We went to Wytham Woods for a picnic on a Sunday afternoon with the Huangs from church. First we went to their house in a southern village, but we were late and we had left the stove on, so we went home and then on to Wytham Woods. A pleasant picnic.
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| P2 |
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| P3 |
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| The Huangs |
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From our trip to Scotland:
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| Faith and Lillie in the Car |
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| Lillie in the Hostel |
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| The Hostel Window |
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| Sliding Down the Hill at the Hostel |
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| St. Giles Cathedral |
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| Mons Meg |
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| 4 Kids at the Gate |
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| The Advocate pub |
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| Melrose Abbey |
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| Melrose Hill |
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| Hill 3 |
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| Melrose |
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| Hill 4 |
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| Faith in the Backpack |
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| The Hill Fort at Melrose |
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| The 100+ Stairs |
Visiting political scientist Jim Alt came over for dinner while his wife was visiting old friends in Essex. He walked up the Canal with Dad, and we all enjoyed the occasion. The most memorable bit was when Dad opened the second bottle of beer he had brought in his backpack. The first was calm, but the second– and without careful opening either– sprayed up to the ceiling (and all over Jim). I think it was Ruddle’s Country Ale, but I’m not sure.
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| The Marks |
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| Ben as a Beer Bottle Before |
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| And After |
Our visit to the Lake District went very well. With or without kids. our style of vacationing never leads to predictable results.
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| Faith in the Car |
After a long drive (3 hours?) we arrived.
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| The Hostel |
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| Kids at the Hostel |
At the hostel in Hawkshead, an old mansion, we discovered the Hawkshead-brewed Brodie beer. We also tried the famous Kendal Mint Cake.
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| Brodie Beer |
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| Kendal Mint Cake |
To get there, we crossed Lake Windermere on a ferry.
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| The Ferry |
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| A Dead Pike |
More interesting was our excursion on Coniston Water on a steamboat from circa 1860.
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| Coniston Steamboat |
We had a good lunch at Ambleside.
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| Lunch at Ambleside |
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| Sheeps |
We walked up a “fell”, the local word for a hill, with Faith in a backpack.
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| Faith in the Backpack |
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| Resting |
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| A Pretty Scene |
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| Eggs |
Mom and Faith didn’t go all the way to the top. Dad went almost all the way, but not up the last rockpile.
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| At the Top |
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| Lake Windermere |
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| Near the Top |
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| Mom Down Below |
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We met Grace’s family for dinner in Windermere town.
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| Justice and Cards at the Children’s Table |
The children practiced May Day dancing at school. Dad went to see it, and saw Ben’s Year 1 dancing, as you can see below.
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| Miss Weetch Too |
Benjamin danced with gusto.
Unfortunately, it started raining, and Years 3 and 4 didn’t get a chance to dance.
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| Dancing in Pairs |
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| Close-Up with Alice |