Westminster Abbey

Dear Grace,

We had our first family visitors 3 weeks ago! Grandma Patti and Papa Lon came to visit us in London! They were here for a short visit, but we did so much in only 3 days. Even though they were exhausted by the end of their stay, I thought we had a good balance of showing them London as well as typical moments in our everyday lives. They arrived really late on a Monday night. It was way past your bedtime, but Daddy and I stayed up anxiously awaiting their arrival. Every time I saw headlights light up our street, I jumped off the couch in hopes it was them. It's almost as if you knew they were here because as we were all starting to fall asleep in bed you woke up screaming bloody murder. Your face was beaming when I put you in bed with your Grandma and Papa. We were all wondering what was going through your little mind. You have been Skyping with them for months, not being able to touch them and now they were hugging and kissing you. We thought it might have been a very confusing moment for you. 

Daddy took the following day off of work so we could all hang out together. We waited to tour some of the most popular London sites until we had visitors. Our first stop...Westminster Abbey. This was one of Daddy and my top two favorite things we did when we vacationed to London 4 years ago.  We were so excited to go here with you and your grandparents. Enjoy!

Love, Mummy 

No one knows exactly when the first church was built on this site, but it was well over a thousand years ago.

The spectacular fan vaulting in the Lady Chapel.

Shakespeare rests on his elbow among the monuments in Poet's corner.

Charles Dickens was buried in Poets' Corner in a private ceremony.

The eleventh-century Pyx Chamber with its rare original stone altar. This is the oldest part of Westminster Abbey.

There was a dedication to the Royal wedding in the thirteenth-century chapter house where the monks gathered daily to conduct their business. 

The oldest door in England, in the chapter house vestibule, dates from about 1050.

Westminster Abbey is HUGE! We took a much needed break in the College Garden which is 900 years old and is the oldest garden in England. There was even a friendly cat who literally jumped up on my lap when I tried petting him. Awwww...his personality reminded me of L. Gumball. 

I'm always stopping in churches to light a candle for my girls.

The quire screen from the nave, with Isaac newton's moment by J.M. Rysbrack on the left. Michael was excited to take this picture because of the scene in the movie, The Da Vinci Code. 

Just around the corner...

I'm sad I forgot to have my parents pose in front of Parliament for a photo opp.

Check out this fun couple and his British tights and satchel. 

to be continued with the Churchill war rooms...