The Adventures of A & M: October 2011

We had our first visitors! Cassie and Kevin Wilson visited us the first week of October. They happened to come during record high temperatures and beautiful sunny weather. The average temperature was 75 degrees while they were here. It was amazing! Ty loved getting to spend quality time with his aunt and uncle. They really seemed to enjoy Ty as well. After they got acclimated to the time difference for a couple days we went on a real adventure. We decided to drive to Dover and see the white cliffs, the Dover castle and World War II bunkers, and try to see France.

It was a gorgeous day! We started the few hour drive and on our way we passed by a sign for Leeds Castle and once again we all decided to be spontaneous and go for it. Plus it was Cassie's special wish that she get to see some castles. So we drove up to the car park and we didn't see the castle. Very strange...so we bought our rather expensive tickets and started on the walk towards the alleged castle. As we were walking we couldn't stop commenting on how beautiful the grounds were. There was a forest of Weeping Willows, lots of ducks, a pond, black swans, white swans, trails and just natural beauty all around.

A black swan.

Matty and Kevin were our photographers.

Prehistoric plants. They were HUGE!!! And they had these weird roots that were above ground. I felt like I was at Jurassic Park.

Then we finally saw the castle and it was the most beautiful castle we had seen. Once we got inside there were so many rooms to tour and so many interesting facts. I am in awe that we got to go through rooms that Henry VIII and his court lived in. It's so cool to look down at the stone floor and see how worn it is and imagine who's feet have walked these very halls and what they were wearing. I love having this experience to live among building with such rich histories.

The super cool thing about this castle was that it was never ending. When we first bought our ticket I couldn't help but cringe but as the day went on it felt totally worth it. Especially since they are good for a year. So we walked through the amazing grounds then we toured the castle and by that time we were starved so we ate lunch at their restaurant that actually had decent food. Also it had outdoor seating that gave you a perfect view of the castle while you ate. Then we went to their DOG COLLAR MUSEUM!! Yes I am laughing as I am writing this. It was SOOOO bizarre. The dog collars were kinda cool (like the Carousel of Progress is at Disney World). But the funniest thing was they had all these collars in cases with little cards that told you interesting facts about them and then they had these 2 dog collars outside of a case and all they had were braille panels next to them. So yea I have no idea what their story was. Weird!!

After the museum we went through the formal garden and then their aviary. They had a really great collection of birds. We saw Macaws, parrots, cranes, lots of birds that I have do idea what their names were and TOUCANS. A man fed one a piece of an apple and it was so fun watching him try to get the fruit and then to eat it. He was so cute! Then we went on to their hedge maze. It was so fun to try to find your way through. We finally had to get a tip from the maze expert helper. Once you get through the maze you go to a tower in the center and then down through a cave called "the grotto" to get out. It was kinda creepy, if someone had popped out I probably would've passed out.

By this time we had seen everything and we were pooped so we rode their "train" (a tram that looks like a train) back to the car park. Then we headed on to Dover.

We finally saw the beautiful castle. Stunning.


The shades didn't stay on for long.

It had a moat!

Under the gate, Matty thought it was the coolest thing!

Can you believe they actually have castles like this?

Don't ask. Just being silly. :)

Suit of armor obviously Matt's pic.

The queen's bedroom, it's just for show. She would receive guests here to show off her wealth. But, she would sleep in a normal bed. Does not make sense to me.

Cool Fireplace.

In the castle's chapel. Henry VIII had it taken out but they restored it to what it would've been.

Gorgeous view from the Castle.

How adorable is that?

My boys.

Family pic in front of the castle.

Ty's first real experience getting a shoulder ride on daddy. He LOVED it!!!

The castle had a hedge maze and it was so confusing but super fun to get lost in. Luckily they have helpers that are there in case you have a meltdown.

The maze and all the pastoral views from the tower in the center of the maze.

You can't tell because of my flash but we're in a dark cave called "the grotto" that has all these creepy people carved out and lighted. This is a giant face with red eyes and mouth. You have to go through "the grotto" to exit the maze.

On the "train" ride to the exit. We're too pooped to walk all the way back.

He likes trains.

When we finally got to Dover after a really long wrong turn loop through a random city the castle was already closed to visitors. (Everything closes by 3:30 or 4pm here) But we were still able to drive pretty close to it and get some pictures. As you can see Dover castle is totally a fortress. Not so much a pretty leisure castle like Leeds Castle. Then we drove to the white cliffs national park. We could've spent the whole day just at that park! It was huge and beautiful with great trails along the cliffs. Cassie and Kevin did their own thing while Matt and I explored. We found a cave which we were quite sure they used as a make shift bunker during WWII. After seeing the cave I got a little bunker obsessed and thought I saw one up above us and I swore there was a pathway that would lead us there. So Matt carried Ty in one arm and literally climbed the cliff face to get us there. Turns out it wasn't a bunker (sorry) but just a who knows what thing. By this time we figured Cassie and Kevin would probably be worried about us so we started trying to find our way back just going a different way. We weren't going to try to go down that cow trail we'd climbed up. So after getting a little lost we found them and we started on our journey home.

