Weekend Getaway ~ Day FOUR

Today was supposed to be 2 stops.......but we added in two trips to see two different cars that took us out of our way by at least 45 minutes, each way. We stayed longer at the castle than we had anticipated (it was bigger than what we thought!) and we were at IKEA for FIVE hours!!! It was still a great day. It was my birthday.......and spending the majority of the day at a beautiful castle, shopping at one of my favorite stores, and being with my family was absolutely perfect! The kids sang "Happy Birthday" to me at least a dozen times!!! I feel bad that it was such a long day. We didn't get home until around 11pm.......and the next day was Avery's first day of school!!!

Kenilworth Castle

 

King, Prince & Princesses of the Hill

 

 

Storming the Castle

 

The kids had a lot of fun here pretending that we lived in the castle and assigning rooms (bedrooms, kitchen, living room, game room, etc)

 

 

Weekend Getaway ~ Day THREE

Today we spent the entire day at Warwick Castle. It is more of a theme park castle. Overpriced, very crowded, lots of things that you have to pay extra for, etc. The castle itself is very cool. We are glad we did it but don't intend to do it again unless a visitor really wants to go to it!


This picture is a little deceiving. It looks like we are the only ones there. It was actually taken at the end of the day when the crowds were thinning out. Plus, this is the outside of the castle.......most of the crowds were inside.

 

A view of the inside, courtyard area

 

There were several shows throughout the day. We made it to all of them but one. The first we went to was the Firing of the Trebuchet.

 

Blake watching the show

 

The Birds of Prey show ended up being our favorite. The birds flew right over our heads! The owl was hilarious....she did not want to do what she was supposed to do.

 

Jousting Show

 

 

The girls and I were able to go up in the Princess Tower where they were able to help pick out shoes, a shawl and a tiara for a Princess. We couldn't take pictures in the tower but before we went in they got to sign the Wish Book with their wishes.

 

 

Weekend Getaway ~ Day TWO

To start the day off, we stopped at Kirby Muxloe Castle, just 10 minutes from our wonderful Marriott Hotel! {We had the BEST English breakfast each morning there} It was the last day for the castle to be open. There were more people here than there were at the Ashby Castle but as long as it's not a HUGE crowd we're happy! :)

This fortified mansion was built for Lord Hastings, who was seized and executed by Richard III in 1483. It was never finished for this reason. It really would have been a huge, beautiful castle!

 

 

Then, we drove about an hour to Stoke-on-Trent where we visited the Monkey Forest. The monkeys were roaming free, however, none came up close to us like they have pictured all over their website. It was a little disappointing and EXTREMELY crowded.

 

Our last stop for the day was Trentham Estate & Gardens.

 The first thing we did when we got there was to sit down and have a little picnic.

 

Look Mom, a fairy!!

 

The kids wanted to do another Barefoot Walk

 

We teamed up and raced through this maze.........Allie & I won!

 

We found the Secret Garden!

Ended the day with some family pictures