A Jolly Saturday!

Cheerio chaps and Happy Birthday to my girl, Queen E!  Yep today was the Trouping of the Colours which means PARADE and ROYALS!  It was such a fun experience.  I am not obsessed with the British monarchy, but it is so neat to see it all, especially since America has nothing like it and it has so much history and traditions.  So since we wanted to do the parade the right way, a group of us got up early and made it to the Mall (street beside St. James Park and Green Park that leads to Buckingham Palace) around 8am.  The parade started about 10ish, but we wanted to get there and pick out a prime spot.  We chatted up with a “bobby” (police man) on where the best spot would be.  We choose a spot way down the Mall near where the Queen keeps her horses.  I think it is called the Queens Muse? I don’t really know ha!  This was near where the actual ceremony of the trouping happens, but we just got to watch them drive up and down and see all the guards and the bands.  It was quite lovely!  Here are so of my favorite pictures…

Alex and I standing on the Mall before the parade

Happy Birthday Queen E!  You look smashing at age 84!!

Thanks for the invite to your party!!

Hey there Prince William! 

If only you had met me first, Katy's are way better than Kate's!!

Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, and Camilla

Aren't they cute!

Queen E and her man, Prince Philip

I just love this!

The mall before all of the chaos.

See Buckingham Palace at the end of it!!

After they passed back by us and were heading towards the palace we made a mad dash towards the palace.  Why you ask!?  Well after the parade is over, the Queen and her family come out on the balcony to wave and then to watch the air show.  There was a mix of helicopters, WWII planes, and modern planes that flew over the palace.  The last set of planes had red, white, and blue smoke behind them.  It was so coooool!!! Look below for some more pictures…

Megan and I waiting for them to pop out on the balcony!

 Queen E and Prince Philip popping out to say hello!

I wish we could of sang a good ole round of Happy Birthday! 

Maybe next year!?!

 The Royal Family!

 Let the air show begin!

 The world's favorite couple! 

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

aka Will and Kate

The End :)

After the parade and the air show we ended up running into all of the Samford people who had come to the parade.  We all chatted for a bit before separating to enjoy the rest of our Saturday (it was about 1:30pm at this point).  The day had all of a sudden become beautiful, sunny, and warm and I wanted to soak it in.  Unfortunately London’s weather is crazy and always changing so when there is sun you HAVE to take advantage of it.  Actually the whole morning had been FREEZING while we stood there for hours.  It even rained alittle at some point.  So I was ecstatic for warmth and sun and there is no better place than a park to enjoy it.  I ended up hanging out in Green Park (right next to Buckingham Palace) from 1:30 until 4:30 with a few other people.  It was glorious!  I may have even gotten alittle pink from the lack of sun in my life…whoops! 

The rest of the day and night, Katie and I are just hanging out at the Daniel House.  I know lame, but I need to chill before tomorrow.  Tomorrow I am taking a FULL day tour which includes Stonehenge, the Cotswolds, Strattford (Shakespeare’s birthplace), and Bath.  I am pumped!  So everyone have a lovely day and Cheers yall!!