I see London. I see France.

I decided that it was in everyone's best interest to break up the fun that was our trip to Europe by geographic area, but just had to dedicate a post to our day in London. Too much fun for one post. So, without further ado, I give you The Richardses In...

The Queen heard we were coming and planned quite the to-do: welcoming soldiers home from war and having the band play the theme from E.T. among other things. She really outdid herself this time.
She flew the Union Jack proudly letting us know that she was 'in the house' that day. Unfortunately, we had too much to see and do to spend too much time at Buckingham Palace with her, but she understood. Next time.

An American in London.

Auntie Anne took us down to London and was good enough to show us around AND take pictures with both of us in them. Sure beats stopping strangers in the street - those money shots to be featured in later posts.

The guards at the gate took their responsibilities very seriously, so we thought it only right to take the photo very seriously as well.

Based on the look of the Queen's driveway (Buckingham Palace is right behind my fat head) we get along with the French a lot better than I thought we did.

I'm fairly confident this gentleman was guarding a public restroom and could have smiled, but after catching a glimpse of Mr. America's perfectly straight smile felt uncomfortable revealing his British teeth. Just a theory.

The sign said "Take pictures at your own risk. Horses may bite or kick." No pressure. I may have a shirt made that says something to the effect of "Touch belly at your own risk. Expectant mother may bite or kick." Yes, folks. We've reached that point. Friends & family (ie. if you're reading this) are OK. Random people off the street? Not so much.

We couldn't get enough of the big red double decker buses that just scream London.

The infamous Richardses at the infamous Trafalga Square. Not as many pigeons as I thought there would be, but plenty of evidence that they'd visited at some point.

Buddy just lion around at Trafalgar Square. He is not scared. Groan all you want. I am not scared of terrible puns.

We couldn't resist the temptation and joined the myriad of other tourists on a double decker bus tour through London. We enjoyed the witty commentary and riding around on the top so much that we ended up doing almost the whole loop on the bus only to realize that the majority of London's tourist attractions close mid-afternoon. Brilliant.

We did catch what we're told is a rare shot of Big Ben framed by the London Eye. So there's a plus. That more than makes up for not being able to go into the Tower of London and Westminster Abby. Oh wait! No, no, it doesn't.

For those Harry Potter fans out there, you might want to make sure you're sitting down for this one. I give you Gringotts. I'll give you a minute to let that soak in. The interior of the Australia House seen below served as the filming location for the Wizarding Bank operated by goblins. Pretty sure Brandon's jaw was dropped in awe as we passed this hallowed place.

Speaking of sacred ground, here is St. Paul's Cathedral, the church wherein Charles & Diana became husband and wife.

We took a chance crossing the bridge, hoping that we could catch a view of the Houses of Parliament. Indeed we did. I apologize that we seem to be in almost every picture, but you can Google pictures of the places - we were out to prove that we were there. Mission accomplished.

Speaking of missions being accomplished, here's Brandon in front of MI-6 Headquarters, where all of the Bond magic happens. Harry Potter & James Bond in one day? His head nearly exploded.

Throughout our trip, Brandon could be seen with his nose in a map, figuring out where we were and where we want to be. I was in charge of communicating with the locals and he was in charge of transportation for the entirety of the trip. It may sound strange, but one of the things I love about Brandon is his sense of direction. That's not meant as a metaphor or to be figurative in any way, I appreciate that he literally knows N, S, E & W. For Valentine's Day two years ago, I received a map of Las Vegas after one too many early morning phone calls from the side of the road, me weeping not knowing where I am. Santa even clued in and bought me a GPS unit at Christmas and even with its help, I manage to get turned around. So all hail Brandon: Navigator Extraordinaire.

Tower Bridge is falling down, falling down...wait, that's not right. But who really knows the difference? We drove over the London Bridge and don't worry, it wasn't falling down.

Not quite sure what I was going for here, but I certainly was going for it.

Brandon & Auntie Anne chowing on chips across from the Tower of London, shortly after Brandon met some folks from Idaho. I laughed at him for sporting his Idaho Vandals sweatshirt, but he had people approach him from across the street who were visiting London from Boise. What are the odds? Really, I'd like to know.

"What time do you make it?"

"Not sure."

"If only there was some way for us to know what time it is..."

Big Brandon meets Big Ben. Quite the match up.

In true London fashion, it was pouring rain by the end of the day. And, we arrived at Westminster Abby an hour after it closed and couldn't seek sanctuary from the storm.

The heavens literally opened while we were there and absolutely soaked us. I love England!

We got lost on our way back to the bus (Brandon wasn't leading) in the pouring rain, which was slightly discouraging and dampened our spirits somewhat (pun intended.) But, like a beacon in the night, we came across this bar, and for any of you who were fans of the Beastie Boys at one point (ahem, Jenn, ahem, Ady), you'll appreciate this picture as much as I did. Even in spite of the torrential downpour and the 3:00 closures, it was a great day.

Now, some of you are confused as to what's been going on with us this summer. Allow me to enlighten you. Brandon has been interning at a physical therapy rehabilitation clinic in Louisville, KY. He goes to Lexington on the weekends to visit his brother and sister-in-law and their adorable children.

I have spent the last month up in Canada with my fabulous family chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool and all shootin' some b-ball outside of the school...Not really. Just hanging out and spending time with people I love while it's still just me that I need to worry about. We took some family pictures again, since my brother will be submitting his mission papers soon and I wanted my ginormousness immortalized on film for generations to cherish (sense the sarcasm). I love my family so much, and it's been wonderful to spend so much time with them this summer and I'm looking forward to next summer already!I'm heading back to KY next week to spend two weeks with Buddy before returning to Las Vegas. Brandon's next internship is in Las Vegas, so he'll be joining me in early October. I will be without a computer until he gets back, so this will be the last you're hearing from me for a few weeks at least. Just when I was on a roll with almost weekly posts! But, I'm sure you'll survive. This certainly won't be the first time I've blog slacked (say that 5 times fast) and the world didn't come to an end like I thought it would, so I'm sure it'll be fine.