Other things from June

Tessa's class took a field trip to the fire station.  She was able to spray the water from the hose and climb into the fire engine.

 Some fun in the garden-

Doing a little gardening...Daddy planted a lot of things and then left, so we need to try to not kill them all!

Tessa received a Peppa Pig gardening set for her birthday and loves to plant seeds and water things.

What is more fun than making your own mud?  Note: this is not a mother approved activity.

 Some fun around town-

At the local shopping center, trying out the mail truck!

Newmarket had an activity where all the local schools painted a small horse artists painted full sized horses for auction and this is the horse for their school.

 Some playing around the house-

Tessa doing a headstand...with a little help.

Giddy-up sis!

 And finally....

I got a fish pedicure!!!  Yes, those are actual fish eating the dead skin off of me!  It  tickled a bit and felt tingly, but not at all painful.  My feet were quite smooth afterwards and I really enjoyed the experience, though overall I would prefer a regular pedicure.

Fish pedicure!

Oxburgh Hall (Castle)

I decided to refer to Oxburgh Hall as Oxburgh Castle to the girls because it looks rather castle like, is surrounded by a moat, and Castle is so much more intriguing than Hall. 

The girls love the idea of castles and even thought we would live in a castle once we arrived in England, and then of course they would be princesses (Tessa's plan).  I explained that although England has castles, we wouldn't live in one but we could go and visit some.  Somehow, we managed to go 6 months before we finally made it to our first castle (and it isn't even an actual castle!)  However, it was an exciting place to visit, and we had a beautiful morning to do it.

The entrance from the garden

A side view

The moat...I would not want to be in that water for ANY amount of time!

Tutu, Sophia, and Tessa on the bridge leading to the entrance

View from the roof

They were shooting cannons and Tessa is NOT fond of loud noises

This is part of the stairwell, perhaps leading to the Priest's Hole

A jousting game was set up outside for everyone to try

Tutu helped Tessa because it was difficult for her to run with the long stick and gather the rings.

The volunteers taught the girls how to play, then cheered them on!

Sophia could grab the rings...

and gallop back to the start!

Tessa started to get the hang of it.

"Congratulations!  You finished in second place, little sister!"

The house has its own church

The view from the other side of the Castle/Hall

More moat

The edge of the walled garden

Tessa (being silly), Sophia and I

Sophia in the garden

Knight Tessa and Princess Sophia

Knight Sophia and Princess Tessa

Knight Mommy...I didn't get to be a Princess

Another futile attempt at a decent photo of the three of us...Tessa was not cooperative.

Jousting champions Sophia and Tessa

Although Tessa never appears happy in the photos, we all had a great time.  I wondered if the girls might become bored while touring the inside of the castle, but we went quickly enough and there were plenty of things to see.  The Hall was built in the 15th century and although a few rooms were redecorated in the Victorian era, there was a Queen's room and a King's room still in the original 15th century style.  There were even clothes on display, which Tessa loved as the dresses were frilly and lacy. 

Through the King's room was a Priest's Hole, a small room that could only be accessed by going up some stairs, then climbing a few steps up, then through a tiny room, squeezing down a very small hole (feet first and then ducking your head), and into a very, very tiny room.  The room was tall enough for me to stand in and had two brick benches, but nothing else.  Tutu, Sophia, Tessa and I went in together and could barely all fit when standing up.  Scratch marks were made on the wall, as the Priests apparently were keeping track of the days they were there.  The room was used by the family to hide their Catholic Priests when those faithful to Catholicism were persecuted. 

Another interesting feature was the hidden entrance to the dining hall from the library.  Part of the wall opened and there was a 3-4 foot passageway between the rooms.  When closed, it looked like a regular wall with only one entrance/exit from the library and dining hall. 

Moat?  King and Queen's rooms?  Secret passageway?  Hidden room for priests?  Definitely deserves Castle status to us! 

Sunny Hunny

After visiting Oxburgh Hall (see previous post), we continued driving north until we arrived at Hunstanton Beach, nicknamed Sunny Hunny as I have been told it is sunny there more than other places.  It was definitely sunny when we arrived.  For some ridiculous reason, I thought that going to the beach on the hottest day of the year would be fun.  Not really.  I did not realize Hunstanton was having a fair that day, which meant driving the last 2 miles would take about an hour.  Also not fun.  I was unaware that the quiet, peaceful Hunstanton beach is Old Hunstanton Beach, just past the popular, crowded Hunstanton Beach.  Less fun.  I also did not discover that Chuckolate's car (which I was driving because it has a roomier backseat for the kids) had an oil leak until we arrived at the beach.  Since it was a few hour drive home, we decided to leave the car parked and try to enjoy the beach for a little while before heading home.  (Insert sarcastic laugh here).

Luckily, with water to swim/play/splash in, my daughters are mostly happy.  Otherwise, a very crowded beach on a very hot day would have been miserable.  Somehow, they loved it anyway so I kept my grumbling to myself.  Next time, I will find a less crowded beach, without a fair, perhaps NOT on the hottest day.  Lesson learned.

Hot girls having a sandwich in the shop, rather than the picnic on the beach as we had planned.  It was too crowded to try to picnic.  You can see how hot they are here.  It is amazing how quickly we became accustomed to cool weather and hot weather was shocking to the system.

Sophia, Tessa, and Tutu on the beach with a few hundred random strangers.

It was seriously crowded everywhere, but Sophia was ready to swim anyway.

Tessa loved playing in the sand.

An ice cream to cool us off before the long drive home.

Yummy.

Tessa would like this ice cream cone please!

Mmm, giant ice cream cone.

Sophia, Tutu and Tessa in front of the ocean.

Sophia in the car...there was a lot of traffic so it took a long time to get away from the beach.

Tessa enjoying a book in the car.

The car ride home was eventful as well, as it again took a very long time to get out of the town and the oil light came on almost immediately.  We had to wait until we could make it to the gas station to pull over which was very nerve racking as the car's oil light flashed and dinged repeatedly.  Of course, I had NO IDEA what to do about it, but my mom knew how to check the oil stick, at least.  Then she asked another customer in the gas station which oil we should buy and he recommended one for the car.  We filled it up with half a bottle and saved the rest, for when we had to stop an hour or two later and fill it up again, as the oil was just pouring out of the car and the blinking and dinging started up again. 

I tried to remind myself how lucky I was that my mom was with us, because without Tutu, I'm not sure how we would have made it home.  I realized that I really should learn a few basic pieces of knowledge about cars (such as don't keep driving and hope to make it home when the oil light is flashing and dinging).  I also realized that I really should know the phone number of our car insurance and maybe even a kind person that might be willing to pick us up if we were seriously stranded!  We did make it home safely (though much later than intended) and the car made it to the shop the next day, as well.  However, between this trip and our last trip to a beach in England, I may be staying inland for awhile!