Daily life, lately

Daily life as a stay-at-home mom has definitely seen some improvements since we have gotten settled in St Neots and as I have gotten much more comfortable with driving here. Charlotte is also learning more words and I am getting better at telling what she wants/needs, so there is some improvement with random crying fits in that department. Paul and I are also working out a system where he can take care of her for a few hours on one of his days off, so that I can go have some "Amanda time" outside the house -- reading, knitting, blogging, whatever -- and get a break from toddler time. My first official solo outing (not including grocery shopping type errands) was to a coffee shop in St Neots last Sunday morning. I finished a book and enjoyed a chai latte very much. I'm so glad he's encouraging of me to do this, I need it more than I realize.

"Amanda time"

We also have registered at the local Children's Centre, which has classes almost daily during the week that cater to kids 0-5 years of age. We went to "Singasaurus" a couple of weeks ago, which ended up being nursery rhymes and songs for the little ones to bounce along to. Charlotte loved it, although she started to fade during the last 10 minutes of the 45 minute class (not grumpy, just kind of glazing over). My ego was burst when I realized that, despite having a mom who knows every American nursery rhyme in the book, I did NOT know more than about 1/3 of the British nursery rhymes we did in the class! They did give us a book with the rhymes in them, which was *slightly* helpful. I was glad Charlotte isn't old enough to roll her eyes at a mum who doesn't know the words :) We also went to the local library on Friday morning, where they hold "RhymeTime." No book there, but I did remember enough of the rhymes to sing along more confidently. Charlotte also got a "passport" at the library to get little stamps on for each class the attends or books she checks out. Too cute, now I just have to remember to bring it! 

Heading to the library for RhymeTime (I take her in the stroller; so nice to not have to use the car!)

Charlotte adores being outside. It's still fairly cool most days, and when I hold up her coat she runs over with her little arm stuck out and jams it straight into the sleeve hole. She can't get it on fast enough! We take little walks in the cul-de-sac and examine the shrubs, rocks, trees, flowers, etc. She is also an eagle-eye for birds -- whether they are flying or sitting in the trees/on the rooftops -- and sings out "Coocoo! coocoo!" when she sees or hears them. 

The rocks in our front yard -- she usually holds one in each hand as we take a walk.

Strolling down the cul-de-sac.

She also had a playdate one day when we went to visit Erin and one of her friends, Heather. Heather also has a little girl named Charlotte and they are almost the same age. They had fun at the playground (although they look like total teenagers in this picture). "Mooooom stop with the pictures!"

Charlottes

She is turning into a real toddler! Learning how to spoon her food (actually has made great improvements with yogurt and applesauce), saying lots of words ("tickle," "spoon" [poon], "gone" [gahh], "GusGus" [guhguh], "Cheerio" [jo jo], "go," "Dada go," "bye bye Dada go," "bye-bye jo jo" (when I put the box away), "hat" [aaht], "door" [doa], "book" [bukka]. She says "baa baa," "raaar," "coocoo," and "wuuh" when asked about animal sounds. She also can give "tea" to her stuffed animals, and after I imitated a slurping sound when her animals take a sip, she started making that sound to indicate when she wants something to drink. It is so much fun to see her learn new words and figure out ways to communicate with us. If she is trying to tell me something and getting frustrated, if I ask her to show me what she wants, she very often can do a gesture or point to help me understand. You can see the wheels turning!

Mmm, yogurt. She can usually eat about 80% with her spoon and then I finish it up for her.

Hanging out with "Little Pig," the only stuffed animal she has really started to love so far.

So proud of herself for being able to climb up on the ottoman (oh no). 

Brushing her teeth (more like sucking on the toothbrush after I do the actual brush).

And on an unrelated note, I started and completed a knitting project within a month!! This is a big deal for me -- as Paul pointed out, the most recent project I started was initiated when George W Bush was still in office. But I had a deadline... booties have to be finished before baby Gus grows out of them! I was proud of the finished product, and gave them to Jerome & Erin yesterday. I'm not speedy but I do enjoy knitting.

Northern Wales (Betws-y-Coed)

On Wednesday, we enjoyed one final look out the window at the animals and another delicious breakfast at the B&B. We then packed up the car and headed out, driving about 20 minutes to the town of Betws-y-Coed (pronounced "bettus-ee-coyd" I believe) in Snowdonia National Park. We parked in the free lot, which we were excited about, then found toilets, which cost 30p to use, which we were less excited about. At least we had change!

We went to the Tourist Information Centre, which gave us some information about a riverside walk in town (stroller accessible) and another one further up in the mountains (also accessible). As we were leaving the Centre, the "Bubble Shop" nearby had a marketing ploy out which was utterly thrilling to a certain 1 year old :) She chased the bubbles and laughed and laughed. Her shoes got quite soapy but it was totally worth it. I love seeing her face light up!!

