Grandma and Grandpa have arrived!

Oxford day trip

Is just absolutely gorgeous!

The Bird, Omi and I went via bus for the day, picnicked at one of the colleges, walked along some canal with folks punting nearby, and went to a museum. Where the Bird proceeded to touch one of the paintings.  Yup.  Finger on paint.  A guard was on her like clotted cream on a scone.  Thankfully, we just had to sit on one of the benches and go over the rules again.  Stay behind the ropes. No touching paintings.  We left pretty soon :)

Bird's portrait of Owl

Z looking at photos of herself

a nice run

Father's Day Sunday 2011

 For actual Father's Day, we headed out to Hungerford to attempt a typical English country walk.  While we ended up just walking around a cow field, it was still fairly fun. Up close and personal with the local wildlife, heh?

thatched roof - they still exist!

 And then, a stop at a pub.  Surprise! 

 But, it does have a playground!

London with family

Zoe in front of Buckingham

At the start of this week, the Voosens were in town!  So lucky to be able to see them again so soon after leaving Texas.  They were on a whirlwind tour of Europe to celebrate Emmy's college graduation, and London was their last stop after Zurich, Paris and Amsterdam.

Omi and Zoe

One day Kyle was able to join us in town, and the other day just me and Zoe took the train in to tour the city with family.

Pops, Omi, Zoe, Auntie Em, and Ross on a double decker bus

the whole gang on a Thames boat with Parliament in the background

Lots of great sites, some good pub food, and bus, boat, and train rides for Zoe!

 

Congratulations Emmy!

the whole family

This past weekend Emmy graduated from the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing!  Off into the world of nursing she goes, but before that we had some celebrating to do.

First off, at Uncle Billy's brewery/restaurant.

 And then, this girl got a hold of the camera:

 She and the guest of honor hammed it up for a little while

 

before Zoe took a pretty darn good photo for a two year old.

Emmy and her beau, Ross

 Then the whole family were off to A. Shereda and U. Steve's lake house to celebrate even more. 

toasts with family

(a very small contingent of) the Wolf cousins' kids

Emmy and some giants

Pops and Emma

 Congrats Emmy!

Auntie Em and her favorite nieces

Easter 2011

Easter was in New Braunfels this year.  Check out last year's post for a great comparison on hunting and cascarone strategies.  What a difference a year makes!

Sleepy kids after a long, candy-filled morning.

Christmas 2011

Zoe insists that the newly created

Lego creature is part of the family Christmas photo

We spent Christmas this year at Grandma and Grandpa's house, finishing up with a small celebration at home. We drove all the way there, but Zoe was well rewarded upon arrival.

 hot cocoa is plentiful and Grandma & Grandpa's

 Zoe shows Grandma some new bread-baking tricks

We were also rewarded with pentiful snow and col weather.  The snow only stuck for a few days, but Zoe enjoyed playing in the little bit we had.  Grandma won pretty much all of the snowball fights.  That's what growing up in Wisconsin will get you.

a new train!

plentiful bounty

new cape, skirt, and bear

 We took a few hikes up in the woods to check out the bugs and sticks and stones.

An enjoyable holiday break!

Thanksgiving 2010

We enjoyed this past Thanksgiving in New Braunfels with plenty of food and family fun. The night before, Pops, Preston, Kyle, Emmy, and I all went out to a honky-tonk to listen to some music and have a few beers. We ended up going home with a freshly fried turkey, thanks to Pops' bidding skills. Kyle suffered through the car ride back to the house, and the rest of us devoured it as soon as we got in the door. The next day after a wonderful meal where everyone pitched in, we were able to watch little Mark's football game on TV. They didn't win that game, however the team is still able to play in the Armed Forces Bowl on December 30th - keep an eye out for him! They've had a great season so far.
Zoe loved the weekend, primarily because she was able to hang out with cousin Emma the whole time:

Emma perfects her two-wheel biking,
while Zoe tries to catch her on foot

Celebration

Remember this guy?

Well, he's hitched! The ceremony was gorgeous and moving, everyone was beautiful, and a fun time was had by all before, during, and after.

Zoe and Grandma waving at the farmers

playing with Grandpa's hat

hanging out on the front porch

We decided to drive out there this time, as Zoe's hit that magical age where she no longer flies for free. Who has the money to buy three airline tickets? Certainly not us, the Renovators. She's probably flown more in the first two years of her life than she will the next ten. So for the price of one airline ticket, though considerably more time, we drove there and back. On the way there we started right before bedtime, and drove straight on through morning.

Ugh.

Let me repeat.

Ugh.

Us drivers could not wait for that sun to show it's pretty little head, in the midst of Memphis traffic. (Which, by the way, the bridge over the Mississippi on a major interstate? It's down to one lane, only 11 feet wide. In both directions. Yipee. Try doing that on no sleep.) Zoe did decide to sleep from about 9pm to 2:30am. After that, though, pretty touch-and-go on all fronts. Thus, the plan of the non-driver sleeping while Zoe slept did not work. We were thankful to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and even more thankful for naptime.

Martha's brother rehearses holding a bouquet

A few days later, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (and drinks out with cousins and the groom), and the following day the wedding and reception. I had the honor of standing next to my brother as he and Martha said their vows. The ceremony was performed by someone they had known for over 10 years, which meant it was meaningful and specific to their lives. I think everyone watching cried at some point. Thankfully, my dress had pockets, which meant that Matt was able to get a tissue for his own tears. A neighbor from our old house was able to watch Zoe during the ceremony, which allowed Kyle and I to both able enjoy the ceremony. In the rush and emotion of everything, though, we of course forgot to provide her with snacks, which meant during the photos post-ceremony she was a bit cranky. Nothing that PB&Js at the reception (can you tell there were a fair amount of the smaller-age set anticipated to be in attendance?) couldn't help.

a beautiful bride and her handsome groom
(and us too)

Zoe wearing her second dress of the morning.
Yes, I'm glad I brought two!

And then the newlyweds were off - a classy hotel downtown and a beach-side week-long honeymoon. The rest of our extended family gathered at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a huge bonfire, dinner, drinks, and merriment.

there was a fair amount of cheering
over the Wisconsin game that night

On the way back we opted to drive 1/3 of the way, stop for the night around midnite, and then continue on the next morning. Little One, however, was completely out of sorts when we stopped at the hotel, proceeding with a fit for about a 1/2 hour, followed by delirious happiness and really wet kisses for an hour until sleep finally met us halfway. Mom, Dad, and Zoe slept in the formation of an 'H' in a king bed Kyle drew the short end of the stick with Zoe's feet stuck in his back all nite, but we survived. (Thankfully) Zoe was getting sick so she slept for about half of the remainder of the ride the next day. We were all glad to be home, and she perked up a few days later, back in her routine.

A truly memorable weekend. Congratulations Matt and Martha. Thank you for sharing your day with us.