Last day in London

We spent our last day in London. We have been to London together before so we did not really feel the need to be there for a long time. I was really excited though because my good friend from when we lived in Norway was in London the same week for work. Her conference started the day we flew out so she came a day early to hang out with us. When we left Norway 3 years ago I honestly did not know if I would see Hilde again so this was a special treat.

We spent a few hours having lunch at a little cafe. Then we walked a long way in the rain through Kensington Gardens, past the palace. We went to Harrod's to buy souvenirs. It was a great time just to catch up.

Weekend getaway

Two weeks ago we went on a little getaway to meet friends of ours. They live about 9-10 hours away by car but luckily their grandparents have a lake house about half way.

Regina and I met through my brother. She knew him when he lived in Oklahoma and then she moved to my city when we were all single. We are 2 peas in a pod. She got married one month after us and then moved away as her husband is in the Air Force. I guess we have seen each other about once a year every since. Every time we get together I wish we lived in the same town again. Now we both have 2 kids. Katherine and Elizabeth are a month apart. Caroline and Zachary are 2 months apart. We are so like minded in so many ways and we have so much fun. Traveling with kids is not easy and we both agreed that this was a trip that was worth the effort. We were able to hang out at the house, let the kids play and have lots of good talks. Caroline and Zachary did a lot of sitting around, stealing pacis and playing with toys. Both are good at sitting and rolling. Neither were crawling yet.
Bath time is always more fun with a buddy.
Katherine and Elizabeth had a lot of fun too. Don't you love Elizabeth's Thomas the Train jammies and slippers? The girls enjoyed watching TV, especially if it involved mommy snuggles. We played a Leap Frog phonics Bingo. I love their "3" shirts. Both girls are now proud 3 year olds.
Of course 3 year old girls have to dress up as princesses.
And play in the curtains.We wanted to get a cute mother daughter pictures but you can see that Elizabeth made a silly face and Katherine did not want to be in the picture at all.

I am a little behind in my posting. Such is my busy life.

Anyway, last weekend Katherine and I flew to San Antonio to visit two different friends who have moved there recently. I asked for prayer for our travels and while they did not go off totally without incident, it was all fine. We got to the airport too late to make the first flight but in time for the second but luckily for me the first one was late to we made it afterall!

We started off visiting Kathy and Chad and their kids Sammy and Sarah. Kathy and I have known one another since our senior year in college and have been close friends ever since. It is really weird to not have her close because we used to see each other several times a week, especially after Katherine and Sammy were born. Sammy was her first best friend. Isn't he a cutie in his sombrero?
Sarah was only 2 months old when we left for Norway and when we returned we only saw her twice before they moved. It is so weird to see her now as a 7 month old on the verge or crawling. She is such a cutie.

I was not sure how Sammy and Katherine would get along since they had only seen one another twice in the last 6 months. They remembered each other right away and picked up where they left off. Above it looks like Sammy is putting the moves on Katherine but it was actually a harmless hug.
They had a ball before bed time. They made up a game where they would jump off of the dump truck onto the bean bag chair. They very nicely took turns and this kept them occupied for at least 15 minutes (an eternity for toddlers). By the end Sammy thought it was hilarious to jump and then stay on the bean bag so that Katherine had to jump on top of him.
The next day we drove to New Braunfels to go to the McKenna Childrens Museum. It was a great museum that I highly recommend if you are in the area with kids from about age 1.5-8. We met my other friend Regina and her daughter Elizabeth at the museum. I have knows Regina for about 8 years (originally through my brother). We were in each other's weddings a month apart and our daughters were born a month apart. Now we are both pregnant with #2.
There were all kinds of interactive centers at the museum. Of course Katherine enjoyed the kitchen.
The space area was a little over the kids heads but Sammy and Katherine sure look cute in their NASA costumes.

There was a large grocery shopping area with very real looking products, shopping carts and a check out area.
Sarah enjoyed fishing in the campfire. I am not quite sure why there were fish in the fire. None of the kids seemed to think it was odd and they enjoyed it.
Here is a picture of the entire gang. Sarah, Kathy, Sammy, Me, Katherine, Regina and Elizabeth.
We all ate lunch at the Gristmill in Greune, Texas. It was so yummy and the kids did amazingly well. I did not get a photo though.

I then went to Regina's house. Katherine and Elizabeth had only met twice before and the last time was a year ago before either were walking. They really got along well most of the time. There were a few power struggles over certain toys from time to time but overall they weathered it pretty well.
They really enjoyed their evening bath time with friends. Doesn't Elizabeth have the most amazing eyelashes?

Saturday we took the girls to the San Antonio Zoo. It was a great day for it and they really enjoyed the animals. They are at such a fun age for the zoo.

Katherine was not too sure what to think of the Komodo Dragon.

We kept trying to get the girls to hold hands. Finally they did on their own. So cute.

Katherine did amazingly well at sleeping in different places and eating different food. The great thing about going to visit friends with kids the same age is that they had similar nap and bedtime schedules and their pantries are pretty well stocked with foods that your toddler will eat.

I sure miss both of these girls but am so glad that they are just a short trip away.

short trip

Tomorrow Katherine and I are taking a short trip to visit friends. Sam has to stay home. This will be Katherine's 10th round trip on an airplane and it is only a one hour flight yet I am nervous. I will be flying alone with her. I do not have a real ticket since I am flying with a buddy pass that my brother gave me (meaning standby). It is Southwest Airlines so there are no seat assignments. I just hope that I can preboard but I heard that they no longer do that for people with kids. I will probably not be in boarding group A so I will have to choose a center seat and who wants to sit next to the lady with an almost 2 year old on her lap? Also I realized that while Katherine is a very seasoned traveler, this will be her first flight since she has been weaned. That means that if she is upset or her ears hurt I no longer have that tool to comfort her. I know it is only a one hour flight so even if she is a terror it is over quickly and I will never see those poor business men sitting on either side of me again.

If you think of me, say a prayer in the morning at about 9am.