Liverpool

Saturday we ventured out to Liverpool, home of the Beatles! My mom was really looking forward to going to the Beatles museum, so we started our day there. Of course it was raining, so we waited in line in the rain. My mom was a trooper with the rain. She didn't let it bother her, but you really can't let it bother you because it seems to happen almost everyday. The Beatles Story is underground so Mark had to use the lift to get Andrew down. About half way through the museum Mark had to leave because he was feeling sick. He went to the car because he was feeling so bad. Mark was pretty upset that he missed the museum.

Andrew was playing the guitar to some Beatles music.

Leave it to Andrew to find Thomas in every trip we take. This section of the museum was all about Ringo Starr and he is the narrator on the old Thomas cartoon. They were showing one of the Thomas cartoons, so we had to watch it.

Andrew in the Yellow Submarine!

We called Mark when we were finished and he still was not feeling well so Andrew, my mom, and I went ahead with the day. We went out to lunch at a pretty good restaurant, What's Cooking. Then we went on to explore the Albert Dock. We came across an old Schooner. It is the last remaining wooden hull three masted top sail schooners. I am not really 100 percent sure what all of that means, but it is the last one so Andrew and I decided to explore it further. It was built in 1900 and restored in 2000. It was a pretty nice boat.

After the boat we went to the Merseyside Maritime Museum. We didn't spend a lot of time in there because my mom was getting tired and Mark was still in the car trying to get over not feeling well. We did get a chance to go through the Titanic exhibit and the International Slavery Museum. The International Slavery Museum was intense. I just have such a hard time wrapping my head around how bad the slaves were treated!! I just do not understand how you could treat another person so poorly for no good reason.

Items found in the wreckage.

 

We headed back to the car and Mark was starting to feel better. Our last stop was the main attraction for me, the Liverpool Cathedral. Let me first start out with saying I am embarrassed to even post my pictures because they don't even come close to what I saw with my eyes. This is Britain's biggest Cathedral and the fifth largest in the world. It has the world's highest and widest Gothic arches and has the world's largest organ with 10,267 pipes! Right when we walked in the organ was playing and it was amazing! This place was just amazing!!

 

The Liverpool Cathedral is in the running for my top three favorite things in England and could possibly be #1. I am really not sure where this new interest in Cathedrals has come from.

Mark made it through the day and never ended up getting sick.

 

Stonehenge and Bath

Wednesday Mark decided to take a day off work so we could have an extra day to do some sightseeing with my mom being here. Our plan was to get up early and drive out to Stonehenge and then the town of Bath. Our plan was delayed when we found our bathroom was taken over by flying ants. Yes, flying ants! Luckily the maintenance guy was already on the property to get the bathroom sprayed before we left. Just another example of our awesome English luck. We changed our plans due to our delay and went to Bath first.

The town of Bath was great. The town had lots of steep hills which made for some great views! This town definitely had a different feel than a lot of the other towns we have visited. The architecture is amazing and everything seems to be made of the same stone.

Our first stop was the Pulteney Bridge. The bridge was built in 1773 and it is lined with different shops. It is one of a few bridges with shops actually built into it.

Our next stop was the Roman Baths. The Roman Bath is centered around a hot water spring that the Romans believed came from ancient gods. The water comes up at about 115 degrees. A large "pool" was built for people to come and bathe in the warm waters.

The Sacred Spring is where the hot water actually comes up.

We stopped by Bath Abbey after the Roman Baths. One thing I have learned about myself on this trip is that I really like Cathedrals. I would be happy seeing cathedrals every weekend. We were able to catch part of the organ recital. There is nothing like being in a cathedral in England with an organ playing. This cathedral was beautiful.

My favorite part of the cathedral was this section of stained glass that shows 56 scenes from the life of Christ.

After lunch I came across this random creepy bird lady!! There is even one on her arm.

We visited the Royal Crescent, designed by John Wood. The Royal Crescent was built between 1767 and 1775. The crescent contains 30 houses. This was pretty impressive to see.

Here is another example of the awesome architecture in Bath, The Circus. The Circus is three buildings of town homes that form a circle. This was designed by John Wood's father who was also named John Wood. This was also very impressive to see. It was very hard to get a good picture. I think it would be fun to live there.

After Bath we headed out to Stonehenge. It was pretty amazing seeing it in person. It is not as big as you would imagine it to be and it is in the middle of nowhere. It is just crazy to think about how it was made. Andrew thought it was fun to run around the big rocks.

We were all exhausted after our long day. Andrew always surprises me with how well he does when we are gone all day.

 

Mom is in England!

My mom decided to make the trip out to England for a visit. This trip was her first trip out of the US. We picked her up at the airport last Saturday. When we were at the airport it reminded me of our first day here, we have come a long way!! Andrew was super excited to see her and so were we. Saturday was spent relaxing and adjusting to the new time zone. Sunday we took her downtown Derby, the Derby Cathedral, and then we took her out to Nottingham. England welcomed her with a downpour while we were in Nottingham.

Andrew has enjoyed having Grandma to play with this past week.

 

A Special Surprise

Two weeks ago we received a very special package! The delivery man told me it was a package from the States. I was so excited I couldn't get it open fast enough. It was a gift from all of Andrew's/my friends from Andrew's playgroup. It came at such a great time too. I had been feeling a little home sick last week. There were toys and different activities for Andrew. There were also fruit snacks and mac and cheese!! Andrew was eating lunch when the package came and he couldn't even finish eating he was so excited.

Thank you all so much!!! You guys are amazing friends. I am so blessed to have you all in my life.