A quick blog of highlights

Since I haven't blogged in such a long time, I thought it would be a good idea to run through some highlights of the year that I missed. I should note that one of the main highlights was my brother Will's wedding in Niobrara, NE...but those pictures are on my other computer so will take a level of effort that I can't muster at this point.  It was a fun time, though, and a happy one ! And a new part of the States for us.   

That said, here are some highlights from ENGLAND, starting with our new summer passion: Camping!  We had a strangely wonderfully warm and rainless summer in 2013, so we took advantage of it!  Our first camping trip was in Oxfordshire, at the suggestion of friends.  We camped in a big open field in the 'kid friendly' section with lots of other families.  Jim and I hadn't been camping for a lot of years, so we bought a new, family style tent and all the gear we thought we would need.  Upon arrival, we discovered that we didn't have all the gear we needed...namely a mallet to get our tent secured to the ground.  After about two hours, we managed to get the tent up, but unfortunately we were camping on an incline, so we spent the night sliding all over the place.  The second night it poured down rain, but our tent stayed dry and on the ground.  Despite our trials and tribulations (mainly due to being camping amateurs), we had a great time, did some hiking, roasted hotdogs and marshmallows and enjoyed exploring with our flashlights and just being together in the country.  

In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we immediately planned another camping trip in a different part of England: Sussex.  Sussex is on the coast, so in addition to camping in a beautiful grove of trees on what used to be a Hop Farm, we got to visit two beaches--one sandy and one pebbly.  Both beautiful, but the pebble one HURT our feet. We also made new friends and saw lots of bats, did some hikes and kayaking and visited Bodiam Castle, which, with it's tiny, spiraling staircases, gave me the whimwhams...but was very historic and interesting! 

We also went to the recently reinstated Kenwood Concerts in Hampstead Heath.  Unfortunately, it wasn't an unseasonably warm and dry day, so we took our not exactly waterproof beach tent with us and enjoyed the singing of the London Concert Choir and Symphony Orchestra, along with spectacular fireworks.  Then we waded home.

Every summer, one of our favorite things to do is pick blackberries in Hampstead Heath.  This summer was no exception and we spent a lot of time in the Heath staining our hands purple with our efforts.

Evie learned to play tennis!

We went to an interactive production of Alice in Wonderland in Covent Garden where the girls were enchanted by a puppet Cheshire Cat and we took an illegal picture of this singing caterpillar egg.

And enjoyed an autumnal Apple Festival in the sunshine:

 

Some of us learned to fly (sort of ):

 

 

We celebrated lots of birthdays, starting with Jim's!

And ending with Millie's!

Evie started big girl school:

And then stopped for a couple of weeks so we could go to Uncle Will's wedding!

I ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon with my friend Sil....

learned to bake bread...

and to assemble Ikea furniture in less than three hours!

The leaves changed colors in the Heath:

And we dressed as a family of unicorns for Halloween:

Then I went on to win "Best Parent Costume" at Evie's School's Halloween Disco.  A major accomplishment!

And before we knew it, the Christmas Season was upon us (we did celebrate Thanksgiving, but didn't take any pictures.  Jim cooked and it was good).  We saw Santa about five times:

 

Sang Christmas Carols at St Martin in the Fields.

 

 

Did lots of walking in the Heath:

 

Ate lots of delicious and not so nutritious Christmas Treats! 

 Got lots of great and exciting Christmas presents!

 

 And learned to ice skate!

 

 So here we are on the cusp of a New Year, having accomplished a lot and with a lot to be grateful for.  It's a good way to be!

Ending the year with good friends

We've been in London now for over seven years and are so lucky to have made some amazing and dear friends along the way.  This year, since we stayed here for Christmas, and we are all having a break from the usual hectic lives we lead, we've had lots of opportunities to spend time together. The other night we had a delicious dinner with some of our favorite friends...and SIX little girls between the ages of 3 and 5 (who all adore each other).  High energy fun!

