On the way down South towards Bath from Scotland we stopped at the Preston Temple and walked around the grounds before going to church.
Then we drove a few more hours and stopped at the Gadfield Elm Chapel, which was gifted to the early church when all of its members were baptized.
We had it all to ourselves so we had a little family service.
This is the cottage we stayed in, about 20 minutes South of Bath. It was built in the 16th century!
A look out the from our front window.
The kitchen - we had to be careful not to hit our heads on the beams!
The walls were all so thick. Liam could lie down long-ways in them.
We visited the Roman baths. They were really neat, but I feel like we were all ready for a break by then, so we would've probably enjoyed them more after some rest.
A huge highlight was visiting the Cotswolds. It was like a fairytale and we loved every minute of it.
We snuck through some gates (actually, someone let us through some locked gates probably thinking we were supposed to be there) and found this huge
A little mini door was on the side of a church.
Quite a few of the villages had a river or stream that ran through. The water made the towns seem even more magical.
This was on the side of the mansion. There was a huge chess set and a helicopter! Liam of course had to touch the helicopter and the boys played chess with Lamoni.
Liam was always sooo tired poor guy. He would get stuck on an idea or thing and nothing could bend him from it. Melinda was so kind to stay at this bus and golf cart with him for a very long time. There was a huge melt-down and a lot of screaming when we finally pulled him away.
Thank goodness for Joy! We could not have done it so easily and stress-free without her.
An adorable outside bakery in one of the villages. The homes are all occupied by residents, and an older retired man bakes bread and cakes then sells them to tourists on his doorstep.
Liam was sooo much work, but his affection and sweetness made it all worth it.
We spent a day in Wales, mainly to say we went there. I didn't realize that Welch is the main language there! Out of over 2 weeks of weather forecasts of rain, this was actually the only day it rained!
Melinda found these little custard pies that were *amazing*. She bought a ton and shared with all of us.
After walking around Cardiff a little bit, we opted to visit this fairytale instead of the Cardiff Castle. We had it pretty much to ourselves. Lamoni and his parents acted out (and recorded) a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
This window was another thing that Liam got stuck on. We took turns staying there with him. He opened and closed the window over and over.
While Lamoni and his parents were filming, the boys and I hung out in front of the castle. At one point Peter disappeared. I went around the corner and he was kneeling down picking flowers for a bouquet. It was so picturesque to see my 5 year old kneeling down next to a Medieval castle all alone picking flowers (which he gave to me!).
Lamoni did all the driving (20+ hours!) but Mel drove us home from the grocery store one night for the experience. That is a 2 lane road they're driving on, and the speed limit was always so fast - like 60 mph... on tiny roads with huge hedges so you couldn't see around the corner.
Grandma and Joy had technology to help keep things calm in the car - especially since Liam still hadn't figured out how to fall asleep in the car or stroller! Melinda was able to get him asleep a couple of times in the car, though, which was sooo nice when we didn't arrive home til midnight.
More pictures from the fairytale castle in Wales:
On the way back into England we stopped at this suspension bridge and walked across. Liam was actually asleep in the car, so Joy waited with him, then Lamoni went back with her across the bridge while I waited with Liam and the boys and Mel/Melinda played at the park.
We walked to the Circus (these circular buildings) and did a tour of one of the buildings that they had restored to the Georgian time period. The men had a good attitude about it, and actually really liked it by the end!
That wheel in the top right was actually for dogs! They would run in it like a hamster wheel, and it would turn whatever was roasting on the fire. There were so many neat innovations I would never have thought of.
The tour was creatively done - there was audio in each room that told the story of a fictional family who lived there (think Jane Austen).
Luckily we didn't take the boys on the tour. We left the van near a park so they played there with Joy. I can only imagine what it would've been like with the boys. I think Mel set off alarms about 5 times when he couldn't help but touch something haha.
We ate dinner at what should've been a great restaurant, but they were still short-staffed due to Covid, so it was a long not so great experience.
On our way back to London at the end of our trip we stopped by this castle because I read that it had a moat. It was a big hit. The boys said it was their favorite castle. We had it all to ourselves til the end when another family arrived, and there were no workers so we could do anything we wanted there!
The boys would jump out of this window then run around the castle, climb up and do it again and again. Note the church in the background, because a closer picture of it is below.
I love this picture.
Here's the church from the window of the castle. It had the tombs (with statues of their bodies) of some of the people who had lived in the castle.
This picture sums up motherhood for me.
Then we went to Stonehenge. We weren't planning on going (just looking as we drove by), but we ended up stopping and walking to it. The walk was a lot longer than we expected, and Liam was insistent that only *I* could hold him. That was super fun. It was a long walk. On the way back Lamoni ran ahead to get our stroller from where we had left it and ran back to relieve me.
We stayed the night near the airport and the next morning dropped off the rental van and unloaded a TON of luggage.
We had a long layover in Atlanta. We were all exhausted and ready to be home.
Benjamin drew pictures for Liam. He is obsessed with airplanes. He calls them all "Delta airplane" since that's the airline we flew.
I had to snag a picture, because it was the only flight I got to sit with Benjamin!
