England 2011: Last Days - York - and Farewell

Friday morning was a frenetic packing fest, and we all managed to leave the house by around 10am.  Carole and Maurice headed back to their house, laden with all the toys, books, foods, dry goods, and toiletries that they'd stocked the house with to make our visit so comfortable and fun (thank you!!!), and we set off for our bonus two nights in York.  Lovely York!  We parked outside the city and took a bus in, knowng that parking in the city can be rough.  We went straight to York Minster, the famous cathedral, where the kids were generally good but didn't seem nearly as impressed with it as Andy and I were.

They were entranced with the rows of little candles that were standing about, so we put a pound into the tin and lit a candle for Greenie and Granddaddy.  I was pretty sure they would like that a lot.  We walked around town a bit after that, then made our way back to the B&B that we'd booked.... which turned out to be a big letdown after our lovely accomodations in Hayfield (and also turned out just to be a "B," as breakfast wasn't included!).  Not to worry, we tried not to whine too much.  Steve and Al came by with the girls, along with Tom, Joanne and Steve, and after a nice chat we decided to go back to Al's parents' house for a pizza dinner and lots of playtime.  The kids had SO much fun together. 

On Saturday we had crumpets in our little kitchen, then stopped at the sweetest little cafe right on the river in York for delicious bacon buttys and coffee and cocoa.  We walked along river and to a big playpark where we met Alison and the girls, and the kids played for ages, especially loving the trampolines and bouncey slide. 

Then we all walked back to town for a Chinese buffet lunch and strolled around town for a bit more.  We were all quite entranced with the "Purple Man," a human statue of a man on a bike, coattails flying behind him.  Cool!  We stopped on the way home at Waitrose's to get some easy dinners to cook at home - curries for Andy and me, mac and cheese for the kids. 

On Sunday we had bacon buttys in our little kitchen, final (horrible) showers, then off to the National Railway Museum! Ollie was just a little bit excited.  :-)  And the rest of us, too!  We met Ian there,

and had a great time seeing the sites.  Nice drive back (poor Ian wedged into the back seat between the two kids, though he was quite charmed when Ollie fell asleep on his shoulder).  We had a quick coffee with Ian and Anne, then back home to Carole and Maurice and a lovely dinner with Steve, Al, and the girls, big farewells, bed!! 

On Monday, after lots of goodbye hugs and kisses for Grandma Carole, we headed to the airport with Granddad Maurice.  We dropped off our rental car, and after the final and (always) tearful goodbyes, we were off to catch our 9:40am flight.  Whereas everything seemed in our favor on the way over, just the opposite was true on the way back.  Not only did we not have individual tv screens on the seatbacks, we were actually sitting in the ONLY row on the whole plane that didn't have a WINDOW!  Wonderful.  For the next 7 or 8 hours we sat in this virtual box of nothingness, trying our best to keep the kids from going bonkers (and us, of course).  We survived to tell the story!  Another trip we will never forget, filled with 20 Trees, sweet shops, grandparents, cousins, friends, steam trains and castles, curries, stacks of crumpets, and of course - millionaire's shortbread.  Till next time, beautiful England! 

England 2011, Day 13: Last Big Day at the Hayfield House

Lazy morning... Andy went out on the bike one last time, I took a shower, the kids walked to town to the "sweet shop" with Grandma and Granddad, and we all went down to the cricket pitch to try out ollie's new boomerang (limited success).  Later on

we all drove to Bakewell, strolled around town and of course visited our favorite bakeshop, Bloomers, where we chose pork pies, lamb and mint pies, and (what else?) Bakewell Tarts!  We had our lunch at the river.  Carole, Maurice, and Ollie decided to take the bus home for fun, the

Bakewell bus to New Mills, with a quick stop to see Uncle Bill and Maureen, then another bus on to Hayfield.  Meanwhile, Andy and I and Maddie strolled a bit more, had coffee and baby toto, then drove back.  It was a gorgeous day... after packing up a bit, we walked to playpark, where the kids had fun giving their toy kitty and the owl keyrings a push on the swing.

England 2011, Day 11 & 12: LONDON!!

