Reservations, continued...

A few days after Kristin left, we hosted Eric's good friend from Rice, David. He was in England visiting his extended family and just had a quick overnight stay with us before flying home to the States. Dave has been a good friend to Eric for years and while I have met him and his family before, I feel like we really got a great chance to connect during this visit. The guys took Brooks to our pub for supper while I attended a birthday party for a gal in our Pastorate, but later that evening after Brooks went to sleep, we stayed up and talked until the wee hours. Dave shared openly with us about some of what he's been learning over the last year, and lo, and behold! It mirrored our own journey in some ways. It was a really special conversation and saying good-bye to him, I wished for more regular opportunities to spend time with him and his family.

Three hours after Dave left, my dear Auburn friend Deborah and her family arrived. Deborah and Blayne have been married for 10 years, and have a daughter Erin who is just 3 months younger than Brooks. Many of you met them at our wedding. Deborah is one of those women who is just EASY for me to be around. And Blayne is so funny. And Erin is an unbelievably sweet baby who enjoys music and talking and laughing. Oh the fun to cram all 6 of us under one roof for a few days! Blayne and Deb lived in Ireland for a year while Blayne got a masters in Irish performance, so they'd recently "done" many sights in London. Instead of cramming our time full, we checked out one sight each day and geared our days around hanging out with two fun toddlers! We met Eric in the City for lunch and then toured St Paul's Cathedral - quickly, as they neglected to tell us they were closing early to prepare for a service the royal family would attend the next day. We visited Portobello Road, not on market day, just to stroll down the lane and pop into some of the antique shops. We drank lots of coffee. We took the kids to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. We had lunch in Hyde Park. We let the kids splash and play in the Diana Memorial Fountain (we live about 4 blocks from where Diana lived so there's lots of memorial stuff around here). We introduced the kiddos to the joy that is the playground slide. It was a great time and filled with lots of laughter. Here's some photos from their visit!

Playing house at the Diana playground...


Bathtime is more fun with two squirmy toddlers. We promised not to pull this photo out when they're in junior high!


The flowers at Kensington Gardens were in full bloom on our stroll...


The kids loved the Diana Memorial fountain - it's a experiential-type splash fountain in a beautiful lawn, rather than a big tall water display. VERY fun!



Brooks loved having a chance to run up and down the hill in the center of the fountain. Stretching that new freedom! ("Crazy arms!")


Saying goodbye to our friends... Mmm-wah!



I'm already looking forward to next time! Love you guys!!