There once was a man from Kent....(day two)

Turned 35 today. Half way to the exceptional 70 years old. Can't wait. ;) Anyway, what better way to celebrate than to go wander around a medieval castle? So Scotney Castle was the target today. We'd heard that it hosted "the most romantic and beautiful moated gardens in England" which sounded like a fine place to run the chickens awhile.

Scotney didn't dissapoint...



After wandering around the "new house" at the top of the hill, built by the Victorians, you venture down into a valley to the ruins of the "old house" which sat in a moat pond. Very cool.



Pathways led all around the garden grounds, and around the ruins itself. Some of the paths seemed "secret" to the girls, as they were partially hidden by the creeping vines and flowers and hedges and such. So Marina was on fire, running everywhere finding the nooks and crannies. Being "the leader". No one could get in front of her, and she would repeatably come back breathless telling us to follow her.



She chose our ultimate picnic spot, through an archway and down to a little apron of grass behind bull rushes on a section of the moat. Perfect spot that we weren't bothered in at all. Great lunch of various kinds of Marina's gluten free snacks, apples and all of the airplane snacks that I had kept in my bag.



A true unintentioned buffet of miscellaneous what nots. But thank goodness we had that stuff, because we really stayed longer at Scotney than we had planned and we were all on the verge of needing to find a steak and ale pie (and beer!!!)somewhere.....allowed us to stay and enjoy the day a bit longer. We continued around the moat entirely, and then marched our way out of the Scotney grounds. Well worth the trip.



We headed back to Headcorn, got Marina and Elena some Chinese take out, and headed into the outdoor garden of a pub there that had swings and slides and little houses for the girls to play on. Perfect. So, I tried every ale on cask (it was my birthday after all...) and we ate dinner. Lori made a side trip to the store for some birthday treats for me (cupcakes and beer! What a woman) and mom and Lance picked up some wine bottles and food for our trip to see the tour the next day.



After getting home to the B&B after a long day, I sat outside with the girls while they ran around the gardens there picking me a birthday bouquet and chasing rabbits. Mom and Lori went for a run/hike through Ulcombe village. And all was well that ended well, for my birthday. Very memorable.



The Tour de France loomed for the next day......

There once was a man from Kent....(day one)

Well, we made it back from our adventure down south in Kent. What an incredible place that was. Castles everywhere, beautiful countryside filled with wheat fields or sheep, and since the sun was out, some great adventures with the girls and long runs on footpaths between villages for me. Also, thanks for all the birthday wishes. I had an epic birthday weekend. So much to update, I'm going to break the post into days.....

First off, our arrival, and the place. My mom found this B&B in February while we were planning the trip and figuring out how we could get close to the Tour de France. It turned out better than I could have hoped....



It had acres and acres of beautifully maintained sheep pasture as a backyard, which marched up to a hilltop behind the farm. Since we had been cooped up in the car for the trip down, AND the sun was out with a warm wind, we immediately took off with the girls up the pasture, dodging sheep and lambs.






The girls spent a long time searching out badger dens, chasing rabbits (which were everywhere....), and then gathering up some grass for the sheep back down the hill. I caught them in the act here....



After feeding the sheep the fresh piles, we headed back down the hill, got cleaned up at the B&B and then headed into Headcorn, which is the closest villlage from the place about 3 miles down into the valley. Had a great dinner of Indian food actually, since the 3 pubs in town were completely off limits to Marina's belly. But no worries, because as you find here, the British, after their imperial history with India, know a thing or two about Masala.....



Turned out to be a good place to go as well, because after dinner, the owner came over to talk with us and found out we were trying to strategize on where to see the Tour the day after next. She marched us over to a guy in her bar that was a big bike enthusiast and was heading to London the next day to see the prologue. He told us that Sissinghurst was the place to go, because the roads would be all closed around it, and it was near where we were. Plus there was supposed to be things for the kids to do. My mom and I had been vindicated...as that was our general plan to begin with.

So Sissinghurst it would be! But first, we had a day of castle hunting ahead of us....

Where everybody looks like Chaswick.....

We did it and made it to Regatta at Henley on Thames yesterday. What a spectacle. Basically, a quaint little town on the Thames river in the countryside south of Oxford is descended upon by rowing teams from around the world. We saw the Harvard boys, and Georgetown, alongside Cambridge, etc. etc.



The funny part is that it is really fancy event. Most of the people wear ties and jackets in school colors, and the women wear big British hats with feathers and below the knees dresses. Then, if you are connected or pay the pounds to get connected, you can get into the "Stewards Enclosures", or private bar tents along the river. We were not connected, so we sat with the "public" on the grass banks and drank beer out of paper cups! Brilliant!



The other crazy thing was the tailgaters that were going on in the parking lot, which was a perfectly manicured grass lawn mowed short and striped. My picture doesn't capture it, but the tailgates consisted of groups of people sitting around tableclothed and crystaled tables, with full food, wine, champagne and dessert bars around them, and whitegloved waitstaffs tending to the people. Hmm....



