england, part deux: dorset adventures

As mentioned in my last post, we spent Easter weekend in Dorset. It was beautiful! Rolling green hills, cute sheep and baby lambs dotted the hillside, views of the beach, historic towns, tea houses with amazing cream teas and country pubs with local cider. Picturesque, idyllic, lovely. 

 We stayed at the Manor Hotel, a beautiful old building with a view of the sea and a great little pub. We were able to put Westley to bed every night and use our phones as baby monitors and then head down to the pub for dinner. It was the perfect setup! 

The daffodils were out everywhere. It (deceivingly) looked like Spring.

 As lovely as our hotel was, I don't know if I ever, ever want to stay in one with a baby again. Maybe sleeping in another new spot threw him off, but Westley's sleep went from bad to worse. He just wouldn't sleep...and not only would he not sleep, he cried, a lot. Which was awesome because we were surrounded by other holidayers who I'm sure had been hoping to go on vacation and hear a baby cry All. Night. Long. I had also come down with a bad cold and was totally exhausted...it was a bad situation. Anyways, the point of this story is to explain the picture. At 4 am, my amazing husband took a poor and inconsolable little Wes for a drive, so that I could get some sleep. I didn't ask him to, but I was so grateful. They ended up sleeping in a running car in the parking lot for a few hours. This picture was that afternoon when the two of them passed out for a good 2.5 hour nap after all their nighttime excitement. 

View from the hotel. 

Beach by the hotel. 

Self portraits get a little harder when there's three of us! (on the beach by the hotel, but our big heads are blocking the view)

View from the road to the hotel...

Sheep! Baby sheep! Awwww. 

Abbotsbury was the closest town to where we stayed and was the quintessential English village. Tea houses, thatch cottages, and beautiful views. 

Westley was thrilled that the lambs didn't run away from him at the petting zoo. So much more fun than that cat that he lives with that disappears from sight the minute Wes makes a move. 

Fun in the freezing cold. 

I love pubs in England, and I especially love that you can bring babies in with you. This pub was in the middle of nowhere, note the tractor on the left of the pic (under the sign) - after a hard days work on the farm, the farmer stopped in for a pint. Then a couple other men from the area came in by themselves and they all sat at the bar and gossiped about the happenings in the area. Eavesdropping is so entertaining. 

Sad looking pub dog. So scruffy, old and dirty (but adorable in that ruffled kind of way). 

Lulworth Cove. Part of the reason we picked Dorset was because of it's gorgeous coastline known as the Jurassic Coast. I was so excited to see it, but what we didn't count on was the freezing winds...so it was a quick picture and then back in the car, or a stop for cream tea. Which by the way, I didn't get any pictures of, but are to die for. Scones, thick clotted cream, strawberry jam and tea or coffee. Umm, yum.  

View from one of the hills above Lulworth Cove. 

 On our way back we stopped at Arundel Castle, so that one day we can tell Westley that he's been to a castle, and of course no trip to England is complete without a picture of a castle. 

 Another picture of a castle. 

And a picture of a goat. 

Well this completes our tour of Dorset, hope you enjoyed our visit. I know I did, and I also learned a few valuable lessons: 1) There may be daffodils in March in England, but that doesn't make it picnic weather. If I visit England in March again I will be sure to pack a coat next time. 2) Avoid hotels with babies, a rental would have been much more relaxing. And 3) Cream teas are delightful. I'm sure it was the first of many memorable adventures to come as a family! 

XO

england "vacation", part one

Happy Spring! Happy Easter! Happy belated April Fool's Day, Sibling Day, Scrabble Day and (my personal favourite) Grilled Cheese Day (April 12th for those that have not observed this holiday and wish to in the future). How have you been? What's new in your life? It's been a while.

