Wimble-de-don 2008

Hey, look where we've been recently.  You know you are spoiled when you wake up in the morning and say, "Andrew, let's go to Wimbledon today, okay?"  And then you can get there within one hour.

We are sooooo lucky.

Wimbledon is one of the first things I thought of when we were talking about moving to London.  I knew it would be something I would see.  But then, we get here and find out that you have to sign up/be part of lottery starting in January, OR be related to Her Majesty in some form or fashion.

Which we ain't, for sure.

It also costs an arm-and-a-leg.  I really need mine these days so that is not an option at this point.  

However, we now know how it works......and next year John and I will go sans kids.

We lucked out this year with walk-up tickets.  We chose (1)a Wednesday, (2)a day slated for rain, and (3) a day that is not part of the finals.  In other words, cheap tickets; or at least cheap for London standards.  (I'm not converting, I'm not converting...)

Here is Andrew with his giant Wimbledon tennis ball.  It really is bigger than his head.  The grounds are beautiful with purple, lavender and aubergine flowers.  Hanging baskets everywhere.   Gorgeous.  Absolutely gorgeous.

And in keeping with tradition we had the obligatory strawberries and cream.  I had to explain to Andrew that "cream" was the same thing as melted ice cream.  He was quite willing to give it a try after that.

Scoreboard full of names I don't know.  (except for a couple of course)

 

With our ground-entry tickets we were allowed to hop in and out of matches.  Any match, that is, except Centre Court, Court 1 and Court 2.  Bummer.  Those courts actually had guards in full military uniform standing at the entrances so there was no sneakin' in.   This is an American in the Juniors league....Bradley something-or-other.

This is our first rain delay.  (we had 2)  The game was stopped and then all these little elves appear and work magic within seconds to cover up the grass courts.  It was just as fun to watch as the games;  amazingly organized, quick, and regimented.  

You've probably seen this view on t.v.   It is "the hill".  They run documentaries and live games on the big screen.

Note to self: 6 year olds are not entertained by tennis.

Andrew survives the day.  (pre meltdown) 

(see the hanging baskets above his head?) ( I've just got to get a telephoto lens....)