The first surprise wasn't really a "surprise" but it was surprisingly how quickly it all came together. We will be adding another of the four-legged kind to the Carpenter household in the beginning of June. Mike voiced his desire early on (I think even in his interview) that he wanted a police dog. Well - it has happened. The BLM worked on it a few months ago but financing, amongst other things, just didn't allow it to fall into place. About a week before my birthday, a new "plan" for getting Mike a dog transpired and the day before my birthday, Mike was officially notified he'll be getting a canine partner. He'll leave in June for training with the dog for 6 weeks, when he'll also meet his new partner.
A 3 1/2 year old german shepherd named Ranger will be joining our family this summer. Ranger is already fully trained and is said to be a great dog that does an excellent job of "shutting off" when he's not working, which is good for Stuart. Stu drives me to have a short fuse so I'm sure Ranger could have a shorter fuse for dealing with naughty Stuart. The only part I'm not looking forward to is that we will now be dealing with yellow, black, and probably some brown dog hair. UGH!! It'll be a full house!
We're back from London!! It was a fantastic trip and I'm sure it'll take a few posts to share everything we did and show some pictures.
The surprise ~ Mike came home on May 4th with a Coach shopping bag(a purse store if you've never heard of it that I have a bit of an obsession with) so I assumed I was getting a new purse for my birthday! YAY! BUT ~ Mike still maintained, prior to me opening the gift, that this would be the best birthday ever and I have no idea what I was getting. We went upstairs that evening to pack for Sedona, AZ(which is where I've been planning for us to go since February I think) and Mike came up with my present and said "Under the circumstances, I think you should open your gift." I opened the box and there was(as I thought) a Coach purse and also a Coach umbrella, which really is a fantastic present in iteself. But inside the purse, there were papers that I pulled out and opened to see a Delta itinerary. WHAT?? I searched the itinerary and it appeared we were going to Boston but as I looked closer I realized Boston was a connection and we were going to London. WHAT?!! It was nuts...I was totally shocked and really still am. Mike said I was acting like one of the kids of the Disney commercials when their parents tell them they are going to Disney World the next day. What an unbelievable surprise!!
It was an amazing trip and I'll share more details this weekend in my next posts. But here are a few
factoids you may enjoy:
-Being on a plane for 6.5-9.5 hours isn't as bad as I thought. I wish all domestic flights had individual TV's for each seat. Not to mention, they feed you quite well.
-I started dreaming in an England accent about 2-3 days before we left London. It was pretty funny.
-The 'London Pass' was the best purchase Mike bought for this trip. It allowed us to enter into all the attractions without the entrance fee(@ some attractions we could skip the line), it gave us a travel pass to use on the subway, the trains, and all the buses, and there were also food disounts(which we also utilized). Well worth the money!
-Speaking of the Tube(the subway), it was incredible. The London subway was wonderful and relatively easy to access and use.
-Although we utilized the public transport, I still will maintain that this is the most I've ever walked on a trip. Literally, it was miles and miles and miles and miles...
-I am absolutely positively directionally challenged when I am in a place with tall & large buildings. Good thing Mike is NOT directionally challenged so we never got lost and I don't think we ever went the wrong way on the Tube.
-Mike is my favorite travel partner. We go at a similar pace, normally always want to do the same things, and typically will try something new if the other wants to do it. So fun!!
I think that's enough for now. More to come on the London trip this weekend.
View from the top of the Tower Bridge looking down on the Thames. The Tower Bridge by the way was really cool...an amazing site.
From the Tower Bridge, we headed to the London Tower. Huge place with lots of history and lots of stairs. 
If I recall correctly, this is the White Tower, which is inside the London Tower. This is where the crown jewels are kept, which we were able to view.(but sadly not allowed to take pictures)
Fantastic picture of the Tower Bridge as a boat goes through. Again, some impecable timing as we waited for our Thames water boat cruise that we were in the right place at the right time to see this. Magnificent structure!!
Thames River Cruise - Behind us is Greenwich. Ever heard of GMT, in regards to time?...that's Greenwich Mean Time which all time zones are based on.
The Tower Bridge. Mike thought it was hilarious that my head was between the towers. :) When we were in the Tower Bridge, we were in those top walkways between the two towers.
As we were going under the London Bridge on our water cruise.
Big Ben(the clock) and Parliament. Isn't the gothic style cool?
After a long day, one definitely need a beverage. Can't remember the bar's name but we just made happy hour for half-price drinks! More impecable timing.
And we finished Day 2 eating at Cafe Pasta ~ where Mike enjoyed seafood pasta, I had delicious ravioli and we shared a big bottle for Peroni(Italian beer - you can also get it in the U.S. - it's not specific to London or anything.)
