So I've been bad about posting these, but we've had a couple of great ones over the last couple of days.
Last night we were talking about what we were going to do today. I said I wanted to go to Target.
me: N, do you want to go to Target tomorrow?
N: Yeah
Grandma L: Do you like Target? (keep in mind, we don't have a Target, so we're not sure he even knows what it is)
N: Yeah, I do!
Grandma L: Why do you like Target N?
N: Because it's beautiful.
Oh so true, N, oh so true. He is my child! Grandma L and I were cracking up at that one... then agreeing with him!
Today when we actually got to Target one of the things I found was a new maternity T-shirt for myself. It's one of those that's long rather than wide, so I don't feel like I'm wearing a tent. I held it up to myself to size it up, and asked N what he thought.
me: What do you think N, do you like this shirt for mommy?
N: No mommy, it's too big for you. It goes all the way down to your penis!
OK, so maybe it's time for an anatomy lesson... but the middle of the Target maternity clothes section didn't seem like the right place... so I just let it go and hoped no one heard, or if they did they were cracking up like I was!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Off we go!
The boys and I are off to Iowa today. Alone, no daddy, just the three of us. Last time I did this it was a nightmare, so I'm a little afraid. Two flights, customs, security... Oh the joy. Pray for us!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Castle Rising
While Grandma was here we did manage to do a little local touring, and in case you're wondering why we're on such a castle kick, it's because we joined the English Heritage Society. With that membership we get to visit lots and lots of these castles and manor houses for free, so we're trying to take full advantage!
Our castle for the weekend was Castle Rising, built in the 11oos. It's claim to fame is that it is where Queen Isabella was exiled to by her own son, King Edward III, after she (supposedly) plotted with her lover, Roger Mortimer, to have her husband, King Edward II, killed. After the king's death Isabella and her lover raised her son, the young King Edward III, until he had enough, and then he had Mortimer killed and his mother exiled to this castle... which is seriously in the middle of nowhere! Talk about some family issues!
This is what is left of the square keep in the middle.
The grand stairway... that Grandma climbed up on crutches. (Which was nothing compared to the spiral stairs she climbed on the inside!)
Little e the ham.
The great hall. There was once a floor in the middle here, so this would have been at least two stories tall in the 1300s when Isabella called this home. You can see the square holes on the wall on the right where the floor joists would have been inserted. Looks like a cozy place for a retirement huh?
And my new favorite picture of both boys. It is still nearly impossible to get a good picture of both of them, so I love it when I actually accomplish it!
Friday, June 5, 2009
N's fourth birthday!
He's just so big. I can't believe I have a 4-year old. I know every mom in the world says that... but it's so true, it just seems impossible that he is such a big boy now. And he constantly amazes me by what he understands about the world around him!
Here is the cake. He had asked for a Thomas cake, which I thought would be easy! Ha! First of all the Thomas pan isn't being made anymore, so I had to find this one on e-bay, which I had never done before... so that was quite the learning process. But I got it ordered. I did however forget to order one critical item... blue icing dye. And of course, the week of his birthday, I couldn't find it anywhere around here.
While I was trying to problem solve this little issue, N came up with a suggestion himself. "We'll have to make a different engine" he said. I suggested either Percy (green) or James (red) both colors I either had or knew I could get. He loved he idea of having a James cake, so I went to town converting Thomas to James. Good thinking N! I was pretty pleased with how it turned out considering I freehanded a lot of it!
He insisted on wearing his Thomas T-shirt to what became his Thomas / James party!
N shares his birthday with a friend, (like, exactly to the day) so we just had their family over for dinner and cake. We let both of the big 4-year olds blow out the candles together!
Little e waits sort of patiently for his piece.
The big present was his new big boy bike. Now, I know there are some of you readers out there who don't approve of training wheels... but N loves it and is riding all over this neighborhood. Sometimes we have to jog to keep up with him! This frees up the tricycle for little e to ride, although he hasn't mastered steering yet... so we contain him to the back yard.
Happy Birthday big guy!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Bruges Baby!
Back at the end of March, Grandma came for a visit for N's birthday. We decided to take advantage of her and E and I headed to Bruges for the weekend. But boy, if there was a trip destined not to be, this was it!
