Back to School, and More Visitors

Once my parents left, we had a few weeks to get back into our routine before school started. Miles and Lily kept busy with a few summer clubs, while I tried to catch up on laundry and get things ready for our last round of summer visitors.

The first day of school finally arrived, and the kids were so excited to go back.

Our friends arrived the following day.

Miles and Maillee met when they were 2 in a pre-preschool program in Colorado. They became fast friends, and when they "graduated," Maillee's mom and I became friends as we got the kids together for playdates. One of the hardest parts of our move for Miles was to leave his best friend, so he was thrilled to learn that she was coming to the UK.

Maillee and family (Jessica and Marc) stayed nearby in our area for two nights, then we all went to Edinburgh for a long weekend. We briefly met up the first night so the kids could see each other, and they had a great time playing.

The second day, Maillee was invited to visit Miles at school. She arrived after lunch, and was able to go to lessons, and meet and play with Miles' classmates. I thought it was great that the school suggested this, and everyone had a fun day.

That evening, we hired a babysitter so the adults could have dinner together. We went to an English tapas-type place, which was great, and then had a drink after.

It was really nice to get out and catch up. We didn't stay out too late though, since we had to catch a train the next morning. And then we were off on our last weekend getaway of the summer.

Meemaw and Da Visit - Bolton Abbey

We did visit one new place while my parents were visiting, and it was so beautiful that it gets its own post.

There was a small gathering of local artists at the park near our house. My mom had bought a painting of Bolton Abbey, and since none of us had ever been, we thought we should check it out.

We drove through the beautiful English countryside to get there. These pictures were taken while we were driving.

Once we parked, we had a short walk to a small gate...

... and we were greeted with these breathtaking views.

We wandered down first to see the river and stepping stones.

Miles and Lily wanted to walk across, so Matt and my dad took them while my mom and I stayed with Clara.

Then we went to a small rocky "beach" area, and Matt tried to teach the kids how to skip rocks.

From here we made our way up to the priory, which is the ruins of a 12th century monastery. It was shut down in the 1500s by Henry VIII.

Swimming near the cows. As you do.

The graveyard in front of the priory was very interesting. Some headstones showed recent dates, and some were so old you couldn't read them.

The ruins were beautiful. I love seeing the detail in the stonework.

The kids liked this grassy area to play in, and got upset when we told them they couldn't smuggle ruin rocks home in their pockets.

While the kids were playing, I got a few shots of my parents.

Then we walked around to the other side of the building, which has a still functioning church.

We made the kids wait outside with Da.

There was a large house across from the church, and one of the volunteers told my dad that it belongs to the Duke of Devonshire.

We had a little picnic on the grass, then the kids played for a few more minutes before we left.

Instead of going home, we drove to Pateley Bridge, which has a lovely high street and gorgeous surroundings. We had early dinner in a pub, with the intention of looking in the shops after. However, the shops were closed by the time we finished, so we just slowly walked back to the car.

I loved this little bridge.

Pateley Bridge was named Best Village High Street in 2016.

Overall it was a fun day. We loved Bolton Abbey, and we barely saw any of it. With 33,000 acres and miles of footpaths, we will have to visit a few more times to see more.