The Grandparents Come to England

My folks were able to come for a UK visit in May.  They had wanted to be there for Adam's graduation in June (because honestly, how many of their grandkids are going to graduate in a 1000-year-old cathedral?!), but scheduling conflicts forced them to come a month early.

We had a great time shuttling them around the countryside, taking in the sights and eating our fair share of fish and chips.

I didn't take many photos of our exploits, but here are a few:

We spent a day wandering the grounds at the Sandringham Estate, the Queen's country home, followed by a quick jaunt to the Hunstanton seaside, where the weather had turned so nasty and windy that we took in the sights from the car before finding a place for fish and chips.

We spent two days down in London; we made sure to take them to Wicked, and also saw one of our favorite plays, The 39 Steps, a Hitchcock-farce with lots of physical comedy and sight gags.  A great show that I highly recommend.  We also walked to Buckingham Palace and took a fabulous city bus tour.

We also spent a day at Dover Castle, though again, the weather took its toll.  We were just about to head into the castle keep when the guides informed us they were evacuating due to high winds off the English Channel.  Mind you, it was pretty windy, but I was surprised at this development.  So unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of the castle itself.  We took a tour of the WWII wartime tunnels, but even that was under renovation.  Oh well.  The best laid plans...

Spencer spent a day playing chauffeur/tour guide, taking them to Cambridge, then driving them around the villages and English countryside.  I think all had a good time.  And from what I hear, more fish and chips were involved.  Always a good thing.

We also got to invite them to Logan's spring band concert.  Maybe not the most exciting experience, but it was a nice one, nonetheless, and I'm glad they got to share the evening with us.

Logan plays french horn (the only one--no pressure there!), so it's always difficult to see him stuck somewhere in the middle of things.  The band sounded very good, and we had fun eating ice cream together afterwards.

All in all, it was a nice visit, though nothing went quite as planned.  I guess that's how these things go sometimes.  We were thankful they were able to come and visit with us for a week, and I was grateful to see my kids develop more of a relationship with their grandparents.

Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa!