Dad and Leanna arrived in London on Saturday June 21st. We met them at Heathrow airport for their afternoon arrival and had dinner at the Flask pub in Highgate. Dad got to try a real cask ale called London Pride. He also had his first plate of genuine pub fish and chips with mushy peas. The next day we headed to the city to go to an Exhibit on Ian Flemming at the Imperial War Musuem. The museum is beautiful and quite interesting. We took some time to see some of the other exhibits as well.

Here dad and Ethan are seeing what it is like to look through a submarine periscope.

Here is a piece of the Berlin Wall located at the Imperial War Museum.

After the museum, we went to see Wesminster Abbey (which was closed to tourists since it was Sunday). We then walked in St. James Park to Trafalgar Square where we also went to the National Gallery.

The next morning, we went to the Tower of London.

We also walked around central London to see the sights such as Big Ben, Parliment, and the London Eye.

A few days later, I took dad and Leanna to try a full english breakfast at a sidewalk cafe in Highgate called Kalendar. We then took a long walk in the Hampstead Heath to Kenwood House.

Outside the Kenwood house ...

After visiting the Hampstead Heath, we went to Highgate Cemetary to see Karl Marx's grave.

That afternoon Dad and I picked Ethan up at school Here are Ethan and dad with Ethan's favorite ice cream from the ice cream truck outside of school (two scoops of lemon with sprinkles).

We had to visit the Bond Street Station as well....

We took a ong weekend trip to the Northern Lake District in Northern England close to the border with Scotland with Bill and Gail. Keswick is situated on the Derwentwater Lake near the Skiddaw Mountains.

We all rode the train from Euston Station in London to Lancaster where we picked up the rental car and drove another 1.5 hours to the town of Keswick. Grandma Gail or "Gramail" her new name - is reading Harry Potter to Ethan on the train.

Our bed and breakfast was located less than a 2 min. walk from the local obstacle golf (mini golf) course and pitch and putt. Mini golf is one of Ethan's favorite activities. We did this every day during the trip. Pitch and putt was also great fun. Here are some golfing shots.

Here Ethan and Grandpa Billy tally up the mini golf scores. Grandpa Billy won this round with Ethan in second place and mom in last.

The morning after we arrived, William looked up a hike for the group in his trusty Ordinance Survey and 15 Walks from Kewsick. He picked out a 7.5 mile hike with a vertical gain of 3000 feet. The hike started with a boat ride from the Keswick launch to Brandelhow Point. Bill and Gail took the boat ride with us to Brandelhow Point.

At Brandelhow Point, Bill and Gail hiked back to Keswick around the lake and me, William, and Ethan set off for our 7.5 mile adventure. Bill and Gail at the start of their hike around the lake ...

Here we are at the start of our hike!

We followed the directions as best we could, but ended up adding an extra peak ascent into our hike. We quickly found ourselves ascending a very steep hill. On the way up, we conferred with another walker about our location. It turns out we were ascending Cats Bells (not part of the original hike). This probably added about a mile to our hike.

This is an example of one of the Cairns on each of the peaks we climed.

King of the hill...

Putting a stone on the Cairn

From the top of Cats Bells, we were able to talk with some other hikers who helped us get on track to our intended route. Walking is very popular in the Lake District, so there were always plenty of people to stop and ask if we needed directions.

Buttermere - the end point of the hike.

The next day we took a short hike to the Castlerigg Stone Circle. This is a smaller version of Stonehenge. The difference is that it is not nearly as croweded, and you can walk right up and crawl around on the stones ....

Here is the full group at the Stone Circles -

We took a beautiful hike back to Keswick a different direction from our hike to the stone circle. Here are some scenes from the hike back.

At one point on the hike back, William and I opted to take a bit of a longer route around the lake back to town. Here is William on the trail ....

The trail back took us through a cow enclosure. I think the cows thought we were going to feed us, because they all started running in our direction which was a bit scary. I took this picture of the cows after we had cleared the fence.

We also went to the Cumberland Pencil Museum, learned about how pencils are made, and saw the biggest pencil on record.

If you want to know why Bill and Gail are holding a flaming torch in what looks like a revolution, you will have to read towards the end of this long post! Yes - that is real fire.

Bill and Gail arrived at Heathrow Airport this week where we met their plane, got a rental car, and started our drive to the Cotswolds. We stayed in a village called Snowshill near Chipping Campden. The village was very small with only a pub, one B&B, and some private homes. Snowshill is a beautiful village. All of the buildings are constructed with Cotswold stone, a distinctive yellow sandstone. Here is a picture of our B&B.

