October: Stonehenge & Bath

With the kids on a year-round school schedule, they get week long "half-term" breaks every so often.  Grandpa and Grandma joined us for the October half-term.  We explored west of London and saw Stonehenge and Bath.  

Zeke had been studying the Romans and their invasion/cultural clash with the then natives of Britain.  He was thrilled to go in the above re-created village of round homes with thatch-roofs outside of Stonehenge.  He was quick to point out that the Romans brought brick technology which forever changed the skyline and footprint of English villages.  The Romans, however, were fans of the smoked meats produced & preserved from hanging them high in the pointy thatch roof where the central fire's smoke gathered.  

It's so nice that most places you tour have audio guides and usually a special version just for kids.  Lily managed to make her audio guide an accessory to her outfit.  

The Roman Bath of Bath...again, a big hit for Zeke, our Roman expert.  The local hot springs were expertly piped into the rooms throughout the complex filling lead-lined pools with cozy water.  We spent four hours wandering through the museum and were fascinated at every turn from the ancient coins and jewelry found in the drain to the actors recreating the lives of people who would've built the baths and worked there.  It was well worth the trip.

October: Fall Break

Grandpa & Grandma White came for the kids' half term break.  We took them to some of our favorite local spots.

Over the River Cam 

Watching people punt along the Cam

A very windy, yet beautiful day at Hunstanton beach

Z & L spent their time building a home for a live clam they found

October: The White Cliffs of Dover

Most of the guide books describe Dover as little more than a place to catch a ferry to the mainland.   We thought it was a fun weekend get-away complete with a castle, tunnels carved into the chalky ground used as a military base in WWII, and beautiful views hiking along the top.  We even convinced a dear friend from pilot training days to come along.  

The view from the boardwalk

Dover Castle

Hiking along the top of the cliffs

Audley End House

We spent two September weekends in a row enjoying the Audley End manor house.  It is less than an hour's drive on the other side of Cambridge from us.  Our first visit was spent inside the house on a rainy fall day.  We went back the following weekend for their annual apple festival and spent the entire day in the gardens.

We are inside a walled kitchen garden which grows fruits and vegetables from Victorian times.  These grounds contain the largest variety of apples and pears in Great Britain.  The fruit  trees were pruned and trained to form a wall around the veg gardens which were unsightly to the ladies of the house.  

 
 Fruit varieties that required more warmth than England naturally provides were grown on the walls.

By far, the highlight for Zeke and Lily was bobbing for apples.  It sounds innocent enough until you wait in line and witness all the kids participating with their wet faces, drool seeping out, spitting in the barrel...gross.  I'm still shocked they didn't come down with a terrible case of something.  

Wandering the rest of the grounds we discovered hidden streams, waterfalls and forests of ancient trees. 

Back to London

We have yet to scratch the surface on all that London has to offer.  We recruited our local friends, Lindsay & Dan, as tour guides and hit a few highlights.  First stop, the impressive (& free!) British Museum.  Their collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts is second only to Egypt itself.  Our favorites were the Rosetta Stone and of course, the mummies.

After hours inside, we picnicked outside for a well deserved break.  

Next, we went for a walking tour of the big stuff...Big Ben

Parliament

Westminster Abbey (front)

(side entrance)

Zeke & Lily never actually enjoyed this view of it.  They found some dirt in the grounds at the side of the church & spent the entire time looking down.  They truly did deserve the break.  They were troopers that day.