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.

Cousin Craziness

Last weekend, B, G and I went to visit Cousin A and her parents. It was loud and crazy but the kids had a blast. Auntie Doc even got to remove B's stitches. I'd make a sarcastic remark about her old lady glasses but that wouldn't be nice. ;-)!

Keep an Eye Out for the Water Bill

Laundry. I have been doing an obscene amount of laundry over the last few days. Why? First, we spent a few days visiting my sister. After any trip away from home, we always tend to have a backlog of laundry. Add to this issue the fact that my sister has a long-haired cat and T is allergic to cats (leads me wash EVERYTHING as soon as we return lest he become one big hive). My sister is also currently caring for a long-haired dog, so we brought lots of dog hair home, too. Second, the day after our return G decided to get the flu. It started in the car, then continued into the parking lot and all over me. Since G has a habit of getting car sick, I wasn't really worried, until she woke up at 1 am sick in her crib. She is only 2, so every time she got sick (several over the next 36 hour period) despite her efforts to make it to some kind of basin, most often her aim was off and lots of laundry needed to be done as a result. Good news is that her favorite lovey is machine washable. Even better news, she seems to be back to her old self as of this evening. Phew.

I have been planning to post pictures from B's birthday celebrations as well as our trip to the great state of Idaho. But, there is another batch of laundry to fold.

Lovely Scotland

T and I were able to spend a week in Scotland, part business trip, part vacation time.

I snapped this photo from our hotel room. No super zoom. This was our view. Looking right at the Edinburgh Castle.

We eventually walked up the hill and checked out the city views from Castle Hill.
Yes. That is the Old Course at St. Andrews. The birthplace of golf. We played the Jubilee Course, it is much younger,opened in 1897. Though it rained and the wind blew, we had a wonderful time playing golf here and at Gleneagles the following day.

Typical scene on the main roads of Edinburgh - kilt-wearing bag piper. Love it.

One evening, we enjoyed a tour and dinner at The Whiskey Experience. We got to see a 3500+ bottle collection of whiskey, as well as eat a lovely dinner and have a fun whiskey tasting.

Once again, we were blessed with a fun-filled and relaxing week away from the kids. MANY MANY MANY thanks to the grandparents for watching the munchkins so we could really enjoy the time away!

File this under cute things the kids say...

We took a quick trip to the coast over the holiday weekend and stayed at the Inn at Spanish Head. The day after our return, B wanted to asked me a question.

He started with, "When we were at Ant Splash Head..."

He noticed my puzzled look and said, "You know. Our hotel at the beach."

My reply. "Oh. Inn at Spanish Head. Got it." Giggle. Giggle.

Catching Up

One of the magical connections made with international adoption is when you are able to spend part of your journey with other families a little bit like your own. Shortly after our referral for G, I started trading email with a lovely lady in Wisconsin. She received a referral for a beautiful boy, MZ, who is just a few weeks older than G. As we waited for the court in Ethiopia to make it all official, we traded messages back and forth, trying to make sure we both knew all of the latest details. Those emails were such a wonderful lifeline during those long days of waiting. We were given US Embassy appointments on the same day, which meant we got to travel to Ethiopia together. Not only did they have a baby waiting for them in Ethiopia, but they also had a blue-eyed blonde 3 year old boy with them at home. 

Well, 14 months have passed since we said good bye to this incredible family. When I planned our long weekend in Chicago, one of my main motivations was to be able to spend some time with this great family, face-to-face. Introduce our now 4 year old boys. Let the youngest play together.  It was a beautiful day of just chatting and playing. We were fed well and everyone was happy. I just wish we lived close enough to see one another more often.

Our lovely hostess, R with MZ.

Host P, with MZ

The glorious spread of fresh fruit and veggies kept us all well fed that day.
Playing at the park
I had a hard time getting a picture with B & Q facing the camera - because they were always working on something. Here they are singing or yelling or something else crazy.

Q set up a very elaborate "alarm" system for the gate, to make sure G & MZ couldn't get out and wonder across the driveway. B was happy to help keep the babies safe. 

Oh, no. Baby approaching gate.
Quick. Keep her on the patio.
OK. She is safe. Our job is done.

Later in the day, we kept the toddlers inside while B & Q continued to work on their alarm system. MZ is explaining to G some very important information.
Q was happy to pass out hugs to all of us. Here G leans in for a little extra. 

We were all as happy as their smiles!