The Richards in Scotland

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

ISA Baseball Boys

Trent and Landon were a little upset when we first moved over here that they did not play baseball in the UK! However, this Spring we were surprised when we received information that their school, the ISA (International School of Aberdeen) would be hosting baseball practice and games for the students who were interested. Woo-Hoo! Trent can smack that ball to the outfield and Landon is hitting good too. He is one of the youngest as they are playing with Pre-K through 1st grade. That is one of the sports that they really enjoy, they have been having a blast. If it is not raining or snowing outside, the boys are playing football (soccer) or baseball in the front yard and park. They love being outdoors!

Lining up to run the bases

Trent batting

Landon at bat

Trent

Play time at 3rd base

Landon

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Weekend in London

This weekend we were off to London, the capital of England and the largest metropolitan city here in the United Kingdom. This trip we flew into London-Gatwick airport, which was a smaller airport in London and was very easy to travel to and into the city. When we originally flew overseas back in October last year we flew into London-Heathrow which was such a BIG airport! I remembered it took us a long time with 3 security checks and a long bus ride to get to our connecting flight. Since Jon was going to a business meeting on Monday, we stayed at the Hilton at the Gatwick airport and took the Gatwick express train (30 min) into the city Victoria Station. It was really easy, and once we walked out of the station we got on the big "Red Bus" for a double decker bus city tour. This has become a common thing for our family. When traveling with young kids, the double decker bus has become our friend!

Here are some of the places we saw on Saturday:

Hyde Park - the largest park in London and is the Royal Park with a lake and tons of greenery

Oxford Street - tons of shopping!

Trafalgar Square

Horse Guards Parade

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey - beautiful inside, just like the wedding! No pictures allowed though.

Buckingham Palace

St Pauls Cathedral

London Bridge

Tower Bridge

Piccadilly Circus

The Big Ben and Houses of Parliament are my favorite buildings in the UK! I could not take enough pictures, the architecture is just amazing. We were able to tour the Westminster Abbey which was very beautiful inside. It was definately the highlight of my trip since we were there a couple weeks after the Royal Wedding. It was very busy with tourists along with the whole city of London. We watched the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. We took a boat cruise on the Thames River which was beautiful. That evening we went to see The Lion King at Lyceum Theatre. It was a long day and Mommy and Daddy along with the kids were wiped out!

On Sunday we saw:

Hamleys

London Aquarium

London Eye

On Sunday Jon had a meeting around noon so I decided to take the kids into town on my own and take them to Hamleys, the most famous toy store in the world. It is the oldest and largest toy store in the UK and had 5 stories of toys!!! I knew we would be spending some time in there so I decided to let the boys see it all. We did, spent 1.5 hours in there and managed to walk out of the store with 2 small toys each. It was so fun though, Landon saw lots of airplanes that he wanted and Trent saw plenty of army trucks and action figures that he liked. After some window shopping for myself, I decided it was worth a trip back to London with some girlfriends to go shopping! I love London! We hopped back on the big Red Bus and headed to see the London Aquarium. After that, Jon met us back in town and we all rode the London Eye. It was amazing! Loved seeing the whole city from above. We went to have dinner at a nice restaurant in Leicester Square and did some walking around the area. Jon and I absolutely loved the city of London. Such a clean city I might add....It was a fun upbeat city with lots to see and do. On the next trip I would like to ride the tube more, tour the Tower of London, Maddame Toussauds and visit Harrods!

Oxford St. Busiest Intersection in London

Trafalgar Square

Houses of Parliament

London Eye and Thames River

St Pauls Cathedral

Tower Bridge

Westminster Abbey Chapel

Entrance to Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Gates to Buckingham Palace

Changing of the Guards

Buckingham Palace

Lyceum Theatre - for the Lion King

Big Crab at London Aquarium

View from the London Eye

Friday, May 6, 2011

The Royal Wedding and British Holiday

It was a very special day for everyone here in Great Britain, it was the day of the Royal Wedding. On April 29, 2011 Prince William and Catherine Middleton wed in Westminster Abbey in London. It was declared a public holiday for all of Great Britain so everyone could celebrate this occasion. I was glued to the TV all day long since 8 am in the morning, through the 11 am service, and watched the coverage throughout the evening until about 11 pm that night. Trent and Landon watched the wedding and they said they had seen enough. I had been sick since the night before so I was not able to attend a friends lunch and we had to postpone our dinner party. I loved seeing all the fabulous hats, hairpieces, and dresses at the wedding and Kate looked gorgeous. Our neighbors decorated outside with banners and balloons for the occasion and there were many parties in town going on. On Saturday I probably watched the wedding over about 4 times. I just am fascinated by Royalty and love learning about the Monarchy. Jon bought me a book to read and I have been watching several documentaries on TV. What is there not too love about this love story...following a modern day Princess and seeing her marry her Prince and be taken away in a Horse-drawn Carriage. A fairytale come true. On Sunday we had the Hollis family over for dinner to celebrate. I was excited that I had picked up some of the official Royal Wedding China the previous week at the Balmoral Estate.

This Friday (the following week), Trent and Landon had their own celebration and pretend wedding at their International School. It was precious. The children made special invitations that were sent home inviting them to the wedding. At school, I helped the children decorate a wedding cake with icing and flowers. Trent and Landon dresses up like a royal Prince and went to their celebration. The children participated in a pretend wedding ceremony, had a royal lunch of chicken and vegetables and even had a disco dance afterwards! They have been talking about the wedding all week at school as many of them watched the wedding on TV so were looking forward to this. They had a great time and learned a bit about Royalty.

http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/