Wales Weekend Trip

Wales Trip

We took a weekend trip over to Wales last weekend.  It only took about 4 hours to drive to Llandudno, Wales up by Conwy.  The ocean is on both sides of this little seaside resort town.  The Great Orme and Little Orme are also here.  The longest pier is in Llandudno (pronounced "Klandendo")  We took a Cable Car up to the Great Orme, which was a blast!  They have a big bus tour that was nice also.  Conwy Castle was one of the largest castle "ruins" that we have seen to date.  Many towers and rooms to explore.  They have an old Victorian bridge that was built after a ferry sunk and killed 14 people.  The village of Conwy is quaint, and is enclosed by the castle walls.  Lots of fun places to eat and shop at.  They also have Britains Smallest House down by the marina.  We drove up and over the mountains to Snowdonia National Park.  WOW!  A must for all you Englanders.  They have a steam train that will take you up to the top of Snowdonia.  It is a 50 minute ride up, a half hour stay and 5o minute ride down.  You need to book in advance.  We didn't, but plan to head back this fall to take the train up.  The National Park has places to eat and they also have a "lake" train that takes a tour also.  The driving was harry, as you are dealing with 1 1/2 lane roads and people parking along the edges.  After running into long lines of cars, we realized they were out hiking OR as we found out, they are climbing the rock face!  We didn't see the men going up, but coming back down we realized the movement on the rock were people!!!  Yeah, so not for me.  Most had ropes thankfully.  I can't believe that I came all the way to England to see mountains!  Never have in the states, but that is something I will change now.  Colorado, here we come!  Blessings to all for a great summer.  Will check back in after we are in the states!   

Leeds and Dover

I have gotten behind in blogging since my company arrived.  I am going to try to catch up quickly before we head home to the states tomorrow for our summer break.  We went to Dover and Leeds a couple of weekends ago.  The white cliffs of Dover were wonderful, the ocean the prettiest blue green color and the town was wonderful.  This was Emily's first time seeing an ocean and I am glad we got to experience the awesome majesty of it with her.  The drive down was uneventful being it was the first time I have driven anywhere in England that was longer than a 45 minutes for me.  I have a husband who loves to drive and I love to read, so a "match made in heaven", as they say.   We stayed in a bed and breakfast in Dover and headed to Leeds Castle the next day.  It is a wonderful castle extending out from two islands in the middle of a Lake.  The castle grounds are quite beautiful and it would be easy to spend a day there.  They have a large maze with a grotto at the centre, a large children's play area, a toddlers play area, an Aviary, a Falconry show, Go Ape in the Woods, the only Dog Collar Museum in Britain and you can sign up to go for hot air balloon rides!  Absolutely wonderful. 

Try it and see!

Leeds Castle

The Black Swan - Lady Baillie brought the Black Swan over from Australia and they have become the symbol for Leeds Castle

In the Grotto at the center of Leeds Maze

The pond at Leeds Gardens

Caleb, Emily and Bella 

Caleb and Belle at Leeds

Belle and Caleb at Dover Castle in a moment of sibling love.

The only picture I took down in the war time tunnels at Dover Castle.  The first tunnels under Dover Castle was constructed in the Middle Ages to provide a place for the soldiers to gather before leaving for war and to provide communication that was protected for the soldiers manning the northern outworks.   Later they were used for the famous "Operation Dynamo", the evacuation of the British force and French troops from Dunkirk's beaches.  The tunnels were also equipped as a hospital and a place where families took cover during bombings.  The tunnels also house the only "underground" barracks ever built in Britain.

The great Dover Castle

  Dan and Ben above with the castle in the background on the Dover cliffs.

Belle showing off her piece of chalk.  

The Dover Port.  There is a ferry here that transports cars and trucks across to France.  

Caleb's head cracks like an Egg!

While home, we opened our pool.  The kids decided they had to swim and the pool was still a beautiful green!  Another friend jumped in on Caleb while playing on a fun island, and his teeth went into Caleb's head all the way down to the bone.  Thankfully, Dan's best friend is a doctor, and we met him at his office on Saturday afternoon for stitches.  Five on the inside by the bone, and 5 on the outside.  By Wednesday, they were red and swollen and involved Caleb's eye and nose area.  The UK nurse started an antibiotic and since then we have seen 3 nurses and 2 doctors, all from the same office, with different opinions.   The  latest diagnosis, "scar tissue", about had me screaming the door down!  In the last 2 days he has started leaking pus and blood again.  Yeah, liquid scar tissue!  The doc at home would like it opened back up and cleaned out and put on strong antibiotics.  The UK doc says no opening up, and no more antibiotic until they can test the pus to see what kind of infection it is.  We go back to the states on Saturday.  How long does it take to culture something???  UK doc comment:  "It will either get worse or get better, let's wait and see".   What are the odds that they will even have the right antibiotic that he needs?  Needless to say, I am waiting this one out, and plan to have the right antibiotic waiting on Saturday in the states, and will beg the doc to wait until after our Missouri tubing and fishing vacation to open anything up!    Pray that a good antibiotic will clear this up without a little surgery!  

Home in May for Graduation !

As most of you know, when we moved to England a little over two years ago, we had to leave our sixteen year old son at home in the states to finish out high school.  His choice, not ours.   It was time for graduation

 and we went home for his ceremony and to host a party for family and friends.  My sister, Dawn, has been living with Ben and attending all his school functions.  She is glad that she will not be known as the "single mother" of a high school student anymore.  Yes, Ben's absentee parents were in the house that evening!  We really enjoyed seeing everyone, young and old alike, friends and family.  We were finally able to see Ben give one of his "famous" speeches that we have only heard about or watched on You Tube.  What a wonderful one week turnaround trip.  Ben will continue on to the University of Illinois (Dad's college) and study Communications and go on to Seminary from there.  

Go Ben!  We love you!