More of my 'home'

Today was another full day. Late this morning we headed to Canterbury, a city about twenty minutes away from Whistable, where I lived. My first real Saturday job was in Canterbury at a department store called Debenhams, so I spent a lot of time there. It is, of course, famous for The Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, and the amazing cathedral. We wanted Arran especially to see the old wall that surrounded the city, so we started by walking along that.

We walked by the cathedral entrance, but the children were a bit too young to appreciate it and were more interested in finding something for lunch. We will save that tourist attraction for another visit, when they are a bit older.

 Chips from City Fish Bar, the best in Canterbury, just down from the Canterbury Tales Museum (if you are ever there!)

Then we were off to Herne Bay for the highlight of the day, and for the kids maybe the highlight of the whole trip. We went to Herons Swimming Pool, an indoor pool complete with jets and a slide and a great kid-friendly, but at the same time not adult-unfriendly pool. I wish I had photos but I do not. With all that water and splashing kids I just could not risk it. But suffice it to say they had the biggest smiles the whole time we were there, they were just SO happy. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Our one, almost, mishap was on Bryttain's first time down the slide with Daddy. She was coming down, all smiles, when their combined body weight as they approached the end, created a huge wave, which splashed back into her face. She let out the most blood curdling scream and then dissolved into panicked tears, clinging to James for dear life as he swooped her up and carried her out. It was very sad. From then on he knew to lift her up at the end each time, above the wave and fun times were restored.

We left thoroughly exhausted and headed back to Uncle Wesley's, where he was busy preparing a roast dinner for us all. When we got back, Lou was giving her baby tortoise a bath...most intriguing.

I was given a few minutes to take photos of Wes and Lou, which you can see here, then they surprised the kids with Easter Eggs.

Easter Eggs are all over the stores in England. They are one of those simple things that I miss, out in the States. This was a whole new experience for the kids, that they thoroughly enjoyed - well the little nibble I allowed them as I did not want them to spoil their appetites.

You crack open the chocolate egg and inside find the goodies, in this case, delicious chocolate buttons. Yum!

We finished the evening off with a lovely roast dinner and a glass of California wine. Lovely!