Happy June, Everyone!
What a whirlwind May turned out to be! I had better hurry and write about it before I forget any of the important details.
Adam & Stephanie's Visit: Road trip to the Jurassic Coast
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| Adam taught Emmett to blow the dandelion seeds! |
As I mentioned in my previous post, May started off beautifully with a visit from our Madison friends, Stephanie and Adam (Spencer knows Stephanie from his previous work in Madison), who are currently residing in the Netherlands (they are also friends with Jim and Laura who we visited at Easter). They had a long weekend from work, so Spencer took Friday off, to spend together. They arrived on Wednesday night, and after a long wait in the passport control line they missed their window to get the rental car that we were going to use for the weekend and instead took a taxi to our flat. Emmett and I were long asleep when they arrived so we got to greet them on Thursday morning over a longer-than-usual breakfast for Spencer who then went to the office to work for the day. Adam, Stephanie, Emmett and I headed out for a walk around Windsor, and after the changing of the guard, lunch and nap, we ended up heading north into Eton, to see a bit of the school campus, and finding some lovely fields to walk through on our way home. Emmett loved the journey, of course, but his favorite part was learning how to blow the seeds off of dandelion flowers with Adam. Once Spencer was done with work, he and Adam went to pick up our rental car... the adventures driving a manual transmission car, from the right side of the car and on the wrong - I mean left - side of the road were to begin!
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| Spencer's in the driver's seat! |
The next day, Friday, was the start to our first road trip here in England. We packed up the car and headed out to Stonehenge, with a brief stop to try to see the Highclere Castle (where they film Downton Abbey). Due to interviews and casting that they were doing in the castle that day (for the upcoming movie), we weren't supposed to approach the castle or take any photos... but we snuck in a couple. :) The driving went surprisingly (for me, anyway, though Spencer never doubted his ability to do it) smoothly! Spencer drove from Windsor to Stonehenge and Adam drove from there to our cabin near the coast. Both of them grabbed for the stick to change gears with their right hands and actually grabbed the door handle only a few times, and both had to go around a couple of the roundabouts more than once until we figured out the appropriate exit to take, but otherwise all was well! It made me excited to rent a car more often this summer so that we can explore the sites off the beaten path.
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| Stonehenge |
We felt lucky to be at Stonehenge on a gorgeous, sunny Friday, where we found plenty of tourists, but not as many as we think were likely to visit on a Saturday or Sunday. We picnicked outside our car in the parking lot before heading in and starting the hike over the hills to the ancient stones. By 2pm, Emmett was well past his normal nap time and in his exhaustion ended up missing the viewing of the giant Stonehenge rocks at the main part of the site, but he was happy to study small rocks, bugs, and cows all along the walk as we headed toward the site.
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| Jurassic Coast |
The next day and a half we spent exploring a small part of the Jurassic Coast (called that due to the high number of fossils people find along the cliffs and beaches as well as the age of the rocks and layers in the cliffs). We stayed in a small cabin near a town called Lyme Regis, which was right on the ocean at the English Channel. Emmett enjoyed every opportunity given him to throw rocks into the water, and we tried to get in some hiking along the coastal paths. We found the area to be stunningly beautiful, and we especially enjoyed having lots of time in the sunny, lush and green outdoors with friends.
Emmett's Second Birthday: Scooters and Horses
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| Emmett's birthday scooter |
A couple of days after Adam and Stephanie headed out was
Emmett's 2nd birthday. We gave Emmett his main birthday present - a scooter - the night before his birthday, with the intention of spending the next day out all day on his new scooter. Unfortunately for us, though, it rained all day on his birthday and the day after. But we scooted for a while each day, despite the rain, and that just meant more time to read his new books and do Emmett's favorite indoor activity - make and eat popcorn. We also had intended to go to the Wednesday free day at the Queen's annual birthday-celebratory Horse Show - which takes place on the private grounds of the castle - but alas, that was called off too because of the rain.
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| Emmett & Oscar at the horse show |
So instead, Spencer and I bought tickets to the show for Thursday (not free), intending to go for the morning together. Unfortunately for Spencer, he got some sort of stomach bug the night before the show, so on Thursday morning, I texted the only other person I know here to see if they would maybe be up for going with us - Emmett's friend Oscar's nanny. Thankfully, Beatriz and Oscar jumped at the opportunity to go
with us to the horse show and Emmett and Oscar had a wonderful time running around the grass, on and off of benches, and up and down the bleachers together. Emmett's birthday was a success!
The middle of May was not super eventful, other than a trip into London to go to the London Aquarium. Emmett was infatuated with the fish and sea life. After the aquarium, we tried getting Emmett to nap in his stroller but he couldn't sleep through the bumping over cobblestones, and instead woke up after only 20 minutes to join us for our first walk over the Millennium Bridge. Shortly after, Spencer used Google to help us find a playground so Emmett could stretch his legs, and we enjoyed some Latin American street food at a festival before heading back to the train station and home.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Instead of Memorial Day being the reason for a 3-day weekend at the end of May, here the students have a week long break from school and so the public and private sector have a bank holiday on Monday of that week. The school year here goes until the beginning of July, but the students have 3 (at least one-)week long breaks at the end of each quarter to make up the difference in vacation time. Spencer and I decided to take advantage of his three day weekend by scheduling a train trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. The train ride was 4.5 hours from London, with an extra 1.5 hours to get form Windsor to the correct station in London. I was nervous about how Emmett would handle sitting still that long, but he did super well. He lunched, napped, and behaved wonderfully on both Friday and Monday.
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| Farmer's Market below, castle above |
Saturday we spent walking around Edinburgh. We spent some time at the stellar playground just across the park from the flat where we stayed, and we hit up the local farmer's markets in town. Along our journey, we also saw the tribute to Greyfriar's Bobby - the dog that didn't leave his master, Greyfriar, even once Greyfriar was in the grave. I wasn't feeling super well that day, so we went back to the flat for nap time and I rested too, and we took it easy the rest of the evening.
Sunday was slightly more eventful in that we spent the morning exploring the Edinburgh Castle, and then walked to Arthur's Seat in the evening. The castle seemed more prominent and threatening than the Windsor Castle - probably
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| Spencer & Emmett hiking Arthur's Seat |
because it was built, then torn down, and rebuilt all with the purpose of serving as a stronghold for various royal families - not ever as a primary residence. Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano that is covered in hiking trails and juts out of the middle of Edinburgh. We didn't have the time we would have needed to hike to the top with Emmett, but we went to the base and crawled around on some rocks and enjoyed the views and sunshine. Check out our photos to see just how beautiful Scotland is.
Our trip to Scotland took us right to the end of May! Now that we are in June, we are looking forward to a visit from my friend, Shawna (who I know from working in Oman) as well as a visit from our friends Jim, Laura, Jack and Quincy who will visit at the end of the month. Spencer's work has really picked up as he has a go-live for part of his project at the end of June. His contract, which was to last at minimum 6 months here, has a more verifiable end now, too! He has another go-live on September 28 and that will mark the end of his time here. We have decided that Emmett and I will return to Colorado in midAugust with Spencer for a few days, but then Spencer will come back here to Windsor and finish out his contract while we wait patiently for him back home. I'm letting you all know this in case any of you have any last-minute travel plans to come see us!
I hope this post finds you all well and that you enjoy the photos that accompany this as they often tell a much clearer story than I. You can scroll through the whole album by just clicking on one of the photos and navigating through with captions! Until next time!
Cheers!
