Blue John Mines

The most wonderful thing about this trip was that I was able to take my family to so many of the wonderful places that I went to as a child.  I don't have a very good memory but the ones that I do have I love to share with my boys.  This was one that I remember doing with my mom, dad and family.  My dad grew up in the Buxton.  Jamie couldn't get over how narrow some of the country road were.

I love the country side.

I totally remember coming here when I was child.

Not much has changed, just maybe it doesn't seem as big as it used too.  ;)

The size of some of the caverns was pretty amazing.  It is still a working mine too.

It got pretty cool down at the bottom.

Really this country with all the different landscapes is so amazingly beautiful

Me and my sweetie making memories for our boys.

The boys did a little bit of caving by exploring inside this cave.

Then is was time for some lunch and walking around Buxton.

The view from the Castle on the hill.

There is so much history here.  I can't even remember how old this castle was.

I am pretty sure these stairs are not original.  ;0

We thought that this made a good dungeon.  LOL

What every mother wants, to see her children behind bars.  LOL

Park Fun

I am sure that you will get sick of seeing all of the pictures of the kids playing at the parks but when you are traveling with children it is something that you have to do quite often.  LOL  The boys are standing in front of the Lythan Windmill.  I have seen this windmill so many times but I love it as it reminds me of my family vacations.  (Tradition LOL)

The boys even tried their hand at tennis a few times which is something that we don't do at home.  It was very entertaining to watch them.  Keagan even manage to hit the ball all the way onto the road.  LOL

I think for the boys this was the favorite park.  There was so much to do and play with here.  The possibilities were endless.

I was truly surprised that Keagan even managed to old one once Jamie gave this a shove.

I like this picture because it shows the row house surrounding the park.  So typically English in my mind.

Boys can never get enough of things that you can spin on.  LOL

 

Blackpool Fun

I am sad to say that Darien and Keagn both refused to go on the donkeys in Blackpool.  I was so looking forward to having a picture of all the boys on one as this is something that I can remember doing as a child when we would go for a visit.  At least Rylan and Stefan had a good time.  Blackpool Tower is in the background.

Doing some exploring in the many arcades.  At least they can say they road on a double decker bus.  LOL

This was actually a nice day and it was great to walk along some of the piers.

 

Stefan and Rylan of course had to go on some of the corny rides.  LOL

I love this picture of all of us with Blackpool Tower behind us.

This is our little people mover in front of my Grandma's house.  We were lucky to get something that would seat us all.  It was very squishy to and from the airport as we had to stack our luggage for tightly.

Our Journey Begins

This will be the first of many as about our summer vacation.  This summer we are heading to Europe for  5 weeks and I plan on taking a ton of pictures.  So you are pre-warned.  LOL

 

Our journey begins in Calgary were we had to fly out off.  We drove down in the morning so that we would have time to take a tour of a new charter airline Enerjet.  Jamie knows some of the pilots really well so he made arrangements for us to have a tour and boy were the boys excited (mostly Jamie  LOL)

The boys really got to explore the whole plane

You can't be a part of this family with out showing a little bit of interest in air planes.  LOL  We spent an hour exploring the plane and then it was time to head to the airport for our big adventure.

We were lucky enough to be able to go to one of the lounges  before our flight and enjoy some food and relax before the journey.

Here is our plane.  It is hard to believe that we are going to be gone for 5 weeks.  What are we thinking.  LOL

The boys were pretty excited as we were able to save up enough for business class for on the way over.  It gave us a lot of room and boy did it feel good.

Stefan with his bag of treats from the airline.

It doesn't get much better than this.  LOL  I am sure that when all the people in club class saw us getting on with our four boys they were pretty concerned but they boys as usual were super stars and so well behaved that they proved them wrong.  Way to go boys and what a great start to our trip.

We finally made it to Great Grandma Orrell's.  Ya and yes we are looking a little tired.  LOL

We decided to get out and stretch our legs and to help us stay awake so we made our way to the sea shore.  I have so many fond memories of being on these beaches.  It was so fun to take my own children here.

Of course the high light for the boys were the sand dunes.

The spend hours just jumping and running the rain didn't even matter.

This picture made us laugh.  This is Stefan's way of washing himself off.  LOL

The weather got a  little bit better so we were made our way out to enjoy a local park.  In St. Annes

They have some very unique swings and climbing equipment at their parks.  Which the boys had fun on.

This was just day one of our time in England.  We are planning on being in the north of England for just over two weeks and exploring then we will head south to London, then on to France for 4 days and then the Czech Republic for 10 days  This is going to be a great trip and hopefully we don't bore you with all the photos.  LOL

Last Day of School

This time of year is always so bitter sweat.  We have had such a wonderful year and all the boys have loved thier teachers.  (Except Darien. LOL)  This year Stefan was in the Early Entry program as the school the boys go to and it was great and these are hi amazing teachers.

After all our children having her our amazing principle retired this year.  We wish her all the best but she will be missed.

Keagan singing at the farewell for Mrs. Foster.

This is Keagans last year in french immersion.  We have decided that he will be going into English next year.  He has been doing well but we feel that he might excell more in just english.  This was his teacher Mr. Gervais.  It was so great for Keagan to have a good year.  Can't wait to see what grade five has in store for him.

Rylan our little french man.  Rylan loves everything about speaking french and if he ears anyone speaking it he is there in a shot to use what he knows.  LOL  This was his teacher Madame Nicole and she was amazing.  So sweet and understanding.  This really was a great year for all my children.  Their teachers are amazing and I take my hat off to all the amazing people that help my children learn and grow every year.  They do a wonderful job.

Happy Birthday Stefan

Our baby is 5 today!!!!!

I can not beleive how quickly the time has gone by.  Our baby has been with us for 5 years now making him not much of a baby any more.  Of course in my eyes he will always be my baby.

He was so excited to turn 5.  If you asked him what he wanted for his birthday he kept saying a baby.  Sorry but that is not going to happen.  LOL  He was pretty happy with what he got though. 

As long as the cake has icing and it sweet he is happy.  LOL  Just like his dad but as least daddy eats the whole cake not just the icing.  :)

Stefan has been such a wonderful addition to our family.  He makes us whole and complete.  I am so blessed to have such amazing kids full of personality and enjergy.  Stefan loves everything his brothers love.  He and Darien are like to peas in a pod.  They have a very special bond and it really is a love hate relationship.  LOL  But more love than hate and Darien will always be there to protect him and defend him.  I am so in love with this little boy and and we wish him all the best in his life.  Love you Stefan.