Our England and Scotland trip ~ Day 2

Our second day we went on quite the Sunday stroll.

 

 

 

 

Our first stop was to Manchester Cathedral. It was actually one of my
favorite places to visit our entire trip. It was beautiful and simple (as far
as cathedrals go) and had such a touching spirit about it. I really loved it.

Next we visited the city center of Manchester and this fountain.
Where I took this picture of Campbell that I really love.

 

 

 

And then on to several more spots that were extra interesting to us as tourists.

Afterwards we spent quite a bit of time in a wonderful (and free) art museum.

And ended the day walking through the streets, overwhelmed at the beauty
of the city, before boarding a train that took us to London. It was a good day.

Our England and Scotland trip ~ Day 1

For his 18th birthday, Campbell received something he has been dreaming about
for a very long time--a trip to England and Scotland. Once again, because of
Jacob's frequent travel and very hard work, we were able to make this trip happen.
And because of my wonderful in-laws, I was able to join Jacob and Campbell for
the week-long trip. I don't have words for how grateful I am for their kindness.

We were a little excited to be off, even if it meant flying through the night.

Once we arrived and were settled at the hotel, Jacob and Campbell went straight to a huge
highlight of the trip for both of them. They attended a soccer game between Tottenham
and Manchester United. Campbell has loved Tottenham for as long as I can remember.

Both of these handsome guys had a hard time conveying just how incredible it was to them.
Apparently it was an absolutely amazing experience. And I'm so very grateful they had it.

Happy {early} Halloween!

Well, this is most definitely on the early side, but since we won't be able to celebrate Halloween
like we usually do, I had to share our three youngest and their costumes. So Happy Halloween
from our Manchester City soccer player, our Michigan football player and our extra darling gypsy!

Heading home

 

This time a sunrise to say goodbye. It was an absolutely wonderful three days.

Annie's 16th birthday trip ~ Day 3

 We started the third day by taking the subway to the site of the previous Twin Towers.

 

The reflecting pools and grounds of the 9/11 Memorial are beautiful
and touching and heartbreaking. How I pray I will never forget.

 

Then on to see the Statue of Liberty from a distance. Neither of us had a desire to see it up close,
but we are glad we were able to see it how we did. It was a powerful thing to think about.

 

 

 

 

 

We then spent some time at Greenwich Village. It was as quaint and fun as
they say. From the front doors to the tree-lined streets to the healthy food
to the flowers, it was pretty fabulous. It was fun just to wander and look.

 I had to get a picture of our gyro guy. It was the only dinner we repeated twice
because it was so delicious. And he was so sweet and darling and nice to us.
Kind of a fun find in the middle of the city of New York.

 

 And then what we were both most excited for, at least I know it was what I was looking
the most forward to. And I was so worried that the hype and my excitement would
mean that Wicked couldn't live up to those expectations. But it lived up to them
and blew them out of the water. Oh my word, we loved it something crazy.

And we'll end this day with a crazy story...

Very few days before our trip, Annie came home from church and mentioned that one
of her good friends would be in NYC with his mom at the same time we were going.
And they were also seeing the same showing of Wicked. I laughed at the coincidence,
because neither one of us had any idea the other would be going on such a similar trip.

Well tonight, Annie and I walked into the theater of 2000 seats and guess who
we were sitting next to? Not on the same row or near, but right next to?

It was absolutely crazy.

Which is a why I made Annie and Tate take this picture.
To always remember such a wild story and such a fun night with friends.

It was a good day three in NYC.

And a truly amazing 16th birthday trip for our Annie girl. I'm so grateful she is ours.

Annie's 16th birthday trip ~ Day 2

 We started the day by visiting Columbus Circle, just outside of Central Park.

 

 And enjoyed some really neat works of art in the area.

 

 

 Central Park is beautiful and strikingly peaceful compared to the city around it.

 

 Then we continued on to see the theater where Hamilton was playing. We chose not
to see a couple of plays because of strong language (no judgement for those that did
see them, just a personal preference for us), but Annie loves many of the songs from
these plays, so she wanted to at least see the hoopla surrounding both plays.

 

 And the second favorite we didn't see.
Annie and Ben Platt sittin' in a tree...

 

 

 Then we spent some time at both the M&M store and the Disney store.
We didn't buy anything, just took a look around, but these stores are truly amazing.

 These macarons are absolutely amazing.
I might have bought them more than once for Annie.

 And then on to the first true reason we were there--The Lion King. It was incredible.
We absolutely loved it and the second it ended, we wanted them to start again.
I just wish I had the words to explain how amazing it was or what an experience it was to watch.

And a Times Square selfie on the way back to our hotel.