England

Two weeks to the day of us moving to Germany and we decided to mix things up again and travel with John to England for an entire week to his work conference (with families being welcome of course). And to think that our big road trips were going to cease after driving to Oregon! Ha! I should have known! :)

  {Holding brother's hand...so cute!}

 {The Rhein River}

 {France!}

 {The Euro Tunnel!}

{Leaving the train and arriving to England!}

 {Driving in England}

{Our rental van for the week}

We left on Sunday the 14th and returned on Sunday the 21st - 9 hours of driving on both days. Kids were getting a bit under our skin at times but it beat the price to fly so you take what you get, right? :) LOL It wasn't all that bad but the van we rented isn't what ours - so you couldn't see the kids in the 3rd row because of the high seats and we weren't able to play any movies. Makes for a fun adventure. Hopefully when we get our van in a few months, we'll be set to see all that Europe has to offer! :) For now, we're going to stay close to home. I know, I know...many of you have already mentioned that it's strange for me to call Germany home and not the States...but home is always where my family and I are residing. Of course the States will always be HOME but this place is growing on us. We'd like to take all that we can from here while we live here. Might as well start off running! LOL I just need to start learning the language, stop comparing or saying "this would have cost this amount in U.S. Dollars" because it'll depress you and there's no point to that (the commissary will be shopped at often!) and figuring out km vs. miles when driving, etc. - and then I'll feel less of an alien around here! Wish me luck...I take a written test to get my license!

We drove through the Netherlands, Belgium, France and then took the chunnel (the underground 35 minute tunnel train ride underneath the channel) into England. I think I felt more at home in England vs Germany - not as big of a culture shock as to what we're getting here in Germany. But it might have been because I still, even with the accent, knew what they were saying. Hahaha

New experiences:
* All of us rode the chunnel for the first time!
* Had to pay 30 euro cents for each person that had to use the restroom at a stop. Sure makes you want to hold it a little longer - or not drink for the entire trip. LOL I think we need to step it up a notch and get used to Euro money because all I had left in my wallet was American change. Not too helpful in times of needing the restroom!
* Heard MANY different languages.
* Techno pop is HUGE out here. I can't wait to get my iPod set with more music I'm used to hearing. Not that change is bad or anything - just not my style!
* Saw many community gardens along the way
* Drive on the opposite side of the road in England - with the right lane being the fast lane! That was interesting to get used to for the week!
* Took kids to some neat places- more on that soon!

We had a blast in England and can't wait to go back and visit! With my brother and his family living there...I don't think that will be too hard to do! :)

Windsor Castle

After a little lunch on the bus ride and an hour or so later, we made it to our next destination of the day: Windsor Castle!

It was so neat to pull up and see a ginormous ferris wheel and a view of the castle. We were so excited to go and check it out. And my favorite...take pictures! :)

We had about 3 hours to explore before all of us had to meet back up at the bus to return back to Lakenheath. My friend Emma once again saved the day and helped me with my children. The kids really loved having her around with us! And again, I missed my hubby and wished he was enjoying this day with me!

After we climbed off the bus, we went up an elevator and walked down the side of a train track to this...

The Queen! Andrew LOVES trains so this was the best thing to see of all time on this trip in his opinion! :)

And here it is...a view of the castle. So huge! And our FIRST castle to ever see in person! It was pretty much awesome! But it also felt a bit unreal to actually be standing face to face with an actual castle.

And here is where our adventure through the castle began. There's quite literally a town surrounding the castle walls...

Tons of shops and restaurants!

{A statue of Queen Elizabeth.}

Turning onto the street to the left takes you up to the front entrance to the castle.

We paid the entrance fee, walked through what felt like an airport security gate (metal detectors, etc) and then we kind of wandered around for a bit and took in the view. It then occured to us once we saw the British flag flying above the castle, that that meant someone from the Royal party was home. We of course didn't know who was there but it was still pretty neat to know!

I loved seeing all of the detail all over the castle!

The entrance to the front of the castle where Royalty live.

Closer view

And oh my were the gardens surrounding the castle beautiful!!!

The Royal Guard

And this is at the point that Aubrey, Jocelyn and I took a tour through Queen Mary's Doll House and a brief walk through the State Department where we saw the Waterloo, King & Queen's bed chambers, armory and shields on the wall, etc. We couldn't unfortunately take any inside photos of the castle. Those darn rules - obviously necessary, but still! :) I guess you'll have to just use your imagination.

While the boys snoozed, us girls had our picture taken next to the Guard.

We had a quick bite to eat before heading back to the bus. Smoothies, lemonades and yummy treats!

It was a FUN (and exhausting!) day! I'm so glad I got to experience this day with my children. :)

And then we made it back to the hotel JUST in time to see this beautiful sunset.