Dover Castle

Over President's Day (and Patrick's birthday weekend) we took off on Sunday and spent the day at Dover Castle and then spent the night in Canterbury which is just up the road a half hour or so. It was a truly beautiful day and we were so happy to be outside even though it was chilly. It was the end of the British half-term so the castle had activities going on and that day were acting out what it would have been like to have lived at Dover castle and trained as a Knight. They had the kids go thru "training" and then had to slay a dragon. It was pretty cute and the kids enjoyed it. I liked that they told them all about how life was like for kids training to be knights- especially about how they used to have to kneel and hold platters of food for the adults eating for hours on end. Kids these days.... have it so good. :)

Dover Castle at the end of the day. This castle has been in continuous military occupation for over 800 years and is one of the oldest around that is intact.

The kids all getting their training as knights


Being "knighted" by King Henry II


Now to slay the dragon... Patrick was in hot pursuit!

Emma (on right) and another girl offering up the dragon's head after they got him.

The kids walking around the walls of the castle.

The Roman lighthouse that was built in the first century AD.

Jack reading about how they used to use these rooms as look-outs during WWII and how to destinguish between "friend or foe" airplanes. This picture is for my mom who taught the kids to say "friend or foe?" when someone knocks on the door! :)
The tunnels in the White Cliffs that were built in the Middle Ages but have been used by the military for years. They have a really cool exhibit in there and you can tour them. They used some tunnels as a hospital and barracks during WWII. It was so interesting and fun to tour them.
After we wandered around the castle we walked down to the beach and hung out for a bit.

No matter that we said not to get wet.... they did, of course.

We drove over to another spot where you can get a better view of the white cliffs and this was looking back at the castle during the sunset. It was such an amazingly beautiful night.
The kids were tired and didn't want to get out of the car but after I walked around a bit I went back and insisted that they get out (or walk home!) and they finally did. I think they were happy they did. Here is Patrick checkin out the white cliffs

and since they were out of the car... may as well goof around for some pictures!

Random beautiful day

Jim had a Friday off in February and it turned out to be a randomly gorgeous day. Freezing, bitter cold, but beautiful and sunny so we took off and went to Cambridge for the morning/afternoon. We made it back to Jacks bus stop with literally 30 seconds to spare. Talk about a thrilling drive home! We had a really great day and enjoyed taking out time going thru Kings College Chapel and actually reading everything instead of racing thru it all like when we are with the kids. After touring the chapel we walked the grounds and it was truly stunning with eveything so bright and sunny. We hadn't seen the sun for a while I guess so it just made all the buildings and grass and sky colors so much more intense. Plus I was playing around with our new camera that neither of us know how to use yet. Hopefully with time and maybe a class we will learn and can have some nicer pictures to post. I am thinking of taking a photography class with Emma later in the Spring. Soccer just started here so we will wait for that to be over with.

Jim inside the chapel with beautiful stained glass.

Outside with the chapel behind him.

a view of Kings College - I think it is the main gate area from inside the grounds.

the side view of the chapel. Those are all stained glass windows.

picture of some freezing cold group going "punting on the Cam". We hope to do that later on when it warms up a bit!

a shot of the "mathmatical" bridge from the Kings College grounds just over the river. We ran short of time to walk down there this time. We had a short but sweet day there and it will be fun to go back when there are leaves on the trees again.

more catching up... an afternoon at Audley End

We had a lazy Sunday in January and decided to get out and pick a place close-by to explore. We had heard wonderful things about Audley End and went to check it out. The home was not open to tour since it is the winter but we were able to walk the grounds and go into some of the servants exhibits. It was so beautiful there and we had a fun day walking around. I can't wait to go back when there is more going on. And since we have recently been introduced to and I have become obsessed with the show "Downton Abbey" this place is even more interesting to me! It just reminds of of the home in Downton but it is not where it is shot.

a view of the back of the house

the grounds

The kids messing around on a cool tree before we left. Again, there were more pictures from this day but I can't seem to find them on the computer. We got a new computer recently so things have been shifted around....

An update of sorts....

