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So we ARE back...back to Texas. Back to our "real" life. Back to blogging. I'll admit I had to take a break for a while. It was hard work blogging every week. The stress of trying to be funny and witty and make sure I take enough pictures...whew - I'm tired just thinking about it. But seriously - we've just been enjoying ourselves so much we haven't had time for much else.

Since we've been home, we've been on the move. It's a big ego boost to come home after 3 months. We've felt very popular. Had lots of invites and and play dates and lunches with friends. We've had lots of visitors and visited lots of people. It's been a blast. If I didn't know better I'd say we were missed and it's been nice.

KK spent a week with us after we got home to help us adjust, but surprisingly, we needed no adjustment period. No one had jet lag and the boys settled right back in to life in the suburbs. Our first week back we battled the heat with a swim day which was lots of fun. Cade isn't really sure of the water, but Cole loved it. I have to admit though - my favorite part of it all was what the humidity did to Cade's hair...HOLY COW...I love those curls!

We've also started a gymnastics class with our cousin Emmy. They seem to really like it, but truth be told I think I like it more. I love watching him run and jump. He's quickly becoming much more coordinated and capable and I sit there beaming with pride and amazement at how he's growing. Emmy wasn't quite as sure as he was at first, but he was glad to take her had and lead (or drag) her in.

Of course the most exciting thing that's happened recently is that the final member of our foursome made his way home. We talked about it for 2 weeks straight. We made a sign and got Whataburger on the way since we knew he had been missing it desperately. KK came back and brought the great grandparents with her. It was a real celebration.

Unfortunately, Steve left his cell phone on the plane, but fortuitously, we had a new phone waiting for him at home that had been purchased for his birthday which was the next day. Cade was more than willing to help him open it.

Saturday we had a PARTAY! Lots to celebrate including Steve's birthday as well as KKs. Our fort was overtaken with crazy kiddos. You couldn't help but smile.

When we were in London we did A LOT if outings to parks, zoos and museums. I promised to try to keep it up when we got home and have done an okay job. We have already made one trip to the children's museum in Ft. Worth and today we went to the Ft. Worth Zoo. It's so nice to have our "runnin' buddies" back. Cade and Em are adorable together. They have their own special relationship and it's fun to watch it develop. We have a pattern every time we get together now. Em rides in Cade's stroller and Cade in hers. That's the way they want it, so that's what we do. The little munchkins (Cole and Zack) are still good as gold and are truly roll with the punches kind of guys. They just go and do whatever. Thank God for that.

Week 13!!!

I can't even believe it. Here I am - sitting on my couch in TEXAS writing the final London Blog - week 13!! Looking back I can't even believe that we are here - home. I am in awe of the adventure that just 13 weeks ago we walked blindly into. Not having any idea of what would be waiting for us on the other side. I can believe how much we did. How much our lives changed. How much we missed home. And now how much we will miss London.

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

Week 12

So this week started out really fun with a visit to our friends, the Frailey's. Momma Frailey and I went to high school together. She and her clan have been living in London for about 3 years now I think and are here for at least another year. They have a very lovely house in Kew - which is just west of the city. It has a big backyard - huge by London standards really - complete with swing set and bounce house! I'll admit - it did take us 12 weeks to finally get together, but it was well worth it. My boys and her girls had a great time. They were wonderful hosts. We played, ate pizza, fought, flirted and had a most enjoyable time. Poor little Stella even got a bee sting on her tongue...ouch! It was really really nice to get out and play in a more intimate environment than play group - more like home. We loved it.


