Balmoral Castle

Balmoral Castle

Today is a VERY exciting day.  We are headed to see Balmoral Castle.  This is the castle that the Queen will come and stay in for the end of the Summer.  The kiddos are super excited and can't wait to search for the Queen.  They do not understand that she won't be there right now so we are going to let them figure it out as we go. :)

When I got up they were all working on the jigsaw puzzle.  I have always loved puzzles, but I had NO idea Rusty liked them too.  See you can still learn something after ten years. :) 

We pack up with our jackets, umbrellas, snacks, and our TOM TOM!!!  I took a ton of pictures so get ready.  :)

This is the view on the drive.

I couldn't get a good picture of the sheep because Rusty was driving too fast!

Denman had to get my phone to take pictures because he kept seeing buildings that he thought were castles. 

As we continued to drive to the castle, the Tom Tom kept getting confused about what road we were on and how to get there.  I told Rusty that happened to us yesterday too with Wynford Farm.  Rusty gets a little bit more frustrated with TOM than we did so he started saying, "Come on Tom! Help us out here!"  I think he said it two or three times and then you hear from the back seat from Denman.

"WHO IS THIS TOM?????"  He was sooo serious and really wanted to know who Tom was and why we keep talking to him.  We all just started laughing so he just kept saying it over and over.  Until, I showed him the GPS and told him that it was also called a Tom Tom so THAT was TOM! 

Oh that still makes me laugh.  He still tries to use it as a joke which still makes me smile. 

It was a very windy day so driving was a little tricky, but not as tricky as walking around the castle.

We bundled up and started our walk to see the castle up close.

This is on the bridge on the way to the gate of the castle.

Denman was NOT enjoying the picture taking today!

Rusty is buying our tickets while we look around.

This is the gate leading up to the castle.

This is a HUGE door where the horses go in to pick up their QUEEN or we are thinking CARS go and pick up the QUEEN now. :)

I loved how tall it was so we had to take this one.

Denman REALLY wants me to "HOLD HIM!" 

He was not too impressed with all of the walking around.

 

Then I gave him my phone to take pictures.  Thirty five pictures later... he was good. :)

This is the river walk by the castle that was just Beautiful!

The kids wanted to stop and see if we could see any fish. 

Denman is not digging wearing a jacket either!

Natalie is getting so good with her picture taking skills.

Oh, Denman doesn't like it when me and Rusty take pictures either.

The sun came out!  YEAH!!!! This is the stairway going up to the castle.

We couldn't take pictures inside the castle but as soon as we got inside.  Natalie said, "I feel like  a princess just being in this room."  It was so neat.  It had gowns the Queen once wore, a video of the Queen and her grand kids, Swords and Shields on the wall, and lots of things to look at as you walk around.  Such a great experience for us all!

We found this statue outside the castle and Natalie said we had to take a picture for Uncle Scooter and Uncle Jason.  She made a face just for you. :)

Such a beautiful castle!

Natalie loved this fountain too.

This is one of the three green houses that they have in the garden area. 

 That one is for NaNa and MiMi!

Denman wanted to take this picture for PaPa and PePaw to show them that the

Queen even has her own Gator.

Denman hitches a ride back!

This is a picture of the kilts that Scotsman wore.  The bagpipes are on the ground.

Natalie had the idea to ride the cart back to our car, but Rusty didn't think it was a great idea...

Can you tell?  LOL!

Denman was pumped because he didn't have to walk all the way back.

We spent most of the day at the castle and had a great time.  We were now all starving and trying to think of what we could eat for dinner.  I was determined to find a Blockbuster tonight to watch an American Movie and NOT watch NCIS again tonight.  That is the only thing on after 7:00. 

It took a few tries, but we found a blockbuster so I found two kid movies and two adult movies so we were set.  Rusty found Papa Johns while I looked for movies.  It was a GREAT DAY!

Today I am CERTAIN that God's love NEVER FAILS!  When we are all together on the weekends, the time is priceless.  I love making memories like today.  I hope we have many more to come!

We must remember.... To survive the storms of life we MUST be anchored to the Rock of Ages. :)

Make HIM your ROCK!

We are making progress on our puzzle... Can you tell what it is yet?