Destination: Edinburgh, Scotland

So the time has come for Geoff and I to publicly admit that we have a problem.  An addiction problem.  We're addicted to travel.  

This addiction has developed the last three years since we moved abroad.  After getting our initial tastes of it and the experiences it offers, we keep going back for more.  Never mind all the the difficulties doing it with small children involves.  There is something about hearing new accents and languages, seeing historical sights and beautiful scenery, figuring out how to get around in unfamiliar places and meeting people in cultures different from your own.  It changes you.  In the age of TV and the internet, we all know it's a big world out there. But being able to experience things with your own senses gives you a fuller understand of how creative God is. We really can't get enough.  So after having to put our family travels on hold for about 4 months (I know you don't feel sorry for us) because of being heavily pregnant and then having a newborn, the itch needed to be scratched.  

Quinn received his US passport in early December which allowed him to travel.  However, he had not yet received his UK resident visa which would allow him back into the country if we left the UK so our destination options were limited.  Edinburgh, Scotland was on our list of places to visit that we had not yet been to and it was within the UK, so we planned a last minute trip right after Christmas for a few days.  

Baby's first flight at 9 weeks old

Edinburgh is a beautiful, historic city.  The city is split between Old Town  and New Town, with the "New" part dating back to the 1700s!  Our hotel was in the Old Town, so that's where we spent most of our two days exploring.

At the famous Edinburgh Castle

On guard!

Beautiful views of the city and sea from the castle

Yep.  Definitely in Scotland

Random picture I caught of these two in our hotel.  She says all the time that she wants to marry him. :) 

On our second day in Edinburgh, we took a visit to this place called Camera Obscura.  It was filled with optical illusions, a mirror maze and other interesting exhibits.  The girls loved it, especially those mirrors that distort your body, and it was the perfect indoor activity on a cold day.

On the lunch menu: Olivia!

Checking out the views from the top

We followed up Camera Obscura with a walk around Dean Village. This was not originally on our list of things to do but it was recommended by a friend so we added it on.  While it was a little bit more effort to get to and from (a city bus was involved),  I'm glad we did as it was very charming.

This is what they think of Edinburgh

Not pictured: walking out of a restaurant because the girls were being so naughty, nursing a baby in crowded places, a toilet incident, diaper changing on laps, many sighs of frustration and the constant calling of "Girls" to make sure they were visible to us, safe and not touching anything they weren't suppose to be.  It's hard, but we love it.

Fa-la-la-la

Catching up on the blog today about our month of December.  With all the holiday activities leading up to Christmas, December has the tenacity to get overwhelming.  However, I think our family did a good job this year of finding a nice balance of holiday fun but also plenty of down time to relax and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.  

We launched the Christmas season with a visit to the girls' school where they had a Christmas fair one Saturday morning.  Fun activities included reindeer petting, Santa's grotto and Christmas crafts.

The girls both had Christmas concerts at school.  Olivia's class sang about Christmas crackers (a British holiday tradition).  Ashton's class had a medley of different songs and poems, with Jingle Bells being the biggest hit.

Our Christmas Cracker fourth from the right

Our little snowman

Christmas Jumper Day at school (fyi, the British call a sweater/sweatshirt a jumper)

The girls had a make-your-own-pizza Christmas party after school on the last day of the term.  While the Olivia and Ashton both had fun, I had my first "What have I gotten myself into?" moment since having a third child. Not only was the space very cramped for 25 child plus parents and the noise level/general chaos head spinning, but I had to manage helping the girls make their pizzas while holding/feeding a small baby.  I can feel the tension in my body rising just recounting it! 

Geoff's annual Christmas party was held at on old estate turned country club/hotel outside of London.  Thanks to some coordination efforts and babysitting provided by grandparents and our nanny, Geoff and I were able to spend the night at the hotel after the party.  Granted, Quinn was there with us too, but only having one child in the hotel room with us was a good as it was going to get and we enjoyed the brief night out.  

The girls and I turned to baking once they were on Christmas break from school.  They were great helping with making the cookies, decorating them and of course the most important part, eating them!

