London 2012

As you probably know, Nick's sister Cait, brother-in-law Josh and three precious girls live across the pond.  While we miss them dearly, it does have one huge perk- the fact that we get to go visit them in London!  Another perk is we try to make the most of our time together.  

We had a smooth flight over and a wonderful first day, picking Lilly up from school and eating lunch.  Unfortunately after that I started to feel really sick and came down with a stomach bug.  I know they did other things while I quarantined myself upstairs but not much happened for me until Sunday.  Thankfully no one else got it.  Sunday night Nick and I kept all three girls by ourselves overnight so Cait and Josh could have a night out.  It went very well and we were proud of our accomplishment- ha! 

Monday we went to the London Eye which is a giant Ferris wheel on the Thames River right in the middle of the city.  You get a birds eye view of the whole city which was pretty amazing.

Big Ben, Parliament and the Thames

Scotland Yard

The Eye has giant "pods" that you can walk around in to see every angle. 

The big girls checking out the view

Later that night we went out to dinner with Cait and Josh to The Harwood Arms.  It is the only Micheline Starred pub in London and it was amazing!  It's fine dinning in a cozy pub setting.  We had a blast.

London

The rest of my week was spent in London, hanging out with these precious girls-

They are so sweet and I had the best time just being a part of their daily life.   We played church, put on shows, read stories and colored pictures.

We also did a little bit of sightseeing.  One morning we took the tube to Westminster and took a boat ride down the Thames.

Another morning we made Easter "helmets" as Elliott called them (she meant bonnets- ha!) and the big girls searched for eggs in the garden.

I am so thankful for these relationships and the opportunity to be part of such an amazing family!

One More London Post

From Ireland we flew to back to London for the final leg of our trip. We spent another week there, this time with Laurie and Pat. We had a wonderful time exploring more- there is so much to do in London. One of our favorite stops we made was the British Museum. The part we toured had ancient ruins from Egypt, Assyria, and Greece. They even had mummies- including Cleopatra.

Later in the week we went to see Wicked- which was increadable! We all loved and and it ended up being our favorite thing we did all week.
Nick and I in front of the Tower of London.

Whats a trip to London without tea, scones and clotted cream? It was delish!
Nick and I really loved London and cannot wait to go back- hopefully sooner than later!

More London

Our last few days in London have been great. The girls had school this week, so that left Nick, Cait and I to explore the city.

We went to Kensignton Place on Monday with Cait and Lilly.

After watching Notting Hill on Monday night we decided to go and explore the real Notting Hill neighborhood. We saw the Travel Bookshop that the one in the movie was based off of. Sadly the one in the movie does not really exist.

After Notting Hill, we ventured into the city. Nick and I with Big Ben.

Westminster Abby

We had such a great time in London. Cait and Josh were wonderful hosts. Thanks for showing us your city!

London Snapshots

We are having a blast so far in London. It has been wonderful to be able to explore and really enjoy our time here. Instead of trying to sum up the past few days for you in words, I think pictures would be better.

This is the view from our room at Cait and Josh's house, where we are staying. Isn't so beautiful? Every time I glance out the window, I am reminded that I really am in London!

Here are Annie and Ellie waiting for the big red double decker bus. We have traveled by bus, the underground or "the tube", the overground and most importantly walking! You can see in this picture Annie's scooter. Because everyone walks where they need to go here, the little kids ride in the stroller if they are small enough or they ride one of these scooters around. She is great at it and its really fun to watch!

Nick pulling Annie on her scooter.

The Tower Bridge and the Thames River

Nick and I on the London Bridge with a view of the city

Some shots from a fabulous market we went to called Borough Market. They had everything you could imagine!

Nick and I in Hyde Park.

On Saturday we went to Ellie's favorite park, Hamstead Heath. There is a farmers market there, several playgrounds and even a pool. We had a picnic and Nick and I walked up to the highest point in London called Parliament Hill. From here you can see many of the famous landmarks.

We went to Buckingham Palace and saw one of the royal guards. From there we walked up to see Piccadilly Circus (a central part of town) and there was a protest going on over the Gaza strip. What was at first interesting, quickly started to make us a little nervous so we headed back home.

Thanks for checking in on us!