Little Brute, Little Brute, where have you been?

I've been to London to visit the Queen!

Well, I visited her house anyway! Mummy and Daddy took me to see Buckingham Palace yesterday. I don't mean just the outside, I've seen that a million times. We actually got to go inside this time!

First though, we watched part of the Changing of the Guard. I was pretty excited when the soldiers walked right by us! We didn't stay to watch everything, because we weren't right up next to the Palace, but I enjoyed seeing the soldiers and the horses go by.

Buckingham Palace is only open for people to visit two months every year. It's been one of Mummy's dreams to get to go inside, so Daddy said we had to just do it! Man, it was awesome--I loved it.

Just like at Windsor, we aren't allowed to take pictures inside. But, I'll tell you about my favorite parts.

When we first walked in through the Ministerial entrance, we saw big windows straight ahead. They look out into the courtyard of the palace, which is very plain. The buildings are very nice, but there aren't any plants of anything to look at. Daddy explained that that's where the carriages come to pick up important people and take them out of the palace and out in to London. Daddy also told me, that when Queen Victoria moved in to Buckingham Palace, the front part wasn't there--it was a palace in the shape of a "u"! They added the last bit while she was Queen.

After that, we walked along a hallway and into the room with the Grand Staircase. That was Mummy's favorite room. She told us that she wished she had on a pretty dress to walk up and down the stairs, then she would feel like a princess! It would be fun to see Mummy all dressed up like a princess and wear a crown. She let me walk up the stairs all by myself. It took a while, but I like doing that sort of thing on my own. The carpet is bright red, and all the walls are cream with lots and lots of gold trimming. It definitely lived up to its name!

After the Grand Staircase, we walked through the other 18 state rooms that were open to us. We saw the Throne Room, which I really liked, but Daddy said I couldn't go sit on the thrones. I thought they looked comfy, but I don't know why the Queen's husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, wants a pink throne! I bet the Queen told him he had to. (Daddy had to have pink in his bedroom when he first married Mummy. I guess even daddies have to do what mommies say.)

Right now, Buckingham Palace has a special exhibit about the children who grew up at Buckingham Palace. This includes the Queen, Elizabeth. They had all sorts of toys, clothes, and other things that belonged to the Queen, her sister, and the other kids that lived there. Mummy's favorite was a beautiful dress that Queen Victoria wore when she was a child. She also liked the Queen's copy of Black Beauty that she had when she was little. I didn't care much about that, but I really wanted to play with the  miniature James Bond car that Prince Andrew had when he was little. Aston Martin made it just for him!

I was getting pretty tired as we got towards the end. At one point, I just didn't think I could go on, and I laid down on the carpet. I wanted to just take a nap right there in the middle of the Dining Hall, but Mummy said I had to wait until we went outside and I could have a nap in my buggy.

**Mummy's note: he seriously did lay down, put his hands down by his side, and closed his eyes for a second. I seriously thought he was going to go to sleep! I guess the carpet in Buckingham Palace is really comfy. And no--I don't usually let my child just lay down on the floor when we're out and about, but he laid down faster than I could stop him!

When we finally reached the end of the tour, we walked out into the garden at the back of Buckingham Palace. A huge lawn of beautiful grass was waiting for us! I wanted to run out on it really badly, but they had it roped off. Daddy said if he lived there he would play golf on it all the time. Mummy said she would ride her horse on it. That's fine, but all I wanted to do was run and run and run on it!

After Buckingham Palace, we went to visit the Royal Mews, where they keep the Queen's carriages, horses, and their cars!

Of course Mummy was the one who wanted to see this the most. She was so excited to see the horses and where they lived! When we first walked in, we looked at some of the carriages that the Queen has ridden in. There is a new one that the Queen bought for her Diamond Jubilee a couple years ago. It is really fancy and so pretty. One cool thing about it, is that it has 100 years of British history items on it. Including a crown on the top made out of wood from the HMS Victory, which Mummy said was an important old ship. I thought that was amazing.

I got so excited, that I ran out of there to go see more. But unfortunately, I tripped and hit my face. There was a lot of blood on my lip. It hurt so badly, I cried and cried. A very nice lady came over and asked if we wanted first aid, but Mummy said that I would be all right. After she checked to make sure my teeth were okay and we stopped the bleeding, I felt better enough to keep going.

