Bringing Up Brits » Florida http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk Expat Parents Raising Cross-Cultural Kids in Britain by Meghan Peterson Fenn Thu, 28 Jul 2016 09:11:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.9 Easter Holidays in the UK http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/easter-holidays-in-the-uk http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/easter-holidays-in-the-uk#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2014 05:45:47 +0000 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog/?p=5060 My kids think Easter in America is amazing. They experienced it two years ago in Florida with their American grandparents, one of their American Aunts and one of their American Uncles. The weather was hot, the food was amazing and the Easter eggs and candy were never ending. It was an amazing time and the […]

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]]> My kids think Easter in America is amazing. They experienced it two years ago in Florida with their American grandparents, one of their American Aunts and one of their American Uncles. The weather was hot, the food was amazing and the Easter eggs and candy were never ending. It was an amazing time and the beach in Florida during April is wonderful. Well this year we’re spending the two weeks off school at our home by our own beach on the Sussex coast. Easter in the UK is actually very nice. Generally, we have more sunlight, longer days, warmer weather (but not always!), the bluebells and daffodils are out and the break from school is welcomed.

Our plans for the next two weeks will keep us busy but will also refresh and ready us for the next term. I’ve booked Jonah into a few different holiday clubs on the days that I’m working. I’m quite nervous about it because this will be the first time he’s attended anything other than pre-school or school all by himself. Fingers crossed for him! Anna Grace and Sam have some friend meet ups and sleepovers planned plus Anna Grace is doing another cupcake decorating class with Sarah of Let’s Cook at Home. She’s really looking forward to that.

I’ll need to figure out a way to convince them that doing their homework before the last day of the holiday is a good idea and that now is a great opportunity for them to clear out some of the things in their rooms they don’t play with anymore. Hmmm. That will be a challenge. Hopefully the weather won’t be too depressing and we’ll be able to have a few beach days here and there. I’m not holding my breath though! Here are Anna Grace and Jonah this past Saturday at the beach. No, there wasn’t any sun and yes it did rain, but at least they still had fun.

ferringbeach2

Ferring Beach Sussex

Ferring Beach Sussex

Ferring Beach Sussex

Ferring Beach Sussex

Ferring Beach Sussex

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Meghan Peterson Fenn is the author of Bringing Up Brits and co-author of Inspiring Global Entrepreneurs with Heidi Mulligan Walker. Meghan is also the Director and Chief Designer at her own design company, White Ochre Design Ltd.  And, she is an award winning expat blogger.

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]]> http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/easter-holidays-in-the-uk/feed 0 British/Polish/American Easter in the UK 2013 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/britishpolishamerican-easter-in-the-uk-2013 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/britishpolishamerican-easter-in-the-uk-2013#comments Sun, 31 Mar 2013 08:11:07 +0000 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog/?p=2305 It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were in Florida visiting my parents and going to Disney. It was such a fantastic trip and so sad to leave my parents, my brother and sister and the SUN! It was hot and beautiful there and such a wonderful time. Anna Grace often talks […]

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]]> It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were in Florida visiting my parents and going to Disney. It was such a fantastic trip and so sad to leave my parents, my brother and sister and the SUN! It was hot and beautiful there and such a wonderful time. Anna Grace often talks about the people she met and how easy and natural it felt to be a part of her American grandparents’ world – completely different to her British world. In an ideal world, we would be able to spend half our time here in the UK and half in the US in our own house. I fantasize about my children growing up amongst the friendliness and openness of Americans, spending time outside – all the time – and feeling proud to be American. In reality, that can’t happen and would even be a logistical nightmare. Sadly, it’s either here or there and at the moment, it is here.

This Easter, we are spending time with friends. Yesterday my good friend Jane and her family came for lunch and to visit with us for the day. Joe, her eldest and Sam, my eldest, were best friends when we lived in Nottingham where we lived just down the road from them. It was so great to see them and catch up on each others’ news and watch the kids slip back into their friendships like they’d never been apart. Jane was my closest friend in Nottingham and I miss her a lot. She’s an amazing woman, a BBC and Channel 4 reporter and freelance journalist. We met at the baby and toddler group I joined just after I was made redundant from my job and Sam stopped going to nursery full time. Jane is still friends with some of the ‘toddler group’ mums and I keep in touch with them as well via Facebook. It was a lovely day, we even squeezed in a freezing cold walk on the beach.

