Our last month here!! Including a week in Ireland.

Well, we haven't slowed down! July was full of visitors, playdates and adventures. The culminating adventure on this post, and for our time here in England, was our longest trip since arriving - a week in Ireland.

The "ice creams" were COLD!

Emmett & Oscar
Before Ireland, Emmett and I spent nearly every weekday that we didn't have visitors with Emmett's friend Oscar. They played on various playgrounds, picnicked, ran through fountains, sang and danced, and scooted all over Windsor together. Saying goodbye before our trip to Ireland was bittersweet - we truly hope Oscar's family and his au pair, Beatriz, have a chance to visit us sometime in Colorado and that we can visit them in their homes either here in England or in Barcelona, Spain. Oscar and his family left while we were in Ireland to spend their month-long summer break in Spain with their families.


The Ascot Races with Emmy & Sam

The horses passed by quickly!

Our first visitors of the month were our friends Sam and Emmy, who spent about 10 days touring England while their 2 year old daughter was with grandparents back in Minnesota. Emmett absolutely adored them both from the moment he met them (he had met them and their daughter about a year ago but I'm not sure he remembered). We spent a Friday evening with them in London enjoying some street food, then the following day they joined us in Windsor for a trip to the castle and then a bus ride to the Ascot Race Course for an afternoon at the horse races. The horse race was exciting. Sam and Spencer placed bets but decided they would need to be more knowledgeable about the contestants before being more serious about gambling. Emmett loved watching the horses and wished they wouldn't run so fast then just disappear. Emmy and I both enjoyed people watching - people really dress up for the races!

More Visitors, A Race & A Musical
The next visitor was my friend Samantha who I know from UW-Madison. Sam stayed with us for 2 nights and introduced us to a couple of her British friends whom she works/worked with at a British international school in Vietnam. It was fun to be with such energetic and thoughtful people! Again, Emmett loved Samantha and her friends because they allowed him to take center-stage for a lot of the time we were together. I wish we had taken a photo of all of us together!

Team J2 competing in the Great Relay Race at the Queen's Olympic Stadium

The day Samantha left on the train was the same day my mom arrived to the Heathrow airport!! We hired a taxi to bring her to our place and Emmett managed to stay awake long enough to say hello to Grandma before his afternoon nap. My mom has been here since mid-July and will be staying with us until we depart! Even with jet lag on her second day here, my mom volunteered to watch Emmett so that Spencer and I could attend his race on the east side of London and have dinner with his fellow runners and coworkers afterward. Spencer met his goal of running a (nearly) 7-minute mile 5K and was the fastest of his team of 4 J2ers (J2 is the name of the consulting company for which he works).  It was a late but fun date night for us. :)

On our way to see Book of Mormon!

The first weekend my mom was here, we asked Beatriz to watch Emmett for an afternoon and Spencer and I took my mom to the Picadilly Circus area where we saw our first live musical since being in England. We saw the Book of Mormon and thought it was hilarious and so well performed! At first I was hesitant to see such a "racy" show with my mom sitting next to me, but after the initial shock, we both really enjoyed ourselves. It has spurred some good talk about her experiences touring the mormon church in Salt Lake City and I encouraged her to read Under the Banner of Heaven, by John Krakauer, which has furthered our conversations.

IRELAND!
On Tuesday the 19th of July, the four of us headed to Heathrow airport with a carry-on each for our bucket-list trip to Ireland! We arrived in Dublin a few hours later, rented a car, and spent the night there before starting our first full-day journey on Wednesday morning. We spent 6 full days in Ireland, all of which provided glimpses at gorgeous landscapes and allowed us to delight in tasty food (and for Spencer and my Mom - beer). I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to eat gluten free - not like my experiences in England and in other parts of Europe. And we are grateful to Spencer's colleague, Daragh, a native Irishman, who gave us a list of recommended highlights to visit along the journey - we wouldn't have seen nearly the same sites if it weren't for his input!

Here is a map that marks all of the highlights we visited for each of the 6 full days (I had fun putting that together!). And I encourage you to look at the July photo album, too, though the camera couldn't capture Ireland's beauty.

Day 1 in Ireland: 
We left Dublin a little later than planned due to a late breakfast and a lost Spencer (he ran out of phone battery on his way back from the grocery store so it took him an hour to find our flat... but he found it!!). We headed from Dublin via the Wicklow Mountains National Park to an area called Glenndalough. The visitor centre there was a perfect place for a quick picnic lunch and a chance to stretch our legs as we explored the monastery and river walk. Apparently it is the site of many pilgrimages (buddhists especially) due to the energy released from the surroundings. We wished we had more time to explore.

From Glenndalough we headed south/southwest through Waterford until we found an unnamed turn-off that would lead us to Knockanore - the original home of my great-great-great grandmother. My mom had a visit to this town on her life bucket list and it was fun to be able to take her there along our journey. Knockanore is home to its own brand of cheese, though we got there at 5:15pm, once everything - even the pub - was closed. As far as we could tell, there was a pub, a church and a school in the town itself, and the surrounding farmlands were stunning.

After Knockanore we headed through Cork (where we stopped at a grocery store for a late makeshift dinner) and found our lodging for the next 4 nights - an AirBnB cottage located just outside the town of Bantry. We had a view of the Bantry Bay and on clear days we could see across the bay to the peninsula. The cottage was beautiful; spacious, with toys for Emmett, and very private and cozy. We felt at home for the four nights we stayed there.

Day 2 in Ireland:
The forecast for our second day in Ireland looked slightly gloomy - rain and fog all morning. So we had a much-needed lazy, relaxing morning at the cottage (Mom, Emmett and Spencer ate fresh scones that had been left by the hosts!) then packed into our car midmorning and headed to our neighboring Beara Peninsula for a self-led driving tour along the coast to the tip and back. Emmett slept quite a bit of the drive, as he was sick and not sleeping enough due to the travel. We didn't have quite the vistas we probably would have given less fog, but we certainly enjoyed the green, peaceful, magical surroundings and the colorful small towns that we drove through.

