Kids At A Kastle

We haven't been doing much sightseeing recently. On top of being busy with our usual activities, the weather has been dismal and is only inspiring us to stay at home and try to keep warm.

However, today we finally had a reason to leave the house. We went on a tour of K.imbolton Castle:

Ki.mbolton is currently a school but is the ancestral home of the Dukes of M.anchester. It is most famous as the final home of Katharine of Aragon (she died in the room that is now the headmaster's office).

Kimb.olton is only opened twice a year to the public but can be toured by private groups. So, I got a group together:

The group included lots of kids. Luckily our guides were prepared with an animal hunt for all of the kids to do during the tour:

Our group was so big that we got divided in half for the tour. We stayed with the 'has young kids' half:

We entered the castle through the original entrance and toured the state rooms. The two big highlights were staircases. The interior grand staircase has some of the best wall paintings in England.

The exterior staircase was on the opposite side of the castle from where we came in. It was the main entrance after the castle underwent a major remodel in the 18th century:

It was a great tour and I was happy so many people wanted to come!

A Night Out In Honor Of Me!

Last night B and I went to the Wing's Annu.al Awards Banquet because I was nominated for an award for some volunteer work I do.

We got to dress up fancy:

Unfortunately I did not win.

But we still had a great time!

The Wind, The Hat and The Zoo

On Monday we headed to the zoo. They are still on winter operations, so we were able to drive through most of the zoo and park right next to the elephants. Of course, they were our first stop:

Our next stop was the new indoor play area (where I couldn't take pictures). The boys were happy to play for a bit because the wind was very gusty.

Eventually it was time to go - mostly at Pearson's insistence. He wanted to see the turkeys:

 As we went from one area of the zoo to another McColley was in charge of the gates:

Unfortunately his hat kept trying to fly away. He had purposely dressed as an adventurer and the hat made him feel like Ind.iana Jones.

As our wander about the zoo led us back past our car it was decided that, for its safety, the hat needed to be locked away.

Luckily there was not much time to bemoan the lack of hats as we soon went past the tiger... and Brayton blew a raspberry at it:

Then we discovered the underwater window for the sea lions' pool:

And then we caught the otters' lunch break:

Before having to pause for a hopping wallaby:

Then a pack of wolves inspired some howling:

And finally we ended up at the penguins... who live on the edge of both the zoo and the D.unstable Downs:

That particular spot was completely unprotected from the wind and was where we decided we were done for the day. However the boys are already planning our next trip (on a day with better weather).

We Had Snow! At Our House!

I am about two weeks late in posting this but January ended up being rather snowy for us. McColley was actually sent home early from school twice during the last half of the month.

The first day of snow we only had about an hour between McColley coming home from school and sunset, so the boys threw on their snow clothes as quickly as they could to play outside:

A few snowballs were thrown:

The next day there was more snow and since it was the weekend the boys had plenty of time to battle in the backyard:

They eventually declared their victory over the imagined invading forces:

Part of the reason that I am so late putting this up is because McColley had his first sleepover on the 24th - His best friend from school got to stay the night at our house. It was only later when I was cleaning up their dining room fort that I realized they'd snuck the camera out there:

Such silly boys!