We went in to a cool room where a lady showed us all about the different uniforms the drivers get to wear when they work. Did you know, that they don't make any new uniforms? They have been using the exact same uniforms for 100 years, just altering them for the people who use them? Cool huh? She let Daddy try on a wig and a hat for a driver. I thought it looked awesome! Mummy made me put on a hat, but i didn't really like it.

We walked through the stables and saw where the horses lived. Mummy was so sad because there weren't any horses there. Just their names over their stalls (the Queen names all the horses herself!). She was feeling so sad when we turned in our audio guide and headed out, but then, just before we left, there they were! Four of the horses waiting to see us!

Two of them were Windsor Greys, the horses that pull the carriages. The other two were Clevland Bays. They are for visiting people to ride on. Mummy was so excited, she made Daddy and me laugh.

When we left there, Mummy put me in my buggy. I didn't even make it through the shop before I fell asleep. I was SO tired!

Our last bit stop was the Imperial War Museum. It just barely reopened in July, and it is awesome! They have real planes hanging from the ceiling, including a Spitfire. Mummy and Daddy wanted to go to make sure and see the new First World War exhibit that just opened. There was a big line, so we went to see a few other things first.

In one area, we learned about what life was like for one family during World War Two. I got to play with some radios and sit in a real Andersen Shelter! I wanted to stay there all day. I liked singing along with the Air Raid Sirens when they went off, but the bomb noises were a little scary. When Mummy said it was time to go, I was so sad. She let us stay a little longer, and then when they sounded "all clear" again we left. I think I would like an Anderson Shelter to play it, but I hope we never have to go in to a shelter for real. Those people were so brave!

In the Anderson Shelter

We finally made it in to the First World War section. There was SO much to see and do! I liked playing with a little ship that went along the map and looking at all the videos. My favorite part was probably seeing if I was tall enough to be a soldier. According to the chart, I was a little too short. I also didn't have a big enough chest size--you had to be at least 32 inches around your chest to join the army. Daddy made it, but I would have had to grow a little more.

In the trenches--there was lots of mud. 

These are real signs from the trenches!

This is a piece of the Red Baron's plane! A British soldier took it as a souvenir. 

While we were there, Mummy talked to me about all the people that fought and died so we could live in a free world. I felt very sad that so many people died, but Mummy explained that if we always stand up for what's right, we will honor them. I think the museum did a really good job of honoring those people.

At the very end of the day, we had dinner at McDonald's where I got a new dragon toy with my Happy Meal. That was fun, and we took it back to Buckingham Palace to take some jumping pictures--those are my favorite. I knew exactly what Mummy was doing when she set up the camera and she and Daddy held my hands. I got so excited, I couldn't stop laughing and started jumping right away! I think our picture turned out pretty fun--what do you think?

--Little Brute --

We also went and looked at the Victoria Monument that is right in front of the Palace. It was pretty cool.

Being a real American--drinking soda from McDonald's in front of Buckingham Palace!!

Punting with our Cambridge Friends

We are so glad the Brownlows and the Smiths moved to Cambridge the same time we did. They have been such great friends!

The last weekend we all had together, we went punting. We had such a blast, and everyone tried out punting (except for me. :D I do need to try it again before we leave, I think...). There was a broad range of ability in the punting. Derek is the pro, of course, and he taught everyone what to do. Johnny was the best of all the newbies, though. :)

These two. :)

Watch out!!!

good job Daly!!!

terrible group selfie--sans Henry. But what can you do. 

Josh taking his turn

Go Aimee!

The almost pro. :D

Life just doesn't get any better. :) Love these two boys. 

Grantchester

We made a spur of the moment decision to walk out to Grantchester. Originally, we were just thinking a walk would be nice, and maybe grab some ice cream at the end, but it turned in to way more fun than that.

It's a few miles out to Grantchester (2.2 according to Google Maps), but it is a lovely walk along the River Cam and through the Grantchester Meadows. Henry really enjoyed seeing all of the cows ("maa maa!" he said. We're working on the "oo" sound.) and we let him walk a good portion of the way once we hit the pastures. He does a really good job keeping up, and he knows the rules are he must go in the right direction and he musn't stop to look at dirt and rocks and grass for more than a minute or two. I only had to pick him up once or twice to avoid some rather exciting Cow Pats (eww, gross). 

When we arrived, we headed straight for The Orchard. At the turn of the centure, the Bloomsbury Group and others, including poet Rupert Brooke, used to sit and have tea in the afternoon. Brooke even wrote about Grantchester in one of his poems. 

