Day 2- Portobello Road, Windsor Castle, Piccadilly Circus

Okay so i'm kinda slow and forgot to put the pictures in the correct way. So TODAY we are going backwards through day 2 of our trip. :) I'll TRY and remember to do it the other way from now on.

This is our beautiful view of Parliament and Big Ben, I think we were on the Jubilee bridge this time (there are so many bridges!) We heard some fantastic musicians on this bridge. Violinist, keyboard, cello. Very pretty piece and very romantic :)
Piccadilly Circus, probably my least favorite place we visited in London. I mean it was cool and all, GORGEOUS buildings seriously stunning but they were covered withhuge neon flashing signs. And yeah...it was just more cheesy than awesome. This is my fav. part of the area though, the statue of Eros. :)

This beautiful concotion we got at Carluccios in Windsor. It was at the train station, where they had these beautiful restaurants and shops. It was a great design. (ugh matts getting in my brain)

This was called Florentine Chocolate. Its hot choc served in an espresso cup (because its SO rich) and you can drink it but in this picture i'm showing you how THICK it is. And OH MAN DELICIOUS.

In the little town area around Windsor Castle there is this little tea shop. TOTALLY crooked. I was not going inside..mainly because the menu was pure English and made me gag a little.

As we were leaving the castle grounds this was our view. On the left is St. George's cathedral where 15 English Monarchs are buried. Including Henry VIII and his favorite wife Jane Seymour. On the right is just a small part of Windsor castle.

St. George's Cathedral. It was SO SO pretty inside. Wish I could of taken pics inside. Lots of small chapels all over the place FILLED with huge coffins. Lots of statues. It was almost like all the nobles were all trying to outdo eachother. It was a bit much, but beautiful nonetheless. We had to take a picture of our token guard dude. :)

This is the inside court of windsor. Its a huge rectangle, their cars drive though this passage way and then they get out at those big towers there. This was built as a fortress first and foremost. It wasn't a comfortable residence for hundreds of years after William the Conqueror built it.

No reason behind this picture besides its really pretty :)

Our first close up view of the castle. On the ground anyway. Its funny in all my pics it looks like people are on the phone, but thats just the guided tour thingy they give everyone. You had to hold it like a phone to hear it.

Our first look of Windsor, this was taken on the train. It was a GORGEOUS train ride and thank goodness for trains. Its where I caught up on all my sleep.

This was my favorite tube station in London. Its the Notting Hill stop and i thought it was so pretty. Kind of old London meets new.

This is one of the gardens in Notting hill that are strictly private. They are fierce about their privacy at these places. If you don't believe me rent Notting Hill with Hugh Grant.

On of the many huge gates we couldn't jump. Darn our unathleticness!

A gorgeous neighborhood in Notting Hill. Matt took SO MANY PICTURES OF NEIGHBORHOODS. Sheesh. But this was prestine.

This was on Portobello road. Matt and I couldn't stop snickering. We are so immature.

The beginning of Portobello road. We had the Portobello Road song in our head for MONTHS because whenever we looked at our london tourbook we'd see the name and start singing. If I mention the name now Matt groans and gives me a dirty look for putting it in his head again.

The beginning of our VERY full day. I took a pedometer and on this day I walked 26,686 steps.

No "Exit" signs in London. It says "Way out" instead. For some reason we found this pretty funny. Probably sleep deprivation.

a beautiful church by our hotel. I liked the sign that was out front. lol

Day 1- London, Hampton Court

SO, *rubs hands together* Matt and I went to Europe for 12 days. It was AMAZING, we left the children at home with our wonderful fantastic families and we had an amazing experience. One that in more than one occasion made me actually tear up because I couldn't believe I was actually SEEING something in person instead of dreaming of it in pictures. I pinched myself a lot, it was totally unreal and for a huge British History nerd like me just a trip of a lifetime.

After a looong flight, I want to say it was 12 hours but I'm not sure and matt would probably correct me if I did say it..so i won't. Anyway we left Utah at 3pmish and arrived in London at 12pm the next day. There is a big time difference there but it was I think 3 or 4am Utah time. We were lucky enough to both sleep well on the flight, thank goodness for earplugs,neck pillows, and sleeping pills. When we got their we had so much adrenaline for BEING there that we totally were not jetlagged and ready to GO! :)
First thing we did was hop on a bus at the airport to Hampton Court. It was about an hour bus ride..give or take. We drove through some interesting towns that I would not want to live in.

We arrived at Hampton Court on a beautiful warm sunny day. See that backpack and messenger back i'm carrying? Yeah thats ALL of my luggage that I brought for almost 2 weeks in Europe. I'm hardcore dude. I'd like to see anyone top that.

K this is one of the spots I teared up. Hampton Court is King Henry's VIII's favorite palace. He lived here with Anne Boleyn..other places and wives too but she is his most famous wife I think.

Like I seriously geeked out teared up. I was just imagining Henry and Anne being brought to this palace...just too cool dude. TOO COOL. lol

Here is a ugly fat Henry talking with some dork tourists. When Henry was first married people likened him to King Arthur because he was so handsome and robust. :) Then he got some nasty boils on his thighs, became a little too fond of the drink and the food. And boom, the Henry most people recognize.

This is the ceiling of his great dining hall. This ceiling was INSANE. It was the coolest thing. One neat little tidbit about it. When Henry had Anne's head chopped off he wanted ALL memories of her REMOVED. Her emblem was the Falcon. She had falcon stuff EVERYWHERE. One of the places she put it was on this ceiling. Its the only place there is still a sign of her because no one could get UP there to take it down after she died. So Henry had to live with it. And i guess anyone who was caught looking at her falcon up there would be in trouble with King Henry.

