Five Weeks in America!

After our seven month absence from the US, its hard to tell who is happier to see the other. Noni or Sophie? The first few days of the trip home are always the most exciting, but also the most difficult. The girls do much better with jet lag coming back to the UK. I say "boo" to having the girls wake up at 2:30 am for the first couple of days. Its much easier to have them sleep in until 10 am, right?

This isn't Abby's first haircut, but definitely her first time under the fancy drier. She went to Papa's hair stylist to get her first cut since moving away from MN. It was time, although we kept most of the hair.

This was Sophie's first and long overdue hair cut. Her hair is still crazy, but in need of a serious trim. She did great! She is a lot older than her sister was for the first official cut, so there weren't any tears... just a proud smile!

Papa had organized a family day in Hastings to go to a pioneer village. The kids had a fantastic time and loved seeing the "olden days". Here they are standing in front of a school bus!

These dudes made an appearance many times during our visit. They are the newest residents on Phalen Place and have made themselves quite at home in the neighbors' yards. One day Abby spotted a fox stalking them as we drove by and we gave ourselves a pat on the back for scaring him away and saving Tom and Tina's life. Another day they were surrounding my parents' car in their drive way and were not too concerned about moving out of the way. They were big too - I'm thinking if they were carnivorous Sophie might have been in trouble.

The Kleins came to town to see us (even without the lure of Uncle Tim as he was still in London for the first 3 weeks). Here are all the cousins outside of Como Park on a nice summer weekend. Colin might have been hungry in this picture...

This action is a first for Sophie and she even agreed to do it multiple times to allow for evidence gathering. She seems to know something about Michael that the rest of us don't. What are you hiding, Uncle Mike? Hmmm....

One more shot of all the cousins at the Johnsons. No sad good-byes yet - we'll see you all again before we head back to the UK.

Another sibling that made a major effort to clear their schedule to see us as much as possible was my sister Kristin. We met them this day in Woodbury at Coldstone Creamery. Yummy! Sophie had a hard time not smothering poor Henry!

Ahh, a hot summer evening in MN. We went to a National Night Out event at my parents' church. Here the girls are showing there face/hand painting. Abby also tossed water balloons with Papa, had ice cream, pet greyhouns rescue dogs and we watched a Tai Kwon Do demonstraion.

Abby's unsure of her ability to catch a wobbly water balloon!

Grandma Anne was the next family member to make a special trip to see the girls (and I'd like to think me, too!) without Tim being around yet. Sophie, Abby and I packed up and moved over to Minnetonka from Maplewood for the weekend to have a proper girls' weekend (plus Colin). It was incredibly hot - much hotter than what's really possible here in the UK and we melted when we played at the nearby playground and the ice cream melted quickly during runs to Dairy Queen! Holy Moly! But we still had fun. :-)

I'm not sure who would be stupid enough to snap a picture of downtown Minneapolis while they were driving, but its one of my favorite views ever. What a pretty downtown it is and seeing it made me miss MN even more.

Sophie got to see one of Abby's good friends, Aidan and his brother Liam. Abby was enjoying 5 days a week at Country Day Summer Camp, but I wanted to catch up with my good friend Molly and see her adorable boys. The three had a great time at an indoor playground together and Sophie became enchanted with their really quite charming boy behavior. Aren't they cute? Totally different than the girl drama we have in the Farrell house.

There's my little Sophie at the indoor playground - sitting in a little locker. She just couldn't help herself and I couldn't either.

All good things must end! The girls spent the first three weeks of our vacation in MN at a summer day camp named Country Day which might be more accurately named "Heaven on earth for Pre-Schoolers". There is a swimming pool, horses, goats, llamas, chickens, bunnies, burros and two huge playgrounds. Sophie had never been to school before and so I thought Country Day might be a good introduction to being away from home. I knew she had a good time, but I never thought she would be so devasted to say good-bye to her teacher, Sandy! When Sophie was beginning at her montessori here in London, she was sure Sandy would be there... Sandy, move over here, please!

Sophie wanted one last go on the horse swing at Country Day!

Abby and her teacher Carrie were fast friends. Henry was such a great cousin to introduce Abby to all his classmates - I think those three weeks were the best of her life. Country Day is nearly Disneyland.

Before those 15 days at Country Day, I never would have believed this picture. In theory, Abby likes animals but not normally in practice. This is Walker - a four-legged angel. He gave daily rides to all the preschoolers at Country Day.

My dear friend Angie with her gorgeous daughter Lauren at their home in NE Minneapolis... Sophie was sulking in the corner. Later that day I picked up Angie for a proper girls' night out. Eat, Pray, Love and drinks afterward. Capped off with my mom waiting up for me because I came home after midnight... yep, I'm 35. Love you mom!

I am so glad the girls and I got to spend some time with my good friend from high school, Allison and her daughter Eva. Allison always makes me laugh and we seem to pick up where we left off. The Farrell girls think Eva is pretty great too!

A true measure of good-sister-ness: having a family of four stay with you the night before school starts for the year. Ben and Katherine were excited and Jenn and Ray were gracious hosts!

The girls really looked forward to a task at Great-Grandma's farm that they remembered fondly from last summer: picking up fallen fruit for the cows to munch on.

We also enjoyed the cooler breeze in the screened in porch and waited for the hummingbirds to visit. We weren't disappointed!

Hugs for Great-Uncle Marlon! Sophie (and the rest of us) think he's pretty fantastic!

As the girls grow up, Tim and I really hope they have as good of memories of time spent at Great-Grandma's like the rest of us do! Looks like they are well on their way!

Grandpa Mike was able to spend some nice time with the girls as well.

Ahhh... Grainbelt Premium! That was my theme of the summer. I hardly ever go for a beer - but I had plenty at my parents. What's not to love about a Premo? Especially enjoying one out on the deck with your dad in the MN summer!

Oh Colin, the Wild Child! Julia, Michael and Colin were able to come around for one last family dinner. It was fun and Colin showed off his cute boy energy!

One last snuggle with Auntie Julia.

Abby and Henry were complete loons with one another this summer. They saw each other almost every day and got to be quite good friends. Henry is possibly the funniest and cutest 4 1/2 year old you'll ever meet!

Maya had a week-long day camp at the MN Zoo that ended around lunch time, so the Farrell's picked her up and made a day of it. Here are the girls waiting for the bird show. Maya is very patient and sweet with her younger cousins!

It was another hot day (of course!) and so we had to indulge in bomb pops on the way out of the Zoo. Mmmm... one of my favorites!

The MN State Fair is something that I regretted missing last summer on our trip back to the states, so this year I made sure to schedule our departure around being able to attend with the family. It was worth it. Who doesn't have a perfect day at the Great Minnesota Get Together? You just have to be patient with crowds and be willing to consume inordinate amounts of calories and spend ridiculous amounts of money. That's me! The girls loved it too and Tim, I think, likes it better now that we have kids!

We met up with the Barleys. They had never been and enjoyed it too. Pam was a total trooper. You can't tell from this photo, but she was about ready to have another baby... congratulations on Baby Quinn!

Farmer Sophie on Machinery Hill.

I also met up with my good friend from volleyball, Jean and Karla. I totally miss them these days!

Last minute bike riding in Papa and Noni's driveway... with a little added protection!

Miss Aliza, whom I fear will never really know who I am besides this random crazy lady who drops in every 6 months or so. She practiced taking a few steps to me at least. That will have to do for now.

Her amazing big sister Greta knows me pretty well. She came to send us off right before our trip to the airport. Thanks dudes, for the great summer!