So the condensed and abridged version. My husband spent months planning an amazing adventure jammed packed with so many sights and experiences. Started in England with Stonehenge as the first stop, then off to Bath. The weather was a little dreary the first few days… though it wasn’t cold, just very very damp.

Next day brought us to Oxford and Stratford-Upon-Avon. The garden’s at Christ’s Church were simply divine. We were unable to enter the great hall due to timing… but it’s where the dining scenes in Harry Potter are filmed.

Cedric enjoyed the side trip out to Blenheim Palace… and the weather dramatically improved.

Returned to Stratford-Upon-Avon for dinner and to catch a showing of Julius Caesar at the Royal Shakespeare Company Theater. We spent the morning enjoying the beautiful gardens of Anne Hathaway’s cottage – no not the current actress, but the wife of the Bard.

We then hit the road to stroll through the grounds of Rockingham Castle – only to arrive and learn they were not open… so a quick little stroll around the village, a new set of plans and we set off to Fountains Abby. Unlucky for us, we hit bumper to bumper traffic and we reached Fountains Abby at closing… but not willing to not see at least a little bit, we took of at a run to enjoy the INCREDIBLE grounds.. even if only for few minutes.

We did have the opportunity to entertain some of the locals AND get our Christmas card photo!

We then headed north to Scotland. The family, no joke, enjoyed some haggis, did NOT enjoy being eaten alive by the midges, DID enjoy the amazing coast and DID enjoy Eilean Donan Castle.

alright… where was I? That’s right, Scotland. So a couple of castles and off we flew to London. London was well, London. We enjoyed Tea at Claridges – to which the Boo requested we come back the next day… uhhhhh, No. Shopped at Harrods, took a double decker tour bus, visited Buckingham Palace, went to the British Museum and a whole lot more!

If you get really bored, there are about a bajillion photos on my flickr stream. Enjoy!

All in all, we had a wonderful holiday! The only real downside we experienced was the torture doled out by the BBC on it’s radio stations… which seemed to be the only thing our rental car picked up. We were so excited at the Broadway Tower the radio played both the Killers and The Kings of Leon, back to back! Excitedly, we asked the gentleman at the register what station… then hurried back to the car to tune in to BBC 2. Knowing that no one would believe us, I pulled out my phone and made a voice memo of the songs that came on… No joke, in this order… we heard:

Love is a Battlefield – Pat Benatar
Addicted to Love – Huey Lewis and the News
don’t know title – Martina McBride
Living by Numbers – New Musik
The Corrs
Thin Lizzy
Purple Rain – Prince
British Pop –
Look of Love – ABC
Daniel Merryweather
Mama Mia – ABBA
Just Can’t Get Enough -Depech Mode
British Pop
Annie Lennox
Millennium – Robby Williams
Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice
Hung Up – Madonna
Rhinestone Cowboy – Glen Campbell
Walk On By – Dion Warwick

We also heard Elvis – remixed, at least 5 times during our trip. The original Star Wars theme medley and countless other terrible songs that really shouldn’t be played on the radio. Best part of being home was our Sirius Radio!!!!