We walked a couple of blocks through town and found the riverside path. We took our time walking down it, enjoying the stream as it flowed through various small rapids/waterfalls. Paul took Charlotte out to the stream's edge and showed her how to toss a rock into the water. It took a few tries of dropping it on the ground before she got a good toss. She loved seeing the ripples! We ended up deciding to head to grab some lunch rather than heading further into the mountains this time.

We ate lunch at a restaurant adjoining the Welsh Food Centre that was actually fairly close to Bodnant Gardens. We finally got our first listen to the spoken Welsh language from the waiter, who spoke a few sentences of it to Charlotte. It definitely sounds nothing like English. I wish we had heard more! After another very filling meal (the Welsh eat heartily!) we hopped in the car and headed for home. Rather than dwelling on the negative, I'll just say that the 4 hour trip took us over 6 hours due to horrible traffic, and that Charlotte only slept for about 1.5 hours of that time. We arrived safely but exhaustedly back in St Neots. It was a great trip overall, and a good first experience traveling for an overnight stay in the UK.

Northern Wales (Bodnant Gardens, Llandudno)

After exploring Conwy (see earlier post), we drove to Bodnant Gardens. It is a National Trust site, meaning we were able to enter & park for free with our membership cards. The gardens are all outdoors, and the site of the famous Laburnum Arch, which blooms in May/June. You can see a picture of it in bloom here. It was definitely still hibernating on March 19! However, we were pleasantly surprised to see as many plants blooming as we did -- azaleas, rhododendron, camellias, snowdrops, daffodils, and a couple of tulips. The magnolia trees also were starting to bloom! We really enjoyed the valley within the Gardens, where there was a stream and lots of waterfall features. It was a bit steep for the stroller at times but we got a workout in. In fact, our phone/pedometers told us we took over 15,000 steps this day!

The bare Laburnum Arch

Bright azaleas!

Loved these guys, but don't know their name.

The house on the premises

Stopped for a quick bite in the gardens

Heading down the valley

A tired little girl after a long day outside in the stroller/pack.

We headed back to the B&B after touring the gardens. Andrew brought us some fresh milk for tea, as well as some traditional Welsh-cakes ("Welshies"). The Welshies were a cross between a pancake and a biscuit, with raisins mixed in. Charlotte loved them!


That evening, we drove about 20 minutes to the town of Llandudno. It is a seaside resort area, but it seemed pretty empty in March. We ate dinner at a pub called the Cottage Loaf, which was tasty, then headed for a walk along the Promenade after dark. It was quiet and peaceful walking along the shore, there were barely any waves in the bay. We saw a few joggers and walkers, but it was fairly abandoned at this time of year.

Our trip to Northern Wales (Travel & Conwy)

Because of Paul's shift-work schedule, he was able to take 2 days off and get a stretch of 7 days off in a row! We filled the first few days with some general household organizing and a trip to IKEA in Milton Keynes, then headed to Northern Wales from March 16-18. I had done some online research (mostly TripAdvisor and Rick Steves) into the area, and booked a B&B near Conwy (pronounced "Conway") on the coast of Wales. I called ahead and spoke to Andrew, who is a co-proprietor with his wife Beth of Coed Mawr Cottages in the village of Rowen. He was very friendly and reassured me that they were fine with having a 1 year old stay there. Some B&Bs are not, which is totally understandable given the "romantic" vibe a lot of them are going for... a wild toddler does not always provide that ambience. :) 

The trip was slated to take approximately 4 hours each way, and we left mid-morning on Monday. It took a bit longer, with road construction and traffic. We also took a 45 minute stop at a "Services" area off the highway. These areas are not unlike the large rest areas off of I-95 along the East Coast of the US -- gas station and food, as well as a gift shop. We were surprised to see a small hotel adjoining the one here, though. We grabbed some Burger King and let Charlotte stretch her legs a little bit. The whole experience felt very "American." (An OK thing by us, sometimes a little home comfort is good!) Charlotte slept a majority of the drive there; coming back was a different story as we hit major traffic (the M6 appeared be closed due to an accident) and she wasn't very happy to be stuck in her carseat for so long. 

Charlotte plays with ketchup packets at the Services stop

We drove fairly close to Birmingham and Liverpool on the trip, which were only notable because of the increased traffic in the area. I read up on the sites in Liverpool in the Rick Steves guidebook, and I think we will have to take a weekend trip there and see the Beatles sites in particular! 

