UK2016 Part 3a: Ye Olde London Towne!
Category: travel
UK2016 Part 2b: Cambridge
We left off on December 22 with Rachel and I doing our part to rid the world of wine and cheese. On to the 23rd…
UK2016 Part 2a: Cambridge
Read about our time in Wales here.
Wednesday morning, the boys and I caught the train to Cambridge. I was nervous about the journey because I had three boys and two suitcases to deal with and we had to not just switch trains in London, but switch stations by way of the Underground. But not to leave you in too much suspense…it was fine. (George’s journey the next day, by contrast, did not go so swimmingly, but that’s not my story to tell.)
Rachel (Gareth’s sister) picked us up at the train station and we headed to a shopping center to meet up with her boys (Dan, 13, and Ethan, 9) and Pat, their grandmother. The boys were so excited to see Dan and Ethan, and it was really cute when they saw each other and were all shy for about 12 seconds. (You might remember, they visited New Orleans back in May and the boys became fast friends.)
A real British mall! Looks….just like an America mall.
The streets of Cambridge all decked out for the holidays
Pretty!
We were going to be experiencing something extremely British that evening – a panto! Before showtime, we wandered a bit around Cambridge, getting a snack and seeing some of the sights.
UK2016 Part 1: Wales
We got home yesterday from our epic trip to the UK, and buckle in because I have a lot of pics and stories to share. I’m going to break up my posts into the three places we went, so let’s get started!
The trip started off with an enormous amount of stress, when I got a text that our flight to Houston was delayed. The delay would mean we would miss our flight to Heathrow. Um, not an option. I got on the phone with United, and after 40 minutes of being on hold, we got put on an earlier flight to Houston, which would get us there in plenty of time to catch our flight to London.
But then that flight kept getting delayed, to the point where again, we were going to be in danger of missing our connection. Fortunately, the flight took off with some time to spare, and we landed in Houston. And sat and sat and sat on the tarmac. My blood pressure was rising a bit more every moment, until finally we got off with a few minutes to get to our next gate. Read More
Merry Christmas Eve!
We have been having an amazing time on our trip so far, but I didn’t bring my laptop so I won’t be posting much until we get home. But I can’t resist sharing a few from my phone….
Beyond giddy!
Ever since I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I’ve been obsessed with seeing the play while we’re in London. Considering the entire run through 2017 sold out in like four seconds, I wasn’t super optimistic about getting a ticket. Also, it meant asking George to entertain the boys while I spent six hours over the course of two evenings seeing this play. (All I can say is, the boys are going to be very familiar with pubs by the time the play is over.)
I’ve basically been checking the ticketing websites constantly for the past few months. You’d see tickets come available for other dates, but never the week we’ll be there. But today, while on a call at work (TOTALLY PAYING ATTENTION), I idly checked the site and THERE IT WAS! There was an available ticket! And it wasn’t even at the £200 level (which I was perfectly happy to pay for this experience) but at the £40 level! Yes, it means I’ll be sitting in the second to last row, way up in the balcony but WHO CARES?
So I click on it, hand shaking, a bit hysterical (and by now my coworkers know what’s going on, mostly due to the ear-splitting shriek I let out) and it’s suddenly NOT AVAILABLE.
So I click back and try again AND THERE IT IS!
But then my browser just freezes. Nothing will click. I close all the other tabs and somehow it starts working again and I’m able to get my ticket and pay for it and now it’s MINE ALL MINE!
EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
(And a special thanks to my husband for letting me take this much time away from everyone to see the play.)
Automattic Grand Meetup 2016
Here it is, the massive, picture-heavy post recapping our big yearly company meetup. This year (and I hope next year and beyond) it took place in Whistler, British Columbia. What a gorgeous setting! Getting there wasn’t my favorite (mostly because of the two-plus hour bus ride from the Vancouver airport) but once we were there, it was fantastic.
Mountains on the way! (And a bus window reflection)
The view from our room. The hotel on the left is where half of the company stayed.
My crazed “I GOT POUTINE FINALLY!!!” face.
I feel like they could be twinsies.
More potential twinsies. (Or triplets since Mikey is in both pics.)
KarKar and me.
The first day was our team day, so I spent the first half with the hiring team, and the second half with all of Happiness.
Athena! Love.
Karen and a bunch of HEs.
Beckett and I got up early one morning and went for a run around a 3.5 mile loop. It was hilly (mountainous, even, for this NOLA girl) and I almost ran all of it. Except for a few steep uphills. I wish I had better photos of the route, but they’re all blurry.
We spent time over the next few days in classes, and I didn’t really take pictures there. But here are a bunch of pretty pictures of Whistler Village:
The whole company took a pic. See if you can find me!
On our activity day, I went up the mountain in a gondola with a few others. It was terrifying and fun and awesome and gorgeous. We hiked a bit, saw some snow, rode a chairlift into a cloud, and saw a giant rainbow. Good stuff.
Video of the chairlift up. It was incredibly quiet and peaceful. Except when I was shrieking in terror. (Kidding.)
On the way up.
My terror-filled face on the chairlift.
