Thursday, August 23, 2012

Grandpa Paul & Grandma Pam come to England! Part 1: Bury St Edunds, Lavenham, and Framlingham Pictures

Mom and dad came to England at the end of June to hang out and to be here for baby Callie's arrival. It was great to have them for a while! Dad was here for a couple of weeks and mom got to stay for a month. I wish we could have them more often! We will take whatever time with them we can get. We hung out a lot around the house getting ready for baby to come, I had some Dr. appointments and things I had to stick close to home for, but we did get out to see some of England with them. Jake had to work for the first part of their visit, so the kids and I took them on a few local excursions to Bury St Edmunds, Lavenham, Framlingham, and a few other surrounding villages. Here are some pictures from Bury. The kids were a little grumpy since it was "sooo hot." To a British kid, when it gets to be about 85 degrees outside, life is unbearable. haha. Guess my San Antonio/Vegas babies forgot what "hot" is. At Abbey gardens... one of my favorite places to hang out around here :)
 





Little grumps under the tree.  My dad took these pictures and they crack me up!




Serious drama kids that day.





They're always fans of chasing the ducks around the grounds, and climbing the abbey ruins.  Don't ask them to walk around the town or to check out any shops though.  haha


We ♥ them!



Walking around Bury.  Dad must have taken this butt shot of us.  haha.  I love this town.  Mom and dad got the kids Popsicles at a little convenience store.  It seemed to make them forget about how hot it was that day.  For a little while anyway :)


The coolest dog was hanging out just outside abbey gate.  He was HUGE.  The picture doesn't do him justice. 


I can never remember what things I already have pictures of on the blog, and what I haven't yet.  Too many pictures can't hurt though, right?  Here's abbey gate :)

And pictures from the cathedral in Bury..






I think it was after our day in Bury that we ate dinner at Philipianos in Lakenheath.  This country needs to invest in air conditioning.  Most places don't have it or don't use it.  So, for the handful of days where it's warm, there's no escaping it.  We were all so hot sitting in that restaurant!  Maybe being pregnant made it feel worse than it was, but I think everyone was burning up!  haha.  Tasty food though. 
These next pictures were from our adventure the next day.  We went to Lavenham to walk around.  I wanted mom and dad to see the cute crooked village.  It's fun just to walk around.  Mom found a cute little bakery this trip, so we sampled pastries too.





Lavenham church...


 
Here are the pics from Framlingham castle.  I've been to lots of castles, and I think this one is still my favorite.  It's not cheesy commercialised and decorated like some of the rest.  (looking at you, Warwick.)  It's just the genuine old thing it is.  I like that. 
 
 snails were everywhere and a big hit with L & E

little cheezer...

 
view from the top of the castle walls...

After hanging out at the castle we walked into the village and bought a few things at their tiny market.  Tried some bread, a ham & cheese crepe, and a banana & nutella crepe.  Ella was liking hers :)
 

3 comments:

pgift said...

Best time ever!!!!
Thank you Erin and Jake
Dad

Kristen said...

It's so wonderful to get visitors. Family is the best. Love all the pics. It's funny you are hot one day and wearing sweaters the next. My kids will be the opposite. If we go anywhere remotely cold next, they will be wimps and think it's freezing. ;)

Chris and Abby said...

So many fun pictures!!!! I'm loving these new BLOG posts :)