Day 6: Stonehenge, Glastonbury, and Bath

So many pictures, so much difficulty narrowing them down.

This morning, we packed up and headed out on a road trip! The girls were in one car, and the boys in the other. Stonehenge was our first stop. It's so surreal feeling like you've walked into a postcard with a place like this.
Fantastic family photo with me looking strangely taller than usual (or Jake shorter?), Jake's eyes closed and Tessa's odd reluctance to be in a picture:
Happy but tired Cole listening to the tour device:

Stonehenge was one of the places that was a must see on our vacation list. What an incredible place. One third of those huge stones is buried in the ground, which explains how they've stood for so long, but how in the world ancient people moved them around is beyond me --and everyone else.

Getting all four kids to stay still for a picture isn't easy, but I love the attempt series:




We next headed to Glastonbury Abbey. Here is Tessa needing a tomato tossed at her:
There is not much left of Glastonbury Abbey, but what is left is beautiful, even if it's in ruins. That silly, gluttonous Henry VIII had the place gutted and torn apart when he ripped through the country in his attempt to uproot and toss out Catholicism. This Abbey had been only second in the country to Westminster in wealth and status.
What the kids were doing:
I adored this place.



Here is where it is believed that King Arthur and Queen Guinevere are buried. They were supposedly found elsewhere by monks and brought here for their final resting place.

Playing on the ruins:

One of the many reasons Ashley and I are friends:

Next stop was the Glastonbury Tor. However, there is a possible stop on the way that I didn't feel up to, but Jake did. So he went in to see Chalice Well. The well has worked for over 2,000 years, and this particular picture shows a representation of Excalibur in the iron work. Legend says that Joseph of Arimethea came here with the Holy Grail....or something like that....
Next, we started the huge hike up to Glastonbury Tor. These girls did such an awesome job with the climb that I had to take a picture of them flashing their muscles once they got to the top.
Beautiful, beautiful.

A fellow camera buddy took a picture of all of us at the Tor. Ash and I were giggling because we were taking damsel in distress photos in the Tor (I'll spare you and let you believe you're missing out), and, well, he wanted in on it too. I must say Ashley took some fierce photos for him with his hair blowing in the wind.
Down, down, down.
And onto Bath! We didn't have much time after checking into our hotel and having dinner to see much, but we did take a lovely stroll through town.

We discovered that it was the last night the Roman Baths would be open late, and Ash and John encouraged Jake and I to just go through it while we could so we could have more time for other things in the morning. They took the boys for jaunt since they had been through before, and we took the girls into the Baths.

What a cool place. It was too dark to take many photos inside, but I did love it. Those Romans came on in and made themselves right at home with these natural warm springs.

It was really fun to learn about how they did steam rooms and other "healing" baths. This really was quite the place and had actually been buried for centuries until archeologists uncovered it. Can you imagine being part of that dig? It would be like finding an intact historical gem right underneath you.

We were tuckered out by this point, finished up, met the others outside who greeted us with a cupcake (bless them!)

Honestly, what a day. This one ranks as a definite favorite.