Stonehenge & Windsor

I have always wanted to visit Stonehenge. I thought it was just a really cool looking monument. I've heard mixed reviews about it as it really is just a pile of rocks. I always imagined it in the middle of a huge field, in the middle of nowhere. In fact, it is just off a busy motorway. It was a gorgeous drive through the country on tiny little roads in my huge expedition, but we made it there with the mirrors in place! It was a really windy day so we took our mobile electronic tour guides and walked around.

After spending an hour at Stonehenge we headed to Windsor Castle. We took a guided tour of the grounds up to the entrance of the state apartments. The tour guide explained all of the entrances and showed us the Queen's personal apartments. She showed us where heads of state arrive and where they stay. She explained that when the Queen's flag is flying she is in residence and when the British flag is flying she has departed. I thought the moat was interesting as it was a garden. I also loved the lampposts as they each contained a crown on top throughout the grounds. We had a good time touring the state apartments and found a really helpful security guard who made the tour exciting for Jackson. At five it is hard to look at castle after castle and not get bored. The guard made a game out of finding all the secret doors in the rooms which were servants entrances. Then he took Jack behind the ropes to see a painting of James I. He put him in several positions and had Jackson notice that the shoe of the King pointed at him at all angles. The state apartments are absolutely magnificient. I wish I could be invited for an audience with her majesty! We made a brief tour of the chapel on the grounds. There are 10 kings buried here including Henry VIII.

He is Called Fido?

This morning Colton was practicing his roll to the belly. He's been rolling from his back to his belly for a couple of weeks now, and in fact, does this rather than rolling from belly to back. This morning he wouldn't stay on his back, and I found him heading to the chair on his belly. Connor and I were laughing so hard when he started licking and "chewing" on the leg of the chair like a teething puppy. So we quickly grabbed the camera. I can tell you he was quite pleased with himself. At 22 1/2 lbs it's a wonder the kid can maneuver his body anywhere!

Stratford-Upon-Avon

Aunt Wendy came to visit us, and so we decided to take a road trip west to see some of the sights on the west side of London. Our first day we spent in Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is as beautiful a little town as I remember it to be and the drive to the town was really gorgeous. We arrived around lunch time which for me meant some tea and scones. After lunch we toured Shakespeare's birthplace. They have made some changes since I've been here and one that I particularly enjoyed was having actors in the garden to perform some of Shakespeare's works. We sat for some time enjoying snippets of plays and one of the actors spoke directly to Connor and then was kind enough to explain the details of what he said.

We shopped on the way to the next house which was the Nash House/New Place which is where Shakespeare died.

They had beautiful knot gardens in the rear. It was a shame for apparently part of the actual house where Shakespeare lived was destroyed by a later owner so we were only able to see the foundations.

We continued on to see Shakespeare's daughters house and the garden was gorgeous. I got some really great pictures of the boys after touring the house. Colton even practiced his sitting up for the entire time. He's growing up too fast!

Finally we went to the church where he was buried with his wife. After such a full day we ate dinner at a local pub which has been around for hundreds of years and had clotted cream ice cream for dessert! It was a very fun day.

Me and My Trophy

Okay so Jackson was BEYOND excited about getting his very first soccer trophy. He has watched Connor collect a trophy for every sport and has wanted one since he could speak of it. So after playing a really great soccer season, he finally was rewarded with his very own. He turned out to be a really good little soccer player and even scored two goals in the first 5 minutes of his very last game. I think it helps that he's also been playing British soccer already. His comment was "Jackcino likey!" Those names from Spain live on!

Garmish Re-Visited

I wanted to post some additional pictures of our time in Garmish. We had two days of cooler rainy weather so we hung around the hotel and played in the pool. Jeff's conference ended earlier than expected so he was able to hang out with us on Friday. We decided to walk downtown after lunch. We decided to follow the river which we knew had to run through town but it doesn't follow the main road. It ended up being a gorgeous hike and a nice path. Who knew? The boys loved it as there were kayaks to watch. Jackson decided he wanted to learn to kayak now as a result of watching them. The boys also love any opportunity to get their toes wet and throw rocks in the water so they rolled up their pants and waded in.

Colton was fascinated by the water. We took a break as the kids were playing and he just stared and stared at the water.

There was plenty of gorgeous scenery for pictures and we took our time getting downtown. Jackson demonstrated his amazing climbing skills. The kid can shimmy up anything!

