The "Purple Moon" Hotel

We started our adventure to Scotland out on a Friday night to get a big leg of our driving done the night before. Our first scheduled sight to see was Alnwick Castle so we decided to drive as far north as Newcastle-Upon-Thyne. It was a good 3 3/4 hour drive that we started out with a hearty meal from McDonald's which the kids didn't eat much of. We got to our hotel about 8:30 and got a wonderful reception. The desk gal offered the kids loads of treats, they got these cute little purple backpacks filled with goodies and then each kid got their own bed. Addison's was actually a pull out bed on the floor, but she immediately took to it and nested in.

Not only did the kids get a warm welcome but we also got a complimentary bottle of red wine! This was so crazy...this was our first night's stay and probably the cheapest place we were going to be staying but we got the most "extras." For the next several days our kids would keep referring back to the Purple Moon "no-tel" and Addison kept begging to go back.

Taking Cover

Today I worked at cleaning our the car as we are headed to Scotland for over a week and we've seemed to have trashed it in the past two weeks since I cleaned it out. Since I had the car seats out and a few other things in the car, Addison thought she would concoct a little sitting area for herself in the front yard. She used her carseat on it's back, the golf umbrella, a blanket and her butterfly baby pull toy and made quite a cozy place for herself.

Dressing Up

A little angel appeared at the window today!!!!

Then two little angels appeared in my house. Addison and Harrison love dressing up and while I do endulge them and let Harry where tutus and necklaces and carry hand bags inside the house, I am told that he will not where them outside of the house...hee hee!

Addison's School Friends

Addison has made some wonderful friends at preschool and she seems to be getting along so much better now that she has familiar faces to run off with. Two of Addison's closest friends are Louisa and Robyn. Today we had a play date at Louisa's house which happens to be a stone's throw from our house via back gardens. This is Addison and Louisa enjoying a snack of cookie pizza that I brought over to share.

Here are all the girls out back garden playing with bubbles. Louisa's mum, Nicki, and I have become good friends now and we just beem when we see our girl's run off hand and hand with each other. They are so smitten with each other, it is so cute.

Robyn is Addison's other good friend and here they are blowing bubbles together. Robyn's mum, Linda, and I are quite good friend's now as well and fun getting the kids together for playdates. Linda also has a little boy that is almost a year old and reminds me so much of Harrison at that age so I get a little baby cuddling in when he is around.

Louisa's house is so much fun with all the girly toys to play with and even Harrison has fun joining in. I left a little early to bring Harry home for a nap but Addie stayed for lunch and more play. It's fun now that she is at the age that she can stay for long play dates like that and she has such good little friends.

Funny thing we found out the following day is that Louisa ended up breaking out with chicken pox so it will be inevitable that Harrison will now get the chicken pox. We are meant to go to Scotland in a week so we'll see if we end up with two holidays with taking kids with chicken pox. Time will tell!!!!

Adoption Showers for Holli

My good friend Holli has been on an adventure for the past 2 1/2 years with her adoption process from Ethiopia. This week we celebrated that joy of knowing she was going to be picking up her two little girls from Ethiopia in just a few days. I helped in organizing an adoption shower for her with our American group and also helped out with a group of ladies from church with another shower. I made her up this super cute diaper cake for the American shower. I was so sad that I didn't get to make it to the actual shower as our work permit appointment got scheduled down in London for that day and we couldn't change it, but she said she had a great time.

Holli has such a great following of friends here and you can see all the support she has from our church community by all of the people who came to her other shower.

Here a few ladies that are also some of my new friends and in my small group from church - Katherine, Kate, and Rachel. They are so lovely and it has so fun getting to know them and have familiar faces to see in church.

Holli got some really nice gifts, especially these comfy baby carriers as with twin baby girls they wanted easy ways to carry them around without having to push strollers all over. She got a designer one and Andy her husband got a "sport" one.

Holli is such an amazing women and I am so glad to call her my friend. She has been an amazing spiritual guide for me and helped learn so much about myself and my faith. They have been through so much with this process and today they were faced with flights being cancelled because of the volcano going off in Iceland and possibly not being able to make it in time for their court dates with the girls in Ethiopia. We had an amazing prayer session for her, Andy, their kids who were in the States with Holli's family and for their two girls. Andy and Holli did end up driving all the way to Milan to catch a train to Rome to get a flight to Addis in time to get their girls. Congratulations to them and I am so excited to see their family of six when they get back to the UK in May!

Wimpole Estate and Farm

We set out on another adventure today by visiting Wimpole Hall and Farm down near Cambridge. The hall was first built in 1643 and is the largest country home in Cambridgeshire County.

We brought along a picnic lunch to enjoy out on the grounds in front of the house. Kevin and the kids hopped on a log for a seat.

People here take there walks very seriously. When you go to an outdoor shop they have loads of walking gear and books on walks to take all over England with all the foot paths available. Well this couple was all decked out and we LOVED the red sock they were sporting.

Inside the house was pretty neat as most stately homes do and we did find some new and interesting things at Wimpole. I loved this picture because it is just the laid back attitude of sit back, relax and have a glass of wine to finish out your day. The women looks as to say "Cheers, my dear!"

The library was quite amazing with all the arches and ornate decorations on the walls and ceilings. It seemed so neat and clean and bright where as other libraries seem so dark.

Another interesting feature of the house was this bathhouse with a deep pool bath that even had stairs to get down into. Along with a 100+ year old shower next to it!!!

This house was so big that it had it's only chapel in it and if felt like a mini Sistine Chapel with all of its ornate paintings and wood work.