First of all, a couple of weeks after I made the reservation, our hotel contacted me to say that they would be closing due to a "fungus" on their stairs. Ewwwww. They rescheduled us in a different hotel with no problems. Then, 10 days before traveling to England, Grandma broke her leg, and came to us in a walking cast. So, leaving her with a 2 and 3 year old for the whole weekend, didn't seem like the best plan.
Then, E got sick, so I thought, OK, I can see the writing on the wall... and I cancelled our hotel room. But thanks to good doctors, the next day he was feeling better and thought he could travel again! But we still had the Grandma-is-in-a-cast problem. So I started searching for family hotel rooms, and thought we would just take the boys with us. Unfortunately when I called the ferry company to add the boys to our reservation, they told me the ferry was full! They didn't even have room for a 2 and 3 year old! So then Grandma insisted that she was fine to take the boys and we should just go. And she did seem to be moving around quite well, so we decided to see if our hotel reservations were still available. Of course they were not. But after a little online searching I found another hotel in Bruges (this is our third booked now), and finally off we went.
But the trials weren't over yet. Oh no, no more than 15 minutes from our house we ran into traffic and missed our ferry. We were no where near Dover when our ferry left. So I called the ferry company again, and we were rescheduled on the next ferry... which got us into Bruges well after 1 am. But we did finally get there... and we did have a nice weekend away! And Grandma did seem to do fine with a broken leg and my two very energetic boys. We are model parents.
We finally made it! Bruges is surrounded by a canal, and development has been limited inside the canal, which makes it a very quaint and traditional looking city. Plus it's small and you can walk everywhere, which makes for great sight seeing.
The town square. So cute. Bruges is known for that stepped roof line. They are called "step gables" and are very traditional there.
Belguim is also known for its chocolate (obviously). Yummy! We sampled plenty... and brought plenty more home. So we had to get a picture outside one of the many, many chocolate stores that lined the streets.
This is the belfry on the town square. Of course we climbed to the top of it. Would we ever go somewhere and not climb to the top of the highest structure around? It was nice to not have the boys... the stairway was very, very narrow, and there is only one. Meaning people were going up and down at the same time. I had to plaster myself against a wall many times that morning!
The coolest part was not the view outside from the top, but the view inside. We could see the mechanics of how the clock faces work, along with the bells installed in the 1700s. It was pretty amazing to see how all the linkages worked. We stayed up there long enough to hear the bells ring and see the mechanisms at work.
We also took a canal cruise... which we froze on! But it was beautiful to see all the neat architecture. But I really needed some hot chocolate after that!
Later than night we had dinner in a really, really cute restaurant. Again, not at all kid friendly. Not because of the menu (every dish came with fries... apparently the Belgians really like their fries, and they eat them with a fork and mayonnaise!) but because of the time. The restaurant opened at 6:30 and did one seating all night long. Our reservations were at 7 pm and we didn't leave until 10! Yeah, we don't usually do three hour dinners in our house!
On the way home we had an amazing view of the white cliffs of Dover from the ferry. We snapped this picture where you can see Dover Castle sitting on top of the cliffs. You can see why this was such a formidable castle to attack!
Thanks Grandma for keeping the boys for us, we had a nice weekend!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Orford Castle
So in a vain attempt to catch up on my blogging I'm starting back where I left off... in March. Ooops. I briefly considered just starting again with our recent trip to Paris Disney (so much fun), but being the chronological person I am I just couldn't go out of order. (This would be why I am three years behind in scrapbooking as well...)
This is Orford Castle. And yes, we visited it in March. But it was great weather, and this was one of my favorite family days out, and probably my favorite castle so far. It's just so cool looking!
Orford castle was built in 1165 by King Henry II because one of his rivals, the Earl of Norfolk, was getting too powerful in the region. (He owned Framlingham Castle - which we have also visited.) So Henry wanted to make a statement. And quite a statement it was. Orford cost about 1400 pounds to build, a huge sum of money at the time! It is three stories tall, with a large hall in the center of each floor. Smaller bedrooms and chambers surrounded the halls.
Here are the boys on the steps, about to go inside.
This is the huge fireplace in the downstairs hall.
Here are the boys sitting on the ahem... royal throne. Orford was one of the first castles to feature privys attached to the important rooms... including the king's chamber. A royal suite!
Sitting on top of the castle, enjoying a rarity... sunshine!
After leaving the castle we just played around in the surrounding grassy area. The boys had fun rolling down the hill (mommy and daddy rolled down the hill too... but those pictures are pretty scary... and should be kept from public view!)
What sweet boys!
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