A Fall to be Thankful for ( Part 2 of 3)

Our Fall visitor parade continued, and with it came more fun and memories.....

September 7-13 : Uncle Kyle, Aunt Addie and (highly anticipated) cousin Carter!   From the time we told Avery that Carter was coming to see her in London, she was pulling toys aside to be ready for him, asking when he would get here, and constantly reminding me of all the things she had planned to do with him.  We were so happy when Carter, and his (brave for bringing a two year old on such a long flight) parents walked through our flat door! We spent the week taking them around town, negotiating toy sharing between three small children, and enjoying nightly "pajama parades"

The Flood boys on the London Eye

Playing at the Park.... Avery making the "little ones" push her

National Rail train ride with Aunt Addie

Carter giving the stare down to the Queens guard at Windsor castle 

Obligatory telephone shot of the family of three and a half ... baby girl Flood due in January

Avery and Carter saying hi to Paddington bear at Paddington Station

Our nightly "jammie parade parties". The laughter and toddler dances that occurred here were unforgettable

Nope, it doesn't get any cuter than these two stroller sleeping cousins

A family shot ( minus working Lane) on Parliament hill overlooking the city

September 26-29: Laci and Jessica leave the kid and husbands home for a girls trip! There is nothing better than having two moms visit who left their own kids and responsibilities at home to come have fun with us. They spoiled our girls rotten, and provided a lot of desperately needed girl time for me. We toured by day, drank wine and gossiped by night. 

These two literally got off the plane and said "let's go!". They were not about to let jet lag stop them from anything! They win the award for best time-adjusted visitors, or at least they faked it well.

What started as a work relationship, has developed into two girlfriends who got to be at Buckingham palace together. Pretty cool.

We've been friends with Laci for years, but had only met her best friend Jessica briefly before... by the end of the trip I am not sure who liked her more, me or my girls. 

This is why I love these girls. In a town full of high end designers and boutiques, they understand the beauty in "TK Maxx". (yup, thats the UK version of American TJ Maxx).

Girls night! This was fairly early in the evening... I'm not brave enough to show how we looked at the end of this night. It was my first time staying out in London beyond the time that the underground train runs. Enough said.

After a few days in London, they headed to Paris to end their trip.Where they apparently met this guy :)

Just writing about these visits makes us miss all of these people, 

~L, L, A&S

A Fall to be Thankful for ( Part 1 of 3)

While celebrating Thanksgiving this past weekend and counting our blessings, we remember how thankful we are for our friends and family. This year we are most thankful for those that spent their time away from work, paid crazy costs for flights, and were willing to sleep in Avery's princess-walled room in order to see us and enjoy our life with us. It is no doubt because of those visits that this experience is going so well.  

And talking about visitors? These past few months, from August to mid-November, the door to the Flood flat was busy! We loved every minute of it, but due to all of the fun we were having, have not had the time to post much on each individual's time spent here with us. So here are some of our favorite photos and moments from the most recent jet setters that landed on our doorstep. 

August 17- 26 : Nanny and WePa are Back! Just a month after we got back to London from our trip home, without enough time to even miss them again yet, Nanny and WePa were here again. Since they saw London previously in cold weather, it was nice getting them to our parks, the outdoor theatre, and they even took us away for a quick weekend trip to Dublin, Ireland.

Lane and the girls at our Dublin aparthotel

He's a certified Guinness beer pourer... not like he would ever drink a Guinness!

Mom and Dad at the 360 degree bar overlooking downtown Dublin 

Lane and I at Temple Bar... Thank you mom for watching the girls!

Mom and Dad at Windsor Castle 

Out and about in London - Hampstead Heath Park

Hyde Park Lido

Arica and Eddie - August 23-28 Overlapping with Nanny and WePa came Arica and Eddie. It was so nice having a few nights to spend just the four of us (while mom watched the girls!).  They spent the days looking around town, the boys caught a football game, girls shopped and at night we played endless games of euchre. 

Stella got her first crush on Uncle Eddie

Where you going Arica? ( Weeping Willow tree at Hyde Park)

Lunching at Hyde Park

Baby on Board! We can't wait to meet baby boy McCracken!!

 After they left London, Arica and Eddie headed up to Scotland and Ireland to continue their trip

Remember, I said we had a lot of visitors... part 2 of 3 coming soon!
~L, L, A&S            

Dear Lauren: Read this Post in February when you are cold and haven't seen the sun in days

Stop! This can't be happening! Its too early to be pulling out our hat and mitten box, buying new puffy, faux-fur lined coats and making my Christmas lists already! I haven't even properly sat down and reflected on how amazing the summer was here in London, and we are almost already through the fall?!? I need to catch up on recording our memories..... otherwise, what will I have to look back on mid-winter to remind myself that better, warmer, sunnier, happy days are ahead? 

Summer in London was AMAZING for the Flood family. We experienced record breaking warm weather, which we got out to enjoy every single day of. (Since we saw many days in the 80s, and we have no air conditioning and can only crack two windows in our flat, we really had no choice!). The girls slept in, lounged around through breakfast then adventured around the city daily finding new things to do. Ice-Lollies (Popsicles) were a daily occurrence, we visited our community back garden playground nightly and enjoyed the 9pm sunsets that kept our kids questioning why they had to go to bed during the daytime. Since many locals here in the UK take the majority of August to "holiday" around Europe, it meant that Lane's work schedule was super relaxed, so we go to enjoy most evenings with him!

