I am a bit late in getting this together, but we've been a touch busy since the big day last month. It is long, but six years of photos deserves two songs. I hope it makes you smile like it does me.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Busy Busy Busy
Busy.
Soccer.
Mother's Day.
Work dinners.
Birthday parties.
Mother-Son bowling.
Doctors' appointments.
Summer vacation planning.
Trying to stay connected with my friends.
J working in the yard on our few sunshiny days.
T on the road or working so late it is like he's out of town.
His travel only gets worse in June with 4 trips in 5 weeks.
Preparing for recitals, graduations and general end-of-the-school year celebrating.
Not a single photo taken EXCEPT for the professional session for the kids which I will post later. Needless to say, out of 70 frames, only about 4 of G are usable, 3 include her brother. First time that has ever happened. My bad for making an afternoon appointment. My kids smile much brighter earlier in the day.
If this all didn't sound exciting enough, Sunday brought a burst water main just outside the house - about 4 feet below a very thick concrete sidewalk, surrounded by many utilities. Thankfully, I found the water pouring into the basement rather quickly. The water company had the main shut off fast, while the in-laws arrived quickly to watch kiddos and help with clean-up while the plumbers began to fix the issue. Lots of trucks outside our house for the next few days trying to return our property to normal. Grateful that the damage was so minimal.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
London Calling
T has an annual meeting in the UK each spring. With a late Easter and the Royal Wedding causing extra business holidays, his only chance to make the trip ended up falling over Easter weekend and B's 6th birthday. Rather than heading out and feeling guilty about missing the two important events, B and I got to tag along on T's trip.
Day 1 - Arrive in London and try to stay awake until bedtime.
We decided to head over to Harrod's for some snacks and toy shopping. The brisk walk in the sunshine kept us awake. The streets were bustling with holiday shoppers as people prepared for the Easter holiday. B wasn't excited about the crowds, but didn't seem to mind the break for Chocolate Fondue at the Chocolate Bar.
We settled into our hotel and got some sleep. The view wasn't half bad either.
London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace
All visible from our window. As the wedding approached, the flag on top of Buckingham Palace
changed and colors on the buildings also changed.
Day 2 - Easter Sunday - Attempt to see Changing of Guard
We started the day with Easter Mass at a beautiful church just a few blocks from our hotel. The biggest difference we noticed was that the church was nearly empty about 10 minutes before Mass began, but was full within 1 minute of the scheduled start time (so it was like a typical Catholic Sunday Mass!).
We attempted to see the Changing of Guard at Buckingham, but since a large portion of Green Park was closed due to the media coverage of the Royal Wedding, we couldn't see anything but the crowd.
We saw some interesting characters as we crossed Green Park.
In an effort to see more of the city and stay awake, we boarded the Hop On/Hop Off tour bus near our hotel. Along the route we saw:
Westminster Abbey
St. Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge
As we waited for a bridge lift, our littlest traveler took a snooze on the bus.
Easter dinner was a very traditional one at HARD ROCK CAFE! :) Thanks to a heads up from cousin Amber, we asked for a tour of "The Vault". We were escorted downstairs and got to see several photos, guitars and other memorabilia. Unfortunately, the $50 million Jimi Hendrix guitar was out on tour. 
Day 3 - Tower of London /London Eye
We continued our Hop On/Hop Off tour that allowed for a River Thames cruise. We took the tube over to Westminster, gawked at the thousands lined up for a glimpse inside Westminster Abbey, opted instead to visit the gift shop before those thousands finished their Abbey Tour and headed in for some trinkets.
T & B with Big Ben
The London Eye
Tower Bridge, from the water
Tower of London
Yeoman Warder (who prefer not to be called Beefeaters)
Raven
Guarding the Jewel House
Kate Middleton look alike doing press for CBS.
After we finished walking around Tower of London, we headed back toward Westminster and rode The London Eye. Since we were blessed with such beautiful weather, it was great way to see the entire city. The lines were long but the wait was relatively short. B was pretty excited about the fact that it doesn't stop moving - each car is unloaded and loaded while the Eye is still in motion. 
The big structure in the middle of the photo is Buckingham Palace, as seen from the Eye.
Day 4 - B Turns Six!!
T had to head west for his meeting, so B and I had a few days to play in London on our own. After reading lots of info about the city, B chose the London Transport Museum as his first stop on his birthday. I call it "6 year old boy heaven". There were lots of trains, buses and buttons to push, as well as video game simulators for driving buses and trains, not to mention, a game that took the littlest visitors all around the museum collecting different shaped hole-punch stamps in their game card.
Playing with a display of Tube trains over the decades
Birthday ice cream at Harrod's.
Playing in Green Park (between our hotel and Buckingham Palace).
Day 5 - London Zoo
We took a relatively long Tube ride coupled with a lengthly walk to the London Zoo at Regents Park. I enjoyed the less-crowded, more neighborhood-like atmosphere. We even walked past Whole Foods.
Leaf cutter ants - the ropes between the glass cages for NOT enclosed.
If an ant wants to go rogue, they are free to do so.
The proximity of this kid's head to the ants still makes me nervous.
Notice the warning signs...
This animal bites, too, if he gets really hungry! ;)
We ended the day at Paddington Station meeting T's train from Hereford. B had a great time watching the arrivals screen as well as watching all of the trains and commuters enter and exit the station.
Day 6 - Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Park at Kensington Garden
I wish we had stumbled upon this park earlier in the week. It was huge and each section had enough vegetation surrounding it that you felt like you were in a totally different world. We only had a couple minutes to explore before we had to head to the airport.
We took several trips on the Tube, which meant a little walk from our hotel to one of two nearby tube stations. B's favorite included a walking through a maze of pedestrian subways. It felt fitting to snap our last few photos of these two heading back to the hotel.
The taxi ride to the airport was a bit annoying as there were so many rode closures in preparation for the wedding the following morning. The driver even stopped to fill the gas tank, despite our rapidly approaching departure time. (Even left the meter running!) Thankfully, the airport felt empty and our flights were uneventful.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
We Partied with Chuck E (Again)
Before heading out of town over Easter weekend, we celebrated B's 6th birthday with a few of his friends from school. He loves arcade games right now, especially the kind that spit out tickets and allow you to purchase prizes, so we headed back to Chuck E. Cheese.
This photo was actually a case of mistaken camera settings, but it fit the feeling of the day - crazy chaos all around with a big smiling boy smack dab in the middle of it all.
Monday, May 2, 2011
G Love
Three can be challenging.
Three can be creative.
Three can be fabulous.
T's parents got the joy of spending 7 days with just G while T and I took B with us on a quick trip to London. She had times of great joy and times of great...angst.
Three is such a crazy age. She is so full of love and cuddles one minute, followed quickly by a tantrum for some crazy reason (my recent favorite was the fact that May 1 was NOT Christmas morning) followed by a song and dance routine. Most of her struggles seem to stem from the fact that she can't have whatever she wants EXACTLY when she wants it. Then there are those days, oh those days, when she will ask for something and we'll say yes and she still throws a fit because...well, I am not sure why she is throwing a fit. I think it feels so insane right now because she is the youngest and as her brother learns patience and reasoning, her lack of both seems so extreme.
For now, I will soak up the cuddles when they come, try to stay patient when she isn't and try not to get worked up when it isn't Christmas morning on May 1.
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