Guess who turned 3?

Our super hero Gavin!

Gavin has really taken to super heros, mainly Batman and Spiderman.  So I was super excited to do heros as his birthday theme this year.  We kept it quite simple.  We enjoyed a day filled with time at the park and swimming at the pool.  

We have been counting down his birthday for  a week and working on his three finger pose for a couple weeks.  He was pretty excited when he could show off his new skill!

Gavin requested his birthday dinner be pancakes, bacon, and cherries.

After dinner we had a few visitors.  The Vielstich family.  They have sat behind us at church for a couple years now and Gavin absolutely loves this family (as do we!)  I teach Jonathan and Kaitlyn in Sunday School.  Tim has Jonathan in YM.  And they also visit teach and home teach our family.  Gavin went through a stage where he would not go to anybody but mommy.  Until he met Brother Vielstich!  They have had a special bond since they met.  

Henry, Saji, and baby Henry a.k.a Hank joined us for birthday treats.

Gavin insisted his cake be green, his absolute favorite color.  So I made a mint chocolate chip flavored frosting to go on his chocolate cake.  Then Tim had a great idea to put chocolate chips on the outside as well.  I added some super hero pizzazz to decorate it and Voila!  His super hero cake was complete.

Gavin was stoked to try his green cake.

Super Gavin to the rescue!

Then it was time to just be silly with daddy of course.  One of my favorite qualities is Gavin's ability to find humor in everything.  He uses every possible tactic he knows to get people to smile and laugh.  

Next it was time to open presents.  He got a Spiderman house that he couldn't wait to try out.

Then Gavin had to prove his Super-ness by defeating Daddy-tron.  

Gavin's sidekick X-man was there to pitch in!  We sure love our Super G!  He's a spectacular kid with a big generous heart, a love of people, a love of animals, a love of humor, and a happy attitude.  We are so grateful to have him as a part of our family.  We will enjoy watching him soar into new adventures this coming year as a 3 year old.

Day 6 and home

Our last day in London was definitely a casual one.  I think all the walking and the jet lag finally caught up to us (especially me and my pregnant body) by the end of the week.  We slept in and took things a little easier today mainly because I had been cramping quite a bit from all the walking we were doing.  My body just wouldn't let me push through one more day.  Our first stop was going to be for a late breakfast at this restaurant Lucy recommended.  When we got there the line was out the door and down the street.  By the time we got in we would probably have been eating lunch so we decided to turn around and find something else as we were walking.  

After breakfast we walked through China town.  

We actually have a small decorative nick knack of these same dragons.  Tim had gone to China for a business when Xavier was very young and brought him back a replica of these dragons.  So we took this for Xavier and thought he'd like to see them.

In the Tube there are these half price Broadway show ticket stands.  We thought it would be fun to see a show while we were in England.  We've seen most of the popular ones such as Phantom, Les Miserables, Wicked, Lion King, etc.  So it was difficult to find one we were interested in seeing. We finally decided on Rock of Ages.  That was our next stop. 

The show was definitely a little scandalous if you can imagine the premise of the show.  The musical tells a story about a small town girl named Sherrie and a boy named Drew who meet on the Sunset Strip while trying to pursue their Hollywood dreams.  There love story is told using hits by Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Bon Jovi, Poison, Whitesnake, and others.

  There were some funny parts and if you like the music of the 80's its enjoyable to sit back, sing along, and clap your hands, but I definitely would not put it in the same class as the other shows we have seen in the past.  

After the show we had one more stop in mind.  We had been told about some English gardens where a few scenes of Harry Potter were filmed.  I thought it would be neat to go see them.  We walked over to the gardens only to find that they were closed for the day.  Wah wah!  

But we did see this cool dragon.  

We ended the day with an enjoyable meal at an Indian restaurant.  We said farewell to London for the last time.  We had such a wonderful time enjoying each others company, exploring England, and reconnecting as a couple.  It was such a blessing and wonderful opportunity to be able to take this trip before our 3rd little prince joins the family.  We will cherish these memories forever.

I will admit though, as much fun as we were having, there is no place like home.  My heart was definitely excited to hug and kiss and play with my two little boys back in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Cheers!

Day 5- London

Our first stop on the agenda was to eat lunch with Tim's old Dairy team.  We went to a cool pub called The Pineapple.  It got it's name because they were the first place to grow a pineapple in the UK.  

 Holy cannoli these sandwiches were humongous! I couldn't even get my mouth around it.

After lunch we went back to the Mars office in Slough which was really cool.  Then we were off to the big city once again.  Of course, when you think of England you think of lots of rain.  Surprisingly they called for rain every day we were there, but this day was the only day it rained.  Shocking.  Plus, when it rained it was only for a short time and then the sun poked through the clouds.  

 I have been in the London rain!  

This umbrella was purchased in Windsor.  Who goes to England without taking an umbrella or a rain coat?  Me.  I'm glad it only rained a little bit and I'm glad I brought it just in case.

