Happy Halloween!

This was the first Halloween that Ella really understood what was happening--CANDY!! The base had all of its festivities on Friday and we all had so much fun. Ella wore her Butterfly Fairy costume and we invited our neighbors Carl, Clare and Ella's friend Isabelle. The two little ones had so much fun getting faces painted, trick-or-treating and just playing as much as possible. Ella loves getting her face painted and talks about it all the time, but do not let her go within 100 yards of a mirror! She gets very nervous when she see herself with the paint! She came home with a bag of candy and lots of stories...

The Pumpkin Patch

We made a trip to the local pumpkin patch and had a great time! Ella could have stayed there all day. We took the tractor ride out to the fields to choose our own pumpkin and played all the fun pumpkin games. Ella had her face painted for the first time and was so excited! The weather was perfect and we will be sure to visit again next year.

Ella was a little nervous on the tractor ride!

Choosing our pumpkin

Pumpkin Sling Shot

My little bear

A Family Visit

Brian's parents came for a visit, mainly to see Ella of course, and we tried to see as much as possible. A few local trips and a tight car trip to Germany filled the 2-weeks very quickly. While the boys golfed to celebrate Bob's birthday, the girls made a trip to Harewood House just outside of Harrogate and enjoyed the beautiful weather and breathtaking grounds. Ella enjoyed the bird garden, and may have taken a few years off of the duck's lives by chasing them! We also made a trip out to Fountains Abbey and got many beautiful pictures.

We then got in the car and began the trek to Germany. We drove to Dover and boarded the ferry to cross the English Channel towards Calais, France. We drove through France, Belgium and into Germany to spend time with Jason and his family and see some Air Force friends. It was a great trip and Ella got to spend time with her cousin Marie.

Knaresborough

This weekend we decided to spend some time in a town that we drive through all of the time. We drove the 4-miles to Knaresborough, a town along the River Nidd. Knaresborough Castle dates back to 1100, but was destructed 1648. The destruction was mainly done by citizens looting the stone. Many town centre buildings are built of 'castle stone'. We spent the morning in a row boat on the river, sailing under the stone viaducts. We walked along the river and saw the ruins of the castle. When we moved to Harrogate we arrived on the weekend of the famous Knaresborough Bed Race and hoped to make it this year, but were unsuccessful. Here's to next year... Check it out, it looks like a great time. http://www.knaresborough.co.uk/bedrace/

Blyth Beach

Since the English summer is quickly coming to an end, we took advantage of a sunny day and drove to the beach. Blyth is a town along the eastern coast, part of the Northumberland Coast. We splashed in the North Sea for a few hours, with only Ella going more than ankle deep into the 60 degree water. Even with blue lips and her body shivering she had to be dragged out fighting!! We had a picnic on the beach and topped it off with an ice cream treat! It was a great day.

A Day in London

Any chance we get we say let's go to London, because we know that it will take as many trips as we can take to see it all. What an amazing city! The Queen spends her summers in Scotland so the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visit. We knew we had better take the chance to see them since there is such a limited time to see them. WOW! When you have a 2-year old you can't really stop and enjoy each room, but the short time we had was breathtaking. Ella loved visiting the 'Queen's House' and wondered where the Prince and Princess were!

We then headed out to find the mexican restaurant we had heard was great--by English standards!! It was the best we had tasted here, but that's not saying much. I enjoyed the margarita! In order to keep Ella going without her afternoon nap we knew we had to find a playground. If you are ever in London with children, take a trip to Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Playground, it is fabulous! A lifesize pirate ship is the center with tons of great things to keep the little ones busy. Ella had a blast--after getting used to the sand, such a girl!!

We still haven't made it inside Westminster Abbey, we didn't read the fine print to see that the last admission is 3:30 and we arrived at 4:15. We will just have to go again! So we got back on the train and went back to the base for a fantastic fast food dinner and Ella's first game of bowling--quite an experience; I hate that I didn't have my camera!

Picnic in the Park

When the weather is good, there is no better place to live than in North Yorkshire! There are many days that I sit and wish I was back in the good ol' USA, but then we get a day that looks like this...

and I start singing a new tune!!

We headed out to enjoy the amazing weather and had a wonderful picnic lunch, complete with Ripley's World Famous Ice Cream, at Valley Garden. The entire town was out to take advantage of the beautiful day. If there are too many more days like this, I may just never leave!!

Come and visit us soon so you can enjoy a day like this!