Halloween 2016

We went trick-or-treating on base again this year! Charlotte requested to dress as Mickey, which was lucky because our friends had a Mickey costume for us to borrow. I taped her shoes with yellow duct tape and made the ear headband for her. She loved having her nose markered as well :) We did the Trunk or Treat, which was much smaller and had a very long line to enter this year, then went around to various houses. It was fun, and we were happy to celebrate with friends again.

Pumpkin Patch 2016

We tried to go pumpkin picking earlier in October, but ended up getting to the farm only to find it wasn't open on Mondays! So we came back another day. It was a typical British day, fluctuating between wind and rain and sun! We hunkered down under the umbrella briefly as necessary, although it was coming sideways so we all got a little damp. Luckily it didn't last for long.

After choosing our 3 pumpkins, we paid for them and Charlotte played for awhile in the playground area. She grew so much from last year -- we did a comparison shot from last year, when her head was below the upper lintel of the playhouse doorway!

It was another fun visit to Hill Farm!

Peppa Pig World

In mid-October, we made the drive down to the southern coast of England to visit Peppa Pig World. It's part of a larger amusement park called Paulton's Park, but we didn't venture much into the rest of Paulton's. It took about 2.5 hours to get there, so it was definitely a full day of activity. Kids under 1 meter tall are free, but many of the rides aren't for kids shorter than 900 cm. We lucked out that Charlotte is right between those heights! 

Our first ride of the day was a little ferris wheel called "Mrs Rabbit's Helicopters." Charlotte was not appreciative at all of waiting in line for a half hour -- but she didn't know what to expect or what she was really waiting for. We were worried at first that the whole day would be rough -- but she seemed to understand the concept after the first ride, and we didn't have to wait longer than about 15-20 minutes for any of the other rides. 

Paul and Charlotte about to get in line for the (non-Peppa-themed) tractor ride

She chose the British spec wheel! 

The best ride of the day was a big slide just outside the Peppa area, which only had about a 10 minute wait and was a blast. Charlotte LOVED it!!!

Other fun highlights included the Big Balloons, riding George's Dinosaurs, driving Daddy Pig's car, playing in the spaceship-themed soft-play area (where we had to closely supervise her, as she was getting a bit territorial with other kids), eating ice cream on a bench, waving to Peppa and George characters, riding the carousel, and walking through the Peppa "schoolhouse" and kitchen where animatronic pigs acted out a little scene involving pancakes :)

"big balloon, big balloon, higher than the sun and moooon"

Riding the Big Balloon ride

The Pig family in their kitchen

George's Dinosaur Adventure ride

Driving Daddy Pig's Car

The carousel

We ended up being at the park from around 10:30 am til 3:30 pm, when Charlotte was getting crabby and tired. It was a fairly uneventful ride home, minus some traffic around London (to be expected even on a Sunday). Charlotte napped for about 45 minutes of the ride home. It was a fun day out, and Charlotte seemed to really enjoy it.

Ickworth House and Gardens (Sept 2016)

In early October, we took a day trip to Ickworth House & Gardens, which is near the town of Bury St. Edmunds and just about an hour from our house. It was built in the late 18th/early 19th century with some Italian influences, and is now a National Trust site. Half of the building is used as a hotel, with the other half open to visitors and housing a cafe (of course, where else would visitors take tea?!). We enjoyed walking the grounds, seeing the unusual Victorian era "stumpery" in the gardens, and touring the house itself. The downstairs area was particularly well-done, with a very Downton Abbey below-stairs feel. It felt as though the servant staff had left for an afternoon out, with nice details here and there to make it feel like you were back in time.

Charlotte also enjoyed the playground for awhile, which was quite a good size, but we had to leave when she announced "I'm gonna hit that little boy!" loudly enough for everyone to hear. Much to her disappointment, we parented and left the playground with her. Oh, two year olds!

The Rotunda of Ickworth House

Manicured gardens

Charlotte and I enter the "Stumpery" -- Victorian period type garden where old tree stumps were turned upside down to expose the roots as decoration. (*shrugs*)

Example of a stump in the Stumpery

Investigating the autumn berries in the garden

Downstairs details of the servants' quarters

View into the Rotunda of the house from the staircase

Playing on the large lichen-covered columns outside

We enjoyed a lunch outside at some tables between touring the gardens and seeing the house's interior. Charlotte and Paul got in an unstructured game of croquet on the lawn while I got the food. It was a little windy outside, but sunny and a nice spot between some potted lemon trees. An older man stopped to adore Charlotte and told us all about his lemon trees at home. Very sweet. After touring the house, we headed back home.

Three nights in London

For the end of the family trip, we spend three nights in London at a hotel right next to Trafalgar Square. We took two taxis from the airport, which was a bit of a slow go in London traffic at times. After checking into the hotel, Paul, Chris, Colleen, and Tom went out to walk around the Westminster area and see the London Eye. Charlotte and I spent some time in Grammy's hotel room, then ordered some food delivery from a noodle place in the area so we could get Charlotte to bed at a reasonable time. The rest of the family went down the street to a Sherlock Holmes themed pub for dinner.