 We headed to Leicester Square which is another famous spot at the heart of London's West end.  It has lots of shopping, dining, entertainment, cinemas, etc.  I would compare it to Times Square of New York.  Of course, we had to stop in M&M world.  Here M&M world is a huge hot spot.  I couldn't believe how busy it was with shoppers.  There are four levels of M&M products and chocolate at this site.  Here are some snippets of our shopping experience.

 Sir Timothy the Knight

 Crossing Abbey Road with the M&M's.

Whoa!  Don't trip!  Tim was trying to show off his dribbling skills.

We actually got a few shots of us together!

The infamous red double decker buses.

 This seemed to be a pretty popular resting stop for people.  

Tim's co-worker Lucy also made reservations for us to eat at this quaint little restaurant near Leicester Square. We were pretty much the only couple in their lower level dining area for most of our meal.  It was quite romantic and yet another win for Lucy. It definitely helps to know people that live here.  We got to see some things that most tourists don't know about which added so much to our trip.

Fish, smashed peas, and potatoes.   Some people say that the food in England is bland and boring.  I can say that that has not been the case for us.  We have eaten well.  Thank heavens we've had to do a lot of walking to make up for it.

After doing a little strolling, shopping, and dining we decided to head over to see Buckingham Palace.

 On the way we saw this tapestry outside an art museum.  We thought it was pretty neat so we took a picture of it.

Everything is so detailed in their architecture.   

 The fountain in front of the Palace.

In front of the Buckingham Palace.  It wasn't until I saw it that I realized there is a definite difference between a castle and a palace.  Many of you might be saying really?  You didn't know that?  Duh!  But I guess I really didn't think about it until now.  Call it pregnancy brain or just the fact that I grew up in America and am ignorant to some things pertaining to royalty, queens, kings, dukes, duchesses, castles, palaces and the like.  Now I know.

 Me and my prince!

Resting my tired pregnant body.  It's amazing I didn't start having contractions after all the walking I have done this week.  

This was our last stop of the day.   

At this point in our trip I was still pinching my arm to make sure it was really happening.  It was and I was soaking up every moment.  It was going by so fast I wanted to make sure I made the most of every moment we were there.

Day 4- LONDON here we come!

We took the TUBE (a.k.a the subway) into London

When we came out of the tube station there were hundreds of people all over.  This was the first thing we saw....

BIG BEN!  It was an incredible sight and it's been a while since I've been to such a large city with so many people.  I almost felt overstimulated looking at everyone and everything and keeping up with the pace of a busy crowded city.  There were people from all over the world visiting just like us.  It makes you realize that you are just one little person in this great big world.  You know when you see a huge swarm of ants on the ground.  I almost felt like that in a way as we made our way through the crowds of people.  

Our first stop was the London Eye, which is a giant Ferris Wheel that gives you a spectacular view of the entire city.  

This is one of the pods.  There were about 20 people in it with us and there was plenty of room to roam about.  I was a little apprehensive getting on one of these knowing how high it would go and realizing there would be no escape for 30 minutes.  To my surprise, once I was in it, it didn't sway or move like I thought it would.  It was steady and secure and didn't bother me on bit.  Now that my fear was gone, it was time to enjoy the view!

I kept teasing Tim, because he took what seemed like a hundred shots of me and Big Ben.  We did get pictures of other things too.....After our run around the Ferris Wheel we took a boat tour to hear some of the history of the buildings along the Thames River.

This is the Globe Theater

This is one of the bridges (not the London Bride.  The London Bridge is quite ugly compared to this one.)

 This is where they used to keep prisoners and send them to their deaths.

The best part of the London Bridge and the only picture we took of it.  After our tour of some of the popular spots in London we headed over to our evening event. 

Our evening entertainment was by this amazing park.  It was enormous and had all these paths and gardens.  I could have just walked around here for hours.  Aren't the gardens just absolutely heavenly?

We wanted to see a play at the Globe Theater, but were unable to get tickets.  Tim's co-worker hooked us up with tickets to this Open Air Theater instead.  The play we saw was Pride and Prejudice.  I am so glad she did.  It was fantastic.

 We ate pasties for dinner.  Basically it's a gourmet hot pocket with lots of beef, onions, and potatoes.  Not my favorite meal, but when you're hungry you're hungry.

 We weren't supposed to take pictures, but we snuck a few shots in before they yelled at us.  He he he!  We are such rebels.

 The stage was so neat.  The center of the stage rotated depending on the scene they were doing.

The play was so well done and this was probably one of my favorite things that we did!  It reminded me of all the plays Tim and I went to when we were first married.  We really enjoy going to things like this and this one definitely exceeded our expectations.  After the show we headed back to our hotel.  

The tube in London was great!  We could get anywhere and everywhere and it seemed so clean to me. Especially this tunnel.  It was newly built and had this cool tile around the entire thing.  Having ridden on New York, Chicago, and San Francisco's subways, this was by far the least nasty and stinky.  I wouldn't expect anything less from the Brits.

Day 1 in London was superb!  I can't wait to see more tomorrow.