English Patience

14 months

2012-01-30T08:28:00.001Z

Today Gavin is 14 months old. Just look at these pictures to see why I laugh at least a dozen times every day. :)

German Alps in winter

2012-01-22T20:15:00.000Z

We just got back from a delightful long weekend skiing in the German alps. We traveled with Jacob's coworker Shawn and his wife Kim and their daughters. (We traveled with Kim and Shawn to Israel/Egypt/Jordan back in 2009.)The skiing was...fun in some ways, but the weather was crazy and we weren't prepared for it. It just DUMPED snow all day. Beautiful, and lots of padding when we fell, but also cold and very wet. Sorry I didn't have the camera on the slopes. I assure you we have sore muscles and maybe a few bumps and bruises to prove we skied. :)

We decided not to ski another day and to take the kids sledding instead. Still snowing hard, the weather wasn't exactly Gavin-friendly. He did enjoy it at first, but I think he just got too cold.

In addition to enjoying the snow, we spent a lot of time in our hotel's swimming pool and hot tub. Gavin loved both, but he might have stayed in the hot tub forever, especially after the cold morning in the sled. (Kim and I also enjoyed massages in the spa, which was heavenly.)

Gavideo: walking

2012-01-06T22:15:00.001Z

He's been walking off and on for weeks, but this is the week it caught on as an actual means of mobility.

2011 Review

2011-12-30T21:28:00.000Z

For a total of 14, here's the recap of countries we visited in 2011 (an * indicates a country we visited for the first time this year; for Gavin, all of them were first-times):

France (twice)
Germany (twice)
Belgium (twice)
Portugal
Spain
Estonia*
Finland*
Russia*
The United States of America
Slovakia*
Austria
Poland*
Netherlands
Switzerland*

Of the above, some of the highlights include our March trip to Paris for Jacob to run the half-marathon. It was a great trip, and Gavin's first trip anywhere. We also really loved our trip to Estonia, Finland and Russia. Tallinn, Estonia remains one of our all-time favorite destinations.

We also had a wonderful visit to the USA visiting family in August. Gavin got to meet all of his cousins and aunts and uncles.

Another huge highlight was visits from family. Both sets of parents visited in January/February, which was wonderful.

Our brother-in-law Adam visited in October. And, of course, we just finished a great visit with Jacob's brother Jared and his wife Ashley earlier this month. We had such an amazing road trip with them, and we overall just loved spending time with them. (Also, they should be on magazine covers. Just sayin'.)

We both agree that the #1 highlight of 2011, no contest, has been getting to know this guy...

13 months

2011-12-30T11:54:00.002Z

Gavin is 13 months old today! I'm not sure how much longer I'll do these posts every 30th of the month...I thought I'd stop when he was 1, but here I am posting one again...He's just so photogenic. :)

Decking the halls

2011-12-23T10:45:00.000Z

We got the Christmas decorations out a couple of weeks ago, and Gavin is really getting into them above. We've tried to keep the focus on Jesus (and snowpeople), and Gavin LOVES the baby Jesus in each nativity. The next 2 photos show his favorite; he won't go past it without insisting on holding the baby Jesus. (I took the photo hoping the snow in the background would show up, but it just looks like rain.)

We also decided against having a tree this year. (Have you met Gavin?) So we decided to do this less-conventional "tree" made of wrapping paper, gift bags and Christmas cards (and the origami star I made for the top) and put presents underneath it anyway. We actually quite enjoy it.

Merry Christmas!

This week in the kitchen, part II (the sweet stuff)

2011-12-19T09:04:00.001Z

We did lots of holiday baking this week, and it was fun and festive. Above, I hand-dipped peppermints (not peppermint patties because I didn't have the patience to roll them out, but the filling is the same). The chocolate is high-quality German chocolate. We also made a cookie from Jacob's family Christmas tradition, Karoma spice or bell cookies. It's a recipe from his great-grandmother. You can see flecks in the dough of ground raisins and walnuts, and the cookies also contain lots of really festive spices.

I was disappointed to discover my bell cookie cutter in the below condition. Why do cookie cutters need to be painted in the first place?! We also made peppermint bark using Swiss chocolate.And, of course, the traditional cut-out sugar cookies.

This week in the kitchen, part I (re-creations)

2011-12-18T16:56:00.001Z

It's no secret we travel for the food, and sometimes we're brave enough to come home and try our hands at making some of the amazing things we've eaten abroad. This week we've had two such attempts.
You might remember a recent post that included this delicious dish, Spargelschnitzel:

It was incredible. Monday night Jacob slaved away in the kitchen to re-create it, and it did NOT disappoint. It was super-delicious, and we didn't even have to cross several countries to get it (not that I'm minimizing the hard work Jacob put in to make it).

And on our November trip to Poland we raved about the yummy pierogis we had, so I tried making them last night. I wasn't able to roll the dough out as thinly as it should have been (it kept tearing--anyone have a secret from your Polish grandma's kitchen?), but I thought it was pretty delicious anyway.

If it were Master Chef, Jacob would definitely have won the prize. I liked my pierogis, but the boys weren't fans, and they didn't compare to what we had in Poland. Jacob's Spargelschnitzel, on the other hand, was right on the money. Mmmmmmm.

Ashley and Jared

2011-12-15T21:55:00.009Z

A few days ago we wrapped up a great visit with Jacob's brother Jared and his wife Ashley. We LOVED our time with them, even the 6 days we spent in the car together. We really miss them, and I'm pretty sure they miss at least one of us...

Unforgettable food

2011-12-07T08:55:00.001Z

A series of blog posts from one of our trips just wouldn't be complete without the requisite post about all the great food we ate. This trip was full of incredible food, including the above raspberry macaron and pastry. We discovered that the only sure way to keep Gavin happy at all times was to give him bread (his father's son). I'll always look back on this trip with a mental picture of Gavin with some bread in his hand or mouth.

In addition to bread and pastries, we ate A LOT of sausages. With great mustard.

There was a Ladurée shop in Lausanne where we got some macarons (we also ate some in Lucerne).

Our host in Switzerland made the most amazing meal of papet vaudois, a meal original to that region of Switzerland. It was outstanding, and I would try making it myself except I don't think I can find sausages quite like these.

We enjoyed a meal of cheese fondue while we were in Switzerland. It's a cheese-lover's dream. ;)

Schweinehaxe (of course)

Schupfnudeln (potato noodles) from the Heidelberg market

Cordon bleu and croquettes

A real show-stopper: Spargelschnitzel (asparagus Schnitzel in hollandaise sauce, covered in cheese)

Gavin is enjoying a freshly-made Stroopwaffel

raspberry tart

Apple tart

Something yummy with potatoes and lardons

And the item from the trip that Jacob found life-changing (and the rest of us enjoyed too)--a nougat log covered in delicious dark chocolate and pistachios

Country count

2011-12-05T16:05:00.000Z

During Gavin's first year of life he visited a total of 14 countries, some more than once. The flags of the various countries are displayed above (not in order), with more prominence to the countries of residence and citizenship. The day after his first birthday he visited Switzerland, so his current country count is at 15. Too bad he won't remember any of it.

Switzerland

2011-12-05T10:46:00.002Z

It's about time we made it to Switzerland! We enjoyed the Swiss capital Bern; here's a photo of Ashley and Jared in front of the clock that does a little show every 15 minutes.Lucerne is apparently one of the most beautiful places ever. But we didn't really get to see it because it was super-foggy. We were definitely disappointed. But once we made it down to the Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) area, it was an incredible few days (food details to follow). We visited Château de Chillon, which is a pretty cool castle in an incredibly breathtaking location.
And we visited a few other cute towns, but mostly loved looking out over the lake and alps.