The rest of the week was more of our usual with the excited undertone of YaYa coming. We talked about it all week. We started counting down days until She got here as well as counting down days until we flew home to "Tess-ess". Not sure it's all sinking in, but we've been talking about the flight and how we have to sit in our seat all day. We have special treats that we shopped for that we can have on the plane and fun activities. I'm sure that since I explained it all to him so clearly that he will be good as gold. No? Logic and a two year old? This is going to be fun!
Saturday was Leeds Castle. Cade wasn't his usual self Saturday morning. He was noticeably tired and a little moody, but we aren't about to let that stop us. Throw 'em on the train and lets go...Now maybe two logical adults should have thought this through. 60 mile an hour moving vehicle. A two year old - who - lets just say isn't the most coordinated. Standing. On a vent. Oh Jeez. So down he goes and there is is. Our first chipped tooth. Now, not a bad chip by most standards. But I'm not most people. I'm...um...particular. And to me this is horrible. Enough to send me into a tirade about "what kind of idiots let a two year old stand up on a moving train?" Now I WAS referring to BOTH if his parents in this statement, but my poor husband looked over to Cade and under his breath said "I think your mom just called me an idiot..." Sorry. It's a character flaw. I'm working on it.

Leeds Castle was beautiful. We're pretty good at getting in a through castles these days. We don't waste our time on the audio guide...we have our own running commentary from the peanut gallery. And if they say it's a "2 hour tour" that generally means we'll have to rush through in about 30 minutes. Natives. Restless. You get the idea.

There is also a little village on the grounds with some places to eat, some shops and a dog collar museum (um, No. We didn't visit this one. I'm sorry, I know you wanted pictures). There is also a maze. We've done a couple of mazes before and they weren't really all that much fun. This one we decided to do a little differently. We split up. I took Cole and Steve took Cade and we set out to see who made it through first. After about 15 minutes and running back into each other 3 times, we teamed back up to make it to the center. Once you get there, you go up to a peak and you can look down on the maze. It was really cool. Then you walk through the best grotto. It was really really fun. The pictures don't do it justice. We really love it. By far the best one.

After the maze, we walked through the gardens and the aviary. I would post pictures of the birds, but apparently they all had a pact that none of them would look at me and under no circumstances would I be allowed to photograph anything but their backs...so fine, No bird pics.
We had to catch the bus back to the train station and while we waited for the other passengers, the bus driver let Cade "drive". Cutie. (Cade, not the real driver.) The day must have wiped him out because he fell fast asleep in Daddy's arms on the way home. It was a VERY quiet trip.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY...we went to get YaYa at the airport. It was hard waiting...mostly for me. Cade kept himself well entertained riding the foot rails like a horse. After about 30 minutes she finally came through the doors. What? Are you serious? You look that good after a 9 hour flight. I looked like the walking dead, but whatever. I guess I still love you.

We didn't do much else fun on Sunday. We made a few trips out for groceries, diapers etc. We hung out and played and napped (the boys, not us). Geared up for week 13...and our FINAL LONDON BLOG...

Week 11

Well, I did a little better this week and got the boys out to the park playground and a quick trip to the fountain. Combined with daily trips to gymboree, Playing with out new helper, Claire, our Thursday playgroup, and one shopping trip that included getting caught in a downpour - it was a fairly full week. We had one Very bad day that included a super duper fat lip (Cade) and a huge blue goose egg (Cole). No - they didn't collide. They were two separate falls about 2 hours apart and just about pushed mom over the edge. But we made it through the week and headed, battered and bruised into a fun weekend.

Our plan was to go to Brighton on Saturday, but the London weather had a different plan. Since it seems as though Fall has come early this year (highs in the upper 60's and rain every day), Saturday was no different and since it was heavy rain all day, we opted NOT to set out for the beach, but rather head down to Madame Tussaud's. This was not originally on our list of attractions that we planned to see, but we have run plumb out of things to to "inside", so we decided to try it out. We got there just after it opened and the crowds and lines were unlike anything I've ever seen. Seriously unreal. Some of the figures were better than others of course. I thought it was fun to see. Not sure if it was worth the $90 for 2 tickets - but we didn't have anything better to do so why not....

Top row is Royalty - Henry VIII, His daughter Elizabeth I, Princess Di and I guess Hollywood Royalty - Nicole Kidman. Bottom row is what I like to refer to as the "Hot Mess" row - you can probably figure that out...

