Arriving in London with Curt and Deb!

Changing of the guards at the Palace, just in time for the main event!

Bands, horses, and fresh guards march through the streets!

Given our extended stay abroad, we decided to coordinate a trip with my parents to come to Europe to check out the sights and some of the big destinations.  They were flying over from Chicago, and we met them in London.  Paul and I took a late flight after work Wednesday night, only to get delayed, take a bus into the city, and slowly walk to our hotel.  We arrived around 2AM Thursday morning simply exhausted.  My parents weren’t going to feel much better after a red-eye from Chicago. 

Curty making us crack up I assume.

They made it to London - let the games begin!

Thursday we got up, had breakfast and started moving.  I was anxious for my parents arrival and had given them a step by step itinerary in order to facilitate their travels from the airport to the hotel.  They were navigating the old fashioned way.  I knew what streets they were going to come down, so about the time I thought they would be there I started to walk to see if I could intercept them.  Sure enough, I caught them on the street corner!  I couldn’t believe it actually worked, but I found the two lost Americans, my parents.  My dad was still recovering from surgery so I wanted to help haul luggage back to the hotel.

The London Eye.

Big Ben in the sky, London.

Lunch and caffeine for the weary travelers!

We arrived at the Apollo Hotel and they too were impressed by the number of beds and the quality of rooms you can get for a pretty penny in London.  London hotels are extremely expensive and somehow Paul managed to find a room next to Hyde Park with two queen beds, one twin bed and a set of bunk beds. We had plenty of beds to go around, but barely enough room to walk through them. It had a small private bathroom, sheets that were questionably clean (mine had blood and fly poop all over), very tall ceilings, and a nice draft of cigarette smoke coming from the bathroom vents.  Overall, it was a good laugh and a place to rest our heads while recuperating from jet lag. 

Westminster Abby, a hefty admission kept us on the outside...

Shakespeare's Play House.

Our first day in London my parents decided that they would rather press on and see the sights instead of trying to nap, so into the city we went.  We flagged a cab and went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards.  We got there just in time to see the magic happen.  It was crazy to be able to speak English again and we laughed with a police man over tourists bolting into the street.  We mentioned that his job must be difficult, and his response was… “well, it’s all those Americans” with a smirk.  We got a good laugh out of that and then made our way down to Big Ben and the sights on the Thames. 

Excellent view from my front row seat of the Tower Bridge, London.

Before committing to any more sight seeing we got lunch at a small pub that had a Badger on it’s business card – had to be a invitation to Wisconsinites. Once full of fuel we went down to the Thames to purchase a afternoon river cruise.  The journey was excellent.  We caught some of the tour as the waves lulled my father to sleep.  Most of the crowd got off at the first stop and then we pretty much had the whole ship to ourselves as we continued down to Greenwich.

This is how I found Paul in the museum. 

Nothing like tasting some local brewed flavors!

After we pulled Paul off of the phone inside the booth.

Once in Greenwich, we stopped at the brewery pub and Deb tried some mulled wine while the boys sampled local beers.  My only demand was that we try to get to Starbucks before the next boat went back.  We were kind of pushing our time limits so Paul and I sent my parents ahead to catch the boat and we would run quickly behind them.  We caught up pretty fast and were able to jump on the boat as it was leaving… until I noticed something wrong, my parents were not on the boat!! I yelled for Paul to get off the boat quickly!! He was straddling the dock and the boat until we saw my parents coming from behind us looking lost.  Whew, that was a close one.  We passed them up and almost left them in Greenwich, haha!

Paul running under the River Thames!

Starbucks were worth it!

Greenwich, tunnel to the other side of the Thames!

While waiting we took a glimpse at the tunnel running under the Thames, which is a pretty impressive sight.  However we decided to head back to the boat early this time, because this was the last departure and we weren’t about to be stranded in a place as expensive as London!  The boat ride back was in the dark and the sights took on a completely different appearance.  Tower Bridge opened for us, and we froze our buns off on the top deck of the boat to catch a glimpse.  The cruise was recommended by our cab driver, and didn’t disappoint.  It was a full day for tired travelers.