Since I have decided to be better keeping up with our adventures I figured I should at least go back and start at the beginning of the year. After I do that then maaaaybeee I will go back and try to recap some of what we have done since moving here last July. That may be stretching it though! :)

Back in January when we had a long weekend we decided to do a little getaway that was not very far away. We went to visit a place called Center Parcs and they are popular here and in other parts of mainland Europe. We have one only 15 minutes from home with a huge indoor water park so we decided we must see what it is all about. We had a small little house surrounded by woods and bike paths which was perfect. We took bikes and realized that Emma had grown by leaps and bounds and no longer even fit on hers (she got a new one the following weekend for her birthday!) It made for some uncomfortable riding for her but we still had fun. We rode around the park on the paths but mostly just went to and from the water park since it was REALLY cold out.

There is a large indoor facility with badminton courts and all sorts of other activities. Badminton was surprisingly popular and we finally got a court booked on our last day there. Patrick was not a fan but Emma picked it up pretty quickly.
Jim was trying to explain it to them but by the time they were getting the hang of it we had to move off for the next group. We actually also signed the kids up for sessions of different activities. Patrick and Jack each did a fencing lesson and Emma did an archery lesson. They all loved it. Pictures were taken but I can't seem to find them on the computer. We also did a family ropes course class and that was also really fun. Again... pictures are nowhere to be found though. The highlight was a zipline at the end!

The favorite activity by far though was the awesome indoor water park.

Jim and Jack having fun racing down the slides. The kids loved this slide and went down in hundreds of times! They also loved a different slide that was like a lazy river but honestly the CRAZIEST water slide I have ever been on. The safety standards are way lower here and it was a crazy free for all on it. Of course the kids loved every second of it.

Emma and Jack racing. They would usually go down on their knees. I tried once and it was so painful! I don't know how they did it.

no day is complete without and ice cream treat!

Patrick turns 14! (back in February)

Patrick has been a fan of sock monkeys for a little while now so this year I decided even though he was turning 14 he still needed a "theme" for his birthday. So sock monkey it was. I spent WAAAAAY too much time on that silly cake but it was fun to try to make it look like a sock monkey. He had a few friends over after school to hang out here for a bit and then we went to Cambridge and they saw a movie he had been wanting to see. It was fun celebration - just hard to believe how quickly time flies and that he is already 14.

We did have to have a little fun with him though as Patrick was CERTAIN he was the last living soul on earth that did not have a cell phone so.... after many years of asking he finally got one. Jim had this awesome scheme worked out that I executed and it was definitely entertaining. I wrapped up the cell phone box but put a chocolate cell phone inside. He was so excited when he unwrapped the box but then when he opened it.... he was shocked at what he found. He laughed though and was a great sport about it. I think the quote was something like "that is a SICK JOKE!". Then a few minutes later he opened a large box that was full of legos and found the real phone inside there. We have to do what we can to torture them right????

Emma's birthday take 2

So, Emma had her birthday party but the activity we had planned to do (sew their very own pillowcases) ended up not happening. They were too busy playing, watching a movie and just being silly and we ran out of time. They were thrilled since it meant we needed to have a "part 2". A few days later we had the girls over again and this time we got to the pillowcases. It wasn't the worlds easiest thing I have ever done with a group of half listening girls but I think they are happy with the end result. Here is Emma hard at work.
One friend couldn't make the first party but she was able to come this time and had never sat at a sewing machine before. This is what she took home. Pretty cool.

The girls showing off their new pillowcases

Now to put them to use!

Emma turns 12! (back in January_)

Emma has been waiting patiently the last several years for her birthday to fall on a Saturday and this was her year! She has wanted her birthday "breakfast in bed" on her actual birthday instead of the Saturday closest to her birthday. We were up early making waffles, eggs, cutting strawberries and getting her special breakfast ready. Jack as always, was there standing on his little stool ready to lend a helping hand.
Getting ready to take breakfast up. I surprised Patrick by showing him Emma's first present which was the American Girl "breakfast in bed" set for Kit. He even thought it was sooooo cute.

Emma and Kit eating their same breakfast "together"

Later in the day we took Emma and a couple of her friends roller skating on base. They were really cute and had fun. Her friend Ivey even got second place in the limbo contest. It was impressive!

Jack photo bombing the picture of Emma and her friends.

Once again, the rainbow cake was her birthday cake of choice.

First slice out.... ooooooh, ahhhhh. Always fun to see how cool it looks.

I did the bottom 3 layers but then Jack "helped" me do the top 3 layers so they were not as uniform but I wouldn't trade his help for all the perfect cakes in the world.

rainbow cake for 3rd year in a row now. Still haven't "perfected" it but everyone always enjoys it and that is the most important part - right?