England Vacation, Part Three

 Saturday we went to Westminster Abbey

Sunday we took an Uber boat down the Thames to Greenwich.  We walked through the Old Royal Naval College.  Then we went up the hill in Greenwich park to see the view and the Prime Meridian.

Monday we took another day trip.  This time we headed east to Leeds Castle, Canterbury, and the cliffs of Dover.  First stop was Leeds Castle.

Canterbury Cathedral.

The best view of the cliffs was while we were riding in the bus.  But we stopped and walked along the shore for a bit.

We checked out of our flat in Westminster and stayed in a hotel by Heathrow the last night.  Right as we were getting in bed, the fire alarm went off.  Everyone had to evacuate the building.  Lots of firetrucks showed up, and after a while standing outside, we got the clear to return to our rooms.

England Vacation, Part Two

 The next day we had tickets inside Buckingham Palace.

As we were walking up, a band walked by, presumably for the Queen's birthday.  When we were in front of the palace during the bike tour, the British Royal Standard was raised, indicating the King was there.  But when we came back Thursday for the stateroom tours, the flag was not up.

You are not allowed to take any pictures inside the palace, unfortunately.  They had this balcony photo op set up when you leave.

A selfie on the back steps.

Later that afternoon, we went to the Churchill War Rooms.

Friday we were up bright and early for a day tour.  First stop was Windsor Castle.  A pic before we entered the gate.

A pic in front of the quadragle.

King Henry III tower.

St George's Chapel.

Then we headed to Bath.  A pic of Annabelle in front of Bath Abbey.  Our tour guide let Annabelle be his helper some, and you'll notice she is holding his fish in this pic.

A selfie in the Baths.

Then we went to Stonehenge.

England Vacation, Part One

 We were so excited to take the kids to Europe for the first time.  We took the red eye over, and then just got settled in to our AirBnB the first day.  The next day we took a bike tour.  A pic of the Parliament building, as we were on our way to the bike tour meeting spot.

First stop was the London Eye, which we didn't take any pictures of.  Next stop was a great view of the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben, and the Parliament Building.

We made our way past St James park, the Churchill War Rooms, the Royal Horse Guards, Trafalgar Square, and up the Mall, past St James's Palace, Clarence House and Lancaster House.  Then we stopped for a few pictures in front of Buckingham Palace.

Then we rode over to the Wellington Arch, and then into Hyde Park.  We went by the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall, but we didn't get any pics there.

After the bike tour, we walked through Chinatown to a restaurant in Soho.

The next morning, we headed to the Tower of London.  A pic in St John's Chapel inside the White Tower.

A pic of Tower Bridge.

From the Tower of London, we made our way through the Borough Market for some food.  Then we walked by Shakespeare's Globe.

Summer Basketball and Volleyball

 Caden went to Oklahoma City with a combined group of JV and Varsity boys from the school team.  They played in a 3 day tournament.  Because they had a half JV team, the coach entered them in the JV bracket.  It ended up being very easy competition, but the boys had fun.

Caden got his learners' permit.  Time to start learning how to drive!

Annabelle and Brian went to the WNBA game that was supposed to be Paige Bueckers (Dallas Wings) vs. Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever), but unfortunately, Clark was injured and didn't play.

A few Covenant friends asked Annabelle to play in a fun 4v4 volleyball tournament one Friday night.  They won their division, and they were so excited to win a prize!