And I would walk 14074 miles....

This summer I made a goal to blog once a week. (Ha) Oh well. Our summer was great! And it was incredibly too short! I will likewise try to make this recap short to make myself and yourself not go insane.

In June I finished my FIRST year of teaching! I don't want to brag or anything... but this is one of my biggest accomplishments- surviving and succeeding. It took some time and lots of tears and hard work but I feel like I did something good. My kid's test scores were high, I didn't end up in a mental institution, and I had warm fuzzy feelings in my heart of having done some good in the world. Who knows if I will feel that way when I go back to school on Monday... (just kidding), but for now it feels good.

After the end to a very very long year, I slept for a very very long time. The following weekend, we made the first of our 12 "trips." It was a very busy summer for Matt & me and Ranger. Maybe that's why our check-engine light has been on for the past 5 months. Hmm...

Anyway, here's our 14074 mile summer. 

1.  Hayley bug's graduation! Durham --> Cafe Rio --> Moorestown --> Durham

A week after school got out we headed up to Morristown for Hayley's graduation. It was fun to see the place that Matthew went to high school and sit through a thrilling and efficient graduation ceremony. But we are so excited Hayley is all grown up and graduated! (And now chilling up at BYU-I!) Also, sorry we stole "your" bed Hayley. :) Also, we seriously went to cafe rio every time we went up to Jersey this summer. (And maybe also on the way back...)

2. Independence Day / Dad Shipley's Birthday. Durham --> DC Temple --> Morristown --> Durham

Dad Shipley's birthday is on the Fourth of July, and every year they run a 4-miler. So we decided to run it with (but obviously not WITH with because we are slow) him this year. It was kind of a train wreck, but we finished? That's what matters, right? We made a stop at the DC temple to do some sealings with Brigham which was lovely. We had a BBQ,  played family games and watched the fireworks the Chinese neighbors next door set off. On our way back down, we brought Hayley with us to chill in Durham for the week. 

3.  To the beach with Brigham & Hayley! Durham --> Wrightsville Beach --> Durham

We had some grand adventures with Hayley until Brigham came for the weekend, and then we went to the beach! We had never been to Wrightsville Beach before, and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Beautiful weather, beautiful water, beautiful beach. We are in love with the Carolina coast! We treated Brig & Hayley to some good ol' chicken & waffles, I schooled everyone at Rummikub, and we just generally bonded. We love visitors. 

4. To the airport! Durham --> Morristown --> Philadelphia Airport (via Cafe Rio, obviously)

Chilled with the fam for the weekend before hopping on the plane to London! 

5. Flight to London!!! Philadelphia Airport --> Heathrow Airport

Our first international flight together! Wasn't bad at all, only a few hours. We met the fam at the airport and began our week long adventure in the UK!!

6. London!! London --> All over the place in London

Tried to map out all of the taxis, car rides, and tube trips we took in order to calculate this whole "14074 miles" thing and this is what it ended up looking like. In order to save you a whole lot of time reading about a thrilling adventure for us, but one that we'd say "you-kinda-had-to-be-there-to-get-it", I'll be brief. Here's all the places we went: Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Eye, Hyde Park, Regents Park, Kensington Palace, Harrod's, Emirate's Stadium, St. Paul's Cathedral, Wembley Stadium, Westminster Abbey, Stamford Bridge, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, the Cotswolds, Avebury, King's Cross, Paddington Station, Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace, Oxford, and many more little places. Here are some pics and stories.

Day one: after arriving, we hopped on the big bus tour. Which is probably a good thing we did this on day one because we were absolutely exhausted. I fell asleep twice on the bus. But it was good to get a good glimpse of this amazing city. 

Me and the squirt in front of Big Ben, which is a place that means absolutely nothing to her. 

Me and my babe in front of Westminster. We went for evensong (which is how you get in for free) and Matthew fell asleep. 

Mathlise at Kensington Palace

Regent's Park

He is adorable.

Story: We wanted to take a day trip out to see Oxford, Stonehenge, the Cotswolds, and Salisbury Cathedral, so we got a couple of car rentals to get out there since they didn't have one big enough for all of us. And amid all of the craziness of different traffic patterns and trying to keep up with the other car... Matthew got in his first car accident ever. It sucked. Big time. No one was hurt, and the people in the other car were also fine, but I cried so freaking hard haha. And that is why my face is puffy and hiding behind my glasses in the rest of these pictures. The funny part of all of this is that the lady that was driving the other car was using her husband's car, whom he NEVER would let her use because he was afraid she'd wreck it. This was the first time she got him to let her drive his car. And... that husband must have been psychic or something! I have to say though, that those Brits are seriously the kindest people ever. I got several hugs, and several people stopped to help. Even the scary looking policemen were so nice. It was a good experience considering the circumstances. And Emily got to get out of the car and play at a nearby petting zoo so she was pretty much the happiest out of all of us. 

