When the Mice are Away...

Noah and all of his classmates went on a camping trip this past week, so Liv enjoyed being the solo child. On Monday, I picked up Liv and her buddy, Bryony, from school and we headed to the Climbing Academy in Bristol, an indoor bouldering facility (http://www.theclimbingacademy.com). Bryony shares Liv's love for climbing and they were in heaven scaling the walls for hours. Bryony's dad surprised us by dropping in and the 4 of us grabbed dinner at Liv's favorite pub, the Globe. Liv said it was one of her favorite days.

On Thursday, Liv was going to a birthday party straight from school, and so Rachelle and I were kid-free from 8:40a until 7p. After dropping Liv off at school we headed to Blenheim Palace (http://www.blenheimpalace.com), the home of the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Winston Churchill. The palace and grounds were exquisite and we enjoyed listening to the knowledgeable tour guide. We were particularly fascinated by the story of the 9th Duke, who had an arranged marriage to Consuela Vanderbilt. As both the Duke and Conseula were in love with others, the Duke was bribed (approximately 75 million in current currency) and Consuela was locked in a room until they were forcibly married. The marriage lasted 11 years before they went their separate ways, Consuela finding love in a second marriage and the Duke suffering a difficult and short-lived second marriage. We also enjoyed reading the numerous letters written by Winston Churchill, who played and lived in the house in his youth. One letter sticks in my mind, which was a young Winston's eloquent complaining to his father about his overly strict teachers at his school.

In the afternoon we headed to nearby Oxford to explore the small city and large university. It had much of the feel of a college town with bustling cafes and pubs full of lively young folks, with the occasional Oxford student standing out in the required black school robes. We marveled at the beauty and history of Christ Church as we wandered the grounds, buildings, and cathedral. Eventually we had to head home and pick up Liv from her birthday party. Although it was a fun week, we were all three excited to welcome Noah back home Friday evening.