Dance Party

Sometimes you just have to let go of your dignity. You can see where the girls get their grace and beauty:

This video probably will get booted off of YouTube because of the music, so enjoy laughing at me while you can.

Fun fair fun

It's a bank holiday weekend, which means that the fun fair is in town! Evie had her first fair experience (lame compared to the state fairs I've been to, I have to say). Her first ride was with Jim on a red airplane!
Millie watched with little interest from the side lines. Some day she'll be excited about the fair, too:
The bungee cords were good fun until the guy running them shortened her cords and she went flying up in the air, a la Tinkerbell. And then she wanted OFF:
And then on to a less frightening option: the trampolines (after being rejected by the giant inflatable slide people for being too little). As a bonus, there was a picture of Minnie Mouse behind one of the trampolines, which was VERY exciting:
And, to end our fair adventures, a ride in the tea cups. It was a short ride, though, because as soon as we started spinning, Evie turned green. Luckily the ladies running it stopped it right away and let us off.

There was a group of teenage girls riding on all the scary rides and shrieking and laughing...that will be Evie and Mille one day, too.

A visit from Just Gene

My cousin Gene swung through for a visit this week. He was a model house guest and a hit with the girls. And he even agreed to go to the Natural History Museum with us (during the most crowded time...summer in London).

Waiting for the tube at Belsize Park. Evie waved and the tube driver tooted. It was the thrill of a lifetime:
Millie shed some tears on the way:
Posing with the Pterodactyl (and her ham sandwich):
And in front of the escalator that ascends into a giant Earth. Evie was completely mesmerized by the sparkling rocks along the wall, but we whisked her away to the dinosaurs:
Gene displayed some Herculean strength on the way:
We never had managed to go to the dinosaurs before, due to the crowds. The day we visited was no exception in the crowd department, but we were determined!

Millie was in a jovial mood:
We stood in line for a really long time, waiting to see the big T Rex robot, but when we got there, Evie was not a fan. She couldn't get away from him fast enough! I had to carry her for a while after that.
The mammals section was also pretty amazing (and, again, something we had never seen). While stuffed giraffes are much less interesting than live ones, they were still impressive:
There were also hippos, elephants, Rhinos, lions and tigers and bears, Oh My! And a humongous model of a humpback whale hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of taking this all in, we started to fall apart at the seams, so we headed back out into the rain and onto the tube.

Gene also did a lot of wandering around London and headed out to Stratford to visit Jim at the Olympic Park (not on the same day as the museum, although he did go down to Camden, which I thought was impressive. I was exhausted)!
It was a nice visit and Evie was sad to see her 'friend' go, but hopefully we'll see Gene again in the not too distant future...like when we manage to make a trip to DC!

A little summer-like weather (sort of)

In a place where there are very infrequent warm days, we have to really take advantage of the good ones. Last weekend we had a supper picnic in the heath. It was warm and sunny and beautiful.

I showed off my mad soccer skills and Evie took off her shirt, for some reason:

Millie eventually found her grass legs and moved out of the spot she had settled in near the picnic:

Fun with Daddy:
And the always thrilling "Flying Angel!!!!" (Evie has gotten really good at this and Millie will soon advance from flying angel on knees to flying angel on feet)

We picnicked under one of the Heath's many beautiful Willow trees.
We're so lucky to live in England and to have Hampstead Heath so nearby. We'll really miss it when we have to leave...so we'll try to squeeze in as many picnics as possible before then!

Sometimes life just wears you out

August Videos

Until I have time to catch on on the blog, here are a few videos.

The usual scene at our house on any given afternoon:


I'm pretty sure that things have never been this quiet in our house during waking hours before. Evie takes her corn eating VERY seriously:


And Millie, having recovered from her illness, is off and running (or walking)!

Millie

First pull up:


Quest for the unattainable camera:

With her favorite:
Bluffing:
New taste sensation:
At a summer garden party:

Nana and Papa in London!

Last week, Jack and Mindy came by for a visit. Everyone was very excited...especially Evie, who had been screaming that Nana and Papa were coming on a "BIG AIRPLANE MOMMY!!" for about a month prior to their arrival every time we saw or heard an airplane.

The day after their arrival, Evie had Toddler Fairy School, so Mindy joined us for the two hour fairy extravaganza, but not before getting lots of snuggles in with Millie:

Fairy Evie was VERY excited to go to fairy school and Fairy Jenny, who was their fairy teacher, was pretty amazing. She kept them all entertained and engaged with fairy dust and magic tricks and crown decorating and dancing and cake decorating...it was magical and Evie thoroughly enjoyed it.

Eagerly awaiting the start of fairy school:
Fairies in training:
Fairy magic with fairy dust:
A fairy princess:
Fairies dance in a fairy ring:
Fairy sugar high:

Proud graduate of the Fairy School:

While she is an enthusiastic fairy and princess, Evie is adamant that she wants to be a cat for Halloween. Branching out in the costume department!

Back at home, Dr. Minnie Mouse gave Millie a thorough physical and was pleased to declare her in perfect health!

While we always enjoy spending time with our girls, it was also nice to get out for a day without
them. We headed down to the theater district to have some lunch and see a matinee showing of Les Mis. Jim and his parents in Piccadilly Circus:
And at lunch at the Criterion, which is this very ornate, art-deco place with yummy food (and also was featured in Sherlock Holmes):
Outside of the theater:
And inside, before the show, which was, in Mindy's words (she is the musical expert in this family), "Spectacular!!" It was a lot of fun to go to the theater and something we probably should do more often while we're living in London.

The weather was also spectacular while Mindy and Jack visited, so we spent the next day wandering in Hampstead Heath:

And the next day, too..
And finally the much anticipated visit to the Olympic Park arrived! Sans girls, we took the overground down to Jim's office (on site) and got to see how much has changed:
Jim has gotten his license since the last time I visited the park:

Posing under the Willow tunnel in the Great British Gardens:

From what I understood (and this might be wrong), the willow branches are chopped off and then they stick them into the ground and they take root...kind of in a bamboo looking way. Then they weave them together so that they grown in an arch.
You know your husband loves you when he tells you that he thinks you look so cute in a hard hat. This was not my most beautiful moment:
Much to my surprise, we got to go inside the stadium:
They were putting down the Olympic track while we were there:
Some of Jim's landscaping project, as seen from the Olympic Stadium:
Venders and toilets will be located in pods around the outside of the stadium:

And advertisers will be able to put their messages on these banners hanging outside of the stadium:
But the most exciting part for us, of course, was seeing what Jim has been working on for so many years: The South Park Gardens.

Here he is in the North American gardens:
With his proud parents:
Flowers and landscapes that Jim and his team put together:

It's pretty amazing to think that when we got here and when Jim started working on the Olympic Park, it was just a pile of dirt being recycled by big green machines. And now, one year away from the Olympic games, it's blooming and the buildings are built and all of his hard work has paid off. Now as long as the USA wins all the gold medals, it will be perfect!

We had a great visit with Jack and Mindy (or Nana and Papa or Mom and Dad, depending on who you're talking to) and can't wait for more family time soon!