Oh lordy, I don't really have any notes for these days!!  All I know is that Andy and I caught the 10:20 train for London for our big adventure *without* the kids!!  Grandma and Granddad had lots of exciting things planned for the kids, and we wouldn't be back in Hayfield until after bedtime the next day!  The big event in London was seeing Uncle David (Granddad Maurice's brother) perform at the Globe Theater as God in a performance of The Globe Mysteries.  Pretty cool, right?!  We couldn't take pictures

during the show, but I took a few beforehand and outdoors.  It was SO fun seeing Uncle David perform, and even if we didn't know everything that was going on, it was completely interesting and so well done.  Afterwards we met David and Andy's cousins Kate and Joe at the pub next door, and Kate's lovely baby, Cecily.  Then we headed out for a curry with David and Joe.  Such a fun evening!  The next day was all about sightseeing in London... our big mistake was not having a "plan," which is good on the one hand because you can just wander around, but on the other hand, there are SO many choices in London

that if you don't pick a few and go with it, all your wandering can make you feel like you're going in circles.  Which we did!  One of the best parts of the day was seeing part of the Changing of the Guards near Buckingham Palace.  Then we strolled by Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, soooo cool and impressive.  We considered taking a tour of Parliament, but

it was just stupidly expensive and we would have had to come back in 3 hours or something anyway.  We walked along the Thames, admired the London Eye, stopped in the Science Museum, had a quick lunch on some steps in a square at Covent Garden... and then it got crazy.  We decided to take the Underground to Harrods, but after Andy ducked into a little news shop to look for a paper, he apparently came back out and couldn't see me, so he went on to Harrods without me, thinking I must have gone on my own!  As if !  A LOT of time passed, and I just stayed put, having no bloody idea what was the right thing to do at this

point.  I enlisted the help of a very accomodating policeman (pictured), who helped me make a phone call (since my cell phone didn't work here, but thank god I could still look up my contacts) - I reached my sister-in-law Alison, who got Andy on the other line, and we were finally able to reconnect.  Phew.  Unnecessary angst, but it does make for an interesting story.  All in all, a memorable and fun trip to London!! 

England 2011, Day 10: Steam Train & Night Train

Oh, another rainy day, so we had to think of something to do that wouldn't involve being soaked to the bone... so we headed for the  Lakeside to Haverthwaite steam train!  You could argue that going to the Lake District on a rainy day is not a very good idea... and you'd be right.  It's just really pretty there, but on rainy, foggy days, you kind of don't get to see much of the prettiness!!

  We made the best of it, though.  We had a wet stop at Windermere, where we got lunchy nibbles from a couple of different little bakeries and would have been happy to wander the streets and munch on yummies, but the rain forced us back to the car.  We had time to kill before the steam train so we stopped at the Lakeland Motor Museum and spent far too much money to look at some neat old cars and planes.  The best part was that Andy got to pose with his first car ever, an Allegra. 

The steam train ride was nice, very steamy.  After that, Maddie began regular pronouncements of, "I love castles, and I love steam trains!!"  We finished off the day in grandest fashion, with a trip to Blackpool, where Andy used to holiday with this parents and grandparents.  We had a fish and chip dinner, quite satisfying, then headed

to the pier for games and rides at the arcade and then (Ollie's much anticipated) ride on the LIGHT UP TRAIN that goes the whole length of the Illuminations!  Just so exciting. 

England 2011, Day 9: Locks and Locks

Today Grandma, Granddad and I headed out to Marple with  and the kids while Andy set off on a mountain bike ride with Steve.  Marple is famous for its system of locks, which allow

these long, narrow barges to travel through the town.  I was just as fascinated as the kids were, watching a vacationer navigate his boat through the locks; the process

is so slow that we were able to have quite a lengthy chat with him and his wife as they moved from lock to lock!  It was a lovely day, and we slowly made our way to a great playpark, when we got a text from Andy that he couldn't get back into the house because the lock was broken (had been loose for a while).  We knew we wouldn't be able to help, so we kept our

plans to meet Steve, Alison, and the girls at Rough and Tumble, a new indoor playplace, and spent several hours there while Andy met Ian at the house to try to get the door open (I believe hammers were involved).  They ended up finally reaching the owner and she had a locksmith sent; sadly, this all took several hours, and wasted a good bit of Andy's day.  In the end, we all went back to the house, Andy and I had a quick walk up to 20 Trees while Maddie napped and the kids played... there was a bit of rain but it was still nice.  Steve and Al fixed a big roast pork dinner, yum yum, and kitty Rusty kept watch on the back deck.

England 2011, Day 8: Hayfield Fair and Big Night Out

When I look back at my notes on this day, the first thing I wrote was, "rainsunrainsun."  So, it was one of those typical English days that just keeps you guessing, and never makes up its mind.  So I'm sure we brought umbrellas when we headed down the road to the HAYFIELD FAIR!!  Oh, how we love the Hayfield Country Show and Sheepdog Trials. 

