Blenheim Palace

Friday, during our week in Oxford, we took an hour long bus ride to see Blenheim Palace, the childhood home of Winston Churchill.  If you need know anything about my husband, it is that he is a World War Two history buff and that he loves Winston Churchill.  He has read numerous books from different points of view and watched several documentaries on the subject.  That said, being so close to Churchill's childhood home made it a must for us to visit.

Our family in front of Blenheim

I have to say that the British definitely know how to accomodate families with children because there was a huge play area for kids on the palace grounds.  And when I say play area, I mean a small train ride from the main house to what must have been the stables, etc.  Since we had just had the girls seated for over an hour on the way to the house, we hit the children's area first to let them run around and burn off some energy.  Coupled with lunch, we were hoping the girls would fall asleep in their strollers while we toured the house.  No such luck, but we enjoyed the beautiful house anyways.

Mary Frances and Maddie on train to the kids area

Some miniature houses in the play area

The play ground was great!  There was even a life size maze
to the left of this picture.

Walking to the butterfly exhibit

After strolling around the inside of the house we walked around back to see the fountains and gardens.  It was truly beautiful and hard to imagine living in a palace like that.  I wish we had had more time to explore, but it was starting to rain and the attention span of the two little ones was starting to fade.  Thus we started our journey home and as soon as we started walking to the bus, Mary Frances conked out in her stroller.  Figures!

Family picture - can you tell someone was over it?

With my sweet girl

And finally sacked out on the way home

This post concludes our time with Chris, Amber and Maddie in Oxford.  We are so grateful for their hospitality.  We had such a wonderful time and will always cherish our time in England with them!

Love,
Katy