Brighton Blog

Hi! Our names are Dina and Ashleigh and this summer we are staying in Brighton Beach, England. Follow our Blog to track our progress or just say hi!

[dainbrighton]

Thursday, July 26

We started the day by waking up late, and lounging around the house for quite a while. The day started off kind of lazy, but we were relaxing for the trip tomorrow. What trip, you may ask? Well, its a surprise (*hint* its got to do with medieval times stuff). Soon enough though, we decided that we had to get out of the house so we made tea and left. We decided to go play mini-golf with mrs. April/mom, but she needed a bit, so we decided to go see what the zip-line by the beach was like while we waited. Soon enough, she arrived, and we went to go play mini-golf. The scores at the end of it (with mrs. April/mom getting a hole-in-one and Ashleigh getting two!!!) were

Ashleigh - 48

Mrs. April/mom - 44

Dina - 43

We had a lot of fun and decided to get gelato and slushees afterward. Soon enough, though, we got hot and decided to go home. We relaxed for a bit before going downstairs to eat dinner and watch a movie called “A Knight’s Tale”. After that we went upstairs to relax for a bit longer and went to bed.

[dainbrighton]

Heeyyy...

SO Ashleigh recieved this extremely helpful text from her amazing cousin Rylee the other day:

And it suddenly occured to Dina and Ashleigh that when we posted the answer to @dovedsimon 's ask we kind of forgot that some of you might not remember/know about the painting. So sorry about that! But now we are going to fix it. Anyways, about two weeks back we came across an art store that allowed free trials for their materials. Ashleigh and Dina tried out these materials and together they created a painting together of the Brighton Beach. It turned out pretty ok, I think, considering neither of us paint a whole lot. The painting looks like this:

So the joke was that we were going to go through this elaborate process to make millions of dollars off of our painting.

[dainbrighton]

What do you plan to do with the gorgeous painting? Leave for home owners? Split in half to share? Donate to a museum?

We were actually planning on cutting the painting in half so that in order to get the full value of the painting you have to have both halves. Then were were going to sell one half of the painting to an art museum in like Germany or something, and the other half of the painting we will take home with us on the plane, but hide it in some random strangers suitcase. They will take the painting home with them, and in twenty or so years Dina and Ashleigh will get back together and go find the two halves of the painting (which are on the opposite sides of the world), and by now we expect that the 1/2 of the painting in the museum in Germany will have become world famous (for being so mysterious). Dina and Ashleigh then plan on making a big show of reuniting the two halves of the painting (in public) and pretending not to be the actual people who painted it (no one will suspect). We will, of course, call the journalists and reporters ahead of time so they know to come and record all of this live. When people all around the world see the other half of the famous mysterious painting being reunited, they will rejoice and donate tons of money towards finding the painter of the mysterious painting. It will become the story of the century, earning Ashleigh and Dina millions of dollars. Then we will re-sell the painting on the black market for even more money, and spend the rest of our days longing on beaches in the Caribbean.

[dainbrighton]

Monday July 23, 2018

I don't exactly remember what happened two days ago (I procrastinated again, sorry), but I do know a few things. So instead of the regular long story posts that we usually do, here is a list of things that we did:

- went to the beach

- got ice cream

- I think we went to the Lanes (????)

- went to the pier with Mom/Ms. April, Amelia and Jacob

It was a good day!

[dainbrighton]

just saying heyyy and loving all the pics and post! the pics from the pier remind me of santa monica pier! -rylee

Hey Rylee! Great to hear from you again. And yeah, totally right it is similar to Santa Monica! The pier poses a strong resemblance and the surrounding area is definitely great as well!- Ashleigh & Dina

[dainbrighton]

Monday, July 24

Today was pretty relaxing, and we started off the day by waking up at around 7:00 for Dina and 9:00 for Ashleigh. We lounged around the house for a bit before taking Jacob and Amelia to the park for a bit. We just hung and talked for a while until the parents came and we split up. We went to Waterstones (its like the Barnes and Noble but in England). Sadly though, the book was not there, so we left empty-handed (which might have been a good thing :P). After that we got ice cream, and got on a bus to take us to the rest of the family, who were at the pool swimming. Once we arrived we got changed into our bathing suits and swam a bit while reminiscing about Disney tv shows that we watched in our childhood. It was fun, but soon we were tired of the pool so went to go shower off. Except these were the BEST pool showers i have ever been in. For example, the water was really warm. And it didn’t take 5 minutes it get warm, it was warm immediately! It felt really good, and we probably stayed in the showers chatting for about 10 minutes. Then we went to the poolside to go draw.

