IMG_0053, originally uploaded by SueTrimble.

Caitlin is in London today at Buckingham Palace watching the changing of the guard. They will also ride the London Eye, and have time for shopping in Covent Garden.

They were in Ireland for a few days, ferried back to Wales on Wednesday, and then Thursday, Friday and Saturday were at a home stay, which is always part of the Student Ambassador experience. The kids break up in 2’s and 3’s and stay with families in England who’ve invited them in. The families are thoroughly checked out, and it is all set up in advance. Of course, parents are always the most concerned about home stay, but according to Lori, their delegate leader who’s been doing this for 6 years, it is always their favorite part.

Tomorrow morning they board a plane at Heathrow and fly to Chicago. They leave at 7:45 a.m. (1:45 our time,) fly to Chicago, have an over five hour layover there, then fly to Green Bay, arriving at 4:52p.m. I can’t wait to see her!

As part of preparation for the trip, they each had to construct a model of something they would see as they traveled. Caitlin chose to build the London Eye out of K’nex, so the picture you see is the model that Caitlin made after Russell swiped a few pieces to make something else.

I heard from Caitlin on Sunday. They had arrived that day in Ireland.
Yesterday they visited a farm, learned about Irish Meath Countryside, and became “Irish for a Day!” They learned about traditional sports, farm life, and music.
Today they went to Blarney Castle, and I’ll have to wait until I talk to her again to find out if Caitlin kissed the Blarney stone!

Russell and I went to Six Flags today, spent 12 hours, rode about 15 rollercoasters, including their new Dark Knight ride, which was a big letdown, the older Batman ride, which was our favorite (rode it 4 times) and the horrifying Superman ride, which I will never go on again. I was so terrified, I didn’t even scream, which I usually do, ask Russell. We had a blast, but it will be a while before I’ll go to Six Flags again.

I heard from Caitlin yesterday. She sounded good, really happy. She talked about finding the name ‘Trimble’ and the clan crest , and things with “I saved the king” on them when she was shopping yesterday. I’ll explain more about that later. She talked excitedly about Warwick Castle and Edinburgh Castle, and canoeing, kayaking and raft-building. I was thrilled to hear from her and relieved to hear her sound so excited. She says she doesn’t like the food, but still, she is eating it. Eating enough to get by. She wanted to talk to Jeff and tell him about the Trimble finds. She also wanted to say hi to Russell, which was so shocking I thought I’d misunderstood her at first.

Today they go Nessie hunting. They will also see traditional sheepdog, and see a sheep shearing and bottle-feed orphan lambs.

Haven’t heard from Caitlin since Friday night, and I hope that’s a good thing. They are in Highlands, Scotland right now, according to their itinerary doing kayaking, canoeing, and raft building on Loch Shandra. Tonight they learn to ceilidh, which is Scottish Country Dancing.

On Saturday they visited Stratford-Upon-Avon, and camped at Warwick Castle. The next day they went to Scotland, and have been there since. They visited Gretna Green, Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town of Edinburgh.

Tomorrow they are going Nessie Hunting.

Sounds like they had an uncomfortable flight and none of the kids could sleep. Caitlin said she tried for 4 hours to sleep but couldn’t. She says she’s getting enough to eat, but I talked to another mom whose son called her and told her that they didn’t really like the food.

Caitlin said they had just come from seeing Lord of the Rings on stage. She didn’t sound too excited, but it was midnight their time, and I’m sure she was exhausted. Hopefully things will get better.

Sviper had his first meal in our home this morning: A pinky (baby mouse) from the freezer. We took the pinky out of the freezer and let it thaw for about 30 minutes. The pet store owner told us to put Sviper in a different container for feeding, so that’s why he’s in an old ice cream bucket in the picture. He spent a few seconds stalking the mouse, then bit it in the stomach, then after a few more seconds unhinged his jaws and swallowed the mouse feet first.

Caitlin update: Today they are in London. They met with a member of Parliament, visited the Tower of London, met the Yeoman Warders “Beefeaters,” who guard the tower and are caretakers of the ravens (According to legend, if the ravens ever leave the Tower, the Kingdom will fall.) They took a cruise on the River Thames, and are right now going to a show (I don’t know which one.)

