While Sean was in the States for the weekend. Ben and Meike were brave enough to come hang out with Evan and I again. They even drove us! We went to see Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill's birthplace. We met Rachel there.
Blenheim Palace consists of a main "house," multiple types of gardens, a small waterfall, a train, a hedge maze, a butterfly house, and a small but enjoyable "adventure" playground. We started by touring the house. It is an amazing place, of course, with ceilings and halls like Versailles but not quite so loud or ornate. Evan was in my "baby" pack throughout the house but I knew he could only tolerate a certain amount of confined "don't touch anything!" time. So, while Rachel, Meike, and Ben read about the house and Churchill's life, Evan and I searched the house for horses and examined mounted animal heads on the walls. We also tried very hard to avoid the guided tour groups but he was very quiet the few times we got trapped in them. So, we had the express tour, then made our way to the grounds where he threw rocks in the fountains and I worked very hard to keep him off the areas with the "Please stay off grass" signs. Overall, I would not recommend visiting the house or immediate grounds with a toddler.
The train and Adventure Area were a different story. The butterfly house was amazing (except that Evan kept trying to touch the all-too-friendly butterflies and we eventually left for fear that he would squish one). And I think the whole group enjoyed the hedge maze. Thanks to the group for having us along!
1 comment:
Yeah, I am glad you went. This is one of the places I recommended as it looks beautiful and I am a big Churchill fan. Did they show you the coat room he was delivered in? His mother was attending a ball at the Palace when she went into labor and he was born on a pile of coats, or so the story goes.
You posts are a lot less stressed and it sounds like you are settling in. I bet you are glad to have Sean back.
Cheers,
Fred
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