England 2012 (Part 1) We're making Yorkshire Puddings

Our trip to England went GREAT!!!  As always, it is so nice to see and visit with friends and especially Steve's family.  I can't imagine what it must feel like for Steve to be so far away from his parents and only able to visit with them once a year.  Sure, there is Skype and phone calls every week, but that doesn't compare to spending quality time with them. 

I had sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much anxiety about the flight!!!  There is only one flight a day that flies from Charlotte to London (non-stop).  It leaves at 6:25 p.m. and lands at 7:30 a.m. (England time) which means it is 2:30 a.m. here.  Normally we are able to catch a few zzzzzzzzzz before landing but this time was much different.  I did the brunt of the holding and watching over Lottie.  She was a lap seat purchase which meant she sat on our laps.  Looking back, I think she did okay.  She definitely had a couple of melt downs and cried for a solid 30 minutes about an hour into the flight (awesome!!!) but overall considering the surroundings, etc., she did fine. 

Once we land in London, we have to get through customs, baggage check and finally get to the rental car area.  From there, we have about a 2.5 hour drive north to Steve's parent's house.  Under normal circumstances we are to say the least TIRED - and that's with a couple hours of sleep.  This time around, there was no sleep whatsoever!!!  About an hour into the drive, I thought for sure Steve was going to pass out at the wheel.  As soon as we reached the "services" I jumped out, bought him a chicken and mushroom pie, a 5 hour energy and the biggest red bull I could find.  Once he inhaled that, we managed to make it to Whitwick - our final destination.

Whitwick is a small village in Leicestershire, England.  It was once an old mining village.  It was also once in the Guiness Book of Records for having the most pubs in so many square feet.... (I'll have to double check w/ Steve on that). 

Once we arrived, the grandparents were outside and waiting to see their granddaughter.  They were so excited!  And we were so excited to see the looks on their faces.  When we went over last year, Lottie was only 7 weeks old, so as you can imagine, this time around was much different!!

Our first day there (Friday) was spent having fish and chips, napping, drinking lots of tea and playing with the g-parents.  I was too tired to even take photos!  After a long day, we finally got to bed and the three of us slept until 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.  Needless to say, we all had major JETLAG!!!

On Saturday, we took it easy and hung with Steve's parents, went out to lunch and came back for a much needed cup of tea!  You absolutely can NOT beat a cup of tea in England.  Steve and I must have 4 or 5 cups of tea a day.  I could do a whole blog on tea time!  :)

On Saturday night, Steve, his mate Rich and I all ventured out to the Nottingham Panthers hockey game.  They were in the play offs and well, we all know how much Steve loves his hockey!!

Yes, Steve in one of his many jerseys!!! 

My first pint in England (Carling is my fav)

On Sunday, Steve's mom made a "proper" English dinner which always consists of beef, roasted or mashed potatoes, veggies and yorkshire pudding.  Over the years, I have really grown to love it.  It is that perfect Sunday dinner you crave that you used to have as a kid after church on Sunday.  Steve's mom is the PRO at cooking yorkshire puddings.  She claims the longer you leave it out and not messed with, the better it will rise.  The most important thing to know about cooking a yorkshire pudding is once it goes into the oven, you MUST leave it alone - DO NOT open the oven door or it will never turn out right. 



The finished product

This is Lottie's plate - large enough for a 6 or 7 year old child.  Yep, this is what Janet brought in for Lottie.  I had to laugh!!

Ready for her Sunday dinner!

After eating that large dinner, we took a little walk around the village

I guess I should mention it was FREEZING while we were over!  I did such a poor job of packing for Lottie and I!

We couldn't not get Lottie an ice cream!!

Lottie enjoying her ice cream back at her g-parent's house

After our Sunday dinner and relaxing with Steve's parents, we walked to the local pubs to meet some of Steve's childhood friends he went to school with..........  I'll save that post for tomorrow!  It needs it's own post!  :)