The Murray Family: England!

Joe and Jessica moved to London in October after Joe requested a transfer to Price Waterhouse Coppers London office. Although, I was saddened that they would be so far from us. I was thrilled at the opportunity we were afforded. I originally wanted to go to Italy before the arrival of any children; however, it wasn't in the cards (or more truthfully, the money wasn't in the bank!). When Joe and Jess found out they were moving, I knew we needed to take advantage of it! Of course, we wanted to see them and spend time with them as well.

I booked the trip months ago and strategically planned it after Madelyn's first birthday allowing me a brief 5 days to get her weaned. Thankfully, she was weaning herself and get us both ready for this transition. As the trip neared, I was not looking forward to leaving her. However, I was very proud of myself when it came to the moment of goodbye. I rushed home from work, finished packing quickly, and we were off to the bus stop by 5 pm. We said goodbye in the car, and Casey and I were off.

Wow....I had forgotten how wonderful vacation really is. Or maybe for the first time in my life I NEEDED a vacation. It was such a strange feeling to be completely responsibility free. Free from work related stress. No one needed my body for survival. I could stand in the shower as long as I wanted. I could sleep until I wanted to get up. AND on top of that, I was in EUROPE! Ahhh....it was great!

We're off! We watched the first half of the Badger game at Goose Island bar in the airport. We lucked out and had the 1st row in economy class = lots of leg room!

Who says it's always cloudy in London! We arrived to blue skies and sunshine! It was in the 50-60's range daily, and we often saw the sun! This is near Kensington Palace in Hyde Park.

We walked over to Knotting Hill.

A neighborhood pub! I actually had seen a picture of this one in the 'Pub Walk' book I found at

the library!

The mews houses behind Joe and Jessica's flat. These use to be the stables and servant quarters. Today they go for 8-10 million pounds. The streets were lined with $250,000 cars. It was K-RAZY!

We had dinner at a gastropub. J and J told us that British food wasn't very good, and they had researched to find a good place to take us. They succeeded. Casey and I were both pleased with our food! The jet lag wasn't too bad as the only sleep we had gotten at this point was on the plane!

Joe and Jessica were amazing hosts! They put on quite the spread for breakfast, appetizers, and dinner! We love you guys! Thanks again for having us!

We planed to take the double decker bus tour on our first full day in London and see all of the historical/tourist sites. When we got off a packed tube (the subway train) we realized there was quite the protest going on. I proudly posed with the teacher's union!

Look kids! Big Ben and Parliament!

We toured Westminster Abbey. It was amazing! England is so old in comparison to the US and it was fascinating hearing about the history. I am looking forward to watching Kate and William's wedding after just being here!

Flying buttresses! They didn't allow any photographs inside.

Doesn't everyone want to smooch their hubby in a London phone booth!?! I did!

Buckingham Palace. Notice the police in yellow? They were everywhere because of the protest.

Tower Bridge

We toured the Tower of London. I didn't take any good photos inside however. I'll update when if I get good shots from Joe and Jessica.

Les Miserables

Day # 2

Shopping at Harrods

A neighborhood pub we stopped at.

Sitting on the curb enjoying a beer!

Tea time! I was scolded for trying to take a picture when we arrived. We snuck this one!

Dinner at Princess Di's favorite pizza spot! It was delicious!

Day # 3

Changing of the guard

Joe and Jessica returned to work on Monday and Casey and I headed to Windsor Castle!

We had lunch at a Thai restaurant in the little village. It was super cute there!

On the way to England, I had noticed that my right pointer finger was red and sore near the nail. Each day it got progressively worse. At night it throbbed and woke me from sleep. On this day, it was puss filled and swollen.

I went to the pharmacy where they recommended seeing on of the many area doctors. The doctors had office in the mews throughout the neighborhood. After not being able to see the first doc, we returned to the pharmacy and bought to supplies to pop it myself. I chickened out and paid 60 pounds to see a different doc. She wouldn't pop it but gave me a prescription. Ugh! I swear these things only happen to me!

Day # 4

We rented a car in Oxford and headed to the Cotswolds. It was more stressful than we imagined. The round-abouts were tricky! I tried to help Casey fight instinct and often yelled, "Keep left. Keep left!" His response, "We're both going to die!"

We made it. We hiked between Upper and Lower Slaughter