July Madness, it doesn't quite have the same ring to it as March Madness, but that word sums up the month of July for the Holbrook household in a nutshell. As with every July, the month started out with celebrations of our great country. Living abroad during the fourth of July made me miss America even more, especially since we didn't have any firework shows to attend. Though we didn't have any fireworks we did have a wonderful fourth of July spent with sweet friends. Unfortunately, it was a bitter sweet day as we were saying goodbye to The West's, who are responsible for getting us involved in their Bible study and have become wonderful friends to us over the past 8 months. We had a great cookout, eating burgers, brats and hot dogs with delicious side dishes and desserts too. Though there weren't any fireworks, since we live in England and the Air Force made budget cuts which included the big firework show, we still had a blast and celebrated America in style.
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| I attempted to make a red, white and blue jello salad. It didn't look very good but it tasted yummy |
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| Sam's fourth of July shirt from Great Yarmouth |
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| Erin's decorations |
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| More cute decorations |
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| We love America! |
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| Sweet girl |
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| Darla and Chary...yes it gets warm enough to wear shorts in England |
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| Some of the cute Bible study babies |
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| The mommies from Bible study with their sweet girls in their matching outfits, so cute! |
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| The amazing parents from our Bible study |
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| Emily, the one crying, is my favorite part of this picture |
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| I love that Alayna is touching Adam's head....and Emily is still crying...yet this picture is still adorable |
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| Selfies with this sweet girl....sad that she had to move back to America |
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| Going away presents for Shawn and Darla |
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| Love her smile |
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| Fun selfies |
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| More selfies |
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| Entertained with the selfies |
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| And again.... |
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| More... |
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| This child is just too cute not to photograph |
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| And one more! I miss her! |
After the Fourth of July party Sam, Hercules and I took off on our family road trip to Wales. It is a four hour drive and we didn't even leave the house until 6:00 pm! We rented a cottage in the middle of the beautiful mountains of Wales. Where sheep roamed free, literally we were driving and had to stop for sheep crossing in the road. It was hard since it was dark and very hilly, but no sheep were harmed in our crossing. However, we did get lost and of course there was no cell reception where we were at so Google maps was hopeless. We finally arrived at midnight and decided to go straight to bed. Which was great since Sam and I were exhausted, however, Hercules wasn't cool with being taken to a strange place and then left downstairs so he whined all night causing me not to sleep very well. Poor pup!
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| Hercules is excited for the road trip |
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| Family road trip! |
We woke up to a beautiful morning in Wales. The view from our cottage was breathtaking and without any cell phone reception it was nice to be cut off from the world, with the love of my life. We decided to go to Snowdonia mountain and take Hercules hiking. However, after getting lost again we didn't arrive to the mountain until after lunch time and decided not to take the eight hour hike. Instead, we spent time in a cute town and took a shorter hike up the waterfall. Hercules loved hiking on the waterfall and he even touched the water which is something he hates. For dinner we headed to a cute little village close to our cottage, Llangernyw, which is the home to Wales oldest tree. The tree is 4,000 to 5,000 years old! Sam took a twig from the tree as a memento. After dinner we walked around the village our cottage was located, Pandy Tudor.
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| View from our cottage |
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| Breakfast outside |
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| Our breakfast view |
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| And Again |
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| Wales has beautiful mountains |
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| The town we spent the day in on Friday |
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| Hercules enjoying our stop for lunch |
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| Horse |
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| Hiking |
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| The waterfall |
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| Hiking |
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| He crashed after the day of walking and hiking |
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| Yes, this is a two way road... |
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| A 4,000 year old tree...no big deal |
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| Hercules loved being outside at the cottage...he even escaped once |
On Saturday we ditched the dog and headed to Conwy. While in Conwy we explored a magnificent castle and enjoyed the town centre. We even stumbled upon the worlds smallest house that a man who once stood 7 feet tall lived in. Conwy is on the coast, so we had great views of the ocean. It was a beautiful, busy city filled with lots of tourists and good shopping. We had a great time exploring and even enjoyed some tea and scones outside the castle. After our day in Conwy we headed back to the cottage to check on the beast and then went to another cute village around for a dinner at a nice pub. Luckily, the land lady of our cottage left some great suggestions of places to eat.
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| Conwy Castle |
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| View from the Castle |
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| Sam using the toilet |
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| A Welsh Harry |
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| There is a wall around the entire city which we walked |
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| The worlds smallest house |
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| Less than the size of Sam's wingspan |
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| Our drive |
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| More from our drive |
On Sunday morning we cleaned our cottage and headed to Caernarfon. It was a beautiful city on the coast of the Atlantic ocean. We waved to our friends and family over in America. Caernarfon was also a very lively city, even for a Sunday. We saw another castle, but since Hercules isn't a trained guide dog we weren't able to go inside, but that is okay...castles all start looking the same after awhile. We had a picnic lunch and took Hercules down to walk along the beach. Hercules doesn't really like water, especially baths, but he seemed to enjoy the ocean...he got in up to his belly! He even drank the water, which we thought was gross. After introducing Hercules to the big pond he flew across we did some souvenir shopping and then headed home. Since Sam drove us to Wales, it was my turn to drive us home. It was a 4.5 hour drive and driving in Britain is not like taking a road trip in the States, when you can't just turn on cruise control because your never on a straight highway for long enough. Thus, you are unable to just space out and drive, leaving you even more tired by the time you arrive home. We ordered take away Indian food and made it to the house around 6:00 pm!
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| Caernarfon Castle |
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| Hercules and Sam walking along the beach |
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| He is unsure about this water... |
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| But he tried it anyway |
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| Hercules checking out his first castle |
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| Sam read my book out loud to me while I drove...my human book on tape, but sometimes it made him very sleepy! |
I had a one day turn around until my friend Erin came to visit so I spent Monday cleaning the house. My friend Taryn even came over and cleaned our guest bathroom for me, what a sweetheart! We also got to try a new restaurant out and spend one more meal with our good friends, The West's, before they moved back to the states. In our Air Force career meeting/making new friends is an amazing, fun and exciting part of the journey. However, the flip side of that is constantly saying goodbye to sweet people who become a part of your daily life and my heart already aches for our future children as I know that constantly saying goodbye to their friends will be one of the hardest things they have to endure during childhood. Heck, as an adult it is hard, but we know that we aren't saying goodbye but rather see ya later!
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| Sweet Alayna |
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| She is precious |
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| We enjoyed seeing the West's off one more time |
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| Love this picture! Sam and Alayna are cute, we miss the West's |
Sam, Hercules and I enjoyed our trip to Wales! It was a great family getaway before our July madness kicked off and we became too busy for family time. Wales is absolutely beautiful and we hope to visit it again someday.
Thanks for Reading!
Amanda
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