A trip to London

We went to London on the train and Uncle Geoff met us at Euston station. We stayed at a bed and breakfast near Geoff's house and it was very odd because the man was very strange and thought we were Swedish and put Abba on at breakfast and told everyone we were from Sweden. The rooms were very small and the shower was in a wardrobe and the toilet was in a cupboard.

On the first day of London we went to see changing of the guard ant horse guard parade, Buckingham Palace and we also saw Big Ben and Nelsons Column. I enjoyed seeing the solders with the gun and I liked their bayonets.

The next day we went on the underground to the Tower of London and saw the crown jewels. Mum liked all the crowns and so did I. It was great seeing all the jewels, they were awesome. We saw the biggest diamond in the world. We went to the Bloody Tower where they use to torture people. One of the kings did not like his nephews so he locked them up in the tower. They were murdered and nobody knows what happened to them, but some people think they were buried in the walls of the tower. We saw all of Henry the 8th armor, it was so shiny and even his horse had loads of armor.

That evening we went to the theatre to see the Lion King. This was amazing and funny.They had life size elephants and giraffes coming down the isle of the theatre. I liked all the charterers, and they were all good at singing. There were some kids who were great at dancing.

On day three we went on a boat on the Thames and sailed past Big Ben, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. We went to the Naval Museum at Greenwich. It had lots of pictures and we even saw some painting done of Captain Cooks first trip to New Zealand. We looked at the old queens house and it went underground. There was lots of different anchors, even one from a submarine. The buildings were really amazing and when we were there they were making a film of Gulliver's Travels.

helping with Bees

When I got home to York I helped Grandpa with the bee. I had to get dressed up so I did not get stung as the last time I helped him I got stung on the head. I also made some bees wax candles which we got to light at tea time. We are now off to London to visit my uncle Geoff who is going to show us all the sights.

Big birds at Thorpe Pero

The next thing we did was go to a place called Thorpe Pero, which is the garden of a big stately home. The best thing was that we saw lots of birds of prey. It was really exciting because we saw some flying and I got a huge bird land on my arm which was a jackal buzzard. Granny got a beautiful barn owl to land on her. I would really like to keep birds of prey when I am older, but I think you need a licence. The lady told us that owls are not really very wise because their eyes take up a lot of the room in their heads so their brains are really small. It was fantastic.
We also saw white swans there - all swans in England are white and all belong to the queen.

Another Castle !!!

Our next adventure was going to a castle called Middleham. King Richard the 3rd lived here in the 1470’s. He grew up there. They found a large jewel called he Middleham Jewel in a field near the castle which belonged to him. The castle would have been very big but now it is ruined. They had lots of wooden staircases in to let you get up to the towers. There was a Great hall and there was even a big toilet room. On a hill near the castle there was the site of an earlier castle that was made of wood. There was a great moat around it and a wall and portcullis. You could really imagine what it might have been like.
We went for a walk down by the river and saw lots of race horses

Thanks for all the messages

Hi room 2 & 3. I how your having lots of fun. I am having loads of fun exploring all the castles - to bad your not here because it’s great. Thank you for all the messages it made feel very happy. I am missing you all and will see you soon. I will do some more blog about out latest adventures. I hope anyone who got the flue is OK now.

Messages from New Zealand

CALEB D
To Jimmy, I have got one tooth out and I have a tooth wiggly. My Dad pulled it out. I was very brave and I was very happy. I said to Dad "Thank you Dad!"

JADE
Hi Jimmy, Do you know we did dancing? It was called Maori dancing. We were dancing at assembly.

RYAN
You are lucky you don't have to do any homework, you get to do fun stuff. I wish I could go on a holiday like you. You don't have to do a silly dance!

GRAYSEN
Dear Jimmy, When I went to the park I went down this hill with my scooter. A woman was walking past and I used my brakes but I fell off. I got a scar and it is awful. I started to cry and then we got to have an ice-cream. I got hokey pokey and Fletcher and Riley got Goody, Goody Gum Drop.

MYA
Dear Jimmy, Are you having fun? I bet you are. I heard you went to Cliffords Tower. Do you want to know some things that I did in the holidays? I went to Hannah Montana, the movie and Ice Age 3. In Ice Age 3 Buck spoke Irish.

IZZAC
I went to Timaru and I got a transformer toy. It was an Optimus Prime and it transforms into a truck.

MYIA
In nine weeks I am going to Clyde. I am staying in my Grandad's house up in Clyde.

MACKENZIE
To Jimmy, I am going to write about when I went to Queenstown. When I went to Queenstown I went in the pool. It said 'open' and we just went in. When we were driving it took 4 and a half hours. I was bored in the hotel. We had breakfast and tea, 'yum, yum in my tum'! I had to share a bed with my brother.

KYRA
Dear Jimmy, You are lucky you are in England. I was sick but I only had a headache and a sore throat. I hope you are having a good time. I am better now though. Sometimes I feel sick but I'm not, I'm okay.

CALEY
Dear Jimmy, In the holidays I went to Hannah Montana with Holly. It was really fun because we got three pottles of lollies and we got three packets of popcorn. When we had the popcorn we made a big mess. Jimmy, why were you not dancing at your Grandad's 70th birthday?

MRS WALDRON
Hi Jimmy, we have loved reading your blog and looking at all the pictures. I thought your Grandad's birthday looked like lots of fun but we couldn't see you dancing, only helping to cut the cake. Are you like Ryan and don't like dancing? We were also a bit worried that you were throwing things at Tom while he was in the stocks. Mya told us we didn't have to worry because he would be able to get out.
Tomorrow I am going to Wellington so Room 2 will have Mrs Holden all day, I think they are excited about that. I hope I get a chance to go to the museum, we liked looking at the Beamish museum that you went to.

We did some beautiful art work using the koru design, you will be able to see it when you get back and we have new reading stations. Say hello to Ellen and Tom for us. Room 4 are going to look at your blog and might write Tom some messages as well. Room 1 got Ellen's postcard today and I think they sent her an email.

See you soon!

We have not been able to write the blog for a week or so as we have been in Wensleydale where there is no internet connection. Wensleydale is in the heart of Yorkshire. We stayed in an old farm house . In the kitchen there is an Aga stove. The garden is full of plants, birds and a fish pond. It also has a ghyll (mountain stream running through it which I sat in and got very wet).
We visited a town called Hawes and when round a creamery where they make Wensleydale cheeses - if you have ever heard of Wallace and Grommet then you’ll know how nice Wensleydale cheese is. We also visited a rock and fossil shop and I bought a sharks tooth that is 40 million years old.
The next day it rained but we were OK as we visited a place called the Forbidden Corner. It was a garden full of very odd and funny things to look at and explore. The scariest bit was a big cat who came out of the dark with glowing green eyes. There was crystal mountain which we walked underneath and there was a statue of a little boy who peed on me when I walked past. We also when into a dungeon and had to choose the right door to get out of.
Today we went on a steam train from Leyburn to Redmire stations. The engine driver let us go in the cab. The engine was black and it had lots of knobs and leavers. The steam came in the window as we went along and it made a tic tic sound. We got off at Redmire and followed a path through the fields to Bolton Castle. It was very big and partially ruined. The best bit was the dudgeon which still has prisoner in it. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned here and we saw her room.