Day 213: Pub

Incidentally, a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati is to enjoy 10 oz. Scottish beers and fried pickles at an English pub.

Day 162: London

Today we had to say goodbye to Redditch and head back to London. Fortunately we found my brother and his girlfriend and got to spend the afternoon sightseeing. Happy New Year!

Day 161: Ted

Meet Uncle Ted, my Grandad's brother. We rarely get to see him, so when we do, the stories just pour out. We heard about the time he spent working for MI5, our family history of gun making, his adventures in the Air Force, his ghost sightings, and the time Prince Philip told him to call him Phil. "You never know what's 'round the corner," he says.

Day 160: Warwick

Spent the day at Warwick Castle with Tim, my Mom, and my Aunty Lynne. According to Tim, this is what a proper English castle should look like :) Had a great day wandering around. This is the Iron Maiden in the Gaol (jail). As macabre as it is, this was one of my favorite parts of the castle and one of the coolest photos of the day.

Day 159: Stratford

Spent the day in Stratford, one of my favorite places. We got to see Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife's) cottage just minutes before it closed for the day.

Day 158: Pond

Today we got to go see my duck pond, where I have been happily feeding bread crumbs to ducks since I was a wee one. Sadly there were no ducks today, but we still had fun.

Day 157: Drive

We spent Boxing Day driving from Orpington to Redditch, which was gorgeous. I took lots of pictures out the window.

Day 156: Christmas

Tim enjoying his Christmas pudding with brandy butter and cream. Happy Christmas!

Day 155: Hever

Today we took Tim to Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn's childhood home. He is loving all the English history. It was an awesome day.

Day 154: Chippy

Today Tim got his first taste of English fish & chips. He loved it!

Day 153: Orpington

Today Tim and I took a walk through the park near my Aunt's house, and then up and down the high street. I love England!

Day 151: Airport

I only managed to get a quick photo on my phone the day we were traveling to London. Amazingly all of us made it to Heathrow with no problems. Tim got on the only flight going out of Helsinki and met us at our gate. It was magical.

While we were sitting at our gate in Houston, a lady with a tiny little dog sat down next to us. My mom started chatting with her and realized she had accidentally brought two dog biscuits in her jacket pocket (they were for our dogs, who, when they realized they were being boarded, were not interested). Instead of throwing them away, she was able to give them to the tiny little thing that was freaking out about being carried around in a bag.

Day 67: England

I think someone is getting excited about our upcoming trip to England (*cough*...Mom...*cough*...)!