Last Days in England

For our last few days in England, we spent a lot of time in Valley Gardens. It's a huge park with gardens mostly but the main attraction for us is the amazing playground. One day it was warm enough for the children to use the wading pool. The pool isn't very deep but is large enough to accommodate many, many children. J took as much advantage as he could, swimming like a crocodile.

J in croc-mode

L braves the waters

The pool was cold, resulting in short swims. They played with lots of other equipment. L's main game was collecting sticks for a camp fire and hunting wolves in the park. After catching them using bows and arrows (one bent stick and a shorter straight stick), she had us roast the wolves on the pretend fire. As a meal it was not satisfying but as an exercise in imagination it was wonderful.

L the hunter-gatherer

J's main idea was to prepare for a moon landing. He's been watching Apollo 13 on hard rotation and reading a children's biography of Neil Armstrong. J used various climbers as lunar modules, command modules, LEMs, re-entry vehicles, etc. The next day he had L practicing with him.

In a pretend rocket ready for launch

Escaping at the end of the flight

They also had a last sit in the Jubilee Memorial chair just outside the play area. The chair was carved a few years ago and still draws interest from visitors.

L as the queen of the park

J as king

Sharing power

A closer look

The adults enjoyed some things in the last few days as well. We had a pub lunch on Sunday and I had the traditional carvery dinner. Normally the diner chooses between meats (the options there were lamb, pork, or beef) but I went for the trio with a smaller portion of each meat. Some veg, some potatoes, and a Yorkshire Pudding (the bread-looking item on the left below) came with it, all standard to a carvery order. I also had a local brewed ale called "Bicyc-ale" in honor of the Tour de France which was to go through town in a week's time.

Carvery and a pint

We had plenty of scones for breakfasts and snacks in our last week. What's offered as scones in the States is often quite dreadful--dried out husks of the gloriously moist and warm baked treats we've had in England. We have one or two good recipes so we can make our own.

I also miss (aside from the numerous bakeries) the numerous fruit and veg shops. It's quite delightful to just pop into a shop dedicated to nothing but produce and get proper advice (like which potatoes are good for jacket potatoes and which for mash) and quick service.

A typical fruit and veg shop

One thing I don't miss is the narrowness of some streets, often resulting in de facto one-way traffic. Even if a street is one-way, sometimes parking on both sides makes a driver think they are flying through the trenches of the Death Star, hoping not to smash into the sides.

One-way street with good reason

On our last day in town, we were car-less and had to walk to the library to return the last of our books. Of course books would be the last things we'd let go of. We only made it a third of the way through Charlotte's Web (our bedtime reading book after another volume of Little House on the Prairie).

At Heathrow Airport, we visited one last playground before we flew back to the States.

L plays hide and seek

J wonders where everyone is hiding

A small raceway

L, queen of the hill

Some fun rubbish bins

We had a wonderful three-year adventure living in England and traveling over as much of Europe as we could. We've made lots of good friends and good memories and hope to visit again someday.

Valley Gardens in the Summer

One hot Saturday morning (we've had a heat wave where the temperature has been in the 30s Celsius or high 80s/low 90s Fahrenheit), we decided to go to Valley Gardens. The kids would splash around in the wading pool before it was too crowded and too sunny. We got there at 8:15, and sure enough we were the first ones there. The kids made a beeline for the wading pool which was only just being filled with water. The upside was the cleanness of the water. The downside was the coldness of the water. Kids don't usually mind unless water is ice-cold, so they were happy.

L also brought her birthday roller skates. She went around a lot though she needed to hold hands the whole time.

Holding the fence's hand

Hands-free for a moment!

While she was skating, J was wandering from the zip line to the castle to the fort tower. He found a little boy named Freddie and they played together. Freddie's dad was hovering around the vicinity just like I was. J and Freddie busily chatted about this and that. Freddie's daddy and I busily ignored each other like guys do in such a situation. It wasn't that we were on our smart phones or otherwise occupied; we were just playing it cool. Or maybe aloof?

After playtime was done, we headed back through the gardens to get a snack at the ice cream pavilion. Plenty of flowers were in bloom, attracted rather large insects!

Mothera?

Shelob?

There aren't any famous gigantic bees, are there?

Even though it was only 10 a.m., we still had ice cream cones, because the temperature was already in the mid-20s (around 77 F). The car was a good five minutes away and we needed energy to complete the journey. J doesn't like ice cream but my wife was brilliant enough to pack a granola bar, which he loved.

Soon we were back home sheltering from the bright, bright sun. It was a fun morning.

Valley Gardens--Pool and Snacks

The children finally convinced us to take them and their swim suits to Valley Gardens to enjoy the little wading/paddling pool they have by the playground. A new building had been under construction for some time there. We were delighted to discover it finished with both snacks and bathrooms!

Even though the water was a little cold, that didn't chill the children's spirits. They loved splashing in the water.

Wait, I'm not ready yet for a picture!

Lucy and Jacob splash around

Jacob and Autumn have fun while Lucy and a stranger torment one another

We admired the snack shop though we didn't buy anything. I was surprised that Lucy did not demand ice cream. And Jacob did not demand to use the potty. I guess the excitement of the pool was enough to satisfy them completely.

