ok. having too much fun to blog! must make short text ....send many pictures...

Day 4?: went to hampton court palace, the place where henry 8 took 4 of his 6 wives on honeymoon (what a sweetheart) really fun! had smell-o-vision in the kitchens with lots of meat being cooked, so for us vegetarians it was especially effective. also, brinna was wearing

something kind of medieval looking so that somehow makes it even more fun. there were also

actors staging different points in the palace's history throughout the day and this was very effective -we chose meeting one of the queens handmaids and got caught up in catherine howard's demise. went through a maze, found the center, went back out again.....it was ok but the gardens were spectacular and we played name the genus and species....I WON! love winning!

day 5: picnic at AVEBURY! incredible! relaxing! sunny every now and then!
had a picnic on the neolithic-man-made ridge. went to the small friendly hands-on museums. read lovely and not so lovely things about kevin's distant relative. it's harder to 'get' what you are seeing at the site because basically, it is stonehenge on steroids, so the rocks are further from each other, and the stone circle is a quarter mile across, so standing on the ridge to see this neolithic cathedral is the way to go. we are talking 850 years Before Christ!!! the west kennet long barrow, a short drive and then quick walk through (wheat?) fields was amazing too. a burial chamber.... again 800 b.c. a little creepy but mostly fascinating and we were literally walking through someone's fields. lots of skipping and twirling rolling down grassy hills. frolicking, really! thank you kevin's naughty relative for preserving this sight and thank you all who bought his marmalade!!

Day 6: british museum, camden locks market, evensong at st. pauls, midsummer nights dream at the globe! too much to say

Day 7: hyde park, tea at the orangery, museum of natural history (road the escalator), Harrods at closing time! no pictures, sorry! tea at the orangery near kensington palace very nice if you focus on the fact that you are at a real princesses' palace, also everyone else there is doing the same fantasy (the girls in front of us in line were from the u.s. an had gotten very dressed up for their tea) so it makes it all the more fun (kind of like watching the faces of the people, young and old, taking pictures at platform 9 and 3/4s we're all in the same fantasy) the goodies table at the entrance was sumptuous, the china and table setting-disappointing (although the tiny orange trees with real oranges on each table was fun.

Day 8: kevin went to wimbledon! the girls and i stayed home (john and colleen boselli's beautiful place! we watched holiday a movie filmed in the area and packed! brinna and erin played tennis in honor of their dad! delightful!

Day 9: off to edinburgh!!!!! Scotland is very different! love it tons. train ride was nice.

Day 9: shopping, writers museum, museum of childhood (kind of creepy-fun!), kevin and i went to scottish parliament, (beautiful new building in this ancient feeling city). in the evening we went on a spooky underground ghost tour. THERE IS A HIDDEN CITY UNDER EDINBURGH!

Day ??: Edinburgh Castle! Beautiful, fun, lots of soldiery stuff. not sure if the smell-o-vision is piped in (no pun intended) or just part of the place.

......not able to edit...... must post blog......have to go to isle of mull.....

FOR MY FRIENDS AT BEND SPAY AND NEUTER!

week 1 England!!

BOODABUS IS BOOTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEY ASKED KEVIN FOR LEGAL ADVICE AND WANTED HIM TO STAY A WHILE LONGER BUT HE SAID WE WERE ON VACATION AND THEY'D HAVE TO CATCH HIM LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

day one: arrive! john and colleen's awesome home and hospitality. hot tub to soak away the miles. foxes, bunnies, and tree houses!

day two: big bus, spooky (not) walking tour, trafalgar square (where we saw someone kick a pigeon, it's illegal to feed the birds as my hero mary poppins suggests. THEY CARRY DISEASE! i'm suggesting birthcontrol in their feed because they would be really difficult to spay or neuter and am planning my speach for speakers corner but that is for day 7) the big bus was a great way to get in all the sights while seated! PLUS, at this level (top of the topless bus) you get an awesome view of all the relief on the buildings and the shop signs that hang over the sidewalks!

from bus level! it's on the second story! who else could see her?





from street level! they are a bit more imposing i'm supposing!

spooky tour was really a pub crawl. we saw the sherlock holmes pub that had a room set up like the fictitious sleuth's study, a few other charming (but not spooky) pubs. then the few teens in the group suggested we go to fleet street for the spooks, which was perfect for we got to see the actual underground tunnel where the fictitious demon barber sent the dead bodies for mrs. lovett's recipes! delightful! we got a picture.

day three: tower of london! we got right in! not very crowded! perfect weather, yummy scones, impressive armour (suspect henry 8 had an inflated opinion of his physique). ...3 hours later..... we really liked the tower and grounds -lots of stories, lots of different architecural styles. imagine that in a building from the 1600's! very castley, too! with it's torture thingys and gate thingys.

thought of my brother michael!

ok! today is day 8 and i haven't downloaded pictures from the past 5 days so i have to stop now, plus i'm getting punchy. visit again soon!