Legoland

On the final day of our 3-day trip in southern England, we visited Legoland in Windsor. We picked one of the worst days of the year to go- Good Friday. The place was mobbed and we ended up waiting in very long lines to get onto rides. The longest wait was nearly an hour for a stupid train ride that lasted not much longer than 5 minutes. I think the children enjoyed the park; however, it was very difficult for them to wait in line for those rides for so long. Although we recognize it wouldn't have been as bad on a normal week day, Harmony and I were reminded of our disdain for theme parks and large crowds. We vowed not to return!


(Above) Lego models of famous world sites.

(L) Lego Stonehenge. (R) One of the rides had a Lego-building area for the kids to play in while we stood in line. It helped pass the time for a nearly 40-minute wait!

(Above) Dave, Elise, Oakley, and Ethan on one of the rides geared towards small children. The line for this wasn't as bad as the others.

Brighton Pier

After visiting Dover, we drove west to Brighton, a popular ocean-front town on the English Channel.
(Below) Oakley, Jack, and Lucas had a great time on the carnival rides at the pier.



(L) Jack and Lucas doing one of their favorite activities: throwing rocks into water. (R) We found a live starfish near the pier.


We spent a lot of time together in the van. Fortunately, our Honda Odyssey holds 8 passengers. We used all 8 seats during Elise's visit. We squished Lucas, Jack, and Oakley into the back seats.

Walmer Castle

Less than 10 miles away from Dover is Walmer Castle and Gardens. Since entry is free with our English Heritage pass, we figured we'd stop for a quick look before we moved on to our next destination on our southern England trip. This castle was built during Henry VIII's time as a defense against the threat of an invasion from France or Spain.

(Above) As shown, Walmer Castle is located along the coast.

(L) Oddly-sculpted bushes. (R) Walking down into the "moat."

(L) We always have to get the boys the free audio guides, lest they whine incessantly to use ours. (R) The castle interior was decorated very nicely.

(L) Greenhouse. (R) Harmony wanted me to post this as an example of some of the things they sell in the gift shops around here.

(Above) It can be hard to get these boys to smile for photos. Jack was being really stubborn for this one.

(L) They had a children's Easter trail at the castle, where kids had to find all of the letters on the "hidden" eggs and then decipher what the letters spelled. The prize for completing the puzzle was a piece of Lindt chocolate. Aunt Elise made sure all of the kids, including the ones who couldn't write, completed the form for the free chocolate.

(Above) Jack filling out Easter trail form. He's been learning to write at school and seems to be doing pretty well with his letters.

Dover Castle and White Cliffs

During Elise's visit, we went on a three-day trip, touring parts of southern England. Our first stop was Dover Castle. This is one of the most famous castles in the UK and has an impressive history. The site was used by pre-historic peoples, the Romans, the Normans, the Saxons, and finally the English. In the 13th Century, King Henry the II built the main structure that survives today.

(L) A reconstructed stateroom in the older part of the castle, made to look as it did during Henry II's reign. (R) Oakley, Jack, and Lucas on the roof of the castle.

(Above) A view from one of Dover Castle's towers.

(Above) A view of the old church at Dover Castle from one of the towers.

More recently, tunnels built below the castle, above the White Cliffs of Dover, were used during World War II as military headquarters, where the British tracked German vessels and aircraft and prepared for an expected German invasion of the UK. English Heritage, the organization which maintains the site, runs tours of two areas in the tunnels, which we thought were the highlight of our visit to Dover Castle. The first and most interesting was a tour of the war rooms that British military commanders used to coordinate Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of allied troops from Dunkirk in France in 1940. The other tour explored an underground hospital that was used during WWII.


(Above) At one of the exhibits in the Secret Wartime Tunnels they had kid-sized military jackets.


(L) The Port of Dover, one of Europe's busiest. (R) It's hard to tell from this photo, but you can see France on the horizon.

Another highlight of our trip to Dover were the views of the White Cliffs. Unfortunately it was a cold, gray, windy day, but the views were still stunning. It was too cold to do much hiking, so we may have to return to Dover during the warm weather for a longer hike.

(Above) We ran into a pasture with some horses along the cliff trail.

(Above) Notice the black sands at the bottom of the cliffs.