Berry Fun

The first day of the girls' summer school holiday a few weeks ago coincided with a Friday off of work that Geoff had and pleasant weather.  I had seen several advertisments in magazines and posted online about a Pick Your Own fruit and veg farm not too far outside of London.  Given we don't have a car, excursions like this out of the city are a bit more complicated. But we were able to rent a car for a few hours and off we went to get some fresh produce.  

Strawberries and raspberries were in season and lucky for us, we love strawberries and raspberries in our house.  After a little coaching, the girls knew how to identify the best ripe berries to pluck off and they loved spotting them and then pulling them off the stems.  

Quinn tried to get in on the action too, but was resorted to more leaf pulling than berry picking. 

The also had some various vegetable fields and we pulled some beetroots and broad beans.  Given we are urban, city dwellers and the girls have had virtually no experience with farms/gardens, it was a fun lesson for them in how things grow and then show up in the grocery store and eventually our home.

That's a wrap

And just like that, the school year has ended.  Gosh, it flew by.  It feels like last month I was sending Olivia off to her new class and introducing Ashton to school for the first time.  The both had terrific years with wonderful teachers, friends, learning and of course, fun!

Olivia's Reception teacher was Mrs. Peacock whom she thrived under.  Mrs. Peacock really pushed Olivia in her reading and challenged her in many areas but while still ensuring that Olivia was having lots fun.  Olivia's favorite part of school was the "workshop" where she could build stuff out of recycled boxes and plastics.  It was fun to see her creativity when explaining to us what all of her structures were.  Hmmm...we might have a future engineer like her daddy on our hands.

Ashton had several teachers in her class, but her favorite was Miss Sorkin whom she gave a big hug to every morning when she arrived.  We often got reports from her teachers that Ashton was always so proper, sitting still and raising her hand.  The rule follower.  She often took initiative to help tidy up activities and loved to help out around the classroom whenever she could.  I asked her what her favorite part was of being in the nursery was and she said playing with her friends.  Good answer. 

The last several weeks leading up to the last day were filled with all sorts of school activities.  First up was sports day where Olivia's class participated in various fun field events.

 Olivia with her two best friends from school, Nea and Nusiikka.  They are three peas in a pod. 

Next was Olivia's summer concert.  Her class told the story of how Eddie the Penguin saved the world.  Each child had a line in the story to say and they sang several songs.  The children worked so part and they all did terrific with their lines.

Post performance with Nusiikka. 

Ashton's class had a teddy bear picnic that all the parents were invited to.  Unfortunately, the weather the day of the picnic was rainy so it had to the cancelled for the parents as the indoor space wasn't large enough to accommodate the parents.  However, I heard a report that the event was still a big success for the children.

Lastly, Olivia takes ballet lessons each week as part of her school day.  On the last lesson of the term, the parents are invited in to watch the lesson.  It was fun to see Olivia show off some of moves she's learned throughout the school year.

And with that, we are now enjoying the summer holiday!  Or at least the holiday part.  We're still waiting on summer to arrive in London...

Wedding Bells

Back when I was young, between the ages of 2-14, my mom kept having babies and she kept bringing home baby boys from the hospital.  Five of them to be exact.  While I did eventually get a sister when I was a senior in high school, it seemed a bit too little, too late by then.  My only consolation for having all those brothers was knowing that eventually they would all grow up, get married and new sisters would be welcomed into our family.  

Back in May, my middle brother Jason tied the knot with his fiancee Talya and we did indeed welcome a new sister into the Heckman family.  The wedding took place in western Minnesota, where Talya's family is from, so off to the USA we went.  We had original thought about tying the trip for the wedding in with our annual trip home to the States.  However, the timing just didn't work out for that to happen.  Instead we left London on Thursday and arrived back in London on Monday morning.  It was a crazy long amount of time on airplanes with three kids over only 96 hours plus jet lag and non-stop activity, but it was definitely worth it to be with my family for the big event.  

Ready for take off!  These kids are such expert travelers.

Getting our fill of Mexican food with the groom.

Despite the ultra serious look on Olivia's face, she was so thrilled to have her hair done.  Usually she fidgets and wails when I do her hair, but sitting there in that chair she was all business.

My family (minus Brian's wife who couldn't travel to the wedding because she was 8 months pregnant with twin boys).  Love them so!

The Heckman Seven.  I couldn't have asked for six better siblings.  They are pretty awesome.

Olivia and Ashton were flower girls in the wedding and Quinn was....a wagon rider.  He and two other babies were pulled down the aisle in an old fashioned wagon. Just moments before the doors swung open for them to proceed down the aisle, all three of them were howling, but then miracle on miracle, they calmed down and were perfect.  Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the wagon event as I was at the back of the church.

My handsome guys

The girls were great in their flower girl roles although they did briefly fall asleep during the ceremony while they sat in the pew. Ashton was full on falling over onto Olivia in her sleep and the bridal party got the hilarious show as we were turned around for a moment.     

With Uncle Doug.  Quinn was pretty stoked to meet all of his uncles and aunts for the first time.

I love this picture of Geoff with his girls.  The girls look so grown up to me with their hair done, fancy dresses and pearls.  I know before I want it to happen these girls will be in wedding dresses of their own standing next to their daddy as they go down the aisle to their groom.  However for the time being, Olivia says she wants to marry Quinn and Ashton says she's going to marry Geoff so it's all good.  :)

For months leading up the wedding, the girls had talked about how they couldn't wait to dance at the wedding reception.  They practiced their dance moves on dance-offs with Geoff.  Unfortunately, by the time the dancing got started, they were so exhausted and jet lagged.  After all, they had been up since 5:00 am, no real nap with a full day of activity.  As soon as dinner was over, Ashton was put to bed. I don't think she even got any cake. (Fortunately the reception was at the hotel we were staying at.)  Olivia managed to last a few songs on the dance floor.  Poor thing wanted to stay longer to keep dancing but the need for sleep eventually won out.  

The happy, beautiful couple!