Kristine and kids visit- Isle of Wight

Meade's sister, Kristine, and her kids, Kyle (8) and Jessica (10) were our next visitors. They were here for
2 and a half weeks right after Meade got out of school. We spent the first week on the Isle of Wight, a small island just a few miles off the southern coast of England. As there were 7 of us, and our small sedan would not fit everyone, we decided to rely on public transportation to get there and back and also to get around the island. While overall this went well, it involved four forms of transportation to get there (taxi, two trains, ferry, and bus), frequent two-hour one-way bus journeys to travel part-way across a 20 mile-long island, and a bit of hitch-hiking to get to our cottage from the bus stop with all our luggage after Aaron skinned his knees while dodging traffic on a very narrow country road.

We rented a cottage in a holiday park that had an indoor and outdoor pool, large indoor soft-play area, activities for kids, and lots of other great things for kids and families. Highlights included the warmest week of the summer (yes, it even exceeded 80 once), visiting the beautiful beaches, walking several kilometers along a sheep-grazed meadow to a spectacular rock promontory called “the Needles,” and exploring a bit of history by visiting the Osborne House (queen Victoria’s summer retreat that houses her largest collection of art and furnishings) and Carlisle Castle (a quintessential castle atop a hill complete with a moat and drawbridge). We spent the remainder of the time seeing local sights and Laurie and Kristine got away to Paris for two days while I (Meade writing for once) assured myself of never wanting to be a single father with four kids. It was great for the cousins to be back together again – it was like they had never been apart.