The Lake District

We just took a weekend road trip with another family down into England to the Lake District. We rented a cottage in a little town called Windermere and saw some more of the beautiful UK. And we actually had some nice weather and were able to enjoy it!! We went with our friends Andrew and Alene and their three kids (Trav and Andrew had a conference in Durham, England this week so we took this little trip before and the girls and kids came home while the boys went to their conference). The view from the car window was amazing and helped ease some of the tension of driving on tiny country roads, up and down the mountains with sheep standing in the middle of the road at any turn! On one of the days, we took the kids for a ride on an old, open top steam train. They seemed to like it and, once again, it was hard to beat the view.

On our way back from the train ride, we stopped at Dove Cottage, one of William Wordsworth's homes (he's a famous English poet in case you weren't an English major!). The gardens were awesome and it was the perfect place for the kids to run around. And we actually broke a sweat!! I think it might be the first time this summer (maybe even the first time since moving here??!)! 

Piper figured out how to cool herself down... she did this pretty much the entire time!

Justus with his sweet friends, Paige and Charlotte.

Trav jumped the fence and took the kids to try and catch the sheep. They didn't catch any but it was cute to watch :)

The next day we went to a park on Lake Windermere right near where we were staying. Piper was looking cute, as always!

All the kiddos (except Lewis who wasn't too happy to be wearing his life jacket) ready to get out on the rowboats!

Our trusty rower. I learned that I am apparently also a "back seat rower" (not just a back seat driver!)!

So focused. So dedicated.

Piper sat like this the entire time. She was actually happy, I think, despite the look on her face!! (I'm sure it didn't help that her life jacket was shoved up into her chin!) She wouldn't let me move her and she kept her hand over the side of the boat in the water the whole trip :) Ha!

Justus pulled a leaf off one of the trees as we rowed by and he kept it with him the whole ride and even freaked out once because he thought he lost it. Ahh, the things that fascinate him...

If you look closely, Justus is now rubbing his cheek with that same leaf. My son, ladies and gentlemen. So proud. (PS - I found this leaf on the floor beneath his car seat after we got home. He really became attached to that thing! Too bad it went straight to the trash.)

After the lake, we took the kids to the Beatrix Potter museum. I knew we would be going so I had been reading Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny to Justus. He really likes the stories (I think he relates to those bunnies who seem to do exactly what they are not supposed to and get into lots of trouble! Hmm...) He and Piper had lots of fun running around and seeing the garden and all the animals. I compare the experience to a ride line at Disneyland.

And that was pretty much it! We spent the rest of our time at home just hanging out. I really wish I would have taken more pictures of the cottage or the town we stayed in, or even pictures of the drive, but oh well. It was short but sweet and nice to get away. Come visit and we will take you there :)

"International"

Ahhh... Kay Kay, Mia, Papa Chop Chop. They came. They brought goodies. We walked around. It rained. We saw some sights. We ate. It was cold. We ate some more. Some golfed. Some shopped. We wore gloves and scarves (get the theme?? This is June, people!!). But they were troopers and put up with us and it was SO FUN to have them all here. It was good for us. We love our family and miss them all so much. Please, please, please COME BACK AGAIN SOON!! xoxo

How did we fit all this stuff???! In my opinion, it was worth the squeeze for our green chiles, corn tortillas and Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch!

  Aww...sissies :) Love these ladies!

Justus in the background thinking, "Hey, they're stealing my moves to the nakey dance!"

 Cheering on the 'older' boys at the Old Course :)

 CHEERS!!! 

Our new home

I can't believe it's almost been a month, but we moved into our new house on May 1 and we love it! After cleaning, organizing, and finding a place for everything (almost!), we feel settled and it already feels like home. We LOVE being right in town (we were living about 6 miles out of St Andrews... now we can walk pretty much anywhere we want to go!). It's just a 5 minute walk to take Justus to 'school', Trav rides his bike into the office, and it's only about a 15 minute walk into the center of town. 

Our house is about 100 years old and used to be the servant's quarters which are attached to the main (huge) part of the house where our landlords currently live. But the house is great and big enough for us - 3 bedrooms + a playroom and a nice back garden which Travis doesn't have to take care of!!

Our property is back off of the road a little ways and our landlords own a huge amount of land. It is quaint and quiet.

We definitely have a 'retro' kitchen! Home of the "toaster mouse" which greeted me at 6:00am on our first morning here... AAAH!!! I haven't seen him since, only some evidence of him a few days later, but he seems to be staying away for the moment. (And in case you are wondering, we did throw away the toaster!)

No dishwasher, but at least I have a nice view from the sink :)

SO thankful for the playroom... otherwise where would I put all this stuff??!

 Our sweet back garden - perfect size for us.

We can't wait to host our first guests at the new place - Kay Kay and Mia & Papa Chop Chop!!!! So excited! xoxo

Little Piper Girl

Just one question: Why is she so cute??!!

Just keeping her hands free for other things...

Looking out the window at Pitscottie, one last time...

Love her!!

So Happy Together

Okay so it's not quite this cute ALL of the time, but for the most part Justus and Piper are pretty happy together (that is, when Justus is not stealing Piper's toys from her - which she actually doesn't seem to mind as much as I do - and when she is not knocking down his Star Wars bases that he builds!). The fact is that he really likes to have her 'nearby' when he's playing (he's always calling her into whatever room he's in), and she absolutely ADORES him. :)