Bourton-on-the-Water

Ok, so once a year in the village of Bourton-on-the-Water a group of guys play "football" in the river that runs through the town.  It's only about 1.5 to 2 feet deep.  The referree was dressed in a dress and held an umbrella the entire game.  It was very entertaining to watch.  It was so crowded that the kids had to get on our shoulders to be able to watch.  After the game, we walked around the village and went inside some of the neat little shops.  Then we ate dinner at a Pub and let the kids walk across the river.  It was a very fun afternoon.  I think this has been my favorite village we've been to yet.  We were told to come back in December for the tree lighting.  We'll be there!

Elisabeth Baking

We went over to our British Sponsor's house to have a BBQ and Elisabeth helped me make Chocolate Chip Cookies to take to them.  We had a great time with our Sponsor Family.  They were very nice.  The food was so good.  Their garden (backyard) was brilliant.  Yep, that's me trying to use the new lingo.  Really it was beautiful.  They definately have a green thumb that I don't.  Maybe I can get her to come over and help plant some bulbs for the spring.  The cookies turned out very nice and our Sponsor's loved them. 

Berry Pickin

The kids were amazed to go in our backyard and see that blackberries were growing behind our fence.  Aaron and Elisabeth and their friend Samrat all climbed the fence to pick them.  I ended up sending them out with a bowl and a stepladder.  Although I think they more fun climbing the fence.  I think it kept them busy for over an hour.  There's actually a park close by where there are loads more blackberries, so I think we will have to go on a berry picking adventure someday. 

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle was a lot of fun.  We were not sure what the weather was going to do, but the rain held off until we were finished with the tour of the caste.  The museum was more like a theme park.  There were people dressed up to act out the parts, wax figures inside the castle, and everything was decorated to show what it may have looked like back then.  We even climbed up to the top of the towers which I found a little difficult.  The stairs going up the tower were narrow and extremely steep.  I had no problem going down the stairs but going up seemed like it took forever.  I felt a bit clostraphobic.  The kids had no problem going up though.  I was a bit confused inside the castle and smiled at what I thought was a person dressed up in costume like Queen Elizabeth and ended up being a wax figure.  Aaron and I had lots of fun interacting with the wax figures for photo opportunities.  The kids even chimed in after first looking at us like we lost our minds.  Aaron Michael was a little taken back by the wax figures.

Cotswold Wildlife Park

We went to the coolest wildlife park not too far from our house.  They had an area with nothing but monkeys where you could go into the cage with the monkeys.  The hardest part was they said you can't touch them.  Now how are they going to put us in a case with monkeys so close and not let you touch them!  I felt like a kid in a toystore with the parent saying "Don't touch!"  Yes, I had the hardest time with it.  You would think it would be the kids.  I obviously didn't listen to the lady before we went into the cage telling us what we could and could not do, because I got so excited and started to pet one when Aaron said "Christy, didn't you hear the lady, no touching."  Anyway, the rest of the park was cool too.  It was the closest I've ever been to some of the animals.  Even the giraffe's were so close they could have nibbled out of your hand if they wanted.  They also had the scariest lion I've ever seen.  Luckily it was in a cage behind a glass wall.  The thing roared so loud and for so long I felt like I was in a Lion King movie and the air flowing from its breath could have bent back a few trees.  They were scary but so cool.  There was a big building that looked like a castle in the middle of the whole park which gave us an even bigger Wow factor that "Hey we're actually in England!"  Evidently Aaron's favorite part was the black mamba snakes.  He went back in a second time to take more pictures.  That's big Aaron not little Aaron.  Although he was pretty taken by the reptile house as well.