Morrisons

We finally found an actual, American-sized supermarket a few weeks back on the outskirts out town. Hallelujah! They DO exist here in England.

The most interesting thing is, after acclimating to small-scale and variety-free shops around town, we found ourselves totally unable to handle the wonder of Morrisons Supermarket. Too many choices!

Of course, along with the variety comes lots of fun English products. Such as:

The whimsically-named Cock-a-Leekie soup. I think that "Chicken and Leek Soup" sounds a lot more appetizing and less like a medical condition, but what do I know?

It says "American Style Hot Dogs in brine." Brine! I'm pretty sure that I've never seen an American eating brined franks. I'm also pretty sure that if this is UK's #1 hot dog, we should all just steer clear of "American" food in England.

Popsicles a.k.a. "ice lollies." 

The Clio

We traded in the granny cart this weekend for something a little bit more powerful. A car!

Before

After! This is our new (well, okay, used) Renault Clio. 

Now if only I could remember that the driver's side is on the right...

English license..er, I mean...registration plates!

Pete loves new car smell. 

When we picked up the car it had just been cleaned and detailed. They left us these paper floor mats. Custom? Hmmmmm....

Leicester Botanic Gardens

The weather today was really warm and sunny so Craig and I decided to take a stroll down to the botanic gardens. 

 The "water garden." It looks more like a reflecting pool to me, but still very nice.

Craig in the limestone garden looking for turtles and frogs.

The sun was so bright today. I don't think my eyes were ready. 

We saw ladybugs flying around everywhere in the neighborhood and the gardens. Spring is here! 

For some reason, it cracked me up to see Craig hold hands with this weird Pan sculpture...

...which was, for some reason, also wearing rollerblades.

A few people in our neighborhood have these strange trees in their front yard. They look like a mix of a pine tree, a pineapple, and a cactus. 

Hanging out underneath the branches of a big redwood tree. Fun fact: redwood bark can grow to over two feet thick!