Sunny Day in Ely

Saturday, we hopped on the train and headed north to a beautiful little cathedral town called Ely. It's about 17 miles from Cambridge--a very quick trip by train. The sun was shining and we were all in great spirits since Daddy got home the night before (yay!), so a little adventure seemed in order.

Ely feels very "rural" compared to Cambridge. There are lots of farms and a significant amount of green space right by the Cathedral--with horses and ducks! That's where we spent the majority of our afternoon.

Just by the Dean's Meadow is a pasture with four very friendly and very shaggy horses. It was delightful watching Henry point at them and talk to them. They were kind enough to stick their heads over the fence so he could touch them before the pull of the grass was just too much for little Henry; he wanted to run and run and run all over!--which we happily let him do for a few minutes before heading up to the town centre.

Just in front of the cathedral we plopped down on the grass for pb&js and a bag of red grapes. I discovered that we three Brutons eat our grapes in very distinct ways. I enjoy grabbing two or three and putting them all in my mouth at once, while Derek tosses them in the air and catches them. Henry, on the other hand, prefers to take one bite out of several before graciously putting the rest of the grape back in the bag for Mummy and Dad. He's wonderful that way.

I love watching Henry eat. I know that seems weird, but it's just hilarious to me. The pb&j consumption is particularly fun. Usually we tear it up in to little pieces for him, but as we didn't really have a place to put the pieces (he turns plates upside down) we handed him a few big chunks to munch on. He then decided that the entire sandwich was manageable and took that from me.

There were a few ducks that joined our picnic--not a surprise, really. Henry was DELIGHTED with their company. We gave them the remainder of the sandwich and Henry chased them around. They were incredibly patient with him. Probably because they knew his Daddy was their source of food and if they hurt the baby, Papa Bear would come out and eat them. Wise choice, ducks.

Henry likes to "schlump" against Daddy's head when he gets carried. 

After lunch and duck chasing, we loaded Little Brute up in his buggy and headed for the market. We made a stop at Oliver Cromwell's house--just to see--before walking down Ely's High Street. While we didn't purchase anything at the market, it was really fun to look at all the knickknacks people had for sale. There were some pretty cool vintage toys that I was a bit tempted by, but not enough to pull money out of a hole in the wall (which is a far more entertaining name than an ATM).

Some lovely forsythia, Cromwell's House, and the Ely War Memorial

We discussed going in to the Cathedral, but decided the sunny weather was too wonderful to exchange for the dark stone walls. Besides--that was all we had seen of Ely last time we visited in 2010. With Henry in mind, we headed back to the Dean's Meadow and the playground there.

I love watching Henry and Derek play. They went on the swings, up the rope ladder, across the little bridge, and down the slide several times. They're such good friends, those two.

Playing on the grass was my favorite, and Henry's too, I think. He picked up sticks and ran through the arbor, giggling like mad the entire time. (it's actually an Eel Hive. The villagers in the area used to sell eels from the fens and used that money to help pay for the cathedral. Thus the name "Ely." Sweet, huh?)

Derek taught Henry how to roll down the hill, which Henry found hilarious and quite difficult to imitate. Poor little man face planted several times!

The sun was actually showing its power on Saturday--my jeans felt warm to the touch and Derek and I even went around in short sleeves for a bit. We lounged on the grass, soaking up the vitamin D while Henry ran around, fell down, laughed, and got back up again for more.

I LOVE the face-plant in the top right. I know I shouldn't laugh but...bwahahahaha!!

Henry claps for everything now. I love it.

I was sad when we packed everything back up and headed for the train station. Our afternoon in Ely was my favorite kind of day--my two boys, sunshine, horses, green grass, and lots of giggles.

Waiting for the train. 

And here is a little video from the day. :)