Christmas Week Travels 2010: Stonehenge, Salisbury, Bath, and Warwick Castle.

Jake was off work last week so we got to do a little traveling! 

First up on our little getaway was Stonehenge.  The kids will agree that rocks aren't the most exciting things to look at, and that outdoor activities in England in December are freezing!  The history of the place is pretty neat though.  Just the fact that the beginnings of Stonehenge started around 3100 BC, and the part still standing today was most likely completed around 1500 BC is pretty cool. 

So, here it is.  Looks just like it does in the textbooks...  

Some nice guy there offered to take a picture of all of us.  The kids were frozen by this point and my eyes are shut.  Oh well.

Cool painting on the wall of what the place looked like long ago...

After leaving Stonehenge, we took off for Salisbury to see the cathedral.  It was quite the feat getting there since our phone gps systems stink and weren't working.  Once we got there it was easy to spot the cathedral though!  Here's what it looks like when you first drive into Salisbury...

The Salisbury cathedral from the motorway (freeway)...

A picture from up close.  More history... this cathedral is home to the best preserved original Magna Carta.

We wanted to get to Bath to check into our hotel, so we didn't stay in Salisbury for long.  Sitting in the passenger seat of the car there's only so much to do, so I took some pictures out the window on the drive.  Supposedly "it doesn't snow in England."  Due to a crazy phenomenon caused by global warming though, it has snowed the past 3 years, and each winter has gotten colder.  Hot talk radio topic around here!  Anyway, I think England looks pretty in the snow.

Almost to Bath...

Bath is so cute and old.  It's has a lot of hills too which is unique around here.  It's a really European looking city and most of the buildings look a lot alike.  Here's when we first drove into town.  It took us forever to find our hotel once in Bath since our GPS wasn't working!   More pics from the car while we were trying to find our hotel...

We finally found the hotel.  Jake got a great deal on our room at the Windsor and we stayed for two nights. 

We ate dinner at Sally Lunn's.  The oldest house in Bath.  It's famous for buns!  We tried a cinnamon one.  I tried ratatouille for the first time too.  People back in the 1400s must have been so much smaller.  Super narrow hallways and low ceilings in there.  A fun place to eat!  Ella noticed the mirror behind our table and stood up to check herself out and said super loud, "Hey!  There's a beautiful pwincess in there!"  Cutie.  I love her hat hair :)

                                              Random pictures from walking around the town...

There's some great shopping in Bath.  Lots of little shops everywhere.  Streets were pretty busy since Christmas was coming!

Ella couldn't get enough of the pigeons.  She would have stayed there all day to bird watch.

We went to the Roman Baths.  The Romans occupied this area around AD 43 and believed the hot springs here had healing powers.  They built a temple at this location and these baths.  Most of the stones on the ground and the stones in the baths are the old Roman ruins.  You can see other baths like this one there that are just the old ruins without the hot springs running through them.  Guess I didn't take pics of those.

The stone mason told us some cool stuff about the area and the baths.  Here's Ella yelling a loud cheese!  and Luke loved listening to the audio guide.  As long as there were buttons and those audio things at the museums he was happy.

Some cool old gems and money that have been found in the baths...

Random tourist picture..  Phone booths are everywhere and everyone that comes to England gets at least one picture in one!.

After the Roman Baths we went over to the fashion museum. I wanted to see Diana's dresses. They are on display there until mid January.   So fun to see!  

They have clothing in the museum from every decade, and some really old pieces that are centuries old.  No cameras allowed in most of it though. 

                             Got these next pics off of their website since there were no camera signs...

Biggest let-down of the trip would be the Jane Austen center.  I really like her work, but this place was pretty boring and over priced.  Just a little place where you listen to her history and information about her family life, and mannequins are dressed as characters in her novels.  Jane lived in Bath for a while, and in her novels the characters come to Bath on occasion to socialize. 

       A picture of the back side of the Pulteney bridge and the river Avon. The bridge was built in 1773 and is a national monument.

That wraps up the Bath excursion!  We had a great time despite the freezing weather, GPS not working, Luke getting sick, and Ella's eye infection coming back!  I would like to go back sometime in the summer months. 

Next up:  Warwick Castle.  Its history goes back 1,100 years. 

I knew it would be cold so I bundled up the kids really well!  Thought that we would be set.   They both managed to set down their water bottles upside down with the lids open in their car seats though!  So, they both had wet bums and pants from the time we left the car to walk up to the castle.  Ugh. 

