Coming to America - Back from Scotland

We've moved lots of times, but this particular move proved to be the most complicated of them all thanks to COVID.  All the things we thought we knew went out the window in these strange times and what we thought would be the usual 30 day turnaround on a relocation turned into nearly half a year before we finally found a place to call home.  

The first issue concerned packing.  Normally we would have a definitive time line on when our belongings would reach us on the other end.  Due to slowed ocean freight movements and rigorous inspection and sanitation processes, they were not able to give us an estimation on when we might have possession of our things back in the US.  So, we packed our suitcases as best we could.  What we didn't know at time is that the contents of these suitcases would be all we would have for nearly 5 months.  That information would have most definitely caused adjustments to my selection process, but hindsight is 20/20. 

Next, the normal journey home would have looked similar to our arrival, with a non-stop international flight directly from Edinburgh to New York.  Due to COVID, nearly all commercial travel across the Atlantic was suspended and flights were very limited and constantly getting canceled!  Since it does take some time to coordinator moving companies and freight carriers, we had two planned flight itineraries canceled prior to our actual departure.  Within the final week we were able to coordinate a plan that resulted in an extra-long return journey where we flew from Edinburgh to London, with an overnight stay at the hotel inside Hearthrow for an early morning departure.  

First Day of 8th Grade / S2 / U4

As the pandemic continues to rage on, the girls and the parents were all so excited to be able to go back to school in person (unfortunately, for what we would soon find out to be only a short while).  For someone as social as Brenna, online learning became tiresome and dull.  She was happy to be back with her friend!  

Our rhythm of school now follows the routine of dropping Brenna at a friends house every morning where the girls all congregate and walk to and from school together.  Its a good group of kids, it saves me from a little traffic congestion at the school's entrance, and the girls appreciate they're new found freedom, so its a win-win for everyone!

This is officially 8th grade middle school by US standards, S2 high school by Scotland measures, and Upper 4 according to St. Georges classifications.  

Fox Lake Adventure

The girls squeezed in one last adventure before the return to school.  Fox Lake is just outside of Edinburgh and it's an outdoors adventure park.  It has over-the-water rope courses, wake boarding water courses, ringo pulls, ziplines, and segway tours.  We had hoped for better weather, but that's not the kind of thing you can wait for in Scotland.  We've learned that if you want to do things, sometimes you have to do it in the rain!  

The girls started the day with a segway tour around the lake then they changed into wetsuits for a long day of wake boarding.  It was Brenna's first time wake boarding and I wasn't sure how well she's do.  After watching other people with little experience make attempts, it was apparent that your level of enjoyment was directly related to how long you could stay up on the board.  Otherwise, you're just being dragged around the lake in muddy cold water.  Luckily, she took to it easily and quickly mastered the art of the getting the board up in the water.  After several runs through the course the coaches began to teach her how to steer and maneuver.  Overall, her first wake boarding experience was a success!

Despite the less than desirable weather, we were fortunate not get any significant rain through out the day.  We all enjoyed lunch lake-side and the moms spent the day visiting.  After so long in lockdown, it was wonderful to have what felt like a normal day out with friends.  The start of school was right around the corner and future plans were uncertain due to the increase in covid cases.  We knew another lockdown was coming and we appreciated the opportunity to just be with friends.

Three Bridges Tour

Scotland summers are fleeting at best and with lockdown consuming a portion of that short time, we were determined to make the most of the time we had left before school (virtual or otherwise) began again.  One very chilly summer morning we decided to join friends for a boat tour onboard the Maiden of the Forth for a day out!  Both the girls as well as us moms were excited at the prospect of a whole day out of the house.  We joined the crew for a leisurely sail around the firth enjoying the sights and history of the bridges as well as Inchcolm Island.  

One highlight of Edinburgh is it's location nestled between the North Sea and the Firth of Forth (not to be confused with 5th of 4th).  Firth is a word used in the Scots language to refer to a coastal body of water.  We would think of it as a straight or an inlet.  Forth refers to the River Forth, which is one of the major rivers that feeds into the inlet that connects to the North Sea.  The famous Three Bridges stretch across the Firth of Forth to connect The Lothians with the Kingdom of Fife.  The three bridges sit side-by-side-by-side across the firth as a symbol of engineering evolution.