This portrait made me laugh. Its pretty sad actually but still, Henry was a total jerk sometimes. He had this painting done while he was married to his last wife Katherine Parr. BUT the chick in the picture in his wifes spot? THAT is Jane Seymour, the wife who died in birth giving Henry his only Son, Edward (edward is that little dude on Henry's right) On the far left and right are his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. He even put his court Jester Will with his monkey on the very right side. But nope no sign of his wife at the time Katherine Parr.

This crazy huge stairway was made by William & Mary, they built a wing onto Hampton Court when they ruled. This mural was INSANE. I only took a picture of one wall because it had my favorite picture on it. Can you guess what that picture was? Matt and I were DYING it was too weird!

This is the guards room. Henry's throne room and private rooms were just beyond this one. This is where all his guards slept (on the floor) at night. ALL of the walls were decorated like this, weapons all used as art. It was really neat.

King Henry's throne (among others who preceded and followed him), it was cool. Not as fancy as I thought it would be though.

This was the King's private garden. It had a lot of herbs and cool medicinal plants in it. And of course these cool statues.

The backyard. Yeah this backyard was MASSIVE and very very well taken care of. My mom had asked me to get a rock from each country for her (yes I know). And we could not find ONE ROCK that wasn't gravel in this place! The English are SERIOUS about their landscaping yo.

This looked like a big hershey's kiss. ....give me a break I was sleep deprived!

This is the clock tower..its where the coaches would drive up too when anyone important would arrive.

Our picture in front of the Thames. I was rocking a flock of seagulls hairdo because of the lovely wind by the river.

This is the Picadilly line stop at the Tube in London. I love LOVE the Tube. It was so nice, easy to follow, and so fast. I can't say enough good things about it. People watching was one of my fav things to do while using it. Check out these two time travelers from the 80's on the left there. They were ROCKING IT.

Our lovely view from the Hotel room. I wish we had had the other side of the hotel, it faced Hyde Park. MUCH prettier view..probably much more expensive too :P (Possibly one of the "family" rooms...if you can place that reference from one of my fav movies than i'll give you a treat)

After we got back from Hampton Court it was getting pretty late and we were HUUUNGRY luckily right by our hotel was this yummy place called Island. Matt and I both had the Rump steak with mushrooms and augratin potatoes. It was YUM. I had this chocolate pot with lavendar biscuits for dessert. It was really good! And I was surprised the lavendar cookies weren't too bad either.

Here I am walking back to our hotel. I was getting sick of matt taking pictures of me (hahaha little did I know what i'd have to ENDURE in days to come!) And since I was running on fumes and you KNOW how I get when I'm tired...he got this lovely shot of me.

Technical Difficulties

Okay so all of my pictures from June/July/August are missing off of Picasa. SO until we get those months straightened out i'll go to THE TRIP. :) Keep an eye out for them!

May :)

May was a FULL month, and it was way fun. Matt and I drove down to CA for a week...well I stayed for a week, Matt flew back to work after the Smith family reunion and then flew back down the next weekend for one of my Best friends wedding. But it was a really fun trip and we did a LOT of things. So get ready for a crazy amount of pictures.

Getting ready for Mother's Day. Matt sat the kids down and had them make their mommy some Mother's day cards. I didn't get to see this until the pictures were added to the computer. And they were so cute!
The farmer's Market started in Provo. Elaine got a heart animal balloon...which i thought was a pretty weak balloon but she loved it so thats all that mattered right :)

We went to HB for the Smith Family reunion. Mother's day was the same weekend so the kids gave me their cards and gifts in CA. They made me adorable cards and sorry folks but they ARE the best children ever created.

At the family reunion. Adele and Elaine cuddling with their papa at dinner after a long day of swimming.

Smith family got together for a softball game. I had never seen a Smith sports game..well I saw it 20 years ago but I blocked it from my memory...for good reason. It was ...interesting :)

My dad got pushed into the pool by a little girl (okay not LITTLE she was like 16) and it was quite hilarious.

Daddy was so good and spent a lot of time in the pool with the babies :)

Went to my friend Elizabeth's wedding. It was GORGEOUS and she looked so so beautiful and very happy. I'm really glad I was able to make it.

We also went to a fun park in Costa Mesa (I THINK it was costa mesa anyway) They had this really awesome miniature train set, all set up and these great older men running it as volunteers. It was adorable and Seth was in heaven. The kids were thrilled to spend time with her cousins.

Grami gave Adele & Elaine massages and they were in heaven. It was so cute. (and i was jealous)

Seth celebrated his 2nd birthday. The candle freaked him out and first but he warmed up to it quickly and LOVED his Thomas cake.

When matt flew back we decided to go on a mini trip to San Juan Capistrano on the amtrak train. The kids were THRILLED and totally loved traveling by train. I REALLY enjoyed it too. No seatbelts, everyone was spread out. It was heaven.

The weather was beautiful and the girls loved putting these pretty pink flowers in their hair.

We went on a family walk around San Juan Capistrano and we just had a great time together.

Elaine was in love with this fountain. And I just loved this picture of her.

Waiting for the train. Matt ditched us and walked around the train depot for a long time. Lets just say I have way too many pictures of train depot halls and roofs. :P

Adele would much rather be balancing on the planter border in this picture.

I visited with my friend Denise in Monrovia where her adorable house is. It was great to see her and Elaine fell in love.