End of England and off to Wales!

We finally finished off England and headed for stop #2: Wales!  Everyone in England apologized for the rain they'd been having until they found out we were going to Wales. Apparently it rains non-stop here.  We've been lucky so far to have some rain and some sun most days.  Every morning we check the forecast and then plan our day accordingly.  It is fun to live in a place with different weather systems than us.  Kids are liking the rain if it means no snow.  But we'll see in a few more weeks if they still like it!  We are staying in a town called Dolgellau which sounds nothing like how you think you'd pronounce it.

One thing we've noticed about Wales is the amount of ruins around.  Everywhere you go you are close to a castle or an abbey from the 11th century.  It's pretty amazing to walk through these places knowing that people actually lived there.  Although again, here I am thinking we'll be absorbing history and we just ended up playing home base, running races or jumping over the river!  But it was a highlight for the kids for sure.

Yesterday we went to this great little seaside town called Barmouth.  We actually had sun which was a pleasant treat.  In the winter it is a sleepy little town so not much was open, but it was so beautiful.  The ocean backdrop to all these stone buildings was so picturesque.  It must get quite touristy in the summer as they had these beach side shops called "American Food!"  or "Las Vegas Games!".  They actually had a few other funny signs too.  One was a restaurant boasting "Probably the best Sunday Brunch in town!"  A solid Probably.  And our favourite was a coffee shop named Arousel Cafe.  Once we got closer we realized the 'C' had fallen off the name (should be Carousel!)  But a funny name anyways.

And speaking of names, the other thing we've noticed is that they name their houses here.  Like "Heather's Oust"  or  "Stead Tree Farm".  The one Ella and I liked the best was a house called "The House With 2 Front Doors".  We're currently discussing what to call our house back at home.

On our last day in England we found this farm called the Rare Breeds farm.  What started out feeling slightly sketchy (the animal set up seemed less than ideal!) ended up being one of our most fun days.  They had playground after playground after playground.  There were ziplines and obstacle courses and even a merry go round for Josie!

Isaac making the face of the owl

A super cool musical instrument thing

Even Josie got to play on the obstacle course (she's not as
concerned as she looks)

The Abbey

The 2 minutes of tolerated learning

And we're off!

Jumping the river

Contemplating

The Town of Barmouth

Josie refusing the bottle

A dream job for Luke: Coast Guard!

Loving the walks through these beautiful little towns

 So hopefully the rain lets up soon.  We are hoping to do some bike rides and more exploring.  But if not, we'll have to just visit more little towns and hang out in their coffee shops.  Sounds ok to me!