The Carlocks in London!

We had a fabulous time hosting our good friends Teal and Laren Carlock and their son Tripp in London.  Reed and I spent a good bit of time with them sightseeing during the week and Chris was lucky enough to have the weekend and a few days at the start of this week to spend with them.  We were so sad to see them go on Wednesday, but we look forward to eating all the fried food we can manage at the Texas State Fair in October.  Woohoo!!!

Tripp, Laren and Teal in Trafalgar Square.

The Guys at the British Open.  It's too bad they didn't snap a picture during the downpour.  At least it brightened up for them in the afternoon.

And, look at these two cuties sporting their British Open tees that their dads brought back for them.

And the Carlocks at Tower Bridge.

We were absolutely honored that the Carlocks made the long trek to London to visit us while we are living here.  Love you guys!  Looking forward to our Texas visit!

More sights with the ladies!

Aunt Jean, Joyce, Doris and Jo at Buckingham Palace.  Reed has been to the changing of the guard so many times that he is usually marching instead of walking, lol!

At Windsor Castle.  I wish this wasn't so dark!

Doing their most favorite thing in London, taking the tube, haha!

The London Eye

In front of the Orangery at Kensington Palace.

The Golden Girls or The Beatles?

We ventured to Abbey Road for the first time this past Sunday on the last day of "the ladies'" visit.  It was fun to walk across the street and mimic The Beatles.  It was even more fun to see all the many people on the street doing it too.

Abbey Road!

And our version.  We are missing just a few, we'll call it a 2 and 1/3 rendition.

The wall outside of Abbey Road Studios where The Beatles recorded the album.  Many had expressed their love for them on the wall.

Doris defacing public property, lol!

The Golden Girls in London!

My grandmother, great aunt, and two of their friends are here in London for two weeks.  These traveling gals will be traipsing around many different places in Europe during their two weeks here.  As I write this they have already been in London several days and spent four days in Scotland.  Up next on their itinerary is Paris and then more of London!

Why do I call them the Golden Girls?  Well, that's pretty easy to see once you see their picture below.  But, I was also inspired to put this nickname because as I purchased our bus tour tickets on their second day here, the guy selling me the tickets said "it's like an episode of The Golden Girls".  I told them what he said and they said that they get it all the time.  I love it!!!  How awesome to have such great girlfriends at their age, let alone any age, that you can travel the world with.  And be compared to the awesome characters that are The Golden Girls, it can't get much better!!!

Aunt Jean, Jo (my grandmother), Joyce and Doris in Piccadilly Circus.

The Golden Girls having tea at The Wolseley.  Everything was so yummy!

Reed enjoying his "espresso" aka foam milk.

London sights with Nana!

Reed and I had so much fun with my Mom in town last week.  It was so nice to have someone to keep us company and help with Reed while Chris went back to the grind.  We saw lots of fun sights and even had two lazy days where we didn't even get out of the flat!  It was great!  We were so sad to see her go!

We went to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard.  Reed loved it, as he always does!  "March, march!"

My Mom treated us to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.  Reed loved it, of course.  He was a little "scared of the amals".

We played with the toys at Harrod's.

Reed and I finally got to ride the London Eye after missing it when Lauren and Chris rode it.

And Reed loved it.  He wasn't scared at all.  He was more interested in checking out all the "peeples" and "boats".

Buckingham Palace in the distance.

Nana and Reed

Mommy and Reed

Whoa, baby!  That's a long way down!

Like I said, not scared at all, lol!  Chris would have freaked had he been there!

I swear, he looks like a totally different kid with his sunglasses on!

There was a street performer of sorts dressed as Mickey Mouse, which Reed is crazy about, but he wouldn't go near him.  Disney World should be fun, lol!

"Horsies!!!!"

We spent my Mom's last day here in Primrose Hill where we had a completely random picnic of sandwiches and pancakes, haha!  

The view of London from the top of Primrose Hill.

Reed and Daddy......look at those red cheeks!!  He played so hard!

Reed and Nana

More Edinburgh Sites!

Edinburgh Castle, which is built on top of an extinct volcano.

View from the castle.

The castle appears to be leaning due to my mad photography skills, lol!

The Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter.  We went in and had coffee in hopes of coming up with our own brilliant idea.

Reed found an elephant to ride while inside.

Unfortunately, no good ideas were sparked by this visit.

The Royal Mile

Palace of Holyroodhouse where the Queen summers.  This palace is also home to the Mary Queen of Scots bed chambers.  Very cool!

