Everyone was looking forward to spending the day down the Dordogne River by canoe. When we went to sign up for our rental, they inforned us that no children under 5 could be on the boats. Unfortunately for everyone, I always look at rules as starting points. So after a bit of negotiating, I got both of our kids on. Good thing too, because Scout was in heaven. Icka, on the other hand, was in heaven one minute and the other place the next minute.
Pre ride. Scout was so excited about the Spiderman floaties Micah found at the local market.
Our first few moments - the only ones where all four of us were in the same boat. Scout played musical boats the rest of the afternoon.
He loved rowing for a minute or two, but quickly grew tired of it — until 20 minutes later.
Icka was acting a little basket casey, so when she fell asleep in my arms, everything became peacefull. No wonder — day after day of non stop action, and this was one of her first naps of the trip.
It was too bad that I had to cut that nap short when I saw this darling little town that I needed to stop at. Micah rowed us over, and we docked to experience this small slice of heaven.
Here we are approaching Tristen’s boat to blast her with water. I’ll have to admit that our water fight was pretty even, but when I took a massive chunk of seaweed and entangled her in it, I clearly won! (By the way, Micah made us stop our fight because we were soaking Icka in the process. Sissy — five words — In The Line Of Fire!)
We stopped to “pique-nique”.
Scout saw local french boys playing in the water, and wanted to be just like them. So he and Micah headed down to swim in the water.
We had a great time, but when they want your children to be five, I understood afterward. Icka fell in, (and I about had a heart attack) but Micah quickly rescued her. Luckily she was wearing her (four sizes too big) life vest. But I’ll tell you what — she was the perfect little boater after her mishap. She didn’t make a peep after the surprise of her life. When it was all over, Scout wanted to go again!
Scout has constantly been talking about seeing the queen. Seeing as we are staying within steps of a castle, we just thought that he figured queens live in castles. (It also might have something to do with the fact that we were just in London, and we showed him the castle — Buckingham Palace — where the queen actually does live.) So as Auggie, NayNay, Ka, Icka and Micah went and explored the castle, he started asking about the location of the queen. They told him that the queen that lived it this castle died a very long time ago. When it all computed in his head, he finally gave up and said, “Okay…then I just want to see Rapunzel.”
The airplane’s bassinette. It was a life saver, and I will proudly announce that she was FAR from the worst kid on the airplane!
First stop — Harrods! If for no other reason, it is worth stopping for the food court. But don’t be fooled, there are many other reasons worth stopping for.
Two kids, and two strollers. Can you tell which of the two has the nicer demeanor while they are contained? So the next day, I tried another plan of attack.
During our double decker tour, I had Ickity Dickity Dock strapped on. Ten hours later, she finally came off, and my props go out to Baby Bjorn. My shoulders were pretty sore the next day, but everything else felt fine. It must have, because the next day I strapped her on for another six hours.
A look at Big Ben and Westminster Abbey from the “Eye”.
This street performer in London was awesome! He posed people for pictures, and then got in them to complete the scene. Nice TKO NayNay.
This ice cream was heavenly. It was the creamiest stuff I have ever eaten. Look at my two messies eat theirs. At least Scout knew not to eat it from the bottom up.
Scout was relaxing on the couch in this shoe store. He was going into his fifth hour of shopping. He was a saint that day on Oxford!
These best friends loving each other. Notice Scout’s favorite new shoes. His crocodiles make him so happy!
Church in London was great. A few days later, Scout asked as we entered Notre Dame…”Does this church have a nursery like ours?” He asked because he loves nursery, and even in this foreign land, I peeked in, and there he and Icka were “opening and shutting” their hands along with the nursery leader.
Icka met her match in Sariah — this little Brit. She was darling, and easily as fiesty as Icka is. They ended up really liking eachother, and had a good time in nursery together.
I loaded up on cute books from English authors. Here is my mom reading away. I think she read them this same story three times in a row. Althoug she loves it, she is also extremely saintly!
In Paris, FIFA hosted the Portugal/Spain game on the jumbotron outside of the Eiffel Tower. Scout, Micah, Icka and I got in line, and were amongst the crazy fans. It was really cool, and as we left at half time, we realized that there were thousands in line to get in. Apparently, they were pretty coveted seats. After, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. The timing was perfect, because within minutes of getting there, the lights started twinkling over the whole tower. We all loved it — and then taxi’d it home.
Bella did a little photo shoot when we were out exploring the southwest of France. Everyone hopped in, and I drove the back roads to just do a little discovering.
We “discovered” this very picturesque back road. Talk about pretty!
Pretty cute of dad and kids.
Here is my little french boy in another of Bella’s pictures.
These two run on fumes every day, and for the most part, they are really good. (I say that now as they both snooze away in bed.)
