Out and About
I went on two school trips this week. One to the Look Out Discovery Centre and one to Kew Gardens.
I was really pleased about Kew Gardens because I'd really wanted to see them, but the normal cost was £12 (too steep for this chica). With the school, I actually got paid to go. And it was a lovely day. The gardens are extensive and lovely. As a school trip, it rated high for me because the spaces were really open and relatively empty of people, so watching the kids was easy and considerably less stressful than usual.
My group went to the Palm House, the Temperate House, the pagoda, the pond, Minka House, and the shop. We also saw and tried out the listening tree (a tree with headphones hanging from the branches so you can hear the inside of the tree). The kids seemed to enjoy the trip, though they whinged (Brit word) a lot about being tired of walking. Wimps. ( : I'd love to go back if they ever had a discount day.
Pictures are here, but rather culled as I had to leave out photos of the kids, including my favorite of two boys smiling beneath some bright yellow bell-shaped flowers. Oh well.
The other trip was fine, if rather whirlwind. Good chance for city kids as it included bug catching in a medowy field type place.
My other outing this week was a bike ride alone along the river Thames to Windsor and back. It was lovely and sunny and the path winds very near the river, so you can look out over the water at the boats while riding through grass and under trees. Riding towards the mammoth sight of Windsor castle with grass stretching out on either side is also a pretty cool experience. So, yeah, there's more prettiness near Slough than I thought. I've told Kate she needs to fix her bike so we can go on a ride down there together. Windsor, btw, was packed (summer Saturday). I only went into town because I needed some face wash, else I would have just chilled near the river. It was a nice day anyway. ( :
I was really pleased about Kew Gardens because I'd really wanted to see them, but the normal cost was £12 (too steep for this chica). With the school, I actually got paid to go. And it was a lovely day. The gardens are extensive and lovely. As a school trip, it rated high for me because the spaces were really open and relatively empty of people, so watching the kids was easy and considerably less stressful than usual.
My group went to the Palm House, the Temperate House, the pagoda, the pond, Minka House, and the shop. We also saw and tried out the listening tree (a tree with headphones hanging from the branches so you can hear the inside of the tree). The kids seemed to enjoy the trip, though they whinged (Brit word) a lot about being tired of walking. Wimps. ( : I'd love to go back if they ever had a discount day.
Pictures are here, but rather culled as I had to leave out photos of the kids, including my favorite of two boys smiling beneath some bright yellow bell-shaped flowers. Oh well.
The other trip was fine, if rather whirlwind. Good chance for city kids as it included bug catching in a medowy field type place.
My other outing this week was a bike ride alone along the river Thames to Windsor and back. It was lovely and sunny and the path winds very near the river, so you can look out over the water at the boats while riding through grass and under trees. Riding towards the mammoth sight of Windsor castle with grass stretching out on either side is also a pretty cool experience. So, yeah, there's more prettiness near Slough than I thought. I've told Kate she needs to fix her bike so we can go on a ride down there together. Windsor, btw, was packed (summer Saturday). I only went into town because I needed some face wash, else I would have just chilled near the river. It was a nice day anyway. ( :