Eventually, we got tired of that so everyone went to go hang out at the park for a bit. We actually ended up playing on some of the stuff there, and we also drew, read, and I wrote part of this blog post. After that, we left to go back to the apartment and Ashleigh and Dina got to finish their fried rice. It was really good. After that, we just relaxed for the rest of the evening and went to bed.

[dainbrighton]

Sunday, July 22

Today was a good day. We started by waking up a little late, and babysat Amelia and Jacob for a little bit. After that we went out to get sushi. The first place we tried to get sushi was closed, and the second place was super expensive. Thankfully, the thir time was the charm as we were able to eat at a place called Itsu. It was very good, and we split some sushi. After that, we checked out a clothing store and Ashleigh got a shirt with a rainbow drizzle design shirt that said Brighton in the middle in white. After that we got some ice cream and went to a park to read. The park was too noisy so we moved to another park and read there. It was very relaxing, but soon enough we got tired and went back to the apartment to hang out and have dinner. Later that night, Jacob wanted us to go to the park with him so that he could ride his scooter, so we did that and while we were there Ashleigh read and Dina wrote the blog post that you are reading right now, and after she finished she read.

[dainbrighton]

Ashleigh-Dina-Apartment-Tour-BrightonUK2018

This is "Ashleigh-Dina-Apartment-Tour-BrightonUK2018" by CaduceusWebs on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

[dainbrighton]

Saturday July 21, 2018

It! Was! A! GREAT! DAY!

It started off with us asking each other what fun and different thing we should do on that day. We decided on just strolling until we decided what it was we should do, and as it happened luck was upon us! We came across an arcade where we played games for a while, and then we headed down to the beach with the plan in mind to read, but instead we came across something way cooler! There was a Trans Pride Parade down by the beach and people were marching down the street with flags and signs and etc. It was very cool and inspirational to watch! Dina and Ashleigh walked for a while with them, taking pictures, participating in the parade for rights and eventually going to the preceding festival where there were speakers on LGBTQ+ rights. Personally, I enjoyed it very much. Later after we were finished exploring the festivities we got ice cream and headed back to the apartment. We rested up for a few hours before Mom/Mrs. April took us to a play! We went to see Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibilities and it was amazing and quite hilarious. One of the best plays I think I've ever seen and I hope we get to see more before we leave. After the play we walked back home and spent an hour or so reading for going to sleep :)

[dainbrighton]

Ashleigh's new sketchbook, pencil, and clip. (Request sent in by @gracemjs )

[dainbrighton]

Have you found a sketchbook Ashleigh? If so, send me a photo! And if not, when you do send me a photo!!

Hey Grace!! I actually just purchased my new sketchbook yesterday and I’m super happy with it. I decided to go with something slightly smaller than is usually my preference, just cause, and I also got this cool sketching pencil and clip to go with it! Pics are posted above:)- Ashleigh

[dainbrighton]

Friday, July 20

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day. We woke up late and went to poundland, which is the England version of the dollar store (i think these stores should be called the one stop shop universally, but whatever). We got toilet paper for the family and also got a thing of candy for each of us. Dina got M&Ms, while Ashleigh got starbursts. After that, we went back to the apartment, so we could continue relaxing. Later that night we took Amelia and Jacob to the park. it was fun, and Ashleigh and Dina read while Amelia and Jacob played. After that, we went back to the apartment, and watched a show while drawing and drinking tea. Then we went to bed.

