Corrs Abroad: Henley-on-Thames

Happy 4th of July (tomorrow)! I can't say we are doing much in the way of celebration here but Christopher is going to work from home tomorrow and we are going to do a very American thing by going to Costco. Cindi and Camille have been here for a week now and it has flown by. Kate and Harry have been in heaven with Camille by their side to play, bathe, make snacks, etc. and Joseph's every need has been met by his Aunt Cindi. We will be one sad group when they leave us on Wednesday. They started their visit with a trip to Windsor with one of Camille's friends and her mother who was visiting family in the area. Unfortunately they weren't able to tour the castle because the queen was in residence. Next time we will be sure to check the website. I think they had a great time touring Windsor and Eton anyway and definitely enjoyed the company of their good friends. Wednesday Christopher and I went into London for the day. It was my first trip into London since we moved here. It was a great day and we certainly enjoyed having some time to ourselves. Friday Camille and Cindi had their turn in London. We thought about us all going but taking a 3 year old and a 6 month old just didn't seem like a good idea. Spending a day in the city only confirmed that we made the right decision. Yesterday we went to a riverside town called Henley-on-Thames. We heard nice things about it and after deciding that Bath would be too hard a trip for the kids, we decided to go there instead. It was only about a 45 minute drive along some nice, although narrow, country roads. I would close my eyes every time we passed a car parked on the side of the road, which was often, convinced we would hit. Fortunately, Christopher doesn't mind driving here and isn't bothered by my constant "Your're going to hit that car!" or "Please slow down, you're scaring me!" Unbeknownst to us Henley-on-Thames hosts a huge regatta annually and yesterday was the final day of it. So we made our way through the crowds of people dressed in their dresses and hats and had a lovely day by the water. We ate at a pub called the Boat House where the UVA crew team was eating as well. They lost yesterday but evidently they did very well overall. They had some great playgrounds where the children played but by 3 everyone was ready to go home. Today we went to church across from our house and Christopher sang in the choir. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be attending there on a regular basis. It just wasn't a good fit for us which is too bad because it is so convenient. W decided to go out for Sunday roast at a gastro pub called the Golden Retriever. It was recommended to us by a few different people. It is definitely a place we will take all of our future guests from now on. It was really delicious and they have a lovely seating area outside which has to be taken advantage of on nice days like we had today. Everyone is in bed now and I will be going shortly even though it is 9:30 and still very light outside. Again, happy 4th!!