Yes, let's go sledging!

On Monday there was a light dusting of snow when we woke up. The boys ran out in their bare feet & pj's and threw a few snow balls at one another. They then each put a snow ball in the freezer to save and the snow in our yard was pretty much gone.

On Friday, we got real snow. Enough that Walter got double play time at school on Friday and Owen spent the afternoon at a park playing in it, both followed by hot cocoa with their classmates. Enough that I went to 5 stores before I could find any sort of sled. Enough that it took Jer 2.5 hours to get home by train. Enough that the buses were warning of major delays, the airports had major delays, and cars were getting stuck all over. It was about 3 inches of snow! :)

Of course, when I picked the boys up from school I asked if they'd like to go sledding and Walter replied 'Yes, let's go sledging!' So off to Hove Park we went to sledge...or sled.

Yesterday the snow was still on the ground so we went up near Devil's Dyke and went sledding again, this time with the Mates' family. Jeremy works with Dave...Lesley has been so welcoming and kind to us...and Adam is the boys' favorite babysitter ever. We feel so lucky to have them in our lives and were able to show them our appreciation with a few snow ball fights!

Boo, hoo, hoo.

Some days its just plain difficult to be living on another continent, far from home. Today is one of them. I dropped my parents off at the airport this morning and my eyes are a bit red still. We had such a nice time with them, they are easy to have around and the boys are quite fond of them. Add to that that my best friend is having surgery tomorrow, Jer's childhood friend's wife is dying of cancer and Jer's grandpa is recovering from a stroke, and it is hard not to question what we are doing here. That's when its time to embrace the challenge and focus on all the good that is around us. I stopped by Jer's office on the way home from the airport and we had lunch together. As we were talking about it all, I realized how great it is to have him in my life (a daily revelation!) and how wonderful this experience is for our family. We are all much closer already, we have found some really kind people who enhance our lives here and how great is it to expose ourselves and two little sweet peas to the world?!

On that note, here's a peak into the second half of our time with Grandma & Grandpa Harala here.

We spent a very full day in London. In addition to the main sights, we rode the Eye, sang London Bridge on London Bridge, and saw Yoda levitating. We rode the train, the tube, a double decker and walked and walked some more. The boys got spoiled in Hamley's and we topped it all of with a trip to Chipotle!

We also spent a few nights in Windsor exploring the Castle, scootering around, feeding swans, and swimming for hours and hours in the pool.

Hove was a nice refuge in between all the coming and going. Although the bustle didn't stop here as the boys were always eager to go explore the woods with Grandma & Grandpa, play games and create one thing or another.

G'day mate!

My dad has a terrible English accent that he loves to try a little too loudly in public. His favorite phrase seems to be 'G'day mate!' He sounds Australian at best and sometimes a bit Scottish. Thankfully I am not 15 anymore or I would be consistently red checked these past few days! :)

I am happy to report Santa found our new home in Hove. The boys were spoiled with all sorts of fun toys, books and games. More importantly, we've been spoiled with lots of fun time and experiences with my mom and dad here. Jer & I have snuck in a few movie dates, we've played all sorts of family games, there have been lego building extravaganzas and many explorations into the great woods a few blocks away.

Christmas Day walk on the beach!

We also took a little holiday to Bath (with a pitstop at Stonehenge!), where we explored the Roman Baths, experienced our first panto at the Royale Theatre (Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs), the boys and my parents did a Halk Walk and we wandered the beautiful city of Bath. Unfortunately, my dad and Owen got rather ill by our last day there and we decided to come home instead of continuing on to Windsor. Luckily, we were able to reschedule our hotel in Windsor and will be heading there on Friday.

Last night my mom and the boys decorated and prepped the house for a low-key New Year's Eve party (while Jer & I went to SkyFall and my dad snoozed) and we all enjoyed a night of games and appetizers. As many are yet on the mend, we were all fast asleep by 10pm...but did wake up to neighborhood fireworks as the new year came in!

Today we kicked off the New Year with a walk in the Downs at Birling Gap followed by a pub lunch. How English are we?! Happy New Year!