Though I don't have any pics it wasn't really the end of our adventure. We stopped by Canterbury on the way back. Yes, Canterbury from The Canterbury Tales. We even saw the Cathedral, which was so majestic and ginormous! We were just going to drive through until we saw what we thought was some type of church that had people walking in and out all the time. We parked and decided to check it out. Come to find out it was a private college and the security guards said we couldn't go in. AKWARD!! But let me tell you I wish that was my school! It was all medieval and stone and old. Then we had to walk a ways to get to the Cathedral but it was worth it. It's all walled in and has gates that you have to go through. They were doing construction and there was a part that would've been so easy to climb in and explore but there were other people around. Too bad. I really wanted to do it but at the same time it looked pretty creepy. After that we actually called it a day and went home.

Dover castle.

Sucking on mommy's face.

On the white cliffs of Dover.

Family shot.

It was breathtaking.

A ferry leaving the harbor headed to Calais, France. Too bad we don't have passports yet.

They are so cute!!

In a random cave we found in the cliff side.

We imagine it was used as a make shift bunker for WWII soldiers protecting the coastline. Or that they used it as storage.

So cute!!

It was so gorgeous! We wished we could've spent the day there!

Perfect end to a perfect day. Though it wasn't really the end. :)

Rule one for adventures is take every opportunity veer from the plans. Matt's last Kelly day and subsequent days off we decided to take a road trip and visit the capitol of Austentopia (Alexis speak for the world of Jane Austen), Bath. On our road trip we had just exited the M25 heading onto the M4 and over the hills we saw a majestic, ginormous, and breath taking castle. Immediately Matt and I said I want to go there!!! So we took a side trip to Windsor Castle.

Ty getting psyched to start our day of fun!

Me ready to heel click my way up the hill to the castle.

A neat flag by part of the outer walls of the castle.

Still walking up the hill to get to the entrance.

Isn't it grand?

The moat garden that the royal family frequent.

Posing by our tour guide (we're such tourists :))

In front of the quadrangle where they used to have jousting tournaments back in medieval times.

Matt is living the dream imagining he is a soldier guarding the castle (not very foreboding is he?) He is in front of the Norman gate where they have spots to pour out hot oil onto the possible enemy invaders.

Matt in front of the church that Henry VIII and Jane Seymour are buried.

You can't tell but the guard was making goofy eyes as well. They do have a sense of humor!

Windsor Castle was a blast! We spent way more time then we planned on but it was so worth it and we still had to rush through things. Did you know that Windsor Castle is Queen Elizabeth II's favorite castle and she often chooses to reside there? Unfortunately she was taking holiday in Scotland while we were there. The inside of the Castle is so magnificent as well unfortunately pictures inside our not allowed. As Matt and I were walking through the Castle we kept looking at each other and saying things like this is too good to be true! It is absolutely worth every penny.

We then headed to our destination of Bath and got there after all the exhibits were closed but there was a beautiful day and still sunny out. We decided to walk around the city and figure out where all the sights were.

The second day we went straight to the Roman Baths and did their whole tour. It comes with a free audio guide and we were so enthralled that we completely lost track of time. We didn't realize that we were only 3/4 of the way through and we'd been in there for over 2 hours! Matt's a big fan of Roman history and lets face it who isn't a little intrigued by them? After the baths we tasted the "healing" spring waters and saw the Pump room (if you read Jane Austen novels then you'll know what I'm talking about). Then we did some walking around and went to the Jane Austen Center. We had just missed the tour and so we did some shopping in their gift shop and I took a picture with an employee. We were starved so we went to lunch and then headed to Lacock.

Me in front of the river and Pultney Bridge.

A beautiful park you actually had to pay to enter. It was that nice!


Ty and I at the Royal Circus. For those who don't know much about them, they are a row of 18th century homes build in a gigantic circle. They are 5 stories tall, the top floor being the servants quarters and the the rest were used by the rich home owner. Today they are apartments, each one having there own floor. Some of the homes even had two stories below ground for a total of 6 floors.

Here is Matt in front of the Royal Crescent. These homes are a little more luxurious then the previous homes.

Can you believe it?

look how stinkin cut he is!

Family photo in front of the largest roman bath there! It is so amazing how hot the water is!!!!

Part of the admission is you get to try the over ten thousand year old (hot) water for yourself. It was so gross but of course if you challenge Matt he is not going to back down. He succeeded in drink the entire glass! I could only stand a sip!

Here is a view of one the side baths you cant really tell but there are some bubbles coming up in the middle.

This is a Roman drainage system from the Baths into the river. It was steaming really good again you cant really tell in the pic.

Sitting in front of the main bath.

Ty and I in front of the Bath Abbey door.

A look inside the Abbey in bath. If you look close you can see Ty and I sitting in one of the pews.

We went out to lunch at a place called Garfunkel's It was pretty good. The coolest thing was they brought out a balloon for Ty and it just made his Day!!!!!!