The castle is full of cool old weapons, uniforms, and creepy wax figures.  There's a dungeon but I guess it's too scary for kids so we didn't do that. 

                                                     Wax figures of Henry VIII and his wives...

                                                                Bedroom in the castle...

                                          
                                                    Me and Miss Ella!  Overlooking the courtyard...

               Cool view from the towers... The gardens in the spring and summer are amazing I hear.

Luke riding the Helter Skelter...

And that concludes our Christmas time travels this year.  Phew!  This post has taken forever!  Good times.  Next post will be Christmas.

Father Christmas and Christmas Wishes

Saturday morning was the ward Christmas party and Father Christmas was there.  English Santas are a little different then Santa Claus in the states!  Kind of fun.  The kids were pretty nervous to sit on his lap.  Luke forgot to tell him what he wanted for Christmas, so we made a little movie when we got home to email Santa.  Luke has Star Wars toys and Legos at the top of his list this year.  Ella is wanting babies.  We'll see what happens.  :)
Here's Luke with FC... you can tell he wasn't thrilled to be sitting there.

And Ella's turn...

And just to make sure Santa gets the memo this year...



Some pictures of the frost outside... it's so cool looking.  Or maybe I've just been living in warm places for too long and get cheap thrills from snow and frost lately?!  I wish I would have gotten pics of the spider webs around our house!  They were frozen and white.  Maybe next time.

Girls Day in London!

Train ride from Ely to King's Cross and back: £16
All day tube use: £7
Best crepes on Earth: £10
More food and shopping:  Probably too many pounds.
Time with fun friends in fun places: Priceless.

Went to London with two of my favorite people in England last week!  Linda and Stacy.  My camera battery was flashing and low when I left the house, so I didn't get many pictures, but we got in a full day of eating, shopping, and chatting.  I forget how fun shopping is without kids! 

Stacy and Linda :)

Some of the girls in the ward rave about Cafe Crêperie.  Now I know why.  It's so good!  Good thing I live far enough away that I can't go all the time.  I'd be a blimp.  I'll take you if you come visit Ü  The consensus around here is that the Tartiflette Galette Crêpe is the best, so we shared two of those along with a Stawberry Cream one.  Hoping I can take Jake soon to try them!

We got a kick out of this guy's Euro-Mullet.  Awesome.  Stacy caught that gem on camera. 

Got to browse at Harrods and tried some more treats there.  They have the coolest selection of candy and pastry.   My favorite were the chocolate high heels.  So cute!  Pretty awesome metallic looking candy too. 

Some cool treats at Harrods...  They have so many!  Here are just a few.  

Check out the price of water.  29 pounds!  That's roughly $47.  No thanks!  Must say the bottle is pretty cool to look at though!

The last thing on our 'to do' list for the day was the German Christmas market at Hyde Park.  It was crazy busy with people... like rubbing shoulders the whole time... but it was fun looking at all the stuff.  We got home around 11 that night and I was pooped.  Fun day.

Whoops-a-Daisy Angel

Luke's class and one other at the school put on a Christmas play called Whoops-a-Daisy Angel.  It was pretty cute.  Luke had been practicing his songs for a while, so it was fun to watch him actually do it!  He was one of the kings.

Here's my little king.  Luke had just returned to school this day from being home with pink eye and his eyes were still kind of swollen looking.  Poor kid! 

A few short clips from some of his favorite songs... (excuse the bad filming... Ella was climbing on me and my hand wasn't holding still! You get a pretty good view of the lady in front of me's hair too.) 

Ely

Ely is a 15 to 20 min. drive from our house.  It's a little town with an amazing cathedral and Oliver Cromwell's house.  We didn't go check out Oliver's house this visit.  But, we walked around the cathedral and got a few pictures.  It was FREEZING cold so we weren't exactly in the mood to sight see!  Here are some pictures we took.  Well, some that Logan and Stacy took of us too!  We are using one family picture from this little outing for Christmas cards this year.  I ordered some cards that Luke designed in his class at school and they still haven't come yet.  Booo!  Sooo, family, sorry but you'll be getting late cards this year.  Luke's awesome cards will make it worth the wait though!  Ü

So, here's the cathedral from the front.  Ella says it's a pwincess tastle.  Cutie. 

