Visitors

Our latest visitor - a really cool giant snail!

Hanging out with Daddy - watching a little Mary Poppins.

Watching Mary Poppins with her new best friend.

SOOO tired! Everyone fell asleep on the kitchen floor... :)

Tim wanted to show you all his new manly mower and sophisticated grass catcher.

We have been super excited this last week to have not one, but two sets of visitors! It took two months, but we coaxed our first victims into staying with us! Tim was able to take some time off and the girls have been mostly agreeable to days of sight-seeing. Not to mention there has been new blood in the house, which has been fantastic for our little social butterfly, Abby. Last Wednesday, Noni and Papa (my parents) and Jarv and Mary, my aunt and uncle, flew in and I picked them up from the airport (after 3 practice runs, so I didn't need to use our pesky and confusing (for me) Sat/Nav). A wonderful neighbor watched the girls and I brought home the Watnemo group with no hitches. It was awesome to see all four of them and, so far, they have been perfect guests. We just had a day and a half with them (though packed in The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Parliament/Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Harrod's) and then they flew off to Norway to meet relatives and see the motherland. They will be back this Friday and will stay through the weekend until they leave on Monday. That will be a sad day.

During this week, Tim's cousin, Brian Farrell has been visiting us. He has spent the last few weeks at conferences in Ireland and the UK for his doctorate and it has been a great visit too! He has seen much of London many times, so he has been more of a tour guide to us than us to him. Abby has taken a particular liking to him, and he is very sweet with the girls. Hopefully he (and his wife) will be repeat visitors.

Mothers' Day/Hampton Court Palace

Tim and Abby at the gate - crossing over the moat!
Just part of one wall in the weapons room...

We made it to the heart of the maze!

King Henry and a very unflattering picture of me...

The largest grapevine in the world with a circumference of over 12 ft. You can eat the grapes from it in late summer/early fall. We will go back to taste them!

Although Tim claims that we celebrated the English Mothers' Day in March with the purchase of a dryer (he's kidding, I think), I thought it might be nice if we celebrated the American Mothers' Day with a lovely trip to King Henry VIII's summer home: Hampton Court Palace. Tim agreed and so we packed up the kiddos and had a great day. It is a short trip from our home - just around 20 minutes and a really nice place to spend a sunny day. The palace is beautiful and has an audio tour available, there are characters (including Henry) walking about the palace, the formal gardens are amazing and there is even a hedge maze to get lost in. The day was complete with Abby being scared to death by King Henry as he bellowed through the halls while we were strolling through his apartments - yikes! We also enjoyed the gardens and had no trouble imagining his courtiers lollygagging about in the English sun - all for King Henry's enjoyment. We highly recommend this trip and it scores about a 6 to 7 out of 10 for a family-friendly experience... the palace itself is difficult with kids, but outdoors is perfect for them!

Oh - and I DID get a very nice present from my sweet husband and kids too: a beautiful teapot and cups and saucers from Cath Kidston. So now I can learn to serve PROPER English tea when you come!