At the park

English parks are WAY cooler than the ones in Virginia! They also seem to have an obsession with putting playgrounds on any piece of unoccupied land which is cool but a little weird. Anyway - we have 3 great playgrounds within a 2 minute walk in any direction - that doesn't count Aidan's school which is also a 2 minute walk from our house! The kids love going and meeting up with other kids. The weather here is not quite as warm as we have been used to. It is August after all - but we still have to wear sweatshirts or fleeces during the middle of the day and pants are a must! It has rained almost every day since we've gotten here but most days have at least an hour or so of sun. All the English people that I have talked to say that this isn't normal and that it is usually warm in the summer. I hope that it gets a little warmer - it would be nice to be able to leave the house without a jacket in the summer!!

swings are fun - no matter what country you're in!Emmy on the zipline:Aidan on the zipline:Climbing:Emmy on a horse:Emmy having fun:

Traveling

As I said before we took the train from Boston back to DC to fly out to England. The army wouldn't buy us our plane tickets "at our convenience" so we had to go back to where Brendan had been stationed - even though it would have been cheaper to fly out of Boston. We all know the world might end it the Army travel agents had to book tickets out of strange and rural airports like Logan :)
So we took the train from Boston to DC because Brendan had driven the car down earlier in the week to put it on the ship at Baltimore to cross over to England. Thank goodness that Brendan upgraded us to business class on the train - it was horrible enough - I don't know what we would have done in the cattle car! Here the kids are in Boston on the train - it was pretty empty until we got to NY.
We stayed in a hotel at Dulles and flew out at 9:30 the next morning. The flight was awesome - I don't think it could have been much better. Aoife slept the entire time, Aidan watched movies and amused himself and Emmy slept for 4 hours - Brendan and I even got to watch 2 movies!!
Here we are getting ready to take off:

Last few days in the US

Before we left for England we spent a week with my parents in North Andover. We had a great time relaxing and getting ready for the next stage in our lives. We visited Drumlin Farm one day - it was lots of fun. We got to see pigs, chickens, cows and some birds of prey. The last time I had gone was probably a field trip in 3rd grade but it was nice to see that the spirit of the place hadn't changed. The kids had a great time - the favorite place was the chicken building - greatly improved since 1986!!

Aidan with the owl sculpture at Drumlin Farm:
Emmy hunting for wooden eggs with Daddy Jim:
Comparing weights with a pig:
Aidan hanging out with Aoife:

We're here!

We made it to England! We took an 8 hour train ride on Monday from Boston to Washington, stayed in a hotel and left from Dulles to London on Tuesday morning. The train ride was terrible - Emmy was bored and horrible to entire time. BUT the plane ride was great - she was strapped into her car seat and slept for 4 hours. It was awesome! Aoife was perfect - slept the whole way both days and Aidan was really helpful and was a trooper!
We are into our house now - it's much better than I expected! I will post pictures when I can - we don't have internet at the house. I am posting from the hotel right now - we came back to pick up the last of our bags. I will post as soon as I can - it may be a while until we have internet access or phone service!

Hair Cut

Emmy got a haircut the other day - her 4th or so but the first that I brought the camera. She did awesome - seemed even to enjoy herself!! She just got her bangs trimmed and curls layered in the back. She looks so cute!

Aoife - 2 months

Aoife is just over 2 months now! She was 12 lbs 2 oz at her two month check up. She is doing great - smiling a lot and sleeping well. Did I mention that she is adorable??

Duxbury Beach

On Wednesday we drove out to Duxbury beach to cook dinner. It was really nice to be out there - Brendan built a fire and we roasted marshmallows - so much fun! The kids ran around in the surf and exhausted themselves - early bedtime for everyone!!
Nora and Emmy
Chase and Brody chasing Aidan