Our First Visitors

We had our first official England visitors earlier this month.  My dear friend, Tricia, and her sweet daughter, Myla, came and spent the week with us.  The visit was a true gift of love.  Tricia used up all her miles, flew from Texas by herself with her almost two-year-old on her lap to face crazy jet lag (which, miraculously, wasn't that bad for them), and a weary mom with two energized munchkins.  I'm selfishly so glad they came.  The week spent together was exactly what I needed.  Thank you for coming, Dealy girls!

  

We spent their first full day here trekking around London.  

Sitting on the top deck of the Red Bus Tour.  Myla thought it was great!  My kids weren't as amused.

A picnic at St. James park

I see this expression a lot:

Sweet, sweet Myla who was an angel the whole week.

We also did a half-day trip to Cambridge . . .

Snack break in front of King's College

Surrounded by incredible architecture, and he was taken by the garbage truck!

There are bikes everywhere in Cambridge

Burning some energy on the Jesus Green!

The girls had fun doing bath time together.

Rooke reading

Rooke is very interested in reading these days.  He likes to try and sound out words and "read" books that he has memorized:

Gretchen's ABCs

A little glimpse at our 20-month-old. . . 

Little Girl Gretchen

Gretchen is 20 months old tomorrow!  She is full of life and joy and drama and smiles - with dimples.  She's testing out her will more and more these days, but usually stays pretty happy and easy-going.  She has a special affection for her mommy and watches her brother intently to copy what he does.  Her language is really starting to kick into high gear.  She is especially good at articulating a big-brother offense, using distinct words like "poke", "push", or "share".  Baby and Bunny are her two special loves.  She gets excited about anything with polka-dots, is already picky about her clothes, and will pretend to want to wear clips in her hair until I get them in - then she wants them out.  I love my sweet girl.     

Watercolors

I'd had the water color paints for a while, and we tried them a few times, but on this particular morning they were a HIT!  A 45-minute hit!  Rooke especially enjoyed painting and went through a hefty stack of paper practicing his colorful lines.  The next day he branched out and started doing portraits.  So fun!

She only used one sheet of paper the entire time.  I need to get this girl some finger paints!

He asked to wear his "painting apron".

A First Date

It'd been a while since I'd been on a first date, but Rooke and I shared it together: our first date!  I'd been wanting to take him to the London Transport Museum since he loves all things involving transportation.  So off we went - just the two of us!

Of course, memorable dates must include yummy snacks and good food.  He picked out this muffin for us to share before heading into the museum.

The museum was great with plenty to see and do for little ones.  We checked it out at his speed, so there wasn't much sitting or stopping.  I was able to get a few shots of him driving the buses.

Without a nap, he was pretty worn out by the end of the day.  I have no idea why, but he decided to sleep on the floor, cuddled with the bus he picked out on our date.  

The next day we hit up another museum with KayeK and Big Daddy - the Royal Air Force Museum.  I was amazed!  There's no way you could ever get through all the buildings in one day - each packed with plenty of planes to check out.  Plus, admission is free!     

The Sun

We had amazing weather the first two months we were here.  July didn't prove to be as nice and so far August is following suit.  However, yesterday we had a gloriously sunny day.  It's pouring as I write this, so I'm glad I have these pictures to prove that it really was warm and sunny just 24 hours ago!

It was cooooold.

He convinced her to get in.

"Now what?" she asks.  She wasn't that into the pool.  But she sure did look cute!

Our Bag of Books Included These Favorites . . .