July 4, 2009

Sunday, June 28, we were all very tired because Daniel had hardly slept the night before. He was teething which made his life and those around him very miserable. Yet even with his lack of sleep, it wasn't long before he was ready to go. He thought we were taking too long and decided to leave without us.

Our first stop was Creswell Crags. These caves have had some crazy discoveries in them as well as being reputed as Robin Hood's hideout.

Hyena skulls are among the things found in the caves.

This cave in particular was said to be Robin Hood's cave as arrow heads and other things leading to that conclusion have been found in it.

Say "Cheese"!!!!

The Crags was just beautiful! I'm wondering if a scene from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" was shot here.

We observed two beautiful swans. One was a mother of some very young babies. I don't believe the mother enjoyed all the people getting close to her babies.

At the end of the path we found a lovely spot to have a picnic.

Joshua and Daniel found a fun log to play in. I wish I had one of these logs; it kept the boys entertained for hours!

We spotted a cool natural heart in a post near our picnic table.

We also spotted a tiny leprechaun.

The boys enjoyed a game of keep-away.

As we drove past this field next to the crags, Joshua (who calls Amy's father 'Poppy') sayed, "I didn't know there was a whole field full of 'Poppys' in England!", and then he chuckled loudly at his wittiness.

Next we drove west to visit the Peak District. WOW!!! Sooo pretty! None of our pics do it justice. We stopped at a lookout and walked across the road to climb a few rocks for the lookout. Eric found a perfect resting place formed in one of the rocks.

We left Eric and Lee to do more travelling while we headed back to camp in order to give the boys a rest. When we returned back to camp there were no other campers in our entire section so we had a very relaxing time lying on the ground while the boys played in the large area. Joshua loved this picture because it looks as though a giant Daniel is about to eat a tiny Joshua.

"Get in my belly"!!!!

Joshua found a tree to climb.

The boys played a bit of English football.

We relaxed for such a long time; it was lovely! Eric and Lee called us and said they were picking up some food. When they returned, we all had McDonald's. Dave, Joshua, and Mommy went for a walk and played Pooh-sticks on the nearby bridge. Then after the kidlets went to bed the big people played Settlers of Catan for one last time.

Monday, June 29, was are last morning spent at the campsite. Daniel occupied himself with a packet of muesli while the rest of us packed up.

Our plan was to have a picnic when we reached our destination so we stopped at Morrison's Grocery to pick up some necessaries. Then we headed out. We went back into the Peak District. We passed the Google van. Look closely at the Google map, you just might find the Handysides on the road! On our way we passed an impressive crazy, twisted tower. I tried to get a pick of it, but failed. We weren't too upset, though, because we were to spend most of the afternoon at Chatsworth.

• Chatsworth was built on Sir William Cavendish's land in 1549. Sir William Cavendish then started construction of the house in 1552, but he did not live to see its completion. His widow Bess of Hardwick carried out his work and finished the construction leaving it to her son Henry. Henry sold the house to his younger brother William, who became the 1st Earl of Devonshire in 1618. The house was rebuilt around 1685 making it the beautiful home visitors see today. 26 rooms of the house are open to the public to view displaying the library and numerous art collections

We had a picnic when we first arrived.

After a yummy lunch our first stop was to hit the lou. They were located in the old stables.

The stables were unbelievably massive!

Chatsworth has been used in the filming of several movies including "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Dutchess".

Eric wanted the pleasure of carrying the precious luggage.

Dave and Joshua fought of the wild boars for us.

We were awed when we first walked in!

As a student of historical costume, Amy was especially interested in these costumes that were used during the production of "The Dutchess". Kiera Knightley wore this particular dress during the wedding scene.

The gardens are enormous and every part is as beautiful as this view.

The chapel was amazing!

I wanted to curl up with a good book and a nice, hot cup of tea when I saw the library.

We took a tour of the garden in a buggy. We were so glad that we did this as we would not have been able to see everything had we not.

We took this shot while riding back to the house in the buggy. Most of the garden would be behind us.

