May Half Term in the Lake District!

For May half term, the girls had a week off from school and we decided to explore the Lake District, a gorgeous mountainous region in Northern England famous for its lakes, forests and fells. We stayed at Croftside cottage, a beautiful cottage with lovely owners that I highly recommend. It was located close to Keswick, which was great for shopping and eating out, but was in the tiny village of Applewaite, with gorgeous walks right from the front door. The property even had a playground for the kids and the apartment had books and toys for them to play with!

That pretty cottage is where we stayed.

The fields outside the cottage

While we were there, we found time to do a Go Ape Junior Adventure course in Grizedale Forest Park, which was a giant obstacle course high in the trees.

My two little apes

Brave little Lyla

Riley ziplining

Riley way up in the trees

We also found time to visit Castlerigg Stone Circle, an English Heritage site from about 3000 BC! It was set in an absolutely gorgeous location and we had a great time taking pictures, playing among the stones and imagining what used to take place here so long ago!

Lyla and her dog

Lounging on ancient stones

Much cooler than Stonehenge because you can climb on the rocks!

And stand on them

Daddy, Mommy and Lyla's puppy

Cheese!

Pausing for a rest

Pretty background, isn't it?

I think Lyla was walking like an Eyptian

A game of hide and go seek

An opportunity to learn something new

One fun day was spent at Mirehouse in Keswick, exploring the Woodland Playgrounds and walking around Bassenthwaite Lake.

Exploring in a stream

Pretty girls posing with the lake

Family selfie with the lake

We also did some beautiful walks right from our cottage, hiking up Skiddaw and exploring the fells around it. We really enjoyed checking out all of the animals right around the cottage--cows, sheep and even Lyla's very own Peter Rabbit!

An evening walk down the road in front of our cottage

Lyla took her dog along for the walk

We saw Peter all over on our walks. I think he was following us!

Mommy and the girls on a longer hike up Skiddaw

Gorgeous girls, gorgeous views!

Wow!

Lyla had her cell phone and was making an important call

Love these views...can you spot our cottage down there?

Daddy and Riley

Daddy and his girls

I love this one!

Speaking of Peter, the beauty of the Lake District inspired Beatrix Potter's stories, which we loved learning about during our visit to the World of Peter Rabbit in Bowness-on-Windermere. We enjoyed walking around the town, which was adorable and filled with things to do, but we were glad to return back to our cottage and away from the tourists and traffic!

The World of Beatrix Potter

A little light reading

A fox!

Lyla loves Peter!

On the drive back, the views were so pretty that we decided to stop and walk along a public footpath with some sheep.

Quick! Grab your wellies!

Why did the sheep cross the bridge?

Posing along the "path"

Yes...we followed the sheep!

Our trip to the Lake District was the perfect combination of exploring and relaxing, adventures and quiet reading (Riley finished seven books while we were there!), quiet meals in the cottage and lovely pub lunches. I hope that we find time before we head back to the US for a return visit to Croftside Cottage, even if it's only for a wonderful weekend away from it all!