It's a Hard Knock Life

Sometimes finding movies that are interesting for Sophia and not scary for Tessa is a challenge, but we watched the movie Annie and everyone loved it!  It was the 1990s version and I am still hoping to get the 1980s version that I watched as a little girl to share with them.  They have been singing and dancing to all of the songs from the movie ever since.  While they were playing in the conservatory, I heard them singing one time and grabbed my video camera before checking on them.  Of course they noticed me and started over for my sake, and then I had to play along too.  I think they need to learn a few more lines, but love how they "work" so hard to look like they are scrubbing and cleaning!

RAF (Royal Air Force) Molesworth and RAF Alconbury

Since my grandfather was stationed at RAF Molesworth during WWII, my mother and I thought it would be nice to go and take a few photos of it for him.  It was about an hour and a half away, so we found something else to see nearby (check out the following post about Lyveden New Bield) and headed out for the day.

Sophia, Tessa, and I with the Molesworth sign

Tessa, Sophia, and Tutu with the sign

Up close of Sophia...missing one front tooth and the other looking very wobbly!

The plane doesn't look as good as the rest of the sign because we got there just as a painter was taking his lunch break.  Luckily, he was super nice and moved his painting things out of the way when he realized we were taking photos of the signs.

 We really wanted to get my grandfather a shirt or hat, or something that said RAF Molesworth, but there weren't any shops there.  It is a very small base.  There was only a gas station, but the people that worked there suggest we try RAF Alconbury, just a few minutes away.  We didn't find what we wanted, but we did find a place to eat lunch, and a phone booth to take silly pictures in!

Lyveden St. Bield

Last spring we became members of the National Trust, an organization that preserves special places in the UK for people to visit.  Lyveden St. Bield is one of these places and it was near to RAF Molesworth(see previous post), so we decided to give it a go!  It is a very interesting place, as the lodge was being built in the late 1500s/early 1600s but had to be stopped as the owner spent many years in jail and then under house arrest and simply ran out of money.  He was a famous Roman Catholic, when Catholicism was outlawed by Protestant Queen Elizabeth I, but he refused to give up his faith.  The house has many hidden and some obvious Catholic symbols, such as the entire house being in the shape of a cross, and various symbols carved into the walls.  The gardens were not completed either, but contain orchards, terraces, viewing mounts, and moats. 

We had a really fun time exploring the three story (supposedly-there was no roof or floors above the ground floor) lodge and the gardens.  We also discovered a cool playground just down the road, so we stopped to use up a little more energy before taking the long drive home.

We are standing at the back of the lodge, in front of the usable entrance.  The actual entrance at the front of the house is too high from the ground to be used.

Sophia, standing in the kitchen, with a reception room behind her.

Tessa wanted to sit in the windowsill as well!

The view of the usable entrance, from inside the lodge.

Looking up at the missing roof!

Sitting in a little cubby...maybe a statue would have gone there?

The view behind the lodge

A snail mount with a spiral path leading to the top is just adjacent to the lodge.  The path was created for the Tudor ladies, who were unable to climb a steep hill or steps due to their 2 metre wide dresses, tight corsets, and tiny little shoes.

An interesting rock wall partially covers a working shed

The back view of the lodge

The side view, from the snail mount

Tessa and Sophia enjoyed a cookie on top of the mount.  Sophia chose the straight up method, no gradually spiraling paths for her!

The front view of the lodge- if you click on the picture you can see it up close and realize why we couldn't use the front door!

Tutu holds the entire lodge in her hand!

Tessa sits by the water that would have been used to fill the moat eventually.

A fence made of twigs

This is the girls climbing into and out of the area that was to become the moat.  Someone had written a message in it out of giant plastic bones asking, "When will you be happy?"  Weird.

The girls checking out a berry bush...

Toothless!

One thing that happened last August was a trip to the dentist office for the girls.  Both did very well and the dentists and technicians all commented on how the girls behaved well and cooperated during the x-rays, cleaning, and exams.  I was very impressed with them!  No cavities, but Sophia was instructed to help her two front teeth come out!  The permanent teeth were already close to coming out and the dentist did not want her to have four front teeth on the top like she did on the bottom.  In fact, the dentist gave her one month to get them out, or come back and have them pulled!

So we wiggled.  And wiggled.  And wiggled.  Finally, I jokingly suggested that I would hold the tooth and Tessa could tickle Sophia.  It worked!  Sophia laughed and squirmed away from her tickling sister and I was left with a tooth in my hand!

Notice how one tooth is barely hanging in her mouth.

Sophia missing one front tooth and her proud sister, Tessa

a close-up shot

The tooth in a box from the dentist

Then, we went to work on wiggling the second one.  We ended up trying the same thing as the first one, but she didn't jump back, so I just gave a tiny tug and it popped out.

  "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" was her favorite song for awhile!

Riding lesson and The Guineas Shopping Center

Tessa and another girl giving Bambi a pat

Another Saturday means another trip to the riding school!  Their new mascot, Bambi, is Tessa's best friend now and she loves to pet her and talk to her.  She would happily come visit her every day I think!  If only she could feed her and ride on her, she would be even more delighted!

Sophia having her lesson

Sophia visits with Bambi after her lesson

 Afterwards, we went to The Guineas, which is the shopping center in Newmarket.  There are coffee shops, restaurants, fish/meat markets, clothing stores, stationary shops, a Claire's, several charity shops (reselling donated used items for various charities), Marks & Spencer's, a library, a pharmacy, and a few fun things for kids to ride on there!

Tessa, the mail carrier!

Sophia, getting a bit too big for these things, but still having fun!

Fitzwilliam Art Museum in Cambridge

On a very rainy day out, we decided to go to the Fitzwilliam Museum with some friends.  There I learned a wonderful piece of information about England---museums are free here!  In NM, we were members of the Museum of Natural History so we wouldn't have to pay every time we went, but still the membership was costly, and we had to pay for Explora (the Children's science museum) and the NM Art Museum every time we went, so we ended up going to the Natural History Museum more than the others.  Here, they are all free!  You can click on the Natural History Museum link to go to one of my previous blogs about the girls at that museum.

The Fitzwilliam was interesting because it had art exhibits, treasure exhibits, an ancient Egypt exhibit, and these giant lions outside!

Ben, Sophia, Tessa, and Joe

There was a giant puddle right in front of them that was oh so tempting!

walking through cambridge

We walked past the river to get back to the car and had to check this out for awhile!  You can see the punts behind the waterfall...not many people renting them out on such a rainy day!

Joe, his mother Naomi, Tessa and I get a closer look at the water.

An interesting tree on the way home--its camoflauge bark reminded us of Daddy!