Sorry for the delay!

We guess that's probably a bit of an understatement! It's been over two months since we put pen to paper/fingers to keyboard so we've slapped ourselves on the wrists and promise to keep things more up-to-date from now on. Naturally there's a fair bit to update you on and, considering some of it was so long ago, we may be lacking on the details somewhat.

So, taking you back to November and just after our last blog post, it happened to be Annalie's birthday. Rather than go for a big night out, she opted for one of the many weekday "Happy Hours" in Glastonbury, choosing Sakura Garden to get a bit of sushi and other Asian delights. A few of our friends turned up to share the low-key festivities and wish Annalie well.

The following day we had scheduled to fly back to the UK for a whirlwind visit in order to attend Annalie's graduation ceremony in Leeds. One thing we hadn't considered was that it was the afternoon before Thanksgiving and, much like the UK Bank Holidays, there is a mass exodus on that afternoon. So we gave ourselves three hours to get to Boston, twice the usual time needed. As we set off, we started to hear about 40+ mile tailbacks on the I-90, or Mass Pike as it is affectionately known. Not knowing it too well though, we couldn't figure out which direction the traffic build-up was. So we feared the worst and just kept on heading for the airport.

Luckily for us, the problems were actually going Westbound and we were heading East, so we escaped most of the issues. It seemed that the exodus was headed out of Boston on the roads rather than escaping the city via the airport. When we got to Boston we found the terminal to be pretty empty, another surprise consdiering the extended weekend ahead. But on speaking to some of the BA staff, Americans don't tend to travel internationally at Thanksgiving, instead aiming for domestic travel to visit friends and relatives. So we had an easy journey through security.

Upon landing in the UK, the whirlwind hit. We touched down and headed straight for our hire car. After picking that up we went straight for our favourite breakfast spot near where we used to live in Hillingdon. After a good old Wonder Cafe meal (that would be a sausage sandwich on doorstop for Annalie and a Big Breakfast for Ian) we set off up the motorway to Derby. There we headed straight for our old "local", the Bonnie Prince, to meet up with some of Annalie's former colleagues for lunch. It was lovely to catch up with some of the old crew, but there were almost too many people and it was hard to get quality time with them all.

After a couple of hours there we carried on Northbound to get to Annalie's parents'. After a short break and a brew, we all went out to meet Andrea, Greg, Jack and Lucy for dinner (noticing the eating theme here?!) and our only chance to catch up with the "clan". The kids grow up so fast when you're not around to see them regularly. We hadn't seen them since they were over in Orlando in April.

On Friday it was over to Leeds to go to Annalie's graduation. After getting kitted out in all the formal garb for the second time, we wandered around a little, grabbed some lunch and then found our way to the ceremony room.

Thankfully it was all over pretty quickly, just 30 minutes stood between us and a glass of cheap wine! We didn't hang around for too long, having had a better offer from Annalie's old uni buddy James. He lives in Leeds at the moment so we met him and his girlfriend in the bar in Harvey Nics (oo er!) for a glass of more expensive stuff. With bubbles! We had a lovely dinner for the six of us and some more wine before a late drive home.

The following morning was a relatively early getaway again as we headed for Bristol this time to meet Ian's parents. We'd arranged to meet at Cribbs Causeway shopping centre as Annalie wanted to hunt for a dress for the IAE Holiday Party. Her rationale was that, if she bought something in the UK, there was less chance of wearing the same dress as someone else. Last year there had been one noticeable style that was replicated a lot so we didn't want any of that. Sadly her quest was unsuccessful and she left Cribbs empty handed.

However we successfully located Ian's parents and had a couple of hours shopping with them before we headed into Clifton in Bristol for our overnight stop. We'd all booked into the Avon Gorge hotel so that we had easy access to the delights of this trendy part of town. What we hadn't counted on was the weather - it absolutely bucketed down so we didn't get to make as much of it as we would have liked.

Annalie and Ian were most impressed with the fact that their room had been upgraded from a Village View room to a Gorge View so we had the spectacular sight of the Clifton Suspension Bridge right from our bedroom window. The downside was that, despite requesting a quiet room, it was adjacent to the lift shaft. Not being the complaining types, we didn't bother making a fuss and were just glad of somwhere to rest. After dinner, and a few more drinks, the party in the hotel was still in full swing, creating yet more noise to prevent a proper sleep. Upon our return to the US, a well-worded email complaint has yielded complimentary accommodation next time we wish to travel through Bristol. Might have to make the most of that before they forget about the offer!

Our final stop on our UK tour was to Wokingham to have Sunday lunch with TC, James, Elly and Matt. A fabulous feast is always guaranteed and this was no different. A wonderful three-course banquet was lavished upon us to set us up for our journey back to the US. It was a long journey, arriving back home at about 1am Monday morning. Annalie had to get up for work the next day, so it was a tough trip with all the travelling involved, but worth it.

For ease of reading, we'll split up the rest of the blog entries. At least then you can take it one step at a time!