Dover Castle and White Cliffs

We headed to the coast this weekend for some Castle and Cliffs fun in the sun. We didn't expect the sunshine, but it is always nice to have around here! We have been wanting to see Dover Castle since we arrived (or should I say...I wanted to see it). I love history and was excited to see the wartime tunnels and secret hospital. I wish we had taken my parents there this last spring because they would have really enjoyed seeing it too. The best part of the castle (in my opinion) was the secret tunnels and with all cool tours, those are the ones you can't take pictures on. .....side note....parking for the castle is in large fields down the road, but we got lucky and were able to park in the parking lot right beside the Castle Keep...because I'm pregnant!hehehehe

Day two we headed to the White Cliffs of Dover and we walked on some trails along the coast. It was beautiful and we could see the coast of France too. The girls love hiking and running in fields, so this was a great day out for them. We also saw a few horses on cliffs....they are part of the local conservation project.

Hopefully they didn't have this sign above the door during WWII!

Lot's of sally-ports on one side of the castle grounds.

Henry II bedroom decor.

View from the castle grounds.

The Great Tower.

****Stayed tuned for pictures from the Cliffs....I can only upload 5 pictures per post...if someone can tell me how to add more please help!

Meghan's a 1st grader!

Time sure has flown by the last 6 years, 11 months!! My baby is growing like a weed and is officially a 1st grader today! She asked me leave the camera home today, but I took it and after she let her friends' parents take pictures, I took some;) I am so happy to see she knows a handful of the kiddos in her class this year and her teacher seems pretty nice. Ms. Coutee let the parents go in the building to see the classroom and say goodbye to the kids! (most teachers make you say goodbye outside)

Meghan was up and dressed by 635am today and was so excited about starting school and I'm so happy she loves to learn. I think I was more nervous about her starting school today than she was!!

Meghan with three of her friends/classmates!!

Meghan and Hayden

All the kiddos ready for their first day!!!

(stay tuned.....Jenn's first day of school is next week)

Tea time

I have finally made it to tea with my little ladies. I took the girls with my friend Kelli and her boys. We had so much fun at Emily's tea room. The girls and boys had hot chocolate with the works on it. The food was yummy and it was a great way to end summer vacation. The kids start back to school next week (well, Meghan does...Jenna doesn't start until the 8th of Sept). I will miss my little buddies during the day, but I look forward to some me time before Sarah arrives. Me time will involve running errands on my own and cleaning the house really well!!!

Framlingham Castle

We headed out for a beautiful afternoon at one of the many Castles in our area. This one was just as beautiful as the others we have seen. I really enjoy seeing the history and exploring this country and we have under a year left (if we move on time)....so I feel like I need to kick my traveling into overdrive to see it all. I won't get to see all of the beautiful little villages and castles, but I will try to see as many as I can. With the pregnancy, I move a little slower and have to stop for more breaks.

Welcome to Framlingham Castle!!

View from the top

Rob and Meghan ahead of us walking around the top of the wall.

courtyard

Show us your life~ vacation

I haven't posted with Kelly's Korner in a while, but have stilled checked out all the very cool sites, pictures and stories. This week is show us your favorite vacation spot ....so I'm in!

Moving overseas has added some new vacation spots to my list of favorites and the one that sticks out the most is Brugge Belgium. We went Thanksgiving 2008 and stayed at the Crown Plaza in city centre. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited, it's rich in history and the food is awesome too!

Walking over an old bridge site seeing in the city.

We enjoyed a horse and carriage ride around the city centre.

Rob enjoying a Belgium Beer.

It's a.......

I had my level II ultrasound this morning and the tech said..."it looks like a girl"!! I could tell it was a girl too. She is a very active baby and looked super healthy!! I was able to have the girls in the scan with me and they were both super excited to hear they were having a sister!!

We also had my friend and neighbor with us, so we went to eat and do a little "pink" shopping too!!!

LeGoLaNd

Early Saturday morning we packed the car and headed to Legoland. The Garmin told us we would arrive at 10:06am, so we were pretty excited to arrive when the park opened. Well, our plan didn't work out as we hoped....we were 20 minutes from the park and were stuck in traffic. Our arrival time kept getting pushed further away....we finally arrived around 1:30pm. Me being pregnant and stuck in the car wasn't a good thing...I had to potty for about an hour and I thank the construction on the M25 and M4 for that! I think the girls were about to give up on going too!

We decided we would spend a few hours at the park and then right before dinner time we headed to the hotel to check-in. The park is very cool and the girls loved it. I have to admit....I don't really think the girls knew what Legos were...but they do now (we bought a little set to play with at home). The coolest part of the whole park is the Miniland....I can only say WOW!!! It's amazing what was built with the legos and we walked around the little mini-london and could identify everything.

We ate dinner at the hotel and took a swim Saturday evening. I thought the girls would crash and sleep in....WRONG! They stayed up to watch the Karate Kid and then were awake up 630am asking if we could go to the park. We ate breakfast, killed a little time and then headed to the park for our day two adventure. We rode on as many rides as we could, ate some junk food and were exhausted by the time we left the park for the ride home.

The girls loved the park and are hoping for a return visit before we leave England. I enjoyed it except for the crowds and think if we make a return trip we will plan it when the British schools are in session. I also don't want to be pregnant the next time....it didn't stop me from riding any rides, it just was very tiring for me.

The girls are standing in front of Brugge, Belgium!

Stonehenge

London (Big Ben)