National Zoo

It was an incredibly beautiful day today in the Washington, D.C. area, and we enjoyed it at the zoo. Gavin really enjoyed seeing the animals and spending time with grandparents, cousins and aunts & uncles.  [In the above shot the lions are in the background.]

Gavin was determined to get into each and every animal enclosure. In this photo, he actually succeeds in getting into the outer layer of the seal enclosure! And it took Dad and cousin Jacob to get him out. 

with Aunt Jennie (and a gorilla in the background)

The National Zoo's popcorn can come in this adorable bucket, which went EVERYWHERE with Gavin today.

two brothers and their respective offspring--sweet

The lions were a highlight; in the below photo Gavin is pointing to them and saying "Simba."

Who knew a huge part of the fun of the zoo would be the fallen autumn leaves. 

trying to get into another enclosure

Leeds Castle

We had one last day to do something British together, so we went to Leeds Castle, a gorgeous castle east of London we've never visited before. We're so glad we didn't leave without seeing it! We were without Gavin, which was fun and relaxing. 

The castle and surroundings were breathtaking, especially with autumn foliage all around.

We also enjoyed a fun hedge maze, which we even managed to solve. Ok, Jacob solved it. I'm rubbish at that sort of thing.

Leeds Castle was teeming with gorgeous black swans.

I took a few photos of the interiors. The below room was used for Camp David Accord meetings in the 70s.

And the library was really lovely.

We'll miss England so much. We leave on Wednesday... :(

Obsession

I've posted a few times about the really unforgettable things we've eaten the past few years (a pretzel in Köln, a certain macaron in Paris, a cinnamon Danish pastry in Copenhagen, Spargelschnitzel in Germany). So to round out the top 5 things I've ever consumed in my life, I feel I have to post about Racquel's sugar cookies. (Racquel, BTW, is a fabulous friend from church whose family we also love and will miss.)

I remember the first time I had one of Racquel's sugar cookies. Gavin was a few days old, and they were shaped like bells for Christmas. I was hooked instantly. These cookies are absolute perfection in every way. The past 2 years have been an effort to get them when possible. But now we're leaving, and I have to hope she'll ship!

Right now they're shaped like pumpkins.

Racquel has a stand at the BX on base where she also sells cupcakes and other wonderful cookies and goodies. Jacob is obsessed with her chocolate chip cookies (not pictured...sorry). Here are some photos from her BX stand. I'll definitely miss this when we leave. (Gavin too...He loves EVERYTHING she makes.) :)

chocolate mint cupcakes

peanut butter cupcakes

oreo cupcakes

mint brownies

7-layer bars--these are to die for

Halloween 2012

At least this "costume" is warmer than the sumo wrestler we were considering.

2 disclaimers:
1) Halloween is not a big deal in the UK. It's gaining momentum, and most neighbourhoods have trick-or-treaters, but definitely not all neighbourhoods, and the majority of houses aren't handing out candy.
2) We're living out of suitcases, so a costume for Gavin wasn't even in the top 50 important things for our October. Also, we have no neighbourhood because we're homeless.

All of that just to say that we had a very downplayed Halloween this year. Gavin didn't go trick-or-treating, but he did collect candy at the "Trunk or Treat" the church held.  

People, such as our pirate friend Hollie, hand out candy from their cars
at a Trunk or Treat.

Here are a few photos of Gavin enjoying his haul the next day.

We discovered that Gavin isn't currently a fan of candy that isn't chocolate. Here's a video of him trying a Laffy Taffy for the first time. (I hate my own voice (and laughter) on it, but I'm posting it anyway because Gavin's hilarious.)

After this scene he asked me with every piece of candy whether it was chocolate or not, discarding the non-chocolate items back into the bucket. (His manner of asking simply consisted of saying "tocky?")

Some of Gavin's friends did have adorable costumes, like Michaela and Hazel below. Maybe next year we won't be slackers. I'm not promising anything.