Last Mike-free Day, and Pics from Buddy & Leia’s Visit

So it turns out that Mike read the itinerary wrong – he leaves today, not yesterday and arrives Monday, not Sunday. Which kind of sucks because I was super looking forward to seeing him. I even made a sign to greet him at the airport with. I won’t be able to use it now because I’ll be at work when he lands.

Luckily (?) it’s random enough that it can be hung in the kitchen as a silly/stupid decoration. Andrew and Laura got a kick out of it, so I don’t think anyone will mind.

Buddy and Leia are safely back in Canada, and Leia’s been uploading photos like a madwoman. I stole some to post here (she said it was okay).

Me, Buddy, & Mike during our walk around Bayswater:

It was a hot day. We soon required refreshments.

Then we walked to Paddington Station.

They were really jetlagged for the first few days, so we didn’t really do much other than that. Once we were back at work, they did a day trip up to Manchester where Leia, super Coronation Street fan, met one of the stars of the show. She was super excited about it – I think it was one of the highlights of the trip for her!

They also did a day in Brighton, then took off for Dublin and Paris before making their way back to London to catch their flight home. I took off last Thursday to give them a tour of London. London Bridge, which I think was a bit disappointing to Buddy as he was expecting the much more iconic and prettier Tower Bridge.

We saw the Tower of London. Here’s me and Buddy at the Tower, a picture I am mostly uploading for Mom. Buddy is her best friend’s son – Buddy and I (and his brother, Cody) grew up as cousins, pretty much. She loves both of the boys like nephews, and I don’t think there are any pictures of us together since the school Christmas Concert days.

The plan was to go to Covent Garden and do some shopping, then walk down and see the sights – Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Buildings, etc. Unfortunately, I forgot that not every body is used to walking everywhere all the time! Buddy and Leia were pretty bagged after shopping, so we hopped on the London Eye, and I pointed out the big landmarks we could see. Then we headed home and ordered a pizza and vegged out.

I’ve been pretty low-key this weekend. I probably would have gone somewhere if we’d realized earlier that Mike’s flight didn’t land until Monday, but we didn’t. I’ve been very domestically productive – laundry, vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, sweeping, mopping, dishes, etc is all done, but I’ve mostly been staying home and reading. I can’t wait til Mike gets home so we can go on MORE ADVENTURES!