Happy birthday Brother!

In between all the sightseeing we did while Drew was here, we also wanted to get some nice pictures of him. We had so much fun scouting out cool/pretty locations and thinking of different poses he could do while we explored some of the little towns nearby.

Bury St Edmunds Cathedral

Bury St Edmunds gardens

Drew on the cannon in front of Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral

Today happens to be my brother's 17th birthday!

Happy birthday Drew, love you!

Christmas Came Early!

Christmas came early to the Starr household this year, thanks to my amazing husband! When I got back from my trip to the States, he had gotten out all of our Christmas decorations and put everything up himself!! It was SO cool to come to that. We opened our presents to each other and had a great day celebrating, even if it was a little early. :)

Coffee press, whoo too! :)

Gift cards to my favorite store here!

Zoe's present - wrapping paper! 

Max

Bonfire Night

On November 5th, England celebrates Guy Fawkes Night every year with big bonfires in the towns, and awesome fireworks displays. It all started because Guy Fawkes was arrested while taking part in a plot to kill King James I by laying explosives below the House of Lords in 1605. When he was arrested, people celebrated the failed attempt on their King's life by lighting bonfires and fireworks. 

It seems like every big and small town here has some sort of celebration to commemorate the day, and I decided to go to Ely's this year. It was awesome. There was a carnival-like atmosphere complete with kiddie rides, glow sticks, and candy floss (cotton candy!), which I ate a whole bag of by myself before the fireworks even began. ;) Then after it was dark they lit the bonfire, which had effigies of Guy Fawkes placed on top, and then the fireworks went off shortly after that. I love fireworks, and I've seen some pretty awesome displays in my time, but these were incredible They were set right in front of the Ely Cathedral, so that was a stunning backdrop, and they were set off on the hill right in front of the crowds, so it was like the fireworks completely surrounded us. I can't wait to go next year!

Julie and Brandon's Visit! Part 1

We are so lucky that we have such amazing friends and family that come to visit us while we are living overseas. Our latest visitor was one of my best friends Julie, and her boyfriend Brandon. I went to high school with both of them (and even junior high with Brandon), and it was just so fun exploring and road-tripping with them while they were here. We were SO lucky and had amazingly beautiful weather the first couple of days that they were here. I took them into our town's centre the first day and we checked out Ely Cathedral and enjoyed a nice walk on the way to one of my favorite tea rooms for lunch. On our walk back to our house there was a wedding party coming out of the cathedral, so we had to stop and wait for the bride to come out. We weren't as bad as some of the tourists around though - some people just started mingling with the wedding guests and taking pictures!! :)

Julie and Brandon - Ely Cathedral

Me and Julie at Peacock's Tea Room

The tea room was a little girly, but Brandon was a good sport ;)

The second day we went to base and showed them around, then had lunch at a pub in Mildenhall. The food was really good - Julie and Brandon got to try their first British fish & chips (and peas, gross). Thomas and Brandon went golfing that afternoon while me and Julie did a little shopping in Bury St Edmunds. We had to try on fascinators, duh. Later that night we all walked to the cozy little pub closest to our house and had some beers/cider - so fun having them here!

My fascinator

Julie's matched :)

Cheers!

England Adventure with the Mason's - Part II

Our England adventure continued after we left London. We headed to Bath where the boys got to see the Roman Baths, while mom and I did some shopping. We showed them the main sights in Bath and then headed to Stonehenge from there. We just saw Stonehenge through the gates, but it was still really fun - we took lots of goofy pictures and tried to stay dry when it started to rain (of course).

After Stonehenge we headed back to our house and spend the next couple of days exploring in and around our town - we went to base, walked all around Ely, went into Cambridge, saw some Harry Potter sights, and hit up one more beautiful castle before they left. It was hard to see them go on Sunday, but we had such a great time :)

The Roman Baths

Bath

My handsome little brother in Bath

Stonehenge!

The fam at Stonehenge

Dad, Mom, and Max at our house

Ely Cathedral

They had the coronation chair from the King's Speech there (because those scenes were filmed at the cathedral), so we all took turns being King/Queen ;)

Ely Cathedral with the gloomy skies - it was pretty rainy weather while they were here!

Ely Riverfront - I love our little town!

Thomas and I on base - had to show them the local Taco Bell ;)

Lavenham

Dad driving the British car

Had a lovely dinner with the family and the Gerwicks in Ely

Mom, Drew, and Dad at Nando's in Cambridge - mom's favorite food place of the whole trip!

Me and Thomas in front of King's College, Cambridge

Punting on the River Cam, Cambridge

Dad, Mom, Drew, and Thomas in front of the River Cam, Cambridge

Warwick Castle

Dad, Thomas, Mom, and Drew at Warwick Castle

They had an awesome "Birds of Prey" show at Warwick, here's the Bald Eagle!

Peacock! Thomas didn't get bitten by any peacocks this time ;)

Beautiful grounds of Warwick Castle

Uh-oh, looks like Dad and Drew are in trouble!

Mom and Dad at the rose garden at Warwick Castle