Hadley's 11th Birthday!

On March 19th, we celebrated a big eleventh birthday!!

And celebrating this girl is so easy. Hadley loves all things handwork--crochet, knitting, weaving, spinning...she loves it all! She has recently joined the Eagle River Spinners, which is a group of  mostly 60+ who meet monthly to spin fiber into yarn. Hadley didn't hesitate for a minute to jump in to a group doing a skill that was entirely new to her with people decades older than her. Her confidence & bravery astounds me! When Hadley is in her bedroom, she is almost always reading or listening to a Playaway & crocheting. Hadley loves gymnastics and jewelry & plans to be the President of the United States one day. Brady is planning to be on her Secret Service detail, too! 

Hadley wanted to start her day by making her own birthday pancakes, so that's just what she did!

After breakfast, these two literally couldn't contain their excitement for the day ahead! We were headed to a concert with our homeschool charter program in Anchorage & then to the mall for lunch, a little shopping, and a second piercing for Hadley's ears!

{birthday money to spend at the mall!}

{lunch at Chili's after the concert!}

{ears are officially double-pierced!}

Hadley picked white chicken chili for dinner {we had to have something quick & easy after a busy day in Anchorage} before heading to Brady's indoor soccer game. After his game, it was home for cake & presents!!

{a hug for Brady after opening his gift--he bought her a Bottle Pop & necklace with his own money}

{an art set from Shelby that has already gotten lots of use!}

{new compact mirror}

What a gift it is to love & be loved by this girl! We love you, Hadley Mae! 

Spring Break 2024: LONDON {Part Three}

Our last full day in London was spent touring Westminster Abbey & the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. 

{my favorite people in the world!}

{our crew really enjoys the audio tours}

Shelby is currently taking a geography class at school & expressed interested in visiting the Prime Meridian, so off we went! In the pictures below, we are standing outside the Royal Observatory on the actual line of the Prime Meridian. 

{lots of time on the tube!}

{last ride on the tube to head back to the airport!}

And a total random anecdote from our trip that I don't want to forget--game shows!! Usually when we travel to a new city, one of the perks for the kids is TV time in the hotel or Airbnb while they take turns doing the "shower shuffle" in the evenings or waiting for everyone to get ready in the mornings. Our kids don't watch any television at home {with the exception of their Friday movie nights}, so this is a big deal! The channel of choice is always Disney or Disney, Jr. When we visited Boston two years ago, our Airbnb didn't have Disney or any other cartoon networks...enter Wipe Out! Derek and the kids watched this every evening of our trip & absolutely loved it. Well, we weren't able to find Disney Channel or any cartoons in London either, so game shows were what we settled on. The kids watched two British game shows all week--The Chaser & Breaking Point. They are now big fans!

Also, totally random, but I read something this week about the magical yet fleeting window of time for family travel between the stage of having your youngest children in diapers/strollers/nap schedules and the oldest leaving the nest. Derek and I are increasingly aware that we may only have five more years with Shelby at home {not that the family trips will have to stop then, but the dynamics will surely be different & the logistics will likely be much trickier!}, and we want to make all the memories we can with our crew. I'm so thankful that we didn't wait for our kids to outgrow diapers/strollers/naps before we got brave enough to start traveling with young children. What a gift these memories are to us!

Spring Break 2024: LONDON! {Part Two}

Our third day in London was our first rainy day! We went to the British Museum, which unfortunately had the longest line in the rain. It was crowded, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves! We didn't visit any museums when we visited London in 2012, so we didn't have anything to compare the crowds to...but we just kept thinking if this is their "shoulder" or "off" season, we shudder to think what peak tourist season would be like! 

After the British Museum, we rode the tube over to meet Derek's friend & his fiancé for lunch. Then, we checked out the British Library, Paddington Station, and a few gift shops before calling it a day.

Our fourth day was our fullest day of the trip & it did not disappoint!! We started the morning at Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard--so cool! Again, it was incredibly crowded when we arrived & we were worried we wouldn't be able to see enough to make it worthwhile, but it was amazing! By the time the ceremony started, all five of us were enthralled.

