Oxford Fun - Halfway

We have reached the half way point of our time here in Oxford. Over the next few weeks we have some great events to attend and places to visit but also just want to absorb as much of this wonderful neighbourhood and city as we can.

Since our big trip to London we've had a social time having friends visit which has helped to make our house feel like home. In the May half term school break my old NZ friend Nicky (who I did my first OE with in 2001) visited again from Woking. This time with her two kids Caitlyn and Joel whose ages suited the girls and boys nicely for a day of play while Nicky and I caught up on a cold, rainy day.

The following day two of Alex's brothers, Terry (who has lived in London the past 5 years) and George visiting from NZ stayed for a few nights. On our first day together we hired a huge 9-seater van and visited Warwick Castle which is about an hour away. The castle dates back over 1000 years. It was more theme-park like than I expected but not in a gaudy way. The shows, activities and attractions were so well done and the kids absolutely loved it.

Having Alex's brothers here was great for us all. Fun for the kids and also enabled Alex and I to have a lovely dinner out at the nearby Anchor Pub and go for a big run along the Thames Path together one afternoon.

Otherwise over the past week or so we have been getting out and about enjoying the balmy weather. After a couple of weeks of fluctuating temperatures it has warmed up again. One memorable day was a trip to Wolvercote, a nearby village (15 mins by bus) where we walked to a nearby lock and watched a canal boat go through. While we frequently see boats go past the back of our garden it was on my list to show the kids a lock in action.

I got chatting to the lock-keeper and when he latched on to my accent told us of his goal to retire to NZ for 6 months of each year. We walked back to the village past the ruins of a medieval nunnery dating back to the year 1115. Back in Wolvercote, which boasts a few good pubs, we chose Jacobs Inn to have a nice lunch in their kid-friendly garden which has pig and goat pens. A bit “fragrant” but hey it’s the countryside!

Another encounter in this quaint little village that felt serendipitous was in the playground across the road from the pub where we bumped into a lovely lady who we had randomly met at another playground across town two days prior. Turns out she and her husband run the village shop so she had lots of local info to share and being an expat from the US seemed sympathetic to my foreign status and was extra kind and helpful. Both times she pulled out a brown paper bag with sweets for the children who now hope we’ll bump into her at the next playground :)

Here are some other photos of general life here- the view from our house from the garden (the left half is our place); having fun on farm equipment at Harcourt's Arboretum where we incidentally got stranded and had to get a taxi home; excuisite face painting at the Wild Fair; bug handling session at the Story Museum; a museum visit with the girls to work on their art logs; Alex off to a formal Law Club dinner.