This morning we are going to our friends, Andrew and Grazyna’s house for Easter brunch. Grazyna, who is in Bringing Up Brits, is Polish and usually goes back to Poland to celebrate Easter (it’s a huge celebration in Poland). This year she’s staying in the UK and is making a traditional Polish Easter breakfast for her family – British husband and half British, half Polish daughter. It’s lovely to be invited to share this special day with them.

Happy Easter.

Jane

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]]> http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/britishpolishamerican-easter-in-the-uk-2013/feed 0 the meaning of life for us http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/the-meaning-of-life-for-us http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/the-meaning-of-life-for-us#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2013 07:19:11 +0000 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog/?p=1979 Today is going to be a photo blog post. Can you relate??!! Send me your photos for my next photo blog post! Email them to meg@www.bringingupbrits.co.uk with a caption. No names please, just a caption!   MORE PHOTOS ON My Pinterest http://pinterest.com/whiteochre Send me your photos for my next photo blog post! Email them to […]

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cups vs gram

Today is going to be a photo blog post. Can you relate??!! Send me your photos for my next photo blog post! Email them to meg@www.bringingupbrits.co.uk with a caption. No names please, just a caption!

 

the great British railway

B is for....

beach UK

beach UK

beach USA

the author hat

fever

caption please!

we were young

this part of the world

love you

no caption needed

Brighton rocks

my 5 seconds

home

all things British

oh yeah

MORE PHOTOS ON My Pinterest http://pinterest.com/whiteochre

Send me your photos for my next photo blog post! Email them to meg@www.bringingupbrits.co.uk with a caption. No names please, just a caption!

my glam

moose azim

an inspiration

Send me your photos for my next photo blog post! Email them to meg@www.bringingupbrits.co.uk with a caption. Just a caption!

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]]> http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/the-meaning-of-life-for-us/feed 0 America as seen through the eyes of a British child http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/america-as-seen-through-the-eyes-of-a-british-child http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/america-as-seen-through-the-eyes-of-a-british-child#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:58:15 +0000 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog/?p=446 My 8 year old daughter wrote a journal about her holiday in America with her grandparents and Disney. It was quite detailed and included photos and anecdotes. I found it pretty funny (although she did not intend for it to be!) and although I wasn’t allowed to read all of it, I read enough to […]

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]]> My 8 year old daughter wrote a journal about her holiday in America with her grandparents and Disney. It was quite detailed and included photos and anecdotes. I found it pretty funny (although she did not intend for it to be!) and although I wasn’t allowed to read all of it, I read enough to realise just how foreign America is for her.

Anna Grace:

Lemonade in America is not fizzy

Gradmar and Grandpar live in a really big bungalow

Everyone is lazy because they go in their cars all the time

I don’t understand why the toilet is called restroom. You don’t go there to have a rest!

We slept in a huge King size bed!

The houses are pretty and everything is much bigger.

My favorite thing was the Banyan tree and Riley and Daffy.

Me:

Lemonade should never be fizzy – if it’s fizzy, then it’s not lemonade

My parents live in a large one-storey house

Everyone is in fact too lazy to walk – there is no walking culture

I don’t know why either! But calling the restroom ‘toilet’ is considered to be crude because you are referring to the actual toilet bowl and not the place where you go to use the toilet

It was just a queen size bed actually

I love the houses in America

The Banyan trees are indeed awesome

There’s alot more and she did a fantastic job with her journal, but I can’t post anymore because it’s personal to her. Here are some of her favorite photos:

