Tony Meets the Queen

Since working at Twitter, Tony has had some of the most amazing experiences including riding helicopters and driving an Audi R8 on a race track. He's also met all kinds of "important" people like CEO's of other companies, Bono, Prime Minister and Governor of London, Peter Michael, and Kanye West. Of course, nothing will top that, living in London, except for the opportunity to meet the Queen. Before we moved here, I even joked that I would only move to London if I got a chance to meet Kate Middleton. Some British advisors asked, "Not sure about that, but how about the Queen?".

A few weeks back Tony received the official invitation from the "Master of the Household" to the Queen inviting him to the Buckingham Palace for a media reception. Tony kindly asked if his wife could also come along, but they said 'no'.

This Monday, Tony went to the reception held for the media at Buckingham Palace. He waited in small groups to meet the Queen. She had people that controlled every part of the meeting including how he would stand and which direction he would face when she came around. Tony was ill-prepared for this meeting. My advice for him was that he should not touch the Queen, unless she extends her hand first. I learned this from watching enough movies. Also, I told him he should address the Queen as "your majesty the Queen" which I learned from watching the Tudors. Luckily, he didn't follow my latter piece of advice. While waiting in line to meet her, he asked the person behind him what he should call her and he said "ma'am". Tony thought he was joking and didn't have time to confirm this as it was his turn next. So without addressing her, he said "nice to meet you". When he came home, I chastised him for not addressing her properly. And after some research, we learned something new. The Queen is addressed as "ma'am" as in "ham".

However, what make me so jealous when he came home was that the entire royal family was there, besides Prince Harry. Tony also got to meet Kate Middleton and Prince William and chatted with them a bit about Prince Williams recent helicopter tour. We didn't know anyone else was going to be at the reception except for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (her husband). Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were also in attendance but Tony didn't meet them.

Even after meeting all kinds of celebrities and "important" people, Tony is never too impressed. He left the reception early so he could spend time with one of the most important persons in his life, Lucas, before he went to bed.

Since cameras were not allowed, Tony had only an official picture taken with her Majesty. If we get that, I will post it.

Paris, Day 1: Taking the train

Today we took the Eurostar to Paris for the weekend. I've been telling Lucas that we were going to ride a train to Paris for days so he was so excited to finally get to go on the "choo choo".
After a nap at home, we got to the train station. Lucas had a nice lunch on the train followed by a wobbly walk up and down the eurostar with daddy. It was one of the smoothest trips ever and it's great that in just 2.5 hours, we can be in Paris.
Here he is standing so cooperatively in front of the train at St. Pancras station while mommy takes a picture.

A Walk Through Hyde Park

Lucas has been feeling under the weather the last two days and is still sick. He most likely caught the bug that Tony and I both had which included flu like symptoms, a bad sore throat, finishing with a horrible cough that just won't go away. We managed to claim some of the remaining weekend and get some fresh air, while enjoying the last days of fall.

Here are our pictures from today as we walked through Hyde Park:

It's Fall!

The changing of the seasons is something we Californian's don't really get to experience. The trees pretty much look the same year round, green and full, with the exception of a few that will turn brown and drop it's leaves. And when you find that one, you can't help but admire it's beauty. The orange, yellow, red, and brown hues of the beautiful maple tree may be the only signal that it is indeed fall.

This fall, however, is a new experience for me. Everywhere I look, is an indication that winter is soon approaching. Dried leaves line the streets and fill the parks leaving all the trees bare. I love watching the sunshine hit the colored leaves and emit a beautiful radiance. Lets just say, I LOVE fall and it's my favorite season. This year, I finally get my fall experience!

Since we've been back, Lucas and I have enjoyed walking through the parks and playing in the crunchy leaves. Lucas only stops to pull out leaves caught in the wheels of the stroller.  We're having fun!