Midsummer's Day!

We really lucked out with the timing on our trip.  Not only are we in Sweden at the most beautiful time of the year, we are here for Midsummer's!  The Stockholm stakes hosted a community party at a National Park and it was fantastic.  Grandma Candi wasn't feeling great, so the boys and I ventured off with Grandpa Greg and had a great time!  There were pony rides, a fishing game, foot races, pick-up football (american and soccer :).  Basically, it was paradise for three active boys who had just spent a month in the city.  It all culminated with raising the Maypole and dancing around.  But, I must say I don't remember 30minutes of dancing.  There are a lot more verses than I remember to the folk songs :)

Matts made some new friends :)

Carrying the Maypole

Raising the Maypole

It's Up

Oh, I was there :)

 A playground, on a farm, in the middle of a field at a National Park?  My boys were in heaven.

Little C on the pony

Matts took it stride

G was rearing to go!

C has finally warmed up to Grandpa and even likes to "help" in his office. 

Brothers, off to check things out.

Gearing up for the race.  (In which he won 2nd place).  He's a fast little guy. 

It was wonderful and somewhat surreal to have the boys experience something from my childhood.  It was such a beautiful day and I recalled that a pig does, indeed, say "neuf, neuf, neuf" and you iron AND wash your clothes AND 10 other steps to get ready on Midummer's afternoon it was just perfect. 

Hey, Hey!

After a somewhat painful and delayed flight, we hit the ground running in true Newell fashion.  We met Grandma and Grandpa at the airport and then changed in the mission van en route to a musical fireside.

Gentlemen give flowers after performances

The boys and the President

Reunited after almost exactly 1year. 

On the way home we drove past the sites of my childhood.  By then it was 9:00 at night and although the sun was shining brightly, the boys were less than impressed.  Little C snored away and Matts and G just wanted to get to Grandma's house :)

History in the Making

After much debate we decided to try our chances with the crowds and weather and go down to the Jubilee River pageant.  It was a smashing success!  We packed a change of clothes and went straight from church down to the river, stopping to pick up a picnic along the way.  Little C took a short snooze while we walked down and got situated.  We got there around 1:15pm and ended up about 4 deep from the front, but with a large viewing screen right behind us, so we were pretty pleased with our spot and began formulating a plan for how to best raise the boys to see the boats go by.  The boys were kept fairly entertained by the historical footage on screen and an endless supply of treats.  As the royal family began to board the barge the lady in front of us asked if the boys would like to squeeze up front.  Matts was a little nervous, (honestly, I was as well since it meant they'd be out of our sight) but they decided to go for it.  Matts watched the pageant leaning over the railing, but G was too short to really see well, so a very nice stranger asked if he could put G on his shoulders.  G spent the rest of the pageant monologuing and received a pence for his commentary:).  

Watching and waiting

For each new section of boats Little C would yell out  "THEY'RE COMING!".  After  1,000 boats it was still amusing.

Waving at the Royal family.  Matts is convinced Queen Elizabeth waved right at him, G is partial to the "Princess in Red", aka Kate.

This time the pleased expression was spot on!

The Union Jack was waving proudly

On our walk home we passed the National Army Museum and stopped to make crowns, play in their great kids zone and view diaoramas (Matts' current activity of choice?)

Even in the rain, we (at least I) enjoyed some Gelato.

It was only fitting to walk home on a rainy London evening.  

As we were thanking the ladies who helped the boys get to the front they commented on how polite and well behaved the boys were.  It was just the cherry on top of a wonderful day.  We went down to the river today with no idea what to expect and everyone was so generous and kind.  The atmosphere was vibrant and the sense of history and tradition was amazing.  The people were excited and proud to be there.  

Plus, it's really cool that our kiddos got to see history made.  

Well done London, very well done.  

Avebury

After lunch we headed up to Avebury.  It's about 30minutes north of Stonehenge, but is completely open to the public.  Plus, you pass tank crossing signs along the way which with our boys was endless entertainment.  It was a fantastic idea and the boys had a blast running around and playing around stones 1000s of years old.   

According to Matts they only moved it about 1mm

Climbing galore

Running free

The English countryside

Freedom!

Battlecry!

Leap of faith

Happy boys.
Me too! Me too!

It was a great end to the day.  That is, until G was introduced to stinging nettle.    They decided that's why the Roman's left England.

Stonehenge

For our first weekend we decided to head up to Stonehenge and Avebury.  We decided to be brave and rented a car so that we could be flexible and see where the day took us (with 3 kiddos, flexibility is priceless).  After a bumpy start (driving on the opposite of the road while operating a clutch left handed through London traffic is fairly tricky) we met up with Attilio, Rachel and their adorable girls.  After a lovely brunch in their garden we headed off to Stonehenge.

Classic Reed

Attilio wanted in on the action

The boys ready to go

Little C soaking it in

His evil laugh

Too Cool.  It was quite windy.  Beautiful, but windy and Matts got something stuck in his eye.  After that we took protective measures.

He really was excited to be there.

G getting some knowledge

Stonehenge 2.0

Stonehenge 3.0

Revenge with Stonehenge4.0

Stonehenge 4.1

We were prepared to be underwhelmed, so it was actually quite cool.  Matts is into ancient civilizations, so this fit the bill.  The weather was beautiful and the setting even more so.  We then went into town for lunch at an Inn.  We ate in their garden and the kiddos found hide outs in the foliage and skipped rocks in the pond.  Lovely, Lovely, Lovely.

Summer Fun

Before we move on, a quick note of pool opening day.

Sunning off after a chilly dip

  

Happy Birthday, Little C!

This past week our little maniac turned 2.  He's growing up so quickly, but I have a feeling he will always be my "baby".  He loves his blocks, loves his books, loves his balls, loves a joke and above all loves his brother.  He thinks he's just one of the boys and always wants to be right in the mix.

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

Christian,
With your cheesy smile, twinkling eyes and curly hair you are a charmer.  You are always busy figuring things out and convinced that once you've figured it out, you can do ANYTHING!  You love your brothers and your Daddy so much and want so much to be just like them.  Life with you is always BIG, FUN and EXCITING!  You truly are our little maniac and we wouldn't have it any other way.
We love you Maniac McC!