Riley

Riley, Uncle Tad's dog


lizards
Daffy

Daffodil, Grandma's dog


Banyan Tree

Anna Grace and Daffy

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]]> http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/america-as-seen-through-the-eyes-of-a-british-child/feed 0 Back to the UK http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/back-to-the-uk http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/back-to-the-uk#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:44:33 +0000 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog/2012/04/11/back-to-the-uk/ Getting ready to fly back. I am so sad. Even though we are going ‘home’ I don’t feel like we are going home. This is so much my home even more than I realised while living and raising a family in Britain – its really overwhelming this feeling of home here. Even more so because […]

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]]> Getting ready to fly back. I am so sad. Even though we are going ‘home’ I don’t feel like we are going home. This is so much my home even more than I realised while living and raising a family in Britain – its really overwhelming this feeling of home here. Even more so because this is my parents temporary home. They will be returning to South Carolina in just a few days too. I think because the people are so open and friendly here, the weather is so good, every time we went to the playground we chatted with people and the kids made friends and there is a real sense of community here. The kids noticed this too and very much liked that and thought it was very positive. They seemed to love that aspect of living here – a lady asked them to walk her dogs for a dollar each and they did that every day! Last night they went to the Winn Dixie and bought the dogs treats from the money they had earned. The dog owner suggested they start up their own dog walking business back home and said she would write them a letter of recommendation. The kids are so excited about this and have asked me to do business cards for them to give out to people in our neighbourhood in Worthing. I would love to encourage them to do this. However I am doubtful our British neighbours would be open to this. They seem to be very private and don’t like to even talk to each other! I am happy to be proved otherwise though so we shall do our best. Sadly I feel like the kids are going to be disappointed though. They too are sad to be leaving such a wonderful place.

Normally by this stage of a holiday they are thinking about their own bedrooms and being in their own house with the cats and all. This time the only things they are commenting on are what they will miss about being here. I know they will miss their grandparents and their aunt and uncle. They have had a holiday of a lifetime. I am so thankful we were able to give them this.

I think they feel an affinity to this place and while they have been here they have called themselves American (without prompt) and often comment on how great it would be to move here. The long 12 week summer vacation sold it to Sam! Just being able to spend time with their American relatives has been so so SO good, a new experience and a very positive influence on them.

I am sure we will be glad to be back in our own house and see our friends and British family in the UK but it sure is heart wrenching to leave, knowing the great expense and time it takes to come back. Who knows when we will be able to come back. Hopefully it won’t be another 6 years. Maybe Sam would like to go to University here? Maybe Sam and Anna Grace can visit here on their own when they are 16 and 15? Maybe we can all come back in 2 or 3 years? It all depends on money, time and visiting Nick’s family in Spain too. All I can say for sure is that we have had a great time and really introduced the kids to American living and American culture. I am so glad for that.

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]]> http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/back-to-the-uk/feed 0 Road trip! http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/road-trip http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/road-trip#comments Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:59:18 +0000 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog/2012/04/01/road-trip/ Heading out around 5am to get to Disney. Will I remember to drive American style? I keep going to the wrong side of the car and bumping into my dad who is doubtful about my ability to drive in the US after such a long time of not driving in the US. Will we find […]

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]]> Heading out around 5am to get to Disney. Will I remember to drive American style? I keep going to the wrong side of the car and bumping into my dad who is doubtful about my ability to drive in the US after such a long time of not driving in the US. Will we find it ok? Will we survive the madness, the thousands of tourists and Disney goers? Will it live up to our expectations? Stay tuned!

Here is a pic of some of the stuff I’m bringing back. And it’s only day 3…..

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]]> http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/road-trip/feed 2 It’s a very different world here http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/its-a-very-different-world-here http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/its-a-very-different-world-here#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:17:25 +0000 http://www.bringingupbrits.co.uk/blog/?p=368 People just ride around in their golf carts all day! It’s beautiful here. In my 10 year old’s words “it’s epically awesome!!” It’s weird because I do feel like its my home country but I also feel slightly out of place. More on this later though. If you like this blog, then buy Bringing Up […]

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]]> People just ride around in their golf carts all day! It’s beautiful here. In my 10 year old’s words “it’s epically awesome!!” It’s weird because I do feel like its my home country but I also feel slightly out of place. More on this later though.

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20120330-210456.jpg

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