Cheers Mate!

I think that is what the Brits will say for New Years. We will see. Anyway, lots of stuff going on. First off, Christmas was really nice. We didn't make it Germany as our car registration paperwork didn't make it back in time, but we did the crazy swim, and then spent the afternoon together snuggling by the fire, eating popcorn, watching movies, and playing with new toys. It was a very nice Christmas.

We took a short trip up to Tintagel Castle ruins. This was the coolest place EVER!! I highly recommend it if you are planning a trip to the UK. Let me put a caveat on there...if you don't mind hiking up crazy steps cut out of the rock on the side of a cliff and looking down to the sea crashing against the rocks below....
This was supposedly the castle of King Arthur. Super Duper Luper cool!

To make up for the missed travel opportunity to Germany we decided to make a little visit up to London. The Husband had never been before, and we didn't have anything else going on, so off we went. Spent the day walking around the Westminster part of the area. The Little Bean insisted she was going to visit with the Queen. Her dissapointment at the Queens absence was quickly relieved by going to see the Horse Guards. They are way cooler than the regular guards. ALTHOUGH, I guess I am getting old because the kid/guard on the horse looked too young to shave, let alone be a ceremonial Horse Guard.

We didn't get to see everything as we had hoped....we never fail to over estimate our timing when we take the kids with us. We plan to return tomorrow and see the rest of the sights. The weather was typical, cold, windy, and rainy. We were all wet to the bone by the time we got back to the car. The Little Bean was beside herself with joy when we boarded the train. This was her first time on the train and she was EXCITED! We had planned a picnic and the Little Bean was pretty dissapointed when we couldn't sit in the grass. We ended up eating our sandwiches standing up in the rain looking at Buckingham Palace. :) I claimed it was a wet-nic but Sophia insisted it was a "sneaky picnic" because we were huddled against a little pillared area to try and get out of the rain. I guess she thought we were hiding or something.

The photos do not coincide with the text today, but I haven't downloaded the pics from the past few days yet. Instead, you get to see photos of Christmas. Enjoy.

OOOOOHHHHH! I almost forgot. Hank has decided to walk. He suddenly made the leap from taking two or three steps and falling down to just walking around. There was no transition, it just happened. That little boy is the best kid ever. He is always happy, and giggles, flirts, and is just a generally wonderful boy. Now, if we could just get him to sleep in his own bed and through the night....