One of my personal favorite trips over here was our first trip after Nikki joined me. We took a short journey NE to Birmingham to the annual Crufts dog show, something that I had always dreamed of doing. 4 days, over 23,000 dogs and ever recognized breed you can name. Yes, it was chilly and rainy, as seemingly always over here, but we had a blast and probably only petted a couple thousand or so dogs. No worries Coop, we are not bringing you home any brothers or sisters. Sorry, we aren't posting more pics of all the different breeds. I would recommend a dog show to any animal lover and I hope that we have the opportunity to do it again someday.

Little Sis gets to put out another candle. We are really proud of her and her family. I hope everyone has checked out her blog to see our nephew and niece. I am not sure you could ask for better kids, and that has to start with a great uncle and aunt, I mean mom and dad. I am so glad you guys got to get away this year and come see us. The trip will definitely be one of our highlights here. We love you and hope that you have a wonderful day.

Footnote - No Guinness were harmed in producing the pics while we were at the brewery in Dublin, well not by Amanda.

Longleat was the 2nd drive your own car thru type safari park I have been to, went to one in the Everglades a few years back. This one was far superior. Anyone that knows me real well, knows my love for animals, zoos, aquariums and such. We absolutely loved the whole experience at Longleat. We also took Justin and Cary by Windsor Castle and Stonehenge, but since we had already been there once before I will wait and post those pictures later.

The first part of the daytrip was Longleat Manor and Safari Park, which I will break into two posts. This place was definitely a highlight of our England adventures. The below pics are of the manor, grounds, and boat ride.

Two of my old friends from college ended up making London their last stop on a 3 leg tour of Europe around the 4th of July. Since there wasn't much celebrating happening here, we decided to have a little fun of our own. While they were here we went to a couple more concerts and festivals, took a decent size roadtrip to Longleat Estate (which I will post soon), Stonehenge and Windsor Castle, plus a few general things are town. It was a tremendous amount of good times and it is always good to see familiar faces in this city.

The highlights of the concerts were Jack Johnson, Counting Crows and another couple times with Ben Harper. Some of the images below are from Justin's snaps.