Cotwolds & Oxford with the Bells

I can't really explain in words how excited I was to have my twin sister visit!!  Rebecca and Christian came all the way from Utah to see us here in London (they also went to Paris and Edinburgh during their visit).  We saw and did and ate a lot- a perfect vacation (or staycation, in our case).  One of the highlights of their time here was our visit to the Cotswolds.  We've been to the Cotswolds before, but always had a goal of getting back because there are small, charming towns there in abundance and you have to see them all.  We saved our favorite for this trip though, because, as you can see below, Bourton-on-the-Water was incredible.  Is this place even real?? The village had a gorgeous, duck-filled, flag-topped canal full of quaint bridges that was so picturesque.   

Someone lives in this home above, and below...amazing!

Christian is getting instructions on where to buy scones with clotted cream and jam. Also amazing.

I recently cut my hair short (the hard water in London has not been kind to me) and my kids were confusing me all of the time for Rebecca, who has had shorter hair for a long time.  

Christian had his fill of Cadbury chocolate and Hob-knobs while he was here (this was after he loaded up for the day).  If you want to know how delicious these things are, you'll just have to visit and come see for yourself!  

Kate and I left for London, so we could get her home for a party.  The rest of the crew headed to Oxford for a few hours.

We sure loved having the Bells here for a few days...we stayed up way too late talking, ate way too much chocolate and Rebecca and I had some nice girl-bonding time...so it was pretty much perfect!

Taylor's Graduation + Kate's Birthday!

At ASL, the elementary school stops at 4th grade.  So, Taylor was able to "graduate" from elementary school at the end of the year.  It was such a fantastic ceremony with a slide show, certificates, singing and followed by a brunch.  We just loved it.

All of the 4th graders headed up to the stage  (above) and all of the family in the audience (below).

Presentation of certificates.  Taylor loved her teacher this year, Mr. Q.  She also loved the kids in her class and has made some life-long friends from all over the world.  On top of that, she has learned a ton and grown in leaps and bounds.  We are so grateful for this opportunity.  

They played the cutest slideshow with some clips from the 4th grade musical earlier in the year, and Taylor had a little spotlight.

Tessa and I on our street after the ceremony.

Kate celebrated her 12th birthday with her school friends the day after school got out.  We played some Minute-To-Win-It games in our park across the street.  One of the games was keeping two balloons up in the air for a minute.  I loved the way this looked when the girls were all doing it.  

Kate made the cutest group of friends at school this past year.  We loved having them over to celebrate Kate's birthday.  

On Saturday, we made our way to Highgate Cemetery because we have heard how amazing it is (and how haunted!).  We were bummed to learn it was closed, so we crossed the street to Waterlow Park.  As most English parks go, it was stunning and the girls had so much fun playing while Brian and I just sat, relaxed and talked.  

If you spend any time in our home, you will hear and see Lauren bouncing everywhere.  She has become totally obsessed with gymnastics lately and is rarely going 5 minutes without doing a cartwheel- whether we are at a park, home, or walking down the street.

On our way home, in front of our block on a perfect summer evening.  I cannot explain how much I love this city.

London Day out

This city in the spring is something else.  It really is.  The weather lately has been nothing short of dreamy (especially after such a loooong, dark, cold winter) and we have been trying to get out and take advantage of it as much as we can.  This past weekend, we went to the National Portrait Gallery, right in the heart of Trafalgar Square- one of my most favorite parts of London.  We let the girls climb on the lions a bit and then walked around the corner to the gallery.  Tessa had been up for a good part of the night feeling sick and throwing up a couple of times.  She seemed to be totally better by the time we left in the later afternoon, but it really hit her again in the museum.  We couldn't stay long because we didn't want her throwing up in there (nightmares from our flight out gave us a little PTSD).  But, we loved what we were able to see- stunning pictures of the royal family through the ages, as well as some very notable historical figures.  We even snuck in a jaw-dropping view from the cafe on the 3rd floor- wow!  

After we left, we headed across the street to Pret to get a drink for Tessa and just let her relax.  She fell asleep on my lap while we waited in the warm sunshine, people-watched (tourist season is in full swing!), and listened to a couple of great street performers.

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Kate will be TWELVE this week- how crazy is that!!  She had an introduction to Young Women's this week and it just hit me like a ton of bricks.   You can't stop time, but I'm still not sure I'm ready for this.  But, she sure is.  I've never seen her look forward to something so much.

Tessa passed out (above).  We bought a water for her, but it was mostly so we could get paper bag for her to vomit in.  ;)

After Tessa's nap, we walked over to our favorite pizza restaurant, Franco Manca, in Covent Garden for some dinner and then over to Udderlicious for some delicious ice cream...what a day!  Walking through Covent Garden is one of my favorite things to do and I just love when we get to do it as a family.

A Baby Shower for Charity

When Elle lived with our family for a month right after moving to London (we miss you Elle!!!), we never knew it would lead to so many meaningful relationships...her aunt, Charity, moved to London about a month after Elle left and we immediately connected and got together. Charity is one of those people that just is good to her core and leaves you feeling better than she found you.  Not only has she and her husband become our great friends, but our girls ADORE them!  We were so excited when Charity's friend, Amy, asked us to host her baby shower in our home.  

Amy has the cutest and sweetest little girls (another family of 4 daughters!) and the 8 of these kids hit things off right away when they met a few months ago.  So, when they saw each other again at the shower, they picked right up where they left off.  They all (minus one of Amy's girls who was at a church activity) wrote the cutest song for Charity...when we get the video, I will have to put it up.  We were all laughing and crying a bit at how sweet it was. Man, I sure love these kids.  And those two tiny ones at the end are just too cute for words.

