22 months

Gavin is 22 months old today, and here are some photos to document and celebrate the last month. His vocabulary is skyrocketing, and being able to communicate with him is SUCH an improvement. And he's just such a cute little bundle of energy, always making us smile.

From what I understand, unexplainable behavior is a toddler universal.
Why is he licking the tree? No one will ever know...

Gavin and Jacob have LOVED blackberry season.
They went out almost every day to pick and eat what berries were ripe.

wearing the hat in the bath--that request was all Gavin

This one cracks me up. What a facial expression!

at Downton Abbey--lots of drama

Mr. Potato Head's glasses

Stoke-on-Trent

Since we're leaving soon, I figured I needed to buy the tea set I've wanted. And Jacob made sure I made it a priority. So we went to Stoke-on-Trent to the potteries, and we spent the whole day shopping.

The red Burleigh patterns are my absolute favorite. 

This is my actual purchase, before it was packaged up. 

We had a super-fun day shopping, and Joye bought some of the red Burleigh too. We also made purchases at Wedgewood, Portmeirion, Spode and Emma Bridgewater.

Peak District

The first leg of our road trip with my Mom and Aunt Joye was to the breathtaking Peak District. We made sure to stop at Stanage Edge to stand on the cliff where Keira Knightley stood in Pride and Prejudice.

Of course my Mom was on Gavin duty, and they didn't make it to the very top. Thanks for all your hard work, Mom!

Auf Wiedersehen

We took our last trip to Germany before the move, and it was so much fun! We love German food and will definitely miss being so close.

Some of the amazing things we ate...

German pretzels = unparalleled 

anything with a streusel topping

Bratwurst (and other Wurst options)

The best gelato we've ever had has been in Germany (not Italy), and the gelato stop we made in Heidelberg was no exception. Gavin's mango gelato wasn't enough for him, so he had a turn with Dad's strawberry + dark chocolate and Mom's raspberry + cinnamon. He especially loved the dark chocolate.

a real doner kebab --this one's dedicated to Ashley and Jared

reindeer goulash--possibly Jacob's favorite meal of all time

One of the gorgeous places we visited on this trip was Heidelberg. We were there last winter for the Christmas market, but it was too foggy to see anything. We're glad we got to see it this time--it's beautiful!

We also visited Burg Eltz, a castle so remote you have to park a few kilometers away and either hike or take a shuttle to the castle. It's in a beautiful setting, and the castle itself is beautiful and fairy tale-like.

We had a wonderful trip to Germany, and we're so glad we got to go one last time. Auf Wiedersehen!

Kentwell Hall

We had another fun outing with Becky and Hazel, this time to Kentwell Hall, a beautiful mansion house not far from us.

a big thanks to Becky for taking some cute shots of us!

 One fascinating feature of the gardens were these person-shaped bushes at the back of the house. Quirky, fun, cute.

 There was some burning going on near the gardens, and it really affected our lungs and visibility at times (it was the only bad thing about the day). You can see it really well in the below photos where Gavin is demonstrating perfect yoga positions.

eating a nectarine (attempting it in one single bite, it seems)

Apples are in season, and the apples at Kentwell were beautiful and plentiful!

 It was a gorgeous day with gorgeous scenery and wonderful company! We didn't actually tour the house because we didn't have time before naps, but the gardens kept us busy and happy.

 As usual, Hazel and Gavin were extremely cute together.

 The peafowl were cute at first, but then there was an incident I'm a little ashamed to relate. I should have been a better parent and shielded my child from it, but instead I took pictures. (Go ahead and judge me.) This peacock actually stole Gavin's snack right out of his hands! The groundskeeper said that so many people feed them, they come looking for food and aren't as scared of us as they should be.

Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey)

On our way home from Cornwall (and Plymouth) we needed a place to stop and stretch our legs and give Gavin a break from being in the car. So we stopped at Downton Abbey! Actually it's Highclere Castle, the residence of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, and the filming location for Downton Abbey.

We didn't dare take Gavin inside, and Jacob has never seen an episode of the show, so they enjoyed the gardens while I toured the castle.

Photography isn't allowed inside, but the rooms were beautiful. They had informational signs in some of the bedrooms telling which Downton Abbey character's room we were in, which was cool.

I loved visiting Highclere, and I'm extra-excited for the new Downton Abbey season to start this month!