Rebekah's Insights

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On a day set aside to commemorate Christopher Columbus and his exploration of lands foreign to his own, we enjoyed a day of exploration ourselves yesterday. Since Will had the day off from work, we were able to spend the day as a family, which is always a real treat for the children. They begin by eating breakfast with Daddy! (Even if I am present too, it is always referred to as "Breakfast with Daddy" due to the fact that they have breakfast with me everyday!) :) In this instance, however I was NOT present, because I had a bit of a "lie-in," as they call it around these parts!

After a little at-home time spent together, we headed out to the bowling alley at which Aine played her first game of bowling! Liam, Aine, and I bowled while Will took photos. At this particular alley, when children are playing they put up a guard running the length of the lane and also provide a ball ramp upon which you place the ball and the small child can just push it down the ramp and down the lane. On her first game ever, Aine took the high score with 117 points!! She kept getting spares every few turns and once even rolled a strike!!! Way to go, Aine! Liam came in at an admirable 105 and also bowled a few spares. Pulling up the rear was my score of 92! Ugh, it IS sad when a two-year-old and three-year-old can out-bowl you! (Perhaps next time I should use the ramp too???)

Next we headed out to the scenic town of Knaresborough. There we enjoyed the Autumn views at Knaresborough Castle, while the children played on the grounds in a sea of bright yellow leaves. The children enjoyed seeing the passing of trains atop the viaduct over the River Nidd, and we quite enjoyed the view of the viaduct over the water, as well.

On our return walk to the van, we found a quaint little Brymor Ice Cream shop! Here they sold the most adorable tiny ice cream cones with one tiny scoop on top and a bear-shaped wafer stuck in for a treat! Aine ate her very first chocolate ice cream cone of her own--held it on her own and ate the whole thing. Afterwards, her little chocolate-dipped face looked so happy! At that point she spied MY cup of Ginger ice cream and wanted that too. Actually, although both she and Liam ate their own cone, they happily gobbled up quite a few bites of my ice cream and were raving about the ginger flavor just as much as I was. (They tried Will's raspberry cheesecake ice cream, but didn't care for it, although he sure did!) :) It may sound funny to be so excited about it, but this is the first time since moving here that we have found such a wide variety of flavors to choose from and we greatly enjoyed it.

Next we went grocery shopping and made the journey back home to the countryside for dinner and the close of the day. While shopping out at a UK store Will suggested the most delicious dinner of breaded prawn and mushrooms, mixed olives, and a fabulous cheese assortment with crackers. We have intended to try some of the wide variety of cheese available here for some time, but never got around to it until now. We sampled Welsh goat cheese with chives, Bavarian smoked cheese with ham, Applewood smoked cheddar, and Real Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese with cranberries. We have found some new favorites which we hope to enjoy a few more times in the future.

As soon as we upload the photos, I will update this post with some accompanying pictures.
Enjoy your day!