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Our little Nursery graduate is 4 years & two months old!

Lyme Park, which was used for Pemberley in the 1995 BBC version of Pride & Prejudice

It was a little drizzly at first, but the day brightened up

Plaque about the endowment of the property to the National Trust & local council--I love that last line, "for the Health, Education and Delight of the People"

Courtyard, where Mr Darcy comes running down the stairs looking for Elizabeth after he gets changed

The nursery had lovely classic toys that kids could actually play with, like puzzles, wooden trains, and these cute toy soldiers--George is trying on a dress-up pith helmet

Inside the Orangery

The Italian gardens

There's a scene where Lizzie and her aunt & uncle are looking around this garden

They had an awesome kids' play area

There were lots of tiny little baby frogs on the edge of the lake--so cute!

I loved this little reading nook in the library, built into a deep window seat

When the lavender was starting to bloom, we went to Wolds Way Lavender and had a lovely day out--it smells amazing!

Riding the little train around the farm--they really do use the train when they're harvesting the lavender, as the train brings it from the fields to the distillery

Otley food and drink festival

George ate most of his massive hot dog! I had a lovely, fairly authentic chili cheese dog

Another indulgence of my American food cravings--we went to Five Guys at the mall when I was shopping for maternity clothes. So appropriate!

George's second cinema experience

We went to see The Lion King at an early morning showing

George loved it and didn't get scared--it's so nice to be able to go to movies together!

George has been improving so much on his scooter!

At first he was very careful and went slower than walking pace, but he's getting faster now as he gets more confident on it. Richard took him out with the scooter to Golden Acre and Roundhay parks on a few of the Fridays this August and you can really tell how much the practice has helped!

Nunnington Hall

They had an exhibition on bones for the school holidays--I love the delicate little ribs on this snake!

They have a permanent collection of miniatures at the house, too--it was amazing!

Playing croquet on the lawn

I love the Wedgwood pieces--so tiny and intricate!

We finally took George to The Deep, the big aquarium in Hull

It was very crowded and crazy, probably because it was a Saturday in the summer, but we had a good time and it was better than the Sea Life one in Scarborough. Tickets were about the same, but The Deep gives you an annual pass as standard, so it works out cheaper than Sea Life if you go more than once.

George was brave about the touch tank!

They had this interactive floor that George loved--when you stepped, the fish would move away from your feet and ripples would appear on the water

We watched the Dive Show, where one diver feeds the fish and the other goes around cleaning the sides of the tank

He waved at all the kids--George was fascinated!

George's RC Land Rover

He's still very much into pirates--we watched Peter Pan and he pretended to be Captain Hook

Temple Newsam farm

They had birds of prey there for the school holidays--this little Burrowing Owl was so cute!

These piglets were about a month old

We got to John Lewis before it opened, so we had second breakfast at Pret while we waited

For the last two weeks in August, Leeds has "City Beach" downtown, with rides and a sandpit 

Rufford Old Hall in West Lancashire, north of Liverpool

On Bank Holiday Monday, we went to Hardwick Hall

I thought this was so interesting--the modern day coat of arms still uses "Dieu Est Mon Droit" for its motto, but instead of the Welsh Dragon, it has Scotland's national animal, the unicorn. Hardwick Hall pre-dates the union with Scotland, so it would have just been England and Wales. If the current political situation carries on as it is, we might be heading back in that direction...

All the copper cookware in the Hardwick Hall kitchen has the Duchy of Devonshire mark on it--so beautiful!

We found a Taco Bell in York near John Lewis--George was almost as excited as I was!

George's nursery graduation party!

They had each kid walk the red carpet and have their moment--so cute!

I love that determined look on his face!

Eating some celebratory chocolate

I love these two little buddies! Thankfully, they're going to be in reception class together next week!

It was so lovely to see these little guys together one last time--they're off to 10 different schools for reception, but several are going to George's school with him

L to R: Nancy, Sam, Dylan, Neve, George, Louis, Mason, Ralph, Sam, Maisie, Emily