Bright Sunshiny Days

This summer England experienced a heat wave. It was England's hottest recorded summer and it was also largely sunny and dry. We didn't get ANY rain for over a month at one point and we actually had to water our lawn because the grass was so brown and crunchy. As a family, we enjoy and appreciate England's normally cool, grey weather so this summer was tough - especially because air conditioning is not really done here. That wasn't a problem in the summer of 2017, when the temperatures were usually in the mid to upper 70s. But this year, we were sitting in the low to mid 90s for much of the summer and it was a little miserable. Still, we tried to get out and take advantage of the unusually warm and sunny weather. By the end of June we'd used a lot of sunscreen and had a lot of fun. 

We live on the edge of Thetford Forest, which is a large forest of mostly pine trees. It was created after the First World War to build up a timber reserve as a lot of trees were used up to support the war effort. So it is a forest where logging is an ongoing thing, but it's also been turned into a beautiful recreational area with hiking and biking trails and other areas for enjoying nature. We made the short drive to Thetford Warren Lodge one day and poked around the exterior of the lodge before heading into the surrounding forest to explore.  

The girls used a strong tree as their base and built this shelter from fallen branches

You can't actually go in the lodge anymore, but Jared helped Abigail to reach a better vantage point for seeing inside

We ended our day at High Lodge, which is the main recreation center in the forest and where you can always find something fun to do. We started off with a little ping pong before heading over to one of the many playgrounds that have been built in the surrounding woods. Laying in the shade under a tree while your kids run and play is maybe the best way to spend a hot summer afternoon. 

On the last day of the school year, Samantha and Natalie set up a tent in the backyard. Even though they share a room, they like to have sleepovers together and they planned to spend the first weekend of the summer break sleeping in the tent. Because the weather was so nice and we had ZERO rain, they ended up spending the first month of the summer break sleeping in the backyard in our tent. We would move it to a new spot every so often so the grass underneath the tent wouldn't entirely die. But every time we moved the tent we'd have to remove what felt like an entire bedroom's worth of things because they really did make it their home. A thrift store coffee table served as a bedside table, Samantha (being the oldest) got to sleep on the cot, and the space underneath the cot was used as storage for clothing, games, books, and other important items. They pulled out what felt like every extra blanket and pillow in the house to make their new "bedroom" more comfortable and just had an adventure out there every single night. 

Natalie was so very excited for the World Cup this year! She had high hopes for the German team and of course had to wear her German clothes and even painted her face for the games, but it ended up not being their year. England, however, had a great run at the World Cup and made it all the way to the semi-finals before being knocked out so living here during their unexpected success was kind of cool. I ran out to take care of a quick errand during their final game and the roads were entirely empty. It was like a ghost town in Brandon, minus the wooden sidewalks and tumbleweeds.

Because it was so, so hot we just wanted to be in some nice cool water everyday. But the beach is at least an hour away and there's sand there. And the bathrooms are few and far between. So we set up our own little beach in the backyard but with no sand and easy bathroom access. Our little blow up pool made those sweltering summer afternoons much more bearable and a lot more enjoyable as well. We quickly learned how much sunscreen our family of pale people really needs to stay pale instead of becoming burned and blistered. For us, it's just not possible to use too much sunscreen.

We're currently firmly in the chilly months of the year when all we want it cozy sweaters and mugs of hot chocolate so it's nice to look back on the sunny warm adventures we had together this summer. In all honestly, summer isn't usually my favorite season, but it may have been my favorite season of 2018. I much prefer spring or fall, but this summer was pretty special. The warm sunny days just kept coming and brought with them so many opportunities for our family to play and have fun together.