Bonfire Night

We are celebrating Bonfire Night with our friends the Smiths. Here is some background from Wikipedia: Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night, Cracker Night, Fireworks Night, Bonny Night) is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5 November, 1605 in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, were alleged to be attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, England.

It was not too alleged when you're caught in the basement of Parliament with several kegs of blackpower and a match in your hand...but hey...now it is an unoffical holiday in England with firework displays in every village. We had a fantastic time lighting sparklers, shooting off fireworks, and throwing apples on the bonfire!

Have-a-go Archery

Here we are at Richmond Castle for their medieval Have-a-go Archery. Isaac was able to hit the target. Mom hit blues and reds. Dad got one bullseye.



After we had our go with the archery, we climbed over 100 feet to the top of the Great Tower of the keep for a fantastic view of the town of Richmond and the raging River Swale.

Halloween Tomfoolery

This Halloween, Luke had his very own Halloween party. All of his two-year-old friends came over for Halloween crafting, pin-the-nose-on-the-pumpkin, spooky story telling, bobbing for apples, trick-or-treating, and loads of food. Luke had a marvelous time. Isaac really wanted to come to Luke's party, so he played hookey from school.

We carved pumpkins for FHE. Josh carved the spider web, and Dionne carved the cat and the scary one. Isaac and Luke jabbed, poked, and prodded.

Tomfoolery at its finest.

Meet Sir Isaac and Super Luke. The Superman cape gave Luke an incredible sense of empowerment. I think he thought he could fly.

The Man of Steel.

Robin Hood Pagent in Nottingham

This year we got to meet Robin Hood, Fryer Tuck, King Richard, and the old Sheriff of Nottingham at the Robin Hood Pagent at Nottingham Castle. We saw a working medieval village, a live joust and lots of sword fighting. Isaac was too scared to get close to any of the characters, even Robin Hood. I think he thought they were real.

We had to surrender our weapons, remove our hats, and be patted down by the king's knights before being presented to the King Richard.

Isaac and Luke were terrified of Friar Tuck. They wouldn't get close to him.

Nottingham Castle - built in the 12th century.

English Gangstas

"Dang, it feels good to be a gangsta"

(Actually, it was pirate day at Isaac's school. Pirates, gangstas, ninjas...there all about the same. Of course, Dionne does listen to a lot of rap music, hmmmm.)

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.