Destination: USA #3

Another year in London and living abroad has almost passed. We're pushing up to almost 3 years since we made the big jump. We have had so many amazing adventures and experiences since we moved here; beyond what we could have imagined when we started this journey. I'm sure to many on the outside looking in, it appears glamorous and that we live in an unreal world. And it some ways, it is and we do. However, in order to be able to live this current life, we've also had to make some big sacrifices, the biggest one leaving behind our family in the US. It's really hard only seeing your family once a year and missing out on family holiday celebrations when you know everyone is gathering without you. My girls aren't growing up with their cousins or seeing their grandparents beyond the weekly Skype/Facetime conversation and I hate that. But it's one of the prices we pay for being here.

We headed back to the good US of A in July for our annual visit home, our 3rd return back as a family since our move. It was a bit of a whirlwind of a trip, making stops in Houston, Granbury, TX (near Ft. Worth) and Walton, KY (near Cincinnati) over a two week period.

Ready for take off

Houston was our first destination. I didn't take any pictures in our 3 days there, but we had a great time catching up with various friends, gorging on the best Tex-Mex in Houston, taking advantage of the "cheap" shopping (everything seems cheap after living in expensive London) at the Galleria and enjoying the actual feel of summer and sun at our hotel's swimming pool.

Our next stop was Granbury to visit Geoff's family. The big highlight was finally getting out onto Geoff's parents' boat. They bought it 3 years ago but due to bad droughts in Texas and low water levels the last couple years, we couldn't actually get out on it on our previous visits. The girls were a little skeptical at first and insisted we all hold hands the first 30 minutes we were on the water, but eventually they loved it.

The girls were so excited to see their girl cousins, Avalon and Julie, and spoke of them for weeks leading up to our trip. Now that they are all old enough to actually play and have conversations amongst one another, it's fun to watch them interact.

Ashton was more interested in picking her nose than hanging out with her boy cousins

Of course there would be princess dresses involved

Our last stop was my parents' house in Northern Kentucky. Miraculously, all of my siblings were able to be at my parents for the weekend which was quite the feat considering all seven of us were strung out this summer throughout the US and Europe. Our time there included a picnic, dinner out by the Ohio River and conversations around the dining room table sharing embarrassing stories/memories of our childhoods. So much laughter and good times.

The whole clan