Summer Vibes

This morning we slowly eased ourselves into the day. I didn't get dressed until late in the morning and my bed sat unmade. Instead, I caught up on some blog posts from our trip, watched cartoons with the boys, and looked up a few hair salons in town. I scored an appointment at a homebased salon (that's very reasonably priced) and she told me to bring the boys so they could play with her puppy's. My long hair was starting to drive me nuts and she looked at me like I was crazy when I told her how much I wanted chopped off. 

It turned out so much better than it usually does! Usually they want to give me a bob when I tell them the length. It was the first hair cut I've had in a long time that I haven't cried about after. Ha! And it's perfect for Summer time!

I promised the boys we would turn on the sprinklers after lunch. They eagerly changed into their swim suites while I warmed up some soup. We spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy in the backyard. Every time I went into my house I was reminded of all of the things I should be doing or cleaning, but it was so much more fun to spend the day outside with the littles!

When Ollie woke from his nap he joined the boys in the water! He loves being outside and is constantly bringing me my shoes and asking to go out.

I enjoyed lounging around in the chair with Reese on my lap watching the boys play. It was kind of nice to have a day of "nothing".

This bee chilled in the flower on my front door wreath for quite some time. It's very much alive, just confused I guess!! It was still cool to see though.

My floors are covered in sticky watermelon juice that drips off the chins (and elbows) of hungry boys. I know it needs to be mopped, but who wants to do that when it's so nice outside? I have a feeling this will be a constant battle in the very near future.

Wide Open Spaces

Running around a cushy soccer field in your bare feet at golden hour is the best way to end the day!

Last of London

On our last day in London we fought the crowds at the palace to watch the changing of the guards at 11:00am. It was quite a neat experience to see! It lasts a whole hour with music, marching and the official ceremony. Even though we ended up showing up after most of the crowds had already gathered, we still managed to get a pretty good view!

We happened to have already started heading back when we heard the music again. We stopped outside of the military museum and they marched right past us and into the gates. It was pretty awesome!

We then walked around in search of lunch and stumbled upon this amazing burger and shake place off the beaten path. 

It was a little bit pricey, but well worth it in my opinion! The barbecue sauce was incredible and the burgers were super filling.

Last on our list was Tower Hill to see the bridge and the castle. They resurrected a few of these old school double decker buses for touristy places. We let a few other number 15's go by because the driver said it doesn't directly take you past Tower Hill and you need a connection. He told us to wait for the older bus behind him as it's the most direct route. We had hoped to grab a ride on this bus, but when the driver finished his lunch break, he pulled up to the stop for literally 5 seconds and then drove off without picking up any of us five tourists who were eagerly waiting to hop on (and even asked if they were taking passengers ten minutes before). The couple we were waiting with decided instead to grab a cab, we waited around for another number 15, got lost for a bit, and grabbed a connecting bus that brought us right to Tower Hill.

Unfortunately we arrived right at closing time so we weren't able to actually go inside, but the view was still incredible!

We walked out onto the bridge a little ways and then turned around and headed down to the riverside to explore.

We were pretty tired by this point in the day and relaxed on a bench for quite a while to rest our poor feet. 

The bus took us back to Trafalgar Square where the route terminated. Instead of waiting for the next bus we were used to catching, we decided to walk back to our hotel. 

We took the scenic route, strolling through St. James park and admiring the golden hour as the sun poked through the leaves and reflected off the water.

Our trip was pretty epic, but definitely had it's fair share of bumps along the way (and one morning where we were both complete grumps). As we reached the end we were grateful that we still liked each other! It was nice to spend time together one on one without distractions or responsibilities and just reconnect. Even though it was a month early, Mr. Stannix leaned over to me on the park bench and whispered, "Happy tenth anniversary sweetheart." As he kissed my forehead and wrapped his arm around my shoulders I felt those same feelings of peace and safety that I did when we first started dating. I feel pretty lucky to be married to that guy and love the life we share!

