The Man Shower

The wonderful people at Brian's office planned a surprise 'Man Shower' for him and invited Ella and I to join in the festivities. The party was complete with games, a Texas Tech onesie cake and LOTS of great gifts from a great group of people. Since it was a Man Shower, only the men particpated in the games, Pregnancy Twister with pillows tied to their bellies and baby bottle drinking races. The cake looked and tasted great! It was a blast :)

Look at all that loot!!

Weekend in London

With the baby coming in a few weeks, we decided to take a quick trip to London (before I was too big and cranky to go anywhere). We took the 6am train out of Harrogate on Saturday morning and got back home at 8pm on Sunday. It was exhausting but worth every minute. We had a list of must-sees (including mostly restaurants) that we had not visited on our previous trips and knew we wanted to go to Westminster Abbey first (both other visits were unsuccessful as it closed early in the day). The Abbey was beautiful, no photos allowed inside so you will have to take my word for it if you haven't seen it. :)

Westminster Abbey

We also had to partake in the tourist trap, aka The London Eye. Talk about a long line with lots of bored children :) We booked tickets online, so we were able to skip one line (I recommend this to everyone)! Ella was SO excited, but poor thing told us as we were about 3 minutes from boarding that she had to go potty. She was almost in tears after the 30 minute ride...I know, bad parenting! She was such a trooper :)

Brian's new love since moving to England is Scotch Whisky, he has even joined the Scotch Malt Whisky Society!! He asked that while we were there he be allowed to go to the society's tasting room. Not too many people were there so we all went in and Ella and I enjoyed peanuts and juice while Brian submerged himself in 'study'!!

Scotch Malt Whisky Society Tasting Room

A very tired girl at the end of the day :)

After a good nights sleep, we awoke ready for day 2. We headed straight for the Science Museum and Ella had a blast. There was an area just for 2-5 year old kids with tons of cool stuff to play with. We saw a bubble show that she is still talking about.

Very proud of her castle!

After lunch at Chipotle, yes the American chain, we then spent a lot of time and money at my one request for the trip, Whole Foods!!! We bought as many familiar things as we could find and snacked through the store. To reward Ella for being perfectly behaved for the entire trip, we headed to one of the best playgrounds ever. The Princess Diana Memorial Playground is a must-see for any family traveling to London!!

A very, very, very tired girl on the train ride home :)

Germany, Take....I've lost count!!

Brian had to go to a conference in Garmisch, Germany and since it would be one of our last chances to travel before the baby comes, we all went to enjoy Germany again. The weather was great everyday and the views in every direction are amazing.

Driving into the resort.

The view from our room.

Relaxing in the lobby.

Since we were away from England and the rain, we spent as much time outside as possible. Ella would have spent the entire trip at the hotel's playground! She was such a trooper on the trip.

We took a family horse and carriage ride around Garmisch one evening and saw all the sights. Ella has always loved horses and she was so excited she never sat down. She is still talking about the horse ride and keeps asking what their names were.

She never took her eyes off the horses!

The next day we drove up to one of the mountain lakes, Eibsee, and rented a paddle boat. I still don't know how Ella didn't end up in the lake. I had to hold on to her life jacket with a death grip.

Only in Germany would you be served apple juice in a glass like that :)

For dinner we drove to a different lake, Riersee, to have dinner at a restaurant right on the lake. Our view from the table was breathtaking and Ella was able to walk around the lake while we waited for our food, always a plus!

On our last day we rented bikes and went for a ride to the next town, Partenkirchen. We stopped to see the Olympic ski slope and found a bobsled ride that Brian had to force Ella onto then couldn't get her to leave!

Our last dinner was in Partenkirchen at a restaurant with traditional Bavarian music and dancing. The food was amazing!! And Brian sure enjoyed the beer :)

We had an amazing trip and hope to be able to go to all of the Military resorts one day, they sure know how to treat their guests!

New Haircut

Since Ella's latest nervous habit turned her into a constant puller, we had to take her to get her first professional haircut. It was supposed to be punishment for pulling out her hair, but she loves her new do!! Mommy was the only one crying :(

Vacation

After two of our family trips were cancelled because of the volcanic ash, we planned a last minute trip to see a few of the sights that we had not made it to see yet. We got in the car and headed south. After a pit stop for supplies at Cadbury World, think chocolate factory with lots of samples, we were ready to see the sights. We stayed at one of the Air Force bases and made day trips. Our first stop was Stonehenge, it really is big rocks in the middle of a field! It is amazing to think how they created this site without heavy machinery.

The next day we headed in the opposite direction and saw Windsor Castle. The Queen spends most of her weekends here but we didn't spot her! It was beautiful. Ella called it Windy Castle, because the character from one of her favorite shows goes to visit a place called Windy Castle. We played along!

Ella loved the audio guides!!

The base was very close to Oxford and since Uncle Jason had studied here one summer, we made the trip to see his school, we think! And of course had a pint at one of his favorite pubs.

We then made the trip to Wales to spend our last night in a new country! Cardiff is a very modern city with a beautiful castle. They were having a special Life in Roman Times event and we spent most of the day on the castle grounds. We watched a Roman battle demonstration and Ella dressed up like a princess. And of course added another t-shirt to the Hard Rock collection.

On the way home, to reward Ella for spending countless hours in the car, we stopped at an animal safari park. It had a small amusment park and petting zoo and a drive-thru animal safari. Some of the animals would come right to the car window and eat out of your hands.

It's a....

We are very excited to announce that our house will have more pink in it come September!! Another girl to love and spoil :) Ella is very excited (I think) and is a good helper at choosing names, her favorite is 'Bolt' for a boy or a girl. She talks about all that she is going to do to help when the baby arrives. But she is not going to change diapers!! She loves all of her friends' little brothers and sisters so I am sure she will be so excited to have a baby at her house.

BIG NEWS!!

There will be a new addition to the Caruthers Family in September!