Snow! And rocks that we would have plummeted to.
SNOWBALL!!!!!
It was v foggy/cloudy up there. And snowing a bit? Or sleeting? Let’s just say snow.
The chairlift down looked WAY scarier, but because we couldn’t see anything, it was okay! I took a time lapse video of it:
More pics on a mountain:
On the way up.
The weather was so random, as you can see from those photos. Turn one way, and it would be cloudy and gray, and in another direction, sunny and blue.
After the chairlift, we took the peak-to-peak gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. It was pretty crazy.
The cable droops between the peaks. So weird and cool and kind of scary.
High above the trees.
A river runs through it. (The valley)
Don’t come up behind the animals and touch them on the back.
A12s in a gondola!
GOLD!!!!
One day I had some free time and spent it hiking with some friends. We went to Lost Lake, and I don’t think we found the path with the incredible views everyone else got, but it was a lovely hike and I did get some nice pics.
Wait up!
Picturesque stream.
Picturesque path.
Elizabeth capturing the picturesque view.
Picturesque Lost Lake
More lake that was lost.
Random rocks.
I have a thing for “path” pictures.
Picturesque grass.
Does it chap my hide that my favorite pic was taken with my iPhone? Maybe a bit.
The WWWP5K was Monday morning, and it was on the same path that Beckett and I ran a few days before. The distance was a bit vague, but we ran straight for 37 minutes WITHOUT STOPPING AND ON HILLS AND STUFF so I figure we covered at least 3.1 miles. I guess Orange Theory works after all, eh? I haven’t really run distances in a while, so I was very pleased about this.
Okay, one more batch of pics from our closing party. I was wise this year and didn’t stay up until 4am the night before, so I was able to enjoy it a bit more.
YUM.
YES INDEED.
Clicky wins.
The toast.
The stage.
A12s rock!
Tutu queens!
But not too much, as I had to be up at 3am to catch the bus back to Vancouver, and then fly home for a zillion hours (whyever United thinks a layover in Newark between Vancouver and NOLA is a good idea, I’ll never know.)
Finally made it home at 10:30pm, to many, many, many hugs from my boys. Here’s what Oliver drew before I got home. (RIP me.)
Until next year!
Goodbye Whistler!
I know, I haven’t even written a “Hello Whistler” post yet. It’s coming…
23 hours at the beach
My friend and coworker Deborah and her family went on vacation to the same resort Kiki and I took the boys to, two and four years ago. So I said I’d drive up for the night with the boys and hang out.
I got a free hotel room using rewards points, and Saturday morning, Oliver, Miles, and I hit the road. (Linus didn’t want to be in a car for that long, so he got plenty of quality time with Daddy and Ziggy.)
We got there in the early afternoon and swam and floated and ate and drank and swam some more until the evening, when the boys and I drove five minutes down the road to our hotel. We snuggled in bed and watched House Hunters Renovations and all konked out after our busy day. We hit the beach on Sunday morning, and spent a little more time in the pools, and then it was time to go home.
A short trip, but a really nice one! Next year, we definitely need to go longer!
I understand Linus wanting to stay home, but I wish he’d come. I’m in love with these pictures of Oliver and Miles. 😍 Really wish I had one of my green-haired boy!
And some more random pics taken with my phone:
Swimming at the Caribe
Bushwhackers!
Me and Deborah
Late afternoon overlooking the bay
Hotel breakfast!
At the beach
Beach
Beach
Beach
Miles rocking a hat
One last pic at the Caribe before heading home.
California wrap up
I have let so much time pass, and I haven’t finished blogging about our trip to Los Angeles, so I’m just going to drop a bunch of pics in here and consider it done.
Flying there, In n Out, visit to Uncle Evan and Aunt Jennifer’s office, monthly pic (with Ellie.)
Train to the beach! Santa Monica Pier, Ferris Wheel, playing in the water.
Dave & Busters, Oliver hits the jackpot, everyone gets stuffed animals, I got a Pikachu! Trip to the park Evan and Jennifer designed.
Only one kid wanted their picture taken. Guess who?
UNIVERSAL! HARRY POTTER WORLD! SO FUN! Even with a 2 hour wait in line for the HP ride. Butterbeer. Minions. Simpsons. Donuts. Good times.
Last day, boo! Lunch at Pink’s with my friend Robyn. Trip to the Grove for ice cream and a trolley ride. More cousin time, then back on the plane to go home on the redeye.
And finally, the traditional “Uncle Evan with Ellie and the boys.” See the others here.
Back! (with more mountain pics)
I can’t believe it’s been ten days since I last posted. It’s been an extremely busy ten days, so I’m going to start trying to catch up with posts about our trip to Los Angeles (which was fantastic.)
First up, pics from our hike from the Griffith Observatory to get a good view of the Hollywood Sign, which the boys were fascinated by (mostly because of the sheer size of it.)
We went about a mile out (and then back), and I was impressed by how much the boys enjoyed it (and how little they complained.) We got pretty high up, and the nervous mom in me was freaking out only slightly. (Can’t you tell by the look on my face in this pic?)
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