England - Day Number 6

So folk, my trip has just about come to an end. Just one last trip... to London Heathrow Airport. This week really flew by, you all know the saying. So my past 2 days, here's what went on.

Yesterday, we kinda slept in and took our time getting ready. We had quiche for breakfast that Maggy made (yum!). Then while Maggy got some reading done Andy was kind enough to drive me to Guildford so that I could go get a Harley Davidson t-shirt for my father. The drive was beautiful, but when we got there they were completely out of the shirts that had the town on it. Sorry Daddy! No need to fear, they should be getting them back in soon and Mags will send it our way. Then we had dinner at Andy's Nanas and Granddads. We had what she calls "bits and pieces", which just means MANY different smaller items. I filled up quite a bit, although his Nana kept yelling at me that I hadn't eaten at all. haha. Then the best part of the day, Maggy and I forced Andy and his friend to carve pumpkins with us. Halloween isn't anywhere near the same in England as is it for us Americans (sad, I know), no trick-or-treating, scary lawns, or pumpkin carving. So this was their first time ever carving a pumpkin and they were quite hesitant at first. But they ended up really getting into it and doing a great job! Yay Halloween!

First Timers!

We love mutilating vegetables!

BOO!

Today was one of the best days here. When we woke up this morning Maggy made what's known as a full English breakfast (aka a LOT of breakfast food), which was delish! Then we went to see Stonehenge. It was a bit of a ride out there, but so worth it (and it was so awesome of Andy to drive us out there for something he's seen before). The drive again was magnificent, beautiful English countryside, and it was incredible to be right there looking at Stonehenge. Then we went into Windsor. We walked The Long Walk down to Windsor Castle... you have to see the pics to fully understand the beauty. After which we had proper tea at The Crooked Tea House of Windsor. It's a tea house that is so old that it is actually crooked and doesn't even have bathrooms. Really good and different. Lastly, we did a bit of shopping before heading home to watch A Nightmare Before Christmas. Again, Yay Halloween!

Stonehenge

Me in front of Stonehenge

Maggy, Andy and me

The Long Walk (you can see Windsor Castle at the end)

Windsor Castle

The Crooked Tea House

Proper Tea

So now I have just finished packing, and I'm ready to go home to my family, who I miss incredibly! I am so lucky and very grateful to have been able to have come to England, and beyond appreciative of Maggy and Andy for... to keep it short... revolving their lives around me all week. I am also beyond appreciative of Scott for being so awesome about staying home with the kids all week by yourself while I was out gallivanting around the globe. Thank yous, a million times over, for everything. I had a blast! Home, here I come!

Sunset over the ocean on my way home.

Update #2

Well mates, it's now day 4 of my trip, it's all going by so quickly. Yesterday we spent the day in London again, and we finished most of the London touristy stuff. While Maggy was in class I went to the Tate Modern and spent a few hours enjoying all of the incredible art. Of course the were all the big names, Picasso, Man Ray, Van Gough, Pollack, Monet and so on (which are all amazing), but there were also a lot of artists that I don't know much about whose art was just as amazing. I really enjoyed that part of my day.

Then I stopped along the River Thames in Southwark to have lunch, beautiful views and some people watching made for a nice lunch spot. I wandered around London for a while, taking pictures and stopping by the London Borough Market. Then I decided to try to find my way to the National Portrait Gallery, there was an Annie Lebowitz exhibition there that I was totally thrilled to see. So I asked for directions and was told that it was right near Trafalgar Square. Famous square, so that was an added bonus. When I got up there the entire square was packed full of crazy people, as were the streets lining it. Little did I know that the British Olympian athletes were there. I couldn't even make it through the square to get to the gallery, so I missed out on that exhibition. Then Maggy and I met back up and we stopped at a few gift shops then made our way to the Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, House of Parliament and all that good stuff. (we got some beautiful pics that I'll share when I get home. Then came the most horrific thing of all, time to face my fear.....

Buckingham Palace

Note the random old lady...

Big Ben and House of Parliments

We saw the Queen! (she riding in the front car)

The London Eye. All I have to say is HHHEEELLLPPP! I am horrified of heights, it's my worst fear ever, and I having been dreading this moment since I first started planning this trip. However, I did try to rationalize it w/ myself, how often will I get the chance to do this? I kept telling myself to stay calm, I'll be fine, people go on it all the time, it won't fall and I won't plummet hundreds of feet to my untimely death. Needless to say, I didn't do to good of a job calming myself down. But I did it, and I'm so proud of myself for doing it. I didn't throw up, or lay in the fetal position sobbing like a baby. I was shaking, visibly upset and didn't move my ass off the seat once, but I did it, even had my eyes open for most of it. I knew I'd kick myself later if I had let that experience go to waste. Even now, just thinking about it is giving me chills. I did it though and I am proud.

I was just a bit afraid, to say the least.

The view from almost at the top.

I managed to fake a smile though...

You can see for miles.

After that we caught the train home, made dinner and just relaxed for the remaining part of the evening. This morning I got to sleep in (we had to get up at like 7 am the first day and 6 am yesterday). We had some tea, did our hair and makeup, took a walk into town, then came home and cooked and baked. (Maggy did the cooking, she made a quiche, but we both made cookies). She had just left for work not too long ago, Andy should be home any minute and us 2 will walk up to Maggy's work and hang there for about an hour til she gets done. Then we're gonna come home, have some toad-in-the-hole for dinner(?), and we're going out tonight to have some drinks. Or as they would say, we're going out on the lash to get pissed. haha. It should be a fun night.

