Lincolnshire, Sherwood Forest, and Hadrian's Wall...

For round two of our adventures we decided to head north up into Scotland and catch some parts of northern England on the way. We spent the first day making our way up to Edinburgh, Scotland (which we learned is pronounced Ed'n-burah) with a few side trips on the way. The first stop was in the town of Lincoln. Some of my early ancestors from my dad's side of the family were from this area so we decided to stop by to check it out. It is beautiful driving through the surrounding farmlands and as you come into town there is a large cathedral built on the hill at the top of town. We walked around for a bit to see the cathedral, the neighboring castle, and the first houses in England to have a numbered address.

Next side trip was a short stop in the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame. We continued on our drive maximizing our time each day by doing lunch in the car while driving. I'm getting pretty good at making PB&J on my lap.


After a few hours of driving we stopped at Hadrian's Wall. This wall was built by the Romans beginning in 122 AD and marked the northern boundary of their empire. It stretches 75 miles coast to coast across the narrowest part of the island. There were forts every mile along the wall so it was quite the building project (I'm sure not as impressive as the Great Wall of China but incredible nonetheless). From the parking lot you have to hike about 3/4 mile through a valley and up a hill to reach the actual wall and fort. The trail goes right through the middle of a sheep pasture. The entire walk Maren kept yelling "Baa!" from her backpack carrier and would get excited every time a sheep would reply. Whitney kept reminding us not to step in the sheep poop. It was fun to hike along the wall and check out the remains of one of the roman forts. The girls thought it was great with all the rock to climb.






After leaving there it was back to the car to wind our way through the hills and valleys on our way to Edinburgh. We arrived in time to check in to our bed and breakfast, grab some food for dinner, and head to bed.

Day 3: Blenheim Palace and Windsor Castle

The first place we headed today was Blenheim Palace outside of Oxford. It is the largest palace in England and the current home of the Duke of Marlborough. The palace itself is huge but I think the real highlight were the acres of fine gardens and lawn that surrounded it. Included here are some pictures from the Fountain garden and the Pleasure garden which included a large hedge maze, checkers on steroids, and playgrounds.

After the palace we headed towards the outskirts of London to the town of Windsor and the primary residence of the Queen (though I think she mainly only uses it on the weekend). She wasn't there that day but we enjoyed checking out the place anyways. There is a small city contained within the outermost walls of the castle complete with a large church. They don't allow any photography inside so we can't show you any pictures of the amazing displays of armor and other pillaged treasures or the dining table that seats up to 160 people. Whitney was getting tired towards the end so that's how I carried both of them until we caught back up to Jim.

Day 2: Bath, Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Avebury

The first stop of the day was the City of Bath. This city once known as the Roman town Aquae Sulis has now simply become Bath as that is where people would go to take a bath. It is the only natural mineral hot spring bath here in England. The Romans first built a structure around the baths in the 1st century but the hot springs have been used since prehistoric times. Much of the original Roman structure including a neighboring temple has been excavated and can be toured along with the improvements that were made in the 18th century. It was very interesting to tour the remains and see the artifacts from that time. The popularity of this town waxed and waned over the centuries until the late 17th century when Queen Mary fighting infertility bathed here and bore a child 10 months later. The water is said to also have other curative powers gained from soaking in it and drinking it. We had a chance to taste the water and I hope I got all the cures I need from the one sip as it was pretty awful tasting. You can't actually bathe in the old baths for health reasons but there is a nearby modern spa that has water from the spring that is delivered through newer bore holes.

The interest in the town took off in the 18th century and many new buildings that still remain were erected during that time. After leaving the baths we headed out for a wonderful walk around town to check out the architecture. I loved the flying buttresses on the church and the circle of curving homes.

On our walk we stopped to check out the Fashion Museum. I know it doesn't seem like something our family would be into but it was very interesting to see some of the fashions from the mid-1700's and some of the early bathing suits made of wool (sounds very itchy!). The dress below is from the 1760's, I'm sure glad I wasn't alive then. Whitney also had a chance to try on some of the fashions to include a corset and the steel rimmed skirt that replaced the layers of petticoats that were previously worn. She wasn't too fond of either item! Overall we weren't super impressed with the museum but seeing some of the early fashions was cool.

The next stop was the Salisbury cathedral. This cathedral has the tallest spire and is one of the largest here is Britain. There are so many old churches and castles here that you have to be selective as to which ones you stop and see. The Salisbury cathedral also houses the world's oldest working clock from 1386 AD and the best preserved of the remaining four original copies of the Magna Carta.

Next we headed north to check out Stonehenge. They don't let you get very close to this monument anymore so we opted to just view it from the road. Definitely an amazing work given the time period it was constructed.

