Our family: April 2013

Several weeks ago, we had a photographer come to our home to get some photos of the family taken.  I had initially intended for her to come shortly after Ashton was born to capture her as a brand new little newborn, but we had to end up postponing/rescheduling three different times due to various reasons so I was just happy to have her finally show up.  Thankfully, I think she was still able to get Ashton's littleness and also get some great shots of Olivia plus me and Geoff with the girls.  Here are my favorites.

Day out in Greenwich

Several weeks ago when Geoff's parents were here visiting us, we took the opportunity to join them in seeing some other areas of London we haven't explored yet.  The six of us headed to Greenwich, which is on the east side of central London, for the day.  This was our first major excursion with Ashton and she did great.  I had her wrapped up on me the whole day, which was perfect for keeping her warm since it was COLD out.  Other than a couple breaks to feed, she pretty much slept the entire time.  This was also our first significant outing with Olivia since she moved out of diapers and into big girl panties. She did great catching on to the whole potty training thing when we started back in January, but she had been leery of public toilets.  Can't say that I blame her.  That meant any outing we took with her couldn't extend more than just a couple hours.  This outing, we took a little portable seat that sits on top of the big toilet to prevent her for falling in and she didn't have any problem with it.  That was the last big hurdle in her toilet training and a big relief that she has moved past that barrier.  So many more excursions and travel outside of the house are available to us again!

Anyways, our first stop in Greenwich was the National Maritime Museum.  They had an Ansel Adams exhibit going on that we all wanted to see.  Well, all wanted to see except Olivia.  I guess I'm a little slow to catch on sometimes, but I am learning that Olivia and museums (or castles/palaces which there are plenty of around here) don't usually work out so well. There are too many things she wants to touch and climb on that are off limits so it means constantly telling she can't do something.  Which is too bad because London has a ton of museums and most of them are free.  I'll sure we'll make it to them, it will just be a different experience for Geoff and myself.  This museum did have a small children's area which she enjoyed.  But any hopes that Geoff and I had to casually peruse and fully take in the exhibit and museum were quickly dashed.

Next stop was the Royal Observatory, which is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the world, representing Longitude 0º.

The observatory was at the top of a rather steep hill.  It was a pretty good climb, especially for Geoff who had to push the stroller  + Olivia up it, but offered nice views from the top of some of the city.

Before we left house for Greenwich, we told Olivia we were going to go on a boat and the whole morning while we were at the museum and the observatory, she kept asking for the boat.  Poor thing fell asleep right before we reached the ship.  However, Ashton needed to eat before we toured the ship so Olivia got to snooze a bit before we headed onboard.

The Cutty Sark is one of the last surviving tea clippers.  The ship had been reopened just last year after being closed awhile for renovation.  The ship was definitely more of Olivia's style as there was very little that was off limits for her to touch and climb on.  

Our little family on the Cutty Sark by the Thames River.

Easter: London Edition

The local women's club I am a member of had an Easter egg hunt for all the children a couple weeks ago.  The day of the hunt, the weather could not have been worse - windy, cold and rainy - but we were determined to go so we bundled up and got our rain boots and umbrellas.  Ashton was loaded into the stroller and covered with layers of blankets and then topped with a rain cover that goes over the stroller.  Fortunately, but the time we got off the bus at the park where the hunt was at, the rain had more or less subsided.  Olivia grasped the idea of the egg hunt better than her first one last year and was quite competitive to get to the eggs.  If she spotted an egg, she ran to it as fast as possible and made sure she beat out the other kids.  Hmm...sounds like she's getting her competitive nature from her dad.  With each egg she picked up off the ground, she gave it a good shake to make sure it had contents inside. They did have an Easter bunny roaming around there for the kids to greet and get pictures with.  However, Olivia was content to observe him from afar and wanted nothing to do with him if he got within about a 10 foot radius.

Geoff's parents were here with us on Easter Sunday so it was great to be able to celebrate Christ's resurrection with family.  The weather on Easter Sunday did not feel like the warm, spring Easters we've grown accustomed to in Houston.  Instead we got the winter version of Easter.

For me growing up, Easter always meant getting a pretty new Easter dress to wear to church and the last two years, I've had fun shopping for Olivia's Easter dress.  Well this year, I didn't even to bother to shop because whatever cute Easter dresses I would have found for the girls would not have been weather appropriate.  Plus, Ashton only fits newborn size right now, so if I had purchased a dress for her to fit into, she wouldn't get many uses out of it.  The practical side of me easily made the decision.  And once we got to our church on Easter Sunday, I was extra glad I didn't spend the money because not a single person, child or adult, was dressed up.  Our church is really casual and I found out that that applies to Easter as well.

The past couple years, I've also enjoyed shopping for fun little gifts to fill Olivia's Easter basket with.  But once again, none of that this year.  I really miss having Target, with their $1 bins, or Michaels around to grab cheap non-candy stuff.  Instead, Olivia just got a chocolate egg.  At least the box was Minnie Mouse so it made it a little bit more exciting for her.  And Ashton didn't get anything.  Just lots of kisses from Mommy, which are pretty great though. :)

This is the smile we get from Olivia these days when someone tells her to smile for the camera or say cheese.  Cracks me up every time!

For good measure so she doesn't feel left out of the blog post, here is a random photo of Ashton.