And then the clothes that the guys were wearing. Check out the guy over Lori's shoulder. Very typical dress for the event. Notice that he is fancied up in his white suit and hat, but is wearing knee high mud boots.... I say old chap!



And then the races...ah yes. We didn't know what was going on, but every once in a while you would hear cheering coming up the river bank toward you and everyone would put down their drinks for a minute and start yelling for the local team, which would go charging up river, into the stiff wind, with a huge umpires boat full of very proper looking gents watching from behind. Then once passed, back to drinking champagne. ;)



After all the excitement there, it looked like rain was going to hammer us so we high tailed it up to the town to walk about a bit. Very cool place, but we couldn't spend too much time as we had an hour and half bus ride to take to get back to Magpie Cottage and the girls were getting tired. We'll definitely come back to Henley before we leave. Netty and Johnathan are partying in the enclosure at Regatta this weekend for their anniversary. It was either that, or Metallica in Wembley. They chose Regatta, which I can't blame since Metallica has gone all sissy. ;)



Today we are getting ready to head off to Kent to get into position for the Tour de France to roll through. Itinerary still up in the air, but we are definitely going to Leeds Castle today. Hoping the weather breaks and we can run the girls through the extensive gardens there. I will be back blogging in 3 days, recapping our Kent adventure.....

Cheerio! whatever...

A Hedgehog in need is a friend indeed.....

Sunshine slowly, slowly returning to the mainland... By our trip to Kent this weekend to see the Tour de France, should be sunny and beautiful....crossed fingers.



Brent called me this morning, and woke me out of bed to wish me a happy 4th. Good man. No one here seems to talk, or want to talk, about the 4th of July. Not sure why. ;) Anyway, we made the most of the holiday-less holiday by making our long awaited trip to Tiggywinks, the hospital for injured wildlife. Imagine a duck, or badger or hedgehog gets hit by a Peugot mini car on the motorway, shatters a limb or two, and is in need of some bracing. Pop! In you go to Tiggywinks. (sorry for the accent). Along the way, took some photos of English clouds for Alvarez. Very interesting cloudscapes out here Johnny boy.



Here is an albino hedgehog that our girls were told is blind and probably got hit on the head because all he does all day is just walk around in circles. Of course, just like when I used to play Sonic, sure enough, when you touch them, they ball up into a potato bug stance. Interesting.



Most exciting of all, after seeing broken up ducks, bunnies, deer and looking at places where broken fox and badger were hiding, we got to tour the Hedgehog museum. Which, as you can see by this signage is the one and only in the world. Go figure that! Ahh the things you do on vacation with 2 under 5yrs old. Whatever happened to visiting the red light district in Amsterdam or something....



After this adventure, we left Tiggywinks and headed to Thame, which was a cool little village. Ate lunch there and picked up some gluten free biscuits for Marina (the food hunt out here is out of control. Everything on the menu is a no no for Marina, however, everyone, and I mean everyone understands the need for gluten free options.... unlike the States where people look at you like... "you need what?"... don't get it.) Then we headed over for a tea party at Netty's. The girls played with Sienna, Netty's daughter, dressed up like princesses, and ate cakes and what not. Very nice.



While we were there, we hatched the plan to go to Henley on Thames today to see the carnival which is the Henley Regatta, a famous rowing competition that springs up in the little village of Henley every year. As Netty put it, the village is teeming with teams of fit young men from around the world partying and competing in the rowing competition, including trialing for the Olympics teams here. So, should be an interesting day. Need to go light a fire under my girls arses to get them on the train soon to get there before the rain comes back.... maybe we'll see Orlando Bloom there. Netty says rumor has it he will be at the spectating pavillion. I'll dong jeep him if I see him.



Cheers!

Don't the Brits believe in Freedom?.....

No fireworks, no BBQs, no American Flags....what's wrong with Britain? I would have thought that everyone in the world celebrated the 4th of July. Every party has it's poopers I guess.



Anyway, spent my first day in the skatepark in Amersham yesterday as the weather broke into sunshine in the morning. Holy crap. Hit the deck several times trying to do some pretty simple stuff on the transition ramps. Hard work ahead. But after an hour, I could at least get around most of the park, and drop into some of the mini ramps, which was my goal for the day. Still look like a Barney. Went to the library afterwards with the girls. Licked my wounds while the girls churned through 100 books, then went to a real tea house for lunch.






Once again I think my kids are the loudest in the country.... we were definitely freaking out the locals with our antics during tea. Oh well. FREEDOM BABY!



After we bought several steak, ham and chicken pasties and pies to take home from the butcher house, we strolled the market day at Amersham, ate some ice cream, crap like that. Then....it started to rain. AGAIN. Big time though. Thunder, lightning and hail. The sheep at the bunnies in the back fields behind my mom's cottage were all running for cover. Funny to watch.



So, the girls and I played games, colored (drank beer), watched movies, did experiments and projects (drank beer) while Lori and my mom went to the gym. Lance has been in Birmingham for the last couple of nights working his monthly circuit court duties and will be home tonight.



