Weekends

For the past month or so we have been trying to take advantage of our weekends and explore areas of London that we haven't been to before. Our weather in February was very rainy so any day where we saw the sun we packed up and headed out for the day.

We did a walking tour of the South Kensington and Knightsbridge areas including Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.

The Albert Memorial

After a few miles of walking it was nap time for someone.

Another walk to Little Venice along Regent's Canal



Valentines Weekend

The London Eye lit up in red lights.

Chinese New Year
We went to China Town for the Chinese New Year. It was quite an event with lanterns, dragons, music and just a little bit of rain.

Entrance to China Town. It took us an hour to move one block.

We also visited the London Zoo again. Avery loved looking at all the animals.

I wasn't quick enough with the camera and the sheep were gone as soon as Avery and Daddy turned the corner.

Hampstead Heath play area just north of Hampstead.

Steering the boat.

Driver and sidekick.

Mother's Day was March 14th in the UK. I woke up to Aunt Jemima pancakes. A real treat considering the English don't really do pancakes. I even received two very special cards.

Custom artwork by Avery

We went to Kentish Town City Farm

Avery loves ducks!

Oink, oink!

Baa-Baa

We have also now experienced Avery's first stomach bug, probably the norovirus. This was not a fun 24 hours. We went through stacks of sheets, towels, blankets, pj's and stuffed animals. On the positive side it was only 24 hours!

January Update

While we were away on our month long hiatus Pepper was lucky enough to have a dog walker stay at our place and dog sit. This meant that she got more than 4 hours of walking everyday, luck dog! She also got to experience the snowfall in early January.

The dog walker, Hayley and Pepper

Our first week back in London in January was still down right chilly and snowy.

In the Heath, notice the frozen pond

Brrrrr!

Then all that snow turned to rain and lots of excess water.

Poor Pepper doesn't like the rain

Fetch in the Heath and playing in puddles

As indicated in the previous post it was Josh's Birthday. I took him out the Saturday night before his birthday. We had dinner at an Oyster Bar/Restaurant and then had drinks at the Absolute Ice Bar. It was cool :)

Cheers!

Welly's

We gave in...they are actually a necessity.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy, Love all your girls!

Wrapping up 2009 and Ringing in 2010!

I know, I know, I am way behind on updating the blog! So, here goes...

The week before Thanksgiving my parents came to visit. They picked a few London sights that they hadn't been to in their previous trip and last minute they decided to take the Eurostar to Paris.

We took a walk down the South Bank, had lunch on the Thames, walked over Tower Bridge and toured the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels.

Then, it was off to Paris!

Eiffel Tower with Grandma and Gramdpa

Arc de Triumph with Grandma and Grandpa

Thanksgiving week:
Marc, Marc's girlfriend Lauri and Josh's parents came to visit. Marc and Lauri got to tour all the big attractions of London, while the rest of us did some touring and just hung out.

On High Street when the lights were turned on

Then we all took the train to Southport for Aunt Valerie's birthday dinner.

Avery got to drive the bus and the firetruck and even rode on a big carousel

We had two weeks on our own to catch up with friends, finish up Gymboree classes and pack. A few days before our flight Avery spiked a high fever that lasted for 5 days. Her fever finally broke the night before our flight.

Our 4 week travels begin!

Atlanta
Our first stop was in Atlanta for Hanukkah.

PopPop, Bubbe and Me

Opening gifts with Daddy! A world cup football!

Avery and Uncle Marc opening gifts!

Having fun with Uncle Marc and Bella

We even got a chance to see Santa! Avery didn't like Santa very much...

You might recognize the bearded man!!!

We even tried a sneak attack but it didn't work

Kalamazoo
Our second stop was in Kalamazoo for Christmas. This is the first time we have ever made cousin Kim and Scott's annual Christmas party! Dad and Josh even walked away with some interesting gifts, ready for re-gifting next year! Gotta get the 2010 date on the calendar now :)

Christmas Eve at cousin Mark, Erin, Grace and baby to be's house, with the family. Thank you for hosting, we had a great time!

Christmas morning with cousins Ethan, Marina and Clara

Thanks Ethan! Sledding is fun!

Having fun in the snow building a snowman

St. Martin
Our third stop was in St. Martin for a vacation with Uncle Adam and Aunt Kim.

The view from our balcony.

Avery at the beach

Playing with Uncle Adam

Ready for dinner out

Pic Paradise....I can feel my camera and Josh's phone being stolen now....

Great bar/restaurant on the water, excellent recommendation Matt!

Checking out this kayak thing

The day we left we stopped at the Sunset Beach Bar where you can see the planes take off and land right next to the runway.

Austin
Our forth and final stop was in Austin. Josh worked this week while Avery and I got to catch up with friends.
...Sadly we don't have any pictures from Austin...what's wrong with us? We love Austin and miss it greatly.

We are missing many pictures from the trip because my brand new camera was stolen and with it went all sorts of pictures. I'm so disappointed. I asked for the camera from Josh, he got it for me and it was gone, along with all my pics. Boo, thief!!