Road Trip!!

I know that I fell woefully short on the blogging this week, and I promise that all will be explained.

Eventually.

Just not right now.

For now, I give you: iPhone snaps from an itty bitty little roadtrip.

I'm Like A Bird

I'm flying away from England tomorrow. As sad as that is, I've got a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks. The remainder of the summer will be good. And it will be photographed. :)



Mr. Bird, above, is courtesy of Sunday morning in Hyde Park.

Saturday in London

Brian and I arrived in London Friday evening and -- after dumping our things at the appropriately named Darlington Hotel -- walked along Hyde Park and down Oxford Street before meeting our friend Roufa at (again, appropriately!) a rooftop bar.

That was the start of a very long, very fun evening. Among other things, we dined on tapas, mugged for our cell phone cameras, and popped in and out of a number of nightspots, including the Ice Bar. (Talk about tourist experience with a capital "T," but we loved every frigid minute!) I hadn't realized that it would stay light until almost 10:00, or I would have brought my camera along. Ah, well... we filled our phones with cell snaps that prompted many hearty laughs the next day.

And that next day was soooo much fun. Despite getting a rather late start, we ended up seeing a great deal of London by foot and by bike, starting with a walk through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens:





Then we met up Roufa again at the amazing Portobello Market.





There were oodles of antiques, plus sights and sounds abound...











I found the most AWESOME souvenir at this print shop; I picked up intials for everyone in our family and a funky way to display them.



After that, we procured some rent-a-bikes and set out to see more of the city. I was a half-second late on this snap; I meant to catch him checking out Page 1 of the 35-page rental agreement:



I believe that the words being uttered here were "Awwwwwwww yeah!"



Then we were off. I snapped this one at the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, which is a very cool place for kids and families to splash around:



Then, after a quick ice cream, we were off to cycle by many more parks, monuments and ideal subjects for touristy snaps...



















Westminster Abbey:



Then some snaps along the waterfront:







And finally, we cabbed it over to Brick Lane, where we enjoyed a unique dining experience. Just as we were warned, men lurked outside every.single.establishment, wheeling and dealing and trying to smooth talk us into choosing their restaurant (A round of free drinks! Twenty percent off! TWO rounds of free drinks!). It actually got a little wearying after a awhile, so we selected and waited a few minutes and then enjoyed a great Indian meal to a thumping techno beat.



After our experience on Brick Lane, Roufa (uber host!) walked us around and into a couple of watering holes before we finally cabbed it back to the Darlington and collapsed. I was TIRED.

More From Bath

I didn't quite finish up last night, so I'm back to post a few additional photos from my afternoon in Bath. (Apparently the pub downstairs from our room stays open only as long as the drinks are flowing. As soon as a "hen party," or bachelorette group, cleared out, the staff figured that it was as good a time as any to shut down for the night.)

Anyway, here are two more shots from the Roman Bath. I learned from perusing the posted signage that the rings around this bath area were put there by individual people grateful to be healed by the restorative powers of the spring water.





After walking around the Roman Bath and the amazing nearby shopping district, I hopped on a double-decker bus and took the guided tour of the city.



See? Me!



Do you see the ominous sky at the top edge of this shot? Well, I enjoyed the view from up top until about 45 seconds after I snapped this. At that point, it started to DUMP rain, and I scurried downstairs with everyone else.



The rest of the tour was a little wetter and grayer but no less interesting. Did you know that Bath was the social center of England in the 1700s? And that there were uber-fashionable people named Macaronis, who wore towering powdered wigs with hats perched on top, and that said hats were so high up that they could only be removed with the tip of a sword? Me neither.



And after the rain I walked around some more and found other pretty things to check out in this beautiful city. So glad that I made the trip!

Greetings from Jolly Old England!

As Brian and I lingered over yet another amazing dinner tonight, I mentioned that perhaps I'd set the bar a bit too high with the intent-to-blog-every-day thing. As is his style, he just indulged me with a small smile and completely refrained from saying "I told you so."

Oh, how I love that man.

You see, I KNEW that I would be leaving the country just a few days into my attempt at continual blogging. But I thought I could shoot off a quick wireless post while waiting for the plane, and then I figured that I'd have oodles of free time once we landed. No kids, no responsibilities. That's a recipe for fun photos and carefree blog posts, right?

Not so much.

I didn't end up with much time at the gate, and then I forgot to account for the jet lag that kept me sleeping until 10:00 or later and then (puzzlingly) crashing not long after dinner. Perhaps if I had my husband's remarkable travel skills and had snoozed for 9+ hours of the flight over, I'd be in better shape. But alas...

ANYWAY, I finally got my act together today and not only took the train to Bath -- BY MYSELF!! -- but managed to snap a few photos and even get them online. I'll try to take a few more shots tomorrow (though sadly, Swindon isn't quite as photogenic as Bath). If doesn't happen, though, I've got London on the horizon this weekend. As cheesy as it may be, I'm making Brian take me on the London Eye, and THAT should be good for a photo or two.

But for now, I give you Bath.









Argh! The pub staff is kicking us out and the wireless access is shutting off. Boo! I'll have to share the rest in the morning...

Sweet Sisters

I first met and photographed these little girls about a year ago, when they were nine months old. When we got together yesterday, I was reminded how sweet and engaging they are.

They have so much fun with each other and with their parents. They're curious, brave, agile, silly, and downright lovely. Here's a bigger-than-usual preview, just for fun.



















By the way, if you're a recent client, you might recognize these sweeties from my current packaging labels:



They've grown a bit, huh?