London: Covent Garden

Our second last day in London brought us to Covent Garden. We scored last minute, half-price tickets to a Broadway musical play and the theater was in this neighborhood. After sleeping in way longer than we should have, we grabbed a late breakfast and spent the afternoon walking around the market. We scored some delicious gelato, sat and watched some street performers, and peeked at some handmade clothes at the market. I found a whole cart of handmade dresses that reminded me of Camilla.

We've covered a lot of ground on foot these last few days and enjoyed the surprises around every corner! We explored a good chunk of this neighborhood while we waited for our play to start in the evening.

I love how the whole city is decked out for the royal wedding that's happening in Windsor this weekend. There is a ton of people here to celebrate and so many tourists around.

We've so enjoyed the cobble stone streets and unique things that London has to offer!

And I've officially hit fifteen weeks with this pregnancy! Baby number six is due to arrive mid November and we are so thrilled!

London: St. Pauls Cathedral

Today we spent the day walking around London. We walked all the way from our hotel, to parliament, across the bridge and up the other side of the River Thames. We peeked into a few of the art galleries, found a little market tucked out of the way, admired the globe theater, and finished at St. Pauls Cathedral. 

 

We had heard amazing things about St. Pauls and decided to bite the bullet and pay the admission just to check it out. The inside is gorgeous and I wished I could take photos the entire time. We grabbed a head set and took an audio tour and finished up by climbing 528 stairs to the tippy-top of the dome.

The views from the top did not disappoint! We walked the entire circle around the dome admiring London in all directions.

By the time we made it back down all 528 steps our legs were jello. We walked a block up the street and happened upon a cute cafe with an awesome two course lunch special. Nothing on the menu looked super appealing to me and it was hard to decide what to get, but it ended up being one of my favorite meals of the trip.

Mr. Stannix shared my lunch and I shared his delicious steak. I love ordering two different things and being able to steal off each other's plates. We took our time and enjoyed our meal while our legs rested.

I found this handmade treasure at the cutest baby botique. I love that it's hand knit and made from Morino wool. In the evening we took in a show and caught a bus back to our hotel after a late dinner. Another day gone, another 100kms (or so it feels) walked.

London: Mind the Gap

 Today we bid farewell to Amsterdam and took off to London by train.  We had a bright early start to our day with a train to catch at 6:00am. I had hopes of enjoying the countryside, but spent majority of the ride feeling motion sick. 

As I closed my eyes, fought to sleep, and willed myself not to throw up, Mr. Stannix would kindly nudge me if there was something neat to see! "Look, Addie! We're in Belgium!" I'd open my eyes for a few seconds and soak in the scene and then close them again. "Oh! Look at the church! And that castle!" We grabbed a connecting train in Brussels and went through customs super speedy. Our customs officer asked us where we were staying, and then asked us how close we were. We told her we were married and she chuckled and said, "Good! The rooms at that hotel are nice and cozy!" I was so glad when the train finally pulled into London and I could get out for some fresh air. 

From there we purchased tickets for the underground and Mr. Stannix found us the best route to our hotel near St. James Park. We carried our bags up and down stairs at the station, grabbed a connecting train, and finally arrived! We were able to drop our bags, charge Mike's phone, and hang out for a few minutes on some comfy couches before heading out to explore.

We went a few blocks down the street to grab lunch at a little market we had heard about.

There was lots of vendors and street food. We finally settled on steak sandwiches with truffle mayo and ranch sauce. They were pretty yummy, and we were pretty hungry!

We used our tickets to jump on the bus and figure out our way around a little bit. There are more double decker buses than cars here it seems. We lucked into a front row seat on the top of a bus and enjoyed the view as we drove around London.

The London Eye and the River Thames.

In the evening we made our way to the theater and took in part one of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child". Mike loves all things Harry Potter and was so excited to learn it was playing in London! We have tickets to part two tomorrow night!

The acting was incredible and the special effects were like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was like watching a magic show. The wands actually fired out sparks, chairs and people would float in mid air, and the scene changes were spot on. It was such a neat experience! It was Mike's first play and he was blown away by it all. We both look forward to tomorrow nights performance!