Our final week was a fun, busy ans wet one. YaYa was with us all week and we tried to squeeze in as much as we could. Monday morning we headed down to Buckingham palace. 2 Months a year, when the Queen visits Scotland, the palace is open to visitors and lucky us...it just happened to be that time of year. We raced through and finished the 2 1/2 hour tour in 20 minutes then made the long walk out and around the palace to catch the changing of the guard one more time. Cade even got to trade in his play police helmet for for the real deal thanks to a friendly officer.
Tuesday was a super fun day, but sadly there aren't many pictures. I finally got to go horseback riding in Hyde Park. I've never ridden "English" before and man is it different. It's really humbling to take something that you can do in your sleep and turn it all around into something that feels completely foreign. It was quite the challenge, but something I will never forget. I'm so thankful that I was able to do it.
The same day, Mom and I also got to go to Harrods for Tea and shopping, then on to see Wicked. I owe my mother in law a big apology for this because I know she desperately wanted to go to tea. Now, it wasn't as if KK and I didn't TRY to go, but we had at least 2 failed attempts due to restless little boys. It wasn't until Mom suggested that we get a SITTER to stay with them and go on our own that I realized that that was even an option. Sorry KK. Guess I should have though of that. I also, apparently should have though about going to a matinee...holy cow. I'm too old to be staying out that late. I was nearly asleep in the tube station before we made it home. Why, why, why did a matinee never cross my mind? Clearly I should think things through more.
Wednesday and Thursday were pretty normal days for us. We dodged the rain (mostly) and made it to the park for a few minutes. We also went to Gymboree, playgroup and the mall.
Friday we had big plans to go to the museum, but a flat tire on the stroller derailed us a little and we only made it as far as the park. It was fun though. We went to see the fountain, although seeing as though it was in the 60's, it was not a day to play in the water. We also did the Flower walk and took some super cute pics.
Friday was also a milestone for Cade as he finally mustered the courage to jump off the big block at Gymboree all by himself. It took a lot of coaxing, but after the first jump, I thought he would never stop. He was so proud of himself and I was so proud too!
Saturday we took our last big day trip and we did something we had never done before...we REPEATED a trip we had already done. We decided that we had to go back to Brighton one more time. Cade loved the pier so much we wanted to share it with Mom and let him ride his "fire truck" again. We of course took the train...
And this time, he climbed the big slide all by himself. We didn't even attempt it last time because we knew he wouldn't do it, but this time we thought - what the heck. We asked the attendant if we could get our money back if he wouldn't go up and he said yes so we really had nothing to lose. I never thought he'd get up, much less slide down, but again...I underestimated him. Way to go dude.
Then came the "incident". There was this other slide that said kids his size could ride with an adult. Steve was so excited, but slide rules said the child had to be in back...which I could have told you was a bad idea. Just before the end of the slide, he hit his face (going extremely fast) on the rubber edge. Steve was trying to slow it down, but wasn't able to help much. Poor baby...just can't catch a break.
Cole spilled his water all over him at lunch, so he made the train ride home in a jacket and diaper...oh - and Cade's shades. Cuteness.
The next morning was Sunday. We got up around 5 am to finish packing. Things went very smoothly and we were in the car and headed to the airport by 7:25. After about 4 security checks, them making me taste 5 of the 10 baby food pouches I brought and a quick (second) breakfast in the admiral's club, we made it onto the plane and headed home.
The boys did remarkably well. They each took about an hour and a half nap. Not nearly as much as I would have hoped for a 10 hour flight, but we survived. I think Cade ate an entire box of cheerios. Mom made me promise that I would let them eat as much as they wanted on the flight, but by the end she finally realized what I meant when I said my kids would eat themselves silly. They just have no off button. They ate nonstop the whole day.
We were greeted at the airport by Papa and KK. We then made the short drive to ZuZu's house to celebrate her birthday. Poor girl had to cook her own birthday dinner. She's a trooper though. We came, we ate, we left a huge mess...but we had the best time being home with family and friends.
I can't believe that we are here - at this point in time. 13 weeks ago I had a very grim outlook for the summer. We made the best of it though and have memories for a lifetime. I'm proud of my kids for being such troopers and taking whatever we threw at them. I'm proud of myself for stretching further than I ever thought I could and going against my grain to make lemonade. And I'm extremely proud of my husband for working harder than anyone should ever have to work. Ridiculous hours. Frustrating circumstances. No glory. No complaining. and to top it all off - he's still going at it. Alone now. And we miss him. He is a man to be proud of and I am so glad that he is the father of my babies.
So here we are with this story now...I mean - who do we think we are? We are definitely not cool enough to say that we lived in London...except we did.
Now just the countdown to Daddy coming home...22 days
