Ripley Castle is a lot of fun. Oliver Cromwell once hid here and there is a priest hole. Enoch especially likes the old swords and armor. Here we are on a day out.
Enoch and Hilde explore the light from the stained glass windows in the church.
The "world famous" ice cream.
Monday was the first day of school since Labor Day is not a holiday here (of course). It was Enoch's very first day of school, and he was super excited. This summer just flew by and I didn't have time to think about my little boy starting school, we were just too busy. And then the day came and we got dressed and I nearly forgot the camera. Really, I was just hoping to get through the day. I had to drive to the school 4 times since the base bus wasn't running and Enoch was having a shortened first day. With 4 trips and Phinn's naps and feedings, it was going to be a whirlwind. As I was dropping Enoch off though, I realized that he isn't my baby anymore. He is such a good boy and will be wonderful at school. I love him dearly. And I did remember the camera just in time, so here are some pictures:
Notice he is carrying his new lunchbox. He doesn't actually have lunch at school for another two weeks since the first month they do short days that get a little longer each week until they are going full time. However, he insisted he have a packed lunch just like Hilde. So we packed his lunch and he ate it after I picked him up.
Hilde looks more beautiful each year. She is so grown up now and really ready for Year 2 (2nd Grade). She was excited to start back into reading and art, not so excited about Math. We are looking for ways to change that...
I love this picture of Enoch walking off to school. He left me in the dust several times with his enthusiasm. Good luck this year kiddoes!
My parents, myself and the kids packed up and went to Edinburgh, Scotland for a few days last week. The only full day we were there was a complete deluge. Hard rain all day long. So we looked for things that would keep us relatively dry. We settled on a hop on, hop off bus and a trip to the Camera Obscura and Dynamic Earth. Camera Obscura was awesome and I would recommend it to anyone. It was small, but very hands-on and the kids LOVED it. They encouraged you to take pictures everywhere, and try everything out. Just our kind of place. I think Enoch would have stayed there all day chasing the fish around the room if we had let him. Dynamic Earth was interesting as well, just not quite as cool.
At the lookout at the top of the Camera Obscura tower.
One of the displays. 
This optical illusion was a favorite of the kids. It looks like Hilde is hitting Enoch on the head but she was actually just dancing around beside him.
Picture of all of us with my sister's family. Notice how Enoch is infiltrating their side? 
A picture of all of us.
In July Darley had a Field day. It was cleverly done. They divided the kids into a bunch of different teams. They were then divided into groupings of two teams that were of the same age and skill level. Then they had 14 or 15 different activities that they had the teams compete in. So, Hilde was always on the same team, always competing against the same team. They did each competition for about 5-7 minutes and then moved to the next one. It was hilarious to watch to some of the kids, and I was really suprised how competitive Hilde was. She didn't get upset about losing, but she wouldn't hesitate to find ways to improve her chances to win... Here are just a couple of pictures from the day.
Jump roping her way to the finish line.
This one was particularly funny to watch, because Hilde and most of the other kids never knew when the ball was being passed to them and the rest of the team would have to yell their name. Hilde's team didn't win, but she had a fabulous time and ice cream was served at the end.
