Friday, November 30, 2012

Family Trip to DC

Justin had to go into work for a few days, so the boys and I joined him! It was a long drive for a short stay, but we made some fun memories.
Checking out the hotel.

Mason thought this was the weirdest-looking phone. It made me feel a little dated.


Clean plate club. I love this picture.
The Museum of Natural History. I asked Mason how big the dinosaur was.

On the metro on our way home.

I love this picture. I love how they make a heart. Can you see it?


And this is evidence of how we keep our kids happy on long roadtrips.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love how non-commercialized it is. If I am going to travel to be with family for any holiday, it would be for Thanksgiving. And this year we were lucky enough to be living with my family, so everyone traveled to us! Uncle Nick and his girlfriend, Lydia even came to visit. We were so grateful to have Justin home with us for Thanksgiving.





Uncle Pete


Here was the dinner. Since I lost my normal lens, I can't really focus on everyone at once.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Fall Pictures 2012

While Stacy was in town, she went with us up the road from our house to a field and shot a few pictures. We were really only there for about ten minutes, and she captured so many great shots. I'm lucky to have such a talented sister!















Wednesday, November 21, 2012

November with Daddy


 So while I was in DC picking up Justin, my parents were winning Grandparents of the century awards. Aunt Stacy showed up and helped out as well. Not only were my parents watching Donovan and Mason while I was unexpectedly gone a week longer than planned, but they were also babysitting cousin Troy. Then, when Stacy came in town, little Eleanor made four. They had their hands full, and we are so grateful that they were willing to help us with our children!


Then Justin came home to the boys, and we just got to play. I didn't take many pictures, but here's a few of a nice day at the playground.



And this is just a cute one of them matching. Too bad it's out of focus.


Saturday, November 10, 2012

Justin Comes Home!

I left for DC on Nov 1st. Justin was delayed and delayed and delayed. I hung out in DC for one week all by myself. The first few days were nice and relaxing, but I really missed all my boys after that. Justin flew into the US on Nov 7. He got to DC around 1:30AM Nov 8th.

This was a happy Veteran's Day Weekend.
Here is the video of the real homecoming... (thanks, Stacy for capturing the moments)

Monday, November 5, 2012

London Calling

Well, my journey home has taken a little longer than expected.  I have been delayed in Mildenhall, England the past several days.  The KC-10 that was supposed to take us home is broken and awaiting maintenance.  Normally I wouldn't mind getting "stuck" somewhere, but since I haven't seen Brooke and the boys in over six months I'm ready to go home.

This was my first time in England, so the one bright spot was getting a chance to go to London for a day.  Coming from the heat of the desert, I wasn't prepared for the chilly weather of England.    I had to go to the BX and buy some warmer clothing.  They didn't have much of a selection other than sweatshirts and athletic gear so I wasn't dressed the way I would have liked to have been, but at least I was comfortable and warm.

We took a cab from Mildenhall to a town called Ely, where we took "the tube" into the city.


Mildenhall and Ely are in a very rural part of England, and it's about a three hour car ride to London.  The train ride took about an hour and a half, but I slept most of the way.  My internal clock isn't quite sure what time it is with the new time zone I'm in.

Once we got into London, we got on our tour bus and went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard.  When we got there, there were hundreds of people gathering around to see whatever it was we were going to see.  No one was really sure what signaled the beginning and end of the ceremony.  We stuck around for a little more than an hour, but didn't see a whole lot because of the crowd and the obstructed view.  Here's some of the pictures I took while we were there:




None of us had much to eat for breakfast that morning, so when we were finished at Buckingham Palace it was time to get some lunch.  One of the guys we were with wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe, so we walked there for our next stop.


Once we were done eating, we found our tour bus and got back on.  The rest of the time we pretty much stayed on the bus so we could see all of the city and stay warm.  With the limited time we had, I felt like I barely scratched the surface of what London has to offer.  There is so much history here, I wish I had a couple of weeks to explore and enjoy the area.  In the end, I think we made the most of the time we had.  Hopefully, Brooke and I can come back someday.

Pretty sure this was the guy who invented the sandwich, so I took the picture.



The Tower Bridge as we were crossing the London Bridge.  For some reason I always thought the Tower Bridge was the London Bridge... learn something new every day.



One view of the London skyline as we were about to cross the Tower Bridge.



Crossing the Tower Bridge.  Once we were on the other side, we headed West and followed the Thames River going back into the main part of the city.
 


It was kind of cool being in London right after the release of a James Bond movie.  I saw Skyfall in Abu Dhabi and liked it a lot.  You should go see it if you haven't yet.




Kind of wish we had eaten here instead of the Hard Rock, but I was happy to have food in my belly.



Not a great picture, but it's the best one I could get of Trafalgar Square as we passed by.



Big Ben and the Parliament building... the sun was starting to set at this point, but the building looked really cool with the lighting they have in place.



The London Eye.  



Once the sun went down we made our way back to King's Cross and took the train back to Ely.  I feel like I got to see most of London, but didn't get to explore the way I would have liked to.  I guess that's a great excuse to come back someday.  Until next time...