Summer in the States!

We waited all spring for some hot weather. We were craving some 90 degree, sweat while you sit outside, only cold beers poolside make it feel okay, type of days.  As we had been looking forward to for months, we headed home late June to visit friends, family and dig our toes in the sand at the beach.
Funny part was that upon arrival to Columbus, we found they were having a pretty mild summer and most Ohio-ans were complaining of the rain and mild weather. It was in the 80's. We hadn't seen above 70 in London.

After months of missing our favorite little people, we finally got to love on, play with, and fight over shared toys with all of our cousins.

We spent a week of our trip in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with family and friends. The Mavko family has been doing this trip with family friends for over 20 years and this year was just the fun we remembered from the past!

Digging out some beach couches!

Fourth of July Trailer Park Parade (No, we don't stay in trailers or camp at the park, our building is next door... but seeing this parade yearly is just another tradition)

Poker Face We-Pa!

Fourth of July Spirit!

Tired Stella napping surfside on Mommy

The best part of being home was spending time with our friends. Many have had new babies we missed at birth, babies that grew up too fast while we were gone, and mom's girlfriends had no lack of good gossip stories from home.

Avery and Addison Chan - we miss our old neighbors!

Lo and Morgan at Brazenhead... all.night.long.

Down on the farm at Arica's beautiful new antique barn!

Two of Avery's favorite things - her buddy Ava Thompson and Timbits

Meeting our new girlfriend Ellis Thompson! 

Since we don't live on a quiet suburban street while in London, it was great for the girls to do some suburban-summer activities at the Grandparents.

Playing in the backyard hose with Brody!

Backyard Pool Diving at Sherrys!

Neighborhood Splash Pads

Hanging in We-Pa's backyard with the cousins

 Avery loved to end a summer evening at Nanny's taking our dog Brody on a walk around the court

Avery learning to ride her first training wheel bike!

As much as we loved our trip home for summer break, after four weeks at home we were ready to come back to our quiet life in London - Columbus, and all of our family and friends are too wild and busy for us!

Booking our next trip home for the holidays,
~L, L A&S

Mama turns Thirty

After months of anticipation (years really), the Flood family has survived what could have been  a horrific event in time - Mom turning another decade older. Yesterday was my official 30th birthday, and August 15th came and went without too much fuss, tears or mental breakdowns.

The day started off with a presentation of my tea in bed in a very funny (not so much!) reminder mug from my loving (and older by the way) husband. Although I find it an annoying reminder of the fact my twenties are behind me, I will always cherish this mug as it perfectly represents my only birthday I'll spend in the UK. 

(Aren't I lucky to have a husband that brings me tea in bed not just on my birthday, but multiple times a week?!?! I love mornings in London living in a small flat where the kitchen is two steps from the master bedroom. I never got served like this at home!)

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful... Play date with a new friend for Avery, trip to the doctors office for the girls check ups (nobody should have to suffer through National Health care on their birthday), frozen pizzas and champagne for dinner, cupcakes...... We kept it low key........

But knowing me, did you really think I was going to let this day in my life go by without using it as a reason to party with my people?!?!?!???? We were relaxed on my actual birthday because we celebrated with all we had a few months earlier when we were home in Columbus for our summer visit.     We (my best mate Morgan who also said goodbye to her twenties this summer), were thrown a fantastic party at The Bogey Inn to celebrate our getting old, not to mention our 20 year friendship. All of our people were there, Morgs sister/my dear friend Ali made the whole party possible with her impeccable party planning skills, and our parents spoiled us with great food and lots of cocktails. It was perfect.

Birthday Girls  

Look at this cake! - Ali's Mother-in-law makes cakes that look this fantastic and taste even better and we were so lucky to have her make one for us!

So many of Morgs and my friends came from far away places to celebrate with us! Cronic (and Camp) made it from Chicago!

For about an hour, there was an absolute downpour that flooded our outdoor party tent area - all of the kids loved it, especially mine! In honor of my thirties I've calmed down and am not going to worry about what exactly my kids are splashing around in from the wet floor of the bar. 

My girls. I wouldn't have survived my youth without them.

Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate with me for the big day. Each card, bottle of wine, gift, perfectly planned party detail, cocktail, birthday hug from my girls, and cheeky little mug of tea made my celebration great and was a perfect way to start out my fourth decade.

xoxo
~Lo

Spring Catch Up

It's August, which seems like a great time to do some blog updates... about the spring. We've had a fantastic few months, which means lots of activities outside, trips in and out of the UK,  and little sitting by the computer.

We've learned that spring in the UK means different things than at home. At home come May, the coats are put away, gloves and hats hidden in some remote closet, and flip flops and shorts are predominantly displayed.  Here in the UK,  there were days in which we wore coats ( not jackets, I'm talking lined coats) well into June.  Nonetheless we got out and enjoyed the 60-ish degree, sunny-ish weather when we had the chance.

Here is a glimpse of Spring 2013 as seen in the UK by the Flood family:

Lane & Avery on the National Rail on our bank holiday weekend getaway to Cardiff, Wales

Sunshine, Patio Beers, and Legos in Cardiff 

Rain doesn't stop us girls from having fun - we just head inside to the nearest indoor playground

The Brown girls and Flood girls go to Southend on Sea to see the seaside and ride some carnival rides

Lounging in our back garden- we are so thankful for this outdoor space in a crowded, busy city

Family day trip to Brighton Beach with the Brown Family

Lane and Jessica on the Brighton roller coaster - the adventure seekers of the group!

Playgrounds, Feeding the pigeons in Regents Park, and Ice Cream - Oh My!

The best part of spring was the beautiful surroundings on those few sunny days. It may have been a record breaking year in regards to bad weather here in London, but the ability to get out to the local parks and gardens more than made up for it 

And just wait for our next post, Summer was even better....

~L, L, A&S

Disneyland Paris

A trip to Disney doesn't need a big blog post introduction. Most of us have been there, experienced the magic, waited in line for 45 minutes to ride Dumbo for one minute, and bought the 4 dollar ( well, here in europe it is 4 euro) soda.   So I'll keep it brief and share a bunch of pictures.

Disneyland Paris (originally known as Euro Disney until everyone realized that putting the European currency name 'Euro' in front of the word Disney just calls out how expensive it is), was smaller, but pretty much exactly the same as our Disney Parks at home. For our family with small children, the small compact size was perfect.

We rode as many rides as we could 

Avery and Mom on the Toy Story Parachute Drop

After Avery loved the Parachute Drop, I decided to take her on the Hollywood Tower Hotel that drops you from the top floor to the bottom. Let's just say the first drop was accompanied by Avery yelling "Get me outta here!" louder than anybody else on the ride could scream. 

It's a small world afterall..... enjoy the rest of the day singing this tune. Your Welcome.

We oohed and ahhed at all of the characters in each parade 

And we fought and elbowed our way in to give hugs and high fives to as many characters as we could find 

You will notice all of the character pictures above are only of Avery. Here is how Stella felt about them:

"Uh mom, I dont want to do this...."

"Get this Princess Away from me"

"I dont' want to touch the rat either!"

It was such a memorable trip for our family. Upon arriving home, Avery kicked Lane out the door first thing the next day and told him to "go make more money so we can go to Disneyland".

  

Dreams coming true, 

~L, L, A&S