Sunday, June 29, 2008

LONDON!

What an awesome trip Dan and I had to London! As everyone probably knows, I'm not a traveler, so to go to London twice in my lifetime is near miraculous. Dan had a research conference in Hull, England this year and I couldn't miss the opportunity to go along so that I could visit my brother Josh and his family in London. We had such a fantastic trip! It is an interesting kind of trip to be visiting family without actually taking my own kids. We were able to hang out with our cute nieces and nephew and it was a ton of fun. Here are a bunch of highlights from the trip:

This is us on the train going to church with Brooklyn and Makenna.



Conference at Hull... Not too exciting, but I got to relax (seriously... I slept until 3:00 in the afternoon one day!) I was glad they had shopping malls all over so I could shop. The only things I got were for Cali... I missed her a ton! This is a picture of us outside the cool aquarium that BP took us to for dinner.



It's been a lot of years since my paper route days, but turns out I can still ride a bike! We went on the Fat Tire Bike tour of London one day and it was awesome. All the parks are SO green and huge. It was also cool to have a guide take us to all the London sights. Definitely a highlight for me!



Biking through Hyde Park



This is in Trafalgar Square with Big Ben in the background.



All I can say is... Fantastic!!!



This is us playing Nertz and eating junk with J&A. We felt so bad keeping them up until 2:00 and 4:00 am. every night... especially since Josh still had to get up early and go to work! It definitely reminded us of our Provo days. Maybe it's a good thing we don't still live close so that we get more sleep! What can we say... we like to party!


Learning how to ride scooters... Brooklyn and Makenna totally kicked our cans though.



Dan LOVED putting the girls to bed at night.


We didn't get a whole lot of pictures with Mr. Z - I guess because he likes his mama! But he was a lot of fun. Always smiling and just doing his own thing.



We played at the park by their house on our last night. We flew a kite, rode scooters, and played little kids games - this is me catching Makenna in Colored Eggs


The girls got a lot of piggy back rides :)



This is in front J&A's house before we left. We had a lot of fun staying with them and are so glad we had the chance to see them in London before they move back. Thanks guys!



Finally, the woman who made it all possible. My mom is amazing! I don't know how many grandmas would take care of my four little munchkins for 8 whole days. They had so much fun with Grandma... they are still talking about everything they did with her. And I think I'll never hear the end of "but Grandma let us do it..."

12 comments:

Hanson Family said...

Sounds like you had a great time! Glad you got to take a little break and have a fun vacation with the two of you!

Rachel said...

I am jealous. London looks beautiful.

Becca said...

Looks like you had a lot of fun. So did you see Wicked?!?! I didn't know that. Everyone raves about it so maybe I should go see it when the opportunity arises!

Emilee said...

I am so jealous! It looks like you guys had a grand time :)

Malinovka said...

Oh, Karen, I am so jealous of your fabulous trip! To go abroad with my husband with no children seems like it will NEVER happen, even though we hope to for our 10th anniversary. I'm glad your bro was there so you had some GREAT fun while you were there. That's awesome. Loved London when I went. And I would love to see "Wicked!"

Kelly Jensen said...

Karen! What a great trip! you sure seem like a traveler to me... right at home on those bikes and trains I am sure! We are glad you are home safe. It looks like it was so fun!

Britney said...

So fun! I love the pictures and have loved hearing about your trip!

I'm also SOOO happy you saw Wicked!

Glad you had fun, but glad your home :)

M&M Kanet said...

London! Wow, what a great experience! I can tell you two missed your own kids. Your mom is wonderful to step in like that! Way cute hair Karen. Add me to your blog list.
marian_kanet@hotmail.com

Jen said...

That is awesome! I'm so glad everything went so well! We love you!

Bethany said...

I thought that you weren't going to see Wicked!! Gosh I'm so glad you did.

p.s. I need help organizing my house! Can I fly you out here to help me. :)

Fox's x 3 said...

I am jealous too! Looks like you had a great time in England. I'm glad that you were able to get away and have fun like you did before your kids came.

Jeni said...

I love the pictures from your trip. So fun!
WICKED is awesome!