[dainbrighton]

Thursday July 19, 2018

After taking the world's longest showers (because we were so dirty our clothes could stand up by themselves), Dina and Ashleigh left the house and headed nowhere in particular because it was a wandering day. Ashleigh had the goal in mind to buy herself a new sketchbook as she does annually, so they wandered around and looked in some art stores, but we'll get to that part of the day a little later in the entry. A little past noon we headed to Pret A Manger, which is this resturant with good food and that's why we ate there. Ashleigh had a DELICIOUS baguette sandwhich with cream cheese, lox, and pepper, while Dina had a a chicken salad sandwhich. Also we had possibly the best smoothies on the face of the planet. Then we strolled along a street in Brighton for quite awhile, once again heading no where in particular. Eventually we made it to a nice artsy street behind The Lanes (a bunch of narrow streets with really cools stores- well known in Brighton. I think I described it in a previous post as being like Diagon Alley from Harry Potter) where after looking around and giving into our desires we splurged and Ashleigh bought a new notebook, a really cool pencil and a pen clip, while Dina also bought the same really cool pencil and pen clip because we both agreed that they're REALLY cool. After that we walked down to the beach, borrowed bikes and rode back to the apartment for dinner and relaxation. As I am not procrastinating on this blog post, it is still up in the air whether Dina and Ashleigh will be going down for a late at the beach/pier while Dad/Mr. Steve takes sunset/night pics. We were thinking about going down to draw the sunset, but Dad/Mr. Steve might also reschedule for some other night this week. If this does end up happening we will update later or tomorrow with pictures! :)

[dainbrighton]

Wednesday, July 18

Hi, sorry this is a day late, but I was really tired yesterday and wanted to go to bed. So here is a quick summary of the day.

We started by waking up late and taking Amelia and Jacob to the park, and we hung out and read I Am Malala, before the parents met up with us. They recommended a place to go eat which had a and 3 pound (money) lunch special. However, the place was closed so we decided to go to the pizza express.

We ordered pollo ad astra which means chicken of the stars, and it was quite good. While we were there they once again had very American music playing and we once again listened to it and talked about American Authors (that was a pun, did you get it? No? Ok then...... they’re a music group who is American...). We both agreed that Carly Rae Jensen is one of the most American singers and we talked about her for a while.

After that we went back to the apartment and made dinner for everyone (it was pasta) and it was quite delicious. After that, we went upstairs, drew, stalled on blog posts, read, stalled on blog posts, listened to podcasts, talked, and stalled on our blog posts. Eventually, after having successfully stalled, we went to bed without doing any blog posts. Which is why you are seeing this a day late. So yeah. Bye!

[dainbrighton]

Click on pictures for full and zoom view

[dainbrighton]

Tuesday July 17, 2018

FIRST, sincere apologese from me (Ashleigh) because this was my blog post and its like two days late. Anyways, here are the updates for July 17, 2018. In the late morning we went to the pier for the first time! It was super cool and we had day passes and everything! Ashleigh, Dina, Amelia and Jacob took turns switching up who went on what rides together because Ashleigh gets motion sick, Dina and Jacob like rollar coasters, Ashleigh and Jacob like horror rides, and Amelia's not allowed to go on one by herself. It was a really great time! Personally my favorite was Helter Skelter, which was this fun ride where you get to ride on this big wooden slide off the pier and over the ocean a bit. Eventually we moved on to splurging our money at the giant gaming archade also featured on the pier. I think its also notable that (1.) Ashleigh (I) won the stuffed animal claw machine, which is almost an impossible feat. I'm proud of myself. and (2.) Dina was really super good at the ticket claw machine. She won a lot!

Dina and Ashleigh both agreed it was tremendously unfair that random older people kept coming up to Amelia and giving her free tickets because she's so adorable. Eventually we got some delicious homemade doughnuts from the pier and headed back to the apartment to rest up for a bit.

In the evening the whole family went back to the pier to have some more fun! We rode more rides (some of them only open in the evening) and then went back home for the evening.

[dainbrighton]

heyyyy!!! what’s yalls favorite thing about brighton that’s different from the U.S?? -rylee

Hi! Thanks for commenting! Our favorite things that are different are probably how cheap everything is, the beautiful book covers, the fact that people bike everywhere over here (and we wish people did it back home), and the fact that there are bike lanes that aren’t in the middle of the road.

-Ashleigh and Dina

[dainbrighton]

Also on top of this we'd like to add that everyone here is very kind to tourists and always quick to offer fun suggestions for were to go and what to do!