Hub

Since moving far and then farther from family, we've been lucky enough to live next to hubs. Not only does this make Reed's insane travel a little easier, it also means we get a huge upswing in the number of people we see-if only for an hour or two. 

This time we got to meet up with Matts, Stacy and their girls on their trip home from Stockholm. We also had the great pleasure of meeting Miss Sydney. I'm not quite sure what Gentry thought about our maniacs, but at least she found a quiet get away in the stroller to play with Little C's superheroes.  

The Girls

The gang

Dover

We made a last minute decision to join some friends on their day trip to Dover.  It was fantastic! They have 3kiddos that match up with ours, so the kids just played happily with each other throughout the day. Even though it was FREEZING we saw the castle, the caves and spent some quality time on the beach (brrrr)

Looking across the channel to France.

The Tunnels!

Plenty of room to explore.

Waiting to hear the penny drop.

Family Pic

The Maniacs.

In full Maniac mode.

A balloons+limitless rocks to throw=happiness.

Happiness for all ages.

Seriously, ALL ages.  Reed and Brian spent 30 minutes trying to hit the post with a rock. 

Some have shorter attention spans and move onto the next adventure.

A happy, happy family!

A Happy couple

Awwww...

So cute.

Proud to be MORMON!

The LDS church has had a HUGE publicity push in London.  There are signs everywhere, buses, billboard and a media blast at Charing Cross Station.  The kiddos loved seeing the entire station covered with their church.  

It was a very good day!

Celebrations

With limited time, space and resources (no room for a craft closet here :) we went for simple with Matts and Christian's parties this year.  In fact, they were both planned as "Kid Parties" and we decided to make them Birthday Parties at the last minute. I learned that friends +balloons+spotify+Krispy Kremes+the latest movie = PARTY

Balloons +15 kiddos in a 3bd flat =PARTY!

Round 2. He wanted a party just like "Natts" :)

With "My Boys"

Big Boys

Contrary to this picture...

He LOVED his birthday!

The Globe

"Such stuff as dreams are made on"

Fun fact: R and I were studying The Tempest when he proposed. 

I may have only a blurry iphone pic to document it, but going to see The Tempest at The Globe is a highlight of London, and possibly a top 10 of my life! 

You are taught that Shakespeare is meant to be performed not read, and although I've seen other productions, I don't think I completely "got" it until this night. When Prospero spoke the words: Now I want Spirits to enforce, art to enchant, And my ending is despair, Unless I be relieved by prayer, Unless I be relieved by prayer...Let your indulgence set me free. The entire theatre held it's breath and then "released" Prospero through thunderous applause. I honestly spent half the night leaning over the railing, a goofy smile on my face and completely enthralled. 

It was, simply, magical. 

The Magic of Flight

As the weather's gotten nicer we've started to venture out again.  On Saturday I woke up from a lovely sleep to hear that we were headed out to the Royal Airforce Museum.  Apparently they had a birds of prey show that was not to be missed! (All the boys, including Reed, can spout random fact about birds of prey because they are so, so cool :)

Enjoying the show.

After a narrow miss by the falcon.

Completely enthralled.

And there were some planes there too.

It was so cool to see all the British aircraft together.  They were arranged chronologically, so it was easy to trace the evolution of aviation and well as piece together how they all fit into the scheme of things.

Enjoying the cockpit. 

April

Days in our Life

The day we decided a cold and rainy weekend without big brother was the perfect opportunity to enjoy the play area at the Army Museum

The day I decided we've been homeschooling too long :)

The day I decided that London in sunshine will never, ever be anything less than fantastic.

The day I was in Atlanta and Reed went to the local pizzeria and got a pizza for GIANTS!

The day my phone went missing. Reed says lost, I say stolen, especially since the tracking was disabled within 10 minutes of realizing it was missing and we received the message above that same evening.
Thoughts?

The day Matts helped out with a birthday party.

The day Asha and I drug 4 kiddos downtown to see Margaret Thatcher's funeral procession.

The same day Matts was a little underwhelmed. (Can you say 9 going on 13)

Lastly, G and the fabulous Miss Asha. Seriously, she makes all our days run more smoothly and happily.  She is an answer to prayers and could give Mary Poppins a run for her money

Greenwich

Greenwich is one of my favorite London spaces, it's easy to get to, but far enough away to feel like a world apart, plus it has a fantastic museum, park and the best way to get there is by boat. The first sunny Saturday in April we got to show Reed what all the fuss has been about.

With Nelson's jacket..that he was shot in :)

The Maritime museum had this fabulous new exhibit with a room sized map of the world, complete with trade routes and ships to navigate on it.

Needless to say, it was a hit.

Little C believes in outsourcing all work.

A race to discover the new world

The center of the world

Any time we're on the south side of town we HAVE to stop in at the Borough Market.  G's treat of choice was frosting with some cupcake.

C has a more sophisticated palate and has developed a love for macaroons.  

G Goes to Work

In defense against the middle child symdrome Gray got to go into work with Reed. We studied mobile phones the previous week and for our little technophile it may have been better than Disneyworld! Especially since he came home with a new iphone and laptop that he "earned" by fixing.  

Touring the Server Room

Working on his new computer that he "ripped the guts" out of and fixed with the IT team.

Said IT Team. They co-opted G for a few hours, took him on a tour of the server room,  taught him about SIMS and security and ripped apart a few laptops and phones just to show G how they worked and then helped him put them back together again.

There are certain times I LOVE Reed's work. They provide a decent work/life balance and welcome our family whenever we visit. Gray learned so much, felt so good and now wants to be a technical guy when he grows up :)