Green Princesses

This season Ava played AYSO soccer with some new friends and some old friends.  The team wore green and black so the parents pushed for the Lucky Leprechauns or some variant of that.   The girls seemed to be ready go with the name Lizards but an 11th hour suggestion by one of them quickly turned the tide and the girls opted for the Green Princesses (much to our dismay).

Spring soccer is not nearly as intense as fall soccer but the girls still worked on stretching and warming up before each of their games.

During the last game of the season, Ava scored one of her patented breakaway goals.

After the game, the Green Princesses celebrated their successful season by playing at the park, and having a pizza party complete with chocolate cupcakes and green sprinkles.

What a great way to end another fun season.

The Long Journey Home

After two wonderful weeks in England, including three nights in the Lake District, we left Crofton Cottage and began our journey home.

Before making our way south toward Manchester, we made a stop at Holker Hall - the home of Lord and Lady Cavendish.  The family still lives in the home so in addition to the gorgeous furniture, paintings, and tapestries you would normally find in a stately home, we also got to see their family photos - all without any barriers allowing us to explore the entirety of the rooms.  Holker is known for its gardens and Ava was able to run around and see some of the flowers beginning to bloom.

As we approached Manchester, we made a brief detour to walk around the Reebok Stadium, the home of Bolton Wanderers, and the site where Chelsea clinched its 2005 championship (their first in 50 years).  The Reebok is located right next to a massive retail park and we stopped in at Asda (sort of like the UK version of Wal-Mart or Target) to get some sweets and other groceries that we can't find at home.

After a night near the Manchester airport, we made our long journey through O'Hare and finally to LAX.  Even though we were stuck in coach on old 757s without individual TVs, and even though Ava's DVD player ran out of juice, she was a great little traveller.  

All Around Windermere

After visiting Beatrix Potter's home and learning all about her on Sunday, we started the morning of Bank Holiday Monday by walking down the hill in Bowness to see her characters come to life at The World of Beatrix Potter, which includes scenes from each of her stories as well as a lovely little garden.

We then walked down to the water to ride Windermere Lake Cruises' MV Tern (built in 1891) from Bowness to Ambleside.

We explored the little lakeside town, visited the Bridge House (a former apple store built on a bridge to avoid taxes), and ate lunch at the Apple Pie Cafe & Bakery.

As the weather worsened, we headed back in the cold rain on the Miss Lakeland.

From the pier, we walked back to our car and drove around the lake, on very narrow roads (hardly wide enough for one car let alone two), to Wray Castle.  Designed to look old, this wannabe Camelot was actually built for a wealthy retired surgeon in 1840.

On such a cold, wet day, a nice hot cuppa tea was in order.  Unfortunately, since it was so late in the day we were thwarted by several tea rooms and pubs that were closed.  We did, however, happen to stumble upon the Cuckoo Brow Inn (muddy boots, wet dogs and children welcome) where we were Ava and Mommy were able to enjoy cream tea and Daddy was able to have a local ale from Coniston Brewery and sticky toffee pudding. 

We ended our day with a quick trip back to Bowness via the car ferry and dinner at home on our last night in the Lake District.

The Lake District

For our first morning in the Lake District, we started off by taking a ferry across Lake Windermere to Beatrix Potter's (not to be confuse with Harry Potter) house Hill Top Farm.  Along the way we stopped to see a number of sights from her books about Peter Rabbit and others including Peter's nemesis Mr. MacGregor.

The house had a number of Beatrix Potter's books, which allowed us to compare Potter's artwork with the rooms in the house and views from the house.

After a brief drive, we ended up in Hawkshead where we explored the town and enjoyed a warm pub lunch at the Kings Arms.  

We even got to see the school attended by poet William Wordsworth

After a fair amount of driving and getting lost a few times we made the long drive up "The Struggle" over Kirkstone Pass and enjoyed some great views of Lake Windermere and the surrounding countryside.

Heading north, we enjoyed great views of picturesque Ullswater.

Not far off the Ullswater shore we parked and took a short hike to Aira Force where we were able to scramble over rocks, view the waterfall, and feel the cold, cold water downstream.

Our last stop of the day was Castlerigg Stone Circle, which was constructed around 3000 BC.  Although not as famous as Stonehenge, Castlerigg is surrounded by wandering sheep and lamb, and gorgeous rolling hills (as opposed to fences and a major motorway).

Driving Day

Our first couple days of driving were pretty quick but as we left Warwick we prepared for our only real driving day of the trip.  Our first stop was Cadbury World, where the magic of chocolate never ends.

In addition to learning all about John Cadbury and his sons - the Cadbury Brothers - we got to see chocolate being manufactured, and walked down a chocolate street. 

Ava even got to design her own chocolate advert.  Of course, the best part was eating all the chocolate. Not only did the workers hand out chocolate as we arrived but we were able to try fresh, warm chocolate as it came right out of the pipes.  It was a chocolate dream come true.

We stopped for lunch at The British Oak in nearby Stirchley before making our longest drive up the trip up to the Lake District.

Our final stop was Crofton Cottage in Bowness on Windermere, our home for the next three nights.

Ava again has her own room, and for some reason we even have two sitting rooms - each with its own fireplace.

Cathedrals and Castles

Before leaving Winchester, we stopped at the Winchester Cathedral, which has beautiful stained glass windows and is the resting place of Jane Austen.

Driving north we made a brief detour at Highclere Castle, which is the "real" Downton Abbey.  Although dozens of signs said the castle was closed, we were able to drive fairly close to snap a quick photo.  The third season is currently being filmed at Highclere but, unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to meet the Dowager Countess.  

After navigating the roadworks in Warwick and making a few detours, we were able to stop for lunch at the Thomas Oken Tea Rooms - the former home of Mr. Oken who was heavily involved in local government and religion in the 16th Century.   

The highlight of Warwick was Warwick Castle (naturally), and we had a great time wandering the castle grounds, climbing up the towers, and visiting the restored rooms. 

After visiting the castle and the castle playground (all castles have playgrounds, don't they?), we wandered through town, saw the statue of Randy Turpin (The Leamington Licker), and stopped for dinner at The Roebuck, which is Warwick's oldest public house dating back to 1470.

For the night we bedded down at Castle Limes Hotel where Ava had her own room with a pull out bed.