Nate's 2nd Birthday

We had pancakes for Nathanael's birthday breakfast.

The boys had their own costume party for Nathanael's birthday party.

Buzz Lightyear... of course.

Spiderman

I think they decided on Ninja Turtle, although I'm not even sure they know who the Ninja Turtles are.

Can't believe the little guy is already 2! How quickly time flies... here are a couple of our favorite Nathanael moments in honor of the day.

SS Great Britain

We took the boys to see this "brilliant" (to use a British term) ship called the SS Great Britain. It really was brilliant. A brief history...

"The ss Great Britain was a world first when she was launched in Bristol in 1843. This uniquely successful ship design brought together new technologies in a way which transformed world travel.Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the most daring of the great Victorian engineers, conceived the groundbreaking combination of a screw propeller, an iron hull, and a massive 1000-horsepower steam engine.She was immediately successful - on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic the ss Great Britain easily broke the previous speed record.Although effectively a prototype, she continued sailing until 1886, and travelled thirty-two times around the world and nearly one million miles at sea.She was finally abandoned in the Falkland Islands, in 1937, after more than 40 years use as afloating warehouse.In 1970 an ambitious salvage effort brought her home to Bristol, where today she is conserved in the dry dock where she was originally built." (from www.ssgreatbritain.org)

Here we are holding up the hull...

Buzz Lightyear obviously doesn't need any help and can easily do the work of 2 with 1 hand.

A couple of pictures to give you a better perspective of it's size.

Rudder and propeller.

In the dry dock.

On deck.

This picture is to prove once again, that Nathanael sleeps through all the good stuff.

Below deck.

John Wesley's Chapel - The New Room

Right in the middle of Cabot Circus, a big indoor/outdoor mall of sorts, you'll stubble upon what seems odd in the middle of a shopping metropolis... The New Room. It was funny to notice other people as we walked in, it was almost as if no one else had even noticed it was there. We got lots of quizzical looks as we took pictures of the entrance. I don't think people could figure out why we'd want to go to a place like that. Some were trying to read the stone marker trying to figure out what it even was.

They're remodeling the entrance so it was hard to get a good picture of the statue.

You'll notice to the left a shop is encroaching on the front of the chapel, makes it hard to envision it as it was so long ago.

Mark was excited to stand in the pulpit and place his hands on the very place where Wesley preached.

A few interesting facts...

• There was a grandfather clock upstairs in the Preachers' Rooms (a place for young aspiring pastors to come and stay if they wanted to study/apprentice under Wesley) that only had the short hand. Apparently is was quite common. They weren't so concerned about the exactness of time.
• John Wesley was quite short at only 5'3".
• There was a window that couldn't be seen from the congregation (window opposite the window you can see in the picture above) where John Wesley would stand in the Preachers' Rooms foyer area and look down on the apprentice who was preaching. It was told us it was a rather intimidating experience to sit under his tutelage, to look up as you were preaching and Wesley to be standing above you staring down at you.

Arnos Vale Cemetery

Arnos Vale Cemetery is home to one of our favorites... George Muller.

Mark and I love cemeteries. Yes, I know it's a little weird, but this place was incredible. It was huge. I think if it weren't for the boys we would have stayed all day. So many stones, everywhere, even in places you'd think it wouldn't be possible. It was really unbelievable how close together the stones were. In America, even in really "old" cemeteries, they're still fairly orderly. Arnos Vale... not so much.

Entrance.

A few random pictures...

I love the moss on these tree branches.

Trecking to Muller's grave.

Muller's 2 wives were buried before him. It's an interesting layout of the stones. The 2 white stones are tilted toward each other and his is at the head.

Horfield Common

This is a small Parish church near the common. I'm sure there are tons more like it, but it's the first one we've seen that has a cemetery on the grounds, actually surrounding the building. It's really beautiful and actually quite fitting. I think maybe all churches should do that. It would definitely help us as we came and left our weekly meeting places to think more often/soberly/hopefully/joyfully about eternity.

Horfield Common

The common and playground are about a 10-15-20 min. (depending on how long your legs are and how motivated they are) walk from our house. At first I thought that was close and we'd go often, but it's just far enough that if it's the slightest bit dreary out, the boys don't want to go. Hudson always wants to drive there. Such an American, that kid. Maybe once it warms up a bit. I guess we could drive though... now that I've taken up driving UK style.

Now on that note, I was absolutely petrified at first being that everything is opposite and with very little that is familiar as far as signage and markings go. It took 5 days and an almost emergency trip (I'll tell you about that later) to the hospital to get me in the drivers seat (which now that I think about it, might very well get us in the emergency room too!) You'll be pleased to know that I've only almost killed us once on my 2nd outing. Some of you consider me a fast driver, but I'm definitely the grandma driver here. There are no stop signs!!! What?!?! My rule is, if in doubt, stop. I've decided I'd rather be rear-ended than broadsided. I've been out 3 times now driving without Mark, and I'm definitely feeling more comfortable. My map never leaves my lap. I don't think they've ever even heard of a grid here. And as for making street signs visible or even labeling them at all? Whatever for? If they are labeled, it is usually about waist-high on the side of a building on only one side of the street. So even if you can see through the parked car or overgrown hedge, you might not be going in the right direction to see it at all. Good times when you have NO IDEA where you're going.

Bridge Walk

We walked to the playground one late afternoon and saw a beautiful sun set. We only had the little camera so the color isn't great, but I think you can imagine.

We walked across the bridge. It was super windy and a little scary, but a great view of the gorge and the city.

Obviously we'd have to get a picture in front of one of these!

Classic Elliot

Elliot wants to be Buzz Lightyear when He grows up. He wants to fly in the sky and use his wazer (lazer), his municaken (communicator), his gun and sword to fight Zurg. Thought everyone might enjoy a good laugh. If you're a home schooler, you'll notice how math manipulatives get used at our house!