Our Big Day In London

We finally decided to take the trip to London last Saturday! We debated taking the train, doing the tour buses, taking the stroller, and if we should even go considering it was the weekend before the Olympics. We decided to drive down, park outside the city, and take the tube in. We did decide to take the stroller and not to use the tour buses. We just used the tube for all transportation we needed. For the first time out here in England I can say everything went very smooth!! The drive was easy, we found the parking with no problem, and the tube was very easy to use. So glad we brought the stroller!!! We only debated not bringing the stroller if we were going to do the tour buses. Andrew loved the tube!! He thought it was so fun to watch the "train" pull in.

We made it to the Buckingham Palace first. It was fun to see in person but I guess I expected to see something a little more. Maybe the Queen or William and Kate...

How do you get to be the police on a horse? That could be kind of fun.

After that we headed over to Trafalgar Square. Along the way we passed the horse gaurd. Andrew thought it was pretty fun to see the horses.

 

We had to get a picture with the London phone booth.

Trafalgar Square

Next up was Westminster Abbey. After seeing York Minster I was really looking forward to seeing Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures in the church. Westminster Abbey was bulit in 1245. This church has so many memorials! Talk about a lot of dead people in one place! This church is where all of the coronations take place. We did get to see the coronation chair that has been used since 1308. The church was nice, but I think I still like York Minster better.

Here are a few shots of Big Ben and Parliament!!

Oh yeah, and the London Eye.

We really debated doing a boat tour too, but the time just didn't allow for it. I was a little bummed about that but I think we got to see a lot on foot. We grabbed a quick lunch and headed over to the Tower of London. This castle is the home of the crown jewels! Again, you were not allowed to take pictures. This castle was used as a prison and many people we killed there. It was also used as a royal palace, an armoury, and a royal mint.

The home of the crown jewels.

The guard outside of the crown jewels. I seriously think this guard was Taylor Lautner in a disguise. Looked just like him!!

Andrew wasn't a fan of the camera by this point. This was Henry V's sword. It was 7ft 7in long and weighed over 14lbs. That is one big sword.

The Shard, Western Europe's tallest building. 1,016 ft

The London Bridge, I expected a little more than that.

The Tower Bridge all decked out for the Olympics.

The city has special Olympic lanes for the athletes to get around all of the traffic.

Before heading home we walked to Piccadilly Circus and Chinatown. It was crazy!! There were so many people everywhere and so many interesting things to see.

Random restaurant with meat hanging in the window. That definitely doesn't make me want to eat there.

Chinatown

What is up with the meat in the windows again?

After our visit to London I really wondered what life would be like in a big city like that. I don't think I could do it. I have a new found respect for my simple suburban lifestyle :)

 

All About Andrew

Thought I would do a little post all about Andrew. He is at such a fun age right now!! One of the best parts about this trip is being able to fully enjoy him without all of the day to day things to do. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time. I love his little personality so much!

First of all, yes I did get his hair cut!! Mark wanted to let it grow out the whole time we were here. It was starting to get pretty long. Last week we were walking and I passed a little barber shop. I have been wanting to trim his hair a little myself because it was just getting crazy. I knew it would be hard to trim, so when I passed the barber shop I decided to have them trim it. I specifically told the guy just to trim it a little. He then responded with, so you don't want me to cut out any of the curl? I told him to leave all of the curls and just clean it up a little. Then he started cutting and this is what we ended up with. I was pretty sad that he cut out all of the curls, but I know it will grow back. I think he is still super cute, but I guess I am just biased.

We successfully moved him to a big boy bed when we got here and it is going great!! I think he was so tired when we first moved here he would have slept anywhere. He goes to bed just as easy as he did in his crib. He has fallen out of the bed a few times but went right back to sleep. His room here is pretty boring. It is just a twin bed with his blue bear and blankets. His new room is pretty much ready for him when we get home with his new big boy bed.

 

Andrew doesn't mind the rain at all. He loves to splash in the puddles. We have been in some pretty heavy down pours and he was totally fine with it. One night Andrew wanted to go out and play so Mark took him out in the rain. They ran around and played soccer for at least 30 minutes. It was so cute to watch them from our apartment.

Andrew has been playing with his small collection of toys. We recently bought the box set of Ice Age 1-3. We did bring all of Andrew's favorite movies over, but they don't work here. He is loving Ice Age 3 right now. When we go to the store I try to let him pick out a cheap small toy so he stays entertained. He has found a few British cartoons he likes too. We also have netflix if he needs to get in a quick Blue's Clues.

As far as friends go we are still lacking in his age range. We do hang out with a couple people that have kids so he gets to play with them. They are either way older or four months old. Andrew still gets excited to see them. He did make a friend last week while we were waiting in line at the bakery. A little girl walked up to him in the stroller and started talking to him. He said look at my friend mom! It was so cute! The little girl really liked that he called her his friend. They played with Andrew's trains while we waited in line and before we left she kissed him! All of the ladies in line just thought it was the cutest!! One thing I learned about Andrew from this trip is he will make friends where ever he goes and he doesn't care about age!! I am still really looking forward to when we get home so he can play with his little group of friends. I can tell he misses them!

