A Successful (and long overdue) Stabilizer Removal

When Tim was 4 years-old, he got a "big boy bike" with training wheels for his birthday. Well last weekend, the training wheels finally came off!

It's not that we are neglectful of our son or keep him from playing outside. The truth is that wherever we have lived, it wasn't safe enough for Tim to ride his bike outside. So, we'd have to put his bike in the back of the car and take it to the park (or here- to base), for him to have a chance to ride.

Well, I recently took a walk in the village, and discovered that what I thought was someone's personal driveway was actually a road to a few people's driveways. It was a perfect road for bike-riding. So, we took the kids up this road last week for them to practice (Maddie has her brand-new, big-girl bike now, of course). It was pretty clear that Tim was no longer depending on his training wheels anymore. (By the way, in the UK training wheels are called "stabilizers".)

So, a few days later, the "stabilizers" came off. And with only a wobble, Tim was off! Way to go Tim!

Spring Lambs

Spring is officially here! Hooray!!!

The days are getting noticeably longer and warmer. It's so nice to wake up to sunshine and birds singing.

Flowers are blooming everywhere! Daffodils are very popular around here. They line the streets and stream in our village. So pretty!

But, the most tell-tale sign of spring in this area has to be the baby lambs. Each day, there seem to be more and more of them out in the local fields.

The other day, I finally remembered to bring my camera in the car. I stopped along the road to take this footage. The lambs really are so cute. I just love how they "skip"!

Beningbrough Hall & Gardens

The weather around here has certainly been warming up. It feels great to get outside with the kids.
This past weekend, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go see a place called Beningbrough Hall & Gardens. Beninbrough Hall was a mansion built in 1716 for a wealthy landowner in York, whose name was John Bourchier. Now, the hall holds pieces of eighteenth-century portraits on loan from the National Portrait Gallery.

The portraits and rooms were really neat to see, but what I especially appreciated was how the gallery had interactive rooms for the kids. In one room, the children could dress up like the people in the portraits, and do a "Where's Waldo?" search for elements in a picture. In another room, the kids could put themselves in a portrait by looking in a mirror, setting a background, putting on a costume, etc. They even had a computer program that took your picture and put your faces into a portrait. Here's how ours turned out. The kids also had a chance to sculpt some noses. The gardens around the hall were just lovely. They weren't very full, but signs of life were certainly blooming. The gardens also had a play area for the kids, which was nice.As we were walking around, I couldn't help but think of the book The Secret Garden... the tall, ivy-covered, garden walls... really neat.So, here's my question for you to answer in my comments: What do you think this little hole in the wall was originally for, and/or why was it walled in? I don't know the answer, but I'd love to hear your ideas!

Everybody Knows Collin Loves his Toes

Can you believe that my sweet baby Collin will be 6 months old in less than two weeks? Where has the time gone?

Anyway, Collin is doing just great. He enjoys playing on the floor and rolls a lot from back to front. He still hasn't rolled again from front to back though, and often gets frustrated when he gets stuck there. As you can see, Collin also enjoys grabbing his toes.Collin's favorite thing still has to be bouncing in his bouncy seat. Here's a new video of him doing that. If it's possible, he's bouncing even harder than before (his feet sometimes push off the ground!).

A few weeks ago, Collin got both of his front bottom teeth! They are very cute, but it's impossible to get a picture of them showing. Sorry...

Collin has also started eating solid foods. So far he's had rice cereal and oatmeal, as well as sweet potatoes, avocado, and bananas. Those bananas have succeeded in stopping him up, so his next food will be prunes!

For Christmas, my parents ordered a new sheet set for Collin with a cute transportation theme. Well, we finally got it in the mail last week, after Sears.com messed up the original order (they sent us a skateboard... seriously). Anyway, I was so happy to finally put his nursery together and make it look more boyish. Here's the finished look.Don't you just love the wall stickers? I found this set on-line, and couldn't resist when I saw it had a double-decker bus sticker!
Collin has also been spending more time in his walker and play pen. I figured the play pen would be a good idea for now so I can have more control over the toys in there with him. We have a lot of baby proofing to do when he starts moving. I am not looking forward to that at all!

Maddie's Pajama Birthday

This past Wednesday was Maddie's 5th birthday! I'd say I can't believe it, but to be quite honest, she looks like she should be 5. She has gotten so tall, and her face doesn't look baby-ish anymore. My little girl is growing up!

For her birthday, Maddie wanted to go bowling as a family. So we met Ethan at the Strike Zone on base after work for bowling and pizza. Then we came home for cake and presents. Maddie was delighted to get a Tinker Bell watch from her Grammy and Papa, a new outfit and book from Grandma and Grandpa, and a pink Yankee hat from her Uncle Luke!Our gift to her was her very own big girl bike. She really loved it, and rode around the house all night!Today, Saturday, was her birthday party with her friends. We decided to have a daytime pajama party (NOT a sleepover... I repeat, NOT a sleepover). I got the idea from Parent's Magazine.

