JasonKimball.org

My mom is here visiting for the next three weeks so we have been looking for fun things to do around the area. Brittany and I have always heard people mention the Cotswold Wildlife Park, so we decided to finally give it a try. To be honest, I was expecting to go and be completely disappointed. I figured that we would drive the 1 1/2 hours and they would have some birds and common farm animals for our son to pet. However, I was surprised to find that the Cotswold Wildlife Park was actually a nice place to check out many different types of animals to include giraffes, rhinos, monkeys, and penguins to name just a few.

I can now say that I actually had a really great time and would highly recommend this wildlife park to others that were looking for a fun day out.  Not only did Cotswold Wildlife Park offer some great views, I thought their facilities were top notch and very well maintained. Sometimes you visit wildlife parks and get a sense that the animals are not being taken care of 100%. This is definitely not the case at Cotswold Wildlife Park.

As I mentioned earlier, I would highly recommend this park for anyone looking to have a fun and adventurous day out in the Cotswolds.

As usual, here are some of the pictures I took:

[Show as slideshow]

123456►

This weekend we decided to travel north to visit the city of York for the Jorvik viking festival. Once we arrived we grab something to eat at a local pub and sparked a conversation with the owner about the viking festival. Apparently, the Jorvik Viking website listed the days we planned for the trip as the start of the festival but they must have been changed because the pub owner made some calls and it was planned to start the day after we were going to leave. We walked around the city and did not see too much to do with vikings so we checked out the other popular sites.

The weather was pretty cold and rainy so I would say that we did not enjoy York as much as we originally planned. The highlight of the trip was seeing the amazingly beautiful York Minster.

Here are the pictures from the trip.

[Show as slideshow]

12►

This is going to be Connors first Halloween so we decided to pick up three pumpkins and have stage a little pumpkin carving competition at the house. Connor was so holding on to the sharp knife so we let him paint his pumpkin…haha. I think Connor didn’t quite get the purpose of the paint at first so he decided that he would just eat it instead. Eventually he figured things out and went crazy on his pumpkin for about ten minutes straight. As you might have guessed, he was covered in paint by the end of the experience.

I had plans to combine a couple of designs on one pumpkin but I got tired and decided to have a glass of scotch instead. Now if I could only get my hands on some good pumpkin ale.

Enough about beer, here are some of the pictures from our fun night.

[Show as slideshow]

My wife bought me a Ferrari driving experience from Silverstone.co.uk for my birthday and I finally got around to using it. I must say that it was a lot of fun. The day started off with a 20 minute instruction followed by 3 or 4 laps around the Silverstone circuit in a Ferrari 360 Modena. It was about £99 online for the experience and I must say that it was worth every penny.

I would have been fine just backing the Ferrari in and out of a driveway but instead I got to drive a couple laps around the circuit. You are accompanied the entire time with an instructor that tells you when to shift and when to brake. More importantly, he tells you when to mash the pedal! I must admit that I was a little worried so I didn’t drive it as hard as I could have by any means. It was more like a leisurely drive, haha.

After the experience was finished all I could think of was how I just started to get familiar with the circuit and wanted to drive more. I can’t wait to do this again in the near future.

They have a couple options for you after you finish up. You can get a picture of you driving on the circuit for £20, in-car filming for £35, and hot rides with professional drivers for £30.

I got the in-car filming and you can check it out below. I was a little worried so the speed isn’t exactly “Ferrari fast”. I plan on speeding things up next time when I drive the Audi R8.

Everyone wants to be a Rock Star!

I had some free time and decided to revisit the beautiful Brill Windmill which I had originally photographed back in September. Here are some of the photos from my more recent trip.

Boarstall Tower is a 14th-century moated gatehouse located in Boarstall, Buckinghamshire, England. Boarstall tower was built by John de Haudlo in 1312 and is all that remains of a fortified manor house that was destroyed.

I stumbled upon this National Trust site on accident when I was viewing the Brill Windmill which is only a matter of minutes away. Pay close attention to the signs out front because they are only open on specific days throughout the year and this could create problems for those of you wanting to get a closer look.

Helpful Information

Opening Times

• Open Wednesdays, 1400 – 1700, from 2 June to 25 August
• Open 1100 – 1700 on 3 and 5 April, 3 and 31 May, 28 and 30 August
• Admission by timed ticket only (subject to availability), including members
• Last admission 30 minutes before closing

Prices

Adult – £2.60

Children – £1.50

Contact

The Tenant, Boarstall Tower, Boarstall, Aylesbury HP189UX

Tel: 01280 822850

Email: boarstalltower@nationaltrust.org.uk

[Show as slideshow]

My parents decided to pack up their things and head over to England so they could see their grandchild Connor for the first time and also see some sites around the United Kingdom. My old man would only be around for a week so we wanted to pack in as much as we could in the short time.

First, we decided to start things off by taking a day off because my moms plane did not arrive until midnight and I was pretty tired of driving back and forth to Heathrow Airport. The day off allowed us all a chance to play with Connor and take a break before heading off on our first trip.

Our first trip was to Edinburgh which is the capital city of Scotland and getting there would involve a six hour car ride with a packed car and a 3 1/2 month old. Was this a nightmare waiting to happen or what? It turns out that Connor is a champ and loves traveling because he did not fuss until we entered Edinburgh. The drive was pretty easy except the half-hour or more spent looking for our hotel in the city center. The architecture and feel of Edinburgh is just amazing and you just cant help being surrounded by history on every street. After finding the hotel we went out on the streets of Edinburgh and ended up at a restaurant named, The Filling Station that served some incredible food. Among the vast amount of beer consumed, everyone tried their hand at eating what they called, “The Haggis Stack”. It was haggis, potatoes, and gravy and it was actually fantastic. The rest of the trip was spent touring the city, eating food, and trying scotch at several different locations.

One of the highlights of our trip to Scotland was a little rest stop named Westmoreland that gave off one of those down home country feelings. They served fresh food with the ingredients coming solely from local farmers throughout the area. The food was fantastic and we made sure to check it out on the way back too.

After getting back from Scotland we decided to take another day to rest and hang around the house before heading back out.

Next, we woke up early to catch a one-hour train from Bicester to London for a fun and exciting day trip. The train ride was over before we realized it and we were moving around in the London Underground. Our first stop of the day was at the British Museum where we spent about two hours marveling at numerous exhibits that existed throughout history including the Rosetta Stone and mummies. After the museum we stopped off at a rather old tavern for a bite to eat and a pint of my favorite beers. The lunch was over so we went back to the underground so we could visit Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, The London Eye, and the Tower Bridge. After the day was over I think everyone was ready for a nap including Connor.

Finally, our last trip was to Stonehenge and the beautiful city of Bath. The drive to Stonehenge was less than two hours but it was raining the entire time. Not bad considering this was the first time it rained the whole trip. Stonehenge was a quick stop before we headed off to the city of Bath. In Bath the ladies did some shopping while dad and I checked out one of the best preserved Roman Baths in the world.

All in all it was an exciting, jam packed trip that was lots of fun.

You can view all the photos taken in England by clicking here and all the photos taken in Scotland by clicking here.