safe home

our last girls day

Today was Frank's last day of work here, so the girls and I had one last big hurrah and decided to do all of the most touristy things in London. We really jam-packed the day, starting with breakfast at our favorite bakery, followed by trafalgar square and a double-decker sightseeing bus tour of London. We ended the day at Covent Garden and watched street performances for the evening. The girls really really loved the street performers and couldn't get enough. Phew! I think we covered everything. Sooooo much fun, and so sad to leave :(

goodbye to our new friends :(

Yesterday, we said goodbye to our new friends. It was such a treat to meet another family in the same situation as us. We all really hit it off and were so sad to say goodbye yesterday.

buckingham palace

Inspired after a tour of buckingham palace...

While roaming the streets of Paris we came across these musicians and we all fell in love with them. The older lady in green (dancing) had the spirit of my grandmother in her.

happy birthday to frank, in paris

Paris was magical, and really hard to put into words. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

THANK YOU to Elizabeth and Paul for the great recommendations. Angelina (hot chocolate), Laduree (macaroons), and Bertillon (ice cream) were the highlights of the trip, along with Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and L'Arc de Triomphe of course :) ! And thank you to Ruby for getting us to the front of the line at the Louvre.

chinatown

We all had our own expectations about London. Each of us came here wanting to see different things. Alexis came here wanting to see Chinatown, so she could get a fan. So one evening, while Frank was still working, I took the girls there, and it was quite an adventure. It's only 3 or so streets that are blocked off from cars. It's really overcrowded, but the girls were happy. And Alexis got her fan.

the tooth fairy visits again...

old dutch pancake house

look at the size of these things!!

liza lost her tooth!

Losing a tooth in London is a good deal. Liza was happy to hear that a pound is worth more than a dollar :)

tate modern, kew gardens

Well, our weekend was jam-packed with sightseeing and lots of fun with uncle Paul. On Saturday, we spent the day at the Tate Modern, where the girls looked at lots of art with Paul. I don't have many pictures of this because while Paul took the girls around the museum Frank and I enjoyed some drinks at the roof top bar overlooking London-- fabulous (thank you Paul!)!! Ruby slept on Frank's back the whole time. Sunday was spent at Kew Gardens, which is the Royal Botanic Gardens, where there was every kind of tree and plant imaginable. Ruby got her 1st souvenir! It's kind of unbelievable that I packed enough clothes for all 6 of us and plenty of things to keep the older girls happy for a month, but not a single toy for Ruby. She was getting tired of chewing on Purell bottles and Altoid containers, so we finally bought her a toy. She was thrilled!