We have been back from England for a week and a half now and we are still recovering. Luckily my family over there is completely worth it, because...that was no vacation. I'm not complaining, just stating the facts. Traveling with an 8 month old, as we continually discovered over the 2 weeks away, is far from easy (or maybe it's just travelling with our 8 month old). But watching Westley play with his Papa and Auntie made up for the jetlag, lack of sleep, and general torture that goes along with a fussy teething tired baby that is developing both a temper and separation anxiety...No matter what though, the trip was memorable, and what's more important than making memories?

Here's a collection of pics and a few stories to go along with them...

We flewAir Canada, and lucked out with the bulkhead seats so we had some extra legroom and they gave us a bassinet that hooked up into the wall in front of us. Westley slept in it for about an hour and half, which turned out to be useful because while he slept there was a lot of action going on. A woman behind us was pulled into the aisle at our feet by her son because she passed out and wasn't breathing. It was dicey for a bit, and so scary to witness, but it turned out her son was a Doctor. After the flight attendants fumbled around trying to remember what to do in event of an emergency, he was given a medical kit and a nurse passenger helped him treat his mother (...I did my part too, I held the IV bag, a very important job that is usually given to a metal pole). Jordan was forced to sit in first class for a few hours, which was unfortunate. In the end, although the pilot had considered landing the plane, she turned out to be alright and they never did figure out what had caused her to lose consciousness - but it definitely helped the time to pass on the long flight. 

It meant so much to me that my family in England (especially my Dad) were able to meet Wes and that Westly had the chance to spend time with them (even if he won't remember). We had a fun night getting together with my five aunts and quite a few of my cousins, and lots of family lunches and visits. He is the first great grandson on my Dad's side of the family, so he was spoiled with love and attention everywhere we went. Yay family!

I know I promised to never talk about Westley's sleep again, but this is a special occasion. Before we left Westley had suddenly figured out how to not only nap, but sleep through the night. It was a beautiful thing. This is a picture of the now rarely seen Sleeping Westley. Note not one, but two, stuffed bunnies. If we had had ten bunnies with us we would have thrown them all in there with him in the hope that it might somehow woo him into slumber. 

We ended up with an Audi A4 when the rental company ran out of whatever it was we had paid for...and once we figured out how to turn it on, we weren't complaining. It was slightly terrifying as Jordan got used to driving on the wrong side of the road and we continually veered to the left...but once we got out of Heathrow and on the M4 things got a little less scary. I have to say Jordan impressed me with his international driving skills. Driving in England is scary even with English people. 

We went to the county of Dorset for Easter weekend, just the three of us (more about that in part deux).  While there we spent the day in the adorable seaside town of Lyme Regis and came across this Banksy street art of an origami paper crane holding a fish. We were excited, and have about 20 pictures of it from different angles...(side note: while there we also came across the building that Jane Austen stayed in while writing Persuasion). 

Well that's all for tonight. Despite all my complaining, we did have a great time. Stay tuned for more exciting tidbits in part two...where we delve into the details of our trip to beauty-full Dorset. I will try to post a little more promptly next time! 

Cheerio, XO

a trip to brighton and tuesday's tune

Who watched Walking Dead this week?? Wasn't the song at the end perfect? It fit the show so well. I looked it up and it's by Fink. It's a good chill out song, just what I am in the mood for today...

Apparently he is based out of Brighton, UK, which just so happens to be where we are headed next week to visit my family. Westley gets to meet his Grandpa for the first time and see his Auntie, as well as all of my extended family over there. I can't wait!! If you've never been to Brighton it is one of my favourite places. We spent every summer there growing up - swimming on the rocky beaches, playing on the pier, shopping in the lanes (it is hands down my favourite city to shop in), stuffing our faces with banoffee pie, and getting into trouble with our cousins. Such good memories there!

Here's a few pics from past trips:

wishing i was here...

Isn't January feeling long? Today I'm wishing this was my view. Dias Beach on the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but when you stand on the beach you are surrounded by high cliffs and the waves are so massive and powerful as they crash towards you that you have to yell to be heard. It is breathtakingly beautiful and one of the few places I've been that truly made my heart sing.