple of commercial helicopters, one of which was the AW169.
At Woodward I worked on the contract proposal - which we won - to design, develop and manufacture the hydraulic power control module, or PCM, for this helicopter. I am now working on handing this program over to operations to start the production phase.
This helicopter was one of the flight test aircraft and is fitted with instrumentation and computers to collect flight data as part of the testing program. I chatted to the test pilot, explaining the I used to work for Agusta Westland and now work for the company that supplies the PCM. He told me testing was going very well, with no hydraulic problems, and that it was a great helicopter to fly.
After our chat he allowed me to sit in the cockpit and Lisa took a few snap shots.

Swannery Visit

 With such beautiful weather and a free (unscheduled) day, Stace and I decided to take the girls back to the Swannery at Abbotsbury on Wednesday.

We'd last been when Cora was 3 1/2 and Violet was tiny, and I'd always wanted to return when both girls could enjoy it.

We started out with a picnic lunch on the grassy parking lot.

 When we bought our tickets, just after lunch, we learned that the next swan-feeding would be at 4 p.m. So, we took part in all the fun activities on the way to the actual swan section of the Swannery. We started at the cafe and play area, where the girls enjoyed the big swing.

 Then it was time for the pedal-powered go-karts, before we went into the giant swan-shaped maze.

 Here, the girls are laughing at their reflections in the distorting mirrors within the maze. Look at those faces!

 And those faces!

 We then reached the swans, and all the "ugly ducklings," otherwise known as adorable cygnets. These little guys were about a month old.

 Cora and Violet enjoyed feeding the swans, which have been raised at Abbotsbury for some 600 years.

We had a fantastic day together with the swans.

Nether Compton

While we were over, Duncan and Lindsey's children were baptized. Stace and I were honored to serve as a godparent to Charlie, their younger daughter.

Taking part in the service on Sunday was very special, and it was a beautiful day and occasion. We will be praying for you, Charlie, and Chelsea and Connor, too!

 On Tuesday, we went back to Nether Compton to spend time with the Partridges and get a tour of their beautiful village. Here, the girls are playing on the village green, in front of their church.

 Then, as we walked up the road, Dunc mentioned that down this lane, they buy their eggs and the children can feed the goats. Now this was an experience my suburban girls needed!

As we paid for our half-dozen free range organic eggs, the farmer lady came out and invited the girls in to feed the baby goats.

 These cuties were just one week old!

We carried on walking...

 ... and came to this beautiful estate, once the home of a butterfly garden. We stopped for a snack in the field.

 Then, it was swishy-swashy, swishy-swashy, through the long grass to the gate on the other side.

Violet managed the gate all by herself. We had a great evening together, and Dunc and Lindsey are blessed to live in such a pretty village.

Back at their home, Dunc, Stace and Connor watched England's final game of the 2014 World Cup.

We had been quite excited to be in England for an England World Cup match, but sadly, they were eliminated from further play before the match began. Oh well - that's a whole 'nother blog post...

Charmouth Fossil Finding

 For several years, Cora has wanted to go fossil-hunting along the beaches known as the Jurassic Coast on the English Channel.

On Monday, with a beautiful day forecast, we headed south to Charmouth. A visitors' center explained the region's archeological significance, and the girls picked up a fossil guide for children.

We walked down to the rocky beach for a picnic lunch, and it was so warm, Stacey needed to cool off.

 Violet found some pretty rocks, while Stace and Cora went hard-core hunting near the cliffs (see them on the right side).

 And bingo! Stace spotted this ammonite fossil among the rocks. Sorry for the not-great photo of it here, but don't the girls look cute?

 In all my trips to England, I've been to the seaside countless times. Never on such a beautiful warm day though! It was amazing. Had the beach been sandy, I'd have joined Sue, Gord, Stace and Violet in changing into a swimsuit.

In the evening, we went into Lyme Regis to enjoy fish and chips on the Cobb, or harbor. While wandering the town, we came across a building Stace's Pop built. Stace told the girls how his Pop had inset the large ammonite in the stonework above the door.

 A perfect end to a perfect day at the seaside.
Violet, in particular, loves fish and chips.

Good times with Nan and Pop! Because Gord is off work following his knee surgery, we got to share these special days with him.

Another Birthday Trip

With Cora out of school, the the time has come for us to return to England. The girls have both been so excited this week as we prepared for the trip, gathering their things and talking about spending time with our UK family.

With infancy and toddlerhood behind us, traveling is so much easier now. The girls are great on the plane, though the timing of our flight made sleep difficult. We were on the 10 p.m. flight Thursday, so by the time beverage service, dinner service, duty-free, and several cleanup carts have made the rounds, it's well past midnight.

Violet in particular didn't want to settle into sleep (and turn off the personal entertainment system) until about 4 a.m., making for very tired and sick-feeling parents upon our arrival.

But, a bit of fresh air helped immensely. Our first night, Violet slept very well, though Cora was wide awake at 4 a.m. She tried to rest, but it wasn't long until she was bugging Nanny to get up with her.

Later on Saturday, we headed over to Dean and Jenny's house. It was the girls' first time to meet Olivia Grace, our doll of a niece who will turn 1 in mid-August.

 The weather was lovely and warm, so we enjoyed a barbecue and outside playtime in the back garden and the little playground just at the end of Euan's row of houses.

Then it was time to celebrate Daddy's birthday! Euan picked out a cake with bugs on it.

Summertime!

 Oh, the glories of summer. Sleeping in, staying in jammies till lunch, pool and park playdates with friends...

We accomplished all of that and more during Week One of Cora's break from school.

On Monday, we went over to our friend Patrice's house to play with Emily, Charlie and Tommy in their pool.

Later, Violet had the idea of setting of a store, where she could be the buyer and Cora could be the seller. See Cora's inventory under the chair - here, Violet is handing over a handful of pennies.

 On Monday evening, we met up at the park with some friends to play some football. Stacey and Mrs. Vasquez's husband, Carlos, led some drills with a about 10 children. It was a lot of fun, at least for us moms watching from the sidelines.

 On Tuesday, we met up with JT, Callie and Jonah. The best photos I got were when Violet was cracking up while the hand dryer blasted her head.

 On Wednesday morning, our friend Miss Carol led a storytime, with a special emphasis on bookmaking.

Cora is an old pro with making little books - many children in her class had fun with that during their free choice time in first grade.She and Violet both enjoyed the fun.

It was nice catching up with Morgan, Sophie and Norah as well, since it'd been a few weeks since we'd seen them.

Violet called out for more help with the swings, even though Morgan was pushing her: "I need you to push Snakey!"

After the park, we went over to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.
In the evening, more football in the park. Ahhhh, summer!