Mostly Wordless Wednesday

My first sucker from the man at the Greek Grocery... yum, honey & lemon! And yes, momma tasted it and then took it away from me.



Playing hard wears a Little out...

A little quiz for readers

I took this picture last night.


What is Brooks doing in this photo?

A. Getting dried off after bath-time.
B. Playing dress up as our favorite hero, Super Duck!
C. Going pee-pee all over Dada.
D. All of the above.

If you guessed D, you win. (snicker, snicker)

Oh, the Indignity of Fatherhood. Sorry, Love. I guess we each get our turn, right?!

;-)

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!!

Wheeler Hilton, taking reservations!

In May, we had the wonderful privilege of hosting some dear friends in our London home. We've often laughed that our Chicago condo became the "wheeler hilton" on occasion and while we certainly can't provide guests with a hotel's comfort, luxury and privacy, we loved welcoming friends and family into our home here...

First over was Kristin, my sweet friend from a Park women's small group in 2004-ish. Kristin has the wonderful gift of being able to make me laugh until my sides ache (when she's happy, her smile takes over her face) and to invite me to very deep places of intimate heart-to-heart conversation - all in the same afternoon, and sometimes in the same sentence. She set aside several days of precious vacation time (she's a medical resident with little free time) to visit us and see our world.

Having been to London before, she didn't have a high need to do or see a whole lot while here, so we choose activities that would maximize conversation time. We strolled in Hyde Park with Brooks and Eric and wandered through the Saturday morning Portobello Road antique market. We also left the boys at home one afternoon while we visited Kew Gardens - one of the world's leading Botanical Gardens, home to 1 of 8 of the planet's known plant species! Crazy, huh? This is us in the azalea garden at Kew.


Yummy lilacs in bloom...


On the way back home from Kew by boat to Westminster...


Did I mention that my friend is FANTASTIC with children?! It was such fun to watch Brooks and Kristin playing together. Before her departure, he was calling her by her nickname - Kiki. Absolutely adorable!


The visit was capped off with a delightful afternoon of High Tea at the famous Claridge's Hotel. Kristin secretly made reservations for two, so how could I possibly resist?! We shared Gospel truth with each other, laughed, cried, remembered, and looked forward in a lovely setting, to lovely music, eating lovely yummy treats. What a precious afternoon of girlie-ness!


Kristin, thanks so much for your visit. It was such a treat...

Checking in...

Thanks to each of you who have checked in with us over the last week or two. We are still alive! Blogging has taken a back-seat lately to other, more pressing diversions. In the last month, we've been in Nashville, Chicago, and Medina on a two-week blitz through our various home-towns. During that time Eric attended a work conference in Miami.

When we returned to London in early May, we had all sorts of friends come and visit - from Rice, Chicago and Auburn. In fact, guests # 2 and # 3 know each other independently from us, and they actually passed each other in the airport coming and going on the same day. The Wheeler BnB is taking bookings through the end of the year! Come see us!!

This past weekend was Eric's May bank holiday break, so the three of us rented a car and drove north to Yorkshire. We had a great trip that deserves its own post with photos. Very soon!

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and let everyone know that we're very much alive and kicking over here. Hopefully, I can give myself a few of Brooks's nap-times to blog soon, so I can share some photos from our recent adventures. Know that we're thinking of you and missing our friends and family back home. Eric recently realized that this will be his first summer since something like 1984 that he won't be able to attend a baseball game. Tragic! Soak up some American summertime for us! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

18 months...

What an amazing journey parenting has been so far - I can't believe Brooks is already a year and a half old!

Soon we'll measure our child's age in years, not weeks or months. We really are trying to savor each everyday moment... while we run to catch up with our little man!