Short story about a snail



A few Sundays ago, the boys came running in the house from rugby calling for me, yelling for me to come outside and to see what was on Daddy's car.  I couldn't fathom what on earth they were talking about but they were pretty amped up about it. Just so happens that a "garden snail" attached itself to Marks car while they were at rugby and hitched a ride to our house.  I've seen a lot of snails in my life but not one as big as this.  I was so curious about this snail that I looked it up.

 

 

This is the picture I found on line (seemed to be a match) and some rather interesting/disturbing facts:

 

With their messy trails and taste for greens, garden snails are often considered to be pests whose strong homing instinct makes human control difficult. They are often seen after rain, and leave a tell-tale trail of mucus. Being hermaphrodites, garden snails each have both male and female reproductive organs, but although they can mate with themselves, it's more usual to find a partner. When conditions are dry, snails retreat into their shell and seal the entrance. They can then survive in a state of suspended animation for several months. A single garden snail can have 430 babies in a year.

 

430 babies in one year.  Seriously?

 

 

 

If you look closely, you will see its antennas stretching waaaaay out. Henry was in awe. He couldn't believe this snail took a ride on Mark's car.

 

 

The boys were very concerned about the snail being okay and finding a good home, so they put it in the garden and we watched it slowly squirm away.

 

When I say slowly, I mean we watched it for a really long time.

Big stones

It's not every day you get a call from your husband on a Friday who says, "Hey, lets go to Stonehenge tomorrow!"  Of course without hesitation I said yes. On paper the plan seemed like a no brainer- only 1.5 hours away, we'll pack a lunch, see Stonehenge and then we head home. Our plans tend to take fun little twists and turns. So, in true form, this one did too. It ended up taking us 3 hours instead of 1.5. We did not anticipate traffic or a two lane road going down to one.  Yes, only one road to Stonehenge.  We have no idea where everyone was going because Stonehenge itself was not crowded.  Who knows. We did make it there and it certainly was a site to see.  The boys seemed to have a good time even though they couldn't climb on the rocks. They did however enjoy listening to the audio tour. Unbeknownst to us, they were apparently learning about how one of the stones was used as a slaughter stone for sacrifices. Lovely. We rock as parents.

 

Kensington Gardens

This past Saturday we took the boys to Kensington Gardens. I think this is one of my favorite Royal Parks yet.  It was so pretty and so peaceful.  Not to mention the gigantic pirate ship in the Princess Diana Memorial Playground.  I think the boys were in heaven. We snuck their pirate hats along for the trip so they were prepared to play the part! We also walked around the gardens of Kensington Palace. Truly beautiful. I believe William, Kate and George will be residing there soon in their 20 room apartment. Is it really an apartment when you have 20 rooms?  I digress.

We spent the entire day in this park and didn't get home until 7pm. Completely shattered.

 

The Italian Gardens

 

    Time to play Pirates. Walk the plank!

 

This ship was big, for small people that is.  They could go underneath and run round from end to end.

 

 

 

 

Arrrgh! Ahoy matey! We found the treasure!

 

There were a few tepees set up in another area - it was perfect for when the rain came!

 

 

The rain continued for a little bit so we took a walk to the Palace.  Here is a statue of Queen Victoria.

 

 

Hooray for single strollers!  Complete with rain gear.

 

They had such a good time running around the gardens. 

 

 

 

And then we went back to the park - because as you can see the weather changed dramatically!

 

 

I can't resist putting all of these pictures of Henry up. He was a very happy boy on Saturday. I could just eat him up when he smiles.

The day ended with pizza and ice cream across the street. We couldn't believe how well they held up considering how much playing they did. Good times, good times.

 

Until the next adventure...

P.S. Thank you Mark for taking all of the pictures from this day and every day. If it weren't for you we would have a very boring blog.

 

The Saturday I never posted about

Technically, I did.  It was the nice little clip of the Griswold's going around the round-a-bout in Westminster. It was short and sweet because it has taken me about 3 weeks to get over the driving trauma that occurred.

Now that I'm over it, I can tell you what we did that day.  We had tickets for the city cruises boat trip. It is a boat tour on The Thames and they give you some highlights of what you are looking at while you are cruising.

Before we got to the boat, there is the driving part.  Our plan was to park in a car lot close to Westminster pier.  Come to find out they shut the road down that leads to the garage- therefore there was no immediate place to park.  Lovely. As Mark was trying to Google the nearest place to park, I was caught in this series of turns that kept leading me to the same circle- Big Ben, Parliament- you know. In these series of turns were buses and taxis. There I was wedged in between them all. This happened at least 4 times, maybe more.  At this point, the kids could have cared less about Big Ben and wanted out.  Luckily, Mark found a garage in the area and I nearly cried for joy.  We all were very happy to have me off the road.

On to the fun part- our highlights!

Westminster Abbey

 

 Big Ben.

 

 Parliament.

 

 

This is a new building on London's skyline. The "shard of glass" - the 1,016ft London Bridge Tower - is set to be the tallest building in Europe. (www)

 

 

Tower Bridge.

 

Off with her head! The London Tower.

 

The name Traitors' Gate has been used since the early seventeenth century. Prisoners were brought by barge along the Thames, passing under London Bridge, where the heads of recently executed prisoners were displayed on pikes. Queen Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, Queen Catherine Howard, all entered the Tower by Traitors' Gate. (www)

 

The Gerkin. It is 180 meters high and has 40 floors being one of the most attractive looking skyscrapers in the British capital.It is mainly made of glass and steel and reflects the light just like a mirror. The egg shape is symbolic, as the egg was once considered to be the perfect shape, the symbol for perfection and absolute. (www)

 

Cleopatra's Needle.

Cleopatra's Needle is a 3,500 year old Egyptian obelisk. It is one of the oldest monuments in London. Its was acquired by the Victorians from the Egyptians in 1878 to commemorate the British victory over Napoleon, sixty-three years earlier. Cleopatra's Needle was originally made in Egypt for the Pharaoh Thotmes III in 1475 BC. Its name is derived from its original location Alexandria, the royal city of Cleopatra. (www)

 

 

All in all, the day was a success.  Take away lesson: never, ever, drive into central London again. Like ever.

 

www = world wide web

 

Cheers mate!