Babysitting my Nephews

A day after I arived back home I went to pick up my nephews so I could watch them for 4 days! It was definately a challenge, but we had a great time. I tried to have something fun planned for them everday. The first day we kept it easy and went swimming at Bubby and Stephs. The boys were so worn out I couldn't even wake them up from their naps! After mom got home and made dinner we took them to Woolley's for ice cream. I had promised Sterling this earlier in the day and he did not forget! As soon as we finished dinner he said, "Auntie Tay Tay can we go get ice cream now?" haha. 

On Thursday Briana joined us at the Museum for a day a of fun!We learned about the stars and sky from Big Bird, played with Legos, learned about dinosaurs, and played in the Children's area. The boys had a lot of fun and I think Briana and I did too! That night we went to Nanny and PawPaw's for dinner. Hudson ended up providing the biggest laughs of the week when he kept jumping on Sterling and said "I'm bull riding." Sterling got into it too and would try to "buck" Hudson off. (Sadly the pics are on my phone at the moment).

 

On Friday we went to Lego Land in Grapevine. It was definately an experience trying to keep up with 2 boys on my own. It probably wasn't the most fun we had during the week, but both Sterling and Hudson got a special lego toy that GiGi bought for them. That night Mommy and Daddy arrived to pick them up and they went CRAZY! 

Overall we had a great time! Sterling loved playing with my camera, Hudson with my phone, and they each had their own special thing they liked to play with at the house. They love Kitty and Ella and Sterling got to sleep in the guest bed like a big boy. Hudson can't wait to see me again and Sterling has a fear of being left everywhere now (he claims I left him at Lego Land and keeps asking Sissy if she's going to leave him!). Well 1 out of 2 isn't bad for my first try :)

Back in Texas

Well I made it through 6 months in London and safely back home. There are some things I miss and some things I'm glad to be back home to! Here's a short little list :)

What I miss about London:

• public transportation
• the amazing cool weather (and the rain)
• seeing great theatre every night!
• being able to walk around everywhere
• my friends
• My favorite places- hummingbird bakery, ben's cookies, leicester square
• Dorothy Perkins and H&M (my favorite places to shop)
• no tax on purchases (and knowing the exact total when you walk up to the counter)
• afternoon tea
• traveling across Europe

 Things that make me happy to be home:

• Fountain Dr. Pepper and Chick-Fil-A!
• Family
• Texas Rangers (and the upcoming football season)
• Queso and good tortilla chips
• Netflix
• Air Conditioning
• Clean contacts everyday, all day
• back to using my Iphone
• rock climbing
• traveling to see all my friends
• my kitty

 I miss you London! Texas I would love you more right now if you weren't so dang hot! Can't wait for October/ November to roll around.....

Goodbye London

My last week in London saw me crossing many things off my to-do list and visiting a lot of my favorite places. I went to 3 musuems, 3 shows, my favorite cupcake place, and a couple of my favorite restaurants. I also was able to go to the top of the Savoy Hotel and got the best view of London! I also went to the Great British Beer Festival! I did this as a student and had SO much fun. As my last meal me and the other GC's and Martyn (the honorary 5th GC) to Giraffe. It's our favorite place to have dinner and they have the best drink specials. Goodbye London! It's been a great 6 months! I'm sure we'll meet again :)

 Pictures from the top of the Savoy at night

 Onalee, Ren, and I at the Great British Beer Festival

The West End

One of the major perks of my job is living in the West End. I can walk to most theatres or if need be just take a short tube or bus ride. One of my goals while I was here was to see as many shows as possible. According to my calculations I saw about 2 shows a week and a total of 40! I saw some great theatre (and some not great theatre) but I had a great time experiencing all the different shows. They also don't make theatres like they used to. Everyone one I stepped into was like stepping into the past with different architecture and ornate carvings on the walls- usually a spectacle within itself. It's one of the things I will miss most about London! Here is a list of all the shows I was able to see. (* indicates it was one of my favorites)

You Wouldn't Know Him He Lives in Texas

War Horse

King Lear

Les Miserables*

Knot of the Heart

25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee*

Lion King

Wastwater

Blithe Spirit*

In a Forest, Dark and Deep (w/ Matthew Fox)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Legally Blonde

Precious Little Talent

Ecstasy

Children's Hour (w/ Keira Knightly)

Clybourne Park*

The 39 Steps

Moonlight

The Vaudevillians

Cause Celebre

Shrek! The Musical

School for Scandal

As You Like It*

One Man, Two Guvnors*

Much Ado About Nothing

American Trade

Acid Test*

Blood Brothers

Naked Boys Singing

Realism

Pygmalion

Anne Boleyn*

Hamlet

All's Well that End's Well

The Wizard of Oz

Wicked

A Woman Killed with Kindness

Much Ado About Nothing (w/ David  Tennant)*

Betty Blue Eyes

The Woman in Black*

Paris- At Night & Last Day

Our last night everyone headed to the Eiffel Tower to go up (unsuccessfully) so we resigned to crack some champagne and watch the light. The next morning we headed to our tour of Roland Garros where the French Open is played on clay courts every year. We then had a little free time until we were finally back on the Eurostar to get back to London. I had a great weekend, but getting back to London felt good!

 I saw the Bryan Brothers play at Wimbledon. They're the #1 ranked men's doubles team.

 On Centre Court

 Back at the Luxembourg Gardens!

And finally in London :)

Paris- Free Day

Monday was our free day in Paris and I did a lot of the same touristy things I usually do. It was a little cloudy in the morning, but cleared up by the afternoon to be a nice warm day. 

 View of Paris from the Sacre Couer

 The Sacre Couer

 The Arc de Triomphe

 Last time I was in Paris "The Hangover" had just come out, but they called it "A Very Bad Trip." I had been wondering if they were calling this one "A Very Bad Trip 2" and I was right! Pretty funny.

 Eating some delicious macaroons with a few of the students.

 Place de la Concorde

 The Louvre

 Palais du Luxembourg

 Jardin du Luxembourg! These gardens are so beautiful that I spent quite a bit of my day just hanging out here.

Paris- River Cruise and The Tour de France

A few short days after my family left I lead the Global Sport Management students to Paris for 4 days! It was a lot of fun, but exhausting being in charge of 20 people all weekend and making sure we didn't get lost in a foreign city. Luckily, it was the same program I did as a student so I remembered a lot of where we needed to go and what not. I also did a lot of research before we left! I only got us lost once and it was to dinner right now the street from our hotel, haha. Not sure how I did it, but it wasn't too bad. Our first day there we went on a river cruise of the city. We were so tired that's all we really did. Then on Sunday we watched the final 8 laps of the Tour de France. We stationed ourselves at Place de la Concorde meaning the cyclists rode around us. Then the program was nice enough to pay for our dinner that night! We had a great first 2 days.

 Notre Dame

 

 You can see the cyclists in front of the spectators.