Castle Warwick

Yesterday (Friday) we went to Warwick castle. Parts of the castle were built in the 1300s, but much is from the 14-1500s, There are 530 steps to go through the top of the turrets, across the path, and then up and down another section. While Warwick is an expensive trip (£45 for two adults, two kids, plus another £10 for the third kid, which converts to about $90), there is a lot to do and you can spend the entire day there. We saw a bird show where they had trained birds fly over us. We saw an African eagle, a bald eagle, and a vulture. It was really impressive.

But I'm not sure if the kids liked the birds more than the trebuchet. For those of you not into Lord of the Rings or ren-fairs or medieval warfare, I've included a
photo of the trebuchet. (And if I can buy a fire-wire connection today, I may upload a piece of video.) Two people get inside the wheels and walk a la hampster to wind up the machine. The large arm is counter weighted with a large wooden container that holds five and a half tons of rocks and brick. The container is hoisted up, the arm is brought down and loaded, and once it's all set up, the arm hurls a cannon at the castle. For the demonstration, they hurled a soccerball-sized cannon
set aflame. If flew about 250 yards, whooshing as the ball flew high.

I'm including a photo of me and Teagan. Some explanation: I had just taken a photo of the family in this same spot. Teagan caught Erin giving her "rabbit ears" behind her head, so of course she has to cry over the injustice of it all. I had Erin take this photo, and on the count of three, the two of us stuck out our tongues. If you look closely, you can see that Miss T is not at all happy. Contrast that with now: as I write this, the two of them are playing on the living room floor and giggling. Ah, sisters!



Now we're getting ready to head to the monkey park. That is, if we can even get ready. Terry's doing work, I'm writing, Devin's taking a shower, and the girls are playing. I think I'll go tickle a few ribs.