The rest of our trip November 2015

I did not mention on the last post but this trip was for just the two of us. The kids stayed home with grandparents and we all had a good time doing our different activities.

On the second day Will and I went back to the same trail head and hiked down a slot canyon and explored the area a bit. It was fun and another beautiful day.

The following day we headed home but stopped on our way north at Bryce Canyon. We did not hike here as there was some snow on the ground and we did not have time. So we just drove to the end of the park and stopped at lots of overlooks on the way back out of the park. We saw so many great views! It was beautiful.It is amazing how beautiful Southern Utah is!

 

Our Hike to the Wave!

We had a such a great time on our hike. We went with the Will's two cousins and one of their wives. The Wave was amazing and all the formations leading up to it and around it just made us keep saying wow. It was a perfect day a little chilly when we started out but for late November it warmed up pretty quick but never got hot! We ran into a BLM (Bureau or Land Management) volunteer who checked out our permit and said he would see us on the trail. Well he caught back up with us and became our personal guide! He showed us all the cool extra stuff took photos of us and talked to us all about the area and hiking. He obviously loves hiking! 

Let me go through and tell you a little about the many photos below...sorry it was just so cool I could not leave anything out and believe me I did! The rocks that are all thin and crazy below are nicknamed lace rock. The next few photos are of us approaching The Wave, us in it and then above it. Below those there is just a cool shot of our group walking on the rocks. We made our way up to a cavern of sorts that had been carved out of the sand stone by lots of wind and weather. With the shadows and colors it was just amazing! Then there was an arch with the window behind it...pretty cool right? The next two photos are at a spot nicknamed the dinosaur dance floor. Last is a photo Will's cousin snapped of us as we walked out of The Wave on our way back to the car.

It was a long day but it was awesome! We started our hike at around 8 am and ended in the late afternoon. We made our way back to showers in our rental place and then dinner in town. The rest of our group headed home that night but we stayed a few more nights and were able to do another hike and some sight seeing but those stories are for another post.

November 2015

November was a good month but not much happened. Adah turned another year old, Catherine and Elsie kept growing and learning, and Will and Adah went on an amazing hike in Southern Utah! The girls are so cute. They play more and more together and love to watch cartoons together on the iPad. Catherine is talking a lot now. One morning she was jumping on our bed and said "Watch me jump high!". It was super cute! Both of our girls are so hard working and helpful! Will took Adah out for dinner on her birthday which is a treat because by the time we go out for most dates it is way past dinner time.

The Wedding!!!

Here is the whole reason we went to England Julia's wedding (Julia is Will's younger sister)! She married a very nice man named Matt so the girls have a new uncle now! He happens to be from England were he grew up in a town named Shoreham-by-Sea which is where we stayed. 

It was a beautiful day with fairly clear skies though it was chilly. They were married in a church that dates back to about the 9th century AD during the Saxon Pre Norman Conquest time period. The church has a long history of changes and additions to it as with each new conquest things were changed by the new owners. It is know as St Nicolas Church Old Shoreham. 

The day was quite nice. After the marriage ceremony photos where taken. Then we all went to the reception hall, a 20 minute drive into the country side. We waited a little while for photos to be taken and then went on to have a lovely dinner at the hall. There were games to play while we waited for dinner and during the whole night. Elsie found a friend and played giant Janga with him. There was also Skittles (a British bowling game), giant Connect Four and Corn Hole outside. Elsie and her friend spent most of the night playing in the photo booth and running around the hall chasing each other. It was a fun day! 

Halloween in England

We had the privilege of celebrating Halloween in England this year.  They don't have trick or treating everywhere like here in the states plus we were busy that night but we had a plan. Elsie came up with this plan soon after we realized we were going to be in England for Halloween. In the morning we got up and the kids got dressed up and went trick or treating door to door in our rental house. We had bought a bunch of candy and passed it out and Elsie, Catherine and their cousin knocked on doors and put their bags out to receive this candy. Elsie was a butterfly, Catherine was a lady bug and their cousin was a baseball player. Later that day the kids got to dress up again in fancy dresses and a little tuxedo for the wedding we all traveled there to be a part of!   

A Day in Dover

A few days into our trip we all drove east to Dover. While there we saw the two big attractions the castle and The White Cliffs of Dover. It was a fun day, long but fun. We saw some cool stuff and got to go up into the castle quite a bit. Plus we went through some tunnels, though we did not get to the World War (one or two) tunnels as we ran out of time. We enjoyed a little walk on the cliffs as well. It was so green there and the water was so pretty. The day was beautiful and clear so we could even see across the ocean to France!

Unfortunately Catherine got sick that night and we had to stick close to home the rest of the trip! We spent a lot of time eating yummy croissants and pastries and walking across the foot bridge to go get the above treats! Also when we could we walked on the beach it was cold but fun still.