As part of the lead up to the Queens Jubilee, Noah's reception class re-enacted a royal wedding at the church across the street from the school.
4 kids with lots of energy... a sale at ASDA (the Walmart of the UK) ... it had to happen....
Noah had his first birthday party invite this weekend at a classmates house in the village of St. Donat's He wanted Hunter to stay with him at the party, so Kelly, Abbie, Preston and I went exploring. We first walked down and checked out St. Donat's church which dates back to the 11 century based on the exterior sign. In some of the pictures you can see St. Donat's castle in the background. There is also a picture of nice victorian stained glass inside the church.
Next we threaded our way down to a somewhat hidden beach below St. Donat's Castle which now houses Atlantic College. It is difficult to find and we only found it after some advice from other parents of children at the birthday party. Since the college is now out for the summer, it was quiet.
St Donats Castle itself is very beautiful. It was actually purchased by William Hearst - the newspaper baren in 1925. He spent a fortune renovating the castle, and supposedly held lavish parties when he was visiting the site. If you have ever been to Hearst Castle on the coast in central California, it had a similar feel - at least the parts we could see. It is only open to the public once a year I believe. A couple shots below of the castle pool area overlooking the sea.
After the kids went to bed, dad stayed home with the kids, while Kelly and I went out to another popular local pub called the Plow and Harrow. This pub dates back to 1183 when the area was farmed by local monks. They have a great selection of ales, and have live music there on saturday nights, and lots of outdoor space. Beer festival coming up there in mid june too! Preston has been feeling a little under the weather so we brought him along. He was enjoying some good pea mash, and then abruptly decided he was done by throwing up in Kelly's lap. We were finished our dinner anyhow so made a quick exit, but got these couple pictures before leaving.
The spectacular weather in South Wales is continuing. We spent some time down at Dunraven Bay today near the village of Southerndown today. While Kelly and Abbie went to the beach, Dad and I took Preston on a walk up along the cliff tops.
After a week back in the US, my dad flew back with me on my return trip May 19th to visit us for 3 weeks! His first international trip out of North America.
Saturday, after our arrival we had a cake and ice cream to celebrate Pappie's retirement!
The weather in Wales the past couple of weeks has been spectacular, so on Sunday we took the opportunity to visit Cardiff Castle. I had visited it over a year ago, but it was the first time for my dad, Kelly and the kids. During our visit we happened to catch 'Roman' day with displays and activities. The first few pictures are from the castle, and the last few are from the streets near the castle.
In the late afternoon, Hunter had a birthday party up in the village of Pontyclun. We decided to try a pub in the local area so we ate at the Boars Head pub in Pontyclun. Good pump ale, good atmosphere and good eats!
Saturday late afternoon we took a drive down to the bluffs above Marcross beach. It had been nice earlier in the day but was getting a little windy and cool so the kids wanted to try out the kites they had each got for Hunter's birthday. Here is a great video of the boys laughing as Noah's kite does some interesting acrobatics on its own.
Few more photos too!
More exploration of fun things close to our house. Ogmore Castle which is believed to have started construnction in 1106 is an interesting set of ruins on the banks of a river about 10 minutes from our house. If offered fun scrambles for the kids and a little bit of sheep chasing as they roam the castle grounds as well. It could be a good place to come back for a picnic on a nice day.