We had to say our good-byes to Eric and Lee at Chatsworth. They were flying out of Robin Hood Airport which was to the north and we were heading to London in the south. We were very sad to say good-bye to them. We love spending time with Eric and Lee! CHEESE!!!!!

We were not long on the road before we passed the crazy, twisty tower again. This time I was prepared for the pic, unfortunately, it was not a great shot and doesn't look so impressive in photos as it does in person. The rest of the evening was spent driving to London. We reached the Jenkins' house around 9:30 so we were soon to bed, but not before sitting and chatting for a while with a nice cup of tea. Peter and Vivian Jenkins are a very important part of our lives. They are our second parents and we love them dearly. We also haven't seen them for a long time. Amy had not seen them since the day they flew out of Zimbabwe in 2003. David and Joshua spent some time with them in Dallas in fall 2006.

Tuesday, June 30, was so great to wake up to spend time with the Jenkins! After a nice morning chat with them Peter was needing to get on with preparing to be in Africa for 2 months. He left for Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Zambia Friday, July 1st.

While Peter was busy making arrangements, Viv took us out on the town. Joshua was the one that decided what we would do. He wanted to go to the London Eye and then to Buckingham Palace.

Daniel was taking a nap so while we were waiting for him to wake, Joshua, Viv, and Amy went to the park. On the way we past by a little river to see a momma swan with her babies as well as a momma duck and her babies.

Once we got to the park Joshua had a great time on the zip-line and swings. It was very hot that day so we stopped in the wade pool to cool off.

After Daniel woke we took the tube to the London Eye. It looks like a gigantic bicycle wheel. As we were walking over to it, we passed Waterloo Station. Amy found it to be lovely.

When we were getting close we passed a giant Joshua getting ready to spin the London Eye.

Waiting for Dave to get us tickets was a refreshing time since Nana Viv bought the boys some ice cream.

Daniel enjoyed his thoroughly!

From the Eye Joshua spotted the American flag.

I had to zoom in so much to even get this shot!

Here are some pics from the Eye...

Can you pick out any places of interest?

Joshua LOVED it! He said it was really scare, though; so scary that when at the very top he couldn't look down.

Daniel didn't seem to enjoy it as much, but Daddy did a great job of pacifying him.

Soon we were on our way to Buckingham Palace.

We walked through Green Park.

And there we were!

It's not everyday that one gets to see the guards wearing this attire. Usually, they wear the red jackets with the bear skin hats, but because it was so incredibly hot, they were wearing this.

We didn't go in to have tea with the Queen. She, unfortunately, had a previous engagement and was not able to fit us in.

As we walked back into Green Park we came across a place that some children were playing. Since it had water and we were hot, we thought it a great idea to join in the fun. After playing for quite a while we realised that people are not supposed to play on it because it is the Canada Memorial. We decided that if Lee and Eric were with us that they would want us to play on it and enjoy the water. Since they are Canadians, we felt justified in our play.

It was sloped so Joshua was able to use it as a slip-n-slide.

Daniel wanted to join in the fun as well.

After a hot day out we were ready to go back to the house and have the yummy spaghetti supper that Viv had previously prepared for us.

After supper, Joshua enjoyed listening to a story while Nana Viv read to him.

Wednesday, July 1, Viv left very early, as she usually does on Wednesdays, to go to Copthorne to keep her grandson, Daniel Jenkins, while his mother, our friend Sarah, taught during the morning. We travelled the 1 1/2 to meet them and were happy to do it as we had not seen them since they visited us in El Reno in early 2004. David Jenkins has been David Handyside's best friend since birth and we love and cherish his wife, Sarah, just as much.

Joshua was especially keen to see his Uncle Dave.

Nana Viv was on cloud nine to be surrounded by her loved ones.

This was the view from Dave and Sarah's flat at the school.

The school owns all of these grounds including the wood in the picture below.

Nana Viv spent some quality time with the two Daniels.

