Lucy LOVES her iPad! She’s been teaching herself all things vlogging this summer. She’s been working very hard and its actually very impressive what she’s come up with. BUT every now and then she (every one of us) has to put the devices down and do something else.
She’s been spending her time in the pool, playing basketball, hanging out with friends and teaching Winnie new tricks. I keep trying to get her to sit down and read a book (my other girls are bookworms) but she keeps fighting me on this. So I gave her the option to write instead. She got a new journal and a couple of times a week I’m going to give her a writing assignment. Yesterday I asked her to talk about her favorite summer memory. She sat for hours writing, she even took her journal in the car with us.
Some other writing ideas:
the thing I’m most worried about when school starts
the thing I’m most excited about when school starts
my favorite trip ever and what made it so great
my favorite restaurant ever and why
what makes a good teacher
describe yourself. Use lots of details
list all the things you’re thankful for
what is your favorite thing mom (or dad) makes for dinner
if you had one wish what would it be and why
what would you buy if you won the lottery
if you had to live in another country which one would you choose and why
I have a bunch more questions on my list but lets see if we can get through some of these first.
I’m still not giving up on having her finish a book or two this summer either 🙂
I’ve been sitting here going through old blog posts from when my girls were all young. I’ve also been looking through old blog posts from one of my favorite bloggers (who inspired me to start my own) and it’s crazy how fast time has flown by. How much these kids have grown (mine and her’s). I’m missing my babies like crazy!! So much that my breathe keeps catching and my eyes start filling up. I miss posting about their first days of school and simple grocery store runs. Play dates, sleepovers and first field hockey games. It all went by so quickly. Then I hear “mom, take a picture” and turn to see this
I’ve been soaking in all of these baby moments with him because I know how quickly time is flying. Two more years until he’s off to kindergarten 😭
Just a quick photo dump over here so I have these pictures.
Before we left for London we had a lobster boil for Marlene and Brian’s 50th wedding anniversary
4th of July celebrations in town:
I really want an alpaca but I can’t convince my dear husband
Few more summer photos:
Officially half way through the month of July and I’m already dreading the thought of sending everyone off to school! Luckily we have a few more vacations to look forward to. Happy Summer!!
It’s been almost 5 years since we left London. I don’t think there has been a day that’s gone by that someone in this house hasn’t mentioned our time there. Jon and I are celebrating our 20 year anniversary this summer and knew we wanted to go back, just the two of us. I really wanted to do a late spring, early fall trip. Jon was 100% looking forward to a summer trip. I felt guilty about leaving the kids during their summer break and was really nervous about leaving Beckett. A few months ago my dad called and told me that the Red Sox and Yankees were going to be playing each other in the first ever MLB London series. I hung up with him, called Jon and told him he could have summer. AS LONG as he was willing to go to the game. Huge sacrifice, I know. HA! 20 minutes later I called my dad back and told him I booked a trip. We spent the next few months planning exactly what we wanted to do while we were there. There were certain museums, restaurants, pubs and shopping that we KNEW we wanted to do. LOTS of things in only a short amount of time. A day trip to Paris was also on our list.
First up was Chiltern Firehouse We booked this reservation about 6 weeks in advance.
We barely made our reservation because our flight was delayed about an hour. Our Uber driver raced through the city, driving by our old apartment (which was a treat), but we made our reservation without a minute to spare. It was worth it! The food and the atmosphere were both amazing!
If you go you have to try the crab donuts (above) and don’t miss out on sharing a platter of truffle fries!
We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, hitting The National Gallery, our favorite neighborhoods and favorite pubs:
Friday we woke up and headed straight for The Tower of London
Then we went over to Borough Market for some lunch
More from Friday:
Friday night was my favorite night. We went and grabbed some food and wine for a picnic in the park and headed over to Kensington. We sat on the hill overlooking the palace for hours. That area is my absolute favorite in London. I spent every single day there with the girls while Jon worked. Every night after dinner we would stroll the park with the girls and stop for ice cream or chocolate waffles. I know that area of Hyde park like the back of my hand. Sooooo many good memories there.
After 2 bottles of wine (HA!) we went over to The Churchill Arm This place was on my list of must do’s and it did NOT disappoint!!
Just as pretty in the day!!
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Notting Hill. We strolled through Kensington one more time. We were there before the rest of London woke up so it was very peaceful.
Notting Hill:
Sunday morning we woke up and went to Westminster Abbey to attend the 8:00 mass.
Then over to the game.
We had such a great time!! There were tons of Yankees fans sitting around us and they all started to groan (LOUD) as soon as the first two notes of Sweet Caroline started to play. Even though we were losing, every single Red Sox fan in that stadium sang at the top of their lungs!
We had to head back to the hotel early that night. We woke up at 3:30am on Monday to catch a train to Paris.
Standing inside the Louvre was breathtakingly gorgeous! The white dirt roads paved the way for the cream colored buildings that were out of this world beautiful. The pale blue sky and bright green grass had pops of every color coming out of thousands of flowers, it made for the perfect backdrop. If you stood there alone and looked around, you would swear that angels were singing. It was THAT gorgeous. I love my Paris pictures so much and I really wanted to love Paris but I just didn’t (besides the Louvre area). Outside of the Louvre was very dirty and felt extremely dangerous. The Eiffel Tower was also very pretty (from afar) and we did a nice boat tour down The Seine River. We shopped around Louis Vuitton and had lunch at a cute little cafe, then a picnic later on in the park. It wasn’t a bad day, I just don’t think I would ever go back. If I’m missing something about Paris leave me a comment down below because I feel like we’re the only people unimpressed by the city.
As for London, I will go back again and again. It feels like a home away from home.
Stories about family, faith, friends and funnies. Pull up a chair. Grab a cup of coffee and laugh, cry, ponder and inspire about ordinary events of this wonderful, ever changing, bubbling pot that we call "every day life".
Seven Friarys 
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