Kingston Lacy

After a somewhat quick obligatory stop at the shops in Bournemouth (some of us needed outfits fitting to meet the Queen), we took a drive to the countryside.

This is Kingston Lacy - a beautiful country house which was given to the National Trust in 1981. 

Auntie Sandra was so kind to take Sophie on the preschooler tour so that Andrew and I were able to stroll through the house and take it all in. 

We entered through the laundry house or should I say the turn of the century Miele showroom?

Collecting ideas for our own interior decoration

Princess stairs

Talk about a library! 

Somewhere on a desk was a bust of Kaiser Wilhelm, who had visited Kingston Lacy. The bust was tucked back into its box and stowed in the cellar for a few years in 1914.

Isn't this how everyone in England still sets their table for dinner?

Love the pink.

We spotted a painting of Kate Middleton!

A spider in the bathtub

Sophie was fascinated

All that separated me from the cows was the ha-ha. 

 The highlight of the preschooler tour of Kingston Lacy was finding the hidden chest full of outdoor toys.

 One more view of Kington Lacy.

Finally, here is the dress which Auntie Sandra had bought for Sophie. I think I have seen Kate wear such a dress on a couple of occasions. 

Children's Discovery Museum with Ciaran

Now that Daddy is back to work, our friend Elly treated us to a very special place - the children's museum in San Jose. We used to have a membership, when we still lived here, and Sophie quickly remembered her favorite spots.

 ... such as the fire engine

 The hat must go on like that

 Lunchtime after the water play.

 Face painting - a ladybug today

 Serving veggie pizza. 

(On another note: this room reminds me more than any other place of some very sleepy mornings trying desperately to stay awake after a busy nightshift)

In the story time tree.

Here is a link to Elly's blog on this trip for more pictures: http://babyblogging.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/the-cdm-with-sophie/

Monterey Bay Aquarium

 With the weather slowly deteriorating, we tried to come up with a good indoor activity today. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is always a fun trip for Sophie (and the rest of us). Nanny had one more day off, so of course she came along. On the way there, we stopped at Moss Landing to visit Uncle Mick and see the real thing first. 

Uncle Mick had some fresh-caught crab for us. Yum yum.

Sophie was not too thrilled about the crab though. However, she enjoyed watching the seagulls fighting over some of the broken pieces. We also spotted sea otters and sea lions in the wild before we drove on to the aquarium. I hope this is not a total picture overload. I tried to pick the best ones.

Sophie enjoying the touching pool. Learning how sea otters eat abalone.

We could not get enough of the jellyfish exhibit.

A sunfish - odd looking creature.

Beautiful sea turtle

Sophie's favorite: the hammerhead shark

One more closeup of the sunfish

Little sea horse

Spicy ice cream treat after nearly four hours in the museum.

Neanderthal

Since an annoying bug had me confined to the couch today, Andrew took Sophie on an excursion to the Neanderthal Museum in the next town over. It is pretty cool to think that the Neanderthal remains were found almost on our front door step. Currently they also have a special Lego exhibit with themes spanning through human history. And of course a Lego play area for the kids. 

Unfortunately, most photos are on Andrew's camera and he is back at work, so I will add more soon. I thought this was a really cute sample the two of them sent me, however. 

On another note, Andrew and Sophie have had some very valuable bonding time over the past few weeks. I love to see the two of them play together. Having to say goodbye when Andrew goes on a trip keeps getting harder for both of them.