Viva la France!

On Monday we went to our doctors appointment (See baby blog) and then from there headed down to Dover to see Dover Castle and the White Cliffs. We spent the night down there and headed to Calais, France the next morning by ferry!

At Dover Castle

The beautiful white cliffs of Dover!

On the Ferry!

And by request...

Notre Dame

Eiffel Tower!

We spent most of the day on Wednesday in the Louvre. It was another one of those things on Steves must-see list (which was definitely okay by us!). We spent the morning in the museum and after lunch Anna and I went out and did a little shopping around Paris and the guys stayed and wandered around the Louvre. I think Steve got to see everything he wanted to; he was definitely thrilled!

Inside the pyramid

Steve in the Sculpture garden

Couldn't resist.

Anna...exhausted after another long day!

On Thursday we did a little more shopping and drove back to Calais to catch the ferry to Dover that night. We got back super late due to traffic and road construction, but that did mean that we got to ring in Christopher's 25th birthday at midnight since we were all up!

London, Stonehenge, and Bath; OH MY!

2 weeks have flown by since AnnaBanko and Dad Koenig arrived on this side of the pond! We've covered SO much ground and had a wonderful time!

The day after my birthday we headed back to London and spent the day in one of the greatest cities in the world! Christopher had to work that morning, so I took Anna and Steve and we headed down there and spent the morning wondering around Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament.

Christopher met up with us and we had lunch at the first ever Hard Rock Cafe and then we finished walking around the city. We went to Camden town and to the British Museum.

Steve with middle finger sun glasses on in Camden...lol

British Museum

LOL...

Exhausted after a long day!

Saturday we headed down to Stonehenge. Steve said that was one of the things he HAD to see when he came to visit.

Christopher and his Dad

Christopher definitely wins the jumping over Stonehenge contest....

After Stonehenge we headed to Bath. Bath is an old Roman city and seriously, as soon as we drove into the city it was like we were out of the country! It was like no other British City we've ever been to. Most everything was getting ready to close up (including the Roman Bath's) so we just walked around a little bit and realized we definitely had to come back later and visit.

Sunday we just hung out and packed and got ready for France!

A Quarter of a Century!

On Thursday yours truly turned a quarter of a century old!!! We celebrated with cake the night before since we had plans to be in London most of the day on my actual birthday! Christopher made me yellow cake with Mom's homemade Chocolate Syrup... its my favorite and it was delicious!!!

I definitely licked my plate clean.

On my actual birthday, I slept in a little bit and got up and opened presents! Christopher got me the best gift ever this year... a limited edition, special collector's edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Its part of the Harry Potter books (which I LOVE) and its awesome!!! I know, I know, I'm a huge dork, but I dont care...lol. Anna and Steve got me a special edition copy of C.S. Lewis' Chronicle's of Narnia, a huge jawbreaker, socks, and Wicked Tickets!

We got ready and headed to London to celebrate my birthday!!! Pretty much as soon as we got off the underground at Victoria Station (and came right out onto the Appolo Victoria Theatre...)

Yaaaay Wicked!

It started raining. England. So, it rained and it rained and it rained. Then it rained some more and we got soaked. We saw Buckingham Palace and hung around that area most of the afternoon.

Me and Mom Koenig. Me not so thrilled that it was raining on my birthday.

After we got soaked, we finally decided to head in to an Italian place called Prezzo for an early dinner.

Then we headed to the show!!!!! The Appolo Victoria Theatre was actually first built as a Cinematic Theatre and was later turned into a Theatre-Theatre. Its decked out in Art-Deco styling and is HUGE. I think it seats close to 3000 people!

Waiting for the show to start!

The amazing stage!

After my 4th time seeing the show!

Me with the best husband ever!

Everyone enjoyed the show. Our Elphaba and Galinda weren't the greatest (Elphaba needed to quit singing out of her nose...ugh), but the ensemble made up for them, they were great! Plus, its just an amazing show to see anyway! When we were heading back on the train Steve said he didn't know if he'd ever be able to watch "The Wizard of Oz" again...lol! Christopher also bought me "The Wizard of Oz" on DVD for my birthday, so we might break it out and watch it sometime this week and see...lol. All in all I had a wonderful birthday! Thanks much to all the people who called/emailed/facebooked me birthday love! :)

Mom and Dad Koenig are visiting!!!

