London

I had the opportunity to visit my sister and her family in London this summer. My mom and I flew out together and she stayed for 2 weeks. My dad came for the second week. I was only able to stay for 1 week because Karl had to take time off work to stay home with the kids (thanks honey!). We decided not to have the whole family go because it was too expensive and we could not imagine taking an 18 month old on the plane for 9 hours. I think that Evan would have done fine, but Claire is all about being independent right now. She would not have done well sitting on my lap for 9 hours. Maybe next summer we can all go!

I had a great time hanging out with my sister Becki, my brother-in-law Corwin, my niece Anna and my nephew William. They have a beautiful house just south of London in a suburb called Cobham. It is a very cute town, they even have a Starbucks! We walked to town just about every day. The streets are a little bit crazy. They are narrow and people park any which way. More often than not, someone has to pull over when 2 cars meet. I am so glad that I did not have to drive.

We took the train in to London one day. It is about a 30 minute train ride from Cobham to London Waterloo Station. One of the stops Wimbeldon. We rode the London Eye, which is a very big ferris wheel on the Thames River. There are big pods which hold 20 people or so. It was built for the millennium.

We had lunch at a little cafe and shopped a little bit. We also walked to Trafalgar Square. There are four big lion statues that guard the four corners of the square. It was a very fun day, but we were tired by the time we got home!

The rest of the time I got to hang out with my beautiful niece and handsome nephew (and my mom and sister too!). We celebrated Anna's 3rd birthday with a little party the night before I left. The week went really fast. Thanks for everything Becki, Corwin, Anna and William. I can't wait to see you in September!