At Simon & Liz's

Before going out each morning, we would watch the little hummingbirds at the bird feeder. Simon was saying they were bulking up ready for their flight south.  There were three that came regularly to the feeders, sometimes chasing each other off but as there were three feeders out it wasn't such a problem.  The bees were more of a problem as they'd dive bomb the birds and then go to the feeder themselves.

One of the things Emily had been looking forward to was making smores so, after dinner one night, the fire was lit in the firepit and the preparations began.

 

One happy young lady :)

 

Yup, they were just as good as we remembered.  I was just glad that two were enough for me!

The next morning while I was making a cup of tea Richard called me to see the deer in the garden. 

 To begin with we saw two walking down the side fence but they'd disappeared by the time I got my camera and I thought I'd missed my chance. A little later though, I saw a movement down at the bottom of the garden and we realised the deer were still around.

There were three this time, a mother and her two young ones.  The youngsters were having a wonderful time chasing each other and bouncing around.  I had to zoom right in to be able to capture them and fortunately the photos turned out quite well.

 

Finally, one of the chipmunks that could be seen in the garden. While Liz and Simon consider them pests, we thought it was quite cute to see them running around.  I guess that's because the only time we've seen them before, they've been in a cage.  I never realised how noisy they are - we could hear them cheep cheeping from early in the morning and all through the day.

xx

Chicago

A week ago today, Emily and I got home after spending 10 days with family in Chicago.  The trip was a last minute one after getting a wedding invitation from my niece, Helen.  From the time we got the invitation to the time we flew out was just under two weeks. I had to arrange for Emily to have time off school (who, thankfully, were very understanding and wished her a fantastic holiday).  

 

 

It had been eight years since we were last in Chicago staying with Simon, Liz and the family. To say we were excited to be going, is an understatement. However, it had all been so rushed I think it was only once we were on the plane that the reality hit home :)

 



We had a list of things we hoped to be able to do while we were there - mainly things we had done on previous visits and were looking forward to doing again.  One of them was going to Barnes & Noble for breakfast.  It didn't take long for us to tick that one off the list.  That first morning we'd woken at about 3am and been wide awake.  We were sharing a room, so lay chatting for ages and then Face Timed Claire, Alice and Megan before finally getting up around 5.30am and getting ready for the day.

Snowflake is Richard's cat and she's a beauty.  She's also quite inquisitive and liked to come into our room in the morning to see what we were doing and inspect our suitcases.

When we took Richard to work on the second day, we stopped at Starbucks for breakfast.  I had the bacon and egg roll which was very nice but one thing I noticed is how much sweeter the rolls in America are compared to ours in the UK.

 

 Needless to say shopping was on our To Do list as well. Hugh had asked me to look for a Chicago Bulls or Chicago Bears shirt for him.  I hadn't expected the array that was available so ended up taking photos of numerous shirts so I could ask him what  he was looking for.  The one he would have liked was $110 (+tax) so I'm afraid he had to settle for second best!

 

Another of our wishes was to go to Olive Garden for dinner. We've been each time we've gone to Chicago and love the food there. On the Saturday, Helen and Chrissie joined us and we went for dinner.

It was just as good as we remembered.  I had a parmesan crusted steak with garlic mashed potatoes and it was the best steak I've had in a while. So tender and really tasty. 

Liz, Emily and I popped into a Joann's store on the way home.  I love the fact that you don't have to hunt for parking ;-)

Heading back to the house.

I'll post our day trip into Chicago next.

xx

Major catch up (eek!) Part 1

It's been a long time, I know!  We've had some ups and downs over the last 3 months and I'm afraid my blogging mojo disappeared completely.  I don't know if I'll be back blogging regularly but I thought I'd try and catch up over the next few days/weeks (?).

 

First up was Megan's 1st birthday.  Her birthday is on Christmas Day but Claire chose to have a party for her on 08 December, so Christmas could still be Christmas and Megan would just get one big birthday present from Claire (and her Christmas presents).  Below are some of the photos from 08 December.

 

Emily and I went round before the party to give Megan her presents and spend some time with Claire and the girls before everyone else arrived. Megan had a helping hand from Alice when it came to opening the presents

 Her baby doll was a big hit, and still is to date. She loves cuddling her baby and baby often goes with Megan when we go out.

 The little rabbit also got a big cuddle.  So cute!

 Still more presents to open ;)  Megan had got the hang of helping to tear the paper off the presents.

 I didn't take many photos once everyone else arrived but did have to get a photo of Alice and Alyssa who were dressed in a very similar fashion.

 Megan loves reading and was happy to sit quietly looking at her new book.

 When it was time to blow out the candles and everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her, Megan got a bit shy.

Tyler, Alyssa and Alice were happy to help her out when it came to blowing out the candle!

Megan is the sweetest little girl who gives the best cuddles! When she sees me she comes scooting over, climbs up my legs and raises her hands to be lifted.  The arms then go round my neck and the hugs tightly and when she's excited her little feet start kicking too.  I'm happy to take any cuddles she's happy to give!

That said, there's also the other side of her. She knows exactly how to wind Alice up and when Alice is at playgroup or having a nap, Megan likes nothing more than taking all Alice's things - even Alice's dummy which she'll happily suck even though she's never taken a dummy of her own.  She's so funny and we love her to bits!

xx

Happy Birthday Alice :)

Yesterday was Alice's 3rd birthday :)  She had been counting down the days and was so excited! 

 

 I went round to the house by 9 and the presents were soon being opened.  The tutu, wings, tiara and wand were a big hit!

Alice changed into the tutu straight away and then went to have a look in the mirror to see what she looked like :)

 before trying out a few ballet moves! So sweet :)

 However, there were more presents to be opened (this one from Uncle Iain and Iris in Australia)

 Lambie (from Doc McStuffins) is another hit - especially when she asks "Do you need a cuddle?"

Alice had been waiting to blow out her candles since morning so as soon as family arrived in the afternoon we agreed it was time. Such a good job - all candles blown out in one go!

Emily snapped this photo of me holding Megan. She was a bit bewildered by all the goings on especially seeing as there were all these new toys and she wanted to play with them too - only to be told no, most of the time.

 Megan got cuddles with Uncle Hugh.

 Alice just loved the whole day, the presents, the playing, the people and the cake!

 Nana Linda and Richard arrived a little bit later with a bike for the birthday girl. Great excitement :)

 Showing Grandpa and Theresa how she can ride (or try to!)

 We love you lots Alice, enjoy being 3!

xx