Taking the bus to the grocery store - then making rice krispie treats

Richele's visit - last day

Scotland

Richele's visit, day 3

Richele LOVES British history and was excited to see Windsor Castle.  Our time was short so we had to rush, but it was a fun day.

Kids at Windsor

It really is quite large

The area where the royals actually live when the visit.

We also enjoyed watching men's doubles semi-finals.  Andy Murray's brother played.  It was exciting to watch.  Mostly we really didn't want to leave Wimbledon for the day.  

Richele in heaven

Possibly my favorite day of the summer!

Strawberries and Kentish cream.  i.e. ABSOLUTE HEAVEN!

Serena is so powerful and amazing!  And icy to Maria on the court!

Serena wins the women's semifinals and goes on to win the finals.

Richele's visit, Wimbledon day!

Wimbledon has been on Richele's bucket list for years and years so we were planning on going to the grounds in the afternoon.  Tickets, even to get on the grounds, can be tricky at Wimbledon.  I had planned and planned and read the best ways and times to get in without having to wait in a huge line. I also read that you can get tickets from Ticketmaster, though the chances were slim, so I figured I would give that a shot as well.  For a couple of days

SOOOOOO excited to be there!!

Djokovic practicing

Richele taking gobs of pictures!

The Hill - which we didn't have to sit on because we had actual seats on Centre Court!

But, we still wanted to sit there for a bit and have our lunch.

Richele's visit, day 1

Richele arrived in Canary Wharf around 1.00pm.  The kids and I went to the tube station to meet her and magically, somehow, I missed her!!  Thankfully, Andy had put in his instructions to her that if she didn't see us she should go across the street to the JPMorgan building and ask to page him.  So, that's what she did.  I got a message from Andy that she was in his lobby so we raced over there and met her in the lobby.  I felt so bad that she didn't see us waiting for her after her long journey, but at least we met up quickly!  

We brought her back to the flat, got her some food and a shower and headed to Tower Bridge to walk around and take pictures.  Richele has been here before so she didn't need to go into the Tower of London, but we did walk around.  She is mildly obsessed with the British Monarchy and history so she was able to tell the kids and I all about the things she knows.  It was like having a personal tour guide!!  Unfortunately we had to get back to the flat in pretty quick order because the tube workers were going on strike and it would have been much harder to get home.  It was nice to have dinner and a quiet evening at home though, and to get Richele to bed at a good hour.  

Andy and I got into an argument in Scotland (Andy would love to point out that I was wrong), but we rarely argue and the kids HATE it when we do. Alex, being Alex, enjoys diffusing a heated situation and this time as we were fighting he pushed us apart and said, "Ladies, ladies, you're both beautiful!!". That kid cracks me up every day!

Bavaria

Neuschwanstein castle is so iconic and pretty....and this is as close as we got!  It didn't dawn on us until too late that we should have bought tickets months in advance and so they were sold out.  Oh well, it happens!

We drove up a little ways and had a picnic at the base of the German Alps.  The area reminded us a lot of Park City.  They also had an alpine slide and lots of people jumping off the top of the mountain and sailing down.  It was very fun to watch. 

Castle in the background.