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!