Parental visit!

So as I mentioned in my previous blog my folks, and grandma (my mom's mom) came for a visit in July. They spent a little over a week here in the UK with us, then we were all going to head to Germany together, unfortunately due to Brandon's leave and my constant morning sickness Brandon and I were unable to make the Germany part of the trip. Although that was a bummer for us it was still great having family around, and I was happy for my mom and her mom that they got to make this trip together. It was extra special for them because my mom was born on an Army base in Germany, and she had always hoped to make it back there with her parents, and this year she was able to go with at least one parent, and the other parent was watching over them from heaven!

So their visit here started at 5:55AM...yeah that's right we picked them up before 6am at the airport...all I can say is waking up at 3am to get to the airport in time just goes to prove that we kinda like these people! Their flight went pretty well...at least as well as an 8 hour flight in a tiny airplane with bad food can go...and did I mention my dad is over 6 foot tall, so I'm thinking he might not have loved the flight! The first day they got here we just hung around the house and let them take a nap, while Brandon went to work. Then after that day we headed out to show them the sights, with a few down days between, we went and went the whole 10days they were here! Now I can't totally remember the order in which we went to everything so I might just around on their trip a bit :)

Luck them it only rained a few days and was in the mid 70's all week...he he my sibling were in Kansas loving the 105 temps on the day they arrived (sorry Travis :)

During the first few days we hit up a few cathedrals in the area, here are a few pics from Bury and Ely's cathedrals! I have pictures of the outside of each of the cathedrals but due to my computer stupidity I can't get them to rotate on the blog so it isn't on it's side...so for now no outside pics! Oh well here is a shot from Ely Cathedral where dad got to look cool on this "throne"


Folks I'm not going to lie I'm not 100% sure which church the shot below is from...I think it is Bury but I can't remember...I am going to blame that on my pregnant brain!


Then we were off to Leeds Castle a few days into their trip. This was Brandon and I's first chance to hit up Leeds so we were pretty excited, the brochures say it is England's loveliest castle. And let me tell you it was "lovely". But really it was so pretty!



There was water all around the castle (well almost all around it) and the grounds were gorgeous, there were tons of flowers and peacocks everywhere (I thought of Jeff Dietz every time I saw one up close remembering his love for birds :) Now I have to say although it was beautiful, there wasn't as much to see or do as at some other castles like Warwick but it was so different and nice that it made up for that. Plus that day was so nice out...the only downside to the outing was it was a 2+ hour drive, with 5 people in a small car, and one pregnant lady in the back seat trying not to ralph the whole time! Luckily for all involved I kept my breakfast down that day!!!!







(lookin good MOM!!!! he he he I couldn't resist posting this pic, plus I will know within minutes if my mom actually reads this whole post because she will be calling me demanding the removal of this pic!!!)(Now mom to be fair I posted this oh so lovely and flattering picture of me stuffing my face at Leeds castle as well!)








The day or so after that my parents, grandma, and Brandon hit up London, I however opted out of that trip because I was feeling so sick and run down from going all week. Although I was bummed to miss out on that part of the trip it was very relaxing for me, and was for the best. Another bummer for the visit was, we were all planning on going to Bath, however that is a 3+ hour drive and with my stomach hating me that week I knew I could not make that one, and since we had already had one failed attempt at going to Bath I got really sad at missing out again so everyone agreed to go to Warwick Castle instead! Thanks! Although we had been there before this time the park wasn't about to close when we arrived so we were able to see alot more than on our previous visit!





That's right put those 2 where they belonged!



During the last part of their visit we headed to Cambridge. My mom finally got to ride on a double decker bus (and see how it looks like you are going to crash into everything from the 2nd level!) We toured the chapel at Cambridge then took a boat ride down one of the canals in Cambridge, which was my favorite part of the trip!!!








After going through all the pics I did notice one bummer there were hardly any pictures of my dad and none of me and him together! Next time that will not happen, sorry dad you will have to get out from behind your camera!





These are just a few pics from my parents visit, my parents and grandma have a ton more, plus ones from Germany if anyone wants to see them!!! Thanks for coming to visit!