Right now he is all about trains and cars. He will make the cars and trains have little conversations. He loves to sing to anyone that will listen :) He set list is ABCs, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus, and his newest is Mary Had a Little Lamb. He also knows Paradise by Coldplay. He loves to watch movies and play with the iPad or iPhone.

So I guess next up is potty training. I feel like this one maybe challenging. He has no interest in the potty at all. I was going to try and do it on this trip, but after all of the moving around I decided it was not a good idea. I am trying to get him interested in it now. I guess we will start that when we get home.

 

Happy Birthday Mark!!

Mark's birthday was actually on Saturday, but Andrew and I decided to celebrate on Friday night because we spent the day in London yesterday. Andrew and I walked out to nearest shopping center on Friday and picked up balloons, some pastries from the local bakery, and some birthday candles. We already had the cards and gifts. Andrew is at the age where he understands that birthdays are something to get excited about. We put the balloons around the apartment for Mark when he got home from work. After dinner we went to sing Happy Birthday when I realized I forgot to buy a lighter!! Way to drop the ball on that one. We all still enjoyed our desserts.

Birthday Boy

Andrew loves cupcakes!

Andrew's Olympic medal cookie.

On Sunday when I went to the store I was able to pick up some matches. I couldn't waste the candles :) We sang Happy Birthday again on Sunday and this time with a birthday candle in some ice cream! Before ice cream we went to Bulls Head for dinner. Here are a coupe pictures from dinner.

I got Andrew saying cheese here.

Andrew just hanging out at the pub.

Happy Birthday Mark!! We love you.

 

Our third and final apartment

Thought you all would like to see a few pictures of where we are living right now. As most of you know, we have had some housing issues. We are finally in a place that we can stay in until we go home! This is by far my favorite place. It is a newly refurbished apartment.

The kitchen may look like it has a lot of storage but only one bottom cabinet its actually a cabinet. Behind the rest of the cabinets are our refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, and washer/dryer.

The living room, they call it the lounge.

Andrew's room.

The hardest part about staying in this apartment is that there are no closets or dressers! Just the little cabinets you see in the picture. We are definitely looking forward to having a little more space when we get home.

 

York

We decided to take a trip up north to York last Sunday. We actually moved into our final apartment (pictures to follow) on Friday and then got settled on Saturday. York was about an hour and 45 minute drive north. Our first stop in York was Starbucks and I am still happy to say that it is the one thing that tastes the same here! The town of York was so cute. There were so many little shops and restaurants. After Starbucks our next stop was the National Railway Museum for Andrew. He is all about trains!! It didn't cost to get in so I wasn't sure what to expect. This place exceeded my expectations! The first room we went into was set up like a train station. Andrew didn't know what to do with himself. There were also areas with model trains and another huge room with trains. I could not believe that this museum was free. Andrew was not very happy about leaving this museum.

Andrew thinks that every green train is Percy, so we had to take a picture with this one even though its name is Teddy.

Of course, we had to take a Thomas break. I think he would have been fine with just a ride on Thomas.

We had lunch and then went on to see York Minster. Parts of this cathedral date back to 1220. This place was amazing. I feel like the pictures I have don't even compare to what I saw in person. It was nice to just sit, listen to the organ, and take it all in.

This picture is looking towards the front. It was hard to get a good picture because my flash didn't really do much in such a huge place.

The back. The stained glass window is know as The Heart of Yorkshire. It was pretty amazing.

More stained glass down both sides of the church.

This room was the Chapter House. It was built in 1286 and is used for formal meetings by the Dean and Chapter. It has also been used for past meetings of the Parliament.

Andrew and I in the Chapter House.

A common theme in these Cathedrals is the fact that many people are buried in them. There are head stones on the floors and walls down the sides of the cathedrals. It is very interesting. Some of the memorials are very elaborate like this one pictured.

After the Minster we decided to take a walk around the city center. We walked down the Shambles, which is York's oldest street. It used to be a street of butchers. I guess before everyone was worried about sanitation they would just wash the blood and remains out on the street. Don't worry there is only one butcher left on the street and I didn't see any animal remains ;)

Sarah, one of our friends here, recommeded we stop by Bettys Tea Room. It was pretty easy to find because it was the place with a line out of the door the whole day. It was the cutest tea cafe. I wish we would have had more time to order the afternoon tea. It included tea, champange, mini tea sandwiches, scones, and cakes!! Instead we had dessert. It was amazing! These two pictures are for Stephanie. The first dessert was kind of like tiramisu. It had cake soaked in coffee with icing and this amazing homemade vanilla sauce. The second was chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing and a layer of rasberry chocolate ganache.

Our last stop was Clifford's Tower. This is the only part of the York Castle that remains. The tower was built between 1245 and 1272. The top of the tower is supposed to have the best view of York.

Mark and Andrew inside the tower.

Heading to the top of the tower. We had to pay attention on the sprial staircase. The steps made me a little dizzy.

At the top looking into the tower.

Fun fact I learned while on the top of the tower, Mark has a little fear of heights. I guess he does not like being up so high with just a railing seperating us from the edge. You think you know a guy after nine years. I guess you learn something new every day.

The view of York Minster.