We got to the tip of the peninsula which is home to Ireland's only cable car. The cable car carries its passengers to the island across the way called Dursey, which according to our sources has cool hiking paths and a village but not much else. We didn't cross over to the island but we enjoyed climbing the rocks, watching for dolphins, and feeling the wind in our hair at the site of the cable car. The rain had cleared by then and we started back east on the northern side of the peninsula. The views were spectacular, especially when the sun peaked out from behind the clouds.

Our favorite part of the day was crossing over the Healy Pass that led us back to the southern side of the peninsula. The narrow, windy road led up and over green mountains, speckled with sheep. We drove through trees and forests, then around grass covered rocks, along streams and waterfalls and finally had glimpses of the sparkling ocean again. The drive took longer than we had budgeted for time wise, so we hurried home and had a quick spaghetti dinner before crashing and sleeping hard.



Day 3 in Ireland:
We had promised Emmett that he could throw rocks in the ocean (his favorite thing to do while traveling these days) all the way back on Tuesday en route to Dublin. Friday morning - our third full day in Ireland - we finally fulfilled that promise. After breakfast we drove toward Glengarriff, a town just northwest of Bantry, searching out a cove with a rocky beach. Spencer spotted a good stopping point and we piled out of the car down a small slope, to a manmade sand beach with rocks along the beach and ocean floor for as far as one could see. We arrived at low tide so we had even more access to rocks. Emmett was in heaven. He found a broken sand pail that had been left behind by someone else, Grandma helped him find a good flat rock that he could use as a shovel, and he went to work digging in the sand. In the meantime, Spencer found some excellent skipping rocks and commenced to show off his exceptional rock-skipping skills. Emmett was intrigued and soon joined in at rock throwing. We had only planned on staying for 20 or 30 minutes, but ended up spending the whole morning at the cove. Another little girl and her mother joined at the beach with a proper shovel and bucket, and Emmett was excited to have someone to build towers with. Kelly (who was around 6) was very patient with Emmett, even when he destroyed the towers that she had decorated with seashells. Overall, this was probably Emmett's favorite morning of the entire trip.

We went back to the cottage for nap time, hoping that Emmett would catch up a bit on his missing sleep (and be in a better mood that evening). I stayed with him while Spencer and my mom explored a market and pub in Bantry. After Emmett awoke, we headed back to Glengarriff where we boarded the last ferry taking people to Garnish Island, a small island converted into a giant garden. From the windows of the boat we saw seals, eagles & nests, castles and large homes. The gardens were spectacular and we loved letting Emmett run (mostly) free. We only had an hour on the island before the last ferry back, so we were quick about our self-guided tour, but thoroughly enjoyed everything we did see. We had dinner in Bantry - delicious locally caught fish with mashed potatoes and veggies. Yum.

Day 4 in Ireland:

For our last full day in the Cork/Kerry counties area, we decided to head north to see a glimpse of Kilarney National Park. We had a delicious, traditional lunch in the town of Kilarney (meat and potatoes and veggies), then headed to a carpark where we had hoped to find a short loop to hike before Emmett's nap. We found a parking spot and ended up starting our hike late enough that we decided on bringing Emmett's stroller, hoping he'd sleep on our walk to a waterfall just a "2Km loop" away. The walk took much longer than we thought (I think it was 2Km just to get to the waterfall) and Emmett barely slept (again... ugh). But we still opted to drive the long way back to Bantry through the Gap of Dunloe - a drive that came highly recommended by Spencer's friend Daragh - and we were not disappointed by our decision. Again, the road was narrow and precarious, but Spencer navigated without a stitch and the views were breathtaking. It made me want to bike across Ireland and spend more time exploring the less-traveled areas.

Day 5 in Ireland:

On Sunday the 24th of July, we left our temporary home in Bantry with a final destination of Dublin, but with a few planned sightseeing stops along the way. Our first stop was in a small area along a lake called Gougane Barra. Daragh had told Spencer that many films set in Ireland are filmed in this region as the landscape is very stereotypically Irish. Again, we appreciated having the suggestion that we stop - the lake and the views were beautiful and we spent time stretching our legs by throwing rocks in the lake and walking around a charming little church in the area. From there we headed north along small country roads toward Limerick, where we changed course and headed more west (instead of straight east to Dublin) so that we could see the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland's biggest natural attractions so we were not surprised to see a full parking lot and people everywhere. We didn't have a lot of time if we were going to still get dinner and make it to Dublin at a reasonable time, so we quickly perused the gift shop and visitor centre, then headed up the walkway to the cliffs. It was amazing what a difference it made to see the cliffs under the shade of clouds compared to 15 minutes later when the sun made an appearance. They were certainly impressive and we wished we could have had more time to walk along the top ledge, but we'll have to add that to our list of things to explore when we go back someday. :)

Day 6 in Ireland:

We spent two nights in Dublin so that we could have at least one full day there. We found an AirBnB apartment across the street from the Phoenix Park which is home to the Dublin Zoo, so we decided to spend the morning there. We later learned that Phoenix Park is the biggest metropolitan park in all of Europe and later in the day we drove through part of it in search of a playground only to discover that it is several miles long and is not meant as a shortcut to get across town. Oh, and we didn't find the playground. But Monday morning we only got a glimpse of the park before heading into the zoo. We got there right at opening time and got to see the zoo keepers feed several of the animals their breakfasts. The lions were making lots of noise in anticipation for food, and the orangutans, having just been let out of their nighttime enclosures, quickly made their way up the tree structures and played above our heads on the ropes over the pedestrian path.  Overall, we were quite impressed by the space and enclosures provided the animals and by the variety of animals we were exposed to. And of course, Emmett loved it all.