The fair is perched on a quite steep hillside (nothing is flat in Hayfield, except the cricket pitch!), and along with a full schedule of events, there's a craft tent, childrens games and little rides, and the most fantastic food tent in the universe.  Locals bring in all varieties of baked good, fresh sausages, amazing cheeses, fudge, chutneys, etc.  You just want to buy everything.  And eat everything.  We actually were stuck in the food tent while we waited for a huge downpour to let up... poor us.  :-)  A bit later we waited for over 20 minutes for the pig races to begin, and when they finally started we had to laugh because each race only lasted about 5 seconds!   Eventually we took our waterlogged selves back home, and I was sad that we somehow had missed seeing ANY sheepdog trials this year!  Back at the house, we

warmed up with delicious soup, Andy had a quick road ride, Maddie took a nap, Ollie played with Grandma and Granddad, and I took a shower.  Late in the day, we admired a gorgeous rainbow in front of the house - a perk to all of that rainsun.  That night, Andy and I were off to Ian and Anne's annual dinner party, which is always such good fun.  Quite a busy day, really!

England 2011, Day 7: Lambs on Trams

Another quiet, lazy morning, complete with a nice stop for coffee a few doors down the road at Rosie's Cafe, and another lovely walk up to 20 Trees.  Then we took the kids to Crich Tramway Village, a full hour away, where you can ride on a cool old trams, visit a tram museum, and watch the engineers work on restorations and repairs.  The tram ride was a lot of fun, and the kids also loved the little indoor children's play area. 

On the way home we stopped for a few groceries and some more coal, and then had a wonderful evening at home with Steve and Al, T & N - a sleepover!!!  Soooo much excitement, it's hard to overestimate.  Bangers and mash.  'Nuff said!

England 2011, Day 6: Monster Ride, Otters, and Cousins, Oh My!

No rain this morning, so Andy headed out early for his "monster ride," while the rest of us had some lazy playtime at home.  After that we set out for the Chestnut Center, an "Owl, Otter, and Wildlife Refuge."  We wandered through the park on various paths that took us past lots of different animals... it's definitely the place for you if you're an otter enthusiast! 

We had a nice picnic lunch at the side of a hill inside the park, and then made plans with Alison to meet up with the girls after school got out.  After we got to their house, we all walked together around the corner to the school to surprise T & N (Ollie and Maddie's cousins), then walked to a new tea house

nearby and had wonderful snacks and drinks.  After lots of playtime back at the house, we headed home to Hayfield, got the kids to bed, and promptly had a power outage for an hour and a half!  Which turned out to be quite lovely, with the coal fire giving us warmth and light, and candles all around. 

England 2011, Day 5: Speedwell Cave & New Mills Torrs

Andy had to postpone his mountain bike ride in the morning because of rain, so after breakfast and a shower for me, we headed out with Carole for Castleton and the Speedwell Cave - a perfect rainy day activity!  We all walked down 106 steps of a narrow tunnel carved into rock, glad for our hard hats, down to a tunnel channel.  We climbed into a heavy boat that traveled about 1/2 mile in a tunnel

just bigger than the boat, which opened at the end to a small cave that you could walk around in.  The kids liked it, despite daddy's talk of hungry trolls.  Then on to Castleton, a nice stroll around town and a stop at a pub for lunch.  After that we drove to New Mills and walked along the Torrs and over the

Millienium Bridge, so nice.  Back home for a cup of hot tea, ahhhhh... Andy set out on his bike, then Ian and Anne came by around 7 to say hello to the kids then whisk us off for a lovely curry, one of the yummiest dinners of our whole trip.  Thanks to Grandma and Granddad for babysitting!!!

England 2011, Day 4: Conwy Castle, Wales!

We all headed out this morning around 9:45am for Conwy Castle, Wales!!  Pretty drive, pretty day.  As soon as we arrived and it was in sight, the kids were beside themselves with excitement -- "Wowwww, look at the CASTLE!!!" It's one thing to say you're going to visit a castle,
but another thing to see it right in front of you, so beautiful and unlike anything else that you've ever seen.  We all wandered in and out of the endless rooms and passageways, up and down the impossibly steep and narrow stairways, holding on for dear life to the rope railings.  Ollie loved the hidden passageways and the super high turrets.  The views of Conwy, the harbor, and the countryide beyond were just stunning from the top,

and it was soooo windy up there!

We had a mini-picnic lunch in the castle green, then on to the Knight Shop where Ollie and Maddie each got toy swords.  Carole and I took the kids on a quick trip out on the sightseeing boat, then we all drove a few miles away up Great Orme, a great big hill that has a famous tramway going up and down it.  Ollie and Carole took the cable train back down to Landdudno, while the rest of us drove down. Big fun for a little boy!  In town we walked out the big

long pier, got ice cream, and then headed home. We saw a rainbow on the way home! At night we made a lovely coal fire to keep us toasty.  Pizza and salad for dinner, then Carole's coffee walnut cake for dessert (YUM), followed by another quick trip t'pub with Andy.  After today, for weeks and weeks Maddie would often exclaim, apropos of nothing, "I LOVE castles!!"