Valley Gardens' newest snack bar

We also showed cousin Autumn the Jubilee wooden chair, which everyone took turns sitting in.

Lucy insisted on going first

Autumn takes a turn

It was a fun discovery. As long as the summer stays warm, we will come again to enjoy the water and hopefully to sample the snacks available.

Time Travel Weekend Part II: 1940s Day at Valley Gardens

The day after we went to the 1480s encampment at Fountains Abbey, we went to the 1940s Day at Valley Gardens! Obviously that meant lots of World War II memorabilia, dress, and activities.

Most of the action was centered around the Sun Pavilion, a great art deco building that features an amazing sky light.

Before the crowds got there

Here comes the sun!

Down the hill from the Sun Pavilion is a small stage which was flanked by some booths selling food and drinks or offering carnival games.

The beer tent wasn't open yet

The stage and a couple of booths

So you can tell by the pictures we were there a bit too early. Things didn't start till 11 and we were wandering around at 10:30. Luckily, the display of World War II vehicles was all ready for visitors.

Approaching the encampment

Rations for display, not consumption (though the ale probably did see some action)

Jacob spotted a jeep and wanted to try it out. We were unsure so we asked one of the guys standing around. He went off and found the owner. The owner said it was fine for the kids to get in and enjoy the jeep.

That's the owner in the background

Jacob pretends to start it up

Lucy pretends to drive

Uneasy rider

The bloke told us how his father had bought the jeep but never had the means to fix it up. He bought it from his dad last year and spent a good bit of effort getting it back in shape. He said it is road worthy, though the wheels shake a bit over 30 mph. He took it off-roading once and it performed admirably.

We walked down the row, as if we were inspectors. We saw many fine vehicles. At one point, Jacob said, "I wish these all were toys." One of the ladies dressed in forties attire piped up, "They are toys, for grown up men."

Just the thing for a great escape!

More camping

The Aussie fully locked and loaded jeep (yes that is a motor bike on the front)

Lots of ammo from the good old days

We saw some other period pieces that weren't involved in the war. This stripped-down version of a milk truck was fascinating to me. If you only have one or two cows, I guess you probably don't have a lot to deliver.

Maximum storage for a unpowered bike

A steam-powered tractor seemed like it was old-fashioned even for the 1940s. It looked quite handsome anyway, and surely could deliver a lot more milk and butter.

This could haul a lot of milk

The front view

Another attraction was the "Flying Yachts." For £1 per child, rides provided the excitement of flying through the air in a small sea ship. Jacob was delighted. Lucy kept looking over at the hand-powered round-about (merry-go-round to us Americans). But she had fun anyway.

Okay, in this shot, Jacob is the one looking at the round-about

A happy flier

Since we were already at Valley Gardens, we could not get away without going to the playground. Another massive construction project is underway. It looks like it will be toilets. I didn't take any pictures because we've done enough of that already.

Jacob did want to go to the loo while we were there. Walking down, we discovered that the Old Magnesia Well Pump Room was open for curious people's satisfaction. Jacob had no interest in seeing it. I said we could check on it when we came back. I completely forgot about it.

After playing at the playground, we headed back to our car. It was parked on the other side of the 1940s area, so we had one last glance at the goings on. Unfortunately, the band had not started playing swing tunes yet, so Mommy and Daddy couldn't dance. We did see another band, though they were marching away from us rather than toward us. They played a marching tune. Take a listen:



Too bad they were going the other way. We were on our way out, otherwise we'd have tried to get some better footage. There's always next year!

The Marshall Plan II

We took our recent visitors to some of our favorite sights around town. Of course, anyone who brings a child is bound to go to Valley Gardens, playground extraordinaire. (Even if you don't have children, we'll probably drag you there anyway if you stay long enough). The playground was not only fun for Jacob, Lucy, and Colin, but they also got to try out one of the Jubilee decorations.

Finally we have enough people to fill this one!

Colin and Lucy sittin' in (what used to be) a tree...

The "EIIR" is for Elizabeth II, Regina ("Regina" is Latin for "Queen"). Some other carvings are found around town. I read in the paper that some chainsaw woodcarving artist made a pass through town recently and carved some decorations to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.

Another day we took them to Spofforth Castle, the ruins of a manor house just ten minutes away from home. Well, usually it is ten minutes away but we hit some really bad traffic and it took us more like forty minutes. We wound up having dinner at The Castle Inn, where we had a tasty dinner and yummy beers.

Colin and Jacob take the short entrance

Jacob in the window with BJ in the distance

Lucy sneaks in the back door

Flower girl

Amy in the distance

Yet another day we went to the town of Ripley for their world famous ice cream. Alas the only pictures I have are of the chickens who came right up to us at the picnic tables in front of the ice cream shop. They were the ultimate in free range chickens. It was much nicer than the usual pigeons who come flocking for crumbs everywhere else. The children were very interested but not enough to try petting them. We parents were grateful for that.

No particular pecking order here

Balancing on one leg was a pretty good trick for a chicken

The other big outing we had with them was to the Ryedale Folk Museum, but that's a story for it's own post, coming soon!