Cornwall

We took a long weekend from August 13-16 to drive to Cornwall--a county in southwest England. We made a stop on our way at Dartmoor National Park, where we got to experience walking on a real English moor. We drove somethrough the park, but when the roads got so narrow that our Odyssey could barely fit, let alonepass another car, it got less fun and more scary.But, even sticking to the main roads through the park we saw some amazing things,like thislintel bridge that was almost 1000 years old. Still sturdy enough! We arrived at our cottage(we stayed at a self-catering place with fullkitchen, 2 bedrooms, a big living room,and a pool called "Green Acres") in time for a beautiful sunset.

The next day we drove the short distance to the Eden Project.

This is an incredible set of biodomes set in a reclaimed clay mine. They had elaborate gardens and domes for the rainforest and the Mediterranean climates.

After a full day there, we

came back to swim for a bit before heading to Fo

wey for dinner.

This was a lovely seaside village

with some majorly tiny and hilly streets! We left our minivan outside the town and walked in--good call.

Day three saw us driving around the Cornwall Penninsula.

We made a stop at Pendennis Castle,

which was one of a chain of castles commissioned by Henry VIII to protect England from what he saw as a possible invasion from

the European continent after he broke from the Catholic Church. A sister castle--St. Mawes is located right across the inlet. This castle near Falmouth was also significant in WWII as American GIs trained and stayed here while preparing for the D-Day invasions. After Pendennis, we drove to St. Michael's Mount,

an abbey set on a rock off the coast of Cornwall. There has been an abbey on this island for 1,500 years and was given to Mont St. Michel in France after William the Conquerer (although the English obviously dispute this). The St. Aubry family own it and built a castle there.

In one of the rooms of the castle, there was a cabinet that looks very similar to one a bought at auction in Diss. Mine is taller and has an enclosed cupboard on the bottom, but the shape and the carvings were the same.

Kent was happy to hear that this was an authentic piece from the early 1700s. The walk out to the island is across a pedestrian causeway that gets covered at high tide. It was a beautiful day, and despite the freezing water temps, the beaches nearby were full of swimmers and bathers.

We ended our day appropriately enough at Land's End.

It was a pretty dramatic stretch of coastline, full of businesses proclaiming themselves the "last"

hotel, inn, petrol, etc. Kitchy but fun.

On our final day, we made the pilgrimage

to Tintagel Castle, the supposed birthplace of King Arthur. It was an incredible day. We lost count of how many steps, but there were lots. This castle was intended to be remote and unaccessible, and they succeeded. It was cool for the kids to see "Morgan's cave" and to climb all over things that have been there since the Middle Ages. Cornwall truly was breathtakingly beautiful, and once again we were blessed with fabulous weather!

Woburn Safari Park

Kent took a day off work and on Colin's actual birthday (August 10), we went to Woburn Safari Park. It is about an hour from our house (lots of things seem to be about an hour from us in various directions). We began with a drive through the big safari area. We didn't know what to expect, and were pleasantly surprised when on our first bend in the road, a rhino crossed directly in front of the car. There were plenty of animals of all shades and stripes. The monkey area was a big hit--this one climbed all over the car, wishing he could get in to get some treats the kids were taunting him with--I thinksomeone even had a banana. Cruel. Another highlight was the lions. There were several dozen in different prides all over the area. The keepers came in a jeep and kept moving them around and several of them ran at high speed toward the car and then ran right in front to the other side of the road. Thrilling. We also loved the Lorikeet house, where we bought some nectar in cups and stepped inside. We were immediately swarmed by birds landing on our heads, shoulders, hands, or any perch they could find. (My favorite scene from that day was when another family behind us came to get their nectar pots. The vendor woman handed the boy his pot, and without pausing even for a second, the boy downed the nectar like a shot. The vendor woman yelled "NOOOOO." It was hilarious.) There was a great huge playplace with very steep slides and netting to climb in. All in all, a fabulous day!

Colin Birthday Celebration

Colin wanted to have a couple families over for cake to celebrate his birthday. (Because he has a summer birthday, he kind of forgets that he could invite lots of friends over for a party. I neglect to remind of this.) It was not a Harry Potter-themed event. Many of the kids just consider costumes a prerequisite to fun. He does not acknowledge that he has aged or that he has officially had a birthday until he has a chocolate cake with chocolate frostings with M&Ms in the shape of whatever age he is turning. This has been the case now for at least 4 birthdays. This year, I made a cake from scratch. It was deliciousness itself. We had a fun evening, until Colin got stung by a bee. They were playing in the backyard and suddenly there was screaming. Some burrowing bees had enjoyed building a home in the drains in the brick retaining wall in the backyard. The British pest people were reluctant to fumigate them (they are very into animal welfare--of all kinds) until I explained that my children refused to play in the backyard until the bees were gone, and this was seriously cramping my style. The bees are gone.

Audley End House - WWII

We went with some friends to Audley End House-a beautiful Victorian-era house about an hour from us. English Heritage was putting on a "Time Travelers" program for kids about World War II. They had tents set up on the lawn and presenters dressed in period clothes who taught the kids about gas masks (they got to make a case to hold them), medical care during WWII, the different planes, morse code and semifore signalling. The highlight of the day was when they entered boot camp and were trained to stand at attention, ease, to march in formation, go through an obstacle course and to charge a dummy while holding a wooden rifle. Ethan got in trouble for his hair being out of regs and had to do some extra laps.

After the activities, we toured the house, which has been recreated beautifully. The owners of the house were avid hunters and collectors, so the kids were excited to see all the different kinds of animals they had stuffed and mounted all over the walls and in various cases throughout the house. I enjoyed this part much less, prefering the lovely antique furniture and decor!