English Road Trippin'

On Monday, we headed north, caravanning with Dean and Jenny and the kids, towards Warwick for a little adventure. 

Along the way, we stopped at the Diddly Squat Farm Shop in Chipping Norton, the store made famous by Jeremy Clarkson in his recent show, Clarkson's Farm.
 

We all enjoyed the show, especially Euan, who wants to go into farming. So, even though the shop was closed on Mondays, we still had a good time nosing around.

We then made it to Warwick Castle, and got checked into our lovely lodge. Stace and I had booked a larger unit with a loft, that said it could sleep seven, in hopes that family would join us. 

With English school still in session, the off-season price was fantastic. So we had lots of room for Dean and the family, too. Even though Cora chose to sleep in the under-stair cupboard, a la Harry Potter.

Here, she's spending some time in a nearby tree.

After having a snack and a drink, we watched the knights' show, which was included in the cost for guests staying the night. When we went five years ago, they also had other opportunities, like archery and holding a baby owl! This year, just the knights, but still fun.

These two also put on fighting display for us, which we remembered from our 2017 trip. 

The man on the left, seen in 2017, was in the photo above, as well. Stace wanted Cora and Violet to get a picture with him again after our show, but they refused.

We then strolled through Warwick to find a pub for dinner, passing this ancient hospital!

We settled in at the local Wetherspoon's pub and ordered our meals at the bar. 

Not too long after this photo was taken, we were informed by the manager that because it was soon to be 9 p.m., we would have to leave, because of the children. Big error on their part, allowing us to order food so close to 9! They packed up our meals in to-go boxes. It was quite a strange experience! 

Please notice Stace's super cool Howards Home Improvement hoodie. 

Sunday Fun Day

On Sunday, we all went to a historic military vehicle gathering at Haselbury Mill, where we then enjoyed a carvery meal together.

Lots of WWII vehicles like Willy's jeeps and tanks, along with booths displaying memorabilia and artifacts.

I loved this American jeep, with its baseball bat and glove.

Stace and Gord loved looking at everything; we enjoyed the same show three years ago, on our last trip to England.
 

After our meal, the girls were able to climb on this old tank.

After our time at Haselbury, we went to Lyme Regis and met up with Jenny, Marisa, Jason and Lola. It was great catching up, and we all played on the beautiful beach.

Barrington Court and Ham Hill

 

On Saturday, with Dean and Jenny off, we all went together to Barrington Court, a nearby stately home that Stace was interested in checking out.

The house itself was closed for refurbishment, but the grounds and gardens were worth the trip. And there were also small artisan shops that were great to see.

Cora wanted to see this stick structure up close - she could live here.

The old barn was cool and slightly creepy - especially when we spotted a dead bunny.

Workers are redoing the roof on the main house.

In the evening, we took a picnic dinner up to Ham Hill and played hide and seek among the big standing rocks. Playing at Ham Hill is always a highlight for our family! 

Then, we walked up to the War Memorial...

...and enjoyed the stunning view.

And then a drink at the Prince of Wales pub.

On our drive back, I had to get a pic of the wildflowers. So pretty!

Around Kingsbury

One of Violet's goals for our trip was a new pair of boots, a short pair rather than her tall boots she's so fond of wearing. So, we went to Clarks Village in Street, and she found this lovely pair. 

We enjoyed fish and chips that night, in Nan and Pop's back garden, with Livi and Euan.

On Friday, Livi and Euan had a day off of school, so we all went to the big Martock Rec to run around. 

Cora wanted to help feed the guinea pigs some carrots. Livi is loving her big cousin!

We took a walk through the village, and Violet checked out this lovely use for an old telephone box.
 

Back in England At Last!

We woke up in England on Stace's birthday! An early morning celebratory breakfast in the hotel restaurant - full English, of course!

I didn't get any pics from the airport or plane, but we had a fine flight, albeit a very late departure, around 1 a.m.! But, since Heathrow has been having tons of trouble with luggage, we were just happy to get our luggage easily and get to the hotel.

Getting our rental car was interesting - suffice it to say, we'll be sure to inform our American bank that we'll be in the UK, next time we travel here!

On our drive to Somerset, we took a different way, and stopped in Avebury, another ancient henge. It happened to be the summer solstice, so it was pretty darn busy for a June Tuesday afternoon.

 The mid-16th century dovecote here behind the girls was cool.

We took some lovely walks with family our first couple of days. Above, with Auntie Doreen and Chloe, in Drayton, and below, with Livi in Barwick. 

Cora really wanted to climb up the folly here, but a bee hive was in the way.

Spending time with family again in person after three years - definitely priceless!