Summertime visitors...

Our first round of summer visitors from the States came this week... Mike and Jaime! Chels and I took off Thursday and Friday and just romped around town with them - so much fun!! I had forgotten how much I miss these 2!

Their first night here... dinner before the show (Les Mis). So happy they were here!!!

On the tube ride home from the show... we are all laughing at...

Mike's neighbor, and the bird poop on his shoulder.

Breakfast at Delice in Fulham... they have the best chocolate chip banana bread which you can kind of see below

Walking back from bfast - such a cute street

Double decker bus ride up to Hyde Park

We walked all the way through the park - we really lucked out on the weather!! It was gorgeous.

Westminster Abbey on the way to the pier for our boat cruise...

View of Big Ben and Parliament from the bridge...

On the boat cruise down the Thames... great recommendation Chels!! Loved it!

View of St Paul's from the river...

Tower of London...

Tower bridge!!

Love.

We got off the boat at Canary Wharf, walked around for a bit, then got on the tube back into London. Mike is fitting right in looking like a local, Jaims is not buying it.

Buckingham palace on our way to tea...

High tea at 3pm! Delish.

Mike being Mike.... and trying to teach me the proper pinky form for tea...

Dinner that night at our neighborhood Indian place..

Yumskies!

Going through their ipod enlightening us on all of the new songs and new artists to download. We feel so out of the loop when it comes to music over here! Music from American artists... that is.

Friday morning Chels flew back to the States, so I continued as their solo tour guide. First stop - Harrods! This is on the top floor in the equestrian section. Hahaha we couldn't resist the photo op with the lifesize horse display.

Cute!

Taxi ride to Notting Hill...

After Notting Hill we went to Abbey Road where the famous picture of the Beatles was taken...

Hahaha

Lunch at the Old Bank of England pub... they are known for their pies.

Here they are!! Steak and Ale pies - absolutely to die for.

The standard afternoon pit stop at the National Gallery to get scones and clotted cream. Um, I mean to look at the art. I did make them look at Monet, Degas and van Gogh before we had our snack. (Dad, you're welcome for not posting any pics of the scones and clotted cream.)

Just had to :)

Hahaha - we came back and took a cat naps before dinner.

Enjoying the amazing weather at an outside cafe in Chelsea - Bluebird.

And an ending dinner at Hache! Poor Jaims looks exactly how we all felt after 2 days on the go - exhausted!

And that's it! Mike and Jaims - it was an absolute blast! Love you guys so much... and miss you already!

Tranquility

Just got back from a weekend in Norway. AK's parents have a house on the southern coast, so they invited a few of us up for the weekend to rest and relax and experience a day in the life of the Norwegian locals. It was SUCH an amazing weekend. I've never been to such a peaceful place, and it was so unique in the sense that there were no tourists anywhere to be found. Just locals enjoying the beautiful summer that has finally arrived! Here are the pics!!

Group shot upon arrival!

The view walking to the cottage... adorable.

AK's parents at their cottage - love that I caught her mom taking a pic of us arriving. We felt like celebrities all weekend - she was the paparazzi.

The view from the kitchen window...

Hanging out on the deck right after we arrived...

Helping her parents set up the furniture on the deck - they had just arrived from the States the day before.

Dinner! We shelled these ourselves and made shrimp sandwiches!!

Fresh shrimp dinner on the deck overlooking the North Sea... complete bliss!

Here you can see the food a little better.

After dinner we took a walk around the island and saw the cutest most quaint little houses. A bunch of people came out to say hello to AK as we walked by... we felt like locals by association!

Bill and Becky outfitted by AK's mom... matchy matchy fleece.

Views from the walk...

After the walk they busted out the waffle maker and we had waffles for dessert at midnight... DELISH.

I think we each had no less than 10 each.

This picture was taken close to 1am... it is so far north it stays light SO late!

The little bedroom where Chels and I slept. So quaint!!!

The view from our bedroom window.

AK was our captain for the day. Her shirt cracks me up - there is a life vest inside! Lol...

We took the boat into town to walk around and do some shopping.

All we could afford in town was 2 ice cream cones to split between all of us. Each was $15! Everything is SOOO expensive in Norway!!

The harbor where we parked before we went shopping.

We bought some fish cakes here - the people who own this store work during the summer then close up shop and travel for the rest of the year. Not a bad gig.

The rainy boat ride home after shopping in town.

 After the rain stopped, we went back out and watched the Regatta (boat race) for a little while...

Then we boated into a different town for AK's dad to say hi to some of his friends. While he was visiting with them, we went to the local market and came across this.

Of course we had to try them...

AK's face says it all. This was the best 5 minutes of my life - eating the dough balls...

On the boat ride back home.

Hanging out back at the cottage enjoying the view (below) and playing with mussels... AK's dad called that afternoon "pure tranquility" - perfect description of the trip for sure.

A little Taboo action before dinner...

The girls making dinner...

Getting back on the boat for a night on some islands right off the North Sea (this was 10pm - look how light!!)

Parking the boat at the "Scarries" - some islands in the middle of the North Sea. I love that this picture captures how remote it is!

Chels, Becky and Troy searching for rocks to line the fire bed..

Getting ready to make smores!

Yay Bill!!! He did such a good job with the fire...

Candid smore creation...

Group pic!!

Pictures don't quite capture how cool the fire was!

All bundled up...

So grateful to the Evansen fam for opening up their home to us. This weekend was one of the top ones in 2011 for sure!!!