Entering Wales is fairly undramatic, although there was a sign and a "dragon" stone pattern on the hill of an overpass -- the dragon is the mascot (?) of Wales (driving back, we saw the English lion on the opposite side of the overpass!). We drove briefly through the town of Conwy on our way to Coed Mawr Hall, which was about a 15 minute drive outside of town. It is quite rural, and there are indeed a lot of sheep in Wales! I believe we are in/toward the end of the "lambing" season, and certain fields appeared to have a lamb or 2 per sheep. The other big change is that all of the street signs are required to be written in both English and Welsh languages. We were fascinated by the long words with very few vowels; the double L (ll) is pronounced "kl" and the W is usually pronounced like the "u" in "push." We haven't figured out how to really pronounce the word "Llewellyns" yet, for the St Louisans who read this blog.

When we pulled up to the B&B, which is down a 3/4 mile private drive, we were greeted by chickens and geese, and quickly thereafter Beth came out of the house as well. Charlotte was interested to watch Beth toss some feed to the birds, but wasn't too excited to get close to them at the moment. We got checked in and Beth helped carry our bags up to our room. It turned out we were the only guests staying there for those two nights, which was lovely and quiet. And we didn't have to worry about Charlotte making too much noise, which was a blessing and added to my ability to just relax while we were there!

We really appreciated that they provided Charlotte with a Pack&Play ("cot") to sleep in, as well as a high chair at breakfast each day. The breakfast was delicious, Andrew cooked food to order and also had a side table set up with various cold items as well. We would definitely recommend the place if anyone is looking for a B&B in North Wales! That evening we walked across the field to the local pub in Rowen and had a delicious meal there. It was fun walking back by "torch" (flashlight) at night; the sheep were all laying down in the fields and it was peaceful and smelled of wood stove smoke. 

The view from our room at Coed Mawr

Sheep! I must have sung "Baa Baa Black Sheep" about 50 times to Charlotte, who danced each time so I didn't mind :)

Our CR-V outside Coed Mawr; our room and the 2 windows on the middle floor, left side of the house as you look at it.

Waterfall at the back of the parking area, which made a lovely rushing sound to hear when we were loading/unloading the car each time

Sitting on the bench in the front of the B&B

Lambs! (Just down the hill, along the private drive to the B&B)

Enjoying a cup of tea after our arrival. The room had 2 beautiful bay windows with cushions; Charlotte adored sitting on them and watching the sheep, chickens, ducks, and cat.

We laid low the first evening, then headed out after breakfast to the medieval walled town of Conwy. The town is set on a bay, and still has the full set of walls that were built back around 1285 AD by Edward I when he conquered this area of Wales. There are 5 castles in the area all built in the same period; we had considered going to another castle (Beaumaris) as well but didn't have quite enough time. Perhaps another time.

We parked near the castle, and started with the walking tour that Rick Steves has written up in his book about Great Britain. It was a great walk, and I was glad to have borrowed Erin's Kinderpack to carry Charlotte around in. As you'll see, it wasn't the most stroller friendly walk! We went up the walls, where you can walk around most of the city (we did a small portion), then down through a few of the lanes of the city, down to the riverfront, and back up to the castle. It took us about an hour and a half to do the walking tour. Here are a few photo highlights:

An educational sign put up to encourage learning the Welsh language. It shows the alphabet, days of the week, months of the year, and numbers written out.

Climbing the staircase to get to the wall walk

Walking the walls!

Heading up a steep ramp to one of the wall's turrets

Looking back down the steep walk; the town is to the left of the wall.

Charlotte is not impressed.

Like I said, not stroller friendly!

Looking from the turret back toward the Castle & the bay

Looking down the opposite wall from the castle

The promenade along the bay, looking toward the Castle

Lots of sailboats in the bay

The smallest house in Great Britain! No longer inhabited.

We let Charlotte out to run a bit, she loved it! The seagulls were less in love with it.

Looking up at the castle from outside

The castle is the only part of the walking tour you have to pay for. Charlotte unfortunately was starting to get tired by this point and wasn't enjoying riding in the Kinderpack any longer. After walking along some of the ramparts, I sat with her on a bench in the center of the castle while Paul explored, then we traded places. Our first major tourist adventure with her -- we learned to do the "pay" thing(s) earlier in the morning, then you can cut out whatever "free" things are later on. I think we still got our money's worth out of the castle, but she was definitely ready for a nap and we cut it a bit short. The castle itself was built in only 4 years and was built on solid rock to avoid undermining by those who might try to capture it. It was neat to imagine what it would have been like to live there.

The center of the castle

Up on the ramparts

The view from the castle across the suspension bridge over the river/bay

After tucking Charlotte in her car seat, Paul sat with her in the car while I grabbed some sandwiches. We ate them while Charlotte napped, then headed toward Bodnant Gardens. (Post to come!)