York

We took a trip to York Friday, June 27th. It was an if-y day out there with clouds, sun, and drizzle of rain. But we pack our umbrells and the kids wellies (rain boots) and headed out the door. It turned out to be fun. We saw the ruins of a castle which had a very steep staircase to the top. It was a great view of York once you were at the very top of the castle though.

We then walked around the city and visited "The Shambles" old homes were they used to slaughter animals and remains of the animals would flow down the street. Nice huh?!?

We also visited a church which is now an art gallery were they had and exhibit of about memories and lost loves. The kids floated a candle down the stream, it was pretty.

We also saw our 1st farmers market. Been here almost 6 months hadn't seen one yet. It was so nice. Huge too. They served baked good, produce, clothes, plants, hot food (like sausages, hamburgers, etc) and their was a lot of cheese! We got a really good loaf of bread and a few cookies. Very yummy!!

What's happening with the kids..

Well, Saturday, June 14 we went Knaresborough for the Great Bed Race. It was interesting, the teams of 7 people all race around town in "beds" and end up in the River Nidd. It's been a tradition for many many years. They had a little carnival type thing set up and the kids enjoyed that. http://www.knaresborough.co.uk/bedrace/

Saturday night Liam was really sick and had a fever all day on Sunday. It was no fun. I took him to the Dr on base and she sent me the hospital where they have all their pediatricians. It was an experience! They admitted him to check him out for what ended up being just what I diagnosed....an ear infection with a fever. He has been teething lately and not feeling well. So from previous experience and from the way he was acting I thought ear infection as well.

The Dr on call wanted to run blood tests to rule out meningitis, TB, and a host of other ailments. I said no! All I wanted was antibiotics and Motrin. Well the funny thing is they don't give antibiotics for ear infections and they didn't know what Motrin was! It was interesting time telling them his fever in Fahrenheit and they only know Celsius. Telling them the drugs he was on (Tylenol) and they didn't know what that was. I also had to know when he last "opened his bowels", and if his "downstairs bits" were okay! (a dirty diaper and his private area if you needed interpretations). They also said he was "floppy". Tired and limp. They asked if he ever stay in hospital (yes they don't add the in there) and I said only when he was born via c-section. They asked why, I said he stayed with me until discharged and she didn't understand. I explained I had a c-section and we stay in the hospital 3-4 days. She was shocked! Women here leave 6 HOURS after having a c-section with their baby!!
It was an experience to say the least...but very friendly people!

Liam is doing better now that he has Motrin equivalent and Tylenol equivalent. I think I felt a tooth coming through as well. Time will tell.

As Liam is getting teeth, I noticed tonight while brushing Audrey's teeth that the two front bottom teeth looked crooked. I touch the one and it's LOOSE! Can you believe it?!? 5 years old and her tooth is loose. She is very upset by this. She said she likes her teeth and doesn't want them to come out. The tooth fairy didn't even make her feel better. We will see when it falls out, have to go to the dentist (on base) to have it looked at.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and a nice Father's Day!

Harlow Carr Royal Horticultural Society 6-5-08

It was a nice day so we took the kids out to explore! We ended up going to the Harlow Carr Gardens! We had a great time. It was a huge garden with tons to see. They even had a log maze, minatures buildings of popular English spots, playgrounds and lots for the kids to see. There are many many gardens in the Royal Horticultural Society so we may become a member and see more! The kids had fun with the bear and looking at the bee. They had just watched Bee Movie and thought it was fun to see Barry Bee on the purple flower.


A "bear" it was filled with leaves and compost. A bee!

They do like each other... Earth Friendly...like the shirt says!! Remember to Recycle!
Still hard to get them to all look the same direction...
A whale made from willow branches. Just some pretty flowers.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/gardens/harlowcarr/ If you would like to know more about the garden we visited or the RHS click on the link!

Scar House Reservoir

This a view looking down over the dam. This would have been our driveway...the dam, how cool!
View of the dam from the house. The house it has a 50 ft long banquet room, would have been great for our family reunions.

They are looking out "portholes" in in the dam wall...and it's very very windy!
Hedgehog and sheep

"It's too windy and cold for me!"

We stopped by this house that we thought about renting "Scar House", many houses are named here. The day we went to see it it was a rainy day and cold. We looked around the ground very quickly and left. We loved the house. It was an old water works building right near the reservoir and our "driveway" would have been the dam. We decided not to take the house because it was an 11 mile drive around the reservoir to get to the house and many more miles just to get to work for Bud. So we passed on it but wondered what it looked like on a nice sunny day.

We stopped by and it was a nice sunny day, but very very windy!! The house and the area looked great! But still it was too far away from Bud's work for us. On the way home we saw a hedgehog and some sheep that got out of their pen! Was worth a look and was a nice day for a walk and drive!

Cricket Anyone?

While we were driving around we saw a cricket match going on and stopped by to see it. Neither of us have ever seen a cricket match. It was pretty interesting, I can't believe they don't get that dirty playing that game in all white uniforms! Amazing!!

To get to the cricket match we had to walk through a sheep field, through a public footpath. Logan loved it! He wanted to pet the sheep so badly...but they kept running away from him. He cried so bad when we had to leave and he didn't get to touch them. He did see some wool that was on the ground and that seemed to make him happy!

Drive by shootings...

Sunday we went for a drive in the countryside. Due to the fact that the roads are narrow, curvy, and a lot don't have a place to pull over, we did some drive by shootings. Pictures that is!

I'm not even sure where we were most of the time. I think most of the pictures were taking in and around the Yorkshire Moors National Park. Well where ever we were it was beautiful! I hope you could get a sense of how far away the mountains are and how tall they are. It's really amazing at how far you can see without something interrupting your view.

Our latest news...

Audrey started Pre-School Thursday, May 15th! She loved it!!! She is one of 7 kids and she is the only girl...guess she's used to that. But nonetheless she had a good time and couldn't wait to go back that Friday. She attends the school on base and will continue on until the end of this semester (only about a month or so). Then in August she will be moved up to the Kindergarten/1st grade class. The school is so small and classes are so small she will be in a combined class. Also Pre-K through 12th grade are all in the same building...

She has a really great teacher (compared to the last) and she attends M, T, Th, and F from 8:30 to 10:30 with NO homework!! It's a good set up so far. If we want, Logan may be able to start nursery school this fall at our local village school. Just me and Liam, what would I do all day?!?!?! :)