Out on the lash.

My First 2 days in England

Birds-eye view of English Countryside


This will have to be a short blog, being as that I'm absolutley knackered as they would say over here. Well my flight got in yesterday at 9:30 am. We took the bus and then the train to get back to Maggy's house, which is adorable! We hung around here and cooked and baked and walked to a nearby market for some wine. We took a quick trip to the mall near her, just to put money in the bank though, didn't really get a chance to see it. Then later in the evening we stopped by the pub that Maggy works at. It was really just a chill day for the most part.

View of London from the Waterloo Bridge

Of Course...

My first time on the tube

Then today we left the house a lil after 8 am to head into London. Maggy had class, during which time I wondered my way to The British Museum. It was really incredible, nice to have some adult time to see these amazing things. We walked through London to get to her school and walking over the River Thames, I could see half the city. The London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliment, Shakespears Globe, just everything. It was such a beautiful view! Then we went to the London Dungeoun (awsomely creepy!), and then to Madame Toussauds Wax Museum (hilarious!). Last on the agenda for the night, we went to this new, modern, dim sum resteraunt called Ping Pong w/ 2 of Maggys close friends. The food was awsome, and it was great to try these new foods being as that Scott isn't a big fan of new foods, and the Chinese beer was good too. Than we ran to catch the train home after filling ourselves with foor and beer.... not a good idea. haha. Now we are back at her house and I have to get up at 6 am tomorrow to head back into London for another all day London outing, so i need to get to bed. Sorry this was so short and there are no pics. I won't be able to add pics til I get home. But thats been my first 2 days. Another update is soon to come.

Big Ben through the London Eye

Shakespears Globe

Me and the Queen rockin out! haha

It's like wheres waldo...

I was helping him out

Oopps!

Wow, I really let life get in the way of something I enjoy doing again. It's been over a month since I last wrote anything. Although, this may or may not be typical behavior for me... it's possible that I just might be a natural born slacker. September was just an insanely busy month, even more chaotic than usual. We, as a family, managed to make it through by the skin of our teeth (and perhaps a bit of sanity to spare, not sure though, maybe we should take a poll). haha. I did try to write something a while ago, a beautiful, thoughtful piece might I add, and just before I posted it my little angel Christian came in and starting hitting buttons and deleted it. Being the persistent person that I am, I quit. No worries, it was only for a short while, and now I'm back to write about stuff that really has no meaning for anyone but me.

September. Crazy September. So much to say that even just thinking about it stresses me out again, haha. So lets do the short hand...

• Christians 1st ever dentist appointment, anyone who knows my son knows that means a whole lot of AHHHHHHHHH! haha
  
• School started for my 2 oldest, which means shopping stress, first day jitters, he said/she said/ best friends/ worst enemies, tons of monotonous paperwork for me, etc.
  


• Courtney decided last minute that she wanted to play fall ball, so add all the practices and games into the mix.
  


• Scott's brother got married, and both he and I were in the wedding party. That + 3 kids= empty bank account and nearly impossible if it weren't for my selfless cousin Sandy. She might as well have been their new mother this past month. haha. Thanks again Sandy if you're reading this, none of the ridiculous amount of help you give us goes unnoticed or unappreciated.



GORGEOUS!




Christian was a party animal, dancing up a storm the ENTIRE time! "Put me down Dada, I wanna dance!"

They love each other... just not in public. haha.






• Courtney turned 11 (HELP!), and the rehearsal dinner for John and Lex's wedding was on her birthday.




• As an added bonus to that crazy weekend, Scott decided to have oral surgery to remove all 4 of his wisdom teeth that Thursday. What a bumbling dummy he was that day, but I still love him.




• We also had Scott's cousins wedding to attend, which wouldn't have been a big deal... if it weren't an all day affair in Ocean City.



• My Great Aunt Betty came into town so we had dinner at my Aunt June's house to spend time w/ her. That was actually pretty relaxing.




• Courtney and Ryan both had dentist appointments and orthodontist appointments, which I somehow managed to do all 6 appointments without them ever missing a second of school. GO ME!



• I apparently am the family mediator. If you know my family use your imagination to think about how stressful that can be. That's all I'm going to say about that.



• At the end of the month we hosted Courtney's birthday party for her friends. We gave her a choice and she opted for a big gift and a small party. So we got her a digital camera and let her have a sleepover. A gaggle of prepubescent girls at my house all day and all night.... hindsight is always 20/20. haha.



• We, Scott and myself, tend to be good at procrastination. Which means we've lived in this house for over a year and a half and poor Courtney's room still looked like it could be part of a crack house. (Arg, the guilt!) So we waited until the week before her sleepover to finally finish all the spackling, sanding, priming and painting. Needless to say, that week consisted of many long nights and little sleep. But she loves her new room and she's actually keeping it clean... for now. Ryan's room, here we come.
  

There is just a sample of the month that was September for us. There was so much more craziness, I just can't be bothered w/ writing the rest. We made it out alive, and I thoroughly enjoyed the chaos. The wedding was beautiful, my family has great teeth, the kids are active, happy and learning, Courtney's getting older... too old, one more home project is crossed off our list and we love our lives and each other. Now comes October, and I'm excited and ready. Bring it on! haha. My favorite holiday and my trip to England lie ahead of me. Life is good. GO PHILLIES!