The Lake District

Blake took some days off so we could go camping in the Lake District and go see the British Pageant. We left Wednesday morning and drove to Menwith Hill for gas, then on up to the Lake District. It was so pretty! Very much like Scotland. When we got there we set up our tent and camp and just hung out and let the kids play in the water. We explored around the campsite and ate dinner roasted marshmallows and went to bed. Eric joined us at about 10:30 that night. There was also another family from our ward who went too. The Hartvigsens. They have 4 kids and our oldest 4 are within a month or 2 of their 4, so they have tons of fun together.

Then next day the plan was to drive a little ways north and go to a sheep show. They were supposed to show us how they shear sheep, tell us about the sheep and do a sheep dog demonstration. We got there and it was all closed down, so we found a lake and went for a hike instead. 

We parked in a parking lot that had bathrooms and ate lunch. Then headed up the hill. We were kinda divided into 3 groups after just a few minutes. The first group had almost everyone, then there was me and Parker, and Eric used the toilet, then brought up the rear. After about 20 minutes of hiking, Remi came back to where Me, Eric and Parker were. She asked if we had Alissa. I thought she was joking. We soon realized that Alissa wasn't with either group. Eric ran back to the toilets and found her. We waited for them at a pond at the top of the mountain. Poor Alissa was so scared. There was a nice couple waiting with her when Eric got there. She clung to him for about 20 minutes and wouldn't let go. I felt so bad for her. We were so glad she was ok. What a blessing.

trying to find Eric

Alissa holding Eric's hand. Her new best friend:)

 Once Alissa and Eric caught up with us we headed down the mountain on a different trail. It was so pretty! We hiked down to a lake and there was no one there! That is not normal for England. Everyone got in their swim suits and swam. There was even some cliffs to jump off. Our kids were so brave! Eric and Blake jumped first, then Remi. She has always been a little fish. Broden jumped from the lower cliff, then Alissa "jumped" from the lower cliff. After everyone took their turns, I decided I wanted to jump too so Blake changed back into his clothes and I put on his swimming suit and a t-shirt so I could jump off the cliff too. It looked really tall when you got to the top. Kelsi pushed me in though. When I went back to change Broden jumped in too. I was sad I missed it, but he got 4 pounds out of it!

 As we were hiking back up a trail to the parking lot we came across this sign. The kids were very concerned, but the grown ups thought it was hilarious. We understood this sign as- no swimming because the water is deep and cold. Hmmm.... we don't swim well in water when we can touch and we're pretty sure all the water we have ever swam in, in Idaho, has been freezing. As for the undercurrents in the lake, we are still trying to figure that out. Oh well. We are just glad we saw the sign after we had all our fun. It really was the perfect place to jump in the water.

 On our drive back to camp we stopped for ice cream. Here's the crew eating their ice cream cones.

 And the crew walking back to the cars. We were quite the show! 5 adults and 9 kids walking down these crazy narrow roads that don't have sidewalks or shoulders. I'm glad we all survived.