Forty Fest Part 2

Before I start rambling about part 2 of my birthday, I have to give a shout out to some friends that I failed to mention in part 1.  A big thanks to the Keowns for treating us to dinner on my birthday.  They covered dinner...and we covered waffles.  Fair, right?! :)  And, thank you to our friends the Wheatleys and DeKunders for watching our kiddos, so we could enjoy a romantic weekend in Paris.  I feel better now that they have been acknowledged. :)

Okay, on to Part 2....

When someone turns 40 or 41 or whatever age over here, it's a great excuse for a girls weekend.  So, off to London we went to celebrate my big 4-0!  There was concern about making it to London in the first place.  Trains were cancelled due to snow but thankfully ours was spared.  We arrived Friday night and enjoyed the giant flakes!  We had dinner at Bills thanks to a recommendation by our friend Allison and all enjoyed a fabulous meal.

Oops, sorry about the snowflake in the face, April!  What a fun shot!

Saturday morning, we braved the cold for a walking tour of London.  I really can't tell you how to get anywhere in London unless it is underground.  I just need to take a nice long walk (in the summer) to see how close everything really is.  This particular walking tour took us from Trafalgar Square to St. Paul's Cathedral.  Did I mention it was really cold?  And, I think maybe my brain was actually frozen because I'm pretty sure I could not get you from Trafalgar Square to St. Paul's ever again.

I stopped in and purchased some really yummy tea!

See those cool doors...they were used in the Harry Potter films for the doors to Gringotts.  Cool!

St. Paul's Cathedral

After our walking tour (half did the tour and half went shopping) we met at the Covent Garden Inn for afternoon tea.  I was super excited about this because it was new for everyone.  Here are my lovely friends Ericka, Melonee, Claire, and Lisa.

And on this side is April, Mackenzie, Staci, Lucinda, and Brandi.  

The food was awesome!  I know you're supposed to be all dainty and sophisticated, but I ate like a heathen.  I was STARVING!  I shared with April, and I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was capable of eating that much food.  

After some shopping and posing at Platform 9 3/4, it was back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.

Dinner was at Camino (a Spanish bar and restaurant) and a short walk from our hotel.  

There's Shayna on the left.  We were so glad she could join us for dinner.  Melonee and Shayna were enjoying London with their families as well that weekend.

Our only picture of the whole group!  I don't want to sound cliché, but I really do feel incredibly blessed to have found these friends.  And, how amazing that I was able to share my 40th birthday with them.  I think God knew if this overseas move was going to be successful for our family I would need a really good support group.  He certainly knew what he was doing when he put these girls in my life.  I am so incredibly lucky!!!!

I failed to mention that by Saturday morning, our train for Sunday had been cancelled.  What??  So, half the group decided to go home on a 1:00 train and the rest of us waited until the 5:04 train.  More on this later....

Flat Stanley joined me on both birthday weekends, so I had to get some shots of him around London.  We hadn't visited any of the big sites, so that was the plan for Sunday.  It was snowing like CRAZY but off we went to see London in the snow!  

Buckingham Palace

Four of us trying to hold our eyes open for pictures while being pelted with snow. Good thing the shot is from a distance. :)

Lucky shot!  With my phone!!!  A photographer spotted Mackenzie with her Union Jack umbrella and asked if he could get some shots of her walking through the park.  He worked for the London Times...or so he said. ;)  I took it upon myself to grab my own shot, and in my opinion, it was a winner!

We had such a good time!

And a few more shots with my phone.  It was so wet that I actually had to put my camera away.  But, I really love how these turned out.  Do you think I could start a photography business with my iPhone and Instagram??  Just kidding...well...not really.

 The afternoon of sightseeing went much too quickly.  Luckily, we were able to squeeze in a quick late lunch at Wahaca for the BEST Mexican food I have had on this continent.  And, the margarita was oh so yummy.  Too bad we had to inhale our food to make our train.  We arrived at the train station with about 40 minutes to spare only to find out that our train was delayed...and then it was delayed again...and again. But, it wasn't cancelled!  Phew!  We ended up leaving London on restricted speed due to the snow and arrived just after midnight in Brussels.  We had a cab...and then we didn't have a cab...and then we had a cab again.  I made it home with white knuckles as the cab driver had great confidence in his winter tires.  Then I could barely get Brandi and Lucinda to Brandi's house because I don't have winter tires.  Did I mention it snowed all weekend in Brussels too?!?  After safely navigating to Brandi's, I barely made it back home and was stuck on my road.  Better my road than some other one I guess.  I had to wake Chris around 2 A.M. to push me down the road and into the driveway.  I talked to Ericka after I was home and settled (she had dilemmas of her own getting home) and fell into bed around 3:00 A.M.  But you know what....I would do it all over again.  It was totally worth it!  

And that....is my Big 4-0 in London!

Thank you again, girls!  I'll never forget this terrific weekend!!!

Until next time,

Wendy