After a lunch at the zoo, I hurried back to our apartment to nap with Emmett - both of us had been lacking sleep all week - and I wasn't super interested in paying to tour the Guinness Storehouse (one of the biggest Dublin attractions, apparently) with Spencer and my mom when I couldn't even try the beer (when will all beer be gluten free??). So Spencer and my mom came back with stories about the dramatic tour they went on and about the lessons that were provided on how to properly pour a Guinness. It seemed they had a good time.

For dinner, Spencer googled what turned out to be an exceptional choice of restaurants. We ate at the Brazen Head pub, which also happens to be Ireland's oldest pub. For an appetizer, we shared an order of mussels cooked in a white wine sauce. For entrees, I had a delicious chowder, my mom had some traditional bacon (it looked like ham to me) with potatoes and cabbage and veggies, and Spencer had an Irish beef stew. The food was phenomenal - Emmett ate everyone's and couldn't get enough. We made it home for another late bedtime and prepared for an early departure back into Heathrow.

I would highly encourage anyone to visit Ireland. We loved it.


So this concludes our time in England. We have been packing, entertaining Emmett, saying goodbye to a few people and trying to use up the food in our cupboards for the past week and we head out of here on Sunday the 7th (happy 6th anniversary, Spencer!!). Spencer will be back for a few more weeks during August and September, but Emmett and I will be back in Colorado preparing for his baby sister's arrival. We have no regrets about coming here and are already talking about potential future adventures.

Things we are looking forward to in Colorado:
- seeing Bodie (our dog)
- friends & family
- a normal sized refrigerator
- our beds!!
- having a large yard and garden space for Emmett to play
- a separate washing machine and dryer
- easy access to Mexican & Vietnamese food
- our camping equipment & our bikes
- the mountains

Things we will miss in Windsor:
- friends
- the playgrounds (there are real see-saws & merry-go-rounds here!)
- all the daily toddler-friendly activities we could attend
- having a super small apartment to clean (& minimalistic living in general)
- daily runs up to and around a 1000 year old castle
- feeding swans (& geese & ducks) on the Thames River
- taking the trains to get around
- being able to walk EVERYwhere we needed to go

We feel inspired and grateful to be have had this life changing adventure. Thanks for keeping up with us!

Cheers!

June Down - One Month to Go

Oscar & Emmett play in the fountains

June was as eventful as ever! Emmett and I have officially become regulars at all the weekly toddler-friendly events around Windsor and Spencer is enjoying the time he puts into his projects for work. But we broke from our routines several times this month to explore more of England and to host some wonderful visitors!

Dover & Canterbury
We had what I would deem our most leisurely and relaxing trip yet to celebrate my birthday at the beginning of the month. We booked a car and an apartment on AirB&B and headed Southeast toward Dover for a weekend getaway. Spencer drove, this time seeming relaxed and comfortable with being on the wrong side of the car and road. We arrived on Friday evening and stayed in a little town called Folkstone, walking distance to the coast, where Emmett was eager to "tow wocks in da oshy" (throw rocks in the ocean) at every opportunity.

The Church & 1st Century Lighthouse at Dover Castle

On Saturday morning we headed to the Dover Castle which is a spectacular place to explore. Since it is built on the chalk cliffs overlooking the channel, it has been a stronghold for England since the beginning of England. It not only has buildings dating back to the first century (the original lighthouse within the castle grounds), and the castle that has been built, rebuilt and fortified around the lighthouse and tower, but it also has miles of tunnels underneath - some as old as the Middle Ages and others built during World War II to house a hospital, soldiers and other military personnel. We enjoyed touring the tunnels and letting Emmett run around the castle grounds while we read up on the history of the place. After the morning castle tour, we brought Emmett back to the apartment hoping he'd sleep for a couple hours and be cheerful all evening, but instead he skipped his nap and we walked from the apartment to the ocean, so he could fulfill his one weekend request and throw rocks to his heart's desire. It was a very pleasant evening until his meltdown around 6pm.


On Sunday we headed back to Dover, but this time to see the White Cliffs. Spencer took us on a somewhat off-road journey to get to the South Foreland Lighthouse, which we used as our "basecamp" for a morning hike in the rain. We headed west toward Dover along the top of the cliffs and let Emmett walk as much as we could, along the parts of the trail that were not immediately next to the cliffs. Despite the rain, we had a very enjoyable hike.

After the hike, we headed to Canterbury to have some lunch and check out the cathedral. The cathedral was stunning, even with all of the scaffolding up for maintenance work. One of the highlights was getting to see a few sections of the stained glass windows at eye level which had been taken down temporarily so that they could be reinforced before hanging them again. We were not allowed to take photos of those windows, but the intricacies were awesome. After the cathedral, we packed ourselves back into the car and headed back to Windsor so Spencer could return the rental car.


Shawna's Visit
The very next day, my friend Shawna (who I've known since Oman) arrived for a visit! Spencer had to work all week, but that didn't stop Shawna, Emmett and me from exploring London for two days and Windsor on her third day here. Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos on either of my devices during her visit, so I'm hoping she shares a few of her highlights into our album (hint, hint, Shawna... ;) ). On day one, we walked through Kensington Park so Emmett could play on the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant, then headed to the Natural History Museum while Emmett napped. On day two, we went back to London, this time to Buckingham Palace where Emmett scooted at the nearby park while Shawna saw the Changing of the Guard. From there we had lunch in a park, then headed to see Big Ben, West Minister Abbey, along the River Thames to the Kings College and then past the London Eye toward the Waterloo train station. By day three I was feeling hung over from walking so much, :) so on Thursday we stayed in Windsor and went on a boat tour, saw the castle, and made some homemade dinner. We were sad to say goodbye on Friday morning.

Other News
My brother, Brian came back to the UK for business and managed to fit in an afternoon walk, dinner and overnight with us once more on this trip! Emmett loves spending time with his uncles and aunties and this was no exception.