Christmas markets 2011

2011-12-04T22:19:00.002Z

Jacob's brother Jared and his wife Ashley came over from Maryland, and we took a huge road trip through Europe visiting lots of Christmas markets in several countries. Here are a few highlights from the various markets we visited.
France
We started our trip with a little stop in Lille, France, where we met up with a few friends.
We visited Strasbourg a few years ago, but this time it was decked out for the holidays with a fantastic market. Colmar was the big surprise from the trip--we're not sure why millions of tourists don't flock there. It's an unbelievably adorable town in the Alsace region of France. It's incredibly picturesque on any day (plus it's the birthplace of the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric Bartholdi), but their Christmas market was adorable too.

Belgium
We stayed in a little town called Hasselt, and we didn't expect them to have a Christmas market at all, let alone a great one. We had fun and amazing food.

Germany
Our absolute favorite market was again Aachen (as was the case in 2008). It's in a gorgeous location between two big churches, and the food was incredible. This time we tried something new and delicious--fried cauliflower (which Jacob is excitedly purchasing in the next photo). Mmmm.

We also visited Christmas markets in Cochem (not pictured, but we visited the town a few years ago) and Heidelberg (below).
Switzerland
We were disappointed that markets in Bern and Lucerne were not scheduled to open until this weekend, so we missed them. We did, however, visit the markets in Montreux and Lausanne.

12 months

2011-11-29T10:02:00.005Z

Since Gavin turns 1 tomorrow (!), here's the round-up of photos from the last month.

Birthday party

2011-11-23T22:12:00.003Z

For Gavin's birthday party we thought it would be fun to invite all of the babies he knows (along with their families) to a little get-together. (Below, it's Hazel, Spencer, Harvey, Michaela and Gavin.)

I made the owl cake, which was surrounded by leaf cookies made by my friend Racquel (they're the best cookies on the planet). Gavin spent most of his effort eating one of the Oreo eyes, but he did eventually have some actual cake, and it was cute. He was just very cautious about it and not at all destructive. Here are a few more photos of Gavin and his sweet little friends. We tried to line them all up for pictures, and it was mostly a hilarious (and unsuccessful) endeavor.

Hazel, Spencer, Oliver (standing), Michaela, Gavin, Honor

Hazel, Spencer, Gavin, Harvey, Michaela, Honor's head, and Jason

Spencer, Michaela, Honor (and Gavin's head at the bottom)

Spencer, Gavin/Michaela, Honor (back), Jason

Oliver (standing), Hazel, Esther (screaming), Spencer (screaming as well), Gavin, Harvey (being carried away)

Credit to Mike Farr for the great photography.

Kraków

2011-11-13T14:24:00.001Z

We visited Kraków, Poland, this weekend and had a wonderful trip. The main market square is immensely beautiful, as you can see from the above and below photos.

We visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine, around since the 13th century, which was really impressive. Below are photos of Becky and me outside the mine, and (because we didn't want to pay extra to be able to take photos inside the mine) a wikipedia photo of the super-impressive chapel carved out of salt by the miners themselves. The tour guide mentioned that the chapel can be hired for weddings and also hosts other events like concerts. One of the tourists asked how much it costs to hire the chapel, and he said it only costs like 3000 zł (which equates to $1000 or about £650). We thought it was a bargain to get such a cool venue for a wedding!The rest of the mine was cool too, with underground lakes, various salt formations and many statues carved by miners over the centuries. We visited Wawel Castle with its beautiful cathedral (above) where Pope John Paul II offered his first-ever mass as a priest.
Also in Kraków is the factory of Oskar Schindler, which we visited. The museum was extremely well done, perfectly capturing the Zeitgeist of Poland pre-war, during WWII and post-war. The attention to detail was staggering, which made for a fascinating visit. A plaque on the outside of the factory quotes the Talmud "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." If you don't know the Oskar Schindler story, please just watch the movie.

Here are a few more Kraków photos.

Oświęcim (Auschwitz-Birkenau)

2011-11-13T14:23:00.014Z

While visiting Kraków we took a day trip to Oświęcim to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. After we visited Dachau in 2009 we said we didn't need to visit another concentration camp because it is just wrenching. But we were so close in Kraków, and it was actually Armistice Day (Veterans Day in the US), plus it's the best-known concentration camp. It was even harder for me this time, now that I'm a parent, to think about how many children suffered and died. The parts of the exhibit that talked about kids were just too much.Auschwitz was an actual labor camp, and the nearby Birkenau was the extermination camp. Over 1 million people are estimated to have died at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Below is a photo that only begins to capture the eerie sea of chimneys at Birkenau, where the Nazis rushed to destroy everything just before the camp was liberated. They deconstructed most of the barracks, except the chimneys, which still stand. And they go on as far as the eye can see.In the next photo is the shooting wall next to Block 11, the so-called "death block." Here prisoners were shot by firing squads in great numbers. The windows in the adjacent Block 10 are boarded up so there were no onlookers.The memorial in the next photo (which is also translated into all of the languages of Auschwitz victims) pretty much sums up the entire place. It's definitely "a cry of despair."

Polish food

2011-11-13T14:22:00.000Z

The Polish food was a huge highlight of the trip to Kraków. Above, we loved the zapiekanka, which is basically a halved baguette with a mushroom base and toppings of all kinds. We saw people eating them and had to try them--so delicious.

Our favorite was definitely the Polish national dish--pierogis. We had them fried (above) and boiled (below), and both were simply outstanding.
Gavin loved them too and ate about 5 in one sitting.

The below filled pizza dough (bombers) were super-yummy.And we also had some delicious pastries. Some were a little messy to eat. :)

Friendship

2011-11-01T12:22:00.001Z

I thought it would be fun to post about some of Gavin's friends. We don't have photos of all of his friends, but here are a few. Above and below, he's with Michaela, whom he loves to kiss, as you can see above, and laugh with.Below he's with Harvey several months ago. Even though Harvey is 2 months younger, he has been bigger than Gavin most his life--and Gavin's no small baby! We love Harvey. The next is one of my favorite pictures: Gavin with Oli(ver), and it looks like they're hugging. Oli lives a bit far away, so they don't see each other too often, but we'll look forward to seeing Oli (and his parents!) again in November.

Hazel is Gavin's newest friend and his partner in highchair hijinks below. Gavin loves to get together with her for play dates--mostly to play with her toys and eat the rocks in her garden.

11 months

2011-10-30T14:48:00.016Z

Gavin is 11 months old today! Here are a few photos from the last month. (I just noticed he's wearing white in a lot of these photos. It's not because they were taken on the same day--maybe he's just really photogenic in white.)

Hampton Court Palace

2011-10-24T09:30:00.001+01:00

Saturday we visited Hampton Court Palace in the greater London area (on the Thames River), and it was beautiful. It was the main residence of Henry VIII, so lots of craziness with his spousal situations happened there. It also features additions by William and Mary and other monarchs but hasn't been occupied since George II. It was first opened to the public under Queen Victoria. The above photo shows the fountain that flowed with wine during Henry VIII's time.

The palace features the last medieval great hall built for the monarchy (below). I don't think I got a great photo of the incredible ceiling. The stained glass is beautiful too.

Hampton Court is also famous as the site where the King James translation of the Bible was commissioned in 1604. We saw a first edition of the King James Version in the chapel there.

Also pictured: the fountain courtyard (x2); the throne; Jacob and Gavin in the maze; the astronomical clock; and the impressive staircase mural by Antonio Verrio.

