Rutland

We went to Rutland. It was so much fun. Rutland is the smallest county in England. The place we went in Rutland was a large manmade lake. It was so beyond lovely. I went on a walk with my mum and my brother around it. For a little bit of time, we sat and gazed at the sparkles coming out from the water. For lunch we ate at Chandlery Sailing Club. On our walk on the footpaths we saw some sheep. In the country side you see it a lot. The sheep seemed to like to baa, because when we went up to look at them they started baaing away! We had lots of fun on the paths and skipping rocks by the sand. What a gorgeous and fun time we had!

Bats

At Haraxton Manor there is a group of endangered bats. We even got to see some! We saw UK’s smallest bat. I could have made a stuffed animal out of it. It was called the pipistrelle. Its ears were so huge it seemed as though it were the size of her body! There are 18 types of bats in the UK and 11 in Lincolnshire (Lincolnshire is the county where I live). We got to see a few types of bats. The thing with the long eared bat is that it is 1/3 of its size when it is in sleeping mode. In 1981 all of the bats in the UK became protected. When the bats turn three weeks old they start flying. After six weeks the baby bat gets weaned from its mother’s milk. Bat milk is one of the richest types of milk. A normal pipistrelle weighs about 5 grams. That’s about the weight of a small coin. We also got to see upclose the UK’s largest bat. It is called the noctule and weighs up to 40 grams. It was an awesome (very cute) experience to get to see the bats like that.

Stratford-upon-Avon

We went to Stratford-upon-Avon! Stratford-upon-Avon is not only where Shakespeare was born, but he grew up there and was there when he was an adult. I got to see the home where he was born. William Shakespeare was a playwriter. My mum has been explaining lines from Shakespeare and certain plays to me and my brother, and our first night in Stratford-upon-Avon we went to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and saw Twelfth Night. It was so cool. The people that were acting came out of real water because the play starts off with a shipwreck! My favorite characters were Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, Malvolio, Feste and Viola. Sir Andrew, Sir Toby and Malvolio were really goofy and made me start to burst out laughing. I liked Feste because he did some good things in the play, but my favorite part about him was when he sang (especially the tune of “with a hey ho the wind and the rain”). I liked Viola because she made the whole entire play go into a big mess because she dressed up exactly like her identical brother and caused lots of confusion. The play was fantastic! For Easter Sunday we went to Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was baptized, went to church and was buried. We even got to see his grave. Shakespeare created 39 plays, including Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar. At the River Avon, there are a lot of boats. There is even an ice cream boat! 

Burghley House

My mum, brother and I went on a Harlaxton field trip to the Burghley house. It was so cool. The person who built the Burghley house was William Cecil. William Cecil lived from 1520-1598. He was the Principal advisor for Elizabeth 1. During his lifetime, William Cecil, the first Lord Burghley, was one of the most powerful men in England. He built the Burghley House for his family, not himself. He only came here occasionally. The journey to London (about 85 miles) took two days on horseback. Queen Elizabeth 1 came to throne in 1558 and died in 1603. Another person that later lived in the Burghley house was Lord David Burghley. Lord David Burghley won a gold medal in the Olympics that were held in Amsterdam in 1928. In the Burghley House we got to see the things he wore in the Olympics including his cleats and uniform. We also saw the hurdle that Lord Burghley would run full speed and jump over. In the Burghley House we saw where Queen Elizabeth would have stayed, wow! In the Burghley House there are over 300 paintings. There was this one place in the Burghley House that had an old chess board. Instead of rooks, the pieces were elephants. All the pieces were of the Indian army because India was one of the first places to play chess, and the kings would choose how the pieces look. In most of the rooms of the Burghley House there would be a door for the servants to slip in and out of. Here are a few words from the Elizabethan time and what they are now. The Elizabethan word for why is wherefore. An Elizabethan word for very is verily. An Elizabethan word for away is aroint. Isn’t that interesting? After everything it was Tea Time so we went into the little café and had some proper tea (my mum had cappucino and almond cake with cream, my brother had milk and a brownie and I tried tea and a brownie)!

Grantham Fair

In Grantham there is a fair that reminds me of the Fall Festival just a little bit. They had bumper cars, adventure rides, funhouse mirrors and other things. They also had a ride called the Big Ben, which is funny since the real Big Ben is in London. At the Fair there were many food booths. I had a rainbow slushy and some fudge. It was super fun to be at the Fair. We also played this game where you would try and get the ring over the box and win a huge thing of chocolate, soda or you would win some type of technology. The Grantham Fair has been going for 600 years now. In Grantham, there is a market held outdoors every Saturday. That is where the Fair was held.

Costume Ball

At Harlaxton Manor on Saturday night there was a fun time where a whole bunch of college students and faculty came out in super funny or traditional costumes. I dressed up as Rapunzel, my mum dressed up as a hippie and Brock dressed up as a Gladiator. My costume was bright purple and I had an extra maybe 5 inches of blonde hair. My mum’s costume was super fun. She had a little handbag with a peace sign on it, a really fun headband that went around your head in a circle, a fun shawl, sunglasses with a peace sign in front of each shade and rainbow pants! My brother’s costume had a cape, headpiece, shin guard type things that had spikes on it and armbands. Some of the college students had these costumes: a cat, Tommy Pickles, dinosaur, Japanese Girls, Caveman, a group of Coca-Cola cans, the Blue Man Group, a cowboy, people with masks and many more fun things. When we danced to the music the lights were pitch black and the DJ made it so that the room (the Great Hall) was flickering with colorful spots. It was super fun.

London Field Trip and Show

Yesterday we went to London. It was so much fun. The first thing we did was go on a River Cruise. Our cruise ship was called the Symphony. Another ship we actually saw was the Hispaniola which made me think of Treasure Island! The Hispaniola I saw on the River Thames was a really big ship. For lunch we had salmon and chicken. It was delish. On the River Cruise we went under the Tower Bridge! It was so cool to look up and see the bridge. After that we went to the BBC for a field trip my mum had planned for her students. BBC stands for British Broadcast Corporation. The BBC is where the TV, News and other things happen for the UK. When Jennifer Lopez came to the BBC she wanted her dressing room to be big and she wanted fuzzy cream carpets and white walls and she was only in the room for less than an hour! We also got to see TV studios. My brother and a few other college kids got to try out their own trivia show. I also played Harry Potter with my brother. We got in front of a Blue Screen and the guy showing us around put blue things over us and we were floating heads! After that we saw the musical Wicked! It was so awesome. Wicked explains how things happen in the Wizard of Oz. At the beginning the Wicked Witch of the West came out of the mum’s belly and was a bright green baby. It was super funny.