Grandma and Grandpa have arrived!

a 'working' castle trip

the same expression

As previously mentioned, the Bird managed to open her car door on the motorway.  After we fixed the problem, we continued on our way to Warwick Castle.  It's still privately owned, but leased out to the folks that run Madame Tussauds as it was getting too expensive to upkeep by the private owners. Though fairly commercialized, we had a really good time there.  You can actually get a sense of what castles were actually like way back when, with courtyards full of people, story-tellers, vendors, etc.  Zoe got a real kick out of the Princess and the Pea tour, while I think Kyle enjoyed the joust show the most.

yumm - a feast!

can you find the potty?

on the playground with the big boys

wiped out after our castle adventure - which means we got a beer in the market!

 The most memorable part of the trip - finding a potty:

to York we go!

how they spent the train rides

We took the train with Omi up to York. It was miserably rainy when we arrived, and since our hotel wasn't yet ready we stopped off at the National Railway Museum. They have a super-fast Japanese train, model trains, Queen Victoria's train, science shows, steam trains, and probably most importantly - the train to Hogwarts. 

all aboard the Hogwarts' Express!

 The next morning we took a free tour of the city.  It was a long tour, despite the fact that our tour guide kept mentioning he was ill and was going to make it a short one due to the weather.  Ah well.  It was a good, and thorough, introduction to the city.

the best (and only) seat during the tour

The following day we went to the York Castle Museum and the adjacent Clifford's tower. Conveniently for Zoe there was also a merry-go-round, and Omi was more than happy to join her.

a happy Bird with her sugar mouse

Bird the Victorious Knight, her day job

returns to the lap of princess luxury

dethroned - the Bird and Kyle stuck in the Clink

looking down from the top of Clifford's Tower

On the last day we took a morning walk along the city walls, enjoying our last day in York and the beautiful sunshine.  This city is definitely one we wouldn't mind visiting again (though once was probably enough on the Jorvik Viking Centre).

resting during our wall walk

how the Bird spent a good portion of her time

how Kyle spent a good portion of his time

York Minster, where we enjoyed an Evensong

taking a snack break on the wall walk

goodbye sunny York!

back home after a long journey

Isn't she adorable?

gifs Even if she does open the door on the highway, we still love her. P.S. Yes, we did just activate the child door lock on the side of the motorway.

August 2011

Some random photos from this month:

Omi visits!

In August Omi was able to visit!

waiting for Omi's taxi with Monkey

We took her to all of our favorite places, and showed her what our day-to-day life is like in Newbs.

Sun in the Woods pub (perhaps not so sunny that evening)

lunch in our kitchen

brushing teeth

Thatcham Discovery Centre

playing with Legos at home

Tuesday open-play at the Children's Centre

Omi and Zoe

Kent weekend for the big kids

in front of Leeds Castle

 Since Omi's here, Kyle and I took the opportunity to go to Kent by ourselves for a long weekend.  We stayed at a small B&B in the middle of nowhere, which had amazing meals.  Our first stop was the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham - they claim to be Britain's oldest brewery.

taking a business call at the brewery

a delivery motorcycle!

 The following day we were off to Canterbury.  We visited the cathedral, a ruined abbey (thank you, Henry VIII), and in general enjoyed wandering a town without a stroller.  On our drive back home we stopped at Leeds Castle in Maidstone.  It would actually make an excellent family trip - they had excellent picnic areas, a big maze and small maze, and two different playgrounds for different age groups.

in front of the cathedral on a gorgeous day

taking our time to listen to the audio guide at our own pace

black swans at Leeds Castle

Oxford day trip

Is just absolutely gorgeous!

The Bird, Omi and I went via bus for the day, picnicked at one of the colleges, walked along some canal with folks punting nearby, and went to a museum. Where the Bird proceeded to touch one of the paintings.  Yup.  Finger on paint.  A guard was on her like clotted cream on a scone.  Thankfully, we just had to sit on one of the benches and go over the rules again.  Stay behind the ropes. No touching paintings.  We left pretty soon :)

Bird's portrait of Owl

Z looking at photos of herself

a nice run