Dover Castle

Trip to Dover, England

Monday morning, after John worked 12 hour shifts Friday through Sunday, we decided to get out of town. We booked a room at a little B&B in a town called Deal and drove 2 1/2 hours to the coast. Most of the way we were on the freeway but to actually get to Deal our GPS took us on this insanely narrow road. Now, we have gotten pretty used to narrow roads here but this was new for us. There was literally only room for one car and when you came up to another car, one of you had to pull over or get run over... I was very thankful John was driving!!!After we got settled into our room we headed for Dover to see the English Channel and get a glimpse of Dover Castle, where we spent all day Tuesday. We headed up to the White cliffs and watched ferries come in and out of the castle harbor. It was so neat to see that they are still using it. Haylee had a blast playing with bubbles and barking at a dog that she so badly wanted to play with.

For dinner we went to a place called the Lighthouse Inn and Restaurant and got to try something we've never had before. For an appetizer they brought out a bowl of whole Whitetail fish that you eat head and all. (I was thrilled to find that they at least took out the bones...) They were DELICIOUS!!! Even Haylee loved them! She shoved a whole fish in her mouth and handed me the tail. Too funny!
Tuesday morning we got up and had a delicious English breakfast and headed back to Dover. We went down another treacherous road to the waterfront and walked along the beach. The beaches here are very rocky and not sandy like back in the states and Haylee was not thrilled with the idea of walking on it...We took a foot path up to the top of the cliffs and enjoyed the gorgeous view. But man was it windy!!









Finally, we headed to Dover Castle and spend about 6 hours there. Like I said before, it was VERY windy but an absolutely gorgeous day!! There were a lot of hills to climb so we definitely got our workout for the day. We did 3 different tours, one of the underground tunnels that housed the hospital and operation headquarters during WWII and 2 of the tours took us down into caves where they set up a lot of their defensive posts during the war. We also got to see a Roman Lighthouse and the old Anglo-Saxon Church which was beautiful. Pretty much everywhere you looked out you could see the ocean and pictures just really can't do it justice. It was amazing! Even 6 hours at the castle wasn't near enough to see everything so we will definitely be back. We had such a great adventure and it was so nice getting away as a family!!

London

So far we have been to London 4 times and still have SO much to see! The first time we went we took the Original Bus Tour and saw Westminster Abbey. The second time we toured the Tower of London and went to Hamleys-a 7 floor toy store!- and Harrods (WOW!!!!). The third time we went we met John's uncle Jim for breakfast and then just walked around the city. It was a beautiful sunny day and we didn't want to be inside so we walked around Trafalgar Square and through an amazing park and saw Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately I forgot the camera but since we live so close to London I wasn't too upset. The only thing I wish I would've gotten was a picture of was Big Ben in the sun. We were walking around the Square and I looked down the street and there was Big Ben, bright and beautiful. Oh well...next time! The 4th time we went it was just John and I. He bought tickets to Phantom of the Opera for my birthday and we spent the whole day there just the two of us. We had lunch at the Texas Embassy Cantina and then saw the incredible show and had dinner at the Hard Rock cafe. It was really strange not having to carry a stroller up and down the stairs to the tube...but we had a really great time. One thing I'm most looking forward to is going there in the late spring/summer when everything is in bloom. The park that I love so much will be breathtaking when the trees and flowers are fully in bloom. I better remember to bring my camera then!!! More London pictures to come!

Busy Saturday afternoon

Waiting to see Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre!!!

Endless elevator down to the Tube (Subway)

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe

Texas Embassy Cantina. They even play country music!!!

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

They have to remind people so they don't get run over...

Big Ben!!!!

On a bus tour around London

Bundled up on the bus tour

Enjoying our tour of London


Trafalgar Square (So much fun when it's sunny and warm)

Reassurance and Big Decisions

Yesterday was my first doctors appointment and all in all it went great. I had a sonogram and the baby was kicking around and waving at us for the first half. It was so exciting to see that much movement this early on (12 weeks) and very reassuring for us too. The heart beat was steady at 154bpm which is perfect and they determined with the size of the baby he should be due between Oct. 13th and 17th. John is really hoping for the 13th since it's his birthday so we will see! The second half of the sonogram, when the doctor was trying to get good pictures for us, the baby decided he had enough and went to sleep. He wouldn't move at ALL which I though was pretty funny. I feel like it's a boy but hey, if it's a girl at least we wouldn't have to buy much!

On to the big decisions... I had a c-section with Haylee but am hoping to at least try to have this baby naturally. Because of the limitations at the military hospital, they do not allow VBAC's (vaginal birth after cesarean). But they said that I could decide to have the baby at a civilian hospital that is properly equipped if I needed to have an emergency c-section. I would continue to see the doctors on base until about 34 weeks and from there they would send me to the civilian doctor to prepare for birth. So now we have to decide if we want to play it safe and just do a scheduled c-section at the military hospital or take a chance with a british hospital and have it naturally. I know that the logical choice would be to just stay with the military but I feel very strongly about trying to do it naturally. We have a ton of research to do in these next few months about the hospitals and doctors here and have a feeling I will be back and forth about the decision about a billion and one times...Please keep John and I in your prayers as we make this decision!!! I will try to find someone with a scanner so I can put the sonogram pictures up.
We love you and miss you all!