Back...home?!

We are back in beautiful SUNNY Hove after 5 solid weeks of laughter, joy, tears and enormous amounts of love back in the Midwest. I've broken up previous vacations into multiple posts and this one will be no different. My only concern is that we were so busy and did so much the posts may never end and become what we are doing now!

After about 2.5 weeks away from Jer, we were so anxious to be together again. Although it was ridiculously difficult to say good byes, Jer & I both have had a very strange and unforeseeable feeling that this actually feels like home here. I think after being away from one another regularly for work and having such great friendships and family near by, having this time here has allowed us time to be a family so much more and has hence brought us much closer. So although its tough being away from all you that we love, we are cherishing this time and considering it a huge gift to our little family.

So I suppose I should try explain a bit of our trip. The boys were rock stars on the flight and we were greeted at the airport by my college roomie, her family, and Jer's grandparents. We had a great night reconnecting with Griffy and our lovely house. (I have to say, I did an amazing job designing that kitchen!) We received visits from Jer's parents, brother and my sister and loved it all. We eventually made our way to Iowa for Jer's cousin's, Anne, wedding. Jer stayed back home with his dad, who unfortunately had to follow doctor's orders and not travel. We missed them terribly but enjoyed a beautiful evening celebrating Anne & Charlie and laughing lots with family.

The following week was full of playdates and catching up and even a few appointments if I remember correctly. We celebrated Uncle Moogs' 33rd birthday...and spent an entire day swimming at the Chaska Community Center with the Hipps crew, followed by an obligatory stop at DQ! (Their hot fudge sundae's with pecan's are still amazing.)

Now to keep it present - the boys and I had a lovely day at home today. They built enormous megabeasts that they ride on - photos later - we found a beautiful near path full of forts and great areas with major fort potential and topped the night of with a little tea & Risk. FYI, Walter can now claim World Domination.

I don't want to go home.

Fear not...this comment did not come from a discussion of our upcoming trip to the Midwest. Although I will be honest that for the first time I'm feeling a bit sad about missing out on an English summer. A little sad. Thankfully, we have had a really nice taste of summer in England over the past 10 days. We have been in the sea, we have stopped for many ice creams, the squirt guns have been fired, shorts, sandals & summer dresses have been worn and we even went camping! The school had an end of the year camping event this weekend and this is how both boys responded as the car was packed and we were dragging them to the car.

It was held an amazing woodworker's field and was filled with only school families. Camping in England can be chancy with its infamous weather, but we completely scored this weekend and loved it. The best part of it is that there are really no bugs here. No mosquitos buzzing in the ears, no ticks looking for blood, nothing more than a little friendly spider. What a lovely way to end the year and send us off on our holiday back home!

the view from our tent 

the outdoor kitchen

Pizza when camping...not so bad!

In the whittling shed.

Can we try make our own?

Last year I saw a hill full of red and couldn't figure out how to get there. (Of course we weren't really comfortable with having to drive anywhere at the time, so that could be part of it...) I knew it was a field of poppies...one of my favorite, dream like images I always hold. Poppies are by far my favorite flower and to stand in the middle of a field of them always sounds so magical.

When I saw that hill again this year I knew I could find a way there this time and on Saturday we did it! Oh it is just so beautiful!

They are growing amongst Rapeseed plants - as seen in an earlier post (the field of yellow flowers) - which have now turned to bean like seed pods. While they aren't as plentiful as the Rapeseed, in this particular field they are and its a gem! While we were there enjoying the beauty Owen started collecting the Rapeseed pods and asked if we could try making our own vegetable oil. He loves to make things. Loves, loves, loves it!

Happy Special Visitor's Day!

On Friday morning, Walter came into our bedroom singing "Happy Special Visitor's Day" over and over again. We were invited into both boys' classrooms as an opportunity to see their work. Of course we left feeling quite proud of their progress and so happy that they are at The Montessori Place.

Walter showed us a variety of work from metal insets, puzzle maps, bow frames and the decanomial square.

Owen showed us some laws of mathematics, grammar boxes, and quite a lot of botany. He has done some amazing research on bees and the pollination of flowers...and can explain it to you beautifully.

We're coming to America!

