Omi visits!

In August Omi was able to visit!

waiting for Omi's taxi with Monkey

We took her to all of our favorite places, and showed her what our day-to-day life is like in Newbs.

Sun in the Woods pub (perhaps not so sunny that evening)

lunch in our kitchen

brushing teeth

Thatcham Discovery Centre

playing with Legos at home

Tuesday open-play at the Children's Centre

Omi and Zoe

Kent weekend for the big kids

in front of Leeds Castle

 Since Omi's here, Kyle and I took the opportunity to go to Kent by ourselves for a long weekend.  We stayed at a small B&B in the middle of nowhere, which had amazing meals.  Our first stop was the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham - they claim to be Britain's oldest brewery.

taking a business call at the brewery

a delivery motorcycle!

 The following day we were off to Canterbury.  We visited the cathedral, a ruined abbey (thank you, Henry VIII), and in general enjoyed wandering a town without a stroller.  On our drive back home we stopped at Leeds Castle in Maidstone.  It would actually make an excellent family trip - they had excellent picnic areas, a big maze and small maze, and two different playgrounds for different age groups.

in front of the cathedral on a gorgeous day

taking our time to listen to the audio guide at our own pace

black swans at Leeds Castle

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

July randomness

And now for our monthly purge of photos and videos.

bubbles in the backyard

July means lots of:

practicing on the bike

Picnicking

explaining something important

British strawberries really are the best

homemade muffins

Cold treats

 

 

 

Playgrounds

Sleeping

collapsing at the end of a trail of loved objects, in the future guest room

(note she's clutching a library book) the easiest way to get her to take a nap these days

Basically, enjoying this beautiful weather.

queen of the mountain

The Ladies head to London

While Kyle is off in Austin for a few weeks, Zoe and I headed into the big city for some touristing.  As a college friend lives there, we even had free housing, allowing us to stay for a few days instead of going back and forth to Newbury.  I did discover that buses are definitely easier with this age group, at least over the tube - too many steps and people shoved into tight spaces on the tube, while on the bus we can sit ON THE TOP! AT THE FRONT! Surely you can see what a highlight this could be for a young one.  Perhaps the highlight of the entire three days. 

The bus route from their apartment in east London into the center actually proved to be quite entertaining, passing by some pretty interesting sites such as St Paul's.

We did get to go onto the London Eye (the 'big ferris wheel' according to Z), but that wasn't very exciting, apparently.  About 5 minutes into the journey someone was asking when it would be over.  Hmph.  What is exciting, you may ask?  A playground next to the Eye.  THAT is exciting.

view from the Eye

not happy

pretending to be happy

 One day for lunch we met up with my friend in the park.  Zoe got him to run around in his suit over lunch.  I'm sure his co-workers were thanking her.

We also hit up the Transport Museum in Covent Garden area, as well as some other parks and shops.  London with a 2-1/2 year old is definitely at a slower pace.  Thoroughly enjoyed, and thoroughly thankful for our hosts providing a home away from home for a few days.