The first bridge was the Forth Rail Bridge that was completed in 1890 and provide a vital means of moving supplies across Scotland by railway.  The bridge was the first of it's kind as a cantilever suspension bridge made completely of steel, rather than iron.  Both the designer and contractor were knighted for their work on the Forth Rail Bridge.

The second bridge emerged as Britain’s road system flourished in the 1930s.  There became a clear need for more convenient vehicular passage between Edinburgh and Fife.  The bridge was approved in 1947, however due to numerous delays work did not begin until 1958.  The Forth Road Bridge was officially opened in 1964 as the fourth longest bridge in the world and the longest outside of the United States.

The Forth Road Bridge had a life expectancy of 120 years, but in the 21st century the planned capacity of 11 million vehicles per year had risen to more than 23 million.  A maintenance inspection conducted on the bridge in 2003 discovered that the main suspension cables had suffered a loss of 10% due to corrosion. The accelerated loss of strength threaten to limit the bridges capacity by 2014 with closure by 2019.  This information, along with the strategic transport importance of the bridge, prompted discussions for replacement.  In 2007 the Queensferry Crossing was approved at an estimated cost of $5.2 billion.  The bridge was completed in 2017.  Queensferry Crossing is the longest three-tower cable stayed bridge in the world and has more than 23,000 mile of cable.

Scottish Highland Adventure

Just a short two weeks after our England getaway, we were off again.  During lockdown, as we were patiently waiting for restrictions to lift, a friend and I planned a joint Highland adventure for our families not knowing whether we'd be able to actually take it or not.  As it turns out, it ended up being a celebratory trip!  We celebrated both Brenna and Michelle's birthdays.  We were trying to make the most of our very short, socially distanced, don’t leave the UK summer.  

  

The trip started with a curvy drive through Glencoe.  The highlands are incredibly beautiful!  Brenna snapped pictures along the drive of all the mountains and valleys.

7th Grade (S1) School Highlights

This school year has been an adventure on so many levels!  It will certainly be one that won't be forgotten.  Brenna started St. George's all-in, being completely enamored with all the choices.  The course selections were incredible!  In total she was enrolled for 17 classes for her regular school day.  What we consider as core classes (Math, Science, History, and English) were broken down into Physic, Chemistry, Biology, Modern History, Religion and Philosophy, Geography, Double Math, Double English, and Library.  Then add in supportive classes like Food Technology, Drama, Art, Music, Physical Education, Product Design, Information and Communication Technologies, and finally a wide selection of Languages to chose from, of which two were required.  Brenna chose French and Spanish, although she's trying to convenience me to switch one to Mandarin for next year.  She also jumped right into extracurricular activities with things she already loved and picked-up lots of new activities that would only be available to us here in Britain.  She signed on for Choir, Debate, Judo and Self Defense, Field Hockey, and Lacrosse.  Needless to say her schedule was packed with both before and after school activities four out of the five days a week and the sports competitions spilling over into the weekends.  Normally, I would have pumped the breaks on all these activities, but the school made everything very accommodating.  School actually felt like an extension of home.  I contribute it to the boarding school environment.

Her broad range of activities connected her with lots of friends.  And since the school is very international, her friend group was a wide collection of nationalities, not just from Scotland, but also England, Switzerland, Spain, and France.  It's been a very enlightening cultural experience.  The school also did a great job of supplementing the all-girls experience with joint activities with our brother school, Merchiston Castle all-boys school.  There were sports days, ceilidhs (a traditional Scottish country dance), and dances.

The Run Down

This may be my longest rundown ever, since it covers our first 10 months in Scotland.  I ended up with huge collection of random snapshots to commemorate all the new sights and experiences.  There was all the rain and rainbows, the food, the buildings and architecture, the Pentland Hills, Jacob's first Burns Supper, all the colorful Scottish tweed, British High Tea, my first taste of Irn-Bru, a visit to Hogwarts, and our first Scottish snow, just to name a few.  It's been a steep learning curve and a life-changing experience.