Big Ben and Parliament all lit up!

London Eye at Night!

Tower Bridge at night, it even opened for us!

After we got back to the Apollo, Paul and I went for a walk to check out the nearby Bayswater street.  It was the perfect evening stroll and we topped off our day with a Lebanese meal from a nearby restaurant.  We were not exactly certain what the wrap contained, but it was absolutely delicious. 

Simply a perfect start to our time in London.


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Please take the time to join me at my new blog:
Alyce Jane, Living Simply

Turkey Day 2014!

We were fortunate enough to join the Nagels for their Thanksgiving feast at Aunt Sue's place!  The food is always spectacular and this year Ryan and Matt surely outdid themselves!  Aunt Sue's cranberries were out of this world.  Fortunately, we are only in charge of bringing wine, which is pretty hard to ruin - whew. No stress Thanksgiving, that's what I'm all about!

Baby Bump: Pre-Thanksgiving Feast.

Before the feast we made our way out to the Whipp's in Poland for the Chicken Trot!  The Turkey trot is Green Bay is a crazy mess of people, and a little too high stress for our liking!  We met everyone in the bar area, grabbed our T-shirts and shortly after began the walk.  Quickly we realized just how cold it was this Thanksgiving.  The freezing breeze was flying off the open fields in the country and stinging our faces.  Dale didn't seem to mind - he wasn't phased and just pumped to be out on a walk with people and other dogs.  The first two legs of the walk were rough, but once we got the wind on our back it started to become a bit more enjoyable - haha!  I was so happy that we signed up for the walk, it made indulging in all the turkey feel just a little bit safer for the waistline.

Aunt Sue and Matt carving the turkey.

In afternoon we met up with the group for an excellent meal.  I got to catch up with Leanna who is also expecting a little baby Nagel in February!  Our kids should only be 3 months apart - how cool!  It would be even better if we're in the same state, but I guess that's what frequent trips home are for.  I got the scoop on maternity clothes and all of the fun things that await me as I move forward in the pregnancy!  She's a champ - still working like crazy.  I am spoiled with a job that isn't so physically demanding. I get tired just thinking about her work schedule. 

The Wesolowski Family!

Turkey nap for Matt and Curty.

After the Thanksgiving feast we stopped to see Grandma VanBoxtel.  She and Grandpa were chatting it up like two teenagers, it was so precious.  Love really does stand the test of time.  They were laughing and giggling while trying to figure out who stood up who for the Thanksgiving dance! Ahh, so refreshing.

On Black Friday Mom and I decided to sleep in.  We weren't too impressed with the advertisements anyway, so it was a good thing we stayed in bed.  We met Laura and Aunt Theresa for breakfast at Perkins, and then set out to grab some half price maternity clothes at Target.  I found some bargains and then we made our way back to Seymour.  Definitely the way to go.  All of the deals are on Thanksgiving now, and I just cannot get into that - Thanksgiving is turning into a shopping holiday, ugh!  That evening I got to catch up with some special ladies: Lyssa, Becca, and Jeanelle, who were in town for the holidays!  We ordered up some amazing Thai food and chatted over dinner.  We were all pretty well-behaved, which is different that our earlier outings about 4 years ago, haha! Yikes.

 After stuffing myself with some very spicy food, Lyssa and I took the old minivan through the Dairy Queen drive-through and gave the high school kids running the place a few laughs.  They were pretty impressed that I had to get out of the minivan in order to pay for the ice cream.  They were also amused by my enthusiastic upgrade to medium blizzards: Buy One get One 99 cents! That's something to be excited about! Am I right?! Heck yes!

Ahh, I think I'm good on cake, but thanks anyway mum!

Saturday following Thanksgiving we were invited to share in Avery's Birthday party at the Morris household.  KBC on tap and one year olds eating cake - what's not to love!?!  It was so nice to be able to see Dan, Katie, their parents, friends and little Avery.  What a great afternoon!  It was a quick glimpse in the many fun times that are about to come our way soon enough I fear!