It is pretty hot and sticky here, so Icka was down to her skivvies. But when we saw this wooden mushroom, we thought it was so cute, that we stopped. So here is a little “raising the roof” action in honor of mushrooms everywhere.
We stopped at this field of wildflowers so that Scout could pick some for Nonnie.
The utter exhaustion at the end of the day is almost palpable. My kids went from sleeping 12 hour nights with 2 hour naps, to getting in 9 hours a night, and a possible nap. They are so tired by the end of the day, that they become wired. Specifically Icka — who is now the recipient of my new technique called “smothering”. It is when I strong arm her so that she can’t move even one muscle. She fights me like crazy, but eventually relents and falls asleep. The frst night took about 10 minutes, but we now have it down to about 3 minutes. And then…she sleeps like she has been drugged. She doesnt make a peep, nor does she wake up to any sound.
Here is the castle we are staying next to. We are currently in the midst of the craziest, nonstop lightening storm I have ever been in. Micah drove us around so that we could get a better look at the lightening, and it is amazing. The sky just keeps illuminating with the silhoette of the castle in the background. It is extremely creepy, but cool at the same time.
So far….so good!
After visiting Notre Dame today, Scout thinks Disney’s version is extra cool as he sits on the hotel bed to watch it. Kind of cool how he keeps pointing out different things that are familiar.
Great — work hard, and just sleep on the plane. Don’t drive drowsy — have your dad drive! You are going to love it over here!!!
Today was really exhausting. We started out at the Portabelo Street Market. According to my book — it is one of the two best markets of London. We had a great time, but I have NEVER seen so many people in one place before. It was about seven blocks long, and the only thing I can compare it to is Disneyland on the worst day. Then we headed over to King’s Road. Probably the best known shopping street in London. It was great, but I think I liked yesterday at Oxford better. So when we finished King — we headed back to the side of Oxford we didn’t hit. Including Hemley’s — the biggest toy store you have ever seen. Acutally FAO in NYC is bigger, but this was pretty remarkable. Especially to Scout! We finished up with dinner, and I had a baked potato (with a way cooler name here in England, but I can’t remember it right now). Now I am typing to sounds of OOOHS and AAAHS as the people in the restaurant next door are freaking out over USA vs. Ghana. I actually just heard cheers, while Megan Booed really loudly — I guess USA lost. Bummer. But I will tell you that being here for “futbol” season is certainly more exciting than it is there. You would love it! Just to think that you get to be here for it, and also for the Tour De France. Sweet!
Some sidenotes — Icka bonked her head a thousand times yesterday. But one time in particular, she cried for a few seconds. She had a fat lip most of the day, and a scrape on the outside…but never complained. But this morning, you would have died to see what her lip has become. It is still fat, and she talks about her boo boo a lot. I decided to give her some Motrin — thank goodness! Because when I saw what was in her mouth, I cringed. She has the most massive canker EVER. It is bigger than an eraser on a pencil. Our sweet little thing is so tough!
Also, Scout and Icka are so sweet with eachother. Scout kisses her all over when she is sleeping, and Icka won’t let him sleep — so she just kisses him until he wakes up. And the amazing part is that he wakes up really happy to see her.
Finally, my shoulders were really sore this morning. But I did another day of the Baby Bjorn. This time I only had her in it for about five hours, but the rest of the time, I was holding Scout as he slept on my shoulder. They are troopers, and have been pretty good so far.#
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY — I LOVED MY LETTER you snuck into the Oprah magazine. I wish I had read it sooner. Just to think that I had it all along! I guess that shows you that I was pretty engaged in other things in the plane. Thanks, and I really love to hear those nice things. Don’t ever stop telling them to me. XOXO -
Drive safely, and sleep sleep sleep on the plane so you are on a decent schedule. XO Lindsey
Hi Babe –
We had a really fun day today. You would be impressed with me. Against my normal ways, I caved and went on a tour. I guess I have done WAY too many tours in my life to think they are fun anymore. Beyond that, I have been to London and done the touristy things. But I conceded, and bought my ticket for the double decker tour. I’ll have to admit that the new element of children made it great. Scout LOVED being on the top of the bus. He literally thinks he rules the roost over in this part of the world. We made a few stops — Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards, the Eye of London and drove by Big Ben. Scout thought the guards were so cool (like nutcrackers). Big Ben was kind of a wash (I felt the same way back in the 8th grade when I saw it for the first time). Then we went to the Eye, and Scout thought it was the biggest ferris wheel he had ever seen. We waited for about 30 minutes and headed up. It was pretty cool with an amazing view. Afterwards, we headed up the street to see dozens of street performers. They had nothing on the ones in Barcelona, but you would have died over two of them. One duo was amazing. They were acrobatic, flexologists, and should be in the Cirque de Soleil. Their final act was amazing. The first guy folded completely up into a saucer that sat on top of the second guy’s head. Don’t worry — I have video. The other act was this guy who pulled people out of the audience. He formed them into positions, and you didn’t really know what was happening. But in the end, he joined in on the position to make it look like a snapshot out of a movie. For example — Calin was formed. We didn’t know into what, but in the end, he took position and tilted his glasses to look like Calin was boxing with him and knocked him out. He was awesome! I’ll admit that by this time, I was “touristed” out, so I broke off to shop. It wasn’t hard to sway my mom to come with me — so we headed to Oxford Street.