Halloween as a Tween

This Halloween I had a mom moment, because it was the first time I felt like the mother of teenager (or at least soon-to-be).  Every other year for Halloween I've helped her get ready, took pictures of her always fun and never scary costume, and then tagged along as she trick-or-treated with friends.  This year however, she went to a Halloween party at a friends house.  I dropped her off at school early that morning with an overnight bag and her costume.  All the girls walked home together to the friends house after school for the party where they changed into their costume, enjoyed some party games, and then went trick-or-treating together later than night.  They spent the night there and got up the next morning and walked back to school together (since Halloween was on a Thursday night this year).  So not only was it the first time that I didn't follow along behind her while she trick-or-treated, but I didn't even get to see her in her costume.  All I got was a few pics from the party mom.  And just like that I was officially ditched for her friends.  And so begins life with a teenager!

1st Day of High School (not really, but kinda)

It was the first day of S1 Senior School by Scottish measure and 7th Grade Middle School by US standards for Brenna.  She was off to St. George's School for Girls and yes, it is an all-girls school. Jacob was especially pleased with that particular aspect.  I had my doubts about an all-girls school since that concept is completely foreign to me, but the opportunities that it’s provided have been incredible.  The school is very different from any of our previous ones (this is her 6th school, poor kid).  It stretches over a large campus similar to a small college, and the girls move freely about from building to building managing their own class schedules, lunch, and free time.  It is a boarding school, though Brenna doesn’t board, and the school is divided into houses that compete in various events throughout the year, much like our very own version of Hogwarts!  Brenna loves the cafeteria and all the food is homemade.  The school does feel very homey based on the way the girls are looked after.  The uniform policy is very strict compared to US standards.  While I've never considered Brenna to be overly dramatic, the uniform did incite some very intense conversation. The idea of wearing a blazer and skirt everyday was not met with enthusiasm and I thought we might have to call the whole thing off when she found out that she had to wear the standard uniform shoes and socks instead of her tennis shoes.  They must have their hair tied neatly back and away from their face.  Also, no make-up allowed, which I didn't think would be a big deal since she doesn't wear make-up, until we discovered that finger nail polish is indeed included in the school's definition of make-up. She lamented the loss of her hot-pink nails for hours last night!

Senior 1 (S1) is the first year of high school here in Scotland.  Initially, the thought of her being a high schooler was a little unnerving.  I thought we had more time before that happened!  But, she jumped right in with both feet and joined the Charity Committee, Debate Team, Choir, Lacrosse Club, Self-Defense and Judo, and the Field Hockey Team.  And that’s after I said no to a whole list of other clubs that she wanted to join!  By far, her greatest joy has been field hockey!  It’s played on AstroTurf and has very similar concepts to soccer, except you play with a short hockey stick and a small ball.  Now we spend every weekend on the hockey pitches

She spent the week before school started in pre-season sports camp at the school showing these Scottish football girls how we play American soccer and in return they taught us field hockey!  It was a great way to connect with the other girls and she already had friends at school by the time the first day of school got here.  St. George's has certainly been a blessing for us.

Mediterranean Cruise Vacation for Brenna's 12th Birthday

I didn't want Brenna's birthday to get lost in the move, so we had a small get together with her friends before we left.  While I offered to do the usual party themed celebration, she preferred it to be nothing more than just a fun hangout, no decorations, no cake, no fuss.  There was a lot going on during that time.  Our furniture departed for the journey to Scotland long before we did and since we sold the house, we were forced out earlier than we expected and had to live in a hotel for the final week in Houston.  Given everything else I was dealing with at the time I was especially grateful for Brenna's understanding.  Knowing that her birthday would fall shortly after we got to Britain and I didn't expect we'd know anyone, we decided to plan our summer vacation as Brenna's birthday celebration.  Brenna loves cruising as much as we do and she helped me plan everything.  On her actual birthday she and I enjoyed a spa day where we got facials, manicures, and pedicures in preparation for our cruise vacation.  