The main street of the town of Snowshill

view of Snowshill from one of our hikes

Our B&B was on a sheep farm and was just beautiful. The B&B dog was named Moe, and Ethan enjoyed playing frisbee with Moe.

We walked to the village pub for dinner one night. Here is Ethan on the way home playing with the flash light.


Here is a picture of Broadway Tower in the village of Broadway near Snowshill. This is the biggest hill in the Cotswolds. We climbed the tower and got a great view of the countryside. William and I walked back to Snowshill from Broadway Tower. It was a nice walk through some green fields and trails and took about 1.5 hours.

Feeding a horse on our walk back from Broadway Tower.

While in Snowshill, we went to Snowhill's Manor which was the house and gardens of Charles Wade who had been collecting things since he was 7 years old. The house contained all manner of interesting items from a room full of Samurai Armor to a number of different antique clocks and bicycles. Ethan really enjoyed looking at all of the cool contraptions. Here are Bill and Gail with Ethan on the grounds of Snowshill Manor.

Snowshill Manor house from the side -

Ethan wanted to go on an "adventure walk," so Ethan, William, and Grandpa Billy, and I set off with our Ordinance Survey Map for a walk to the next town - Stanton. Here are William and Bill on the trail.

We had to walk through a field of sheep and climb a few fences before we got on the official trail.

Sign for the trail - the Cotswold Way

Hmm .... lets check the map and compass just in case -

We met a friendly horse along the way.

At Stanton, our destination, and after about 1.5 hours of walking we stopped at the local pub for a beer and lemonade for Ethan. The local beer is called Donnington's. It is an excellent cask ale. The pub is pictured in the background.



The pub was on a hill above Stanton with a nice view of the town.

In front of the pub -






On Friday and Saturday, we went to an event in Chipping Campden called "Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpicks." These "olympic events" have taken place in the Cotswolds since the middle ages (or so the brochure says) and include sports such as SHIN KICKING and TUG O' WAR. Shin Kicking dates back to 1636 and basically includes two competitors who hold on to each other's shoulders in the mud wearing traditional white shepherding coats and try to knock the other competitor down by kicking his/her shins. The best of three rounds wins. This was quite a spectacle. Tug O' War, needs no explanation. If you look closely below, the men in the white coats are Shin Kicking!

Here is a shot of the whole arena; you can see the Tug O' War in the front.

traditional morris dancing ....

The sign for the Robert Dover's Games

Watching the Shin Kicking Finals from the hill!

Grandma Gail, Stephanie, and Ethan ride one of the carnival rides!

Perhaps the biggest events of the evening were the bonfire, fireworks, and torchlight parade.

The torchlight parade to our suprise involved actual wax torches that were lit on fire and carried from the top of the hill all the way through the center of the village. All were invited to take part. The real open flames part explained why no alcohol was for sale at the top of the hill (probably the only place in England you could not buy a beer). There were firemen on hand for the 1.5 mile procession down the hill through the middle of the village with flaming torches. This was a truly unique experience. The amount of fleece in that throng of people was terrifying.... luckily no one caught anyone or anything on fire.

Ethan carries a torch!

The next day, there was a small carnival "Bayfest Style" for those of you from Corpus. We took Ethan for a little while to play some games, win some prizes and ride the rides. Here are Ethan and dad on the bumper cars. Ethan got to drive his own car!

Carnival signs in Gaelic

We went to two castles. Kenilworth Castle is a very impressive castle ruin where we saw a real live jousting tournament! Here is the knight on horse in full armor!

The red knight charges the blue knight.....

Here is the gang with Kenilworth Castle in the background.

We also went to Warwick castle - a larger more restored castle.

On top of one of the towers -

Front view of the castle -

At Warwick, we saw a presentation about birds of prey. Here is one of the eagles.

One of our stops was Burton-on-the-Water where we went to a model of the village made of real stone.

We tried the Dragonfly Hedge maze at Burton-on-the-Water as well. The maze was really difficult! Of course, Ethan took off running and found his way right off the bat. William and I were wondering why they did not include a flare, so we could get rescued. Finally, we made it to the center of the maze where Ethan was waiting for us.

Here is the group on the water at Burton-on-the-Water. We had a great trip!