The shower went great.  Charity's two sisters, Saren and Saydi, were in town from the States as well.  They were the best...I loved getting to know them- two amazing mothers and people.  We also loved getting to know some other great people that live here in London and that love Charity as much as we do.  After the shower when the guests left, we all took a walk in the gorgeous sunny weather to nearby Primrose Hill for the amazing view from the top.  

These two....adorable!!

We then kept going just a bit more down the street to Camden Market to fill our hungry bellies.  Camden Market was just incredible- they had food from every exotic corner of the world in such a huge variety that it was overwhelming to try and choose!  We had some amazing falafel with hummus, fresh-made pasta, polish sausage, and butter chicken in a naan wrap- and thats just what I can remember.  It was so delicious and we cannot wait to go back.  You could have something new everyday for months!  But the best part was spending so much time with such great people!!

Seven Sisters, UK

My brother, Jeremiah (Beau) came with his awesome wife Amy and their two cute little boys to London for 7 wonderful, fun-filled, and completely sunny (!!!) days this past week.  It was so much fun to have two little boys running around our flat.  We saw so much while they were here...and they saw even more when we couldn't go with them!  Borough Market, Big Ben, Buckingham, Piccadilly, Covent Garden, Portobello Road, all kinds of delicious food, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and Regents Park were some of the highlights. On Saturday, we even ventured all the way to the southern coast of England, to the white cliffs of Beachy Head.  

Just landing at the station by Beachy Head, with picnic in hand.  We walked about a mile in from the road to the beach, where we sat down by the water and enjoyed our yummy lunch.  The kids threw rocks in the water, while Beau and Amy made sure fearless Christian didn't run straight into the water. :)  There is just something about being out in nature on a perfect day that just fills you up with so much peaceful happiness.  

After our picnic, we climbed the steepest hill I've ever seen to the top of the cliffs.  All of the adults had a child or a stroller in hand on our way...quads and calves were most certainly on fire.

These cliffs were so much higher than they appear...and total sheer drops.  I'm not typically a fearful person when it comes to stuff like this, but I couldn't even get within 5 feet of the edge without my stomach doing flips.  Plus, there were no barriers!  The cliffs were gorgeous and stretched on as far as the eye could see and fell into crystal blue water below.

These two...I love them both so much.

Lauren's favorite thing during the week was loving on Christian (aka "Fishy")- they were so sweet and cuddly with each other.  Those boys are just so sweet.  And, my girls haven't stopped begging for a baby brother since they left!  

Beau and Amy are so fun to hang around- we stayed up way too late many nights just chatting.  We are so glad they came to visit!!

Wknd in Toledo & Madrid

Brian and I just celebrated our 14th anniversary.  So crazy how fast time can fly!  Brian had work in Madrid, so I was able to tag along for the weekend and we celebrated in Spain sans kids!  Because we only had two days here, we had to really pack our sightseeing in...we spent most of our time in the old city of Madrid and our favorite, Toledo.

After exploring the charming streets of Toledo, we bought tickets for the tower tour of the Toledo Cathedral.  The interior of the cathedral is super ornate and gorgeous.  And the views from the top of the tower were perfect.  I love how the architecture of every European city we've been to is so unique.

On Sunday, we made it to church and then walked home through Retiro Park, where a massive marathon was going on.  Not only was the park gorgeous, but it's always fun to feel the energy of a big race and the culmination of all of the hard work.  

Fourteen years ago on April 27, Brian and I were as happy as our young-twenty-selves could have imagined.  Who knew that life would give us so many tough AND fun adventures?!  

US Ambassador

Through the girls' school, we were invited to attend an evening at the Ambassador's home in Regent's Park for hors d'oeuvres and drinks.  The home sits on a massive piece of property inside the famous park and has an enormous private garden (second only in size to Buckingham Palace in all of London).  It was a perfect night with amazing weather and the home was just incredible.

Front door with the seal of the United States and a halfpipe off to the right. :)

The decor was so impressive- painted walls, amazing interior design and eclectic artwork.

Luckiest kids that get to play soccer in that garden, right? :)

Ambassador Barzun and his beautiful wife giving thanks to the headmaster of the school.

This was a painting in the front entryway...so cool and so different than what you'd expect to see!  We loved walking around and talking to other parents, meeting new friends, and admiring the gorgeous home and setting.  We cannot believe we get to live right by this beautiful place!

San Gimignano

We made a stop in San Gimignano- the epitome of a Tuscan hill town with 14 medieval towers still standing, this place feels perfectly preserved.

Entering the city through the Porta San Giovanni, or as us Americans may call it, the main street. :)  

This view is Tuscany in a nut-shell.  Rolling hills covered with olive, grape and cypress trees, studded with gorgeous villas.

We landed at the Piazza della Cisterna, named for the cistern that is served by the old well standing in the center of the square (above).  

Gelateria Dondoli- world champion gelato.  Say no more.  It was creamy, cold perfection.  

Hilltop views at the Rocca...amazing, and the perfect stop to end our tour of San Gimignano.

This beautiful old church was a stone's throw from where we were staying for the week.  Because Brian got sick during our stay, we spent a lot of time on the property of our villa while he recovered.  The kids literally spent 8 hours straight playing outside on one of the days.  Clearly, they needed the time to be outside with unstructured activities, using their imaginations and soaking all of this gorgeous nature in.  That is until they found some potent red berries that they used to write their names on the walls of our villa.  Oh man. We can laugh now because it came out after some serious scrubbing, but it was one of those moments where you want to scream "what were you thinking?!".

I'm so glad we came to Tuscany, we saw some amazing stuff, but I was even happier that we were "forced" to slow down and do almost nothing.  Just what we needed, as evidenced by our kids dirt-stained clothes and sun-kissed cheeks...always the sign of a great vacation.