Yesterday they saw the John F. Kennedy Memorial at Runnymeade (where the Magna Carta was sealed), and were supposed to go to Greenwich if they had time. They did other things yesterday that I don’t know much about because it’s on the itinerary as a ” surprise that will be revealed on your arrival!”

I haven’t heard from Caitlin yet, but they have been very busy and I’m sure no news is good news.

IMG_0197, originally uploaded by SueTrimble.

Today is Russell’s 12th birthday. He used his birthday money to buy a baby king snake. It’s a cute little thing. Should grow up to 3 feet long. Russell named the snake Sviper. We have it set up in his room in a glass tank under a heat light. For the care of a snake, the most important consideration besides food and water is a tank with a sturdy lid that has metal clips to keep the snake from getting out.

IMG_0144, originally uploaded by SueTrimble.

We’ve been preparing for this day since last August, attending orientation meetings, raising funds, making lists, shopping, packing, obsessing. Today (yesterday, actually, July 9) I drove Caitlin to the Green Bay airport so she could meet with her group and depart on what I hope will be a great adventure in the British Isles.

Right after we left her at the airport she texted me that their flight was to be delayed by 1.5 hours due to high winds in Chicago (their only layover). I texted back to keep me posted, and she replied “k”, but then I never heard anything else. The layover in Chicago was only schedule to be about 2 hours, so a flight delay was not good. When I got home and began following the flight status online, I could see that fortunately, they had only actually been delayed about 35 minutes.

They took off from Green Bay at about 3:05 P.M, and then from Chicago at about 6:08 P.M.. They will land at Heathrow Airport at about 8 A.M. London time (they are 6 hours ahead) and when they arrive their delegation leader will initiate a calling tree to let parents know they arrived safely. I plan to wait up until I hear something, then collapse.
After they land and meet up with some other delegates from New York, they will get on a bus and begin their touring. I hope she got some sleep on the plane!

BTW… today is Russell’s 12th birthday. He’s pretty excited!

Update: the United website shows that they have landed and are taxiing to their gate.

Update: the website now shows that they have arrived at the gate. It shows they arrived at 2:19 A.M. I would go to bed, but I know there is a phone call coming soon, so may as well wait up for that.

Update: I finally got a phone call at 4:57A.M. saying everything is fine.

When I finally got back home this afternoon after a long busy day, I found a note on the door from a local florist that a basket for me was on the step of my garage. I went into the garage and found a beautiful bouquet of flowers next to a basket that contained an assortment of chocolate candies. A box of Russell Stover, a box of handmade chocolate from a local candy maker, a bag of peanut clusters, one of raspberry malt balls, and then one of double-dipped peanuts. The card read “Happy 40th Birthday, Love Dad, Jimmy, Kay and Leigh Ann.” I was very surprised and happy to get the flowers and candy, and was thrilled to be remembered on my birthday.

It was a very busy birthday. I awoke this morning a about quarter to six to help Jeff and Russell get out the door on time. I really just wanted to make sure Russell had packed warm enough clothing.They were going to meet Russell’s Boy Scout Troop for a twenty mile hike, the troop’s annual fund raiser. They actually walk twenty miles, from Mauthe Lake along the Ice Age Trail to Greenbush. Parents had set up a meal for everyone to share at the end of the hike. When they came down the hill at the end of the trail, I could see Jeff helping Russell walk. Russell threw himself down in the grass as soon as it was over. I know they’re both miserable. Jeff can’t move without screeching in pain. I had planned to walk but got out of it because Caitlin had a People to People meeting. She’s been accepted with them as a student ambassador, and she and a group of kids from the area are traveling next summer to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Today was a meeting to get to know each other and plan the rest of the orientation meetings. She’s excited about going. Already has her passport, and now we have to put some hard work into fundraising.

There was really no time for us to have dinner out, so we just came back here, and it was such a nice surprise to find the bouquet and candy, so thanks again to Kay, Jimmy, Leigh Ann and Dad for thinking of me!