One from inside...  They give tours that go up to the top of the tower outside, but you have to be over 6.  We'll have to do that one day without the kids.

From the other side...

Just thought this sign was cute.

I can't get over how narrow some of the roads are here, and how many people are always out walking around.  In rain, snow, whatever.  People walk.  I like it.  

Walking around the town... 

Cutie Things I Want to Remember...

We've been busy and the days go by way too fast lately!  The days literally go by fast when you live this far North!  By 3:30 the sun is way over west (and usually covered by clouds) and then by 4:30 it is completely dark.  Anyway, blogging is one of the things that I can't seem to fit into my day. I'm going to blog about our Thanksgiving and Jake's fabulous turkey another time.  Hopefully I'll catch up more on some other things going on around here soon too!  But for now, I've been taking mental notes over the last few months of things the kids have been saying and doing.   I want to remember them!  So, here we go before I forget! 

*I had just picked up Luke from school one day and we were on our way to the commissary.  The radio was on and I don't remember what song it was, but it was some ghett0 rap stuff.  Usually the radio stations around here play lots of techie dance beats.  Anyway, Luke shouted from the back seat,  Mom, what is this!?  This music is BIDICULOUS!  The song was indeed ridiculous and his comment made me laugh inside!  Just to see what he'd say, I switched stations to a classical one thinking he'd think that was silly and want something else, but as soon as it came on he said, Ahhh... that's much better. 

*Luke asks a lot lately why Heavenly Father makes certain things.  Then before I have a chance to say anything he says, we don't need that/those/them.  Sometimes his little statements are pretty funny.  For example, the other day he asked, mom, why did Heavenly Father make stinging nettle??  We DON"T need it.   Others that have come up....
Why did Heavenly Father make tornados?  We don't need them. 
Why did Heavenly Father make poisonous berries?  We don't need them.  He's said the same for lots of other things.  He cracks me up! 

*Along similar lines, lately he's been asking things like who takes care of our toys when we aren't on Earth anymore?  and Do we have to buy all new toys after we die?

*Ella is quite the little scaredy-cat lately and is afraid of at least one thing in every movie we have.  She's terrified of the cat in the beginning of Tinkerbelle... the toys that Sid created (that baby with spider legs thing) in Toy Story... etc.  One day I was in the kitchen while they were watching a movie and I heard Ella talking about the scary part coming up and Luke said Don't worry Ella!  I will cover your eyes!  She loves it when he does.  Now she runs over to Luke yelling Cova my eyes Wuke!  Cova my eyes!!  Whenever a scary part comes on.  I love their little covering eyes thing.   

*Ella has a thing with saying eveything is 'happy.'  It bothers her to see any of us sad, so if she notices you're sad, she comes over and grabs your face and says You're happy!   In her world happy is the opposite of almost anything negative.  Ella, are tigers mean?  No, they're happy!  Are you stinky?  No, I happy! That character in the book is pretty naughty, huh.  No, he's happy! etc.  I love it.

*Ella loves dresses and dancing lately.  When we put dresses on she dances around as yells, Wook at me!  I dancing in my dwess!  She likes to compliment me on my dresses too.  Today I was wearing a green dress for church and she told me it was such a pwetty pwincess dwess.  My grandparents sent her a Snow White card for her birthday a couple of months ago.  (thanks grandma!)When you open the card it plays Just Whistle While you Work.  Well, it plays the first few lines anyway.  haha.  She loves it and is always carrying her pwincess card around and dancing to the music.  I didn't know those cards had a battery life long enough to last a couple of months and still go strong!   

*Ella loves singing lately and is at the age where she knows some songs.  It is the cutest thing ever.  Popcorn popping and ABCs and I am a Child of God are her favorites.  Luke is quite the little singer lately too, and I love it.  He has never liked singing until recently.  Actually when he was a tiny new baby and would scream and cry all the time due to who knows what, I'd sing him primary songs.  Wonder if that's why he doesn't like them!?  haha.  Bad memories of tummy aches or something associated with the tune maybe is all I can come up with.  haha. His teachers at school give the kids stickers for a good job at singing time, and every day when I go to pick him up at school he is beaming with pride when he shows me his sticker.  He sings the songs to me he is learning at school.  Kind of fun!  Mostly cute little British Christmas and winter songs.  Clap hands for Jesus and a snowflake song seem to be his favorites.  :) 

*Don't want to forget how Ella rips off her clothes at bath time and then runs around screaming "wook at me!  I'm da naked dirl!"   So modest.

