Easter Break

Now that school has started back I thought it would be time to update on all we did on my two-week Easter break.  Matthew and I did not get up to much and did a few things locally but mostly just had time for each other and visiting with family/friends.

On the first weekend of the break, Matthew and I traveled to Long Melford (20 minutes) away to visit a stately home called Kentwell Hall.  The weather was lovely so we took a picnic and then wandered around the tudor house and still working farm.

Welcome to Kentwell Hall!

Hedge in the garden....I want this for my backyard!



Matthew then left for several days to attend a conference so I was on doggy duty watching and walking Solomon.  This gave me some time to catch up on some school work and to also visit with some ladies from the church.  I had lunch at a lovely vineyard with a group of ladies for a birthday celebration, went out with a group of 12 to have afternoon tea at Harriet's (tea shop in town), and then I got to attend the Women's Bible Study that our church hosts.  Also, on Thursday evening 10 of us (9 ladies and 1 male) went to see our local community theatre production of Beauty and the Beast.  It was a lot of fun and really enjoyed it.  For being a local production I thought it was very professional and all the singing and acting was really great.

Out for a lovely lunch celebrating Erica's birthday at the vineyard!

Off to the theatre to see Beauty and the Beast!

On the Thursday and Friday of my first week of break I went to school to work in my classroom.  Normally I would not have done this but my class just moved classrooms and the class was a complete disaster and I knew I needed some time to sort out the furniture and get things moved and items up on the walls before school would start back.  It was a productive two days and it looked like a classroom by the end of it.  My thinking was to spend the first week getting school work accomplished and the second week having a complete break.  I didn't get as much done in the first week as I would have liked but I felt like I had a good balance of time visiting with others and resting while also getting some work done.

At the beginning of the second week Matthew and I traveled up to Birmingham to visit Cadbury World.  I had heard many things about Cadbury world and had wanted to visit it for almost a year.  Overall I enjoyed it but it wasn't quite as special or good as I was hoping.  The most interesting part was learning about the history of the Cadbury family and how the company began.  Also all the work and processes the cocoa beans go through to become my chocolate bar was interesting.  We got to see the package part of the factory which was interesting but I would have preferred it if we got to see more of the factory.  The whole thing felt like one big advertisement for Cadbury and talking about how special Cadbury chocolate is.  Some parts felt as if England was trying to attempt something cute like a Disney ride but ended up failing.  We had a nice day and got lots of chocolate out of it (2 cups of melted chocolate to eat and three candy bars each by the end of the tour). 

Welcome to the wonderful world of chocolate!

Mmmm....melted chocolate!  SO good!  :)

Cadbury is the official supporter of London 2012 Summer Olympics. 

I was very impressed with this chocolate design.

Matthew eating his cup of melted chocolate with jelly babies!  Not so sure about that.

On Wednesday Matthew's mum arrived with her dog Sweep for the long Easter weekend.  We didn't get up to much other than spending time together and going for picnics because the weather was so lovely.  On the Saturday before Easter we went to a place called Wimpole Hall (just south of Cambridge) and had a look around the house, gardens and farm.  Again the weather was lovely and it was a beautiful place to look around.  What I really enjoyed about this stately home was that it showed the rooms upstairs and some of the rooms downstairs where the servant and butler would have worked.  That is normally something you don't get the chance to see.

 Solomon and Sweep enjoying the picnic in the Abbey Gardens.

 Matthew and Pat walking the dogs through the gardens.

 Welcome to Wimpole Hall.

Hungry pig waiting to be fed.  You would not believe the noise he made.

We had a lovely Easter with Matt's mum and had a family from the seminary in London visiting for the day.  On Easter Monday, we went to Thetford Forest for a picnic and some more time to visit with the family from the seminary.  It was great catching up with friends and enjoyed the last day of the break having time with Matthew and for myself.

 Matthew relaxing in the warm sun getting ready to enjoy our picnic.

We had a lovely day visiting with our friends from the seminary - Anna and myself

Well that was my Easter holiday from school.  It is amazing how quick the two weeks go but it was an enjoyable two weeks that gave me time to get things done around the house and a chance to visit with those that I don't always get the chance to do.  I hope you had a lovely Easter and most importantly remember what makes Easter so special.  Easter is the day we remember that Jesus Christ conquered death and rose from his grave and walked out of the tomb.  Death no longer holds any fear on me!  Rejoice...for Christ the Lord has risen indeed!!