And one last photo of us being silly. :)

Chelsea

2011-10-20T10:19:00.010+01:00

We had an amazing night last night at a Chelsea football match. If you're not familiar, Chelsea is one of the top English football teams. Last night's game was a Champion's League match against a Belgian team, KRC Genk.

I love the comment on my ticket about persistent standing. The below photo shows how great our seats were.

We went with friends Becky and Mike; Kim and Shawn (next photo); and Mel and one of his friends.

There were flags on every other seat, meant to be waved in support of good plays. You can see Becky with hers in the above photo. Below is a shout-out to Chelsea's team captain (who didn't play last night) John Terry. There was another banner that said "JT Captain, Leader, Legend." Chelsea won the match 5-0, so we got to see lots of great scoring. It was tons of fun!

Uncle Superstar

2011-10-16T20:00:00.004+01:00

Our brother-in-law Adam is in England for his MBA, and we got to spend a couple of days with him (with more to come later this week). He has all of his nieces and nephews call him "Uncle Superstar." :) Now that he's met Adam, Gavin has met all of his cousins, aunts and uncles.

We went to nearby Bury St Edmunds where we go often, but the sunshine was something we don't often get. So here a couple of photos, one inside the cathedral and one of the cauliflower at the market.

Trip food (of course)

2011-10-13T11:26:00.013+01:00

If you've been following our travels long, you'll have realized we basically travel for the food, and our recent trip to Vienna and Bratislava was no exception. Due to its recurrence in our travels, I'm creating a new tag specifically for Schweinehaxe, the slow-cooked pork knuckle. The one we had in Bratislava was the biggest we've ever seen, and the massive plank of wood it came on (below) was pretty amazing too.We had to try the famous Sachertorte while we were in Vienna. It's an incredibly rich chocolate cake with apricot filling, covered with a very dark (incredible) chocolate icing.

Unfortunately Gavin managed to eat an entire dark chocolate disk. He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth all at once and wouldn't give any of it up. He's a dark chocolate fan, for sure. (Little Michaela--also a fan.)Jacob bought this little square of ice cream that was labeled as Russian ice cream. It tasted like thick cream that had been frozen onto little wafers. Very delicious. Again, Gavin agreed.Other things we ate: Austrian blood sausage (Blunzengröstl); boiled beef (Tafelspitz); and several pieces of Apfelstrudel. We watched a strudel-making demonstration that was lots of fun. I didn't have a chance to get photos, but here's one of a little strawberry pastry we ate in Vienna.

Bratislava, Slovakia

2011-10-12T12:20:00.001+01:00

We visited Bratislava and Vienna, the two world capitals closest together (40 miles). We could definitely see the more Eastern European (and Soviet) influences in Bratislava. It was a fun and interesting place to visit. Above, we're in front of the Grassalkovich Palace where the president of Slovakia lives. We arrived just as a changing of the guard ceremony was taking place, which was fun.We loved the Blue Church (Church of St. Elisabeth). It's unique-looking, like something from a cartoon. Jacob said he thought it looked edible, and it totally does look like it's covered in fondant. As usual, the photos don't do justice to the experience of walking around the corner and seeing this very blue church (the dreary day doesn't help the photos either).
We hiked up to the Bratislava Castle and just enjoyed meandering through the old city.(Some of the trams, like the one above, are very Soviet-looking to me.)

I just had to include this photo of Gavin and Michaela on the train between Vienna and Bratislava. They were so cute together.

Vienna

2011-10-12T12:18:00.016+01:00

Vienna is amazingly beautiful, and even though it was really COLD, we enjoyed our visit. Since Vienna is famous for its palaces, I'll start with our visit to Schönbrunn Palace (shown above from the back and below from the front). We were amazed at how beautiful the flowers were with how cold it was. The Palace is beautiful, and we really enjoyed our tour (especially the strudel demonstration and sample).In the gardens is a maze, which was fun, and a play area, which some of the children among us really enjoyed. In addition to the Schönbrunn Palace, we also saw the Hofburg and Belvedere Palaces but didn't have time to fully tour them.

But Vienna is just plain beautiful, even when there's not a palace in sight, and even in the rain.

Also pictured below are the Parliament building, the Rathaus (city hall) and me with a statue of Goethe. I'd love to go back to Vienna when it's sunny and warm. :)

Morning tea

2011-10-07T13:15:00.008+01:00

You know I love a good tea room experience. This morning Gavin and I went with Becky and Michaela to Peacock's in Ely. And it was wonderful. (If Ely sounds familiar, it's from when we visited the cathedral in February when my parents were here.)

We had an assortment of finger sandwiches, fruit scones, lemon cake, a brownie with cream, and a great time. Becky had the hot chocolate, which came overflowing with little marshmallows Gavin enjoyed tasting; and I had the lime blossom tea.It was an adorable place, and everyone was super-friendly, which isn't always the case when you have kids. And the food was great. I'm looking forward to going back!

Boating the Broads

2011-09-30T15:48:00.010+01:00

Today we went boating in the Norfolk Broads, which is a network of canals. It was lots of fun and a GORGEOUS day. As you can see, we each took turns piloting the boat.

(Lest you think the above photo was staged, let me assure you we never turned the boat off or sat idle in the water. Gavin really was steering here. We were livin' on the edge--but not really because the speed limit was 5 miles per hour, sometimes 4.) The scenery was pretty, especially all the thatched-roof houses along the river. Such a beautiful day!

10 months

2011-09-29T19:04:00.000+01:00

Gavin is 10 months old tomorrow! Over the past month, Gavin has learned a lot about various appliances and gadgets, including the dishwasher; washing machine; laptop; and the TV (notice how he's used the boxes, intended as a blockade from the DVR and DVD player, to get closer to the screen).He has also enjoyed a month (and still going) of gorgeous weather, which we maximized by going to the park often.Gavin has also expanded his culinary interests over the past month, eating such things as mom's chocolate chip cookies, yogurt for breakfast every day; apple cinnamon cake; and postage stamps (can you see the Queen on the chewed-up stamp packet I fished out of his mouth?).In addition to everything else this month, he's also just been super-cute, which is what these last few photos show. :)

Cowboy

2011-09-24T15:06:00.005+01:00

My brother Mike and his wife Melissa sent Gavin this adorable sweatshirt from the University of Wyoming where they both work and Mike is getting his second Masters degree. The Wyoming mascot is a Cowboy, and before Gavin was born my Mom gave him a pair of cute little boots. I think the combination of Cowboy sweatshirt and boots (that he didn't want on his feet under any circumstances) is pretty cute.

Gavin's stats

2011-09-20T15:11:00.000+01:00

Gavin weighed in last week at 21.5 pounds, which puts him in the 72nd percentile. They don't measure how tall he is, but I can tell you this: when he stands up, his wet mouth hits just behind my knee.

First feijoada

2011-09-17T15:49:00.004+01:00

Whenever we find a Brazilian restaurant we love to order feijoada, which is pretty much the national dish. It's a delicious slow-cooked black-bean and pork stew. Jacob also makes a very delicious feijoada at home.

Today we went to Cafe Brazil in Cambridge where they serve feijoada on the weekends. The above photo is from the street where we parked. Isn't Cambridge lovely? As you can see from the first photo in the post, Gavin enjoyed his first feijoada experience. And in the below photo you can see that he made sensible use of his time and read a book while we waited for the food.

