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We are back now. Back from traveling to other lands, sleeping in other beds, riding in other cars, being awake at other times, eating other foods, meeting other people, seeing other sights, experiencing more life.

It has been one of the most wonderful summers and I wish I could do some sort of mind meld with everyone to let them experience the places and faces and smells and tastes.

And most importantly the deep change that we took home as a souvenir.

It's a season of change anyway, right? And if nothing else gets branded in my spirit from these trip this will: God is sovereign.

That phrase changes everything. Absolutely nothing is left untouched.

It sums up our travels.

(Heck, it makes sense of our past and defines our future. But that's for another day.)

I'll try to show some pictures (from the few that I took between toting a baby and running with a toddler) and summarize our fun. But it's safe to say that more important things happened then seeing giraffes or eating gelato. Although that was fun...and yum. Gelato...mmmmm.

Things we did over Christmas

Read some books...especially about FDR.

Opened REALLY exciting presents.

Took a walk with Pop-Pop.

Took lots of naps, especially with kittens.

London - Report 4

Just to recap the London trip so far (make sure everyone is up to speed)

Great hotel
Russian mob
Food
Sleeping in late
Cold
Hyde Park
Food
Coffee
Cold
More Coffee
More Food
Private Bus Tour (wasn't kidding about that)
Lights
Sights
Cold
Awesomeness

Ok - now we're ready to wrap it all up.

Narrator: "The sudden realization that, yes, they did already pay for daily breakfast at the hotel gets Jon and Emily up and ready to go early the next day. But, not wanting to change their accustomed schedule TOO drastically, Emily decides to nap for a bit after they eat. She awakes to find Jon on the phone."

Jon (on the phone): "Uh-huh. Ok. Yep. Great. Bye." (hangs up) "Great news! David has taken some time off today, he'll meet us soon for a walking tour of London's hotspots!"

Emily: "Last one to the 'Tube' pays for dinner!"

Narrator: "So they dash off to the subway and meet up with David, in the POURING rain at Oxford Circle."

David, embracing the true London spirit, needs no umbrella. But it is seriously pouring. In this picture it looks like it's raining snowflakes and giant balloon snowmen...but it's not...just plain rain.)

Narrator: "The trio brave the rain through town stopping (in a cafe of course) to wait for the clouds to clear. They are rewarded with some dramatic views of Big Ben, Trafalger Square, a market, and a crazy window (ok...maybe the last one wasn't really a reward)."

Narrator: "When evening comes the trio meets up with David's lovely wife Jodi. They take in the city lights for a bit, before dining on Dim Sum with friends."

Emily: "This was such a lovely day. Now we've seen the whole of London. The only thing left to do is meet with the Queen!"

Narrator: "So they did. But the woman posting the pictures of the trip got lazy...so you'll have to tune in one more time to get the REALLY (I'm serious) final segment in the London adventures."

London - Report 3

On Monday Jon and Emily woke to a bright London morning. Too bright perhaps.

Jon (checking clock): "Ummm...Emily? It's 11:30."

Emily: "gasp!"

Narrator: "Wasting not another moment, and full of energy from sleeping 12+ hours, Jon and Emily bundle thmselves together and wander down to Hyde Park..."

"It wasn't long though, before someone (or thing) started grumbling. To appease their hungry tummies Jon and Em stopped in a nearby pub for some breakfast...er..brunch."

Jon: "I feel ready to take on the world after my coffee and meat pie! Let's be adventurous and explore the neighborhood!"

Emily: "Trailblazers!"

Narrator: "So they braved the freezing temps again and walked through the rich, and beautiful neighborhoods of Notting Hill..." (see below map for reference.)

"...and took refuge in another coffee shop to thaw."


Jon: "And now, my dear, a special surprise."

Narrator: "And he wisked her away to a private night tour of London on a double decker bus."

But first...some meat pies at Victoria Station and a little cheese shopping (if you please). Gotta love the Stinking Bishop.

The lights were blazing...

...the sights were amazing...

It was almost magical...in a cold, rainy sort of way.

One last report coming...a day with David Taylor and a date with the Queen!

London - Report 2

I need to set a little context before the London adventure story begins. Jon and I are going to London for a GLI meeting that is to take place Friday, November 28th until Sunday, November 30th. (Well, actually at first Jon is just going to go - but I wheedle my way in and we decide that it will be our last big vacation before Whn arrives.)

Enter Jon and Emily - stage right.

Emily: "After the meeting is over let's just stay in the city a few days to play!"

Jon: "That sounds like a great idea! You are a GENIUS and beautiful to boot!"

