Matilda the Musical

While in London Saturday night I got to see Matilda the Musical! It was incredibly fun and clever. Photography isn't allowed in the theatre, but I did sneak a photo of the set before the show. It was adorable. 

And if you want more of a taste, here's a trailer for it. The Headmaster Trunchbull character was so funny I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it!

Kew Gardens

We spent the weekend in London for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (more on that in a separate post), and on Saturday we visited the beautiful Kew Gardens. Gavin loved trying to climb all the trees--and anything else that looked remotely climb-able.

The flowers were beautiful! Below Gavin is herding a huge goose family. The goslings were so cute!

This tree was just asking for someone to sit in it. So we took a few photos in it (while Gavin was herding geese).

This treetop walkway was really cool and pretty high. We had great views of some of the charming greenhouses.

 We spent the weekend with Jacob's colleagues and their families, and Gavin loved all the fun girls he got to play with.

18 months

Gavin is 18 months old today!! He loves singing, still dances regardless of whether there's music, and he's developed a strong attachment to one of his blankets. He's moving nonstop and requires my 100% attention, which is great so I don't miss any of his hilarious antics. Happy half-birthday to this wonderful, sweet little man!

Lake District

We've wanted to visit the Lake District since we got to England, and we're glad we finally did. The scenery was unbelievable, and the weather was especially nice. It was great to be there with Melissa and Mike too. 

We visited the Wordsworth birthplace while we were there, and that was interesting and fun.

A huge highlight was hearing Melissa play the harpsichord--incredible!

We had a picnic at Buttermere, which was breathtakingly beautiful. We shared the field with sheep and enjoyed the gorgeous views. Gavin stole my sandwich and has crazy hair because of sunscreen we applied to his head.

Edinburgh--in and around

After York and Alnwick we headed for Edinburgh where we enjoyed a break at the Elephant House Cafe where JK Rowling was inspired by the view of the castle and sat writing some of the Harry Potter series. (Other writers, like Alexander McCall-Smith, have also frequented the Cafe.) 

We had some hot chocolate and a cookie Jacob and I intended to share. Gavin ate most of it, mostly because he shoved it in his mouth, fearing he'd have to share with his parents.

While Melissa and Mike explored the city, we took a boat cruise, mostly to see wildlife. Here's a puffin and some cute seals.

 We would have liked to see more puffins, but we did enjoy the boat ride on a gorgeous day.

One of the highlights of the trip was the highland games. We watched pipe band and highland dancing competitions, as well as the heavy athletics where competitors mostly threw really heavy objects. But the best part was sartorial. Everyone wore kilts, including the athletes.

...and the highland games' mascot, Hamish the Haggis.

We loved the highland dancers' cute outfits. Also, the piper in the left of this picture provided the music for their dancing which seemed much more authentic than playing recorded music over a speaker.

The North

We took a fantastic road trip with my brother Mike and his wife Melissa while they were here. It was so much fun! We began in York with the beautiful York Minster.

Then we headed north to visit Barter Books in Alnwick. It's apparently one of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world. It's in an old Victorian train station and very cute.

It also claims fame for the discovery of the now-ubiquitous KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON posters. The original hangs on the wall above the till, near the place where a train circles overhead above the shelves.

We caught glimpses of Alnwick Castle as we were leaving town to head further north to Edinburgh.

Eurovision 2012

As we've posted in years past, we love the Eurovision Song Contest. It's quirky and fun, and we had a great time watching it with Melissa and Mike this year. Here are a few of our favorite entries.

This was Jacob's pick, the Russian entry. They finished second. It was terrible. (Yes, they finished SECOND.)

Here's Melissa's pick, the act from Denmark. They finished dead last.

Italy was my favorite. Their song finished 9th.

And Mike's favorite has a special place with all of us--he's been singing it ever since we first heard it last week, and it's growing on us. You can watch the official music video if you want, but the version I'm posting is the live performance; the backup dancers are a huge highlight.
Another draw of this song is the lyric "You have never been to the show/You've never seen before/How looks that trumpet."
They finished 11th.

The winner? Sweden. Not bad, but not really worth posting. (Watch it here if you're interested.)