Day Thirty-two in England - London Monument and still a little girl at heart

Ello mum,

I want to start by saying Unkie Dave is an awesome guy. Even though he is sick, he has gotten up every morning to get us up for the day so we have plenty of time to do the things we want. Some mornings it's more of a struggle to wake up, but I appreciate so much that he's doing this grand favor for us. This morning, after Unkie Dave coming in a couple times, I finally got out of bed and got completely ready. I went back into our room, expecting to see Alix getting ready as well, but I found her still sound asleep in bed. I gently shook her and told her it's time to get up, but all she did was mumble slightly and turn over. Bored, I turned on the tv and got on the computer. After about 45 mins to an hour, she finally opened her eyes and was surprised to see me dressed and ready to go.

When she got ready, we were off to the LONDON MONUMENT. I took pictures and filmed us climbing all 311 steps to the top.











It was an awesome view. I didn't expect it to be that tall, but I could see the entire skyline of London. It was amazing. On top of that, when we got to the bottom, we got certificates proving we climbed the monument! Very cool :)


After we climbed the Monument, we decided to go to Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square. There were a tone of booths selling tickets for musicals in Piccadilly Circus for half price! Alix and I are going to do some research to see what we want to see, but I'm thinking Les Miserables :)

We grabbed a bite to eat and walked around some of the shops in the Square. We wandered into what seemed to be a mall, but was actually one big arcade! It was so cool! It had three floors and was filled with games, bumper cars, and bowling. Neon signs hung brightly everywhere we turned and we stared in awe. The only thing that would have made that experience better... IF WE HAD A COUPLE OF BRITISH HOTTIES TO BOWL WITH. But, we enjoyed ourselves none the less :)

When games began to bore us, we walked outside and it began to rain. It was getting late anyway, so we decided to head home. On the way home from the train station, there were tons of puddles from the rain. My inner child came out in the best of ways. I got a running start and jumped into a huge puddle. I stomped through every puddle from then on out, thoroughly soaking my shoes and pants. I couldn't hide the huge grin on my face. I felt so carefree and I didn't care how childish I acted.

Well, now that I'm all warm and dry, I think I'm going to go to bed now.

I love you mommy and, as demonstrated tonight, I'm still your little girl despite how old I get :)
<3 always,
Your Rae of Sunshine

Day Thirty-one in England - another lazy day

Ello mum,

Today Alix and I had, yet another, lazy day. Although, we did help out poor, sick Unkie Dave. Since he came back from California, he hasn't been feeling too well and the doctor thinks it is possibly swine flu. So, Alix and I had to go out and pick up his prescription. We took a bus to the nearest hospital and after we picked it up, Auntie Sue called and said she could give us a ride home. We didn't have to wait too long for her. When we got home, we decided to go out to eat. We walked down the block and half the food places that looked interesting were closed. Our last resort was McDonalds (hey, we were desperately hungry). After we ate, we went over to Sainsbury's to satisfy our need for ice cream. We ate contentedly on a bench across from the Sainsbury's and took in our surroundings. It was a little cloudy, but good weather otherwise. We walked around a little more and found a shop with clothes on sale we bought a skirt together. We each thought it to be an adorable thing, but didn't want to buy two, so we're going to share :) To seal the deal, we paid half each, making it an unwritten contract that we both own at least half of the skirt. We walked home happily and now we're just chilling and enjoying each others company.

Tomorrow we're going to the London Monument and we'll see what else we can do after. I love and miss you mommy!

<3 always,
Your Rae of Sunshine

Day Thirty in England - "I've been here a month - Tower of London

Ello Mum,

Wow, I've been here for a month now! It's a wonderfuly strange feeling.

Anyway, Alix and I got a bit of a late start this morning (surprise, surprise), but we FINALLY went to the Tower of London! It was so cool! When we stepped out of the underground, the first thing we saw was the Tower in all its magnificence. Before we went to buy our tickets, hunger called and we bought some sandwiches. When we bought our tickets, we walked inside and decided to venture by ourselves rather than waiting for a guided tour. It was so awesome walking around all the towers and learning about the history of it all. We visited a tower where there was a case study about two princes that were kept there and another tower where there were carvings in the walls made by prisoners. When we exited that tower, we saw a guard standing in front of another tower. He was REALLY cute. He had brilliant blue eyes and I love a man in uniform! Lol, anyway, the last place we visited (before we were booted out at closing time) was the crown jewels. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures, but I'm so glad I got to see them. They were incredible. Just as we were leaving, two guards caught my eye and, what do you know, it was the guard we had seen earlier! We both did a double take looking at each other, but he left to carry on with his important guard duties.

We walked around town for a little bit, but it began to rain so we decided to head home.
Well, good night mommy. I love you!

<3 always,
Your Rae of Sunshine

Day Twenty-nine in England - "Someone needs to take a nap."

Ello mum,

Today, Dave and Sue came home! In our sleepy haze, we were very happy to see them. They were exhausted, so they retired to their bed. I went back to sleep for another hour or two, then I finally got out of bed. Alix, on the other hand, refused to rise. Now, I love Alix like I would love a sister and we hardly ever argue, but this morning, we were not happy with each other. I tried talking to her to wake her up, but she snapped back at me, so I left her alone. When Alix is tired, she has quite a temper. I knew she didn't mean it and she would have apologized... if she didn't roll over and go back to sleep. I don't understand how she can sleep so late and fear I never will. Afraid that my temper would flare up against hers, I got onto the computer began listening to music and facebooking.