We then headed a little further north to Avebury which a prehistoric site similar to Stonehenge but dates to an earlier time period, is 4 times as large, and you can walk throughout the site. Many of the rocks at this site were damaged beginning in the 14th century to be used in the construction of local buildings. The earthworks (ditch) that surrounds the stone circles were amazing in that they are 70 feet wide, 36 feet deep, and over 3/4 mile long and dug by hand with deer antlers.

Day 1: Coventry, Warwick Castle and the Cotswolds

We've had a few days to rest up while Jim finished his block of shifts before heading off on our first round of adventures. Well actually the first adventure was the going to the grocery store and church our first few days here. It was not the actual activities but the getting there that was the adventure (though the grocery store and sacrament meeting can be a great challenge with a toddler.) You see here in England they drive on the other side of the road and the cars are all configured with the drivers seat on the right hand side of the car. It took me 5 minutes to figure out how to get the car in reverse (you have to depress the shift handle before shifting it into gear). I actually learned how to drive on this side of the road growing up in Japan so it hasn't taken long to make the adjustment. However, the first few times out just required a lot more conscious thinking about what I was doing. For this first trip we decided to head out west of London to check out some of the sites there.

The first day we headed first for Coventry which was heavily bombed by the Germans during WWII due to the weapons making capacity of this industrial city. The city has rebuilt and is a great symbol of forgiveness and reconciliation. One of the sites that has been preserved is the bombed out old Cathedral. We were explaining to Whitney about the city being bombed during the war and as we are walking up to the cathedral there were these large stones (like Maren is sitting on) marking the roadway near the cathedral and Whitney says "look Mom there's a bunch of bombs in the road." Probably not what they are supposed to symbolize but that's what it reminded her of.

Next we headed south from there for Warwick Castle. This site originally held a fort built in 11th century by the Normans. In the 14th and 15th centuries a fortified castle was built in its place which remains today. The interior was updated in the 18th and 19th centuries to include a royal residence. While visiting this castle we were able to climb the tight staircases that climb to the tops of the towers, walk across the walls where the archers would've stood, and tour the dungeon, royal residence and state rooms. There were also demonstrations by an archer that showed the various weapons of the time. I didn't realize there were so many different types of arrowheads used by the archers for various purposes. They had a falconry demonstration with an owl, bald eagle, vultures and another type of eagle. It was fun to watch them come swooping down over the castle towers. The last demonstration where they shot a burning cannonball over 100m with a trebuchet (the random catapult contraption shown above) was very cool to see.

With the long summer days here in England we still had time for a few more stops before heading to our hotel at a nearby military base. We made a quick stop in Stratford-upon-Avon with it's fame being Shakespeare's hometown. It was very touristy with lots of traffic so we didn't stay long. We would've loved to see a show done by the Royal Shakespeare Company while there but with little ones in tow it wasn't possible. We then drove through an area of the country called the Cotswolds. This area was a very wealthy area at one time due to it's wool production. However with the rise of cotton the economy of this area collapsed and many of these villages are frozen in that time period. They are beautiful to walk through with their limestone walled and thatched roof homes alongside the beautiful English gardens. We stopped in one of the villages for some traditional English fish and chips before heading to the hotel for the night to rest up for another action packed day!

