Abbey Day, Part 2: Rievaulx Abbey

Our second stop of two abbeys on abbey day is Rievaulx Abbey (pronounced 'ree-voh'). Here's the wiki. First, we had to make nice with the local resident.

The Brothers Robinson

The English Family Robinson

Isaac said he had to find a place to make a wish, so we took him to the center stone in the great hall and he hold his hands up and says, "I wish I could go to Africa and ride a zebra."

More arches, which I find fascinating - Josh.

Abbey Day, Part 1: Byland Abbey

Hi Everyone,

We're coming 'atcha from Byland Abbey. Our first stop on a tour of two abbeys in North Yorkshire. For some history, here's the wiki.

Spider kid, spider kid, does whatever a spider kid does.

Male bonding at its finest.

A 12th century tub.

Not your typical golden arch.

Primary Sewing Project

Are you currently serving in primary and have a seating arrangment problem? If so, this post might be of interest to you. I am currently serving as second counselor in the primary presidency and our seating arrangement was in complete disarray. Every week, there was a different class in a different seat. I came up with the idea to sew slip covers for the chairs with the class names. I measured our chairs and made a pattern. I cut a variety of fabrics and enlisted the service of the Faith in God Girls (Activity Day Girls for you Americans). The girls picked a fabric, picked a class name, picked their thread colors, and embroidered away. Once they were finished, I added some ribbon and some buttons to spice things up and sewed them together. Warning, this project did take allot longer than I anticipated. I easily spent over 20 hours of my own. This project took me back to the days of my youth doing Personal Progress and Laurel projects. I thought to myself, now I know why the Personal Progress program has Laurels do such big service projects. It is for training and experience so that you will hopefully continue to do it again and again. The end result was really worth the effort. I took them to church for the first time this past Sunday, and all the girls were really pleased to see their work in finished form. And every class knew exactly where to sit. Order has returned to our primary! Well, at least momentarily.

Here's a size comparison (don't be distracted by the riff raff).

Glorious Sun at Helmsley Castle

A rare sunny day with blue skies took us to Helmsley castle, built sometime after 1120 by Walter Espec, or 'Walter the Woodpecker.'

"Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug!"

Super Profile Shot - Talk about your striking resemblances!

Hold the bow steady, I'm going for a ride.

On the home front...this week Isaac is a zebra and Luke is a tiger. Zero monsters sighted.

A Sad Day...

...and a happy one as Isaac starts his Reception year at school. Sadness is a selfish emotion on our part, especially since Isaac is so excited to go to school, but we know this is closing a chapter of his childhood at home. Someone else will be helping him to learn and grow during the better part of his day.

Without Isaac, Dionne tells me that she is getting to know the real Luke. He is even more mischevious now that he has run of the house. And so, life goes on...

Roman Ruins: We better go eat!

Another video that examplifies the simple joys of life while on holiday: splashing and food...

St. Peter's Basilica: Get 'em outta here!

A video that examplifies what life is like for us when we're on holiday...

Saltburn-by-the-sea

It's Labor Day and what better way to celebrate our hard work then to have a relaxing day at the beach! Today we went to the beach at Saltburn-by-the-sea (this is the actual name of the town and not just its location).
Isaac and Luke loved the running up and down the beach. They built sand castles and stomped on them. I got a chance to climb the grassy hill nearby and do some exploring on the rocky part of the beach. Dionne enjoyed relaxing in our American flag beach chairs and wished she had brought a book to read.



We rode the Saltburn Tramway to the town at the top of the cliffs. The ingenious tramway uses counter-balancing water tanks to move either tram car to the top or bottom. The design of the car and stained glass windows made you feel that you had just step back in time to the 1880s.


On the home front, Luke has been having some nightmares about monsters. He also has been referring to himself as a dragon lion. It was about this age when Isaac called himself a water buffalo. So we now have a water buffalo and dragon lion living in our house along with a monster that hides under Luke’s pillow.

Grandpa & Marmee Visit Part 3: Rome, Italy

For the final week of Grandpa and Marmee's visit, we all went on vacation in Rome, Italy. As soon as we exited the plane, Dionne sang hallelujah for the warm weather.

And now, without further ado, my tips for vacationing in Rome:

1. Avoid long lines at the Coliseum and Vatican by joining a tour group (Stan, who thinks he looks like George Clooney, does a pretty good job).

2. Posing for pictures with Roman soldiers will cost you five euros.

3. Waterglobes and other souvenir trinkets will cost double in the airport than they do from a street vendor.

4. If the Rome Fiumicino airport loses your luggage, you will get it back in two days after it is routed back from Malta.

5. Only children are allowed to sit on the marble ledges in St. Peter's Basilica.

6. And finally, water from the fountains is good for drinking, but bad for splashing other holiday travellers (two and four-year-olds should be restrained).

Colosseo

Palatino

Arco di Tito

Vatican

Trinita dei Monti (Spanish Steps)

Pantheon