A few weeks ago, we sent out invitations that looked like Maddie in a sleeping bag. For the party, the kids all wore their pajamas (or as they spell it here, "pyjamas"), and brought along their favorite (or as they spell it here, "favourite") stuffed animal. We played bedtime themed games like, "Pin the Pillow on the Bed," "Asleep, Asleep, Awake!" (like Duck, Duck, Goose!), and "Pass the Pillow" (like Hot Potato). The prizes for the games were good-night kisses (made of chocolate, of course!). The kids also played a version of charades where they pretended to do a particular action in their sleep (here, Jack is milking a cow). For a craft/party favor, the kids made their own pillows. I bought fleece fabric and small pillows, and sewed the fabric 3/4ths around for a pillowcase. I then cut slits on the 4th side for them to tie off. You can see a few of them holding their pillows in the picture below.
For the cake, I experimented with fondant for the first time, and made this cake that looked like a bed! It was fun!Happy Birthday Maddie!!!

Safe, Microwave, or Consequence Teacher?

During our trip to Edinburgh, we stayed in a pretty nice/standard hotel room. Our room was equipped with a safe. It was one of those safes where you determine a pin code, and push some buttons to set it.

Well naturally, Maddie thought the safe was a fun thing to play with. So many buttons to push! Actually, I'm pretty sure she thought it was a microwave. She would put her teddy bear in it, push some buttons, and then ask me why her teddy wasn't getting hot.

Anyway, after a few minutes of playing, somehow Maddie accidentally set a pin, and locked her teddy in the safe. It wouldn't have been too big of an ordeal, except that Ethan thought this might be a good opportunity to teach her consequences to her actions. So he said, "Well Maddie, it looks like you've lost your teddy forever!" Maddie's response to this of course, was much drama and tears. Ethan instantly felt bad about what he had said, and as he consoled her, I called the front desk to send someone up to open the safe.

You'd think that this would be the end to "The Safe Story," but no. Later that night, Ethan said to me, "You know what... I'm going to just set a pin for the safe so this doesn't happen again. 1,2,3,4."

So the next day, Tim decided to play with the safe. (There's something about kids and pushing buttons, I think!) Anyway, he had overheard the pin and was working at opening and closing the safe. Well, somehow, he managed to reset the pin and lock the safe. "It's not a big deal, Ethan," I said, "as long as he didn't put anything into it." Well, he had put something into it... Ethan's book. So, once again, we had to call the front desk to open the safe.

And thankfully, that is the end of the safe story.

Edinburgh: Last Day Rosslyn Chapel

On the day we were supposed to drive home from Edinburgh, I asked Ethan if we could go see Rosslyn Chapel. It wasn't too far from our hotel, and it was pretty close to our route home. I had read in a tourism book that it was a great place to see, and was reminded that this chapel was in the last scenes of The DaVinci Code.When we got there, I was a little disappointed to see a large scaffolding covering the chapel. (I found the picture above without the scaffolding on-line. In fact, all of these inside pictures are from the Internet, as they did not allow photography inside the chapel.) Anyway, I wasn't sure if it would be worth paying to go see it. But, I'm so glad that we decided to go in. The outside of the chapel was still incredible, and the inside was unbelievable!!!

Rosslyn Chapel was founded in 1446 by Sir William St Clair. It took about 40 years for the chapel to be built. What is particularly noteworthy about this chapel is its extraordinary mason work.If I was just walking through this chapel unaided, I would have thought the mason work was exquisite, but that would have been about all. Fortunately, there were signs posted all around the chapel, pointing out symbols that could be found in the carvings, and the stories behind them. These walls were covered with religious and pagan symbols, and a few Knights of the Templar symbols, as well.

In the front of the chapel, there are two very ornately carved pillars. One is known as the Mason's Pillar, and the other is the Apprentice Pillar. The legend goes that the Master Mason carved the first pillar, and then went on a journey to Rome to get inspiration to carve the other pillar. While he was away, his apprentice had a dream that inspired him to carve the other pillar. When the Master Mason returned, instead of being proud of his apprentice's accomplishment, he killed him in a jealous rage.

This is a carving of the seven deadly sins,and the chapel had over 100 carvings of the "Green Man," which was a popular pagan fertility symbol during that time period.I found all of the carvings and stories to be so intriguing. However, it was the mason work around this window that really peaked my interest. If you look closely, you can see that the framing along the inside of this window looks like maize. Maize, of course, is not indigenous of Europe, but came from North America. So the question is: how was this carved back in the mid-1400s before Columbus even crossed the Atlantic? Some historians argue that a man named Prince Henry of Orkney discovered North America about 100 years before Columbus. Legend suggests that Prince Henry made a voyage in 1398 that brought him to Nova Scotia and modern day Massachusetts. While there, he wintered with the Micmac Indians. Prince Henry just happens to be the grandfather of William St Clair, the founder of Rosslyn Chapel. Fact or fiction? You decide!

Earlier I mentioned the scaffolding that was around the outside of the chapel. I found out that this structure has been there since 1997 in an effort to keep the elements off the roof. Apparantly, the stone of the roof needs to dry out and efforts need to be made to better conserve the outside masonry of the chapel. Even though the scaffolding was rather unsightly, it did allow us to walk around the outside of the chapel and see what the roof looked liked. Along the roof line, you could see the following letter sequence: WLSFYCYZOG Miii1L, which translates to "William Lord Sinclair Fundit Yis College Ye Zeir Of God MCCCCL" (1450). Here are a few pictures I took from our view on the scaffolding.




After our tour of Rosslyn Chapel, we had a nice, uneventful drive home. The views as we were driving were just beautiful.So, that about wraps up our trip to Scotland. I have a few other stories about things the kids did on the trip that I may blog about another day.