One detail I might have failed to mention was that I wasn’t totally fond of the two strollers thing yesterday, so I tried something different today. I brought my Baby Bjorn, and held Icka whil I strolled Scout. (Everyone pitched in, but I was very capable of doing it myself if needed be.) Well as I type this — I ended up holding her for ten hours straight. And I will tell you tomorrow how I feel, but I wasn’t dying. I am currently wiped, my shoulders are a little sore, but my back is great. Anyway….the shopping was really fun. There were known shops, but there were also a ton of quint boutiques. I love looking for little treasures.
I am having a blast. It is so fun to be with my sisters. Scout and Navy could not have been any better. Each napped today, and each was awakened by the other one kissing them. They really are sweet to eachother. The weather has been beautiful — low 80’s. The people are nice. My family is fun. Couldn’t get too much beter. — But when you come — it just might get a tad bit better. XOXO Lindsey
Hi — We are here safe and sound. The plane ride went great. British Airways did a nice job, and both kids got a bit of sleep. I even have a TON of “plane surprises” left over. Since then, we have been acclamating to the time change. As soon as we got to the hotel, I took Icka up with me and had a nap. Scout came up later with the rest, and then we all napped together. An hour after Scout fell asleep, he woke up saying, “I woke up!” So I headed out with both of them to a mall down the road. We had a great time, and Scout turnedout to be a perfect shopping buddy!
Scout and Icka were wired when it was time to go to bed. Icka spent three hours going from bed to bed and kissing me, Tristen and Nonnie. It was cute at first. Then became funny. After about hour two — when it became out of control — I decided to turn the lights completely off. I figured that if she couldn’t see, then she definitely couldn’t go 90 miles an hour. I was completely wrong as she navigated over suitcases, jumped from the roll away to my bed, and never missed a beat. My mom was sorried she would get hurt, and I said, “Great — maybe it will deter her!” No such luck. When 3:00am finally rolled around, and the neighbors had banged on the wall numerous times, I finally strong-armed her under the covers until she finally gave in. By the time she snoozed I was a sweaty mess. Oh well….needless to say — the shower felt great in the morning. So the sleeping arrangements were — Nonnie and Scout, Me and Ickity Dickity Dock, and Bella. The other four are in another room.
We spent the day at HEAVEN ON EARTH — Harrods. I forgot how much I love that store. I didn’t go nuts, but I did get a few things that you will love. We are heading to bed in a few minutes — wish me luck. At least cross your fingers that we have new neighbors, and that there won’t be any need of strong arming tonight!
XOXO — Can’t wait to see you in a few.
….to England & France for a month.
Micah isn’t leaving for five more days, and as he hugged me goodbye this morning, he gave me this:
I wanted to know what doctor’s office he swiped it from, but he told me when he was in the grocery store, he bought it for my airplane ride.
Pretty nice.
But he mustn’t know that I have much more important business on the plane.
It involves passing out one of these little “plane surprises” to our kids as soon as I hear a disgruntled peep out of them.
All I have to say to the people sitting next to us….
STINKS FOR YOU!
Welcome.
I couldn’t be more happy.
In honor of Father’s Day this year, I let the ones who made him a father pick out the gifts.
This was Scout’s pick.
Micah thinks it is kind of cool — but not nearly as cool as Scout does.
But Micah might have a chip on his shoulder since the instructions said that the blowing up part would be a 20 minute ordeal. About 45 minutes into it, I heard Micah say, “Well, I am about half way through….I guess that means I have been pumping for about ten minutes.” My mom was so humored!
Navy picked out a Sesame street T for Micah, and didn’t want to miss out, so made sure that she got an Elmo T also. (It matches Scout’s exact same shirt that she is in love with.) Another present that Micah was a little ho hum about, but he is always a good sport, and Navy loved pointing at “Ernie”.
The ball has been in nonstop use since it was inflated.
Nonnie wanted to have a heart attack when she saw how big it got.
She discreetly mentioned something about where it was going to go “outside”.
Micah quickly reassured her that after an entire morning of pumping, he wouldn’t dare put it outside.
Nor would I.
This little bundle of joy, is the secret to my success.
Obviously success = keeping Icka contained.
There is no climbing out of this one!
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