Holyrood Abbey ruins.  Me likey!

A portion of the exterior of the Palace.  Many people were hiking up these giant rocks, hills, mountains, whatever you want to call them.  Our feet were not feeling it, but they were gorgeous to look at.

We stopped by the National Museum of Scotland which was recommended by the B&B owner.  It was a good museum.  It reminded me a little bit of the Science Museum in London.  Reed got to drive a car!

Reed as an astronaut!

This robot can spell your name!

"I'm making a very important call here guys."

A Dream Come True!

When we made the decision to move to London we knew that we would make a trip north to Scotland for Chris to play golf.  The good news was that my parents and brother also wanted to join us.  That meant fellow golfers for Chris to check out the courses with and someone for Reed and I to do some sightseeing with while the men-folk played golf!

The ultimate dream for probably every golfer is to play golf at the Old Course at St. Andrews.  Unfortunately, it costs a FORTUNE to actually schedule a tee time at St. Andrews Old Course.  You basically have to pay them all the money you have and give them your right arm, lol!  They do, however, run a lottery system where you can put your name in a lottery for the next day of play.  Based on the number of lottery spots available, I think they probably actually set most of their tee times that way.  Chris, Dad and Marc's first opportunity to play the Old Course was on Thursday.  When the lottery results were revealed it was no dice.  Bummer!  I was very sad and nervous that this might mean that they wouldn't get to play the course which happened to be the most important one of the trip.  Well, my friends, that dream was realized for both my husband and my brother (my Dad has been fortunate to have played the Old Course before)!  On Thursday afternoon as my mom and I shopped through the streets of Edinburgh, we pulled up the lottery results to find their names!   We were so ecstatic!  I am sure our elation on the sidewalk was a little odd to passersby, but we were pumped and weren't even going to be playing!

While the boys played Turnberry, Carnoustie, Kings Barns and the Old Course, my mom and I did some exploring.  We saw most of Edinburgh and also tagged along to St. Andrews to do some more sightseeing.  It was an awesome trip!  I am certain that the men had more fun than we did, even playing in 20 mph winds, but it was still worth it.  I would certainly go back again and I know Chris would.  Scotland is beautiful!  I highly recommend it to anyone!

The Kew House Bed & Breakfast where we stayed in Edinburgh.  It was a super nice place with super nice owners.  I don't think we could have chosen any better.

Edinburgh Castle

The Scott Monument is a Victorian monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott.

The Balmoral Hotel, one of the two historically swank hotels in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh reminded me a little bit of San Francisco with the streets sloping down toward the water.  Edinburgh is not as close to the water though.

Reed dipping his fry in my curry dish, lol!

We got rained on a bit the first day, but we got rewarded with this beautiful double rainbow.

Donaldson's College in Edinburgh that is currently for sale.  They are going to development it into condos or a resort.  I vote resort!  I want to stay there!

The North Sea and cliffs in St. Andrews.

When I see this I sing "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"!  Very cool!  Looking over the 1st hole tee box and the 18th green.

Getting a little practice in before their round started.

Unfortunately, it started raining on them right before they teed off.  Thankfully, it stopped!

Dad on the 1st tee.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  Here I go singing again.  Chris on the 1st tee at St. Andrews.

And, of course, my brother deserves a little song too on the 1st tee.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!  What an awesome experience for all three of them!

Reed loved it too.  He begged to "watch the golf"!

THE Bridge on the 18th.

One of the many infamous bunkers.

In the home stretch!

Marc deliberating on his putt.

Go in, go in, go in!  I was screaming on the inside!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!  This place makes me sing!  Do I need to mention that again?!?!?  So exciting!

18th Green

After their round!

With the Royal and Ancient!

While Chris, my dad and brother played at the Old Course, Reed and I toured the small little town of St. Andrews.  My mom was feeling under the weather so she missed sightseeing in St. Andrews, but we did drive around it so she got to check it out the quick way.  It was a cute little town!

St. Andrews Cathedral ruins.  After seeing this, I have determined that ruins are much cooler to me than things that are completely intact.  I think it helps to imagine it being used oh so long ago when it looks like this.  I may be weird and the only one who thinks this but that's okay!

So very cool!  You could actually see where the pillars used to stand when inside the cathedral.

St. Andrews Castle, another cool sight for me!

Check back later for the rest of our sightseeing in Edinburgh!  We certainly saw a lot!!