When Alix finally awoke, we decided to go shopping for the supplies needed to make Dave and Sue dinner. Not wanting to wake them unnecessarily, we left them a note saying we'd gone out for a bit. We walked to Sainsbury's in silence. I felt a tension between us and didn't like it one bit. While in the store, we bought rice, chicken, a creamy mushroom sauce, some rolls, and juice to replace the bottles we had depleted. Walking from Sainsbury's, I offered some comic relief and that seemed to make the uncomfortalbe tension ebb. We were much happier when colaborating to make dinner.

Dave and Sue woke up right in time to help us set the table and await our suprise for them. They loved it. Dave thanked us continuously and commended us for a job well done.

After dinner, Alix and I were back to our old happy selves. I guess food and sleep are incredibly important things when it comes to our happiness!

Well, I think I'd better get to bed now. I love and miss you incredibly mommy.

<3 always,
Your Rae of Sunshine

Day Twenty-eight in England - Standing in two time zones.

Ello mum,

Church today was really good. All the lessons kept my attention and, in turn, kept me awake! It would seem that we missed the date of the dance. I was very depressed. Anyway, after church, we didn't have long before Dawn was to pick us up. We quickly made some ramen noodles to tide us over until dinner. When Dawn picked us up, her and her husband (whose name I never quite caught) took us to Greenwich! We walked around the observatory of time and saw the Prime Meridian! It was so cool. We learned all about time and clocks and stuff like that.

It didn't take long for us to get hungry again, so they took us to a pub and we ate roast beef and vegetables. It was very delicious and for dessert, we got a chocolate sundae. Right as we stepped out of the pub, the heavens opened up and it began to rain. We hurried to the car and drove around for a bit until the rain subsided. They showed us around Greenwich some more, but our exhuastion became apparent, so they took us home soon after. It was a very nice Sunday and I loved Greenwich. It holds so much history and importance.

I can't believe after doing so much today, my email is still shorter than normal! I guess I'm not utilizing my writer's ability to its full potential. Well,

Dave and Sue get home tomorrow and we can't wait to suprise them with their sparkling clean apartment and the dinner we've planned!

I love and miss you dearly mommy. Good night.

<3 always,
Your Rae of Sunshine

Day Twenty-seven in England - "I sure do miss your cooking."

Ello mum,

Well, I think this is going to be one of my shortest letters yet. Alix and I were so exhausted from yesterday that we didn't do much of anything. We cleaned the flat (that EVERYONE so constantly reminded us to do. Ahem lol.) When finished with that, we chilled. We watched tv, facebooked, took showers, and made baked potatoes for dinner! I've come to realize how much better it is living with someone who provides the food. When living on your own and the responsibility comes down to you, it's suprisingly difficult to keep up with. No worries, we're surviving, but I sure do miss your cooking. I can imagine how glad you must be to read that.

Well, tomorrow we're going to church and Alix's other great Aunt Dawn is picking us up to spend the day with her. No worries, no more unplanned visits.

Well, I suppose I must get some sleep otherwise I'll be falling asleep in church! Good night mommy. I love you so much.

<3 always,
Your Rae of Sunshine

Day Twenty-six in England - London Dungeon

Ello mum,

Wow. Today was definitely an adventure. A good one of course. Today, Alix and I met up with our friend Megan, who also happened to be on a Euro-trip. We took the train to the underground station where we found Megan. After taking the underground, we got off and found the London Dungeon! We began waiting in one line and actors from
the next door attraction, the London Tombs, started to tell us how much better the London Tombs were and how much scarier and cheaper priced it was. We gladly found we were waiting in the wrong line because there weren't any actors near the other line. After waiting a few minutes, two men (with French accents) walked up to us and asked if we would like to buy their tickets because they didn't want to wait in line for that long. Only paying 15 pounds each (which was an unbelievable bargain) we had to go back and wait in the first line. More actors tried to entice us to go with them to the London Tombs, but we valiantly refused. Soon, we were inside the London Dungeon. Like the fraidy cat I am, I jumped at every turn. The actors inside told stories of murder, torture devices, and tragedies. I bought a picture that was taken from a ride called "The Gallows" where we were lifted up where nooses hung in front of us, then we were dropped suddenly. Our facial expressions are priceless!! When we exited, the plan was to meet up with Megan's parents near the Tower of London. It took us forever to find them, and in turn, we didn't get to go to the Tower.

However, Megan's Mom and Dad were able to get us tickets to a show in Pickadilly Circus (or Square) called Avenue Q! First, we were hungry, so we went to Sainsbury, bought food, and went back to eat at Megan's flat. After resting our feet, we took the underground to Pickadilly! It was amazing! There were so many attractions! We found the theater and the show was really good. It was a bit raunchy, but good none the less.

Tired, we decided it was time to part ways with Megan and go home.
Well, good night mom. I love and miss you.
<3 always,
Your Rae of Sunshine