Labor Day pie

2011-09-06T18:52:00.003+01:00

While we were in the USA I ate a piece of raspberry peach pie from Flying Star, which Jacob had a little freak-out about because it cost $6. For a piece of pie, not a whole pie. So I was determined to try my hand at a raspberry peach pie when we got home, and that's what I made for our Labor Day meal with friends. It was good, but the Flying Star one was way better. Maybe even worth $6 for a piece. :)

9 months

2011-08-31T11:15:00.026+01:00

Gavin was 9 months old yesterday. We spent the entire past month of his life in the USA, so here are some Gav-specific photos from our trip. (next photo: at the famous benches in Central Park that you always see in the movies)
With all the New Mexican food we ate in Albuquerque, Gavin ended up eating a lot of rice (pictured on his chin below) and tortilla chips. He also developed a taste for lemon wedges. Seriously.Gavin's absolute favorite toy on the trip was a straw. He could be consoled by a straw and happily occupied for long stretches of car and airplane rides. You may have also noticed from previous posts that he started sucking his thumb this month. We do hope he grows out of it, but we've decided not to make a big deal about it now. Here are a few photos of him "eating" other things (a toy, a crayon box, an empty milk jug, his Grandma's glasses).When we were with his paternal grandparents Gavin ate lots of ice cream and cones. I loved that they gave him empty cones to eat (and shared a bit of their own ice cream on the side), and Gavin loved it too.There's really no unifying theme to these last few except that he's cute.

siblings and siblings-in-law

2011-08-30T21:54:00.001+01:00

We really enjoyed our time with Jacob's brothers and their spouses while we were in DC. One of the highlights of the whole USA trip was meeting our sister-in-law Ashley (below), who married Jacob's youngest brother Jared while we've been in England. She's fabulous!Jacob's older brother Jon and his wife Micaela and their kids Jacob and Emily (plus one on the way!) also live in the DC area, so we got to spend time with them.And Joel (who falls between Jacob and Jared), along with his wife Emily and their daughter Brinly (plus one on the way!) visited from Ohio while we were there, and we were so glad they made the trip!The above photo was taken while we enjoyed paddle boating. As always, it turned into a game/competition with the football and splashing. Here are more photos of the fun.During Hurricane Irene Jacob initiated the creation of a 100-foot slip n slide, which was lots of fun. I especially love the brotherly togetherness in some of the photos and with the endeavor in general.

New York, New York

2011-08-30T21:23:00.001+01:00

We spent a little time in New York City while we were in the USA. We were there for the earthquake but didn't feel it. And we were in DC for the hurricane, but we did have travel delays because of the storm since we were ultimately flying home through JFK. (side note: I saw Michael Moore at the airport Monday when we were catching our London flight!) We got to Manhattan and pretty much made a beeline for 30 Rock, pictured below (we're huge fans of the show).In the next photo you can see the Statue of Liberty between us (no, we didn't have time to go up--and we couldn't have taken Gavin anyway). Unfortunately you can't really see Gavin in the photo. In the next photo Jacob is sampling some of the famous New York pizza. In the next two photos, Gavin and I are in Central Park; and Gavin and Jacob are in front of the US Stock Exchange on Wall Street.Just a few more: the Brooklyn Bridge (with scaffolding) and Brooklyn; the bull in the financial district; skyscrapers in Manhattan (you can see trees on top of one of the buidings); and the Empire State Building.

Washington DC

2011-08-26T22:23:00.014+01:00

In addition to seeing family here, we've done lots of fun DC-specific things. One highlight was getting to see the new Martin Luther King, Jr monument, which will be dedicated this weekend. It's surrounded by controversy, but the experience was very meaningful. There's the statue, but there's also a long wall of his quotes. Here are a couple of favorites. "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

We also saw a Nationals baseball game, which was fun. It was supposed to rain, but we actually had a gorgeous evening with a beautiful sky. The next photo is the Presidents' race, which was funny.

family time, part IV

2011-08-26T21:30:00.020+01:00

Before returning to England we have about a week with Jacob's parents and 3 brothers and their families. It's been a great time, and I love seeing Gavin with his grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles. These cousins are, from left to right in the above photo, Brinly (2), Emily (5) and Jacob (nearly 8).In addition to wrestling with Uncle Jake, we've done some really fun things, including a train ride, swimming, 2 carousels, a slip-and-slide and just playing around.

family time, part III

2011-08-20T05:43:00.008+01:00

We're really hoping while we're in the USA that we'll get to see ALL of our siblings, and that Gavin will get to meet all of his cousins. We've had success on my side, so now we're on to Jacob's side. We had a super-fun afternoon in Phoenix with Jacob's sister Jennie and her sweet kids Adam, Addison, Alex and Amelia. Adam and Addison were really cute with Gavin, and it was just a fantastic day! We played on the splash pad at the zoo, which was really fun.

Gavin and Amelia didn't interact much, but here they are meeting for the first time, stroller to stroller. You can see the big smile on Gavin's face, which is cute. Amelia looks like she's not too sure about Gavin yet.

The below photo is probably my favorite from the day. Gavin is enjoying time with his oldest cousin, Adam, who is 8. Such a caring guy!

I also really loved Addison carrying Gavin around. So cute and funny.This post is really supposed to be about the fun we had with Jennie's family, but I can't resist posting this photo of Gavin, which I think it super-cute. :)

family time, part II

2011-08-20T05:25:00.013+01:00

We enjoyed some time in Arizona with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Don (who visited us in England last year) and cousins Jordan (and his wife Casey --you'll remember we saw them last weekend too), Landon, Dalton and Caleb. Gavin LOVED those boys, and I'm pretty sure the feelings were mutual. Here are some fun photos.

with Jordan

with Dalton

with Nancy

and in the massive sink, which was delivered, along with the new granite, while we were there

Nickel arcade

2011-08-15T03:09:00.016+01:00

We had a fun visit with my cousin Jordan and his wife Casey (whom we met for the first time this weekend). Among our activities was playing games at the nickel arcade. It was lots of fun! The air hockey tournament was very competitive. Everyone was really good except me. I'm pretty sure I didn't score a single point. But the match between Casey and Jordan lasted forever--they were both really good.Casey destroyed me at Dance Dance Revolution, but it was fun.With our winnings we got some fun little toys for Gavin; Casey got a cute blue monkey stuffed animal; and Jacob got 121 tootsie rolls. :)

[Jordan didn't end up getting these glasses.]

Family time, part I

2011-08-14T16:19:00.000+01:00

We basically had a big family reunion with my side of the family in Albuquerque--it was great! Gavin got to meet his great-grandparents on my Mom's side and all of his aunts, uncles and cousins on my side. Here are some photos.

sport

2011-08-07T19:31:00.000+01:00

This weekend we went bowling and saw an Isotopes game (Albuquerque's minor league baseball team). Here are some photos of the fun. I love the next two photos: my Dad and younger brothers Bob and Nick (the tongue man); and my older brother Mike and his wife Melissa.

Before the game we ate frozen custard. Here I am with my brownie sundae.
Here we are with our bowling shoes, followed by photos of Jacob, Melissa and Mike bowling.

The zoo

2011-08-02T23:07:00.009+01:00

We went to the zoo today, and Gavin enjoyed the time with his cousins (Dean left, Isaac right), grandparents and aunt & uncle more than he enjoyed the animals. But he checked out the elephants, seals and tigers. (You can see his two teeth in the next photo.)

8 months

2011-07-30T10:29:00.001+01:00

Gavin is 8 months old today! Here are a few photos of the last month. [Things he's eating in this post: cookies (above), a chip/fry, cucumber]

when crawling isn't enough...

2011-07-13T17:51:00.003+01:00

Gavin pulled himself up on this Pampers box and "walked" around the living room for a while tonight. The videos aren't the best (he gets distracted by the baseball tee in the second video), but we were pretty impressed!

