England 2012 (Part 4) Let It Snow

One of my favorite things to do while visiting England is what else, SHOP!!!!!!!!  One of my favorite places to go shopping is in Nottingham.  All of the shops are outdoors and the layout of the city is amazing!!!!!  Some of my favs are H&M, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, Oasis, Zara, French Connection, etc.  There is no place I've ever been that compares to shopping in Europe.  Amazing to say the least.  While I normally come back with accessories galore, I only came back w/ a pair of wedges this go around!  However, Miss Lottie got hooked up!!!!!  It's so funny how when you have a child (especially a little girl) you suddenly go from popping out to buy yourself something to no longer shopping for yourself and shopping only for the little one!!!

Steve is not a big shopper and doesn't particularly love it, but on my big shopping day out every year, he is the perfect little shopping partner.  He carries my bags, my coats, hangs outside the fitting rooms, actually seems somewhat interested in what I'm looking at.  I think he knows how much I look forward to it every year and just wants to make me happy. 

Of course after all that shopping, a girl has got to eat.  We popped into the pub and ordered a couple of pints and sat down for lunch. 

After a full day of shopping (and the dreary rain that followed) we called it a day and headed back to Steve's parent's house. 



After hanging with the g-parent's for a bit, Steve and I managed to get out for a nice Indian dinner (date night).  It was delish and nice to be able to get out, just the two of us.  It is so rare these days. 

On Wednesday morning, Lottie woke up at her usual 7:30 a.m. so Steve took her downstairs to get her milk and oatmeal ready.  A few minutes later, Steve came back upstairs and said, "You are not going to believe this!!!"  He pulled back the curtain and sure enough it was snowing!  Not just the small stuff, huge flakes!!  I decided to go ahead and get up (it's not everyday you see snow in the Carolinas). 

The English were shocked to see the snow especially considering it had been in the late 60s the week before.  Nevertheless, I soaked it up and took Lottie out for a quick look.

G-Parent's back yard

The rest of the morning was spent sipping tea, talking and playing with Lottie.

Grandpa feeding Lottie her breakfast

So cute!!!!  Lottie LOVES books - the whole time we were there, she was constantly bringing books to her grandpa to read - oh and check out that British headband!  She loves it!

We decided to get out of the house for lunch and headed to the Charnwood Arms.  I had a steak and ale pie w/ mushy peas and mashed potatoes!!!!!!!  So, so good!!! 

Steve and his mom

Lottie stuffing her face with garlic bread

Due to the weather, we stayed in for most of the day on Wednesday.  It was cold and snowy!!!!  So we played Wii!!

Grandpa has a Mii

We don't usually have a lot of down time while we are in England.  We are sooooooooooooooooo busy trying to make sure we do the rounds to see everyone and do all the things we want to do as well.  So, having this down time while it snowed was a nice way to slow things down mid week. 



Up Next: Cricket Time





England 2012 (Part 3) A Day at the Zoo

Gosh, I can't remember the last time I visited the zoo - it must have been when I was 12 or 13 years old.  As a family, we'd always make the trek to Asheboro or Columbia once a year.  Hopefully Steve and I can carry on that tradition with our little family.

We made plans with one of Steve's good friend - Richard, his wife Vickie and their adorable little boy Matthew (almost 2 years old) before we left for England to take a trip to Twycross Zoo.  I was so pumped!  Lottie is really into books right now and almost all of her books have animals in them.  She absolutely adores BEARS (don't ask...) and thinks everything is a bear.  She points at all the animals in her books and says Bear!  BEAR - another one of her first words!  Hilarious! 

Unfortunately, there were no bears at this zoo!  :(  As I said in a previous post, the weather was pretty chilly while we were over.  Me being Mom of the Year didn't bring Lottie's heavy coat (Idiot) so we resorted to a lot of layering and blankets when we were out and about. 

We met Rich, Vickie and their son Matthew at 11:00 a.m. and from there we started exploring...............

When we first walked through the gate.......

Monkeys

Check out this little cutie!!  So sweet!

This Monkey was enjoying a cucumber!

I can't even remember what this was.......  some sort of strange breed.....

Lottie checking out the donkeys which I called mini ponys and got quickly corrected by a laughing Steve saying those are donkeys Tonya - come on!  :)

Bear, Bear, Bear

It's a Giraffe (in a cage), no but in a really small area!

Look Dada!

I'm not sure if it was just me, but I thought the elephants and giraffes were kept in pretty tight quarters. 

Family Portrait

Take two........

Lottie's future English boyfriend!!!  They were so sweet!

Yes, my child is wearing no shoes - pretty sure she ripped them off and may or may not have tried feeding them to the animals

Penguins

No Clue - Fox breed?????

Matthew and Vickie

HUGE turtles

After all the excitement, this little lady was tuckered out!

But she's back.........  Tea time at the cafe!

We had such a blast with Rich, Vickie and Matthew!  They are such a sweet family.  After a long day, we headed for the gift shop.  Steve bought Lottie an elephant toy!

I am so looking forward to another visit to the zoo - hopefully we can make it to Columbia later this year! 

Up Next: Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!

England 2012 (Part 2) A Sunday Afternoon in Whitwick

A Sunday afternoon in Whitwick is like going back in time........ the 1980s to be exact!  These folks are TRUE characters.  They all LIVE and BREATHE rock and roll!

Since I've known Steve, he has always been a rock fan.  He's probably seen every 80s rock band two or three times in his lifetime to say the least. 

While Steve has changed his look quite a bit from the 1980s (well, he's decided he will wear nothing but jerseys now), the Whitwick crew hasn't changed a bit. 

I so look forward to the Sunday afternoon drinking session with these people every year.  Honestly, it is like being at a rock concert.  Once the sun goes down and the jukebox gets going, it is a full on show.  Probably the greatest thing about these people is there is NO falseness, NO pretentiousness - they are honest, hard working, kind, generous and loving people. 

I can't tell you how much I've grown to love these people!

Steve with his grade school buddies

Aftershock - Warm!!!!!  Ugghhhh

(The English rarely do shots and when they do, they are warm and gross - I do my best to avoid them)

Johnny and I

Mackey, me and Stan the Man

Steve, Thiss and John

Lee and Emily

(Almost Newlyweds)

Me and the Big Guy

Sharon and I

Steve and Mr. and Mrs. Thistleton

The Crew before the sun goes down..........

And here we go......... 

Steve is feeling it........

Yep, that's it - clearly it's time to go home!

As always, we had the best time hanging w/ the Whitwick crew!!!  It is truly too bad this only happens once a year because it is one of our favorite days out! 

Up next...........Lottie's first trip to the zoo!!