End of England trip

Like all trips, the last few days always seem to fly by and that's what happened. I can't even remember what we did and i have no pictures apart from these.

Anyways, it's been a lovely lovely 3 weeks with Grandma and Grandad. I think we did everything I had in mind and most importantly got to spend loads of time with the grandparents. Tyler and Cody definitely enjoyed being spoilt rotten by grandma and I was definitely impressed with Grandad who balanced his doting and disciplinary figure perfectly just to remind Tyler that he's not above the law!!

Watching tv

Playing peek-a-boo with grandma

Goofing around with mommy!

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Evelyn and Patrick for making our stay so fun and comfy! I know Tyler will remember this trip for a LOOONNGG time and we'll have to do another one some other time!!

Cody's 1st Hair cut

To keep to traditions, i expedited Cody's first hair cut by imagining non existent hair that are too long! Well, how else am I going to get my 2 boys have their first hair cut in the same place? hehe.. sorta backfired on me as the lady who usually does it wasn't there anyways.

Cody before his first hair cut

The nice lady who pretended that there was hair to cut

Even Cody wasn't convinced!! Look at his face!! haha

But anyways, i do think Cody had slightly more hair than Tyler and some of them was a little standy uppy. And now i can say my two boys got their first haircut at the same hair salon! Yes, i'm just sappy like that.

Visiting The Mitchells

Cristina and Will are dear friends of ours who moved to England for greener pastures. It's been a few years since we last saw them. So, when i was in England, I was excited that i was going to get to spend a day with them.

They live near Winchester which is the town where Alan was born. It was a little bit of a drive, so we had a really early start. We did stop halfway for me to tick off another box of things to do - get a proper English breakfast! (but i have to say, the Scottish chips are wayyyy better)!

My Full English... ooh la la...

We spent a short time exploring a little bit of Winchester

Since we last saw them, we've added Tyler and Cody to our family while Cristina and Will have added beautiful Maria to their ensemble, who is a perfect angel. She eats and she plays and she laughs and all that done quietly!! :)

Maria..

Tyler who was shy at first, warmed up to Maria quite quickly. I think it may have to do with her pretty eyes.. or maybe her cool toys!! They chased each other around, in and out the tents and up and down the pool. Great fun!

Umm.. i'm not sure i'm comfortable with this..

Having a snack and a great time..

Large inflatable pool with toys!

Sexy Mama Lily doing Maria's hair

She is so cute, maybe i should serenade her..?

Tyler intrigued by Will making fire

Good spread of BBQ

Group photo

Old badminton partner

Old friends..

Cristina prepared a great feast of excellent salads and meat to entertain us. Those Romanians really know how to feed you. :) We had such a great time and the day seemed to have just flown by. And since it was quite a drive home, we left not long after dinner and made promises to not let so much time pass in between visits!

Longleat

Another nice trip that grandma and grandad planned for us was a trip to Longleat. It's another estate belonging to one of these lords and stuff(google it if you want to know). But this one has been converted into a multi-use amusement park with a safari park, adventure castle, train ride, Postman Pat's village and the list goes on. This place is HUMONGOUS!

The first stop at Longleat was the Safari Park. We started off with a bit where you can walk around and look at smaller animals. It was nice to be able to walk around and stretch our legs a little and drum up some enthusiasm from Tyler who had just roused from his snooze. He was particularly intrigued by the wallaby and its joey. Ha! which is funny because that was Tyler's pre-born nickname!!

Grandad and Tyler looking at giraffes

The kids with the grandparents

We then continued with the driving part which was pretty well done and we saw lots of animals, including rhinos, tigers, lions and wolves. And of course Tyler had to choose the most inopportune time to want to go "pee-pee", which was when we were in the lions areas. Grandad quickly drank up some soda and gave it to him to pee in, which suprisingly he did without any fight. Truly his Daddy's boy! I didn't get a picture because i didn't want him to decide NOT to pee..

The rhinos..

The monstrosity that they rented for the weekend!! haha!! Very comfy for sure!!

After the safari, we went to the main amusement area for lunch and continued our adventure on trains and cups and all!

On the train ride

Petting zoo area.. giant rabbit!!!

And oh, we also went to Postman Pat's(Tyler calls him Postman's Hat) Village which probably was Tyler's favorite!

The boys enjoying a ride

Awww.. now this is a RARE moment.. :)

Tyler wandering around the village with big lolly!! ha!

Checking out one of the shops

For once, i felt like a giant!

Tyler actually rowed without hitting his brother once..

Cody checking it out too

Cody and the Cat

The only picture in the WHOLE trip he posed for

More rides..

Tyler and Mommy riding the tea cups!!

Another ice cream that Tyler made Grandma buy but didn't eat!!

We left the park around 5 pm as Tyler was getting a little tired and cranky, having missed his afternoon nap. And besides, the park was closing!! Tyler must have enjoyed the trip a lot as he still talks about Postman Pat's house with grandma all the time.

Visit Sherborne

One morning, i lost my temper with Tyler and my in laws decided i needed a break. I happily took it and went along with Patrick to spend a few relaxing hours, meandering around the shops in the cute little town of Sherborne. We walked around Sherborne Abbey and Patrick gave me good information about some trivia and history and all that good stuff that Patrick knows.

I took Cody with me just so that he gets some attention for once without his pesky big brother in the picture.

It sure is relaxing without having the stress of running after an over active 2.5 year old!!!

The beautiful abbey

I love old churches..

Cody enjoying his quiet day out with Mommy and Grandad!

Tyler's new skill

In just a short time of 2.5 weeks being in England, Tyler has managed to acquire a slight British accent which i find hilarious!! He's added a little twang to the end of his sentences, like, "My want water nooowwww.." with the "now" being really long and uppey-downey. And he's also become more polite at saying "no" which has become, "no, please noooooo!". haha! Makes it so much harder to not oblige when he's that polite!

Anyways, just a short update so that i will laugh at this in the future! :)

Stourhead

When I was younger, i used to spend my time reading romance stories of Dukes and Barons and their beautiful home and estates(and their love story, of course). It was always hard to imagine what it was like to be in one of these estates. But thanks to my in-laws, i don't have to imagine anymore. I've been there!!

We spent one morning walking around the gardens of one of these estates and it was sooooo pretty and it was HUGE! I can't imagine what it must cost to maintain an estate of this size. Those people must have been pretty darn rich!!!

Tyler who was initially being Mr I-want-to-be-carried-whiny-pants eventually lightened up and enjoyed running around and feeding the duck and looking at fishes along the way.

Now, who wouldn't want to live here.. ?

Strolling around the lake

Resting and having a snack 

Enjoying the nice sun

Tyler trying to get across the bridge

Cody checking out the scenery

Any excuse to run...

Our little tinker!!

Cute Cody

Found a few more cute Cody shots..