The next morning, Charlotte stayed at the hotel with Grammy and Papa while Paul, Chris, and Colleen went on a tour of the Houses of Parliament, and Kate & I went to the National Gallery of Art. We had been hoping to see an exhibit on Caravaggio, but it turned out the huge sign out front was advertising a coming exhibit. Oops. We enjoyed walking around anyway! The gift shop was extremely tempting, but I managed to get out with only a purchase of a "Maisy" book about London for Charlotte.

Paul joined us for lunch and we all then met up with Kate's good friends at a speakeasy in SoHo, called The Blind Pig, for cocktails.

Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey

That night, Paul and I got a special date night out while the rest of the family watched Charlotte for us. We went to dinner at a wonderful Portuguese restaurant called "The Port House"  -- the atmosphere, food, and wine were great! We then walked to see "Jersey Boys" in the theater district. It was such a fun show -- the music was phenomenal and we both enjoyed it a lot.

The next morning, Paul and I took Charlotte to the National Museum of Transportation which had been highly recommended for children. Charlotte did like the children's areas and the buses/trains she could climb on, but we felt it was a bit expensive for what it was. Of course, our tickets are good for a year -- the UK loves this method of overcharging, knowing that most people won't remember to come back. I could see if we lived in London that we would use the ticket for a few days out to make it worth it -- but I doubt we will end up back there. We'll more likely find new things to see in London next time we're there.

Pictures from the Transport Museum

That afternoon, the whole group minus Chris & Colleen (who had a few more sights to see in London) headed out to west London to meet up with Kate's friends for a traditional Sunday roast in a pub. It was a nice, busy pub atmosphere with other children around -- something we don't often see at pubs in the evening. We shared some delicious food and really enjoyed the experience -- and Charlotte was very well behaved, which only helped :)

That evening we were all quite full from the afternoon roast, so didn't end up trying to get some dinner until late. As a few of us were heading to Pizza Express, Charlotte started throwing a fit and I ended up taking her back to the room for bedtime. We finished up the evening playing cards while Mom stayed in our room with Charlotte.

The next morning, we had a courier service pick us up at the hotel to take us back to our house. We said our goodbyes early to everyone and headed home. The rest of the group had a mid-day flight out of Heathrow. It was great to see the whole family and get to experience beautiful Ireland with them!

Ireland: Cliffs of Moher & Galway

After our day on the Ring of Kerry, I stayed in that night with Charlotte while the rest of the family went out for dinner in Kenmare. The next morning, we packed up and drove north to the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. The roads of Ireland are quite narrow and twisty, even roads that are supposedly "main roads." I was able to re-route our original driving plan to get us to straighter roads -- which helped out the carsick-prone people on the trip (not naming names). 

We stopped for a relatively quick lunch at a pub before changing roads to head out the peninusla to the Cliffs of Moher. It was a bit overcast, but not overly crowded to enter. We parked and looked around the tourist center for a few minutes before walking out to see the views. The Cliffs have been used as a set in many movies, including The Princess Bride ("The Cliffs of Insanity!") and the Harry Potter films. They are beautiful and green, and seemed a little less craggy than the Cliffs of Kerry. Our trusty umbrella stroller finally kicked the bucket at this location when the foot strap snapped. We made do by using a bungee cord to hold the strap to the side, but we knew it was the final trip since it wasn't comfortable for Charlotte to hold her feet up the whole time.

The tower was built to provide better views of the Cliffs.

Walking the pathway along a cow pasture

 

Loved the various shades of grey-blue

Walking back down the steep paths off the cliffs

Familiar faces down below

After leaving the Cliffs, we made a slow drive back through the countryside and up through Galway. We stayed at a hotel near Oughterard, in County Galway for the next two nights. After all that driving, we were so thankful that the hotel owner was able to get us dinner in the dining room (it was getting pretty close to closing time). We enjoyed talking with the very proper waiter, who served us both dinner and breakfast. The next morning at breakfast, Charlotte was acting like she wasn't feeling well (she didn't eat anything, very unusual) so I decided we should lay low for the day. Paul, Kate, Chris, and Colleen went into Galway and got some good pictures. Tom, Renee, Charlotte and I took a rest and then went into Oughterard to walk around the town, play at the playground, and get some lunch at a cafe. We also scoped out a restaurant for that evening and made a reservation.

After an afternoon nap, we went with the big group back to Oughterard for dinner and enjoyed some tasty Irish specials. Charlotte chowed down on the (very Irish) pasta with butter -- 2 bowls full! Making up for breakfast I guess! We finished the night at the playground again, then Colleen stayed in our room with Charlotte while she slept so Paul & I could play a game of Phase 10 with the rest of the family. We also drank a traditionally prepared Irish Whiskey, which was too much caffeine for that time of night, so I had trouble getting to sleep!

Paul's pictures from Galway

The river running past our hotel

The next morning, we ate a quick breakfast and headed south for the Shannon airport, which was very easy to negotiate. After returning the rental cars and checking in, we grabbed a quick lunch before flying back to London with the whole family.