Toothiness

2011-07-11T16:42:00.004+01:00

Gavin's first tooth has appeared. It's only barely poking through his gums, but we can definitely feel it if we stick our fingers in his mouth. It's proven surprisingly difficult to photograph. For a dude whose mouth is almost always open (because he's sticking things in it or smiling), the gums remain pretty well hidden.

First movie

2011-07-10T20:10:00.008+01:00

On Friday night Gavin saw his first movie in the cinema--Cars 2. Yes, we realize he's too young to enjoy it; and that's even clearer to us after taking turns holding him at the back while he tried to go to sleep. But the movie was cute, and it was a fun first for Gavin.

yoga practice

2011-07-07T10:45:00.000+01:00

I think his expression looks very peaceful in the above photo--like he's finding some inner peace. I hope you enjoy Gavin's yoga poses in this post. (And just so you know, I'm not making fun of yoga at all--I LOVE yoga.)

side plank: downward dog: upward dog:Cow pose:Cobra pose:

What are these idiots doing?

2011-07-07T10:16:00.000+01:00

first cookie

2011-07-01T14:36:00.004+01:00

Gavin ate his first cookie today. I fell prey to the marketing and couldn't resist when the package said "7+ months." In my defense, there are no artificial colours and no preservatives. The below videos are pretty cute. The first one is his very first taste, and in the next video he shows what a kind person he is.

7 months

2011-06-30T12:35:00.000+01:00

Gavin is 7 months old today, and he's a clever little destructive force. In addition to crawling, here are a few things he's been up to: opening the controls of our Freeview box and wondering how to open the cabinet door;

locating the box of tissues in my car and eating as many as possible before I can stop him;

enjoying books--I love that he's "eating" Green Eggs and Ham;

pulling my scarf off the doorknob and getting tangled in it;

sitting up unsupported, which enables a lot of new activities, like reading (ok, "reading"), as you saw a few photos above, and watching the rain, which is what he's doing in the first photo of this post;

laughing--a lot;

and crashing mid-action (but not napping regularly at all).
We sure love this little guy!

Crawling

2011-06-29T17:54:00.005+01:00

Guys, this started Monday. Is our house baby-proof? No. Are we ready for it? Absolutely not.

Ready or not...

Olympics update

2011-06-27T11:50:00.000+01:00

At the end of May we reported that we got tickets to an unspecified Olympic event (or two). We just learned what events we have tickets for--2 football games. (That's soccer if you live in America.) We're going to Manchester and Cardiff to see these games during the 2012 Olympics, but we still don't know what countries we'll see. We're excited anyway! We'll keep you posted on further details.

Profile of a dad

2011-06-18T01:21:00.002+01:00

[This is a Father's Day tribute to my sweet husband who is also the best dad. I didn't actually interview him for this post, but I think I know him well enough...]
Offspring: Gavin
Time as a dad: 6.5 months

Hopes and dreams for Gavin: that his first word will be dad; playing sports together (because watching sports is something they mastered early, as seen above)
Favorite moments in fatherhood so far: meeting for the first time (the below photo is the very first one ever taken of Gavin, just moments after he was born--he's holding Jacob's finger); having Gavin sleep on his chest; being the recipient of the first smiles and later the first giggles; when Gavin started being able to play with his dad

Unforgettable welcome to fatherhood: catching poop in his hand on the day after Gavin was born--I walked in to see his open hand being filled with that newborn tar-poop

Perks of fatherhood: cuddles; getting out of parts of church to change or soothe Gavin (not that he was pinched or anything); the tax benefit (yes, we're dealing with an accountant here)
True confession: he loves the smell of Gavin's barf and likes getting barfed on in the morning before work so he can smell it on his shirt all day

Favorite things to do together: take a bath or shower; travel; shop; spin in my office chair; take long walks; eat, especially breakfast at the golf course and things I wouldn't approve of Gavin eating yet, like ice cream or reindeer;
Signature parenting philosophies/techniques: crying it out; no bib necessary when eating--a bare chest or shirt does the job just fine; onesie=fully dressed, no jeans/trousers required (I personally think he looks like a gymnast this way) Ways they resemble each other: obvious physical attributes (same chin, same feet, rosy cheeks, etc); both of them fight going to sleep; both like to sleep with their heads covered; neither can hold still very long

I pretty much can't get enough of these two together!

Happy Father's Day to a fantastic dad!

Little traveler

2011-06-17T10:02:00.001+01:00

Gavin's country count is now at 10! His country of citizenship will be added eventually, but this is not too bad for a 6-month old!

foreign beverages

2011-06-13T15:47:00.000+01:00

Instead of the usual extra post about food, I'm posting about beverage. Since we don't drink alcohol (and therefore didn't partake in any Russian vodka), you might be wondering what there is to say. But Jacob and Mike were on a quest to try every new/interesting soda they could find. The above "apple lemonade" was recommended by our tour guide (Heli) in Tallinn, and it was delicious. She said it's based on an old Soviet recipe.

The most enigmatic beverage-related story comes from Russia, where Jacob and Mike kept buying some kind of stale-bread soda (above). They found it revolting but for some reason continued drinking it. I tried a couple of them--it was awful. The diet Coke in the above picture is apparently the absolute most delicious Diet Coke anywhere. Both Jacob and Mike are Diet Coke aficionados, and they have declared the Diet Coke in Russia to be the best ever. (I did taste it; they'll be disappointed to hear I thought it just tasted like Diet Coke).There's no photo, but we encountered a soda with an amazing taste resemblance to the US candy Smarties (Fizzers in the UK). It was amazing. And we drank lots of Fanta, especially in Finland. There's the ambiguous "exotic" flavor above (delicious); and then there was this grapefruit Fanta below that was super-yummy.Michaela, who technically had never consumed anything other than breast milk, is sampling a couple of her dad's favorites below: mate (the South American tea); and, you guessed it, Diet Coke.

More (and better) trip photos

2011-06-11T14:15:00.014+01:00

Mike has 2 things I don't have when it comes to taking photos: talent and a really good camera. So here are a few of his photos from our recent trip to Estonia, Finland and Russia. Mike, thanks for letting us post these!

Our latest travels

2011-06-09T20:02:00.000+01:00

We just got back from an amazing trip, and the next few posts will cover the places we visited. We traveled with our friends Becky & Mike and their 4-month-old daughter Michaela and had a really fun time with them.
We flew to Tallinn, Estonia; from there took a ferry to Helsinki, Finland; then an overnight ferry to St. Petersburg, Russia. We then returned to Helsinki, then back to Tallinn.

Tallinn, Estonia

2011-06-09T19:56:00.000+01:00

Tallinn is a beautiful old city, and we're going to start telling everyone to add it to their list of places to visit. The picturesque old city was unexpectedly charming and cool and fun. The photo below is from our hotel room.
We took a great walking tour and learned a lot about Estonia and Tallinn, but we also really enjoyed wandering the cute little streets without a guide. There was something beautiful around every corner.

Helsinki

2011-06-09T19:55:00.000+01:00

Helsinki was the city we spent the least time in, and it really was the city with the least to see. Don't get me wrong--it's a beautiful city. It's just not a big tourist destination. The Uspenski Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe.

We took a little ferry out to Suomenlinna ("Castle of Finland"), an inhabited fortress built on 6 small islands. In addition to Suomenlinna, there are many islands in Helsinki with houses and restaurants on them. It's really beautiful boat ride into Helsinki's harbor.
We trekked over to the Sibelius monument, which honors the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The monument itself is really interesting--an abstraction of over 600 organ pipes. Sibelius is pretty cool too. A post about Helsinki wouldn't be complete without some photos of Helsinki Cathedral, the beautiful iconic landmark of Helsinki.

