Mama's Beauty Salon

I have no idea why, but Mallory pretty much wants nobody in her personal space. This makes going to the doctor, dentist, or hair dresser a nightmare. She had told me that when she turned four she would let Claudia cut her hair. Well, she is now almost four and a half and has changed her tune. I told her that she really needs a haircut and she said she would let me do it. Lucky me!!! I borrowed my friends scissors and decided to at least try to make this experience fun for the both of us.

As with all the fashion magazines, you must take the "before" photo.

Waiting to get her hair washed.  I told her this was how I used to have my hair washed when I was a little girl so she was all for it.

The "after" photo.  Mallory did really well and sat very still while I cut her hair.  I'm pretty sure the promise of going to get good behavior frozen yogurt helped!

Happy Birthday Matt

This year Mallory has really gotten into birthdays and wanted to help make Matt's day extra special. She helped make lemon bars (his favorite), clean the house, and put up the "Happy Birthday" sign. While hanging up the sign she asked if we could put up streamers and balloons. I told her of course and mentioned how fun it would be to put up a ton of streamers for Matt to walk through when he came home. Mallory loved the idea and we went to get the crape paper and....well, let's just say we did the best with what we had!

Matt was a great sport and made Mallory feel so special for making him such wonderful decorations.

My Helpers

Mallory has been asking to make banana pie and I have no idea why. I keep asking her "why banana pie," and she just says "i don't know, but can we make it?" I finally said yes and kept thinking there is no way she is going to eat this and I'm not sure not eating it. I suggested we look for some recipes and I found basically found something that we could call banana pie in a cup. I showed Mallory the picture and she was ready to make it. We went to the store and got our ingredients and made it after Maggie woke up from her nap. I love this picture of the girls helping. 

This is the first time that I ever said "smile," and they both decided that the wanted to actually pose for the picture.  Now if they will just start actually looking at the camera!

Please No Autographs

Just in case the paparazzi where outside of Aldi, Maggie wore her shades into the store and during about 90% of our shopping trip.  I don't know what she was thinking because she rarely wears them.  Too funny and too cute!

Lunch with Dadda

After playing with our friends this morning, in Frisco, we stopped by Intuit and had lunch with Matt.  Mallory enjoyed walking through the office and seeing the large cafeteria that they have.  I brought pizza for the girls because they have never wanted to eat anything that was being served before.  Little did Matt and I know that we would only be eating about half of our delicious meals that we purchased from the cafeteria.

I chose the salmon with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes. Mallory ate a ton of the salmon (I was completely shocked) and asked me to make some at home.  Maggie at Matt's soup (shocked again).  After lunch, we enjoyed yummy cookies and then headed home so Matt could work.  We all had a nice time and of course Matt enjoyed showing off the girls.

London Trip - Day Seven

Today (Wednesday, June 26th) was our last day in London.  We had planned on going several places with our London Pass, but it expired the day before. Whoops!  Apparently the Shakespeare Globe Theater is really interesting. We just ended up seeing the outside.

To be honest, I wasn't really sad we didn't get to tour the Globe Theater.  Matt was though. I wanted to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace and if we toured the Globe we would miss this event.  It all worked out because Matt and I had a good time seeing this take place.

The crowds outside the palace.  We stayed across the street and saw the event from afar. There was no way we would have ever gotten close to the gates at this particular moment.

First, the marching band went by and they were followed by guards on horses.  From there, they go into the gates of the Palace and who knows exactly what they do.

I had seen advertisements around the city for In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion that was in The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace.  I asked Matt if we could go to the exhibition and he said he was willing. I knew it probably wouldn't be something he would enjoy that much.  The exhibition displayed paintings and even has some authentic clothing illustrating the costumes that the Royals wore during the 16th and 17th centuries.  During this time fashion was very important to court life and was an important way to show wealth.  I was disappointed it was mainly portraits, but I learned that clothing that old really had no way of surviving and I had had no idea.  I was under the impression that it would have survived as everything else has, but it makes perfect sense!

If you haven't figured it out already I'm rather intrigued with the Tudor dynasty.  The bust below is that of a young Henry who later became King Henry the VIII.  The portrait beneath is one of most recognizable portraits of the King.  I was giddy that I got to see the real deal. I had seen them in books, but now I saw them in real life.  How cool is that?

Queen Mary I - daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

Queen Elizabeth I - daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  She is considered one of the greatest monarchs in British history and her reign was called "The Golden Age."  

After viewing the exhibition, we went back to our hotel and had Afternoon Tea.  It was so good!

The remainder of the afternoon we just took a walk around London.  We stumbled across The Goring Hotel where Kate Middleton stayed her last night as a commoner before marrying Prince William.

Matt and I had a wonderful time while we were in London. The weather was great and it seeing all the historical places was fascinating. I would definitely go back some day, but take the girls with us.  This was the best birthday present ever!

London Trip - Day Six

This morning we woke up bright and early to be able to see at the sites on our itinerary.  Our first stop was the Tower of London. I was really looking forward to coming here because this is the site where many common and famous prisoners were tortured or beheaded (yes, I know that sounds morbid) and it is the home of the Crown Jewels.

The Tower of London was founded in 1066 as part of the Norman conquest of England.  Over the centuries, it has grown to the size it is today.  In 1078, William the Conqueror began having the White Tower created.

In the middle of this picture you can see a gray line (so to speak) that is flush with the grass. This is the remainder of an original wall that the Romans built when they conquered this area thousands of years ago.

 Throughout the centuries the palace has served as a Royal residence, an armory, a treasury, home of the Royal Mint, a prison and home to the Crown Jewels.  The castle was mainly used as a prison during the 16th and 17th centuries for those who had fallen into disgrace with the King.  One interesting thing I learned was only eight people were actually executed within the Tower walls. Most people were executed on Tower Hill which is north of the castle.  When traitors were brought to the Tower they came through this gate called Traitor's Gate.  The waterway on the other side of the gate is the River Thames.

This building is called the Waterloo Barracks and it holds the Crown Jewels.  There are 23,578 gems in the priceless Crown Jewels!

These buildings were built during the Tudor era and look quite odd among the rest of the stone structures that make of the Tower of London.  In front of the housing is an area called the Tower Green.  This is where it is believed most of the beheadings took place.  However, research has proven that the most famous beheading, that of Anne Boleyn, took place in front of Waterloo Barracks.

This is the Chapel Royal of St. Peter and Vincula.  Unfortunately, we were not able to go into the chapel.  The two wives of King Henry VIII's who were beheaded are buried here - Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Other people buried here are Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher; both who refused to state that King Henry VIII was head of the Church of England.

Our next stop was Tower Bridge.  Many people, including myself, believe that this is THE London Bridge.  It is not.  Tower Bridge was commissioned by Queen Victoria and took eight years to build.  It was completed in 1894.

Our last stop for the day was St. Paul's Cathedral.  It got its name because of its dedication to the Apostle Paul when the original church was founded on this site in the year 604.  The current building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the late 1600's. We were able to climb up the rotunda and see some breathtaking views of the city.

This cathedral has held many important services over the centuries. The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spenser was held here because it has more seating than Westminster Abbey.  The church has also held the funerals of Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.  Most recently, it held the thanksgiving service for the Diamone Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

After seeing St. Paul's we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go see the play One Man, Two Guvnors.  It was quite humorous. On the way to the play, we walked through Trafalgar Square and saw the National Gallery.