Lavender Everywhere!!

Yay!!  I am finally posting about something that has happened within the last 7 days!!

Last weekend we finally made our way to Norfolk Lavender.  I have been wanting to go there ever since I found out about it.  I was doing a Google search last year, trying to get some info about our trans-Atlantic move, and I came across a random blog that had a post about it.  I wanted to go when the lavender was in bloom.  If it's not in bloom, what's the point? Right?

 

Ready to hit the road.

 

Again, the weather was great!  It's been in the mid to upper 80s lately, and we have no air conditioning.  We woke up and the sky was grey and cloudy.  I had never been so happy to see clouds!  Finally, a day to be outside and not melt!  It drizzled on and off the whole time we were there, but hey, it's England.  Don't let the weather stop you from doing stuff outside!

 

So many different shades.  White, pink, light purple, dark purple, and even dark blue!

 

It smelled wonderful.  The distillery was running as well, and they were making rosemary oil.

 

Miss Priss wanted to wear her purple flower dress, so she could match the lavender.

 

 

This place was great.  In addition to the lavender, they had a lovely garden area that you could walk through, an area with animals, a farm shop, a lavender gift shop, a café, and indoor and outdoor play areas for the kids.

 

A wallaby.

 

A four-month old Lion Head rabbit.

 

 

This is the weirdest looking chicken I have ever seen.  Hubby said it looks like it belongs on The Muppets.

 

The outdoor playground was awesome!  It had a few enclosed trampolines, a huge sand pit, a zip line, the typical swings and slide, and an enclosed area for the kids to pedal around on toy John Deere tractors. 

 

For my NC family!

My babies!

 

 

Breakfast the next morning: lavender biscuits (I know they're called scones over here, but I can't help it. That is one huge biscuit!) with blackberry and apple preserve.  I will definitely have to find a recipe for those and make some for myself.

 

 

 

How could you not be happy and relaxed in the middle of a lavender farm?

 

 

Almost done! More catching up....

Finally, we come to July!

We kicked off July with a multi-family camping trip in Mablethorpe.  I think the final count was 15 adults and 13 kids!  It was the first time the kids and I had ever been camping.  We had gorgeous, sunny weather the whole time we were there.  No rain at all!

 

As soon as we started unloading the car, Little Man found food and decided to have a seat and relax.

 

It was warm and sunny during the day, but at night, the temperature dropped into the low 50s.  Long jammies and warm sleeping bags kept my sleepyheads nice and toasty.

 

THE BEACH!!!!!

 

I love this picture!

 

 

 

 

I have now officially dipped my toes in 3 different oceans/seas:  the Pacific Ocean (Okinawa), the Atlantic Ocean (Jersey, Myrtle Beach, and the Bahamas), and, now, the North Sea.  By the way, the water was SOOO COLD!  I wish we could have stayed at the beach a lot longer.  There is nothing quite like reading a good book while getting a tan and listening to the waves crash.  Oh well, we ended up going back to the campground and swimming in the indoor pool.  : )

 

**Update: According to my mother, I've also been in the East China Sea.**

 

The obligatory camping trip food staple: s'mores!  I think he likes it.

 

Me and my girl.

 

We were supposed to go to a seal sanctuary on the way home, but by that point, Hubby and I just wanted to get home and get showered.  It's not that far of a drive, we'll make it there eventually.

Kid-free London!!

At the end of June, we got to have our first child-free outing since our move here! We were supposed to go on a base-chartered Thames River Cruise, but it ended up being cancelled.  We already had the babysitter lined up, and we just couldn't let the opportunity go to waste.

Our first stop, was King's Cross Station.  Of course the only reason for us to go there was to get this picture:

 

In keeping with geeky photo ops, we took this picture:

 

 

This is where they shoot exterior shots for Sherlock, and nope, it's not really on Baker Street. It's here. Sadly, they were not filming anything that day.

 

On our travels, we ended up having to change lines at Baker Street.

 

 

 

Sherlock tiles!

 

We made our way to London Bridge.

London Bridge.

 

We walked along the Thames down to Tower Hill and Tower Bridge.

 

We will definitely come back and actually go inside The Tower.  Miss Priss would love to see the Crown Jewels.  It's on the to-do list!

 

We could have stayed a little longer, but it was so hot, we decided to leave a few hours earlier than we planned.  We had a great time.  We are going to make our London trips a regular thing.  There is still so much to do and see!!

Catch up, part 3!

On to June!

For my birthday this year, we took our first trip into London!!!

 

The London Eye!  We waited in line for less than 5 minutes, our timing was perfect.  The weather was gorgeous.

 

Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

 

Notice the bright red stickers that say "DO NOT LEAN AGAINST THE DOORS"?  Apparently some parents missed it.  They were letting their 2/3 year old son CLIMB on them!!  I was thisclose to having a panic attack, and the parents could have cared less.

 

We went to the Sea Life Aquarium after The Eye.  It was nice, but we have forever spoiled ourselves.  I don't think anything can beat the Georgia Aquarium, and we went before they had the new dolphin and penguin exhibits.

 

We decided to walk across Westminster Bridge to get a better look at things.

 

Standing at the foot of Big Ben. Wow.

 

Westminster Abbey

It was closed to visitors.  They were getting ready for the Queen's 60th Coronation Anniversary.
 

A few weeks later, we went strawberry picking with some friends.

I froze about 2 gallons worth, and made the best strawberry muffins I have ever had.  I can't remember if I wrote it down!  If I can find it, I'll be sure to post it.  : )

 

Catch up time, part 2

Alrighty, moving on to May!

Miss Priss had a day off from school, so a friend took us to a local park for the day.  She told us it was a park in the woods.  Huge playgrounds, a trail for the kids, and another playground tucked away in the middle of the trees.  It was a beautiful day, and we had a ton of fun.

 

The trail had a bunch of music (noise) stations for the kids to play with.  Apparently, Miss Priss thought it was too loud.

 

He was a little scared at first, but he made it across all by himself and came back for more.

 

I must have taken about 20 pictures of the trees and leaves.  I forgot how much I loved being outside.

 

 

Little Man finally had his surgery.  He had his tonsils and his adenoids taken out.  He was such a little trooper.

 

 

All taped up.  He looked like he was getting ready for the ring.

 

He wanted a cape, so we tied another hospital gown on him backwards.

 

Eating some toast a few hours after surgery.

 

He had his surgery at a British hospital.  For his recovery, he was on a ward.  Not a private room, but a ward with 6 other children and their parent/carer who stayed with them.  Holy crap.  That was one awful night.  Someone crying, machines beeping, parents being ridiculous.  I was so glad to take my Little Man home the next morning.  He is sleeping just fine now.  The first few nights after the surgery, it freaked me out, because his breathing was so quiet.

 

A few days later, we went on a guided hike through a local nature reserve, and had our first British Sunday Roast at a local pub.

 

We saw oak trees that were over 400 years old.

Bluebells in a clearing.

Those prickly gorse bushes that Winnie the Pooh was always falling into.

The rocks that are covering the building are flint.

 

Other happenings:

 

Miss Priss dancing on the field during a break.

Learning how to make a flower chain.

Both kids are obsessed with Harry Potter now.  I made wands for us using Tutorial 1 and Tutorial 2.