Once downtown my hubby bought me an early Christmas present from Kathe Wolfharts. Can't It poured down rain during dinner so Jeff sprung for a cab to get us back home. Saturday we headed to the cheese factory in Ettal which is a newer thing to go see. They've just opened the factory in the last year and a half. The cheese was wonderful and Jeff had a beer made at the monastery next door. The handgemacht kasekuchen was delicious as well. Colton was less than impressed with it all and slept through most of the adventure. We were all sad to be leaving the next day as we had a really fun trip. I was eager to get home to my bed.

5 Months Already? It Isn't Possible

While in Garmish we celebrated Colton's 5 month milestone. Jackson sang happy birthday to him. So what is Master Colton like at 5 months?? He's a pure joy. He is a HUGE boy. Truly he is a sweet baby. I think Jackson and Connor are tired already of hearing what a better baby Colton is compared to either of them. He is so content to sit and play quietly. Having two other boys I know this is temporary, but I am sure enjoying it while I can! He has found his tongue and sticks it out constantly just because he can. He loves to sit up. He can sit up by himself a bit, but I think it's only because his bottom is so large it's like a weight to keep him up. I think he'll be a late crawler as he seems content to stay in one place. He loves to talk to us. He sure lets us know when he's ready for some attention. He talks up a storm babbling just like the other two boys. I swear he said mama the other day. I know he didn't but still, I just think he's brilliant and will swear he said it. He's really reaching for me in the last week. He turns almost all the way around in daddy's arms to find me. He is getting good aim as well with those reaching grabby hands. He adores Connor and will light up when he comes home from school. Jackson he likes but is a bit more reserved with. I think he still doesn't quite know what to make of such an active and LOUD 5 year old. We did start him on cereal and he LOVES it. I am amazed at how well he eats right out of the gate. He moves it right to the back and he is the least messy eater of the three. Unfortunately he sleeps much worse on days he gets cereal so we are starting and stopping trying to find a time of day that works so we can all get a good nights sleep. All in all we are really enjoying him.

Dachau

The one trip I've wanted to always take was to Dachau. I always felt the boys were too young to truly appreciate this experience so we never went. Connor had the opportunity to hear a survivor from Bergen Belsen speak at Lakenheath a week before we left for Garmish, so he really wanted to visit the camp. I put Jackson in the kids day out program which absolutely delighted him and loaded Colton in the car for a day out with mom and big brother. It was wonderful to be with just Connor for the day. He has become a very interesting and funny young man. We listened to music in the car and were able to have some good conversation. As he's quickly showing signs of pre-teen angst, this was particularly good for me. The visit was really an amazing experience. I learned so much, and I know from discussions with Connor that he did too. What really amazed me was that Connor noticed things that I never would have on my own. For instance we missed the turn for the parking lot so we ended up driving along the perimeter of the camp. The first thing Connor said was "Look mom, the wire is facing inward to keep people in."

We spent quite a bit of time in the visitors center trying to read the incredible amount of information they posted. The building this is housed in was the in processing center. There was a map of where all the camps were located. I never realized how many camps there were as each dot on the map represents some kind of camp or sub camp. I never realized how extensive the sub camp system was.

While in there after viewing some videos we happened upon a tour guide from Munich who was a history major. She had a real heart for sharing information about Dachau with people and allowed us to join her group. Dachau was the first concentration camp and was actually a work camp, not an extermination camp. It was an SS training facility as well I believe. It was never intended to house the number of people it housed by the end of the war. They showed us three versions of bunks from three periods of the camp as more and more people arrived. At first bunks were designed for one person in each partitioned unit. By the end of the war they were just large open units where people would pile in on top of one another.

The bunk houses were torn down as they were never built with proper foundations and they rebuilt two of them to show people what they were like after the war. They did mark out all of the bunk houses that existed. The trees in the center of the camp were original and planted by prisoners. As it was the first camp they wanted it to look "pretty" so they planted trees.

They explained their "defensive" system to us as well. They had guards in the watch towers and the grass strips were the first line of defense to keep people in. If anyone was on the grass they could be shot. Then there was a ditch and then razor wire then the fence. They even had razor wire all along the river.

This camp did have a crematorium and a gas room that we were told was never used at this camp. There were beautiful memorials along the execution wall. Despite all the sadness, the memorial walk was beautifully done and allowed time for reflection. We especially liked the bell that rings every day. It is taken care of by the nuns that live adjacent to the camp.

After we left Connor said, "You know what is so sad? Dachau was considered one of the better camps to be sent to compared to some of the other camps." And he is right. They didn't process folks through and immediately kill them upon arrival. However, I believe 1/4 of the people that came to Dachau did die. Seeing this camp was very moving, and I really appreciate the thought that has gone into making this a memorial for the people that suffered and died in that camp. I am ever so thankful for the life I have and hope that Connor realizes how fortunate he is.