In the basement they had lots of rooms that the house servants would use, but what caught our eye was the bells system set up that they could see what room they were being summoned.

We loved walking around in the gardens behind the house.

There was also a walled garden which was getting prepared for the year. I felt like we were entering our own "Secret Garden" (love, love, love that movie) and we even found Humpty Dumpty sitting up on the wall.

The National Trust is great about making their sites fun for the kids as well. They also have a "Go Green" project like most places seem to do these days and the head gardener walked out and gave the kids their own set of cress seeds to grow at home. Here they are showing them off to us. Wimpole Gardens and Farms grow a lot of produce that is sold to help with funding the estate. We even bought ourselves a few stalks of rhubarb to bring home to make some yummy crisp.

The Wimpole Farms was our main attraction for the kids today. They have loads of animals and in a working farm setting which was really cool. Kevin and I loved the barns because they were so big, but the cool thing was that they all had thatched roofs.

Kevin was telling Addison all about the days when he helped Grandpa Mike raise cows on the farm when he was younger. I put in a few words on how I used to help Grandpa Jeff raise piggies, turkeys and even a stubborn pigmy goat for a while on our farm.

The kids and I had a go at milking a cow (or really a bucket with teets set up like a fake cow).

The other great thing about Wimpole was they had a pretty big adventure playground.

They also had a little farm playground with a combine climbing frame....

and mini tractors to drive.

The kids had a hay day.

And of course no day would be complete without ice cream!!!!

Gone Taco Crazy

Tonight was taco night. Eventhough Addison doesn't like eating them, she really enjoyed helping Kevin load up his taco shells.

But Harrison did it all...loaded it up, ate and got it all over the place, but we found a new favorite food for the little guy!

Oh So Tired...

Little Harrison hadn't taken this morning and it was getting late in the afternoon when he and Addison came in from playing out in the sandbox. I was cleaning up around the house a bit and after 5 minutes I thought things were a little too quiet, so I starting looking for the two of them. Addison was sitting in the arm chair watching TV and Harrison was in this fine position on the floor. Soooooo tired... I managed to get him up to his crib but when I took his coat off he still had sand in it so after he woke up I had to strip his sheets down and wash them all...go figure.

Wonderful Day at Warwick Castle

Today we drove two cars full down to Warwick Castle to let my parents experience our most favorite castle in England.

It seems like that after Easter everything wakes up in this country and all the attractions are finally open and loads of things going on. Last year when we brought my brother Casey and cousin Sawyer to Warwick it was really busy but today was crazy. Not crazy like loads of people (which there were) but loads of things going on and types of entertainment. We were greeted at the doors by this jester on stilts...Addison was a little freaked out but intrigued by the very, very tall man.

When we first got into the castle we did a little walk up into the towers and on the ramparts. This is a view down from the tallest tower at the drawbridge of the castle. They have a little thing go on when they call for the Master of the House to open the doors to let in all the dignitaries (the castle visitors). This is also the place where they royal long bow archer is showing off his skills.

Mom and Dad at the top of the tower.

Addison (carefully being held by mummy) is looking over the rail at the house and courtyard.

All of us together on the ramparts between the two big towers.

I love this view!!! One of my most favorite in England. The cute little houses, gardens, the river and tennis courts in the background. Looks like a post card!

Our family at the top of the second tower!

We had a packed lunch out on the hillside as we watched the trebuchet shoot off. We had a little friend stop by to check things out.

They had a really cool Birds of Prey show going on that mesmerized my dad and Kevin.

The kids and I found some swords to play with...someone needs to get Harry sorted on which end to hold. Addison fell in love with the princess tent!!!

We made our way into the Great Hall to check out all the armor and swords on display.

Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth I was there to greet her royal subjects and you had to address her properly in order to get your picture with her.

My mom got her picture with the current Queen Elizabeth II (not really, she's just a wax dummy....the queen that is, not my mom!)

The boys lined up with Henry VIII with all his wives behind him.

Addie and I got to do a little dress in period clothing for the Duchess of Warwick's party.

Each time we've been to Warwick the house's rooms have been moved around a bit and they have a little different twist on Miss Daisy's party night going on. This time they had live actors in the rooms to portray what it would have been like that day. This girl was sitting on the couch in one room and we totally thought she was a wax dummy like the rest until she lifted her head and said hello. She totally freaked me out!

Mom and Addie picked up a little card game.

Addison and I admire the Duchess Daisy as she gets ready for the big party. I guess in real life she was quite the promiscuous lady. A new room that they had for this season was actually a closed up canopy bed with all the curtains drawn and interesting enough noises coming from the bed that make my daughter ask "What are those sounds mommy?"

Outside there was an interesting fellow walking around carrying "rats" (stuffed animals) and Harrison got pretty curious, but didn't want to get too close.

We took Addison through the new Princess Tower which she liked quite a bit. They had a princess who got all the little girls excited about helping pick out a wedding outfit for the princess of the tower. Then she directed us upstairs for the little girls and boys to dress up as princesses or knights. Addison had a hay day with all the things they could put on. They took the kids' pictures and you could order it at the end, but the cash register broke down right as we were going to get Addie's picture so we had to leave with out it. At the very end the kids got to write down a wish that they had and wanted to share with the princess of the tower...Addison "wrote" down that she wished to be able to marry a handsome prince.

The kids got to meet the stars of the Jester show!

Taking a little time out next to the river.

Our last stop of the day was the Peacock Gardens where we saw almost 10 peacocks strutting around. It was a great day and we were glad we got to show mom and dad one of our favorite places during this trip. Wonder what adventures we will head on when they come back again...