London Town

A couple of weeks ago, Matt and I took our final vacation BB (Before Baby). From now on, every vacation we take - whether our baby boy comes with us or not - will be AB (After Baby). I wanted to call it our babymoon, but Matt refused. So we will hence forth refer to our trip to London in June 2009 as FVBB (Final Vacation Before Baby). I think babymoon is easier, but Matt's still not budging. Anyway, we had a splendid (as the Brits would say) time in London Town. We decided to keep it short because a) I have become extremely pregnant as of late, b) London is ridiculously expensive and c) we only had a few days to squeeze it in between wrapping up Bible studies for the summer and our conference in Greece. So we spent a grand total of 2 1/2 nonstop days in London, trying to see and do as much as we could.

First, we stopped by Parliament to see how the MPs were working out the financial woes.




Big Ben (actually the name of the bell in the tower and not the tower itself).


Matt posing with Oliver Cromwell.


Parliament from the Thames.

Then we moved on across the street to Westminster Abby.





Then we moseyed over to Trafalgar Square.


Can you find Matt?

Then we stopped by a place you won't find in the guide books on London. Cafe Pacifico was a favorite of the Beasley clan when they lived in the UK. Matt was so excited to eat there. In my expert (Texas) opinion, it was pretty good.





Next, we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral, whose dome stood tall during the Blitz. We climbed the stairs to the top to get a shot of this view:



Next, we walked over to the Tower of London, saw where prisoners were held and executed, and gawked at the Crown Jewels. I expected an actual tower, not the fortress that it actually is. Someone should have thought of a better name.





Then we stopped for some soft ice cream (let the record show it was Matt and not The Pregnant One who had to have it), sat on the banks of the Thames and enjoyed the view of the Tower Bridge. Sadly, the exhibit was closed by the time we made it so we had to enjoy it from the outside (I was actually relieved to have an excuse to sit at this point).



The End of Day One.

The next morning, we got up bright and early for a bus tour outside of London. On the agenda for the day: Windsor Castle (the Queen was there!), Stonehenge, and the town of Oxford.


At Windsor Castle with the Queen's standard flying to let us know she's home.




The Changing of the Guards.


Very windblown at Stonehenge (the wind was doing crazy things with my dress).

We did take pictures in Oxford but it was rainy so they're not that great. Sorry.

The End of Day Two.

Our final day, we went by Buckingham Palace and then spent the rest of the morning at the Imperial War Museum where Matt became a boy again for a few hours, staring at guns and tanks and planes. After that, we boogied to the airport to catch our flight home.







We also learned some interesting things about American beverages in the United Kingdom.

1.) Coca Cola is a sparkling soft drink with vegetable extracts (click on the pic for a closer look at the label).



2.) They had A&W Root Beer! The strange thing was, I noticed it in the window of the Oriental Food Supermarket as we were walking by. It was imported from... wait for it... Singapore? (click on the pic for a closer look). You know you've lived in Europe too long when your idea of a great dinner is Pizza Hut and A&W Root Beer in your hotel room.



We absolutely loved London. The people were super friendly and helpful and the city itself was fascinating and beautiful. Next up, a few pics from our trip to Greece (I promise it was for work!!).

A Busy Week

Last weekend, our friends here threw me a baby shower. We had lots of food for brunch and got lots of great presents for Baby Bryce.





The spread. Isn't that a cute little cupcake rattle?



The most flexible member of the party.





Showing the belly so everyone could make their guesses about how round I am.



Measuring their ribbon to see who had the closest guess.



The only boy allowed at the party.



Listening to advice from other moms.



Opening presents. We got a lot.



My Baby Daddy showed up to help collect presents. And eat some cinnamon rolls, of course.



Later that day, my Dad, Stepmom, and two little brothers arrived from Texas. Daddy and Joanna brought our stroller, baby car seat and a box full of yummy American food. The guys had to put the stroller together first thing.



Our box of yummies. I don't think I'll have any problems making my next weigh in.



Not sure what I was doing here but I think Matt caught me off-guard.



Overlooking the city.



The whole family (minus Matt taking the picture).





Daddy playing with his newest toy (the video camera).



The Swarovski crystal chandelier at The Hard Rock.



We also visited the bear at Konopiště.



And the boys met their first Czech peacock.



Brent is quite an adventurous eater. He ordered trout for lunch. He got a whole, grilled trout. He was a little surprised at how his meal came out, but he did eat it. At least it was fun for us to watch.



We also had some of our students from Bible study over for our last supper before summer break.



Tonight, Matt wanted to grill dinner. It started to rain, but the Grill Master would not be deterred.