Stonehenge, Salisbury, Old Sarum

This weekend saw another bank holiday so we loaded up the Ipods and Nintendo DSs and headed west.  This was a weekend that reached back the farthest in terms of history.   Stonehenge is the classic postcard family shot.  The mystery is quite intriguing and the fact that the site is actually a fully functional calendar is amazing.  Up the way is a site with quite the dated history that saw many years of subsequent development to ultimately end in ruin.  Old Sarum was another landmark with a history that dates back to 3000 BC or before.  The Romans made it a fort and in 1069, William the Conqueror brought all the nobles together at this site to swear allegiance to him.  There was a major cathedral on the site  and it flourished until the 13th century when New Sarum became the major center in the area.  This New Sarum is better known as Salisbury.  If you look between Maggie and MJ, you can see the tower of the cathedral in Salisbury (this is the tallest spire in England) .  Cool nugget about this site.   It has the best surviving copy of the Magna Carta and also contains the oldest mechanical clock in England.  The Chapter House, that houses the Magna Carta also has a really cool collection of carvings that basically tell many of the major stories of the bible from the creation story, all of Genesis and ended with Moses receiving the Ten Commandments.   Salisbury was the spot where Emma, by Jane Austen had scenes shot.  Here is Vivian at the house.  I could launch into all that I know about good old Jane but it would be a short paragraph.  Lunch for the day was at a nice little fish and chips place.  We had the third floor window all to ourselves.

Cheveley Church Fete

Today was the Church Fete in the village. Maggie's class was part of the entertainment and we all headed up the hill after lunch. Mag's class put on a spectacular square dancing show and the crowd was thrilled. In case you wondered what MJ was doing while his sister was twirling; He, Callum, and Owen were down at the games burning through coin like it grew on trees. One of the organizers estimated there were close to 1000 people there. As the village only has about 1800, this was quite a showing for a sunny Sunday.

The big news was the Skelton's showing in the Photo contest. Big John was runner-up in his age category. His picture was the top right shot with the bird. Maggie was the shot shown in the bottom of the same board. Mom, Maggie, and MJ all made the boards and we were proud of their display. Daddy was the big winner when he took home first place in the big person category. He has to throw the big thank you to mom who drug his lazy body out of bed on the frosty Saturday morning to snap the shot. He won a signed print from a photographer near Oxford. Shots are all below. Great weather, great burgers, and overall, a great Sunday afternoon.

John's shot in the back garden. Maggie's shot of a flower.

Mom's shot is the snowy trees in the park area.

MJ shot the colorful sunset.

Dad's is the last. This is the frosty road.

Happy Birthday John - Big Number 7

Want to know a recipe for disaster. Invite 14 little boys, get them hyped up on cake and ice cream and then pretend that a squirt gun battle is a good idea. Maggie and her friend Lily acted as party hostesses. MJ and Jordan were the bouncers. Even with the reinforcements, we were outnumbered two to one. The villagers are now plotting to have us voted out of the area. At least the weather held so there was a ray of hope for the day. Mom and Dad plan to put the kids to bed early and then will pass out themselves.

Windsor, LegoLand, Oxford

Spring is in the air and it is a perfect time for another bank holiday. While we didn't go May Pole dancing, we did celebrate the long weekend with a trip to the other side of London. First stop was Windsor. We nipped in for a nice Pub lunch at the base of Windsor Castle. The flag on the pole in the middle of the picture is an indication that the queen is in. We thought she might drop in for lunch but it never happened. The tour through the castle was excellent and we even tried to get John a job as a Beefeater. Unfortunately, one of the requirements is being able to stand still without moving. Unfortunately, John was not born with that gene so we will continue to keep him with us for a while. We walked around Eton College and then took a boat tour on the Thames. Floated right past the house where Led Zeppelin used to live and hang out.

Sunday was a great day at Lego Land (although the water rides were not quite as much fun as it was a little cold and windy). Being a holiday weekend, we were able to spend some great quality time in some serious queues. All in all, a nice day. We even managed to sneak in a movie (Girls did some Zac Efron movie and the boys caught the latest X-men saga).

Monday afforded us a nice bop through Oxford. While we like Cambridge better, it is chilling to see the pub where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis used to hang out and read sections of their books to each other. Christ's College was really beautiful (see right). If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is where the dining hall scenes are filmed. Beautiful grounds. There is also a little candy shop across the street. The dean at Christ's Church had a little girl names Alice that used to buy candy at this shop. In 1865, a math professor at the school published a story he had written about this little girl and thus we have Alice in Wonderland.