Heading to the hedgehog hospital today (Tiggywinks) and then probably swimming again, as I think we are going to get hammered by the storms again this afternoon. Then we will be getting ready to head down to Kent to the see the Tour de France this weekend. Probably travel down to Channel coast as well. Sunshine on the horizon as well.....maybe?

Happy 4th to all. Have a hot dog and set something on fire for us.....

Self Inflicted Wound

First trip to the ER accomplished on our trip (or A and E as they call it here...accidents and emergencies). I was dead asleep the other night and was woken up by one girl letting out a blood curdling scream in the bedroom down the hall, then the other hearing that scream let out an even worse scream. Then they both chimed in louder and louder. Either a snake was in their bed, Jack the Ripper had snuck into their room, or American Idol reruns had popped on the television.

Anyway, in my funk, in the pitch dark with dad instincts flaring I raced out of our room and down the hall. By the time I got the girls calmed down and into the bathroom (might as well kill two birds...) I felt drips.... I thought Elena had a bloody nose, but then I saw I had gashed my forearm open c
lean as with a knife on one of the antique door latches. 2:30 in the morning, needing stitches. Anyway, all's well that ends well. The British medical system was fabulous...no insurance, no hassle, just into the room and boom. Done. Thank you taxpayers of the UK!



Anyway, spent the day on Sunday going to the church down the road. Walked there through the blustery wind all dressed up, with the church bells ringing letting us know how much time we had to get there. The girls were way too wound up by that approach to settle into church in a super old, echo chamber church. But right away the rector (or pastor) came over and kissed them, and some other ladies brought over books and crayons and stuff. Very nice people. So no one seemed to mind as Elena wandered all over the place and stole toys from another boy. She is something else right now....

And the cutest thing, which I can't believe I didn't get on camera, was at the end of the service, as I was about to walk out of the church, I saw the old rector in his black robe, holding a girls hand in each of his and was jumping up and down, while they did the same, outside. So anyway, the girls had fun at English church...although I had a hard time not hearing Monty Python every time someone said, "Deahh Lohhhd". Brent couldn't have handled it.

Went back to Aylebury today for a tour of the Roald Dahl museum and a walkabout of the old town streets. Pretty cool place. Old houses, and tiny streets. Also, very old graves that Elena kept trying to play balance beam on.





Even though it's been raining for days, we tried out one of the public footpaths that cross the landscape here. One of them runs right passed the cottage here. We were on a hunt to find the fox that keeps showing his head around here over the past few days, and ended up trying to find our way to the sheep pasture behind my moms cottage. Never got there, becuase Marina stepped into a bog, and Elena wouldn't walk in the tall grass. Need to go buy some "Wellies", or rubber boots in pure English. Very pretty out there though....

Jace and the Giant Peach.....

Had a quite an interesting walkabout today, with nothing going as planned, but everything working out to a very memorable day. Things started bad when we travelled to Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl lived and wrote in order to go to the library for the girls. But it was closed. So, we walked off around the town and looked at the places that my mom and Lance used to live and haunt there as residents. We were lucky enough to happen upon a statue of the Beatles.



Eventually we found ourselves hiking up into the hills above town where we looked at some spectacular estates, horse pastures, and beautiful vistas of the town itself. It was nice to be way up here because my girls could for once yell and sing their brains out at will. I'm coming to think that my kids are the noisiest kids in the UK....but they are having a blast.



After visiting Roald Dahl's grave on the way down the hill, we went to the park where my mom used to walk Dylan her dog, before he passed, and there was a disco party for a little girl's birthday party. Marina and Elena danced like crazy at a distance to the party, just hearing the music, and pretty soon had people from the party watching them and laughing. Show off American girls. Then we got thirsty, and decided to head to a beer festival going on in the village of Haddenham. The trouble was, that after journeying there through windy roads, we go in and found out that they had run out of beer. 47 kegs of beer in 5 hours. I looked around and saw why. Not only does everyone drink imperial pints as a rule (20 oz), but the women throw them back as strong as the men. My kind of people



So away we went, in search of beer. My mom piloted the car to an out of the way pub that they had never tried. When we went in we got icy stares by the lady of the house behind the counter, who was serving some worker guys at the bar. All the tables were "reserved" although empty. Lance explained that all we wanted was beer then we would be on our way, and got us some pints. But it was close. So we happily kept a low profile in the corner and kept the girls from wrecking anything, and feeling much more human rolled out of the "Plough" pub in a better mood.



Back to Stoke Mandeville and to a really nice pub right down the road from Magpie Cottage called the Wool Pack. Alas, nothing on the menu at all for Marina, so I after getting our food, I and Elena wolfed down some chow and the three of us left the restaurant to run back to the cottage so that I could make Marina some corn on the cob that I had gotten at a farmers market in Aylesbury earlier in the day, along with some other of her favorite things in payment for her tremendous will power and patience. And I got more beer from the fridge for me. Do you see a theme about me and the UK?