This morning, friends pulled out their passports and we headed for “A Green and Pleasant Land”………….

….England and Great Britain! Simon’s mom, Alexandra, took us on a journey east, across the ocean to visit her homeland of England.

She first discussed how far it was in relation to South Bend, and that the capital city of England is London.

We learned, that like the colors of Simon’s football jersey, the colors of both flags are red, white and blue (just like the US!).  Alexandra taught Wee Friends “London Bridges” and everyone had a chance to skip under the bridge…..and try to avoid getting caught!

We learned that English people love to garden and we even got to see a picture of Simon in his Granny’s garden!

Alexandra explained that great literature and wonderful stories had their beginnings in England. Of particular interest to our friends were the stories of Thomas the Train, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear.

She spoke of castles, princesses, queens and moats. She showed us pictures of Big Ben, The Tower of London and Leeds Castle.

She showed us many pictures of things we THOUGHT we knew the name of…like soccer and candy, but as it turns out, in England, they call them something else! Soccer is football, a line is a queue, potato chips are crisps…and candy is a sweet…just to name a few!

We finished our time together with Alexandra reading “Lines and Squares” and “The King’s Breakfast” from A.A. Milne’s classic, When We Were Very Young. Afterwards, each friend was invited to sample a raspberry tart, made by Simon!

What a fantastic trip! THANK YOU ALEXANDRA for spending your time with us this morning and teaching us about England and Great Britain! We can’t wait ‘til you and Simon return from Paris for another WF European adventure!

Back in South Bend, Ada, Kai and Simon added a flashlight and measuring stick to their daily slug hunt.

Ada was so excited to capture the targeted slug that she danced a celebratory dance singing “I like to move it move it!!.

A rolly polly wouldn’t stay still long enough for Ada to measure it! But she was able to measure two slugs at 1” each. Simon explored the rulers further, adding and subtracting the two feet in different combinations.

The Little girls brought a little of their Myrtle Beach vacay back to Wee Friends by constructing an elaborate (first time ever at Wee Friends!) sand castle! Just in time for our trip to England to see other castles!

It was a happy morning.

Wee Sprouts are cucumber slices and green beans. Breakfast was whole wheat toast with peanut butter and pear slices. Lunch was whole wheat penne pasta with black beans and chicken, watermelon and peas.

Have a good day.