After lunch Sarah took us out to visit Ashdown Forest, Winnie-the-Pooh country. Joshua was incredibly excited about this as he had just read "Winnie-the-Pooh" while we were in Ireland. During the time he was reading it he even had us all calling him 'Pooh'. He decided that Mommy was 'Rabbit', Aunty Lee was 'Eyore', Uncle Eric was 'Tiger', Daddy was 'Owl' because he thinks he knows everything, and Daniel was 'Piglet' because he eats so much.

We drove by Pooh Corner where the real Christopher Robin used to shop for sweeties. We didn't have time to stop that visit.

Here is Sarah getting directions to Pooh-sticks Bridge for the SECOND time.... hahahaha.

Joshua was hoping that we were able to park in 'his' parking lot and low and behold.... WE DID!

It seemed like a magical place; almost as if one should actually run into Winnie-the-Pooh at any given moment.

We had a fantastic walk through the Hundred Acre Wood as we searched for Pooh-sticks Bridge.

Daniel had his stick ready to play Pooh-sticks.

Finally, we reached Pooh-sticks Bridge and were picking out our stick of choice.

Pooh-sticks Bridge is the very bridge in which Winnie-the-Pooh created the game of Pooh-sticks. If you are reading this and have never heard of Pooh-sticks, we suggest you read "Winnie-the-Pooh".

Joshua is waiting for his stick, hoping it will come out from under the bridge first.

Daniel J seemed more interested in the end of the bridge than in the game.

Daniel H didn't want to let go of his stick, but he finally did when we put him on the floor and then he stuck his stick through the cracks, which everyone knows is cheating.

Here we all are after several fabulous games of Pooh-sticks.

On the walk back to the cars we passed a Japanese guy several times so when we also passed him in our car Dave felt compelled to stop and offer him a ride. He was in the area all by himself and was checking out all the Winnie-the-Pooh sights, which we found interesting since he seemed to be in his twenties.

By the time we got back to the school Davy J was there which gave the two Daves a chance to chat some more while Sarah got us all refreshing drinks.

As we were preparing supper, the two Daniels played all over the flat.

The boys found it a little bit cooler to not have on clothes....

...but not cool enough so we went down to play in the wade pool.

Daniel J seemed more interested in his walking toy.

Joshua was more interested in the climbing wall.

Soon the Handyside three were having a go as monkeys.

Dave thought Daniel needed to cool down so he put him in the pool to wash him with the cool water (or cold, if I'm honest).

Daniel H was not appreciative of the frigid water so he was declaring his protest. Daniel J found this incredibly amusing; the more Daniel H cried, the more Daniel J laughed!

But, not all was lost; they played together nicely again after the trauma.

We left the school soon after that and headed back to London for Peter and Vivian's flat. We stayed up just a short while to chat with them, but were all tired so we went to bed soon.

Thursday, July 2, Dave went with Pastor Jenkins to a mens Bible study. The speaker was Bill Anstrother, a pastor from Zimbabwe that Dave had known. While they were away, Viv and Amy were able to have a nice chat. Amy especially appreciated her chats and heart-to-hearts with Viv. Soon the men were back from the Bible study and eating the yummy breakfast that Viv had put together; croissants, bacon, cheese and jam. It was wonderful to sit around and listen to Pastor J and Bill and Viv and Dave and Amy talking about the wonderful ways of our Lord. Bill, Peter and Viv soon were praying for Dave and Amy; what a wonderfully, blessed time.

Viv had to leave soon, though, in order to attend a Bible study of her own. The Handysides were supposed to be on the road soon after this, but decided to wait a bit to miss the intense heat. We packed up and then just sat around chatting with Peter and Bill. Right as we were about to walk out the door, Viv came home. We were so happy to get a chance to give one last hug.

It took us about 6 hours to get to Newcastle. All in all it was an uneventful trip, which is always a good thing, I think.

Friday, July 3, we slept in and lounged around and blogged the whole day.

Saturday, July 4, we slept in again and lounged around some more while watching Wimbledon and blogging. We made a trip to ASDA in the evening, but other than that, nothing much happened... and we liked it that way.