After taking a look, we decided we could splurge and have scones, jam, and clotted cream. Oh and our best purchase--a bottle of absolutely delicious sparkling Raspberry Lemonade. 

We found a table with some of the beautiful and very traditional chairs out in the apple orchard, and settled down to have our treat. Oh, the fruit scones were delicious, especially with the cream and blackcurrant jam!! Henry could have drunk the entire bottle of lemonade himself, I'm sure. He LOVED it. 

We had a really wonderful time, enjoying the weather and the atmosphere of The Orchard. Henry was far more excited about the lemonade, the accompanying straw, and the little jars of jam, but that's ok. We had so much fun. 

It's the moments like this that we really treasure. We snapped a lot of pictures, but we also just enjoyed each other's company and our beautiful surroundings. Derek and I watched Henry as he guzzled down the raspberry lemonade, kicked his legs in the chair, and told us all about the jam jars he was banging together. I love our little family, and I love that we can do these kind of things together. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I had a meeting to get to, and we weren't sure how much walking Henry would want to do on the way back, so we only stayed about 45 minutes. But those 45 minutes were sure wonderful! 

Windsor Castle

We visited Windsor Castle today! We were lucky enough to organize a day with Josh & Daly Brownlow and Aimee & Jonathan Smith, and our activity of choice was Windsor. It took us a while to get there, nearly 2 1/2 hours, but it was worth it.

I've been to the Castle twice before, both times in 2008 when I was in London for Study Abroad, but Derek and Henry had never been there. The castle and grounds are HUGE. Some of the photographs from the air really show how incredible it is, and even from the ground it is breathtaking.

When we arrived, we immediately found a cafe for lunch. We three girls were starving and starting to get cranky. It was a good thing we stopped! I thought Henry would wolf down his sandwich, but it turns out our Little Brute was far too exhausted--he was cranky the whole time, but the minute he got in his buggy and we walked away, he slumped down and went to sleep.

Because the Queen actually lives at the Castle throughout the year (usually weekends), you have to go through security to enter the grounds. We put our bags through the extra, pushed Henry through the body scanner thing (totally asleep in his buggy), and walked through ourselves with no incident. Whew! (Not that I was worried).

We had our audio guides, which were free and nice and informative. It was nice that Henry was asleep at first, because we got to enjoy listening to the guide for a while before we headed down to St. George's Chapel. Henry woke up just then--so a very short nap--and wanted to be held. Luckily, he was very good and quiet the whole time we were in the chapel. St. George's is the official chapel of the Knights in the Order of the Garter, and their crests are hanging in the choir. Henry VIII is buried there, along with George VI and the Queen Mother, along with a few other pretty important British Monarchs.

We three Brutons sat in the seats near the altar for a while, just enjoying the splendor and listening to the organ. I was again quite grateful for our mild and well mannered little boy--he sat right next to me and looked around, while examining my audio gadget. We are so lucky to have this boy!

Oh! And just before we went in to the Chapel, Henry met his first official Guard! So fun!

Anyway, after the chapel, we went in to the Castle to see the State Rooms and Queen Mary's Doll collection. (No photography inside, which is unfortunate, because Henry was so cute discovering the castle!)


Queen Mary's Doll collection and Doll House are AMAZING. Seriously! The Doll House is the size of our living room, not even kidding, with every little gadget and do-dad imaginable. I LOVE it. Henry really enjoyed looking at that as well--he pointed at all the different rooms and chatted about the dolls. The house has a little library, with miniature books, all of which have actual stories in them! If you pulled one from the shelf, you could read the story. That was my favorite room. (Daly did sneak a pic of this! and Derek snuck a few seconds of video--before I told him no photography. :D )

After the doll house, we made our way into the actual Castle to see the state rooms. Buggies are not allowed in the castle (stairs, etc.), so we turned ours in and got a pretty sweet hip seat for Henry to use. It went around my waist and had a little seat on it that he loved sitting on--for a while. :) Once we were in the Castle, he wanted to run around and explore--everything! Daddy chased him around for most of that, keeping him away from the roped off areas.

When we went in to the Ballroom, Henry was on Daddy's shoulders and oh--he was so excited about the three crystal chandeliers on the ceiling! He used the audio guide to point up at them and said "oh, wow!" a few times. It was so cute. He didn't really want to leave that room!