In other news... we had our 20 week ultrasound for our upcoming Baby Kathol the day after Brian's visit! We are excited for our daughter's arrival around Halloween of 2016. Emmett has been hugging my growing belly and talking to his "baby sistew" on a regular basis.

The Landers Stay

Jack, Quincy & Emmett reunited

Our next visit was from the Landers family, who came from the Netherlands on their 3-day weekend at the end of June. On Friday afternoon when they arrived, we immediately introduced them to the Windsor Castle (Jack loves castles) while Emmett finished his nap, then met them at the park where the three boys ran around, Emmett so happy to be reunited with Jack and Quincy.

Saturday was the London day! I, unfortunately, had food poisoning and was unable to join the group in London, but Spencer was a great tour guide. According to his Fitbit, he took 24,000 steps so apparently the walking was intense. But they saw a bit of everything important, with the big stop being at the Tower of London. They didn't get back to our flat in Windsor until about 10:30pm, and Emmett was wide awake with the group - so our next day was definitely going to be a recovery day in Windsor. We managed to take the Landers to the Long Walk, by the castle, to feed the swans and then after lunch to a playground to get some energy out before the flight home.

I found out just a few days prior to the Lander's visit that my good friend Nimmi, who I know from Oman, was to be in London for some courses she is taking for her job over the same weekend as the Landers were staying. I feel so lucky to have gotten to have an afternoon with Nimmi on Sunday, who took the train into Windsor just as the Landers were heading out. It's so wonderful to reconnect with good friends!



And all of a sudden... it's JULY! We are looking forward to more visitors this month!! And my mom is coming back so that we can go together to Ireland and because she has offered her assistance in watching Emmett while I clean the apartment and pack for our journey home. Emmett and I are officially returning Stateside on August 7. Spencer will be coming with, though he will be coming back here a week later to finish his project (that is slated to be done at the end of September).

I hope this post finds you well! As always, it is wonderful to hear from you! Keep in touch!

Whoa - Where Did May Go?

Happy June, Everyone!

What a whirlwind May turned out to be! I had better hurry and write about it before I forget any of the important details.

Adam & Stephanie's Visit: Road trip to the Jurassic Coast

Adam taught Emmett to blow the dandelion seeds!

As I mentioned in my previous post, May started off beautifully with a visit from our Madison friends, Stephanie and Adam (Spencer knows Stephanie from his previous work in Madison), who are currently residing in the Netherlands (they are also friends with Jim and Laura who we visited at Easter). They had a long weekend from work, so Spencer took Friday off, to spend together. They arrived on Wednesday night, and after a long wait in the passport control line they missed their window to get the rental car that we were going to use for the weekend and instead took a taxi to our flat. Emmett and I were long asleep when they arrived so we got to greet them on Thursday morning over a longer-than-usual breakfast for Spencer who then went to the office to work for the day. Adam, Stephanie, Emmett and I headed out for a walk around Windsor, and after the changing of the guard, lunch and nap, we ended up heading north into Eton, to see a bit of the school campus, and finding some lovely fields to walk through on our way home. Emmett loved the journey, of course, but his favorite part was learning how to blow the seeds off of dandelion flowers with Adam. Once Spencer was done with work, he and Adam went to pick up our rental car... the adventures driving a manual transmission car, from the right side of the car and on the wrong - I mean left - side of the road were to begin!

Spencer's in the driver's seat!

The next day, Friday, was the start to our first road trip here in England. We packed up the car and headed out to Stonehenge, with a brief stop to try to see the Highclere Castle (where they film Downton Abbey). Due to interviews and casting that they were doing in the castle that day (for the upcoming movie), we weren't supposed to approach the castle or take any photos... but we snuck in a couple. :) The driving went surprisingly (for me, anyway, though Spencer never doubted his ability to do it) smoothly! Spencer drove from Windsor to Stonehenge and Adam drove from there to our cabin near the coast. Both of them grabbed for the stick to change gears with their right hands and actually grabbed the door handle only a few times, and both had to go around a couple of the roundabouts more than once until we figured out the appropriate exit to take, but otherwise all was well! It made me excited to rent a car more often this summer so that we can explore the sites off the beaten path.

Stonehenge

We felt lucky to be at Stonehenge on a gorgeous, sunny Friday, where we found plenty of tourists, but not as many as we think were likely to visit on a Saturday or Sunday. We picnicked outside our car in the parking lot before heading in and starting the hike over the hills to the ancient stones. By 2pm, Emmett was well past his normal nap time and in his exhaustion ended up missing the viewing of the giant Stonehenge rocks at the main part of the site, but he was happy to study small rocks, bugs, and cows all along the walk as we headed toward the site.

Jurassic Coast

The next day and a half we spent exploring a small part of the Jurassic Coast (called that due to the high number of fossils people find along the cliffs and beaches as well as the age of the rocks and layers in the cliffs). We stayed in a small cabin near a town called Lyme Regis, which was right on the ocean at the English Channel. Emmett enjoyed every opportunity given him to throw rocks into the water, and we tried to get in some hiking along the coastal paths. We found the area to be stunningly beautiful, and we especially enjoyed having lots of time in the sunny, lush and green outdoors with friends.



Emmett's Second Birthday: Scooters and Horses

Emmett's birthday scooter

A couple of days after Adam and Stephanie headed out was
Emmett's 2nd birthday. We gave Emmett his main birthday present - a scooter - the night before his birthday, with the intention of spending the next day out all day on his new scooter. Unfortunately for us, though, it rained all day on his birthday and the day after. But we scooted for a while each day, despite the rain, and that just meant more time to read his new books and do Emmett's favorite indoor activity - make and eat popcorn. We also had intended to go to the Wednesday free day at the Queen's annual birthday-celebratory Horse Show - which takes place on the private grounds of the castle - but alas, that was called off too because of the rain.