Geoff's parents came to visit us and meet Quinton.  They left to go back to Texas on Christmas Eve, but not before gifting the girls with Frozen dresses.  I don't think they took them off for 5 days straight.

On Christmas Eve afternoon, we headed to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park.  After hearing lots about it when we first moved to London, we went our first Christmas here and were disappointed to find it was just an oversized carnival.  So we avoided it for three years.  This year, we decided to give it another go.  It still was an oversized carnival, but the girls loved all the rides, especially the massive ferris wheel we rode that gave us panoramic views over the city.  We also took the girls to their first circus there with they sat with eyes bugging out of their heads as they watch the acrobats perform.

While we don't actively promote Santa Claus in our family, we don't debunk him either. The girls, especially Olivia, had lots of questions about him this year.  The typical Santa questions: "If he's fat, how can he get down our chimney?" "How does he travel the whole world in one night?"  "Why does he wear a red suit?" "If someone doesn't have a fireplace, how does he get into their house?" It was sweet to see her curiosity about him and the wheels in her little brain trying to figure it all out.

Christmas Eve treats for Santa and his reindeer

Happy Christmas!

Santa Baby

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

2015 Year in Review

As the calendar flips to 2016 today, I'm doing a bit of reflecting on 2015.  What a year we had!  So many new memories made, new destinations reach and of course, a new baby!  I was also reminded that we are not guaranteed tomorrow so to cherish each day that we are given with each other.

Now, come walk with me down memory lane from 2015...

January

This is how we felt about January.  Such a long, blah month.

February

The French Alps called us in February as we spent a couple days skiing with some friends.

On the 19th of February, my sweet Ashton Brooke turned two years old. What a joy she has been to our family!

At the end of the month, this happened for the third time.  2015 was going to get a lot more interesting for our family!

March

While we waited for the arrival of spring, our dear friends Adam and Jasmine from Houston visited us which meant we got to show them some of the London sights.

April

In April, we made our longest family trip yet when we went to Cambodia and Thailand.  Next to the arrival of our third child, that was our top highlight of the year.  What an experience!

May

At the beginning of May, I made a quick trip of three days back to the States for an Arbonne retreat in Virginia.  It was the first time I had traveled without at least one child in tow in nearly three years.  Given how much we've traveled in the last three years, this was a HUGE treat for me.

As a bonus to Geoff's birthday celebration, we found out we were going to be welcoming a boy into our family.  A gift of a son it going to be hard to top on his next birthday! 

We finished up the month in Ireland. They certainly don't call it the Emerald Isle for nothing.  Stunning scenery!

June

I had my most British experience yet at Royal Ascot.  It's hard to top fancy hats and seeing the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince Harry upclose.

Geoff and I escaped the girls for the weekend for our baby moon down to the Amalfi Coast in Italy.  It was so good to spend time alone and to be able to have every meal for three days not involve cutting children's food!

July

Olivia's summer holiday from school started in mid July and we found some fun activities to do around the city to occupy ourselves.

At the end of July, we made our annual family trek back home to the USA to visit our families.  It's always so good to be back in familiar territory where you (generally) know how life operates.  And where you can gorge yourself on Tex-Mex and Chick-fil-a for a solid two weeks.

August

The big highlight in August was our final trip as a family of four and there was no better place to make it happen at than Disneyland and Paris.  

And of course, we will never forget Geoff chasing down a thief on the streets of Paris.

September

After 8 weeks of summer break, it was back to school for Olivia and Ashton's debut.

Then my oldest turned five. I don't know how that happened, but it did.

 October

In October, our family was completed with the arrival of Quinton Benedict Streit.  I'm continually amazed at God's goodness as he is the absolute perfect addition to our family.   

November

In November, we began to figure out how to operate as a family of five while doing it with limited sleep.  I'm happy to report that we are still in one piece.  Just with probably a few more bags under the eyes. 

December

As typical, December was a busy month. Plenty of Christmas events at the girls' school, Christmas parties and other festivities kept us in the holiday spirits.

(Olivia is fourth from the right)

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

We concluded the year with a quick trip up to Edinburgh, Scotland.  More on that coming soon!

Happy New Year!  Wishing you many blessings in 2016!