St. Petersburg (f.k.a. Leningrad)

2011-06-09T19:54:00.000+01:00

We were totally blown away by St. Petersburg. We wanted to go because we thought it would be cool to go to Russia, but I don't think we expected such an amazingly beautiful city. It's spectacular! We wish we had more time to spend there, but even getting there for 3 days was complicated because of visa requirements and transport considerations. On our overnight ferry (which we took both ways), all 6 of us stayed in a microscopic, 2-bunk cabin. Good thing we're all friends!The Peter and Paul Fortress is where the city began in 1703. The above church with a really tall steeple is in the center of the fortress.

There were a few onion-domed churches, but the most impressive was the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. It's so incredibly beautiful. (How many photos of one church can I get away with in one blog post?)
(The above photo is Michaela on Jacob's head while Mike secures the Bjorn for Jacob.)St. Petersburg is also a city of palaces. In the above photo you can see the Winter Palace behind us. (Don't you love Gavsky's crooked sunglasses?) The next photo shows it from the other side, Palace Square. We took a boat excursion to Peterhof, a huge complex of palaces and gardens built by Peter the Great. Apparently there are over 150 fountains at Peterhof. It was beautiful. In Russia it didn't really get dark at night, which tricked us into staying out much later than we otherwise would. We also stayed on the top floor of the hotel, where there were skylights. So I think Gavsky (ГАВСКИЙ) was a bit confused about the daylight/night-time situation. But he is such a good traveler and did great on this trip.

Going to the olympics

2011-05-31T21:11:00.005+01:00

The process for getting tickets to the London 2012 Olympics is fascinating. We requested tickets for whatever we wanted to see, and recipients are selected by a lottery system. We were told when we requested tickets last month that money would just be charged to our credit card sometime at the end of May if we got tickets, but it would be months later before we found out which event(s) we got tickets for. Money was deducted today!! So we know we're going to the Olympics, we just have no idea which event(s) we'll get to see. :) We'll keep you posted.

(Yes, this is a portion of the online banking screen.)

half-birthday

2011-05-30T17:21:00.003+01:00

No, we don't plan to celebrate all of his half-birthdays, but this one seemed worthy of celebration. I baked an apple pie for a barbecue with friends, and I reserved a bit of the filling (pre-seasoning) to bake Gavin his own little (half)birthday pie. The next photo is his first bite of the pie.Thankfully we redeemed ourselves and let him try something that he actually loved. We've never seen his face so clean after a meal--he wanted ALL of the strawberries in his mouth.We've loved every minute of Gavin since he came into our lives 6 months ago!

Gavin: the latest

2011-05-19T10:07:00.001+01:00

This is one of the posts you should skip if, for you, Gavin could star in a show called "Babies I Don't Care About" because this one's all about him. :)

He's almost 6 months old! Here are a few of the latest (random) photos.

canine encounter

2011-05-18T21:25:00.002+01:00

Eurovision 2011

2011-05-14T20:40:00.007+01:00

You might remember our coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest the past few years (08, 09, 10). It just doesn't get more entertaining than Eurovision. This year's competition was held in Dusseldorf, Germany because the previous year's winner gets to host the next year's competition. Interestingly, Lena, the performer who won it for Germany last year, was also Germany's entry this year (with a different song).
It was well worth watching the whole thing, but here are our highlights:

The winner was Azerbaijan. We didn't love their song (not that we hated it), but here's the video of it.

The initial photo in this post is from Moldova's entry. Yes, they really wore those hats. And the lady was on a unicycle... (This is why we love Eurovision.)

Probably the most talked-about entry this year is Ireland's. Their performers are a duo (identical twins) called Jedward, who became famous in the UK for being awful but getting pretty far in 2009's X-Factor competition. (We watched that season and were really rooting for Jedward to leave as soon as possible.) Their song this year, called "Lipstick," was pretty bad

The Israeli entry was a song called "Ding Dong" by Dana International (below), a transsexual past winner of Eurovision (1998). She didn't make it to the Saturday final this year.

Portugal's entry (which also didn't make the Saturday final) was a hilarious protest song against economic austerity measures.

Bosnia & Herzegovina's entry was very entertaining with an eclectic ensemble (including a hip-hop dancing trumpeter) and a catchy tune.

The Ukraine's entry was awesome because a popular sand artist shared the stage with the singer and did some art on the screen while the song was going on. Apparently the sand artist was the winner of "Ukraine's Got Talent."

Finland's entry is a save-the-world song sung by a performer called Paradise Oskar. The song, called "Da Da Dam," grew on me and I quite liked it Saturday night in the final.

Russia's entry was catchy but a little naughty. I don't know if it's the dude's accent while he's singing it, but we found the following lyric hilarious every time he sang it: "You look so good On the floor Put my mind in the dirty zone."

Our favorite entry that didn't even make the final (we saw it on Tuesday's semi-final) was Armenia's entry called "Boom Boom." Here's the video.

"solid" food

2011-05-12T13:34:00.003+01:00

Gavin has recently begun to experience foods other than breast milk. I'm not sure why we call them "solid" foods because they have to be pretty well pureed for him at this point... More solid than milk, for sure, but we're not just giving the dude a piece of bread or anything. [Side note: a piece of bread would be way less messy. Yes, the mess is cute--unless you're the one cleaning it!]

He's been enjoying the rice cereal and gradually learning to eat from a spoon, so today he ate his first fruits: banana /plum. He liked the first couple of bites, but you can see the uncertainty (and the bananas & plums) all over his face.

Algarve

2011-05-09T13:11:00.002+01:00

After Lisbon we headed down to the Algarve region of Portugal where we enjoyed beautiful beaches (and the pools at our hotel), as well as great food and cute little Portuguese villages. Jacob doesn't really like fish, but we decided to have the authentic experience at the peixe rodizio (fish grill), and even Jacob loved it. Here are a couple of photos of the fish--they brought LOTS of it.

In the Algarve Gavin experienced his first beaches. The first shot below is his first feel of sand between his toes. Then there are photos of him playing in the sand and dipping his feet in the (icy) water (it's the Atlantic Ocean, not the Mediterranean Sea like you might expect).

We loved the unspoiled villages we visited with their tiny winding streets, pretty churches and beautiful tiled houses.

bread alone

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

Do the pastries from our recent Spain/Portugal trip really need their own post? Maybe not, but there were a couple of pastries worth special mention.

The first was one we heard about from Portuguese friends before we left. The taxi driver from the Lisbon airport even mentioned it too. It's the pastel de Belem, and it was worth the special trip. Here's a photo of Jacob elbowing his way to the counter (after he paid) to get them.

They're little custardy pastries, and the bakery gives you cute little packets of powdered sugar and cinnamon to put on them. Absolutely delicious.

The other really amazing pastry was one we just stumbled upon. It's an entire apple--skin and all--baked into a flaky, gorgeous pastry. They core the apple and put a cinnamon stick in its place before wrapping it in pastry and baking it. The apple inside gets really mushy and yummy. And because we feel pastry-eating should be a family affair (and the apple was nice and soft), Gavin enjoyed some too. Here are a few more pastry/bread photos in case you needed to see more. (The very first photo and very last photo on this post are in Spain; the rest are in Portugal.)