Emmett & Oscar at the horse show

So instead, Spencer and I bought tickets to the show for Thursday (not free), intending to go for the morning together. Unfortunately for Spencer, he got some sort of stomach bug the night before the show, so on Thursday morning, I texted the only other person I know here to see if they would maybe be up for going with us - Emmett's friend Oscar's nanny. Thankfully, Beatriz and Oscar jumped at the opportunity to go
with us to the horse show and Emmett and Oscar had a wonderful time running around the grass, on and off of benches, and up and down the bleachers together. Emmett's birthday was a success!

The middle of May was not super eventful, other than a trip into London to go to the London Aquarium. Emmett was infatuated with the fish and sea life. After the aquarium, we tried getting Emmett to nap in his stroller but he couldn't sleep through the bumping over cobblestones, and instead woke up after only 20 minutes to join us for our first walk over the Millennium Bridge. Shortly after, Spencer used Google to help us find a playground so Emmett could stretch his legs, and we enjoyed some Latin American street food at a festival before heading back to the train station and home.



Edinburgh, Scotland
Instead of Memorial Day being the reason for a 3-day weekend at the end of May, here the students have a week long break from school and so the public and private sector have a bank holiday on Monday of that week. The school year here goes until the beginning of July, but the students have 3 (at least one-)week long breaks at the end of each quarter to make up the difference in vacation time. Spencer and I decided to take advantage of his three day weekend by scheduling a train trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. The train ride was 4.5 hours from London, with an extra 1.5 hours to get form Windsor to the correct station in London. I was nervous about how Emmett would handle sitting still that long, but he did super well. He lunched, napped, and behaved wonderfully on both Friday and Monday.

Farmer's Market below, castle above

Saturday we spent walking around Edinburgh. We spent some time at the stellar playground just across the park from the flat where we stayed, and we hit up the local farmer's markets in town. Along our journey, we also saw the tribute to Greyfriar's Bobby - the dog that didn't leave his master, Greyfriar, even once Greyfriar was in the grave. I wasn't feeling super well that day, so we went back to the flat for nap time and I rested too, and we took it easy the rest of the evening.

Sunday was slightly more eventful in that we spent the morning exploring the Edinburgh Castle, and then walked to Arthur's Seat in the evening. The castle seemed more prominent and threatening than the Windsor Castle - probably

Spencer & Emmett hiking Arthur's Seat

because it was built, then torn down, and rebuilt all with the purpose of serving as a stronghold for various royal families - not ever as a primary residence. Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano that is covered in hiking trails and juts out of the middle of Edinburgh. We didn't have the time we would have needed to hike to the top with Emmett, but we went to the base and crawled around on some rocks and enjoyed the views and sunshine. Check out our photos to see just how beautiful Scotland is.


Our trip to Scotland took us right to the end of May! Now that we are in June, we are looking forward to a visit from my friend, Shawna (who I know from working in Oman) as well as a visit from our friends Jim, Laura, Jack and Quincy who will visit at the end of the month. Spencer's work has really picked up as he has a go-live for part of his project at the end of June. His contract, which was to last at minimum 6 months here, has a more verifiable end now, too! He has another go-live on September 28 and that will mark the end of his time here. We have decided that Emmett and I will return to Colorado in midAugust with Spencer for a few days, but then Spencer will come back here to Windsor and finish out his contract while we wait patiently for him back home. I'm letting you all know this in case any of you have any last-minute travel plans to come see us!

I hope this post finds you all well and that you enjoy the photos that accompany this as they often tell a much clearer story than I. You can scroll through the whole album by just clicking on one of the photos and navigating through with captions! Until next time!

Cheers!

The End of April: The Queen's 90th Birthday & Switzerland

Queen Elizabeth II and husband Duke of Edinburgh

April 21, 2016 was Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday, and Windsor was the place to be for Queen-siting. On the 20th, she made a public appearance to dedicate a gazebo in a park and to recognize the 500th anniversary of the Royal Postal Service. (Both of these events were difficult to get information about and ended up coinciding with Emmett's nap time, so we didn't take part.) And on April 21, the Queen had scheduled a walk-about outside of the Windsor castle (which we were told would be the best time to see her in person). So with the walk-about scheduled for 11:30am, Emmett and I headed out of the house around 9:30am, made a stop at the playground for about 30 minutes, then headed toward the castle to find a spot to see the Queen. During the 2 hours we waited, we spent lots of time waving the British flags that were handed to us, practicing saying "Happy birthday, Queen!" (Emmett's version: "Happy Cake!") and eating snacks and lunch. Emmett was a trooper! At about noon, the Queen headed our way in her fancy car, with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh standing at her side. I encouraged Emmett to wave his flags and tell her "happy birthday," but he just stared in amazement. The siting happened quickly, and by the time it was over it was Emmett's nap time so we hurried through the crowds, back to our flat, and waited until that evening to try to spot the Queen again.

Emmett got the best view of all of us!

Around 7pm that night, the Queen and her family were to be part of a torch lighting ceremony at the start of the Long Walk path. Spencer, Emmett and I made it there by 6:30pm but there was no way we were getting close enough to actually see any of the Royals. Regardless, we enjoyed the marching band, waving our flags, and listening to the Duke dedicate the 1000 beacons that were to be lit that night to his lovely wife. There are to be more 90th birthday celebrations throughout May and June. The tickets to most of the events are already sold out (and have been since last November), but we are going to a horse show this week and may take part in some of the June festivities, if we can.







A few days after seeing the Queen, Emmett, Spencer and I boarded a plane to Switzerland, to visit my college-friend, Matt and his lovely family. We spent four full days in Switzerland, leaving on Wednesday evening, April 27, and returning on Monday morning, May 2. Spencer worked from the public library on Thursday and from Matt and Tina's home on Friday. Matt took Thursday and Friday off and was able to hang out with Emmett and me for most of those two days.

