Fun in the east

We've had a fun few days touring mansion houses and eating fantastic food. Above, my parents are standing outside Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich. Below, Jacob and I are enjoying a fabulous carvery, complete with turkey, pork, beef, veggies galore, potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. All doused in gravy, of course.

This morning we went to the Bircham Windmill where they were having a bread festival. We sampled and purchased incredible baked goods, and we also sampled and purchased cheese made from the milk of sheep who live at the windmill. It was all wonderful!

Then we headed up to the Norfolk coast to Holkham Hall, a beautiful Palladian mansion house, still inhabited by the Earls of Leicester (but right now by the Viscount Coke, the seventh Earl's son, and his family). It's one of the rare houses that allows photography inside, so here are a few photos of both exterior and interior.

Then we had fish & chips, which we hear are better on the coast. Below my Mom is enjoying hers with mushy peas. Very delicious!

Tea and punting

Today we ate brunch at the tea room, which was amazingly delicious. Then we went to Bury St Edmunds for the market and then to Cambridge to punt the Cam. It was a fun day, and it's wonderful to have my parents here!

Blenheim Palace

My parents arrived in London this week, and yesterday we met up with them and visited Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, where the Dukes of Marlborough have lived since about about 1722--and still live today. Winston Churchill was born in the Palace, and we visited the very room of his birth.

"Would I Lie to You?"

The below clip is from a BBC show called "Would I Lie to You?" and had us laughing until we cried. It's long, but worth watching.
Quick background on how the show works: team members have to read the statement on the card, which they've never seen before and have no opportunity to pre-plan what they'll say. They're supposed to convince the other team of the story's truth, and the other team can ask follow-up questions about the story. This is Kevin Bridges' turn (he's a Scottish comedian). But the clip's star is really David Mitchell, whom we enjoy in general but is especially hilarious here.
Let us know what you think.

Stork story

This story occurs well in the past, so forgive the tardy posting. When we were in the Netherlands in April we were barely pregnant and had no idea we were expecting. (I started feeling the pregnancy sickness the day we traveled home, but the pregnancy wasn't confirmed until a few weeks after that due to an inconclusive home pregnancy test.)

One morning as we were in the supermarket parking lot enjoying cheese and bread for breakfast, someone said "oh, look at that huge bird on the building." Still absorbed in my Dutch cheese, I didn't care enough to look until Irena (Jacob's boss) said "I'm sure that's a stork. We studied them in school." Just then, Jacob and I had one of those moments straight from the movies where we exchanged a look, reading each other's thoughts across the car. We knew we COULD be pregnant but weren't sure. Seeing that stork seemed to be a sign or something. We're not superstitious, and we don't believe in signs. But this one seemed so fun and coincidental, we had to share on the blog. :)

The proverbial stork won't actually be visiting us until December, but the above is a photo of the one we saw on April 10th. [I was 5 weeks pregnant that day.]