Lisbon

2011-05-08T19:34:00.020+01:00

We spent a couple of days in Lisbon and really enjoyed the city. I especially loved having Jacob speak Portuguese with everyone. We hiked to the Castle of Sao Jorge, a Moorish battlement overlooking the city. Here are a few photos from the hike and from the top. We also visited Jeronimos Monastery, beautiful outside and in. Gavin and Jacob are in front of Vasco da Gama's tomb.Below is the Belem Tower, built in the early 16th Century as a symbol of the Portuguese discoverers sent from Lisbon to explore the world.Lisbon also has an interesting urban elevator, the Santa Justa Lift, which was originally steam powered (and designed by an apprentice of Gustave Eiffel).The April 25th Bridge, the largest suspension bridge in the world, spans the Tagus River in Lisbon, and is often compared with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. On the opposite side of the river is a huge statue of Jesus called Cristo-Rei, inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. The below photo shows both the bridge and the statue.Here are my favorite traveling companions.

Madrid

2011-05-08T19:16:00.009+01:00

We started our recent trip to Iberia with a couple of days in Madrid. We were there for their independence day, so a few things were closed (I didn't get to see Picasso's Guernica, for example), but we had a nice time seeing the city. Here are a few random photos.

Portuguese tiles

2011-05-08T16:20:00.008+01:00

One thing I loved on our recent trip to Portugal was all the gorgeous tiled buildings. Here are a few photos that show the tile variety.

Royal Wedding, part II

2011-04-29T16:22:00.002+01:00

Did you watch the wedding coverage? We had a gathering of a few friends for our Royal Wedding party, and it was pretty fun. And yes, I took pictures of the TV screen. Go ahead and make fun of me right along with Jacob.
We grilled burgers, and I made a no-bake strawberries & cream cake. Because what's more British than strawberries & cream? I'll tell you--a strawberries & cream cake that involves rich tea biscuits. Yes, the same cookie reportedly the star ingredient in William's groom's cake.

What a fun day to live in the UK!! Enjoy the rest of my "screen shots." :)

Royal Wedding, part I

2011-04-27T17:55:00.001+01:00

I was a little distracted when Kate and William announced their engagement last year. And even if I hadn't been about to give birth, I might not have thought it that big a deal. But I would have been wrong. It's a HUMONGOUS deal. In the lead-up to the Royal Wedding, it's pretty much all we hear about on TV and radio. Everyone has the day off, and the Prime Minister has encouraged everyone to party in the streets.

We saw on BBC news that the bell-ringers at the parish church in Kate's hometown of Bucklebury have prepared a 4-hour peal for Friday. FOUR HOURS. They're pretty excited.
The same news segment shows her family's butcher. He's also very excited.

BBC's website is helping everyone out with lots of street party recipes and Royal Wedding Recipes. They're excited.

The seating plan, the dress, the guest list, the honeymoon plans, the cakes, the hair (here too), the vows, the weather forecast... I could go on. Who isn't excited?!

This guy: VERY excited.

(This guy isn't. Neither is Jerry Seinfeld.)

Gavin's Easter attire

2011-04-24T15:32:00.008+01:00

Our friends Becky & Mike (& Michaela) gifted Gavin the outfit he wore to church today. When he wore it for the first time a few weeks ago, he immediately found a new toy: the necktie. He chewed/sucked on it pretty much the whole time he was wearing it. Today it was in his mouth during the entire Easter service. The above photo is from today; the below are from a few weeks ago.

Macarons

2011-04-24T15:29:00.006+01:00

I mentioned my love of French macarons in this post, and this weekend I decided to try my hand at making them. They are rumored to be one of the most difficult things to make with lots of tricks and techniques, and I did find them to be extremely delicate. I used Martha Stewart's instructions here. The macarons are raspberry, and the fillings include raspberry curd (that I made from scratch), lemon curd, raspberry jam and fresh raspberries.

They didn't turn out perfect, and one whole pan was a total disaster, but I was pretty pleased with the way they developed "feet" like they're supposed to. And Jacob was pleased with their chewiness. (We had some in France and Belgium this month that disappointed him with their absence of chewy.) Overall, I'm counting them a yummy success!

St George's Day

2011-04-23T14:59:00.004+01:00

Even though he had no direct connection to the country, St. George is the patron saint of England. He did slay a dragon, so he's a pretty cool choice for patron saint. Today is St. George's Day (but because it's so close to Easter the churches are moving their celebrations to May 2nd). We celebrated today by wearing our England colours and eating a delicious pastry with St. George's cross (England's flag).

asleep

2011-04-19T15:16:00.000+01:00

I'll keep the commentary brief and just let you enjoy the photos. Gavin likes to cover his face when he sleeps, which is a huge concern. So the next two photos were taken when I checked on him during a nap. Good thing I check, right? The other photos (and video) are just for fun.

Gummibaerchen

2011-04-14T07:20:00.007+01:00

I meant to include this photo on the food post from our recent trip. Gavin sticks everything in his mouth, as babies do, and I was thinking that chewing gummy bears (through the wrapper) might be satisfying. He loved it.

Belgium

2011-04-12T16:29:00.005+01:00

On our way home from Germany we visited Brussels and Bruges in Belgium. One of Brussels' claims to fame is the statue called Manneken Pis, dating from 1619. Yes, it's the little boy peeing that has been replicated in zillions of garden statues all over the world. Here's a photo of the real thing, then two replicas combining the various Brussels icons: Manneken Pis with Belgian waffles and Manneken Pis with Belgian chocolate (both of which we did partake in).

All that was left of our Belgian chocolates when we got home were a few tiramisu almonds and 2 truffles. (The truffles were ok, but the covered almonds were AMAZING.)

Then it was on to Bruges, which is a city much lovelier than the photos we took. It's beautiful and quaint and cute.

Bruges is also a possible location of origin for French fries. So we ate them (but did not have time to tour the museum).

Germany trip

2011-04-10T18:11:00.003+01:00

We drove to Germany last weekend, and in order to get there Gavin took his first boat ride. Here's a photo of him (just after we drove off the ferry) with his first boat in the background.

While in Bavaria we visited a cute medieval town called Rothenberg ob der Tauber, which is completely surrounded by a wall, which you can walk. Here I am on the wall, and below that Jacob and Gavin are at the city gate. You might remember my disappointment at hiking to a certain alpine bridge with the expectation of unspoiled vistas, and seeing scaffolding instead. Well this time we got it right. Here we are with the long-dreamed-of views of Neuschwanstein. We had a hard time getting Gavin to look at the camera. Silly us--of course he wanted to be looking at the castle too.The same Bavarian king who built Neuschwanstein (Ludwig II) also built a small palace called Linderhof Palace. It's small but beautiful, and there are a few eccentricities that made it a really amazing place to visit. The palace was built for one since the king never married and was very reclusive. He was tall and had a huge (unbelievably beautiful) bed. Also, his dining room table was built on a set of pulleys so it could be lowered into the kitchens below and raised back up, preventing the king from having to interact even with his servants. Overall, Gavin traveled really well and was a champion during the long car rides. And his country count is now 5.

German food

2011-04-10T18:07:00.017+01:00

The food deserves its own post because it's so amazing and such a huge part of what we do when we're in Germany, and also because Gavin got to try some of it too... but not the doner kebab above.Rothenberg ob der Tauber has a famous food specialty called Schneeballen (translated as snowballs). They weren't at all what we were expecting when we saw them. They're basically little cookies smashed together in balls with various fillings. We tried the original (no filling--just covered in powdered sugar), nougat and chocolate. The dissected one below shows the cookie layering. In the next photo are two of the most amazing pastries we've ever had: on the right a strawberry one with cream and custard; on the left a cherry one, below which you can see an actual cherry pit Jacob encountered while eating it. He was excited by that indication it was made with real cherries. :) We also visited the Ritter Sport chocolate museum and gift shop near Stuttgart and came away with quite a stash. It was fun. We've talked before about one of Jacob's favorite German foods, the Schweinehaxe (here, here and here, for example). I love the below photo that shows how large the Haxe is in comparison to Gavin's head.Below is a photo of my wild boar and venison. At that same meal, Jacob had reindeer goulash. The only photo we have is Gavin licking it off his fingers. That's right, Gavin (and Jacob) ate Rudolph. And if Gavin ever asks whether Rudolph is real, Jacob plans to tell him that he WAS...until Gavin ate him.For dessert? Gelato!

