We saw the baths in Bath!

Well, we were going to go camping again for the bank holiday weekend in August, but...the weather was forecasted to rain, and frankly, me and raining while camping is NOT a good combination, and if you know me at all, you know that to be true.


It's been recommended to us several times to visit Bath while we were in England, so Jon and I decided to go to both Bath and Bristol.  Little did we know the two would be at the extreme ends of an English spectrum!

One of the things that I really appreciate about living in England, coming from Arizona, is the abundance of serious history.  You see it everywhere here in castles and cottages, walls and abbeys.  I love it.  I love thinking about what people must have lived like way back when and it's easier to see and imagine when there is so much of it still around.

Bath is an old, old city.  It was a major settlement for the Romans.  It's streets are tiny and curve everywhere.  There are cathedrals and amazing architecture everywhere you look.  I really enjoyed exploring Bath.  But the Roman baths in Bath were the biggest attraction that we saw.

The Roman baths at Bath is the best-preserved ancient baths and temple complex in northern Europe.  It is a world heritage site, and home to the only thermal springs in the UK.  In the first century AD, the Romans chose these thermal springs to build the most dramatic suite of buildings in Roman Britain.  The building is set right in the middle of Bath.

Some facts about the Roman baths:
-rate of flow is 13 litres per second or about 250,000 gallons per day.
-temperature is 46C or 115F.
-there are 43 different minerals in the water.
-the water is colorless but acquires its distinctive green hue from algae growth caused by it's heat and by daylight.
-the great bath is 1.5 meters deep and is lined with 45 sheets of mendip lead.

We did an amazing tour of the baths, but truly by the time we were done, we were definitely ready to leave.  It was a bit like Ikea, there was only one way out and it twisted and turned and there was so much more to see than what you would have thought. 

The Roman baths as seen from the upper deck.

This shows how elaborately the Romans had directed the flow of the water out of the baths and into the river avon.

Joci touching the warm water as it comes from the Goddess source, oh and listening to her guided tour.  What a multitasker!

I love how both kids really enjoy listening about the history of the baths.

Part of the Goddess source.

We actually got to drink some of the springs.  It's said to have healing powers, but to us it just tasted like well water.

The head of Roma.

Love this view of the cathedral right outside of the Roman baths.

August, 2012

Joseph's Safari Adventure

During the summer Woburn Safari Park hosted a week long day camp for kids 8-12, effectively letting them be a zookeeper from 9-3 each day for a week.  We agreed that if he saved up his chore money to equal half the tuition, then we would throw in the other half.  As the time drew closer, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to reach that much money, but we went ahead and advanced him the money with the understanding that he still had to work off the rest of the money that he owed.  To say he was grateful and excited would be a gross understatement.

Joe took his camera along with all the other items that he needed for the week and had tons of photos.  It was amazing listening to his stories from the day.  Some of his highlights:

-He got to ride in the park Humvee and get close, really close to the animals.  (it's one of those parks that you can drive through but you have to stay on the path, he got to go offroad).
-His hand was bitten by a giraffe.  Apparently, the only person EVER to be bitten at Woburn.

-He held several different snakes.
-He cleaned up a lot of pooh.
-He had a lemur jump on his head.
-He got to feed marmosets with the food he made for them, and provided them an enrichment activity.
-He got to feed a wallaby, the albino actually, which is apparently difficult to do as he is very skidish.
-He held a giant snail.

I'm so, so happy that we were able to provide this for Joe.  He was so in his element, loving be close to the animals and learning more and more things about them.  It went a long way to supporting his ambition to become a veterinarian.  I am very proud of him.

 

The infamous giraffe that bit Joe.

August 20-24th, 2012

Yup! We went CAMPING!

If you know me you know that camping is NOT my thing, at all, in any way.  My idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn, as my Mother so loves to say. 

In the past each and every time I would go camping with my family, as a child, it would rain.  If I didn't go, it wouldn't rain, everyone would have fun, nobody would get lost, etc...  It became a habit that I wouldn't even be included in the camping invite, my family knowing that I would much rather just stay home.

When Jon and I started dating and got married, he wanted to camp.  We've only been camping a few times, which have resulted in a stomach bug in the middle of the night, a flat tire, a totaled car (in the middle of nowhere while pregnant), and of course, RAIN.

You can see why I am rather reluctant to go camping.  I've always felt a bit guilty not taking the kids camping more, as I do think it's important for them.  Joe has gone a bit with Jon and my Dad separately, but not so much with me.  I know they need it, and so I went along with Jon when he caught the camping bug and bought a tent.

We have plans to go camping at the end of the school holiday for three nights, and so Jon thought it a good idea to break in our camping gear and go for a one night camping trip somewhere close.  He booked a site at a cute little farm that has a big open field to pitch a tent and a nice little lake that you can fish on. 

I'm pretty sure Jon worked really hard to make my experience nice and easy and without any negative event, knowing my history with camping.  It was actually a really nice time.  As soon as we got there we decided to pitch our new tent in front of a little hill thinking it would provide some privacy, little did we know that was literally the mound that ALL the children in the park, including ours, played on day and night.  The kids made a few cute little friends while we were there, playing contentedly rarely coming back round to our tent. 

All in all, it was a good time, and I am looking forward to going at the end of the month for a few days as long as there are clean toilets and showers, I'll be alright.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, it didn't rain.  Well, it did for about 30 seconds while we were packing up, so that doesn't count!

Like our wind breakers?  We were shocked to see that everyone there had them.  It kind of helped with the wind and it added a bit of privacy for us as well.

Making smores.  Joe was pretty much the only one that liked them, Joci liked her marshmallows toasted and straight off the stick.

The kids playing on the mound.

August 11th and 12th, 2012

William Shakespeare

Alright, admittedly I am not a Shakespeare fan.  I find myself tuning out clouded by the 'fancy' language and sometimes unable to follow the plays because of it.  But, here in England he is a major hero and everyone is, rightfully, proud that he was a Brit. 

I was watching Horrible Histories with the kids this morning, which if you don't know it is a funny sketch show based on the Horrible Histories books filled with funny, gory, and gross facts about history that appeal to kids.  So, it's fun to watch and you learn a few things, too.  One of the sketches on the show was William Shakespeare singing a song about all of his famous phrases, many that we still use today, and I thought I would share.  I never knew most of these were his. How many of these have you used?

"You've got to be cruel to be kind"

"If truth were known"

"Love is blind"

"Seen better days"

"Salad days"

"All the world's a stage"

"Quality of mercy is not strained"

"Such stuff as dreams are made"

"Off with his head"

"This is the short and long of it"

"Brevity is the soul of wit"

"As good luck would have it"

"Green eyed jealousy"

"Stand on ceremony"

"The Queen's English"

"It's Greek to me"

"Meat and drink to me"

"Infinite variety"

"A wild goose chase"

"You can't have too much of a good thing"

"If music be the food of love, play on"

"Et tu, Brute"

"Forever and a day"

"Good riddance"

"Fair play"

"Pure as the driven snow"

"High time"

"Lie low"

"Wherefore art thou Romeo"

"To be or not to be"