FourFirths: North Yorkshire...

June 30, 2012

We are back in Castleford staying with David’s brother, Andrew. Danika and Jason’s cousin, Leoni, had an accident while riding her horse and is left with 4 broken metatarsals and four broken toes and will be in a cast for six weeks. It is a non-walking cast, so the poor girl can’t really do much as she can’t drive or go very far on her crutches.L

One day we heard the ice cream van outside and Ollie, the dog, started whimpering. Leoni said the ice cream lady gives Ollie a cone for 50 p. So, I ran down the stairs and out the door and Ollie came with me. I thought he would eat the cone right there, but when I turned to give it to him, he was already walking home. Apparently he knows the routine and that is that he doesn’t get it until he gets home. He even eats every last bit of the cone, a dog after my own heart…

The kids have been keeping Leoni company a bit, but it is not the same when you are an adult and your cousins are 9 and 11. Poor Leoni…

Luckily, Auntie Hilary and Uncle Duncan, came to the rescue. They took Danika and Jason for two nights. (That was before they really knew what they were getting into. We warned them about how much Jason could talk, but they just couldn’t comprehend it until it was too late.) However, the kids had a fabulous time!

They did all sorts of things like going to the wool museum in Leeds, and then the train museum in York. They took them swimming and even had a party! They played Uno and had chips and dips. Then had a chili dinner. This was followed by Hilary’s special cake. Unfortunately it was half eaten by the time I got there to take a picture. Hilary makes all sorts of cakes. This one had a hamburger and beans and an egg and all sorts of different food on top.

They also made cookies with Auntie Hilary. They made all sorts of shapes and sizes, but my favorites were the ones they made for their cousin, Leoni, to represent her cast...

When we picked the kids up, we found out that Auntie Hilary and Uncle Duncan had let them buy sweets at a shop as well. They had gone through four cans of soda as well as a 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola! I think they were banking on filling them up with sugar and returning them to us. Unfortunately for them, the sugar kicked in long before we arrived.

However, after we arrived, Uncle Duncan snuck out with them and went to a special sweet shop that had just opened up. He got in the last laugh after all L

While the kids were away, the parents could play. What did we do??? Went to Costco, of course! Since we practically live at the food court at Costco in Missoula, it was only fitting that we take pictures in England. It was great because you can get different things like Cottage Pie and Jacket Potatoes.

We also found a butcher in Garforth with our name on it. It could be D.M. for Danika Marie, or David and Mary. So here is our very own butcher shop…

One of the evenings the kids were away, we went out for a meal with Andrew, Julie, Leoni, and Granddad Firth. We went to one of his favorite Indian Food restaurants.

It was AMAZING. I ate way too much, but the food was so good and it was a buffet and I just couldn’t stop myself. Here are just a few of the starters.

Then there were so many different curries to try, and I just had to try them all. By the time I took the pictures for Paul Gladen, our table had eaten most of what was at the buffet, hence little was left for the pictures. J

After picking up the kids from Hilary and Duncan’s house, we went over to Paul and Jane’s house for dinner. Paul and Jane are Andrew and Julie's best friends. Jane cooks everything from scratch and is a wonderful cook. She had this incredible spread of Shrimp cocktail, fish cakes, and homemade tomato soup for starters. Then she had fresh garlic bread and lasagna for the main course. When I get back to Missoula, no one will recognize me as I have become very round.

David serving the lasagna…