I will be honest, Neil Diamond has been running through my head quite a bit these days! We are about 2.5 weeks from take off and landing in the good ole USA. We're getting a bit excited around here...

We leave on the 18th of July and will spend a descent amount of time between Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin & da U.P., eh!

As mentioned previously, Walter's birthday party was last Sunday. We hosted it with another family, Walter's best mate, Rudy's. The boys are 3 days apart and it just made sense to do it all at once. We found a woodcraft woman to run it for us in our own little private area of Stamner Park. The rain held off and some sunshine even shown through for a bit! There were boats, stick figures, necklaces and forts built. The boys were in charge of lighting the fire and there were sausages and marshmallows cooked over it. It was such a great party that in the end we gently nudged our guests good-bye as it was also a school night! Here are some photos of the event...

the birthday boys finding sticks for their boats

sweet O

silly O

lighting the fire 

chez cake 

I just like hanging out on my birthday!

Our sweet little Walter is six! Six! Not sure how it happened, but it has and he is such a wonderful six year old. He is a joyful, easy going, caring boy. His heart is so precious. He tells me all the time how much he loves me, how I'm the best mom ever, how he just loves helping people. Seriously, he is one amazing boy.

We let him take the reigns on what to do today and what we would eat. He started the day by opening his gifts, followed by daddy's famous (ala Grandpa Harala) potato hash, eggs & watermelon. He & Owen then played and played, he made a trip to the bait shop with Jer, we had sandwiches for lunch and then we headed out to the cinema to see a film, Despicable Me 2. After, we went out for pizza before coming home for a bit more play before cuddle time in bed. At dinner he told us 'I like just hanging out on my birthday!' with a big toothless grin. I'm pretty sure he had a great day.

Tomorrow is his birthday party...more on that to come...

Slug Attack.

We just had a wonderful visit from friends from my playgroup! Kristine, Tri, Felix & Oliver came to visit last weekend and stayed with us through Wednesday. How fun it was to see our children together again and how they connected so well with one another. It seems like just yesterday my week was focused on what day playgroup would be!

The boys had a great time playing all sorts of games together & loved having the kid table to eat at for meals. We often had to remind them to eat and play after the meal... Between making bows & arrows, finding snails, building legos & making one another laugh, it was non-stop fun. One game was quite popular however, Slug Attack. It had something to do with rolling down hills, using ninja moves and having apples on the side lines for power up snacks. Not sure how it really worked, but that's my understanding.

We had a great time showing them around our new home and were spoiled by Kristine's amazing cooking skills. We are a fairly new vegetarian household and were so happy to have her give us some great ideas for meals. A few highlights included stuffed squash and chickpea burgers...yum, yum!

Grandpa Monster

Jeremy's dad was recently diagnosed with bile duct cancer. We have had quite a few blows to our friends' and family's health while abroad, but this one is particularly hard to be away for. Thankfully, he will be treated at the renowned Mayo Clinic and today is his first appointment. While we wish we could be with him and help in everyway possible, today we have him particularly close to our hearts and in our minds and prayers. Perhaps you could keep him close, too.

Fancy smancy.

I received a gift certificate for Champagne High Tea at the Savoy in London for some work I did before we moved over here. Last week, Jer & I finally used it and felt quite fancy doing so. We had fancy sandwiches (including caviar), cakes, tea, champagne, and some crumpets that were really out of this world. We followed our high tea with a show, Wicked at the Victoria Theatre. It was really fun to go out on the town with Jer...I think my favorite part was having an entire train ride to and from London to talk. Normally we're playing games or reading to the boys, so it was sure a treat!

I just need a groovy song.

Walter wanted to show me a few new dance moves he'd been thinking of at school today. He then said 'I just need a groovy song.' He choose the Black Eyed Peas and proceeded to give me a show. He's got some moves for sure.

We had a beautiful sunny weekend. Dare I say summer has arrived?! Funny on a sunny weekend we finally broke down and bought a dryer for our house. Its a little slice of heaven. I'm now seeking clothes to wash and its so darn nice to put on fluffy, fully dry clothes! Awe.

We went up near Jer's golf club for a beautiful walk on Sunday. I've been anxious to walk in the fields of yellow that are all around this country right now...and take a few photos along the way. We learned it is rapeseed, used for making vegetable oil.

Jer's clubhouse