After Avery's fiesta we met Joel's buddies out for a little Buck gathering at Jackson Point.  It was nice for everyone all to get together.  I was able to finally order up a round of CHEESE CURDS - the real stuff too.  I was driving the crew around and got to catch up with Haus finally!  He was back in the area after a long stretch in Rochester, MN.  It was time to come back and kick the dust off the sled before the real snow falls later this winter.  Great timing indeed Haus!  

Hustle Inn, out of O'Douls. Embarrassing.

Sunday I handed Dale off to the Anderson - poor Kathy and crew, I fear they were not aware of the monster they kindly took for us while we were away.  I knew Dale was going to be treated like a king when I saw the fluffy bed they had waiting for him.  I cannot thank them enough for taking the mischief maker for a whole month!! Thank you, thank you!!

Dale, you have fun.  For me, it's off to Palermo, Sicily! 

Dale is clearly a cheesehead at heart. Have fun in Wisconsin buddy!

 *****

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Alyce Jane, Living Simply

Wisconsin For Thanksgiving

It was an adventure.  Dale and I were on our way to Wisconsin!  He was a little bit bigger than the last time I tried to bring him on the plane for Thanksgiving, exactly one year ago.  I stuffed the little rascal into his kennel and Josiah was kind enough to bring us to the airport early Saturday morning.  I thought Dale was going to be able to handle the trip without drugs considering he didn't get much sleep the night before, and I dropped him off at Camp Bow Wow for some energy expenditure.  I was wrong.

Dale in the Pittsburgh Airport ready for mischief! 

He quickly figured out that if he stuck his nose out of the ripped travel carrier in just the right spot he could escape... pretty rapidly.  We were fortunately upgraded to the first class area, only to have Dale yip and pop his head out continuously. Thank you Dale, very relaxing first class experience. He quickly earned himself another dose of Benadryl.

Our plane was delayed out of Pittsburgh, so it was going to be a running match (with a heavy dog carrier, loaded purse, and pregnant) to our next gate.  Fortunately, I noticed the shuttle was leaving momentarily to the opposite side of the airport, we got on by sheer luck and road across the runways. We made our plane in perfect timing, it was amazing! A Buck intervention. It was 11/22/14.  It was clear he was with me on this important day. Shortly after we landed in Green Bay we recognized that although Dale and I caught the flight... my luggage was not as fortunate.

Dale at Buck's cabin, tracking probably nothing... Deer would be helpful, but it's Dale.

Later that afternoon, we got my luggage from GRB and went up north to spend time at Joel's cabin, an annual tradition around this time of year.  It's nice to be close to everything he found so important: family, friends, good meals, and the woods.  Dale enjoyed sleeping off his drugs up there too. Good Dog.  The next day he had some time to romp around in the snow and was feeling a bit more mischievous, aka normal.

A sample of the gems I found from Middle School in my room...

Mom and I came back Sunday to start working on the house.  My goal was to completely gut my whole room so it was easily moved if they wanted to sell the house.  I had so much random stuff in that room, it was definitely a project and a week long task.  Let's just say, Goodwill got a lot more than they bargained for!

That weekend and early during the week we also broke out our cross country skis to enjoy the fresh batch of snow in Seymour.  We set up a loop around the house and made a few rounds.  Dale also was able to join in the fun and ski with us.  It was a blast - beside my minor heart attack when Dale ran across our pond that is covered by a paper thin ice.  Luckily he didn't break through... sheesh. 

Preggers night out. So much CHEESE - Thank you Wisconsin, thank you.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving I met up with Jeanne and Lyssa at Jackson Point for some pizza and entertainment.  It was a blast to connect with those ladies... it was "preggers night out", a massive cheese pizza and O'Douls. Classic.  Perfect few days in Wisconsin with family. 

Dale got to visit Leanna at Starbucks - Puppy Latte!!

 *****

Please take the time to join me at my new blog:
Alyce Jane, Living Simply