London: The Missing Photos

If you already haven't figured it out, the London live blogging experiment failed miserably. I've received several comments about my mysterious disappearance after Day Two. At very least I discovered that a couple of people care.

Days 3-6 did very much take place. They include visits to Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the River Thames, Westminister Abby, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and more. So, pretty much everything good.

Anyways, enjoy:

London: Day Two

Unfortunately, they don't call it a "business trip" for nothing. A lot of work got done today, leaving little time for play. Nevertheless, in my determination to see something I ventured out yet again.

This time it was Wellington Square (isn't Wellington the dude that has beef named after him? Who wouldn't want to have beef named after you?). I also made it to Kingsbridge, home of Harrod's department store, and back to Piccadilly for some Fish and Chips.

London: Day One

I've arrived. Having gotten in during the evening, I didn't have much time (or energy) to do much, so I went for a walk to grab some dinner. I ended up at Buckingham Palace and Queen Victoria's Memorial:





From there, I made my way through Piccadilly Circus, London's equivalent to New York's Broadway:



That's probably more than enough for only a couple hour's time and short walk. More tomorrow...

Live Blogging from London

Recently, I was assigned to a project at work that involves traveling to several of our domestic and international offices. This week I'm in London, and plan to use my spare time to take advantage of the opportunity to explore one of the most interesting and historic cities in the World.

Over the next couple of days, I'll check-in with updates.

Aloha

We just returned from nine days in beautiful Hawaii on the island of Maui. We went for the (somewhat) bi-annual Brown Family Vacation, and for the wedding of my sister Meagan, and her now-husband, Tom.

It was amazing! Everyone agreed that Maui is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. We spent a lot of time at the pool and at the beach. Jane really took to the water and loves playing in the sand, building sand castles. We also took a daily walk and did lots of shopping at our favorite spot in Lahaina - Front Street.

And the dining... We ate A LOT of fish. We sampled some authentic Hawaiian cuisine when we visited the Old Lahaina Luau. On our first night, we used Chad's birthday as an excuse to indulge in one of our favorite treats only found at our favorite Hawaii restaurants: Hula Pie. Nothing quite says Hawaii like mounds of macadamia nut ice cream on an Oreo cookie crust, topped with hot fudge, macadamia nuts, and whipped cream. Hmmmmm....

One morning, we took a catamaran excursion snorkeling. Jane came along and really took to the boat. She even swam in the ocean for a bit, despite being a bit timid around the sea life. While snorkeling, several of us saw and swam along side some giant sea turtles.

On October 18, Meagan and Tom were married. The ceremony took place in the morning on a beach at nearby Napali Bay. Tom's immediate family had flown in to be there. Together, we all stood close as Meagan and Tom took their vows as directed by a Hawaiian minister officiating the ceremony. It was very beautiful.

By the end of the vacation everyone had agreed it was everything they could have asked for and more. It was such a success our family is already talking about going back.

Disneyland...Again

There's nothing like an impromptu trip to Disneyland. Even if you've gone practically every six months for the last two years.

This time we tagged along with Chad's parents, brother, and sister.

With Colleen in the last leg of her pregnancy and unable to ride most rides, our focus turned squarely to Jane. It was a lot of fun to see how much she has grown up since we last visited, and how she experiences everything differently despite just being a little bit older. While she still prefers to admire the characters from a distance (apparently, she finds life-size mice with over-sized features scary), she now knows all their names and mused for days about seeing them.

She has also clearly chosen her favorite rides: Dumbo, It's a Small World, and Winnie the Pooh, which she insisted on riding several times. We've been hearing about the rides, the fireworks, and the "beautiful castle" since we got home. That makes the trip even more worthwhile.

While in the area, we took a break from Disney for a day and went to Huntington Beach. Huntington is easily the nicest beach in Orange County and we had a ton of fun building sand castles and playing frisbee.

The trip went about as well as could be expected with the exception of a few "parental right-of-passage" moments. Jane spent a couple of days sick early in the trip. Not just "tummy hurts" sick, but "foreign substances everywhere" sick. The details won't be shared here, but needless-to-say they will live in our memories forever.

Zippity Doo Da

A couple of weeks ago, we piggybacked a vacation at Walt Disney World off of a business trip in Florida. In between fulfilling work responsibilities, we found plenty of time to play.

Disney's Animal Kingdom was definitely the family favorite. Throughout the park "natural boundaries" are used to keep the all animals within contained spaces while creating the illusion they can roam free -- it's very impressive. The safari attraction is probably about as close to a real safari most people will ever experience.

We also went to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and MGM Studios. We rode all the classics like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise. One night, we ate dinner at a Colonial-themed restaurant in the Magic Kingdom serving thanksgiving style dinners -- there's nothing like all-you-can-eat turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes.

Our hotel was magnificent. We stayed at the Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's tough to beat a view of giraffes roaming free 25 feet off your balcony.

Jane loved every minute of it. We had to literally pull her off of "Dumbo" and "It's a Small World".

Here are some photos: