good old chinwag: Jubilee Weekend Recap (AKA all Jubilee'd Out!)

Did you Jubilee? I Jubilee'd! I think the whole world Jubilee'd! I am officially Jubilee'd OUT! What an amazing time to be in the UK for this historic occasion! And I love that the Brits take advantage of it by adding on a 4 day weekend for the workin' folk and a whole week off for the kids (half-term break).

We started our Jubilee with our weekly semi-date night out while the kids were at cricket and gym! It is such a nice time for Pete and I to reconnect and discuss the week over a pint/Pimms or my new fave a SHANDY (half lager/half sparkling lemonade).

On Sunday we met Pete's cousin Sandy, her husband Don and their daughter Dakota for the big Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames! To make a l-o-n-g story short, Sandy ended up marrying one of my brother Will's best friends, Don. Don and Sandy met at Pete's brother Robert's wedding and Robert, Will and Don all went to high school and UOP together. Not a very leafy family tree in our family!

Taking the train in to Paddington on Sunday morning was fun-people drinking champagne, bunting in the aisles and lots of festive Brits. We met at the hotel and then we all walked down towards the River Thames. We strolled down Piccadilly where huge Union Jacks were hung, giant street lunches were set up and every corner had a champagne tent. We came along a bunch of people all trying to see something (celebrity sighting? I am all over it!)...an lo and behold it was Prince Charles and Camilla! Up close and personal!

We walked through the Horse Guard Parade and right down to the river. There were throngs of people and HUGE flat screen TVs set up so you could see everything happening on the river. Which was a good thing as we never got to actually SEE the river. None the less, it was fun to be a part of the celebration, see all the British patriotism and then escape it all before it really started pouring! Luckily we DVR'd it at home so I watched it and got all the BBC commentary later! And of course, it was great fun to experience it was the Warde-Whites!

On Monday we rode our bikes to the next town over - Sonning. They had a great Jubilee celebration-each house decorated "scarecrows" in different scenes (the movie UP, Harry Potter, many Queen Elizabeth themes, etc...). It was great fun and we finished it up with a bacon and brie sandwich at the Bull-one of our favorite pubs.

On Tuesday, the Warde-Whites came out to Twyford for a local tour of our house and our little village. We had a lovely lunch at the George and Dragon (another fav pub) and we were so glad to be able to spend some time with them!

What I loved about the Jubilee is that is brought people together. Everyone we spoke to was so proud to be British and thought the entire weekend celebration was well done. All of us learned so much about the Monarchy and the history of the past Jubilee celebrations. That little gal is really amazing-her schedule is jam packed and she has so many events she has to host and attend! All at 86 years old! In the pouring rain! Dressed up always, wearing a hat and rockin' low pumps. Go Queen! And poor Prince Phillip-he is 91!

It was a huge deal at the kid's school and they both came home spouting many QE2 and Jubilee facts. They kids had a huge Jubilee lunch at school and were all given a commemorative Jubilee mug with the new Twyford village logo on it ---something they will remember and keep forever.