"Jolly Good!" "Cheers!" "Cheerio!" from abroad...

LONDON BABY! What a fun city! My parents, my brother and sister-in-law (Jana), Jeffrey, Kayleigh and I just spent a week in London, England for spring break. It was Kayleigh and Jana's first time to visit so we hit all of the major sights. It was so fun seeing Kayleigh see everything for the first time. She was especially interested in seeing Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and riding in a double-decker bus. The clock even chimed at noon while we were there, which she was so excited about. Pretty awesome to hear!

"Hello, Mum and Dad!"

At Buckingham Palace

Hello Big Ben!

The horse guard in front of White Hall

Jeffrey and Kayleigh at Trafalgar Square looking toward the National Gallery

Kayleigh at Trafalgar Square looking toward Big Ben

Silly Uncle Erin on one of the four giant lions at Trafalgar Square

Me and Aunt Jana

Yes kids, that's THE QUEEN!!!!

At the British Library
Highlights of the Library worthy of noting, all of which were originals:

Magna Carta
Gutenberg Bible
Chaucer's Canteberry Tales
Jane Eyre
Jane Austen's desk, glasses and some manuscripts
Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream
Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March'
Handel's 'Messiah'
Mozart's marriage contract
Ravel's 'Bolero'
Alice in Wonderland
DaVinci's notebook, mostly containing his thoughts on advanced engineering
Beethoven's tuning fork

At the British Museum

THE Rosetta Stone! The actual Rosetta Stone! This ain't your Barnes&Noble brand of translating, kids!

Shopping at Harrod's, um, yes please! And the Food Hall...how can you resist?!
http://www.harods.com

In the Underground at Green Park, our tube stop by the apartment...I mean flat!
Mind the Gap!

St. Paul's Cathedral

Jeffrey and Kayleigh at St. Paul's Cathedral

Uncle Erin, Aunt Jana, me and Jeffrey at the Tower of London overlooking the Thames River and Tower Bridge

Me and my love at the Tower of London

Kayleigh and a Yeoman Warder at the Tower

Mom and Dad, A.K.A. Papa and Gigi, trying to stay warm at the Tower

At the Natural History Museum! Whoa!

After dinner at Simpson's in the Strand, so yummy!
http://www.simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk/

Our last dinner in London, at Hard Rock Cafe! It was just a couple blocks from our apartment

Kayleigh's letter to the Queen! She was so proud of it. Mom and dad got her some nice stationary to write it on when we got back to the apartment one night. Maybe she'll get a reply!

Joel's 8 months old!

My little boy is 8 months old! How is possible that he's closing in on a year? He's really getting mobile now, though not officially crawling yet. He mostly goes backwards when he tries. It's pretty funny. He rolls most everywhere and gets to anything he wants that way. He has sat himself up and has pulled himself up! So exciting! He is such a blessing to our family. His smile and his sweet little personality are the absolute most precious. Here's what he's looking like these days: