Kayaking at Falls Lake

A couple weekends ago Nick and I borrowed his parents kayak for a day.  We headed out to Falls Lake which is just a few minutes away.  The weather was beautiful and we spent the day paddling around, fishing (Nick) and reading (me).

our yummy picnic lunch

We are thankful to have this beautiful lake so close by!  

Strawberry Picking

A few weeks ago Nick and I headed out to Lyon Farms to pick strawberries.  The weather was perfect and the berries were at their peak!  I spent the afternoon making strawberry cupcakes, strawberry ice cream and strawberry scones (and then gave most of that away because we definitely don't need all that around!) I love that warmer weather brings such delicious fresh foods!

Camden Market

Ok, just one more post from our London trip and then I promise I'll move on.

On Friday while the girls where in school Nick, Cait and I went out to explore Little Venice and Camden Market.  We had never been to this area before and it was such a fun day.

I am sure there is more to do in Little Venice besides walk along the canals (which were lovely), but it was drizzling and so after a brief walk around we hopped on one of the boats for a ride.  We ended up in an area called Camden Market, which is one of the most eclectic and unique places I have been.  There was every kind of food you could imagine as well as an endless amount of shopping.  If you are wanting to see a different side of London, this is the place.  We enjoyed our morning strolling through the shops and eating delicious food.

After the market, we cut through Regents Park and the sun decided to come out for a bit!

From there we grabbed bikes (there are bikes all over the city that you can use for free up to an hour and can then drop off at another location- very cool!)  and rode through Hyde Park.   Cait left to pick up the girls and Nick and I strolled around Knightsbridge.  We stopped in Harrods and the Victoria and Alpert Museum and then made our way over to Westminster Abby for their evening song service.   There is a service every night I think and they are free.  It was an amazing experience to take part of a service in a church that was built almost 800 years ago.

THe V&A museum and blue skies!

Thanks for everything Cait and Josh.  We love you guys and can't wait to see you this summer!

Keswick Part 2

Our second day in Keswick started off with a boat ride across the lake to get to the hiking trails.  The boat took us all around the lake so we were able to check everything out.  It was quite windy and cool but thankfully the rain held off most of the day.

The hike was really steep!  I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture, but the trail just went straight up.

looking down

looking up

It was ridiculously windy once we got towards the top!  You could lean into the wind and it would hold you up!   It might not look like it here, but we felt like we were about to be blown off the mountain.  

On our way back down we hiked through a beautiful, storybook forest. 

We even came across some giant Sequoias- they were massive!

We ended our hike with a picnic by the lake. 

By this point the rain had set back in and our boat ride back was quite cold.  We found the cutest little cafe in town and warmed up with some cappuccinos and scones.  

After a nap we hopped in the car an headed out for a "car hike" as our Rick Steves guide book called it.    Basically, it was a scenic loop through more of the beautiful lake district.  Turns out, a car hike was the perfect way to spend our evening, as the wind and the rain continued on.  It didn't bother us one bit though!

This drive was amazing! These pictures don't do it justice!  We barely saw another car the whole time, but passed plenty of sheep and farms. 

a waterfall

Here was my view-  Nick on the right, Rick Steves Great Britain 

 

We stopped in the next little town, Buttermere at a pub to have a pint before we headed back.

See the waterfall?

The Lake District was such a beautiful place! We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and highly recommend it!

Keswick,UK

Tuesday morning Nick and I woke up early to beat the London traffic and headed out in our rental car for the Lake District in Northern England.  While Nick was hoping for a sporty hatchback, we instead got this Vauxhall.   

After a quick adjustment to driving in the right side of the car and on the left side of the road, we were off.  Although it was a 5 hour drive, everything about being in another country is an adventure.  Along the motorway are "services" which are all in one stops with anything you could want from gas, all kinds of food, and even Starbucks.  They were quite convenient. 

A funny side story about one of our stops..... 

If you have ever been to England you might have noticed that they have tons of coins for their currency- 8 different ones in fact.   Nick kept ending up with pocketfuls of heavy change.  So, we had ordered coffee and Nick decided to use some of it up.  After fumbling with the coins for awhile and looking like a complete foreigner he looked up to see the coffee guy smirking and me laughing.  After that point he put me in charge of the coins.  

We finally made it to Keswick, where we were staying for two nights.  Our B&B turned out to be wonderful- very clean, charming, and walkable.  

After lunch in the town we spent the afternoon exploring.  The Lake District is an area of mountains (they call them fells) and lakes carved from glaciers.  People come from all over the UK for the hiking.  It seemed like every other shop in town was an outdoor store - we felt right at home!

Derwentwater lake (yes thats the real name!) was just a short walk from our hotel.  We cut right through a field of wooly sheep.  The "fells" on the other side of the lake are known as the Catbells.  You can take the ferry across the lake to get to the hiking trails.   

Catbells and the ferry

We then headed to the other side of town to do the Latrigg hike.  It was a quick hike- only about 15 minutes, but the views were so rewarding! 

Derwentwater

Keswick

Our next stop was the Castlerigg stone circle.   It is one of the many stone circles around Britain and is thought to be over 4,500 years old.  The stones line up with the peaks surrounding them.  We were trying to catch it at sunset, but we were a little early and it was very cloudy.  Still, it was very cool to see.

We ended our day in a cozy pub next to a fire, sharing a beef and ale pie and a couple of pints.  Have I mentioned it was very chilly and rainy our whole trip?  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day!  

I know that was a super long post so thanks if you read the whole thing!  Much more to come!

London 2012

As you probably know, Nick's sister Cait, brother-in-law Josh and three precious girls live across the pond.  While we miss them dearly, it does have one huge perk- the fact that we get to go visit them in London!  Another perk is we try to make the most of our time together.  

We had a smooth flight over and a wonderful first day, picking Lilly up from school and eating lunch.  Unfortunately after that I started to feel really sick and came down with a stomach bug.  I know they did other things while I quarantined myself upstairs but not much happened for me until Sunday.  Thankfully no one else got it.  Sunday night Nick and I kept all three girls by ourselves overnight so Cait and Josh could have a night out.  It went very well and we were proud of our accomplishment- ha! 

Monday we went to the London Eye which is a giant Ferris wheel on the Thames River right in the middle of the city.  You get a birds eye view of the whole city which was pretty amazing.

Big Ben, Parliament and the Thames

Scotland Yard

The Eye has giant "pods" that you can walk around in to see every angle. 

The big girls checking out the view

Later that night we went out to dinner with Cait and Josh to The Harwood Arms.  It is the only Micheline Starred pub in London and it was amazing!  It's fine dinning in a cozy pub setting.  We had a blast.