The pre-birthday hangout

The Run Down - The Last from Houston

Challenge Soccer

By far the majority of our time in Houston was spent on the soccer field.  Within just two weeks of moving into the house we joined Challenge Soccer Club.  Challenge is one of a select few competitive girls soccer clubs in Texas.  The program starts with a youth academy that feeds into league play through U18.  It's a full year club designed to develop girls for college level play.  More than 85% of last years graduating Challenge seniors were recruited for college soccer from 25 different universities.  We weren't going into Challenge with the idea of putting Brenna on a path for professional soccer, but she was set that this was the league she wanted to play for.

Things progressed quickly once we joined.  After playing the 2017 fall season in youth academy, she was bumped up to a U11 league team for the 2018 spring season.  Then in May we took part in annual tryouts and were excited to hear that Brenna was selected to play up on the U13 team (totally skipped U12...)  We had our concerns, as she was only 10 at the time and would be competing against 11-13 year olds.  Also, U13 is the first official year of true FIFA regulation style soccer; meaning size 5 ball, 11v11, and 100x60 yards fields.  For Brenna that meant learning to play a new position (verses previous 9v9 format) and a much larger field requiring more ground to cover.  After talking with her coaches, they assured us that she was ready to compete, so we joined Challenge 06 Red East.

We started with three weeks of 4-day/week preseason training in July, giving up our last few weeks of summer.  Once preseason was complete we practiced three days a week for two hours each session with games on Saturdays and Sundays and tournaments all over southeast Texas.  We played in the pouring rain, the freezing cold, and the scorching heat.  And practice was never cancelled because of rain.  They'd just move it to the parking lot.

All the girls had to complete fitness testing for rankings.  The girls took part in timed agility tests, the 25 yard dash, vertical jump, and the beep test for endurance.  The data was then used to rank the results of the entire club based on age.  We had to complete neurocognitive testing to provide baseline data for concussion management.  As I sat in the hospital waiting for our appointment I wondered how good of a parent I was if I was actively planning for my child to incur a concussion!  The club also provided nutritional seminars on healthy eating for athletes.

The coaches were tough, and not always nice.  During practices, if someone made a mistake the whole team had to stop, drop, and do push-ups.  There was lots of colorful commentary from the coaches on the sidelines during practices and games.  Some of my favorite are:

How many lefts do you have?
Can you see the ball?  Do I need to get you glasses?
I need you to make a decision faster than my grandma!
I'm going to put posters up that say "Have you seen this left foot?" on every tree in the park.
Are you dead?  You're moving like a zombie!  Pick up the pace!
You look like the Grinch that Stole Christmas!  Stop tip-toeing through the ladder!
You have to talk to each other on the field!  I know you can because you sound like a bunch of chickens during practice!

Needless to say, this club is not for the faint of heart.  It was brutal at times, but Brenna never backed down.  There were even moments we threatened to pull her out and she fought back to stay.  The program has taught her about team work and communication and how hard work and dedication pays off in skill and knowledge.  I'm so proud of the effort and determination she's put into this.

As the year progressed, so did their level of play.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture or video throughout the entire year.  The game was so fast that I didn't want to try to keep up with any of it through a lens.  I didn't want to miss a second of playing time.  Thankfully, another mom sacrificed herself for the team and photographed a couple of the games and tournaments.

It was a great year with Challenge Soccer Club and a time that I know Brenna will remember for a lifetime.

