LONDON

For a few years now my precious Mother-in-love has been saying that one day, she wants to take her daughters on a girls trip to London.  It's because she feels like she should have been born there, with her love for tea and English Roses and all things British and beautiful.  And after visiting, I actually agree with her.  I totally should have been born in London. 

We all were hoping that one day this dream would come true, but we were all surprised when the logistics of pregnancies, nursing babies, school children and all the other details started lining up for this to be the perfect year to take a girl's trip to London.  It was literally the trip of a lifetime, a dream come true in every way, and I know I can speak for the five of us when I say that we are so grateful and humbled that the Lord provided such a fun, fancy, non-essential-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination kind of gift. 


So for all of you who have been waiting on pins and needles for me to post more pictures of this trip, your wait is over. 


This is my with me three awesome sister-in-laws on the plane, about to fly through the night.   We are clearly full of excitement and joy.  9 hours later, we were full of benadryl and exhaustion and neck cramps, but hallelujah we made it.

 

Driving to our hotel and seeing London for the first time - rain, telephone booths, double decker buses...yep, we're in the right place!

 

We unloaded our stuff at the hotel and headed over to Trafalgar square and the National Gallery.  I might have teared up a little at some of the paintings by Monet, Renoir, and Da Vinci.  That God has allowed humans to be able to create such beauty as a little tiny reflection of His beauty is just amazing to me.   

 

Liz was our fearless leader.  I am not joking when I say that we would have gotten lost all. day. long if it weren't for her. 

Our first British meal.  Never once did I eat the traditional meal of fish and chips on this trip because I have finally accepted the fact that I just do not like fish.  I've tried it and not liked it a lot of times and have just stopped forcing the issue.  

On day two we visited Kensington Palace, had tea at the Orangery, checked out Harrod's, and watched Mama Mia on Broadway.  It's kind of hard to pick a favorite day from the trip, but this one is high on the list. 

These are the gates of Kensington Palace. 

 

Let's all give a collective sigh of relief that women are no longer expected to wear dresses like this for fancy occasions.  

 

 

 

If you look really closely behind us you can probably see Will, Kate and George, because this is where they live.  

 

 

A little niece and nephew came along for the trip...Liz is due in August, and Catherine is due in September.  These babies got us some special treatment throughout the trip, which we didn't mind.

 

  

 

 

On day three we went to Windsor Castle.  It is the longest inhabited castle (going on 900+ years!) and it just sits right there in the middle of the adorable little town, just looking ancient and housing the Queen.

We found this adorable little cafe on the Thames river where we ate delicious food and watched boats and swans pass by and we kept telling each other "y'all. this is really happening. We are in London together eating lunch by the Thames (pronounced "Tim's," by the way) river!)

I spy a cute baby crown.

The flag means the Queen is in residence!

Despite their impressively fancy hats, these guys are NOT just for decoration.  I learned (not by experience, thankfully) that they take their jobs very seriously and will yell at you if you get too close to them. 

Becca was always ready for me with a solid pose.

On day four we went to Buckingham palace, took a boat down the Thames river, toured the Tower of London, and Westminster Abbey.

Thanks, Becs.

 

Apparently the song "London bridge is falling down" comes from the fact that this bridge has fallen and been repaired multiple times. Which makes me not want to drive on it ever.

We asked this street painter how long he had been working on his painting of Westminster Abbey... "Oh, about ten hours." It was unbelieveable!

 

On day five, which happened to be the 15th anniversary of my Daddy's death, we started the day with a little prayer time in the park next to Buckingham Palace (which was about a block away from our hotel.)  I felt so loved and blessed that out of all the ways I could have spent that bittersweet and always tender day, I got to be with these very precious, sensitive, and sweet women. In London.  

And I just have to say that my favorite part of the trip BY FAR, was just spending time with these women. I love each of them so very much and am so incredibly blessed to have them in my life.  

 

   

We spent the morning at the Notting Hill market which was basically a street lined with these little tents and booths of people selling all sorts of fun things - old cameras, antique china, silver serving pieces, old clocks, really everything.  It was crowded and fun and felt very "england-y." 

We also had tea at the Orangery once more, which none of us minded at all. 

This is Princess Diana's Memorial Garden. 

 

There were gorgeous flower stands everywhere.  If I lived here, I think I would go broke buying fresh peonies and roses every week. 

Gelato and Macaroons.  I mean, do I need to say more?

By the end of the trip, I think we had probably walked at least 20 miles and gone up and down close to 150 flights of stairs.  We told each other we weren't sure we had the energy to spend another day exploring even if we were able to!  We left with full hearts, full cameras, and lots of memories and laughs tucked away in our love-tanks.  It really was the best.

And as always, if you made it to the end of this post, congratulations. 
There are about 200 more pictures I could post, and a couple thousand more words I could write about this trip, but I'll just end by saying THANK YOU to my amazing in-laws for making this trip happen and blessing all of us with something we will remember forever.  I love you!