Cabin Fever

We've enjoyed spending our last couple weekends up at our new cabin! It's about 30 minutes up Farmington Canyon, in the Bountiful Peak Recreation Area, and is an absolutely gorgeous setting.  We're hoping for lots of good times and fun there with family and friends.

British Isles Adventure Day 8

All great trips must come to an end. Our last day was a long long travel day. We caught the 3:30 AM bus to London Gatwick and flew to Dublin, then on to Chicago. We had a few hours to spend, so we took the "El" downtown and wandered the streets of the Windy City. We found the Millennial Park and the giant Bean statue, then gorged on fantastic deep dish pizza at Giordano's. Yum! We took in a few more sites, then headed back to the airport and on home. What a great trip!

British Isles Adventure Day 7

We had another jam-packed day in London! We started with breakfast in a fun neighborhood pub, then took the tube to Kings Cross Station. We found Platform 9-3/4 and both Ashley and Lauren desperately tried to push their cart through the wall to board the Hogwarts Express. We walked through a fun neighborhood to the British Library, where we saw an amazing collection of treasures of the English language, from the Magna Carta and Gutenberg Bible, to Handel's original score for the Messiah, the original manuscript for Alice in Wonderland and even the Beatles' original lyrics for their songs. It was amazing! We then headed back to the Tower of London for an amazing tour by Peter the Beefeater, who taught us all about the Tower's history as a palace and jail. We saw the crown jewels and the homes of monarchs and had a great visit there. We headed from there to Covent Garden for some fun shopping and a great lunch, then on our way to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. There, we did a quick tour of the Impressionists Collection, oohing and aahing at Monets and Van Goghs. We then hurried to the London Eye, one of the biggest ferris wheels in the world which gave us an amazing view of all of London. It was incredible! We went back to our hotel to rest up for dinner at a French cafe and then saw "Matilda"--an amazing musical on London's West End. We loved it! After the show, we took a fun walk through nighttime London, from the big lights of Picadilly Circus back to Trafalgar Square and one last glimpse of Big Ben all lit up.

British Isles Adventure Day 6

Our first big day in London! We saw and did a ton! We figured out the Underground (and made sure to "Mind the Gap") and dropped our things off at our hotel near Victoria Station, then did some major shopping on famous Oxford Street, catching Hamleys (one of the worlds biggest and lodes toy stores), the Disney Store and Primark. We then caught a tour bus that whisked us through all of the big sites of London, from Hyde Park and Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus to Fleet Street and St Pauls Cathedral. We caught our first of many glimpses of Big Ben and made our way to the Tower Bridge and Tower of London. We then took a river cruise on the Thames, passing the Globe Theater and other sites before stopping at Westminster. We enjoyed the House of Parliament with Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, then walked through St James Park to Buckingham Palace where the guard keeps watch while the queen is in town. We finished the day with dinner and a show--Wicked! The girls loved it and it was fantastic! A great day in London!