Bonds Do London

I have a lot of backtracking to do! Daniel's parents, brother, and sister came to London on June 12...Can't believe it was over a month ago! We were SO excited for them to visit and I think we woke up around 6 am that morning and waited outside for their car to drop them off. It is a red eye flight to London from the Houston and it is nearly impossible to sleep on the plane, but surprisingly, they didn't seem too jetlagged! We hooked them up with some coffee and crumpets and we were off to explore! 

Side note- these pictures are a mix of my cell phone, Nanette's (Daniel's mom) camera, and David's (father in law) camera. David is a really great photographer, so it is probably obvious which ones are his and which are ours!

Us in front of our flat. David I think took this picture right when they arrived

They were only in London for a few days, but we did SO much. It all kind of runs together! The first day, we walked around Picadilly Circus, to Trafalgar square and St Paul's Cathedral. 

First Cider! Yay for an 18 year old drinking age! 

Bad choice to break in new shoes that day. 

I had to leave to go nanny, and I came home around 6ish to everyone passed out on the floor and couch. They were running on 36 hours of no sleep! I'm really surprised that they were able to last as long as they did. Everytime I come to London from Texas, I physically cannot function for at least a day. 

I cooked dinner that night since I knew everyone would be way too tired to go out

The next day, Daniel had to work so I was the main tour guide. I cannot believe how much we did! We went to Buckingham Palace, met Daniel at Borough Market, went to Greenwich, took the boat from Greenwich to Tower Hill, and then walked to Tayaabs to meet Daniel for dinner. I'm tired just thinking about it! 

I saw the changing of the guards for the first time! Not impressive, but it was a beautiful day and fun being with family!

We needed a jumping picture. Kristen gets bonus points because she was able to manage while eating ritz crackers. 

LOLOLOL My face looks like an evil scheming child's. This is in Greenwich, overlooking the naval college and Canary Wharf

Boat ride rocked! 

Everyone loved the Indian food! Tayaabs is the bomb.com

 The next day was our last day before Rome! We went with the family to Westminster Abbey and then to Tower of London. I had never been to the Tower before and I'm really glad we went! The building is 1000 years old and there we saw old dungeons, the crown jewels, and where traitors used to get beheaded!

Parliament before the Tower

Clearly the girl behind me didn't enjoy the Tower as much as I did! Oh and Mason is photobombing

If you go to the Tower of London, you absolutely HAVE to take one of the tours with the beefeaters. It is included with your entrance fee and I think they run every 30 minutes. We learned so much about the history of the building and the tour was the highlight of our time there. 

That's all for now! Next post will hopefully be about Rome!