Chester, UK Day 2

So, I have to take a moment and mention how FABULOUS the weather was while we were in Chester.  It seems they have a similar weather pattern as we do here in Norway, but much to our delight, the sun was out and the temperatures were warm, so we were super happy!

We headed into town and had a "traditional" English breakfast at a little tea room cafe.  Kyla cracked us up - what did she order, you ask?  Yep, Beans on Toast...and let me just add, we have been making it at home and now she has Brendan eating them too!

While in town, I spotted a Pandora store so I went ahead and purchased a bead to add to my bracelet - a 'cathedral' bead to represent our church and all the beautiful cathedrals and churches we have seen on our travels.  After that, we wandered around town a bit and were lucky enough to see the Town Crier hurrying through town.  According to Sharisa, this man and his family have taken it upon themselves to dress in period clothing and represent the folks who used to shout out and share the town news in the middle of town.

And, yes, for all my Starbucks fan friends - that is one right there :)

Our tour guide, Sharisa had also scheduled us for a Roman Soldier Tour in the afternoon.  What a totally fun outing that was!  The kids were absolutely caught up in the information he was sharing, the stories of how Roman soldiers lived, the areas around Chester like the remains of the amphitheater, and the fact that he was dressed as a Roman soldier didn't hurt either!  Sharisa and I loved it too!

The kids each got to carry a shield with them and they practiced how to use the shield to protect themselves.

He told us all about the battles and "games" that were held in the amphitheater - gruesome!







The kids got to help with demonstrations (and the moms too.)

My demonstration was how the slaves would wash the dust and dirt off the soldiers - they would first pour olive oil on their skin then use this little tool in the picture to scrape the oil and dirt away.









After the tour, we went up to the interactive museum where we had more fun with the kids trying on armor and checking out all kinds of things from Roman times - a miniature chariot, what a latrine might have looked like, mosaic tiles, and so on.

That night, Sharisa made a local favorite - bangers and mash - and then we got the kids off to bed because Sharisa and I had plans!  Movie night!  We left Jason in charge and headed over to the theater to see Horrible Bosses!  What a hoot!

After the movie, we went on a little shopping trip to the ASDA (the UK version of Walmart, owned by Walmart) and I was in a little slice of heaven.  I picked up some school supplies for the kids and a few other little things to bring back with me.  This along with the purchases from the Cosco earlier in the day and I felt like a new person!  My bags were going to be full on the way home!