London

In my Florida post I mentioned that Jason was supposed to be gone for a month at trial. Well, I lucked out and the case settled a few days before he was supposed to leave. It was great for me because he then got a month off. It wasn't so great for him because he had done all the prep work for the case and was excited to be at trial. I'm sure there will be another case and he'll have many more opportunities. So instead of being in Texas for a month he was home, with us! So we planned a last minute trip to London.

We all loved London. The weather was good for us. It rained off and on for a few days but not too bad. There were also a few sunny and warmish days. I only had to take my winter coat with us on our last day there. Calder loved exploring and seeing so much. And Colette was a trooper. She rode in the Ergo every day and only complained a few times.

London is a fabulous place to go with kids. People are really friendly and helpful. Most of the museums are free and therefore it's easy to come and go if your kids totally lose it. There are also lots of kid centered activities.
 

 The Magna Carta

 The Natural History Museum

 Princess Dianna Memorial Playground

 The craziness of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace

 Westminster Chapel

 Harrod's Department Store. Every time we travel somewhere Calder gets to buy a toy. This time he chose a forklift with two pallets. I bought Colette a charm bracelet and her first charm. It is of Big Ben. I'm hoping to add a charm every time we travel somewhere.

 The view from our fabulous hotel room.

 Eating at Yo! Sushi. Calder loved the conveyer belt that went around the kitchen and dining area. He also loved the water dispenser in the middle of the table.

 Westminster Abbey

 St. Paul's Cathedral

 A fun statue outside the Gerken. This is where the Kirkland & Ellis London office is.

 This is what Calder looked like on the rainy days.

 Calder riding in the top front seat of a double decker bus.

 Jason & the kids in front of Buckingham Palace.

 Most of the undergrounds didn't have elevators but Calder could easily walk down the stairs and Jason carried the stroller. Many times people offered to grab the front of the stroller and help him down.

 The British Museum

 The British Museum

Fish & Chips

Climbing

There has been a lot of climbing going on at our house lately. See for yourself. 

Florida in February

In February the kids and I took Grandma to Florida. It was fabulous! Jason was scheduled to be at a trial for about a month. So I jokingly told him I was going on vacation. He thought it was a genuinely good idea and started looking for places for us to go. Since I didn't want to take both kids by myself we invited his mom to come too! It was fabulous. We went to Hollywood, Florida which is just south of Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed at the Westin Diplomat, which has a few pools and is on the beach.  Everything a girl and her kids and her mom-in-law could want.

 Colette was unsure of the sand at first. She didn't want to touch it. After a few minutes though, she was eating it. The two became close friends.

 Calder was sad because I told him this couldn't be our family's next car. A new Lamborghini sounds nice but there's not a lot of room for car seats and boosters.

Two happy kids flying home.

Colette at 8 Months

 Colette is such a peach. I love her to pieces and it is so fun to see her grow. She learned to crawl this week (she's 8 and a half months) and the world has opened up to her. She doesn't need me to hold her as much because she can get herself around.

She also pulls herself up to stand on everything and can cruise around the furniture. She isn't brave enough to let go yet but she will be soon, I'm sure. She weighs 16 lbs, which is pretty small. She has been riding the 25% scale since she was born. Although she is small, she is wicked strong. She can pull do little pull ups on taller furniture and let her feet come off the ground. I'm scared for when she starts climbing.

 She prefers to feed herself and will try just about anything. Her favorites are bread, cheese and squash.

 I can't believe she is already 8 months. Time is going by so fast.

January in a post

It has been a busy month. And apparently I can't keep up with the blogging world with two kids. Who knew it would be so hard to find the time. Anyway, we had a fun and fabulous month. Colette is getting so big. Calder loves preschool and is getting so big. Jason worked a lot and I swept the floor a lot. A lot. Anyway, here is our month in pictures.

 Calder is "working in a lab" in the above picture.

 And sharing his toys.

 Calder is so big he wants to sit in his own seat on the metro.

 And Colette is so big she wants to go shopping.

 January brought some really nice days. We took full advantage of them.

 I'm sure I've mentioned before how fabulous Calder's preschool is. He is outside for 2 hours most days and sometimes he is outside for the full three hours. They hike the 40 acres and learn all sorts of things about nature and animals. I couldn't imagine a better fit for Calder.

 And this is what his boots look like a lot of times when he comes home. He plays hard.

 January also brought some snow. This is one of my favorite things about DC. In January you have 60+ degree days and you have snow (most years). It is perfect for me.

 Colette loves to pretend to drive. This is her "picking Calder up from preschool"

 Calder and his friend Charlie went to Build A Bear for the first time. They let you put a heart in the bear that you've hugged and loved. I don't remember the whole saying but it is really cute.

 And then you get to wash and dry your new friend.