Swimming at our neighborhood splash pad in Hampstead. Think giant baby pool, knee deep filled with hundreds of kids.... yes, the water gets murky near end of day but we would try to get there early!

Lunch at our favorite park - Golders Green Park is a mile walk away and even has a "zoo" (deer, birds, a goat....but the kids love it!)

The girls favorite days are when we get to load up the double stroller, with two baby doll strollers and go for a group walk. Nothing like carrying 4 stroller seats and 4 babies around a crowded city.

We found the fantastic "Lollibop" kid festival that had dozens of craft booths, freebie giveaways and concerts out at Olympic Park in Stratford. The girls even got to get their faces painted for the first time!

City walks with Girlfriends 

Legoland Windsor

 Stella playing the bongos at one of the more community-free loving style events we found

Another day, another Park... Stella wasn't thrilled this day!

A Sunday afternoon visit to Highclere Castle... more imporantly known as Downton Abbey!

Summer evenings hanging and dining alfresco. Isn't Mary adorable?

Chill-axing

Come end of summer, our modes of transporation needed a crumb, sandbox, sunscreen removal wash down.

A Note To Lauren of February ~ You can do it! Only a few more long miserably cold and wet months! So what you haven't seen the sun in months? Who cares that Stella wakes up from her afternoon nap to darkness and that you haven't seen Lane in what feels like weeks? Remember, come June the sun will be out, those flip flops will be calling your name, and the parks will be awaiting your arrival.

~L, L, A&S

Celebrating Two Countryside

I can't believe I am already saying this, but our little Stella turned two this past weekend. How quickly she went from this little snuggly baby that fit so perfectly in my arms...

... to this independent, shoe loving, Peppa Pig addict, refuses to talk much but says "no" passionately, always laughing, wants to be just like her sister, can't stop her from jumping on furniture two year old!

We decided to make Stella's birthday special for the entire family by taking a fall break from the lights, busses, trains and noise of the big city so we headed to the countryside about an hour and a half south west of London to Glastonbury. We found a fantastic holiday cottage complex a mile from town that offered adorable cottages, animals of all kinds, fresh food and most importantly, peace and quiet. Except for Avery and Stella who showed those animals a thing or two about running wild.

The views we got to see of the countryside were stunning.  Everywhere we looked we just saw green, green, more green! We couldn't stop saying "wow", and our walks around the area were twice as long as they should have been as we stopped to soak in every bit of each amazing new scene.

While we sat on the couch with our coffee, we got to look out onto the farm. ( Of course we had to bring our traditional family birthday bunting!)

Some extraordinary views from our walks around the farm and along the public footpath that took us into town.

Glastonbury, Somerset, England - The biggest point of interest in Glastonbury is the Glastonbury Tor (Tor being the celtic word for "hill"). The Glastonbury Tor sits 514 feet above sea level and historical findings dating all the way back to the 5th century have been discovered there. The large structure on the Tor is the remains of the tower of St. Michaels church, a church originally built on the Tor in the 1360s.  The historical accounts and myths of religious, spiritual, and celestial legends in and around the Tor brings religious ceremonies and visitors of all types to it's hill top and surrounding city of Glastonbury. The town is littered with quirky witch craft vendors and natural healing remedy shops. The Flood family felt a little out of place strolling through town, but still thoroughly enjoyed a few of the cafes and pubs.

Downtown Glastonbury- one street about 1/4 mile long, yet probably 20 witchcraft shops.

The Tor 

Since we arrived in Glastonbury, multiple people told us we can't do the Tor with our small children. Upon hearing that, I swiftly had us all hiking to the top. ( We don't say "can't" in this family!)

 518 feet of steps with two toddlers and no buggy, uphill, and we made it... exhausted, but made it. The 360 degree views from the top were more than worth the climb.

 

By far our family favorite of the weekend was being around all of the farm animals that we got to meet, play with and feed. We got to know more about dogs, cats, chickens ( fresh eggs!), goats,  8 week old piglets ( fresh bacon from their Mamas!), sheep, and horses. I'll never forget the morning of Stella's birthday, as we were sitting down to a fresh farm breakfast at our table and the farm cat hopped in the sink window, climbed over all of our dirty dishes and came straight to our table to start begging. The girls loved it.

The goats that were behind our cottage got our food scraps each morning.

Lane and "his" horse Hallow had an instant bro-mance. We all loved picking apples off trees and feeding them to this gentle giant. 

The chickens ran free around the farm, and so did Stella.

I never thought of my family as a farm-loving family, but after this weekend I can see us taking many more adventures into the slow life of the country.  Stella got to start her third year of life being wild and free, climbing hills, chasing animals and of course eating boxed confetti birthday cake courtesy of our friend Duncan Hines.

~Happy Birthday Stella Kay - The sparkles in your eyes melt our hearts daily. We are so proud to have you in our lives and love you more than words can say.

L, L, A & newly two S