(I swear that's almost exactly how it went down)

Exit Jon and Emily - stage left. Image of a plane flying across the ocean.

Narrator: "So, with extra full suitcases to last us for the week, we decide to stay an additional 3.5 days. How fun."

Now - Jon apparently has connections because he found us an awesome hotel just north of Hyde Park. We stay just about where the yellow #1 star is on the map.

This is what our hotel looked like when we arrived on the scene.

Enter Jon and Emily. A group of well dressed men are whispering in Russian in the corner and light piano music plays.

Emily: "Jon! This is extravagent! But I feel slightly out of place around this much high-society. And are those men in the Russian mob????"

Jon: "Don't you fret my dear. I know how to handle both the rich AND the Russian mob. Stick with me and you'll be safe."

Emily: "Oooooo. Handsome, brave, AND suave."

Narrator: "To prove his suaveness, Jon takes Emily down the street to a small Greek restaurant for dinner (At the blue #2 star on the map)."

And this is what that looked like.

Part Two: Hyde Park, a Pub, some Coffee, and a Private Bus Tour of London.

Tune in soon!!!

Happy Thanksgiving... from across the pond!

Yep, that's right... Emily and I are in London for Thanksgiving this year.  While we won't be stuffing ourselves on turkey (I would get the dark meat), mash potatoes, and the rest of the good stuff... we may just be enjoying a fish-n-chips Turkey day.  

Here are a couple pics of us on the plane...

While it was a little tiring, the flight was good overall.  We grabbed a quick nap at the hotel and now we're ready to hit the town with some friends.

We'll be keeping you updated!  All our love to you and hope you're all having a great thanksgiving!

Jon & Emily

Westmoreland State Park

Last Tuesday I drove about 1.5 hours south of DC to vacation with my brother Dan and his wife Trish and daughter Ava at Westmoreland State Park. It's a place that Dan visited multiple times growing up - and I went once on a family camping vacation. They had rented a 'rustic' cabin as a "tester" for real camping. Westmoreland's main draw is Fossil Beach. It's a short section of beach with limestone cliffs on either site. The sand is course - but with a little sifting you can usually find sharks' teeth. The park also has a few hiking trails, a big pool, and a fishing pier.

Here are a few pictures of adorable Ava.

Ava and Dan 'swimming' in the river. She's fearless. Mostly though, she liked eating sand and shells. And finding trash on the beach and carrying it around.

Ava and Trish. Ava just turned one on August 17th.

Playing in the cabin. Yes - it was a real log cabin. With spiders.

It rained a lot of the week but on the last day we were there the rain was scattered so we ran down to the pool. For a swim. It was cooooolllddd but Ava didn't care.

Jon came down by train on Friday. It was a long week and he had just flown in from Florida late Thursday evening - so this was one of his well deserved naps that day.

Here's a video of Jon awake and practicing for the 2012 Olympic diving team. His fan club is HUGE - so just remember to keep your comments short to let others tell him how awesome he is. (Jon will happily note that I didn't post the underwater video example of the dangers of loose diving shorts.)

And here is an example of my brother Dan's skill diving. Not too bad! :)

It was fun to spend a few days with family. :)

The Beach and the Great Sleep

Tired. Apparently the last blog posting was from June 10th. That was 20 days ago. I feel like that was yesterday. Maybe I was asleep the whole time. Yep - I pretty much was. Actually - I felt too sick the week of the 10th. I even felt sick in my sleep.

The week after that we were at the beach with my sister and her family. Here are a couple of pictures from that. The beach was great - super relaxing. I slept a lot which really aided my return to feeling more normal.

Here is the beautiful beach. We were walking on the boardwalk in Ocean City (NJ) in the evening. I thought this was a nice shot of the moon and the beach.

Here we all area at the Wonderland Pier - the amusement end of the boardwalk. Sarah is very kindly sharing her Kohr Bros ice cream with Caleb.

Here's uber-cute Caleb again. Not such a fan of the merry-go-round.

But a BIG fan of the tide pool down near 93rd street. For awhile. And only after a few days of trying. To be fair it was cold. Anyone see a pattern in these pics with Uncle Jon getting quality Caleb time. They were big buds after the week - even did high-fives.

Sarah is practicing her 'diving' skills - known to most of us as pulling-yourself-along-in-calf-deep-water-on-your-stomach skills. Which were pretty killer. She loved the water and would run into it splashing around - even though most of the time it was pretty cold. After awhile her lips would turn blue and she would need some cuddle in a towel on the chair time.

The trip was great. The week after I felt MUCH better. Well, at least through the end of the week. But hey - we're over 9 weeks along!! All downhill from here, right?? :)