6th Grade at West Lake Middle School

Brenna's sixth grade and first year of middle school was a big transition for both Brenna and me.  Brenna was super excited at her first chance to have some control over her class selection and to move throughout the school from class to class without supervision.  It was my first year to step away just a little and give her some independence.  I've always played a very active roll in all of Brenna's classes throughout her primary years.  So much so, that I still remain friends with several of her past teachers.  I was always there for every school activity, field trip, and presentation.  Now seemed like the right time to let her maneuver through this new school and new way of learning on her own.  She met the challenge with enthusiasm!  She joined choir as her fine arts selection and it was the best and funniest choir that she's ever been a part.  Her choir teacher was fantastic.  She also selected Leadership Development, Drama, and Computer Technologies for her other electives.  She also picked up all advance placements classes for her core subjects of Math, Science, English, and World Cultures.  Her after school activities were committed to soccer and choir, but she also decided to join the Library Club and dedicated her early mornings before school started as a library manager.  I was a little concerned that she may be taking on too much for her first year as a middle schooler, but somehow she balanced everything and was going strong.  It helped that she plugged into a really great group of girls that were just as active as she was.  The crew stuck together throughout the school year and made the most out of their opportunities for fun, from volunteering together at the school's Christmas Celebration, to water park choir field trips, and two school dances.

First Day of 6th Grade

Christmas 2018

As I mentioned on our Thanksgiving post, our time in Texas is coming to close much quicker than we expected.  Thanksgiving and Christmas proved to be challenging as our normal holidays routines competed with other immediate priorities.  We discovered that despite our short time in Texas, we were moving...again.  This is an unplanned change for us.  We had hoped to have a longer stay in Houston (or even just the USA) since it feels like we’ve barely just returned from Canada.  But God had other plans for us.

This time we're preparing for a move to Britain.  Jacob has been transferred to the United Kingdom.  Our new home will be Edinburgh, Scotland.  If fact, Jacob is already there, which is what caused the disruption to my usual holiday routines.  He moved across the pond in early December.  We’ve spent the better part of the holidays managing the mountains of paperwork that goes along with international moves, arranging temporary living for Jacob, applying to British preparatory schools for Brenna, and searching for a new place to call home.

Because of all this, we were just excited to have Jacob back home for Christmas.  We mostly spent our time close to home, enjoying the downtime.  We finished up school with some fun Christmas themed activities and hung out with friends in the neighborhood.  Brenna was excited to be pick for a solo in the schools Christmas Choir Concert and we were also proud to find out that she was selected by the WLMS staff as Student of the Month.

Halloween

We kicked off Halloween on the soccer field with the annual Challenge Spooktacular soccer practice.  Yes, even when we celebrate we still have to work.  The girls wear costumes to practice and play fun 3v3 mini games, play "catch the coach", and raid the coaches candy stash.

The Run Down

I capture all these random photos because at the time it was something that I wanted to remember for one reason or another.  Usually, it's just moments from our daily goings that never warrant my big camera being on hand.  I dumped my phone photos onto the computer recently and realized that the last Run Down I posted was just before we left Canada.  I'm alittle behind.  These cover an entire year stretching from last summer through this summer.  So, here's a few little pieces of our days.

5th Grade Highlights

Wow!  5th grade was awesome!  As we were preparing to move back to the USA, I was really concerned about returning to Texas public schools after spending 1st-4th grade in Canada.  The curriculums differed dramatically and school days were managed in completely different ways.  I worried about her grades, whether she would be behind, and how she would adjust to time management.  Turns out it was all unwarranted.  She jumped right in with both feet and really flourished this year!

Of course, I've already covered that she joined the choir, but she was also admitted into the Groves Rangers.  Rangers is a leadership development program that students were selected to based on their responses to written essay questions describing their views on leadership, responsibility, and community involvement.  While school hours were from 8 am until 3:30 pm, Rangers were required to be on duty at 7:20 am and stay until 4:15 pm.  The kids were responsible for an array of different duties.  They would help with set up and take down at all school functions, they assisted in car rider drop-off and pick-up, they helped the younger kids in the cafeteria during breakfast, they managed the school's recycle program, they raised and lowered the flags each day, and they assisted teachers with special requests.  She loved the program and it really helped instill a stronger understanding of responsibility and community service.

