Fathers Day

 

Father's Day weekend 2013 was so much fun. First of all we have the best Dad in the world and second of all he took us out to the country to celebrate.

We decided to leave early Saturday morning and took a train out to the Bath area. Specifically, we planned a little trip to a manor turned adventure safari park called Longleat. The train ride went perfectly. The kids always like riding the train and I always like the quality family time we get to enjoy on our train rides. Ellie especially loves stories. Short stories, long stories, good stories, or bad stories, she is all about the stories. My favorite is when she decides to tell a story. She is really good. Her stories have a beginning, a middle, but she will kind of cut them short and just say the end whenever she feels like it. We need to work on an end. She is so imaginative these days. I love how she will always encourage the story teller by saying, "that was a good story" at the end. She often will even tell you what to include in your story, which makes it easier. She will say, "Mommy tell the story about Ellie's bean goes in the mud and Ellie cries". And then I will just make up a story about a little girl named Ellie who drops her bean in the mud and so on. I love it, we do it for hours.

 

 

Leon booked this cute little bed and breakfast outside the resort for us. It was called the Bath Arms and it was absolutely lovely. We stayed in the peacock room where everything from the chairs to the bed to the light fixtures was peacock themed. I was charmed.

 

We dropped off our bags and headed to the safari park. I was a little confused when I saw this. Apparently in the 1950s the Lord of Bath was having trouble keeping up the Longleat manor and had to figure out something to bring in funds. His idea: wild animals. He brought lions, elephants, cheetahs, ect in and people would pay to drive their cars through to see the animals and they still do. We opted to take the bus. The monkeys like to take windshield wipers and different treasures from cars, so it was a good idea not to take a rented car through. Anyway, the safari park soon turned into an adventure park in this Lord's backyard. Can you imagine one of these on Downton? 

 

Ellie loved all the animals. She is such an animal lover. She even had the guts to feed the birds. I was dying. One of the birds got its beak so close to her neck and I about had a heart attack whereas she was very calm and collected. Just call her Fluttershy. (if you got that joke, kudos)

 

Daddy and Ellie in front of the giant castle playground. It was so fun for all of the family.



Jetty and Ellie escaping the rain inside the play tent.

 

 Ellie's favorite part was the feeding of the giraffes. She really likes Madagascar and calls all the animals by their Madagascar names. She was so happy and couldn't believe how close she was allowed to get. She saw Melvin's purple tounge too.

 

Ellie and Mommy with Marty (the Zebra)

 

 

Daddy and Ellie feeding Melvin

The Elephant

Alex and his cubs from our view on the bus

After our day at the park, we headed back to the inn. It was getting chilly and naturally we found ourselves on the lawn enjoying some Cadbury hot chocolate. Perfect end to a lovely day.

 

The next morning we went down to breakfast. It was our first time at a bed and breakfast, so we weren't sure what to expect. We found a charming little cold breakfast set out complete with chocolate pastries and English ham and cheese. I was perfectly content when we realize that we are suppose to order a hot breakfast too. And it was amazing. Leon ordered the full English breakfast, while I got the eggs benedict. We are still dreaming of that breakfast and that charming little inn. We decided to take a walk in the country and enjoy the sights. Unfortunately it rained the whole time. But we made the best of it and danced to the music Ellie decided to make with her little sticks. We just had the best time. I love this little family of mine and all our little adventures together.

 

chocolate croissant



Eggs Benedict

Full English



Ellie with our breakfast