Happy Birthday Isabel

This is a little late in coming, but on 25 Sept we celebrated Izzie's 5th birthday. She had a big birthday party at the bowling alley the weekend before her mom left for school, but we wanted to do something small for her while she was with us. She had a few presents from her family to open and we made a vanilla cake (she hates chocolate - clearly she will need some counseling later). It was a lot of fun. Here are some cute pictures of the big day and that weekend.

To the Castle

Today was a beautiful, sunny, crisp fall day. We decided to spend it exploring the town of Ripley and its castle. Hilde and I had gone there on her birthday, very briefly. We only had time to walk into town, get some ice cream, and walk back to catch the bus. When we arrived we walked around town for a little while and took some pictures. You can go to Flikr to see more pictures from the day. Enoch insisted on wearing his Wellies and there were puddles all over for him to explore, he was in heaven. We think this picture should be an add for the J Crew Kids magazine. The castle grounds is where we spent most of our time. Inside the castle wall there is a deer park, walled gardens, kids play area, and a bunch of other things. We didn't do everything, but we did go to the kids play area. It was about a 3/4 mile walk to get there. It was mostly balancing equipment, but the kids had fun. The castle was pretty cool. The original same family has lived in it since the time of King Edward III. We went during the time designated as the "kids" tour, but they didn't seem to do anything different for the kids, except maybe cut things out when they started to lose attention. The boys particularly liked the room with the breastplates and swords. After storming the castle we got some ice cream and Dave checked out a well known butcher shop. What a great day.

October Blows

Today was cold, rainy and VERY blustery. Hilde and I raced to the car this evening and the wind nearly blew her over. She thought it was the funniest thing EVER. Dave promises that the whole winter will be like today was, only darker. All of the Brits and long term expats tell us the sun will come up after we are at work and go down before we leave. We will have to plan "sun breaks" into our daily schedule and just hope it isn't too cloudy to see it. In general, that doesn't sound all that bad to me, and it is just such a great place to live, I am willing to deal with it. (Ask me to revisit this topic in February and see if I have changed my mind). With it being so cold outside, when we got home Dave started a big batch of Vegetable Stock in preparation of making minestrone soup tomorrow. That sounds so perfect for the weather, and I am counting down the minutes. With many more days like this to come, I need to stock up on ideas for warming us all up at dinner time. So, what is your favorite cold/rainy/snowy/windy day meal? What do you crave to help you warm up? We are sure to use all of the suggestions!

Happy Birthday from all of us. This year I decide to have the kids write this post, this picture was taken this morning with the kids saying, Happy Birthday Daddy. So here you go:

From Hilde:
I love my dad, he is so cute. I love taking pictures with him and going to the park with him. I love to play hide and seek with him and I love to make things with him.

From Enoch:
I learned about going wee with daddy. (I don't know where that part came from....) I love daddy so much. I love him to carry me. I like to do puzzles with daddy and play with him.

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!

The Chain Gang

On Sunday we made a chain with each link representing a day until Isabel's mom comes home. Hilde and Isabel drew pictures on pieces of paper that I then cut into strips and taped into a chain. The girls were super excited and now in the mornings Isabel tears off a link after she gets up. Doesn't she look excited?

Holy Pizza Batman

Enoch went to his friend's birthday party at the bowling alley, dressed as Batman. I don't think there was ever a more excited three year old on the face of the earth.

Swimming Lessons

After a 4 month waiting list, and a couple of failed sign-up attempts in the States, my kids are in their first swimming class. They are in the red group at the Hydro, which has a pretty rigorous swimming scheme. Our kids are just in the beginners of course, and mostly use a water noodle to hold on to while practicing kicks, strokes, and even some breathing. They love it. The Hydro is a camera free zone, so these pics are contraband I took in the locker room. You just have to imagine Hilde grinning widely anytime she completes a task and Enoch drifting off into his own world and section of the pool, whenever the teacher turns her back. TOO CUTE.
Enoch is pre-swim, Hilde is post-swim (she had already ripped her swim cap off).