Hiking through the woods in Switzerland

Thursday morning Emmett and I were on our own, as Matt and Tina took their girls to the doctor. Matt had described the route from his house to a walking path in the woods near his house, so Emmett and I went to explore. Matt had said to follow a couple of roads and cross a small field of grass, then told us we'd find the walking path that leads to the woods. After a bit of back-and-forth along the road on the other side of the patch of grass, we finally found the path and headed up. Emmett was pretty tired as his nap and nighttime sleep the day before had both been short. So it wasn't too long into our journey that he had a bit of a meltdown and wouldn't continue forward OR turn around to return to Matt's. After tossing out a few ideas, I finally suggested that maybe he wanted to play on the slide we had seen outside of Matt and Tina's house and he agreed that that was how he wanted to spend his time. So we turned around and headed back to the road. Once at the road, I started heading down the mountain - in the direction I thought felt right. Emmett immediately pointed across the small grassy field and said "Matt's home!" I looked across the grass at the road that would lead us the correct way home and was immediately impressed that Emmett not only knew he wanted to get back to Matt's place as soon as possible to play on the slide, but he ALSO knew how to get there (when I didn't!). I thanked him for pointing us in the right direction and we headed back for plenty of slide time. I think Emmett must get his directional capabilities from his dad. After nap on Thursday, we went on a long walk around Matt's neighborhood with Matt, Tina, Maya and Lia, and got home just after Spencer returned from work.

Emmett, Maya & Lia :)

Tina and Spencer both worked on Friday, so Lia and Maya went to daycare, as scheduled, and Matt took Emmett and me into Sion to explore the town a bit. Unfortunately, we had some bad timing with our site seeing attempts. We started in town, hoping to go to the Friday market to see some of the traditional foods and crafts they sell in the region. But as we walked toward the place the market was supposed to be, we were surprised to find none of the booths or stands set up. We went into a store and Matt asked about it (in French, and then later translated for me) and learned that the vendors had found out the week prior that the market would be closed that Friday due to the professional bike tour that was scheduled to pass through Sion later that day. Bummer for us.

So we decided, instead, to go to the base of a small mountain/large hill and we proceeded to climb up to one of the two castles overlooking Sion. Emmett tried to walk much of the trail himself,

Unable to enter the castle, but happy to play with rocks

so our climb took awhile. But we finally made it to the top (which offered some stunning views) around 10:15am only to find that the castle would be closed until 11am. So we headed back down and started the shorter walk up to the second castle. As Emmett was getting hungry and tired, he made the journey slowly and attempted to stop at every place that he could find with rocks to climb or pick up. So we didn't end up going inside the second castle either. Instead we had to convince Emmett that it was time drop the rocks, head back down into town, and that he should ride in the stroller for this part of the journey. Luckily I had a couple of chocolate covered raisins in my bag, just waiting to be used as a bribe. Tina had asked us to stop at a grocery store on our way back, so we headed there next. We got to the door at 12:01pm, and the store had closed at noon. Back in the car, we were heading back up the side of the mountain, toward Matt's place, and arrived at the road that would allow us our most efficient route home just as they were putting the barriers in front of it to close it off for the bike race. And of course, the text we had sent Tina letting her know we were on our way home without the groceries, but in need of lunch for Emmett, didn't get to her until we pulled into the driveway. :) But despite all of this, we had a lovely morning seeing what we could, spending time catching up with Matt, and in the end, Emmett slept well for his nap.

Hiking in the snow - Emmett's in the carrier, hiding from the wind

Saturday and Sunday were forecasted to be cooler and rainy, but we were lucky and managed to stay dry. Saturday morning Matt, Spencer, Maya, Emmett and I went for a hike in the mountains, just past a ski resort on the other side of the valley from Matt and Tina's place. The views were incredible and Emmett loved the snow (and rocks, of course). We had a picnic lunch in the town at the base of the resort and headed back to Matt's place, hoping Emmett and Maya would sleep in the car. Maya slept, but Emmett didn't, which was okay since Maya had a birthday party to attend that afternoon and Emmett had no where to be but in bed napping at Matt's. That evening it rained a bit, so the kids played inside while we prepared and ate a lovely dinner.

Biking into the valley

Sunday morning we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow Tina's friend's car, so in order to pick it up, Matt suggested that Spencer and I ride their bikes down into the valley so we could meet them there once they had two cars (and all three kids). Spencer and I were happy to help and excited to take a ride (especially without Emmett!!) down a mountain. Again, the views were spectacular, and the ride was exhilarating and fast! We met Tina and Matt and the kids at a cafe, after having a few minutes to go inside and have Spencer practice his french and place an order. He enjoyed his little espresso and decadent morning dessert.

On top of the tower - no smoke signals that we could see.

Once we were all belted into two cars, we headed to another small town on the way toward the Saint Bernard Museum. We parked our cars at a small park where Tina hung out with Maya and Emmett on the playground, and Matt (with baby Lia), Spencer, and I hiked to the top of the hill through the town and climbed to the top of the tower. We learned that each of the towns had towers like this, spread throughout the valley. The towers served as a place for a lookout for invaders and, should said invaders approach, points from which smoke or fire signals were sent throughout the valley to warn the other towns.

Rocks! (oh - the ruins are pretty nice, too)

We picnicked in the park where Tina had stayed, and then headed on our way to the Saint Bernard Museum. Emmett and Maya both fell asleep in the cars en route, so Matt stayed in the parking lot with them while the rest of us toured the museum. Saint Bernard dogs used to be bred and brought to this region of Switzerland, specifically to the hospice at the Saint Bernard Pass. Due to their exceptional sense of direction, the dogs were trained to find lost travelers attempting to cross the pass through the Alps in the winter and guide them home. Dogs are still trained these days, though there is now a highway and tunnel so that people can drive over and through the pass. Once the kids woke up we went and met a few of the Saint Bernard dogs they have housed at the museum. After a bit of time with the dogs and after seeing some ruins, we headed back to Matt and Tina's just in time for dinner.