 Always the ladies' man: Jim with our friends Asra and Kay.

 Craig: man of the house and sommelier.

 Dinner all together!  We had some yummy fish pie, which is something we never had experienced before moving to England. It's creamy, potato, fishy goodness.

 Delicious and beautiful cupcakes by Kay (who also happens to run her own cake baking business: https://www.facebook.com/LiliandOliCakes).  The core of the Christmas trees were made with strawberries.  The snowballs were balls of cake rolled in coconut.  VERY exciting and delicious (as evidenced by little hands reaching in excitement and by smiling faces all around).  She also made some exquisite profiteroles.  We sort of rolled home after all the food.

This has been a fun year and, with only a couple of more days to go, I'm hoping for an equally fun 2014, full of special times with family and friends, both old and new.

A Reunion in France

I recognize the fact that I have skipped a lot of months, but at the rate that I am blogging these days, I have to just start where I am!  And so we fast forward to France in May of 2013...Jenny's wedding and a reunion with dear friends!

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The perfect excuse to have a reunion in Europe is the wedding of a dear friend and so, with Jenny to celebrate, we headed to Vienne, France via the Eurostar and the TGV.  At first I thought I would make the trip on my own, but since the wedding took place during the first weekend of half term, we decided to make it a family holiday.

 
--> We started our trip with a little anxiety, almost missing our train out of London (note to self and other travelers via Eurostar: get to the station very early on the first Friday of half term), but eventually we settled down and were on our way to Lille where transferred to a ‘double decker’ train to Lyon.  At Lyon we hopped into a rental car and headed to Vienne armed with our Tom Tom, which was purchased after our Italy trip last year and prevented the dissolution of our marriage on our French trip.  Despite the Tom Tom, we hadn’t bothered to look and see that our hotel actually wasn’t in Vienne, but some 25 minutes outside of it and we also had assumed that Vienne was a little village (wrong) so Jim’s plan for us to just drive around Vienne until we found our hotel didn’t really work out.  But after a few circles around, we finally did manage to find the right road and were on our way through the French countryside to a large estate which contained the hotel, a restaurant and various other rooms that could accommodate a function like a wedding.

Our room was actually a room with a loft which was accessible by a very child unfriendly ladder and was immediately put off limits to the girls (to much protest). 

 

 While we were settling in, Jess, Liza and Cindy straggled in after their flight from the US and a struggle to find a cab that was willing to drive them so far out of Vienne.  It was so great to see them after so many years and was the perfect start to a fun week together. As tired as they were, they managed to rally and  

-->we freshened up and headed out again to the next destination—the rehearsal dinner—which was held in a Chateau in a nearby village.

 
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We had to drive in two shifts because we couldn’t all fit into the car and when Jim dropped Jess, the girls and me off, fashionably late, the chateau was deserted and there were no signs of a wedding party anywhere.  After wandering around aimlessly in heels and consulting several maps that we couldn’t read (in French), we finally decided to go to a Pizzeria to feed the girls and wait it out.  The owner was friendly and helpful and introduced us to some sweet wine that we didn’t like and made the girls some delicious pasta, all while trying to help us figure out where the wedding party was taking place.  Eventually, an hour after it was supposed to begin, we were informed that Jenny, the bride, was still getting ready..and that's when we remembered that Jenny tended to do things at a relaxed pace.  

 Reunion 'selfie' with Jess, Liza and Cindy:

 New friends:

 On the steps of the chateau

 The roommates!

 It took a couple of more hours for the food to finally happen but when it did, it was good.  Evie and Millie, it turns out, are big fans of pate and venison (both delicious) and both Jim and Liza took big mouthfuls of butter thinking that it was cheese.  The cornichon was also a popular appetizer.

At the end of the night, we decided to take our chances and just stuffed Liza and Cindy into the trunk of the car, rather than making two trips.  Some things never change.