We were able to get a late check out and drive west towards our adorable Airbnb.com cottage in Compton.  It was about an hour away from where we needed to be for work so it worked out. The kids had green space to play in, a village play ground, and proper English footpaths everywhere. Not to mention there was a falconry behind us and a really, really, really, old church. We check in, went to the grocery store, and headed to the village pub for a drink and a game of cards with the kids. We decided to lay off the iphones and try cards. Thankfully for us it was a HUGE hit and it keeps us all busy and entertained.

Conquering Compton

With Mike having to leave for the airshow we decided to explore this tiny village.  Armed with a camelback ( A huge thank you to our friends the Keatons ) and a few snacks we walked to the old church. The kids were a little creeped out but once they passed the gate we all started reading the head stones and looking around and they started to ease a bit.  We went to the park a few times and in between had lunch and went about on a few foot paths and saw some deer. We settled in once Mike got back and had dinner and put the kids to bed. Amanda was arriving and we were looking forward to having her with us the next few days.

Windsor Castle

The plan was to meet at Windsor Castle and meet our friend Amanda and her friend.  We were able to sync up at a pub across the street from the castle and thankfully the lines were not long for us to get our tickets.  We got to meet her friend and her little one ( whom Sienna took to immediately ) and went on our tour.  We regret we did not see Harry or Meghan BUT we did get to go into the chapel where they were married just months before. Le sigh……… Anyways, we parted ways and brought Amanda back to our cozy cottage in Compton! A neighbor earlier that day told me that we could follow this path to our left and it will lead to a restaurant. Well, we decided to do this for dinner.  We walked up a pretty big hill ( maybe even a mini mountain ) and were not too sure where to go at a few cross roads.  We ended up going the right way and 20 minutes later popped out in the next village.  The Victoria Inn beckoned us and we happily sat down for dinner and drinks! We wanted to be sure we had plenty of time to climb back up the mountain and through the woods to get home so we didn’t stay but too long. The funny part of this is that Mike decided to not go back the way we did and we TOTALLY walked straight on a flat road and arrived at our place in 10 minutes! I think the waitress thought I must have been crazy because I kept saying how we need time to make it back and how worried I was with the trek, etc. etc……. She said, It’s not that far away…..I didn’t realize we took the HARD path over the mountain and through the woods. In any case, we would not be going that way again.

STONEHENGE!!!

We came, we saw, we conquered.  Enough said. We, along with hundreds of other tourists, saw the big rocks. The last time we were here it was with my mom and in April and it was freezing.  It was still pretty amazing and being able to share that with a good friend was pretty amazing.  We decided to have a repeat of the restaurant from the night before but this time walk the easy path.  Dinner was a bit more relaxed knowing that we didn’t have to hike a mini mountain through a dark forest.

LONDONTOWN