One of the reasons we had such an awesome year is because we had such an awesome teacher!  Mrs. Amanda Kopp and our team of 5th grade teachers worked so hard to make sure these kids had a year to remember.  There were so many special events throughout the year.  We had Colonial Day, where the kids dressed in pioneer clothes, made wax candles, sewed satchels, and churned butter.  We had Spy Day where the kids all dressed in black like secret agents, Groves Olympics where Brenna was chosen to carry the flag for 5th grade, CSI Day where kids solved science mysteries, Star Wars Day where they made there own light sabers, Karaoke Fridays where the whole school would break out into song and dance during lunch in the cafeteria, Career Day where Brenna chose to be a chemical engineer, Field Day, Book Tastings, a Snow Day, Kickball Tournaments, Manner's Banquet, and so many others.  It was a jammed packed year.

The kids also got a very personal lesson on how hard work pays off.  Our teach was nominated as Groves Elementary Teacher of the Year.  She continued on through written essay submissions and interviews to be selected as Humble ISD Teacher of the Year and she won a new car!  I had the opportunity to get to know Mrs. Kopp well throughout the school year and saw first hand the work and effort she poured into these kids.  The honor was very well deserved and we were so blessed to have Mrs. Kopp as our teacher!

Also, Brenna really shined in her studies.  Not only did she pass all of her STARR tests, but she mastered Reading and Science scoring in the 99th percentile.  She made all A's for the year and received the "All A Honor Roll" award during the year end awards ceremony.  She also received the awards for "Out of the Box" thinker and "Author's Eye" insightful reader as voted on by her peers.  Finally, our school focused on five primary mindsets to instill during the year.  The kids began every day with the phrase "We are Reflective.  We are Innovative.  We are Connected.  We are Intentional.  We are Global.  We are Groves!"  The staff and principal selected one boy and one girl that most represented each of these characteristics and Brenna was presented the award for "Innovative Mindset"  We are so very proud of all her hard work and her accomplishments this year!

Our school functions on a strong social media platform, with the idea to teach kids the impacts and responsibility of using social media correctly.  Thanks to this, the parents got glimpses into the classroom daily.  I didn't take a lot of school photos this years, but it didn't matter because nearly all the pictures below were curtesy of our teacher!

5th Grade Manners Banquet

In May, with just one week of school left, the 5th grade held it's 1st annual Manners Banquet, which was basically the equivalent to a 5th grade prom minus the "boy asks girl" part.  Everyone dressed up in pretty dresses and suits and ties.  Each girl was "assigned" a boy as her escort.  The boys were responsible for escorting her in (without touching!) and pulling her chair in and out.  It was held at the beautiful banquet room of the Walden on the Lake Country Club and the Atascocita High School Orchestra was in attendance to provide musical ambiance.  The purpose of the banquet was to demonstrate table manners and etiquette while carrying on appropriate dinner conversation topics.  A teacher or school district representative was assigned to each table to monitor and grade the students.  A few of us volunteers dressed in white tops and black pants to serve the kids a 3-course meal that was followed by a presentation of photos showing each of the kids at birth, Kindergarten, and 5th grade.  It was very graduation-ish and alittle unnerving for parents since this was the first time I'd ever heard the words Class of 2025 spoken out loud.  The girls had a great time.  The boys did too, but there was a bathroom incident that resulted in a follow-up that called for adult supervision in the restrooms for next year.  

It was a really special event and felt like an beautiful finish to Brenna's elementary school years!

Halloween

Halloween was celebrated on several different platforms the last week of October.  First we kicked things off at school with a Monster Mash.  The kids gathered together in the gym on a Saturday night for games, a photo booth, and a DJ.  Next it was Spooktacular Soccer and our soccer club had a fun event for the girls to play games and get candy.  Finally, Halloween night we toured our neighborhood in the rain and enjoyed meeting neighbors and seeing friends.  This year Brenna was Mal from Disney Descendants.  She went all out with makeup and a wig.  She looked great and I told her it was my favorite Halloween costume so far. 

Halloween 2016

This year for Halloween Brenna randomly decided to be a pirate.  I don't know where the idea came from, but after a quick search she was set on pink pirate costume!  As a christian school, our school doesn't officially recognize the holiday.  So there's no halloween parties and no costume day.  But one of our bus drivers wouldn't let Halloween slip by without alittle fun.