Riles in the UK

Finally, our London trip had arrived, and it was off to the UK to celebrate Joe & Helen's wedding! Our little world traveler did very well on the red eye flight, sleeping most of the way and waking up a couple times to eat. After hopping on a train and then into a cab, she arrived at the hotel at last. She enjoyed a quick lunch with Mom and Dad, and then it was time for a nap. Later on, she met up with Helen, Joe, Leighton and Angharad for a yummy dinner. The next day, Mom, Dad and Riles got a late start as they were exhausted from the trip and slept much later than usual. They made up for lost time, though, jumping on a tour bus and riding around the city. They stopped for lunch in a café where she stuffed herself with some very yummy spaghetti bolognese. She saw most of the sites from a distance, but hopped off to take a closer look at the Kensington and Buckingham palaces. She went to Harrods, an enormous department store with more departments than you could ever think of - a pet boutique, childrens boutique, pastry/cupcake shop, fine watches, wine tasting, and on and on. She saw Big Ben and the Tower of London, and then took a ride up in the London Eye - she could see all of London from up there! After a nap, she went for a walk with Mom and Dad and wound up having dinner outside at the original Hard Rock Café!

The next day, Joe met them out for brunch at Duck & Waffle, a really cool restaurant on the 40th floor of a high rise that overlooked all of London. After that, they took off for some more sightseeing on foot, with Joe as their tour guide. They went inside the Tower of London and got to tour the entire castle, and even see the crown jewels worn by the various royalty over the years. Next they walked across the Tower Bridge, which also had great views of the city, and even got to see the bridge lifted so that a boat could go by. Finally, they headed to Joe's house to stay the night, where his mom watched Riles so Mom & Dad could check out the "pub" where Joe used to work.

On Thursday, it was time to take the train to Leeds to begin the wedding festivities. Mom, Dad, and Riles joined a bunch of the bride and groom's close friends and family for dinner at a nice Italian place. Afterwards, Riles stayed in the room with a sitter while Mom & Dad went up to the hotel's sky lounge for some drinks. On Friday, the trio took a nice walk around Leeds, bumping into and having lunch with Leighton and Angharad, and then touring the indoor/outdoor mall as well as the market. Finally, Saturday was the big day. At 11:30, they rode the coach over to the church to watch the ceremony. Next, they got back on the coach where the groomsmen were serving champagne, singing along with the radio, and giving the driver a hard time - cheering when he went through a yellow light and booing when he stopped at one, for example. :-) Their next stop was the reception which was held at a place called The Mansion. While Mom & Dad had some cocktails, Riles played around on the floor, making friends with all the wedding guests. The reception continued with a nice sit-down dinner and plenty of drinks and dancing. Riley had a lot of fun with Angharad and Bubu, who both made sure she was well taken care of the whole time. She stayed for some of the festivities, until Mom rode back with her to the hotel to drop her off with the sitter. Sadly, they had to leave the next morning, and the trip back (~23 hours door to door) felt a whole lot longer than the way there. But they had an amazing time and can't wait to make a return trip in the future!

After she returned from her big trip, Riles went to the doctor again to confirm that her ear infection hadn't fully cleared up. She got another round of antibiotics, so let's hope they take care of it once and for all so our little girl can be pain-free. For the most part, it hasn't seemed to slow her down though. She has enjoyed being back at daycare where she can show off her pulling up skills. She has started to "cruise" around the furniture as well, so it's only a matter of time before those first official steps! Her babbling is also starting to take the form of words, her favorite right now being "bababababa".