Cousins

Each and every one of my childhood summers was spent playing with cousins.  While we did not live near any of them, thanks to the nature of my dad's job, he had summers off which enabled me to get to know my extended family very well despite the distance. I loved these summers and loved the relationships I had with each of my cousins, aunts and uncles.

For two weeks in April, we were able to host my cousin Hillary, her husband Mark and their two fun and adorable girls, Kate and Genevieve.  Just like old times, I had a wonderful time with them.  Apparently, my children had as much fun as I did.

Hopefully they were able to enjoy their stay even though many outings had to be altered or canceled due to poor Genevieve getting sick.  Either that or they had to evacuate the house any time a potential buyer visited.  Which was often.  Our house is on the market and so we often (up to 5x a day) have to leave the house while people view it.  Fun!! 

We tried to make up for these setbacks by introducing things like Sticky Toffee Pudding, Honeycomb ice cream, Fish & Chips, and other local deliciousness.  Sweeten the deal, you know?

Kate entertained herself by choosing Nell's clothes.  I was impressed with what she put together.

It was slightly more presentable than what Clara came up with... :)

Apparently this April was the wettest on record for over 100 years!  They had a remarkably good attitude about this I must say!!  We were able to visit many local sites like Bolton Abbey and Fountains Abbey as well as get a little park time in.

The first weekend we decided to drive to Chatsworth House.  This is a stately home we have been wanting to visit for a while now and we managed to make it there before our car broke down (with Mark driving - in the middle of a round a bout - on the way to church) the following day.

The gardens were beautiful and we spent a considerable portion of the day (after of course visiting the temporary food festival) wandering around them.  They were so elaborate that the gardener/landscape architect Joseph Paxton earned his knighthood from his work on this garden.

The house itself is beautiful as well.  It was actually Mr. Darcy's house in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice movie.

Here are some pictures from the tour we took inside the house.  I really enjoyed this library.  And then there is the gentle reminder to not sit in the chairs...ouch!

The next day was Sunday and we still had the rental car for the weekend.  As we were leaving for church, Devin commented on how I matched the car perfectly.  How thoughtful of him to get a car that would coordinate so well. What a guy!  Now if only he'd do this every week.

It was a bit difficult to sight-see with our car in the garage, but Hillary and Mark managed to fill the week with days around Harrogate, train trips to York and then rented a car the next weekend to drive through the Dales and visit both Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay.

We first visited Whitby.  We enjoyed walking around especially because it was Goth Festival Weekend.  People were completely decked out!  It was fun to see.  After a lunch of fish and chips (how could we visit Whitby without it?) we headed to Robin Hoods Bay.

We pulled into the car park (otherwise known as parking lot) at Robin Hood's Bay and saw a group of men dressed up in cloaks.  Turns out there was the European Town Criers Competition.

We spent a few minutes observing this unique tradition before heading through the town to the bay.

It was so bitterly cold but incredibly beautiful. Jonas enjoyed it when Mark took him around the tide pools.

Kate and Clara managed to enjoy the beach in wellies and coats and barely complained when the water went in over the boots.  They even ate some ice cream afterwards.

The moss was so interesting and fun to walk around.

I think Clara is channeling Whitney (Hillary's sister) with the cold water thing!!  She enjoys the beach so much that she has decided temperature doesn't matter.  She did not get this from me.  Genevieve and Nell were more sensible and so Hill and I wandered in a sweet shop to kill the time.  Here's a picture of Hillary and Genevieve before heading to buy some candy. :)

And here's Nell - she didn't even ask to get out of the stroller, smart girl!

On their last day, Kate turned 6!!  We love birthdays in our house (especially Clara) so we had a fun time decorating and having a little party.  Kate chose Thai food (good taste) and so we enjoyed take out along with fruit pizza and ice cream. The girls then put on a fantastic performance for us which included costumes and...fencing?

We are so glad they came to visit.  It was fun to be able to reconnect to Hillary as adults now and get to know Mark better.  Kate and Genevieve were so impressive.  They are funny and well behaved and just enjoyable to have around.  Our kids especially enjoyed playing with them and look forward to the next time they can play.  Jonas especially enjoyed marching around in his walker with Mark who happens to be a real soldier - it was much more proper than when I do it.

I loved watching the next generation get along as well as I did as a child with my cousins.