England 2011, Day 3: Buxton

Today was our first big excursion to Buxton, a nearby town that's much bigger than neighboring villages, and has loads of shops, a big, beautiful park, a famous opera house and arboretum -

a great place to spend a few hours.  Maddie wore her new yellow dress with navy blue tights, just as cute as a button.  One of our favorite new expressions of Maddie's is, "I'm a carry you!!"  Which translates to, "Carry me!" and always makes us smile.  We had lunch in a fancy cafe inside the pavillion, and I had wild mushroom and tarragon tagliatelli -- insanely delicious. 

After lots of time at the playpark, Andy and Carole took the kids back home and I got to stay on for a bit and do some shopping on my own!!  Very luxurious.  Later in the day, Andy headed out on his bike while Carole and I played

with the kids at home and then at the little Hayfield playpark.  This was definitely a night when Maurice was away, because for dinner we got Indian takeaway!!  Delicous.

England 2011, Day 2: 20 Trees and Fun Fair

Lovely to wake up in Hayfield!!  In the morning, we all walked up to "20 Trees" (an aptly named local landmark) -

our favorite little walk!  Last year on this walk, Maddie was in the Bjorn!  This time she enjoyed navigating the cattle grids and stiles with the best of 'em.  Ollie trudged along in a manly way, ever curious, full of observations.   We all met

a very social cow who must have been hired by the tourist board -- he turned to look at the camera whenever we took pictures. 
Back to the house, had a bit of lunch, then off to the fun fair right down below our house on the cricket pitch!  Ollie went on all the rides he could - bouncy slide, carousel (twice),

whirly cars... and Maddie liked the bouncy slide as well.  We bought tickets for the duck race fundraiser... what's a duck race, you ask?!  This was my first ever.  For a pound, you "buy a duck," which is a rubber duck with a number on it.  You know the number

of your duck, and HUNDREDS of ducks (we overheard that this race consisted of twelve hundred ducks!) are released all at the same time at the start of a little stream that skirts the edge of the cricket pitch.  Loads of spectators line the edge of the stream to watch the fun and root for their duck, and the first duck to reach the finish line

wins a big cash prize!  We all thought this was pretty much the coolest thing ever, even though we had NO idea where our duck was within the throng of identical ducks!
Dinner was Carole's fabulous chicken pot pie, and after the kids went to bed Andy and I met Steve and Sabina at the George Hotel's pub for some catching up.  Such a nice day!

England 2011, Day 1: Ah, Hayfield

So, we've figured out the trick to traveling across the ocean with kids... daytime flights! Leave in the morning, have a really long day, arrive at night and go to bed, and you pretty much skip jet lag all together. Nice! Granddad Maurice met us at the airport and after lots of hugs, Ollie announced that he wanted to drive to the Hayfield House with Granddad! So off they went, Ollie's feet barely touching the ground, he was so happy. Grandma Carole was already at the house, which was full to the brim, again, with fully stocked fridge, cupboards, freezer, books for the kids, toys of all sorts... everything we could possibly need... Grandma's magic handiwork. It's so neat to go back a second time to the same house, which already feels so familiar, like a home away from home. After more hugs and a bit of relaxing, we all went to bed and slept like logs for ages.

In the morning we walked into town with Ollie's trusty fishing net (left from last year, but not forgotten), to see what we could catch in the little river (we never seem to get lucky, but he loves trying). Later on Andy and I had a quick trip to Buxton to pick up a booster seat for Ollie, while the kids played with Grandma and Granddad at home. Before heading back, Andy and I had our first of several fish and chips lunches, on the main street in Buxton. Meanwhile, Maurice picked up Auntie Mavis, and Steve and Al and the girls came by for a big afternoon of crazy playing and a fantastic bbq picnic dinner on the grassy patio. We were so happy to see Rusty again on the back deck - the neighborhood cat who must remember that we're the ones who give him a saucer of milk every single day we're here. We were lucky again to watch one of the last Hayfield cricket matches of the season right in our "backyard," as the house overlooks the town green/cricket pitch. We made our first of many pilgrimages to the nearby playground; Ollie remembered learning from Andy last year that if you go down the slide atop a fleece jacket, your speed increases dramatically! We didn't have a fleece with us, but Andy gave up his shirt for the cause. Maddie liked the swings best of all, along with Steve and Al and the girls. There's even a zipline at this park... hard to say what Ollie liked best.