Birmingham, England

I got invited back to teach a weekend of classes in Birmingham by the wonderful ladies at Birds of a Feather, so we decided to make a vacation out of it and the whole family came along! It was gorgeous weather as we flew out of Munich. Lufthansa is my favorite airline. Just sayin'.

Auf wiedersehen Deutschland! Hello England!

Jane was my seat mate. She is something! This is the first time the pressure changes really got to her and she was so upset about her ears :( Note to self: bring lollipops next time!
Jane's quote would read, "I will unmake the made." She's never seen a pile of folded laundry that she didn't want to throw in the air.

Avis hooked us up with an upgrade to this super nice Audi wagon complete with "Satnav" :) :) :) I had a hard time saying goodbye to the plush heated leather seats, automatic rain detector, helpful backing up signals, etc., when we returned the car at the end. Chris adjusted to driving on the right side effortlessly.

After a good night's sleep at the hotel, we woke up bright and early and headed out to explore Birmingham. First stop? Breakfast! Fox and I played a full game of "dots". I don't know what it's really called...

I spy Birmingham off to the left. 

We drove by the cool modern public library. Chris and the kids were able to go in and explore it the next day while I was teaching.

Signage.

Then we saw some more cool architecture at the Bullring shopping mall.

A legit mall! It's been ages since we've been in a real mall!

It was raining cats and dogs and we were not prepared so we got some cheap umbrellas and walked outside for a bit.

Red brick and ivy = a favorite combination.

DJ Jane in the hizzouse!

On Saturday as I taught, Chris loaded up the kids and drove back downtown to do some more 'splorin'. They cut through the International Convention Center with its neat ceiling.

The hip area down by the aquarium complete with 19th century wharf style buildings and canals.

The Three Amigos? Huey, Dewey, and Louie? Moe, Larry, and Curly? The Three Musketeers? The BeeGees? Nope. This is Matthew Bolton, James Watt, and William Murdoch who helped develop and improve the steam engine.

More snippets from the day. 

A sweet and tender moment... or so I thought. Chris says that a second later Jane grabbed Fox's hood and started swinging him around. Oh, kids! The preserved Shakespeare Memorial Room from 1906 housed within the new modern library.

There was construction all through the heart of the city. Chamberlain Square was completely inaccessible to foot traffic, but it was visible from observatory windows in the library.

Looking down at the cool architecture in the library.

They went back to the Bullring Shopping Center and Jane got to make her first Build-A-Bear! She was a pro at helping stuff the T-rex she picked out.

Reunited with my boy after his day of exploring with dad and my day of teaching.

One night for dinner we went to a strip mall in Walsall and had some delicious Italian food at a place called Bella Italia. 

After another day of teaching and another full day exploring it was time to come home.

Technophiles.

My little something.

On the final descent into our wonderful adopted home country. We don't get to fly back into Germany too many more times!

Thanks for getting us home safely Lufthansa!

The schizophrenic weather on the 2 hour drive home even included a rainbow!

I wish I had made a compilation video from ALL our adventures over the years! But, there's no time like the present, never too late to start, you can teach an old dog new tricks, so here is one from Birmingham: The second day we went to Cadbury World which definitely deserves a post of its own :)