Sunday proved to be a much nicer day. While there wasn't really much sun, it wasn't raining and that's good enough in my book - so we headed off the the beach...Brighton. Here are our customary train pictures. Seems like I post ones like this almost every week, but we do love our train trips.

Brighton has more to offer than the Pier, but since we decided on a day trip instead of an overnight, we only made it that far. It's about a mile or so walk from the train station (and a pretty train station it is) and there's a lovely water view to accompany you most of that way.

The Pier is what I would assume is a very common set up. Lots of Carnival games, rides, food, arcades, and views of the water.

Cade was squealing with glee at all the fun to be had. He was totally overwhelmed and literally didn't know which way to look, much less what to head for next. We came upon this little gem of a kiddie roller coaster. We were sure that as soon as it started moving and he realized that mom and dad weren't there that he would break out in hysterics. It started moving and was going WAY faster than I anticipated. Much to my surprise though, he was in heaven. Who needs mom and dad? Bring on the coaster baby! There were tears though. Not because he got scared - but because he had to get off. Dad quickly got more tokens so he could ride again...sucker

There was also a bounce house and slide for munchkins just his size. At a $ a minute...I hope he enjoyed it.

Mom and dad were completely beat on the ride home...but not my boys...

Well, this was our last weekend alone with just the 4 of us. YaYa is coming on Sunday and we are all very excited. I'm starting to get nervous about leaving. The idea of being without Steve for another month after it just being US for so long...feels really weird and sad. I am super excited about coming home though. Here's to you Texas...13 days and counting.

Week 10

Well, I have to admit, there's not a ton to write in the blog this week because after 2 fun filled weeks of guests, mommy took a week off from fun. I totally fell down on the job this week and we didn't take one trip to the park or a museum or anything! We did, however make it to Gymboree all 5 days and we scored a new and Oh-So-Fabulous babysitter. Her name is Claire and she works at Gymboree. She's about to go on holiday to Croatia and needed a little extra money - which is great since I needed a little extra help ;). She's 28, an actress/singer and super, super, super, sweet. She's thoughtful and helpful and responsible. We really like her. So lets see - since I don't have any interesting stories of what we did this week, maybe some stories about Cade and his adorable-ness.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that every time Cade would get hurt, I'd say to him "I'm sorry", and therefore, he too would start saying it to me as soon as he would get hurt. And sometimes, when I bring the buggy up the stairs, I jiggle the boys a little hard and I say "I'm sorry boys, that's my fault" So now, whenever something "undesirable" happens, Cade says "I'm sorry, that's my fault" and I say "No baby, it's not your fault". To which he almost always replies "It's Mommy's fault". Well - looks like I can check the lesson in blame off the list. Seems like we have that one pretty much covered.
And Cole - Cole signed "more" Saturday morning. Now, I can't guarantee that it was on purpose, but it was the correct sign and it was while he was eating so I'm goin' with it.

This weekend we went to Hampton Court which I was really looking forward to. It's the most famous of Henry VIII palaces as well as where sis son, King Edward VI was born and his mother and Henry's 3rd wife, Jane Seymour died. It is really beautiful - and BIG. We of course took the train there. Cade is loving trains these days and there were lots of smiles from my boys on the way. We had most of the car to ourselves and didn't have to worry too much about keeping them quiet which was nice. Oh yeah - and Cade jumped for the first time. He's not the most coordinated kid in the world, but man he has fun trying.



The gardens were really, really beautiful. We also went through the hedge maze (in the rain) which is suppose to be the most famous of it's kind in the world. I didn't get any pictures since it was raining and also since...well...you couldn't really tell it was a maze unless you were shooting from above.

Sunday we visited the Royal Mews or stables. This is where some of the horses are kept, but also where the royal coaches and limousines are. There wasn't a ton to see there, but it was interesting nonetheless. Steve wasn't too impressed, but he did say "well, it was the coolest horse stable I've ever seen". Touché.

