Spofforth Castle & Plumpton Rocks (or wearing the boys out so Mom can rest at home)

Here we are at Spofforth castle — the manor house of the powerful Percy family who later built Alnwick — the Harry Potter castle.



On the way home, we noticed a sign for Plumpton Rocks and decided to investigate. We soon found ourselves squeezing through the crevasses of the large moss-covered rock formations. Although quite a bit smaller than Brimham Rocks, Plumpton’s formations overlook a small lake and wooded area of tall trees. We hiked around the lake and climb to the top of the rocks for a view of the surrounding area. Both boys had a grand time chopping trees with their sticks, poking their sticks in the water, and using their sticks to find cob webs inside the smooth cave walls.




After all our hiking the boys needed a nap. Back at home, Luke has been telling us that a troll and a monster live in his dress closet with him. They are his friends. Sometimes they eat dinner with him. They like Pez for dinner.

FHE at Brimham Rocks (Lemonade & Banana Pants)

We had such beautiful weather this week that on Monday as soon as I got off work, we decided to drive up to Brimham Rocks to eat dinner and have Family Home Evening (FHE) not at home. We ate our pasta salad, bread sticks, and capri sonnes on the large smooth-rock cliff overlooking the dales. The boys love to go rock climbing here.






Here are a few interesting conversations we've had this week:

Dionne to Isaac: “Isaac, you’ve drank two big glasses of chocolate milk. I bet you have a lot of pee pee with all that chocolate milk inside you.”
Isaac: “I better go potty” (after going potty) “Mom, I just had lemonade.”

Dionne to Luke: “How was nursery today?”
Luke (our 2-year-old): “Good.…I cried because I was missing you.”

Dionne: “Boys eat your bananas”
Luke to Isaac: “Banana pants”
Isaac: “Luke, I don’t have banana pants!”
Luke: “Banana pants”
Isaac: “LUUUUKE, don’t call me banana pants!”
Luke: “Banana pants”

The Robinsons Arrive in Jolly Olde England

Hi Everyone,

All of our friends tend to keep in touch through the blogosphere, so we decided to get our act together and jump on board. As a first post, we want to share a few of our favorite haunts near our home town in Knaresborough...

Fountains Abbey on the calm water of the River Skell

Bettys Cafe and Tea Rooms in Harrogate

Top of Brimham Rocks overlooking the North Yorkshire Dales

Boating on the River Nidd and underneath the Viaduct in Knaresborough

And finally, people have asked how life is in England. We are making new friends - both British and American. We are enjoying a slower pace of life...counting sheep, trying to avoid dark rain clouds, and the taking in the surrounding beauty of the moors and dales. More to come.