*Another thing Luke has been doing that cracks me up is he'll ask for something starting with... You know what I would enjoy?  Or, I think I would enjoy ________.  It's hard to say no to a kid that sounds so polite and nice.  Sure Luke, if you'd enjoy a waffle for dinner then you can have it.  I guess.  

*Kids these days are little techies.  Every time I go to get my phone, Luke has downloaded a new app.  Games, puzzles, etc.  Ella likes to play our phones too.  She knows just what to push to get to her favorite games and thinks she's as big as Luke.  She says funny things like I need more firing missiles!!  You can definitely tell she has been listening to her older brother play games.

*On Saturday we went with some friends to Ely and on the way home we stopped with the kids at Mildenhall base for some pizza.  We were seated at our table and Luke looked down and told me he had put his wellies on the wrong feet.  I told him to switch them so they'd be more comfortable, but he said "NO.  that guy over there will see that I have girl socks.  (the one other person eating at the restaurant sitting on the other side of the room.)  In our rush to get out of the house, we just grabbed some of Ella's socks to put on Luke for the day.  I had to beg him to just put the things on earlier.  He wants nothing to do with anything girl. 

*Two and three year olds at gymnastics class is hilarious.  Ella has been going for a couple of months now and loves it.  She really doesn't get that she has to wait her turn to do stuff though.  I'm hoping she learns soon or I may be pulling her out.  haha.  I have to sit with her to wait for her turn or she just gets up and goes for it.  She's always asking her teacher, a my turn yet? 

*Ella loves all food.  Sometimes I forget that she's not picky like her brother, so when we go out to eat I'll just order her whatever he is getting.  One day I picked up some burgers... plain cheeseburgers with just meat and cheese on them for the kids.  For myself I got a regular cheeseburger.  Ella took one look at her burger and then at mine and asked in a sad little voice, Where's my matoes?  Where's my salad? (she calls all lettuce salad).  Anyway, I ended up switching burgers with her.  :)

I'll probably have to add on to this some more later.  Probably forgetting something I wanted to include, but for now this will do!  :)

Halloween Post 2010...

Another year of pumpkin painting and decorating, trunk-or-treating, and office Halloween parties.  It was fun!  Luke decided to be Buzz Lightyear again.  I was glad his costume fit him still!  He was Buzz 2 years ago.  Here's Buzz when we first arrived at the ward trunk-or-treat.  He was ready to get on with the candy action!

 Ella saw her butterfly costume when I was unpacking some boxes and wanted to wear it again.  Glad she was happy to be butterfly for a second time!  Made things easy for me. ( Click here to see first round of the butterfly.)  She loved dressing up and getting candy. 

                                   
                                        Caught her with a whole fun size candy bar in her mouth...

We painted pumpkins with the Smiths a couple of weeks before Halloween.  My mom and dad sent the kids some fun face pieces to decorate pumpkins with, so the kids had fun decorating with those too.  It was kind of like playing Mr. Potato head for days... they kept changing the faces until the pumpkins were too squishy and gross to keep any longer.  Saving the face pieces for next year! :)  Here are a couple of our creations.

                 The dental squadron held a Halloween party for the kids at the office.  Luke and Ella had
                           a good time trick-or-treating at all the operatories and hanging out with their buddies.  

Most of the dental gang that came to the kiddi party...

Most of our Halloween festivities were on Friday and Saturday night.  After the ward trunk-or-treat we made an attempt at trick-or-treating on base.  Whoa!!  I've never seen so many people trick-or-treating in all my life.  That place was CRAZY.  You would think you were walking around Disneyland on a crowded night or something with the swarms of people walking around those streets.  The trick-or-treating started at 5:30, and when we went at about 7 or 7:30 the porches with lights still on were few and far between.  Streets were still packed with people though.  I don't know how people on base buy enough candy to stay open for longer then 10 minutes.  Fun seeing all the costumes walking around.  Seriously crazy amount of people though. 
Sunday we had some friends over for dinner.  We just got a handful of neighborhood trick-or-treaters at our house.  People around here like to dress up and go party on Halloween.  They trick-or-treat, but it doesn't seem to be a big thing.  Soo, theres Halloween 2010 for ya.  :)