Our first Bikes!

We have had the best weather here this spring, so we couldn't resist getting bikes for the kids. Here is Enoch trying it out, isn't he adorable?

Time Flies

I wrote down today's date, 30 June 2010, and realized that in exactly a year from today our family will board a plane and move back to the States. It was a sad moment for me. This has become our home, and a place I love dearly. We have changed since we moved here, enjoying the slower pace and the English countryside. Our kids started school here, our baby was born here, good friends have been made here, and we have loved almost every minute of our time here. With only a year left, there is so much more I want to see and do. I want to take the family to Paris, London, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Germany, Holland, Barcelona, and more. I don't think we can fit it all in, and if I tried Dave might ask for a long vacation from me, NOT good. I still have restaurants I want to try, and places locally I want to experience. There are places/restaurants I want to revisit (some multiple times). And honestly, I don't want to watch my kids' accents slip away, my heart hurts just thinking about it.

But on the flip side, we miss our family and friends in the States. We miss good Mexican food and stores open whenever we need them. We miss the US health care system (sorry, after 2 years of socialized medicine I am not a huge proponent of it). We miss TiVo (our DVR system here is neanderthal in comparison). We miss having our own home that we can paint and decorate as we want. We miss warm summers and powerful thunderstorms. In truth, there is a lot we miss.

I guess what this all means, is that this next year is going to be bittersweet. And I don't want to miss a day of it. So if posts are slow in coming at times, just remember, we have a lot to do this next year.

Fun with Phinn

Phinn is completely adorable, and most of you haven't even seen him in person yet. So here are a couple of videos for you to get to know him a little, virtually.

Cruise - Day 11 Back to life

We ate breakfast at 6:45 and left the ship immediately afterward, not our choice, but how it was arranged. Goodbye Disney - we love you!

If we ever go on a cruise again, here are a few of our lessons learned:

1) Plan in a few down days, either short excursions, or days where the kids stay behind. Especially with kids as young as ours, it was asking a lot to put them through so much.
2) Eat at the Palo restaurant a couple more nights. It wasn't expensive at all since we don't drink alcohol, and the food was much better than anything else we had on the ship.
3) Book in more evening time at the nursery for Phinn. I had him in the nursery in the afternoons, and that was when there were the least activities for Dave and I to go and do. We didn't mind all that free time, but it would have been nicer to be able to go to movies, etc.
4) Don't worry about not having something you need, the ship stores carry absolutely everything.
5) Buy water bottles at the Duty Free shop at the port and bring them on the ship to take on excursions. That is cheaper than buying them on ship, and it was nice to always have water.
6) Bring your full stroller. It was so nice to have ours. Phinn was comfortable all the time, he could sleep in it reclined, we could portage extra baggage on it and the older kids could ride on it when they were tired. And bonus, while bulkier than an umbrella stroller, it was still small enough to fold up and put away in our closet. We bought a Peg Perego stroller after seeing Dave's sister Kari's when they came to visit us and it has been awesome.
7) We were forced to get a Verandah to have enough room to fit us all, but now we are spoiled. We would pay extra for it in the future. It gave us more room, extra space to separate kids (or adults if needed) and fabulous views. Once we even saw dolphins swimming along the ship, so cool.

If you ask our pocketbook if we would go on a cruise again, the answer would be no, or at least not for a long time. If you ask us if we would go on a cruise again without consulting our pocketbook, we would say YES, when can we leave?

E Reads

I am really amazed at how well Enoch can read, he can use phonics to sound out an awful lot of words.

Cruise - Day 10 At Sea

Our last day on board ship we spent doing all the things we had come to enjoy. The kids spent a few hours at the pool, going down the slide a million times. We napped, ate way too much food, and packed. That night we said goodbye to our new-found friends - our restaurant servers and the kids counselors. Enoch spent hours playing Mario Kart and other computer games, things he loved on ship since he doesn't get to do them at home. Hilde played in the make-believe area in a million dress-ups and spending time with Disney princesses and characters. Dave and Phinn took a good long nap together. Everyone was trying to get the most of the last day on board. That night Hilde and I went to the last show of the ship called Dreams. It was very well done with a lot of interesting effects and tons of Disney songs. Hilde was singing and dancing along, she was beaming. We are all sad to leave.

Cruise - Day 9 Villefranche, France

Do you ever have those days where you scan through a document and miss something really important? Well, this was one of those days. You won't seen any pictures of some of the most spectacular scenery we saw on our trip because I completely misread our excursion ticket and we almost missed it entirely. It was only until we were safely ashore that I realized we had left the camera behind -- OOPS.

In the morning we tendered into Villefranche and got breakfast from a local boulangerie (bakery). We got chocolate croissants, chocolate eclairs, a ham and cheese baguette and other yummy things. We ate through those so quickly Dave went back in for more minutes later (thanks honey for saving me some embarrassment). I cannot explain how much better croissants and other french pastries are in France. Everything else is a poor imitation. I mean, seriously, crazy good stuff over there.

After breakfast we went back to the ship and played for a while before leaving the two older kids and dashing to our excursion. Phinn, Dave and I got to see Monaco and Monte Carlo. We saw Grace Kelly's grave, the changing of the guards in Monaco (not much to see there), the Monte Carlo casino (complete with Ferrari out front), the Formula 1 Grand Prix road markings (the race was two weeks before), amazing yachts owned by Christina Onassis and the royalty, and lots of other photo worthy things. DANG.

After seeing the casino, Dave said we should walk around and buy me something to take back. So, we walked down the first street we saw. It was full of Cartier, Bulgari, Luis Vuitton, and stores so exclusive you couldn't go in them without an appointment. We settled on Haagen Daas instead. Even there, a sign was posted saying "no 500 Euro notes accepted" - clearly a real problem for them! It was a place I would love to visit again and stay in a ritzy hotel - if only I could win the lottery.