A Trip Across the Pond : Sissy + Gabba Labba Ding Dong

When I had originally thought I would only be staying in England from September - December 2013, one of the bright spots of my trips was when my sister came to visit me for a month. When I decided to come back to England, for another 7 months after Christmas, I was really excited to find out that Steph wanted to come back and visit me for another 5 weeks in the spring.

She was originally planning on coming at the beginning of May but I pleaded with her to come in April because I had a lengthy Easter Break off from school (April 5th-April 22nd) and I wanted to be able to spend quality time with her. Alex was also going to be visiting during that break and Matt, Gabel, Alex and I had been planning a Cornwall road trip that I wanted Steph to be able to experience too. So she willingly conceded and I was so excited to pick her up from the Southampton coach station on April 10th. It was even more appreciated because I had been alone for nearly a week at that point. Gabel started off the break by going to visit Alex in Switzerland and Matt was away on business in Copenhagen so I was going stir crazy. I had spent 5 days alone and because I wasn't teaching I literally didn't speak to anyone for five days!! I still went into the school every day to do marking and lesson planning but the other teachers weren't really there so needless to say I was extra glad for her company.

Steph brought with her some boxes of KD for our ever dwindling supply and some other much needed things from home that Gabel and I needed. She took up her usual residence on our futon and within no time it was like she never left. Sure, we had the occasional argument but I loved every second she was living there. We had many Office marathons since its both our favourite shows and I cooked for her sometimes since I couldn't stand watching her eat her usual plain, bland chicken breast that she had for every meal. She definitely earned her keep and did an amazing job at cleaning for us and doing dishes which we were very grateful for. I was really proud of her too because she did quite a few day trips on her own and went to Amsterdam ahead of us by herself for a couple of days and managed everything quite smoothly and responsibly (except for one minor blip when her phone died and she missed her bus in London!). I was realllllly sad to see her go mid May but I'm so happy that I got to share so many experiences and memories with her in such beautiful places like Cornwall and Amsterdam.

Another delightful treat was the arrival of Gabby right at the beginning of May. She managed to get nearly 3 weeks off work and hopped on a plane to come and see us. Whenever we have guests come and visit, we have a friendly competition going to see who can bring the most Kraft Dinner. Jackie was the previous record holder from back in February when she brought 12 boxes with her. Gabby was determined to smash this record though and successfully brought with her 16 boxes!! She described her suitcase as sounding like a rain stick and that was very accurate.

Gabby helped Steph keep our place in order and make yummy noms. She came with us to Amsterdam and was here for a three day weekend so we took her into New Forest where we explored Highcliffe Castle and Beach. On Gabby's last weekend, her and I had a fun girls weekend in London where I showed her the Camden Markets and we had fun shopping :) It was such a full house here at Wyndham which was really nice to come home too. Poor Matthew though - four girls and just him under one roof! Heres some pics of their visit:

Gab's first train ride!