Monday morning Spencer, Emmett and I said goodbye early and enjoyed the 2 hour train, then 1 hour plane ride back to England. Unfortunately, Emmett had a bad fever for the entire day and was frustrated that we kept waking him up at every junction in our journey. But we made it home before dinner and had time to relax at home to finish off our long weekend.

Just a few days after our return, we had the pleasure of hosting our Madison friends Stephanie and Adam for a long weekend, who have been residing in the Netherlands. I will write about that and about Emmett's second birthday celebration in the next post!! In the meantime, keep in touch!!

Yay for VISITORS!

Us with Uncle Brian in front of the Windsor Castle

We have been happily entertaining visitors for the past couple of weekends with hopes of becoming local experts someday (and with hopes of many more visitors in the future! Come visit!!).

My brother, Brian had a work engagement in Liverpool and Dublin and was able to fly in and out of Heathrow so that he could tack on an evening and overnight at the beginning of his trip and a couple of nights at the end of his trip to stay with us. He insisted that whatever we plan for his full day with us be something that was on our bucket list. So after much contemplation (and discussion with Spencer who had to work half of the day that Brian was with us), I decided that the highest item on my bucket list was to start exploring The Great Park. The Great Park is a nearly 5000 acre preserved/natural area just south of Windsor that is accessible by foot, bike, or car (but not by public transportation), depending on the time you have to spend at getting there. It has some of the oldest forests and other ecosystems in the world as it has been preserved by the royal family for centuries as hunting grounds. Luckily for me, Spencer and I just finalized our purchases of 2 mountain bikes and a baby bike seat the week before Brian's stay. So Brian, Spencer and I geared up the bikes (attaching a front-mounted baby seat is not as easy as it may seem; and changing a flat tire with no tools is also difficult - it turns out they charge a lot - nearly $30!! - for a tube and change here) and headed out for a few hour adventure!

Emmett loved playing on the rocks, hills and tunnels with Uh-Bah

It was refreshing and invigorating to finally be out on my bike! Though it was also exhausting to ride uphill, with 27+ extra pounds on my handle bars, with my knees unable to rotate forward in a natural position, and with my back break rubbing on the wheel the entire time... Luckily Brian was patient with me. (And Spencer and I bought a few bike tools to fix some of these problems on future rides.) Emmett did great in the bike seat for the ride TO the Great Park, but after experiencing the freedom of the drenched park that we let him play in once arriving to the grounds, he didn't much like the idea of getting back in the seat for the ride home.

Emmett's bike-sleeping position

Once we coaxed him in (this was a dreadfully loud process that involved bribing him with snacks), he fell asleep! So he was tired! But unfortunately for me, his asleep-position didn't allow me to turn my bike to the left very comfortably. And to think I assumed I'd have an easier downhill ride home. Needless to say, I was exhausted but gleaming for the rest of the day. I love biking.

Brian and Spencer spent a few hours that afternoon touring the Windsor castle toddler-free (I have been to the castle 4 or 5 times and have yet to listen to the audio tour...) while Emmett and I napped. And we all met up again that afternoon for some more family play time. Emmett adored having his "Uh-Bah" here and would only let Brian help him with most of his daily tasks. Luckily, Brian was game for everything from bath time to changing diapers to reading books to singing songs and dancing. Thanks, Uncle Brian!


Our somewhat-overlapping other visitors were also in the region for business. Emmett's Nana and Bapa (Spencer's parents) stayed in Windsor and spent three full days with us this past week - Sunday, Monday and Tuesday! Spencer was able to take off Monday, so we spent Sunday in London seeing the Natural History and Science Museums, Tuesday in Oxford, exploring the Kathol's old stomping grounds (Spencer's family spent a summer sabbatical in Oxford when Spencer was in middle school), and Wednesday in Windsor, showing off our home town.

The Kathols at the Natural History Museum

Our trip into London was smooth, with Emmett still enjoying train rides. We got off the trains right around lunch time and it was a bit chilly outside, so decided to eat our sandwiches once we got into the museum (though we fed Emmett his lunch while we walked there). We went to the Natural History Museum first since Emmett would be napping pretty soon after he ate and that would allow us to walk through whatever exhibits we wanted without worrying about his attention span. We ended up spending most of our time in the "Creepy Crawlies" exhibit, which I loved, but which made me miss teaching science. The Natural History Museum in London is HUGE!

We saw a few other exhibits but didn't even come close to seeing a third of the museum. Which just means that we'll have to take advantage of it being free and of Emmett's future naps in his stroller to see more of the exhibits. Once Emmett awoke we brought him next door to the Science Museum. They have an entire basement exhibit dedicated to kids under 6. Emmett loved playing in the water, stacking and moving blocks, but mostly, he loved the Bubble Show. The Bubble Show was a 20 minute show in which we got to experience bubbles of all shapes and sizes and air densities (they filled some bubbles with helium and some with carbon dioxide!!). That was the longest I've ever known Emmett to pay attention to ANYthing. I was impressed, and so was he. We ended the day with a walk next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the River Thames. We headed toward some street food stands for dinner before taking a long train ride home.

Exploring Oxford (in the rain)

The train ride to Oxford on Monday was much shorter than the ride into London due to fewer stops in between Windsor and Oxford. We had plans to rent bikes and tour around the city but, due to inclement weather forecasts, we decided to do a double-decker bus tour instead. What a great change of plans since it ended up raining most of the afternoon that we were there. The tour was nice, too, because it offered audio explanations of the important buildings and history of the area (which would have been nice to be able to listen to 100%... but meh - you take what you can get with a toddler). The best part, though, was hearing stories of Spencer, Mary and Roger remembering what their lives were like the summer that they lived there. We even got to see the street that they lived on (though we didn't get off the bus to explore further due to the rain). Oxford is beautiful! I can see why so much British TV is set there. :) I enjoyed seeing what we could from the top of a bus, but I also enjoyed walking around a bit.

