Ely, UK

Christmas was simple and uneventful, we spent the day at home and opened presents with the kids. A couple of days later Sydney left for Austria with her church group, something she'd been looking forward to for a long time.

 

 

 

With Sydney gone, all was pretty quite at home and we decided to take our first trip to the town of Ely. Ely is a small town about 25 minutes from our home, and it's most famous for it's beautiful cathedral. We left late in the afternoon so we were not able to take full advantage of the stained glass in the church but can't wait to come back and take a tour.

 

 This is the tree in the center of town, we had missed the market by just a couple of hours but it's usually held  in this square.

 

 

 I love how all these country villages display Christmas lights.

 

 Blurry picture (taken with my cell phone), of the us in the cathedral in front of the tree.















 It was a nice day out and I can't wait to come back on a sunny day and really take my time walking around. This is also where they hold high school graduations for my daughter's school, how exciting and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

 

Trafalgar square

Just a big open area, with a big fountain, a big blue chicken (art), street performers and a great view. That's what I saw of Trafalgar Square, I'm sure they conduct other business here but on the day we went that is what we saw.

This Roman soldier let me wear his hat, I think he loves his job!

This is a beautiful statue of King George IV my picture doesn't do it justice.

It may not look high but it took some pulling, pushing and dragging to get myself up there.

Hashtag

The force is with this one.

Even though Micky and Zac explained how this guy pulled off this trick.. I don't get it.

There one in every city. Again, how's he doing it?

Umm.. I don't think Roman soldiers wore pants, or shoes. Suck it up dude, and try to look realistic. 

I see Big Ben in the background.  And two sweet kids in the front.

Tried not to let Brody watch this for too long, no reason to encourage this as a career path,

Love this place.

It's a blue chicken.. WHY???

The queen's home

A few weeks ago we went to London with our friends and spent the day sightseeing. It was a pretty day and luckily there was no rain. We took a little time and walked to Buckingham Palace, this is a as close as you can get except for once a year in August or September when people are allowed to buy tickets and tour part of the palace. The queen was not home on this day, it's hard to tell from this picture but if she was home that flag on the top would have been the Royal Standard flag.

 Every time I see the Admiralty Arch I am in awe of it, it's so beautiful and such a nice entry towards the palace. 

Walking on the Mall

Queen Victoria memorial in front of the palace.

Brody and Addie had fun running around and are to young to appreciate where they are.

Saint James Park