We've had a nice weekend in some beautiful English countryside. Friday we were still in the Lake District. Tyler has wanted to go climbing ever since we arrived in the UK, so we did that with him on Friday. (Really we watched him and enjoyed the scenery while he climbed, or "bouldered".)

These rock walls are along a lot of the country roads. This one isn't too close to the edge. Sometimes they are right up against the pavement, and it's REALLY tight (sometimes impossible) for 2 cars to get through.

Like in this pic from Dave's phone

The boulder waiting to be conquered!

Josh, having a go at it.

Janae and the countryside

Dave & Michelle

Go, Tyler, Go

Tyler did it.

After that we drove back to Uncle Mick & Aunt Marian's house. It was nice to return to their home. It felt a little like "coming home". :)


Yesterday, Saturday the 26th, we went to the town of Eyam with our friends, the Hughes'. And later they treated us to dinner at an Indian restaurant "Herb and Spice". It was delicious. We had our first Popadoms, which are a round, crisp flatbread that you eat with a variety of sauces. They were yummy.

Eyam is an old village that is really cute, but it was hit hard by the plague. The people agreed to stay in the village to prevent the disease from spreading to other Northern England villages. It has a plague museum and has plaques around the village to tell about the people who died there. Honestly, we were a little creeped out by it. But we had a fun time with Peter, Claire, Jasmin & Jonah (Sariah was doing something else during the day). We had a nice lunch there, too.

"Doctors" tried all kinds of remedies to cure people who had the Plague 

So sad

Where we enjoyed lunch with the Hughes'

After visiting Eyam, the Hughes' had to go home, so our family went to a town called Bakewell. It was quite the happening place. A little bigger - more shopping, etc. There were a lot of people walking around on the streets.

The Bakewell version of the famous Paris bridge with locks on it :) We didn't know this was here, so we are faking it. HAHA

Haha Janae :)

At "Herb and Spice" with the Hughes'. MMMMmmmmm.

Today was a lovely Sabbath day. We attended church in Ashton again and enjoyed the meetings. Dave ordained Josh a "Teacher" today after church because he has turned 14. It was pretty memorable for him to be able to have that happen in England. Here's a picture of those who participated:

Member of Ashton ward bishopric, Bro. Greathead, Dave, Josh, Tyler, Peter Hughes

After church, we've been visiting a lot with Uncle Mick and Aunt Marian, playing games, eating delicious food, and eating chocolate! We also enjoyed visiting with our kids in America. Happy day. 

Today's favorites: the kids laughing and dancing to music in the back seat of the car, the delicious food that we had for dinner, the quaint, but full of character, cottage of Beatrix Potter, and the beautiful drive in the Lake District.

It's been a good day. Our drive to Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's cottage was gorgeous. We took a small ferry to get across a lake to get to it. 

Waiting for the ferry. It was windy!

Lake Killington

Beautiful rolling hills of the Lake District

Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's cottage

No inside photography allowed again. :( 

The office where Beatrix Potter's husband, William Heelis worked as a solicitor, and where they met, when she went to purchase Hill Top. This building has been there since the 1600s!

Next we went to Wray Castle. It was actually a mansion built for a couple, but they wanted it to look like a castle. It was impressive on the outside, but the inside has been gutted. It has been owned by the National Trust since the couple died, because they had no children. Since 1929 it has been used for a variety of purposes. The rooms are now empty, or set up as play rooms for kids. Our kids had fun running around in it.

We played outside for a while, on the grounds of Wray Castle. They have set up a fun "natural" play area.

Josh, Janae, Tyler, Dave

On the way home we stopped at a place called Pedros for dinner. We didn't want McDonald's again. :) It ended up being a delicious meal! (Quite expensive, but yummy and fun.) And dessert was wonderful! Churros with toffee and chocolate dips, cream puffs with fresh cream and melted chocolate to drizzle over them. MMMmmmmmmMMMMMmmmm.

A funny story - as we were sitting waiting for our food, Josh looked up at a picture on the wall and said, "I like that picture of a cow. I want that picture." It was a picture of a donkey! hahaha (see pic above Tyler)

Sept. 23, 2015

We packed up and left our cute little abode in Scotland for England. The final destination was the Lake District, but we made 2 stops on the way. We had to go out of our way a little, but it was sooo worth it! 

We stopped first at Alnwick Castle (pronounced "Annick), in Alnwick, England. It is owned today by the (12th) Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, and they go there every winter with their family, and close it to the public. They have 4 children, now all adults. Can you imagine having this as your "winter home"???

Built in the early 1800s, most recently used for the Duke and Duchess' youngest daughter's wedding day in July of 2013

I told them to yell, "Scotland!" - in reference to the kids' Sunday School lesson :) It has been an ongoing joke since Sunday :)

Some of the Harry Potter movie scenes were filmed here. Scenes of the Hogwart's students receiving flying lessons, Quidditch matches, and a few scenes involving Hagrid. They were allowed in the outdoor areas of the castle only. After walking through the inside, I understand why! It is incredible. 

At 2:00 there were flying lessons at the location that those scenes were filmed at, so we joined in and had some fun.

Receiving our brooms from Professor Cream Custard Cream

Flying!

Preparing for take off :)

Up up and away!!! Haha! Professor Cream Custard Cream told us how to get some fun photos.

"I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!!" Haha (From Princess Bride)

 "Performing the "UP" command! ;)

Wow, we were fast learners ;)

Unfortunately, photographs aren't allowed inside the castle. So I swiped some off of the internet so we could have the memories! Ha.

If you're a "Downton Abbey" TV show fan (like Dave & I), you'll recognize these as the sets of the 2014 Christmas special. It was filmed here, and is the only TV show or movie that has ever been given permission to film inside the castle! The owners of the castle are impressed with the historical storyline of the show, and felt like the Downton Abbey crew would be respectful and careful of the furnishings and decorations in the home. When you see these pix, you'll see why they are so careful.

The dining hall

The saloon

The grand staircase

One side of the library

Our next stop was Durham Cathedral. It was amazing!!! It was huge...no, it was massive, and so beautiful. It boggles my mind on how they could have built it back then! We couldn't take pix inside, but we took a few outside. 

Some Harry Potter movie scenes were filmed here, also.
Michelle & Janae

Tyler, Janae, Josh, Dave

The Durham Cathedral in Legos! They are building it in conjunction with donations. 1 pound donated = 1 Lego brick added. Unfortunately, you had to be there by 4:30 to do it, and we arrived at 5:30.

These are from the internet:

These columns are absolutely massive! 

This room looks familiar (Harry Potter!?)
In this room is the tomb of the Vernable Bede, the first person who translated the Bible into English. His remains were moved here around the 1100s, I think.

We got lost a few times last night looking for our hotel, but we made it! (After it was dark.) We woke up to an amazing view out our window. We're right by a small lake surrounded by green rolling hills! Gotta love England!