Oxford from above

We went into a few of the buildings; perhaps the most impressive to me was the Bodlean Library, which is one of the only Copyright libraries in the world, meaning that every book ever copyrighted in the entire world is available in the stacks somewhere in the 3 stories above ground or the 11 stories under the building. We couldn't actually go into the library (no children under 12 are allowed on the guided tours). In fact, you can't just walk in and find a book there easily. You have to give the librarians a minimum of several hours to find a requested title, and then you cannot take the book out of the library - you can only read it while still in the building.  :) But the whole idea of it, and the building itself, are impressive.

Nana & Emmett tried calling his cousins in CO

The next morning, since Spencer and Roger both had to work, Mary, Emmett and I walked around Windsor. We walked to the castle along the Long Walk, we saw the guards marching toward the castle, the band playing joyfully, on their way to do the changing of the guards, we visited and fed the swans, we walked through Alexandra park along the Thames River, and finally, we headed back down the pedestrian street to get our lunch at home. Spencer and Roger met us for lunch and had some fish & chips. Then Spencer went back to work, Emmett took his nap, and Roger and Mary headed to the castle for a tour. After nap time, everyone met at the nearby park and playground where Emmett showed off his climbing and sliding abilities, then we had some Moroccan food for dinner. Overall, it was a relaxing and beautiful day with the weather cooperating and the company a pleasure. We would be happy to host Nana and Bapa if they're able to swing this way again. :)


The near future holds the Queen's 90th birthday celebration next week, our trip to Switzerland the following weekend, a visit from our Madison friends Stephanie and Adam (who live in the Netherlands, too, but who weren't in town over Easter) at the beginning of May - which means more exploring of England, this time by rental car - and on May 10 will be Emmett's second birthday. Whew - we have lots to look forward to! So in the meantime, keep in touch and start planning your visit because our time here in England seems to be flying by!

Our trip to the Netherlands!

The rest of the month of March flew by for us. The highlight was our trip to visit our friends, the Landers, in the Netherlands. They have been expats there for just over a year and were very knowledgeable hosts and guides. We stayed with them in their home in Den Bosch (south of Amsterdam - about an hour on the train) over our 4-day Easter weekend.

We spent our first day in the Netherlands touring Den Bosch, with strollers and umbrellas. Along the walking tour we saw the incredibly intricate cathedral which is home to the most impressive piece of stained glass work that I can remember seeing (I didn't take many photos along the tour because of the rain, but there are a few of the cathedral).
Overall, we were impressed by the cleanliness of the city, the care given to the streets and old buildings, and by the bike infrastructure (of course!). Emmett especially loved the canals - he looked for geese and swans every time he spotted water. Turns out swans aren't as prevalent in the canal system as they are on the Thames River in Windsor. :) We also enjoyed our afternoon walk to a beautiful park that had a not-quite-a-petting zoo (since you weren't supposed to actually pet the animals), and random play structures (different structures for all ages and abilities) throughout as you walk around a lake.

Day two was our day in Amsterdam. We spent a longer time than expected on the train getting to the city, but then a lovely, sunny afternoon at the Amsterdam Zoo. Upon entering the zoo, the first animals one sees are not actually in "enclosures" as we are used to; instead, they are on little islands surrounded by moats so that nobody gets in or out of the respective areas. Some of the animals were not even surrounded by water - they were just out in the open, hanging with the people. And then some of the animals were in cages and walls, as one would expect them to be. Emmett enjoyed the play structures - especially the giraffe slide right next to the noisy chimpanzees. I enjoyed watching the pelicans feed on the fish that were dumped into their pond (I know - pelicans were a highlight?). We finished at the zoo and wandered over to the best Mexican restaurant in the city (out of only 2 or 3 - but this is the one the Mexican ambassador goes to when in town). We all thoroughly enjoyed our tacos, as good Mexican food is something we cannot get in Windsor or in Den Bosch. The train ride home had fewer delays and the boys excitedly went to bed awaiting a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Emmett got some cool treasures from the Easter Bunny

The next morning, Easter Sunday, the boys hunted for their baskets and eggs while Laura and Jim prepared a delicious Sunday brunch. After brunch, we went to the local park to play, where Emmett played happily in and around the sand with Jack and Quincy until he decided to eat some of it. We decided at that point to take him home and rinse out his mouth, then put him down for his nap. After the nap, we loaded up 4 bikes and headed out for a ride. This was the highlight of the trip for me! I decided during that ride that I would purchase a used bike while in Windsor, just to be able to explore the outskirts of Windsor a bit further and faster than I can otherwise. We biked all afternoon, exploring more of Den Bosch, with me singing "Row, row, row your boat," over and over to keep Emmett happy so that the bike ride could continue.

Our last day in the Netherlands was spent in a city called Utrecht, halfway between Den Bosch and Amsterdam. We walked from the train station, through the lovely town center, to a train museum. The building itself was the town's original train station, now converted into a very entertaining display of old trains and rides and theatrics offering a glimpse into the lives of train workers and riders. I enjoyed peering into a royal car - imagining what it must be like to be royalty and have special trains built and decorated for me. I guess that isn't something I've considered much coming from a place where royal families just aren't a part of my reality.

The following morning we got up early and headed by train then airplane then taxi back to Windsor. Our long weekend came to a close, but it was so refreshing and energizing to be with good friends and not worrying about work or schedules, so we came home feeling great. Thank you to Jim and Laura and Jack and Quincy - for your hospitality and for making us all (especially Emmett) feel welcomed, loved, and comfortable in your home.

I will write another post soon, with updates and news about our visits from Brian and Nana and Bapa (Spencer's parents). But for now, enjoy the photos and remember to keep in touch!