Strong swimmer

2011-04-10T13:43:00.010+01:00

Gavin went swimming for the first time (and several subsequent times) while we were in Germany. The above photo showcases the adorable swimming attire his Grandma Lund gave him. the terry hoodie even has a little fin on top to match all the fish on his trunks. He looks like he has a 6-pack in the next photo. The rest of the photos show how much he enjoyed the experience. (Note: he loved it until it was over when he realized he was cold and exhausted. That part was a bit painful for all of us.)

My first Mother's Day

2011-04-09T16:48:00.002+01:00

In the UK Mother's Day (or Mothering Sunday) falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, which means it was last Sunday, April 3rd. Even though we weren't in the UK and I'm not British, I'm still counting it as my first Mother's Day as a mom because we are UK residents and my child was born here. It was a fun day in Germany. (more on that trip later...)

Dad's favorite photo

2011-03-25T10:02:00.005Z

Jacob now has a favorite picture of Gavin. (I've talked about mine here and here.) Really you can't go wrong with such an adorable subject. Here's Jacob's favorite:

hiccups, part II

2011-03-24T10:29:00.004Z

You might want to compare the following video of Gavin hiccuping yesterday to this one from when he was less than 3 weeks old. (He's now 16 weeks old.) He's definitely changed a lot, but he's still super-cute!

Gator madness

2011-03-19T16:58:00.006Z

In honor of the Gators playing in the NCAA Tournament today, here are a few photos of Gavin (& Jacob) in Gators attire. Yes, it's the same outfit he wore the day of Florida's football bowl win.

He did fall asleep during the game... :)

St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T07:00:00.001Z

a Gavin gesture

2011-03-15T15:04:00.004Z

There's a certain rude gesture Gavin makes frequently, and we were beginning to think we'd never catch it in a photo. But at a moment when we weren't even trying...

Pi Day

2011-03-14T20:18:00.002Z

I don't exactly have a math background, but I'm not a person who passes up an opportunity to make a pie. So today we celebrated Pi Day--get it, March 14th--3.14?

We made a chocolate chess pie. It was pretty yummy. :)

We didn't have graham crackers, so we made a Nice biscuit crust (above). [Nice biscuits are little British cookies with a very faint hint of coconut, and I'm obsessed with them.]

Le semi-marathon de Paris

2011-03-09T08:35:00.001Z

We went to Paris over the weekend, but it wasn't the typical tourist trip. Jacob ran the Paris half-marathon!! (I'm super-proud of him!) Above are the before and after photos. The race started and ended at the Chateau de Vincennes (see photo below), and Jacob was able to see lots of Paris from the race. Also participating in the race were Jacob's boss Irena and his coworker Marcia (both of whom we've traveled with before--both on this trip, and Irena also on this one).Then after the race we did do touristy stuff. We visited the Centre Pompidou, Paris's big modern art museum. It was really amazing, and the views of the city from the museum were part of the cool experience.We made more than one trip over to the crepe district, and we ate some incredible pastries and breads. One item in particular is now in the top 2 most amazing things I've ever eaten (see this post for the other). The macaron framboise was so delicious we went back for a second one we ate on the train on the way home Monday night (left). It reminded me of something we ate in 2009 at Buckingham Palace with my grandparents (photo on this post). But this one was...well, possibly the best thing I've ever eaten! [And hopefully you're familiar with macarons, not to be confused with macaroons. See this article if you're not sure you know macarons--you poor thing!]
Gavin was such a trooper the whole time. Don't be fooled by Jacob's shorts and short sleeves at the race--it was COLD. And Gavin wasn't fond of his warm attire. He also wasn't fond of stopping, whether to ride the metro or place an order at the boulangerie--he wanted to be going nonstop. But he did such a great job and was so alert and interested in looking at everything --when he wasn't sleeping.

A rollover on the A11

2011-03-08T14:46:00.007Z

Gavin has rolled over! This video is about the 4th or 5th roll. Obviously I didnt get the first few on video because I wasn't expecting it.

I've read that most babies first roll from their front to their back, but Gavin's rolls are back-to-front. It's funny because he hates tummy time (as most babies apparently do), yet he won't stop rolling to his tummy. He just did it for the first time today, and he's already rolled about 10 times. This afternoon I put him on his play mat while I left the room briefly, and I returned to find this:

I really wish I could have seen this one--how high his leg would need to get in order to end up straddling the pole. So cute. :)

Ok, one more photo since you can't quite see what he's wearing in the above, and he looks so cute in his England jersey.

more grandparents, etc

2011-03-01T08:13:00.016Z

Last Friday we visited Denver Windmill with my parents; then Saturday we all went to London. It was Gavin's first trip to London, and he slept most of the day. But we all had a great time. Here are a few photos from the last few days we had with grandparents. They're all gone now... :( My Dad said it was hard to leave today because of the "GAVitational pull"--cute.
(PS-Gavin's 3 months old today!)

Baby blessing

2011-02-28T18:24:00.009Z

Sunday we had Gavin's baby blessing at church, and it was great to have both sets of grandparents here for it! We love his cute outfit, which you can see better below. The tiny tie is our favorite. After the blessing we had everyone, including our good friends Becky & Mike and their new baby Michaela (as well as Becky's mom Wendy and grandma Marge) for dinner. Here's Gavin making his first move on a girl--she's obviously not impressed. Gavin is such an awesome, cute guy, and his blessing day was really special!

Our handsome son

2011-02-25T20:40:00.002Z

Ely Cathedral

2011-02-24T18:44:00.018Z

Today we visited Ely Cathedral, a huge and beautiful cathedral not too far from our house. It was a fun experience for Gavin because he faced out in the Bjorn for the first time.

My Dad and I took a tour of the octagonal tower, which is not the taller tower, but I think it's the more beautiful one. Below is a view from the floor looking up into the tower. You can kinda see the paintings of angels below the stained glass; then there's a couple of photos of the angels from up close when we climbed the tower.

They wouldn't let us take Gavin on the tour because of the narrow, steep passageways to the top, and that was a good call. The next photo of my Dad descending shows how cramped that spiral staircase is.

Here are a few additional photos from our day. (I'm standing next to a statue of Saint Etheldreda, the founder of the cathedral. And that's just the romanized version of her name. It's really something like AEthelthryth.)

jumperoo

2011-02-24T09:02:00.000Z

Jacob's brother Jon and his wife Micaela gifted Gavin a jumperoo when he was born, and it's pretty cool. He's been a bit short for it (even though he's 90th percentile for height), but last weekend we removed the book we were using under his feet (you can see the Shakespeare book in the above photo). Below, the first time we put him in the jumperoo he fell asleep, but he's started to enjoy it, as you can see from subsequent photos. He gets fixated on some of the characters, like the next two photos where he's loving the blue frog.
His most frequent object of earnest obsession is the red bird (below). He's pretty intense about it.

Here he's talking to the blue elephant.And the yellow monkey. And sometimes he notices I'm still there. :)