From Buckingham Palace, we rode the tube to the Warner Brothers studio of the Harry Potter films in Watford. Derek had to secure these tickets months in advance because it is always completely sold out. It absolutely lived up to the hype!! We arrived around 1:30pm and stayed until it was closing, and I still feel like we didn't see it all. It was incredible!

More to come!

Spring Break 2024: LONDON! {Part One}

A few months ago, Derek stumbled upon a great deal on airfare to London over our Spring Break..so we jumped on it! Derek has a friend that is currently stationed in England {about an hour outside of London} & he tried to convince us that this wasn't the best time of year to visit; we had to assure him anything is better than Alaska in March! 

Derek & I went to London in November of 2012, but we were only there for two days. This time, we were there for five full days. It was also a completely different experience with kids! I actually just went back & re-read our post from our visit in 2012 & Derek had commented on things being pricier in London, which made me laugh because after traveling last month to Maui & this month to London we thought everything was so reasonably priced--my, how our perspectives have changed from living in Alaska!

The timing of our flights to London was less than ideal, but our kids continue to amaze us with travel! We joke that flights out of Alaska either have to be at the crack of dawn or an overnight flight--there is no in between. Well, we somehow ended up with both this time around, ha! We had a 6am flight to Seattle, which meant we had to leave our house by 3:30am. Then we had a long layover in Seattle {the upside of this was the kids & I got introduced to the USO} before an overnight flight to London with us landing at 9am the next morning. We flew Delta to Seattle & then Virgin Atlantic to London. The Virgin Atlantic flight was by far the biggest plane the kids have ever been on & they thought it was pretty cool. Hands-down the best part of our flight {aside from the free snacks in the back that the kids were big fans of!} was having the kindest flight attendant welcome us onto the plane in the most quintessentially British accent. She asked Hadley if were going home or going on holiday, and Hadley replied in her best British accent that we were going on holiday. She was smiling from ear to ear, and that exchange alone was the best way to kick off our trip! 

As you can see from the two photos below, the kids settled into the USO quite nicely, ha! 

We landed in London around 9am & got checked into our hotel. We mistakenly thought taking a bus tour of the city would be a good way to spend our first afternoon--not too physically taxing with us being jet-lagged. In actuality, it was us taking turns falling asleep on the bus. ;) But we managed to make it till 7pm that first night & adjusted to the time change easily! There are exactly zero photos from our bus tour due to extreme exhaustion. ;)

Our first full day in London was a huge hit! We went to the Tower of London, and we spent almost the entire day there. We got the audio guide for the kids, and they were so, so into it!

{We learned in reading Story of the World that there are parts of Roman walls still standing in London to this day..Brady was thrilled to find one!}

After the Tower of London, we had just enough time to check out the Tower Bridge! Derek & I saw the Tower Bridge in 2012, but we didn't go up. So this was a first for all of us! We loved learning the story of the bridge & at the top there is a glass floor you can walk across.

{view from the Tower Bridge}

{this was so fun--a mirror above the glass floor for selfies!}

Our second morning might have been my favorite part of our whole trip! The weather on this day was the best we had during the trip, and we had the most delightful stroll Kensington Gardens. But first, a quick pit stop to mail a few British post cards! Even the mailboxes are fun in London!

{Alaska is still covered in snow, so we were delighted to find signs of spring in London!}

We checked out the Science Museum & the Natural History Museums that day, and they were both okay..just sooo crowded. Derek & I have never been huge fans of crowds, but I think our threshold for them has greatly diminished after living in Alaska for the past 18 months. ;) 

{it's always amazing to travel & see new places, but often times the best part of it all is the uninterrupted together time}

After the museums, we walked to the Princess Diana Memorial Gardens. The playground was way too crowded for our liking, but the kids loved it! I thought it was so cool to just casually walk past Kensington Palace like it was no big deal. ;)

{posing in front of the Natural History Museum..all of the buildings & architecture amazed us!}

{if you look closely, you'll see Brady & Hadley at the top of the mast}

Lots more pictures & stories to share soon!