The other room he was pretty excited about, was St. George's Hall, where Royal Banquets occur. All over the ceiling, are the crests of the Knights in the Order of the Garter. If one of them commits a crime, or does something against the order, his shield remains on the ceiling, but it is whited out. Each shield is numbered, so you could actually inquire as to whose shields were whited out. How embarrassing!

Once we left the castle, we snapped a few more photos, bought some postcards, and then headed to the Long Walk. The Long Walk is part of Windsor Park, and was created in the 1680s by Charles II. It is over 2/5 miles, and stretches from Windsor Castle to The Copper Horse, which is near the Royal Ascot. It is double lined with beautiful Horse Chestnut. We took some snacks and sat down beneath one of the trees for a while to take a break. Henry ran around while we had water and snacks, before we decided to take a few photos and then be on our way.

Our last stop in Windsor was McDonald's, where Henry was delighted to consume a Chicken Nugget Happy Meal and get a new How to Train your Dragon  toy.

The train ride home felt much shorter than the way in--probably because it was! We didn't have to take a commuter train, which stops at every station on the way, so it cut nearly 20 minutes off our journey.

We had a wonderful time with our friends! I am sure going to miss having them around, and I know Henry will miss them, too.

 

**Some of these photos were taken by Daly. Thanks Daly!!!

Walking in Cambridge: Midsummer Common

One of our favorite walks to take is from our house to Midsummer Common and then along the River Cam. Midsummer Common is on the opposite side of most of the College Boathouses, so Henry and I used to walk there all the time to pick up Daddy when he was done rowing in the evenings. Usually, it was just before dinner time, and we would load up, take a pre-dinner snack or two, and wait for Daddy on the bench opposite Pembroke Boathouse.

When rowing ended in June, we started walking out there here and there to enjoy the weather, the long grass, and to see the boathouses. We love watching the people walk across the Common, or cycle by. Of course the River is a highlight, and Derek names off all the boathouses as we walk along. Pembroke's is, of course, our favorite!

Henry loves seeing the cows, too. Cows graze on Midsummer Common all through the spring, summer, and even into the fall when the weather is nice. Cows are one of the few animals that Henry knows "what they say." At first, he just said: "mmm, mmm". It has morphed to "maaa", but we're working on the "oooo sound."

Midsummer Common will be one of the places we really miss. The long grass, which Henry runs and runs through, and then inevitably sits down and stretches his legs out. The boathouses along the River, watching the boats that go by (Henry always points and says "Dad-dad-dad-dad") and watching the clouds move along the horizon. The sunsets here are incredible, with the spires from the churches piercing through.

We have many fond memories of Midsummer Common, I'll miss all the long walks across the grass when we leave Cambridge.






 

Croquet at Pembroke

On our way home from town this afternoon, we decided to "cut through college." We went in through the front gate at Pembroke, Derek popped in and checked his pigeon hole, and we headed down Ridley's Walk to find a bench and enjoy some of the fudge we bought. While we were sitting there, we decided we fancied a croquet match.

Derek went to the porter's lodge, left his student card as collateral, and brought the bag of mallets, balls, and stakes back to the croquet lawn.

I think it goes without saying, but Henry LOVED it.

He hauled the mallets around, helped Daddy put in the stakes and hoops (wickets, in the U.S.). While we actually played a game, Henry toddled around after us, playing "caddy" with the mallets.

I must admit--as we were playing, I did miss all of our PKP friends from four years ago. Wish you guys were here to play with us!!

Walking in Cambridge: Castle Mound

Castle Mound is the site of an 11th century castle, built by the Normans. Originally, it was intended to control the route from the North of England to London and the coast. All the survives, is a remnant of the motte and parts of the earthworks. What's really important, is is that Castle Mound provides incredible views of Cambridge. You can see almost all the spires in the area, and the hills that are far from the city centre.

We haven't gone up to Castle Mound often, as it's a 30 minute walk from our house, but we always enjoy the view. We once took a picnic up there in the fall, but it got awfully quickly up where there is no shelter from the wind.

This time, Henry insisted on walking the whole way up and down, and wanted to go up and down the top few stairs a few times. The views were, as always, beautiful. Henry pointed out King's College Chapel to us, as well as St. John's tower. We could hear the bells from Great St. Mary's Church, tolling the hour and reminding all the Cambridge students that they better hurry to class.