This guy

Today, I had to lie in bed and Ian hung out with me most of the day. I was going through some 24-hour bug.  We read books and when I didn’t have the energy to read anymore, Ian kept grabbing new books, climbing up next to me, his back leaning against my torso, looking at the pictures. I watched as his eyes studied each page. His eyes darting back and forth and then stopping to stare at one or two details. Then he’d turn the page, pressing against the paper then finishing off the flip with his pointer finger and thumb, eyes open wide at the curiosities of the next illustration. We usually don’t have moments like this because life gets busy and, when I’m well, my kids like action! But today was slow and, although a summer stomach ache is never fun, it allowed me to watch this little two- (soon to be three-) year old do his thing.

Ian wants to be involved in it all. He waves to neighbors and chats with them. One afternoon as my neighbor pulled into her driveway I heard Ian yell, “Excuse me CC, where did you go?”

The other day we went to Toy Story 4 and 45 minutes into the show Ian said, “Mom, let me see your watch. It looks like it’s time to go home.”

He usually asks where Ansel or Oliver is and always plays with the bigs kids especially when friends are over. One of our neighbor 7-year-olds recently told me, “Ian is my favorite!”

He’s one great kid!

England with sistahs

For a week in May, I was lucky enough to spend time with three of my fours sisters in the land across the Atlantic. We flew the 9.5 hours to England with ease and even got some sleep (thanks to my brother's comfort tips for a plane ride). We hit the ground running and had the opportunity to visit a great many things. Lots of photos of our adventures below.

We stopped at Kensington Garden to find the Peter Pan statue. Right afterwards we heard the parakeets and stopped to feed them peanuts, apples, and walnuts right out of our hands! Jess, Oliver, and I tried to find this spot when we visited last year but couldn't see it. Needless to say, we had only missed it by a 3 minute walk.

The next day we visited Oxford. This was on my bucket list, and I loved it. The Bridge of Sighs and the streets were as cool as I had imagined.

From there we visited the Cotswolds. While checking out a church in Bampton that was used in the television series Downton Abbey, we were interviewed by the BBC about tourists visiting small towns and how that affected the citizens there. I used the word "visceral" and thought I had nailed the interview. My sisters said some much wiser stuff so I may not make the cut for the show :).

The Arlington Row of cottages was perfectly picturesque.

The next day we ventured to St. Paul's Cathedral and went up the 500+ stairs to visit the top. This was a highlight for us, even though we almost skipped it.

We then visited the Tate Modern. I sent this photo in a text to Jess saying I liked this Matisse. He replied with, "I can make one of those for you when you get home." Haha!

That night we went to Hamilton. This was history told to you in lightning speed. Wow! There is no way anyone could fall asleep during this play. 

We hit the ground running the next day with a whirlwind visit of the British Museum. 

And then we were off to the Chelsea flower show. I tried to buy some iris bulbs but my sisters informed me that there was no way that they were going to allow them through customs. Good to know!

We relaxed at afternoon tea and I loved the English Mess (the dessert in the mini glass cup). 

Then off to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.

We found the Holbein that Oliver loves because of the neat 3-D skull at the bottom. If you view this painting at different angles, the skull looks different. My sister was a great tour guide in this museum with a wealth of knowledge.

Then we visited Westminster. This stop made me realize how confused I am about English royalty and the history of the nation. Mary, Elizabeth, Henry, Edward: names I've heard and thought I had a hold on but I need to seriously review.

The day after that, we visited the London Olympic Park and took our best 'Boy Band' photo next to West Ham United stadium. This spot was a stop off of the tube and very open. There were a lot of families here with their kids riding scooters. It was fun to see the contrast from the busy streets of Covent Garden where we stayed.

Here we rode on the longest slide in the world, the ArcelorMittal Orbit, conceived by one of my sister's favorite artists, Anish Kapoor. Its a 40 second ride and at some points you go about 15 mph. I was kind of scared, but it was all fun!

Our last day was spent enjoying St. James Park and then we were off to the Charles Dickens Museum. This stop was a detour from our original goal to go to Hampton Court (due to a disturbance at Waterloo station), but it did not disappoint.

It was such a fun trip with three of the best people around. Everyone got back home safely to finish up all of the end-of-school stuff with their kids. I told Jess I could do this very thing once a year. I mean, why not? 😉

June 6th already?

Ansel and Oliver finished up their school year with a 1k and 5k race, respectively. Our PTA does tons of end-of-the-year stuff and the Fun Run was just the beginning. 

Here’s Ansel at the finish line. Just look at his face, he had fun. 

Ollie decided to do the 5k. A mile for me in 7th grade was torture, so I was happy he went for it. He walked some and ran some. The route goes by our road, so when I saw a text from Jess that he was home, I called him up and asked if he could see Oliver. At that very moment he did! So Jess finished the race with him. Fun!

Ian followed the Bear mascot around everywhere. If the Bear took off to go into the school, Ian followed him. Needless to say, the Bear was manned by an eighth grader who didn’t have the same pizzazz as a non-teen. Ian didn’t notice, but I could tell when the Bear was sick of a two year old following him. Ha!

Here Oliver is with his wonderful teacher Mrs R. 

And here’s Ansel with his amazing teacher Mrs C. 

These boys had a great year with top marks and lots of activities. 

We also celebrated the removal of our old hot tub. 

And we were amazed to see it picked up by the roadside service lickety split. 

Tax dollars at work baby! 

Now onto summer!

Double digits

This kid celebrated his birthday recently and it is so fun to watch him grow, learn, and continue to be curious about most everything. His dad gave him a book for his birthday and he read it lickety split. He is creative and kind and figuring life out one observation at a time. Sometimes he’ll come up to me and ask, “Mom, can we chat?” You bet! I can’t believe it was a decade ago that Jess and I welcomed him into the world. Happy birthday Oliver. You are one top notch person.