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral. Yes, we may have taken an obligatory-immature peeing picture from the fountain but I will not post it here. 

Stonehenge. It was very bright.

A little hike to the top of Hampstead Heath on Pioneer Day.

Matthew in HEAVEN at Emirate's Stadium (Where his favorite Premiere league team, Arsenal, plays)

In the Arsenal Locker Room.

I started getting really good at these panoramic pics.

In the rain at Wembley. We unfortunately missed it after it closed.

After a long day, on the tube. 

Matt and Colie taking a nap in Westminster Abbey

Emily discovers that not all "parks" mean slides and swings. And she is not pleased with this new revelation. 

Platform 9 3/4

They paint over this once a week, unfortunately, so we will not ever see it again. 

7. SCOTLAND!! Kings Cross -->Edinburgh -->Kings Cross

Scotland was what I was the most excited for, for this trip. I had been to London before on my way to Uganda 4 years previously, but Scotland was something new. The McAllister's are Scottish by lineage (with a few other things mixed in ;) ) and I was STOKED to see the land of my forefathers! We were only there for two days, but it was totally worth it. We only had time to explore Edinburgh, but it is a seriously incredible city. 

Trying some legit Scottish food (Haggis wasn't that bad)

Edinburgh!! The city is so old looking- its incredible.

Our ancestor, Robert the Bruce.

Holyrood House

***Harry Potter Reference. 

St. Giles Cathedral

Holyrood House

Holyrood House

Holyrood House

I love Lauren.

Rubbing this toe brings you wisdom apparently. 

He is so lucky to have me.

8. Back to America! Heathrow --> Philadelphia

We randomly got bumped up to first class on our way back to the US. It was super classy. They offered us champagne and socks, and everything. Luckily, they also had orange juice.

9. To Pittsburgh, for a brief stay. Moorestown --> Gibsonia

Who knew that driving across the entire state of Pennsylvania would cost a freaking 70 dollars, not including gas?? So dumb.

We got to Gibsonia and chilled for a day, trying to get used to the US time before we hit up our next road trip. Only one really eventful thing happened while we were there, Lauren showed us the koi pond and had an accident. One minute she was showing me, and I turn around to walk in to the house, hear a loud splash and turn around to find this...

10. To Beautiful Nauvoo!! Gibsonia --> Nauvoo --> Gibsonia --> Durham

For the past 18 months, my rockstar Grandma, Sister Bonnie Layne, has been serving a mission in Nauvoo, Illinois. We got to go see her in all of her senior missionary glory during one of the last few weeks before she got released in October. 

She is quite the actress!!

Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Lisa

Nauvoo British Pageant. Absolutely phenomenal. 

Taking us on a tour of the Lucy Mack Smith home.

Temple before the pageant.

Grandma Layne has always been such a huge example of optimism and endurance to me. It was a privilege to see one of my role models serving our Heavenly Father in this capacity and seeing all the wonderful things that she has been doing in Nauvoo during her 18 months there. She had such a strong spirit when she led us through the tours. She was a fantastic missionary! And naturally, EVERYONE knew her and loved her!

11. Anniversary beach trip! Durham --> Wrightsville Beach --> Durham

We've been married 2 years!! Not that we've been married THAT long, but every anniversary we've had (including when we were actually married (that is three separate occasions mind you)), we've spent on the beach. Which is our favorite thing to do. It was a quick trip, but beautiful. Wrightsville Beach is absolutely gorgeous. Have I ever mentioned that Nicholas Sparks books were one of the reasons I wanted to move here? Well, it is, and obviously, he knew what he was talking about, because North Carolina is BEAUTIFUL!!!

This is Matthew peeing in the ocean, although at the time I did not know that was what I was filming.

Lookit all dem birds!!

I got so burnt. 

For our anniversary... I made Matt a shadow box with some Cambodia mission stuff

And he got me tickets to the Piano Guys concert in Raleigh. So good!!

12. The last shebang- back to New Jersey once more. Durham --> Cafe Rio --> Moorestown --> Wildwood Beach--> Durham

We made a last minute decision to go to Emily's New Jersey wedding reception, so we high-tailed it up to New Jersey for a quick weekend with the whole fam, picking up Cafe Rio (and Brigham) on the way. The reception was beautiful, the food was great, and we ended with a beach trip where I got totally burnt (again). We also took a quick trip up to Philly to see the temple. 

#parkersmileswithnoteeth

Not pictured in this blog: Our fantastic friends whom we bonded with in North Carolina while we weren't traversing the country and/or world. We love our NC family! We ended our eventful summer, the only appropriate way we know how, with Mapleview Farm Ice Cream. We literally did not stop at home, we just went straight for the ice cream. It is that good. And it is good to be home!