Two weeks until YaYa comes. We are very excited, but I'm starting to get uneasy about leaving London without Steve. He still has a lot of work to do here and seems no closer to the end despite 70 hour work weeks. Although I understand our reasoning for the boys and I coming home, I can't help but feel a little like we will be abandoning him. I will be praying that things start falling into place and that he will be re-joining us in Texas sooner rather than later.

Week 9

It was a fun week here. There were some very happy Hiltpolds - enjoying time with KK. On Monday we finally went to Kensington palace - which I had really been looking forward to. It was a ROUGH morning. The exterminator came so we had to be out of the house at 9 for at least 4 hours. I was running late and so the morning got off to a bumpy start from there and just kind of kept sliding downhill. We put Cole in the buggy for his nap and he proceeded to scream...not cry - no, there were no tears...just screaming for the next hour. I swear I though they were going to kick us out of the cafe at breakfast. People staring - me staring back. It was lovely. I finally gave in when we got to the palace (after I spilled hot chocolate all the way down my pants and on my cream colored sweater). I took him out of the "lay down" part of the buggy and sat him in the seat in the back. He was asleep - hanging over the edge strangling himself with the strap - within 3 minutes. Sheesh.

So, I was really looking forward to Kensington palace, but it seems as though they have changed the tour/exhibit recently. Gone are the Princess Diana dresses and debutant exhibit. Now it's...well, I can't even explain it. It kind of defies comprehension. It's a modern art/creepy haunted house kind of. It's got graffiti on the walls and weird recordings in the background and mannequins suspended above beds. Weird. Disappointing. Sad really. Still scratching my head trying to figure out what the heck happened.

KK was really keen on having "tea" in London, so we headed to the Orangery for that, but Cade wasn't into that and they don't serve a proper tea until 3 pm and it's only like 11:15 at this point, so we get up from the table and head for a walk in the park. This is when it starts to rain. But do I have the rain cover for the buggy? Nope. I do, however have 1 umbrella which is nice, but surely not enough for 4 people. We went and stood under a tree and waited for it to let up. When it did, normal people would head home - but wait - we're having a carpet beetle treatment, so we can't do that. We walked about 1/2 mile in the sprinkles to the mall across from our house. I gave the boys lunch at Starbucks and we walked around until it was time to come home. Oh - did I mention that at this point I'm sick? Yeah...fun day. We finished up with Gymboree in the afternoon which we seem to be doing most days. It's something we all look forward to.
Tuesday we went to Harrods and spend a couple hours, but not much money which is good. Our sick count now is up to 5 - KK and the boys have it too. There are such copious amounts of snot here it's ridiculous...

Wednesday we went to the zoo.

At this point Cade is getting really spoiled with taking taxi's and whenever he sees one he says - "we get in that taxi". Oh how quickly they learn.
Thursday we did play group and music class.
Friday we went to lunch at The Wolseley, then walked to Buckingham palace, then up to Oxford street.
Friday afternoon we went back to open gym and Cole officially started crawling!!! I tried to keep him from doing it as long as I could, but he's a man on the move now.

Saturday we visited the HMS Belfast. Cade is getting so big, climbing those steep stairs all by himself. He does seem a little weary of the creepy mannequin staring down at him in the "sick bay" exhibit though.

In the gift shop at the exit, KK bought the boys hats. How cute are my little captain and first mate???

Down on the pier, we saw the "invisible man". Cade gave him some money...then tried to walk off with the can while the whole crowd laughed.

Sunday was sad. KK left early - about 7am. We all said our goodbye's and Cade cried a little when we said he couldn't get in the car with her to leave.

We headed in to get ready for the day and go get pancakes to make him feel better. After that, we walked to the science museum where we saw lots of fun stuff.



We even went to the Imax and made it about 20 minutes into the movie before Cade was done and said he wanted to leave.

We headed home to rest from the busy week. It was so much fun having KK here. We are sad the 2 weeks went by so quickly. Now we are on countdown to YaYa coming...19 days!!!