So, last Saturday (the 20th) Anna and Steve arrived in Heathrow airport to visit us for 2 weeks! So far, we've done A LOT in a week!

I had to work the day they got here, so Christopher took them to Huntingdon to show them around a little bit and then after I got off work, we went out for fish and chips!!! The next day, we headed down to Cambridge and walked around all afternoon.

On Monday it snowed all morning (seriously, I'm ready for Spring), so we hung out at the house til Christopher got off work then went and walked around St Ives and showed them where we used to live. Tuesday we went to Lincoln and toured the castle and cathedral down there.

One of the towers of the Lincoln Castle

We toured the castle prison and went to the chapel part of it. They used to put prisoners in these coffin-like stalls and lock them in for each service. They couldn't sit or get comfortable at all and so they stood for a 3-4 hour long service every day. They also would be severely punished if they were caught communicating with their neighbors. It was pretty crazy.

After we left the castle, we headed over to the cathedral.

Its absolutely gorgeous inside

The choir stalls

We're having an awesome time... everyone's a bit tired, but enjoying themselves! Stay tuned for more pictures!

Blizzard.

No, not the kind from Dairy Queen. A Blizzard for real. In North Carolina. The day AFTER I got here!

At 4:00 Friday afternoon, Mom and I were out shopping (yay for Target and Ross) and there was nothing coming down at all. By 5:15, we were on our way home (after Nicole met us at TJ Maxx) and we slid ALL the way home! By 8:00 that night, there was 5 inches accumulated on the back porch... so, that's over an inch per hour!!!

This is about 6pm Friday night!

We decided to go for a walk at about 10:00 and walked from Mom's house to the end of the neighborhood to see the main road. We stopped along the way and made snow angels and just enjoyed the pure, majesty of the quiet beauty of the snow. It literally was so quiet you could hear the snow falling.

When we woke up on Saturday, there was about a foot of snow on the ground! We suited up and headed out to play in the snow! Bonnie LOVED it! She refused to go inside... she kept getting stuck though...it was hilarious!

We're all definitely snowed in. There is NO getting out of Mom's driveway, let alone getting out of the neighborhood, so Nicole is in for the long haul...lol. We've been holed up playing card games and eating yummy food, so its all good! Although, as gorgeous as the snow is, it can go on ahead an melt now... I've got things to do (like more shopping and eating good 'ol North Carolina food) and people to see and being stuck in the house is making all that pretty difficult!

Sherwood Forest!

Today we ventured up to Nottingham to see Sherwood Forest... okay, okay I'll be honest, we went because we found a place called "Ginza Sushi" that had a sushi menu that looked a lot like an American one we've been missing so much. Seriously. We drove an hour and a half for sushi. Laugh all you want, it was amazing.

Walking into the forest... we were further up north, so there was still ice and snow on the trail. Which made it interesting to walk around...lol

Christopher and the Robin Hood statue

The Major Oak. Estimated at over 1000 years old, this is the tree that they say Robin Hood and his Merry men would have hidden from the Sheriff of Nottingham in! They think it weighs about 23 tons with a "waistline" of 33 feet and a canopy of 92 feet! It was, in a word, HUGE. The legend of Robin Hood has been around since Richard "the Lionhearts" rule in the 11oo's. Tales of Robin Hood range from him being an ordinary thief, an Earl, or even the mythical green man. There's no real evidence that the Robin Hood we know and love actually existed, but the legend of he and his Merry Men run rampant in Nottingham. It's definitely easy to see how they could have hidden in Sherwood Forest. Even now, its a sprawling place, but then it covered most of the country; so its plausible that thieves or mythical green men could have stayed well hidden in and among the trees.

Up close of the trunk

Christopher and the Major Oak

Me! :)

Us in front of the Major Oak

:)

Also... happy 5 year Anniversary to Christopher and the Navy! I cant believe that 5 years ago today, Christopher was going through his first day of boot camp! Congratulations to my wonderful husband and what has so far been a pretty amazing Naval career! I'm so proud of him and everything he's accomplished!!! :)