The frustrating, exhausting, very long day

Well we finally arrived here in Lakenheath, England after two long days of traveling. Thursday morning we woke up to the power being out and it was already warming up quickly inside. It took much longer to finish our last few tasks before hitting the road. I loaded the car and the girls and I headed for DC. We met a college roommate of mine for lunch and then headed to some other friends house for dinner and a ride to the airport. Before heading for the airport, I bathed the girls and got them dressed in their pajamas. Maren was all ready to go and I was finishing helping Whitney get dressed. Next thing we know we find Maren has climbed into the slowly draining tub. Out to the car I run to dig some dry clothes out of the suitcase. We're running a few minutes late now on my timetable but I'd planned to be there plenty early so we wouldn't be rushed at the airport. We arrive at the airport and load the bags onto a cart. I head to the Fast Bag Drop as instructed since I took the time to check-in online to make our check-in go quickly. Get to the desk and they want my printed boarding pass, which I didn't have since I chose the "pick it up at the airport" option not wanting to have to worry about losing them. Since I don't have the printed pass I have to go stand in line behind all those that have yet to check-in. After standing in line for twenty minutes, we are back at the Fast Bag Drop desk to be checked in. Very frustrating! We head off to find security and eventually find our way to the end of the very long line. I was feeling a little crunched for time when we finally neared the ID check as I noticed many of the other passengers were also. Onto the next line to wait "forever" as Whitney said to get through security. We run to catch the shuttle to our terminal and soon as we arrive take off for the gate that happens to be at the far end of the terminal. We arrive at the gate to find our "on time" flight that was supposed to be closing the doors at that time hasn't even started boarding and didn't for another 15 minutes. We get settled and Maren finally falls asleep after eating some dinner. Whitney mentions needing to use the restroom and I told her soon as she is finished eating. I look over a few minutes later and she has fallen asleep while watching her movie and finishing dinner. I decided to set Maren down on the floor (there's lots of space as we are sitting in the bulkhead seats and run to the bathroom before coming back to carry Whitney to the bathroom. I get back and there is a flight attendant there to reprimand me for leaving my child on the floor. For the first time they offer me the use of the infant seat that mounts to a foldout table on the wall in front of us. Sounds great I tell them and two other attendants come to set it up. I go to put Maren in the seat and realize it is not set-up correctly and while fixing it one of the attendants returns to ask if Whitney needs a "nappy" (British for diaper). No, why do you ask? Well, she peed on my foot while I was standing here helping set-up the seat. Great! I dig out the extra clothes and haul Whitney off to the bathroom to clean her up. Luckily, there is an extra seat in our row so I get her settled in that. Finally I can settle back and get some sleep since it is now almost 2 am. I doze off only to be awaken an hour later by the same flight attendant that reprimanded me before about leaving my child on the floor saying I should use a bassinet for her safety in case of turbulence is now telling me that no in fact they can't be in the seat with it's five point harness during turbulence that I need to hold her on my lap instead. Doze off for another hour before they turn on the lights to start serving breakfast and make preparations for landing. We arrive in Heathrow an hour late so I now have an hour and a half to make it through customs and over to the other terminal to catch our shuttle. We cruise through immigration and customs and are headed to the other terminal with over an hour to go. No problem I think but the fun is actually just beginning. I ask one of the friendly customer service people for the fastest/easiest way to get to Terminal 3 and they tell me to take the train. I ask if there is any bus etc. trying to find the easiest way to transport my kids and luggage and again I'm told by two different people to take the train. So off we head with our loaded luggage cart which I can't see over the top of due to the car seats stacked on top and Whitney following behind pushing Maren in her stroller. We make it down to the train platform and I have to shuttle the bags a short distance to the actual platform while we wait for the train. We get all loaded on the train and wait for it to leave. Ten minutes later when it is time to depart they announce that in fact something has malfunctioned and the line is shut down so we need to exit and find a different mode of transportation. This wonderful British couple helps us move the luggage back to a cart and we all head off to find the Tube (subway) as we are informed this is the only way to get to the other terminals now. Of course the tube is located at the opposite end of the terminal from the train. We arrive at the Tube to find we have to shuttle the bags a much further distance to the platform but luckily this great couple is headed the same place and help us out again. At the next Tube station we have to shuttle the bags up an escalator to the next level before we can use a luggage cart. Moving 7 pieces of luggage (4 bags, 2 carseats, and a kid carrier) and two kids is not an easy feat! We head for the nearby central bus terminal arriving 5 minutes after our bus was to depart only to find we are at the wrong place. Back downstairs and through the corridors to another small bus terminal. At this point, Whitney was too tired to push the stroller anymore and would just sit down in the middle of the walkway. Now I'm pushing the luggage cart with one hand and dragging Maren backwards in the stroller with the other. We finally arrive to find, indeed, our bus had already left and it was the last one of the day that went directly to the base. At this point I just want to sit down and cry but I'm too tired to do even that after the long night and then spending two hours traversing the Heathrow airport. We sit and take a break for awhile to think of what our options are. I go to try and call Jim but somebody is on an extended call and I realize I can't use my phone card as I don't have the in country access number. I decided to head back to the other bus terminal to see if I can get a bus to somewhere close to the base. Jim is stuck at work for 6 more hours so he can't drive the 2 hours to pick us up. Upon arriving at the central bus terminal, I'm able to find a bus that gets us within 10 minutes of the base. I'm able to get a number for the base operator from directory assistance and get connected to Jim to let him know our situation. I decided to take a bus 4 hours later so we arrived at a time that Jim could meet us at the station. Twenty nine hours after leaving home we finally arrive at our hotel safe and sound but very exhausted. The girls were such troopers through it all even without sleeping much themselves. It was definitely much more of an adventure than I anticipated but we survived and I haven't sworn off traveling!

Yorktown beach...

The weather has been great this week to be at the beach so we've tried to take advantage of living so close which we don't do often enough. Tuesday evening we spent an hour hanging out at a nearby beach. Friday we met up with some friends at Yorktown beach for a few hours to picnic and play. The girls both loved the shallow, calm water and had a blast playing in the sand with the other girls.

There was a cool "pirate" ship (as Whitney called it) sitting at the dock so that was also fun to see.

Maren has also started doing this funny headstand and random times during the day. She's very close to doing a somersault on her own though.