London trip

My collegue, Pat, and I arrived on Sunday morning in London. After a long wait to get through immigration, we were on our way in to town.  We had no idea we were arriving in the middle of the London marathon. We stayed near the Tower of London and the city was quite busy.  We decided to check out the newly renovated Kensington Palace, in Hyde Park.  We had both never been and it was neat to walk around - so much history!  Next we walked to Harrod's in the rain and did some shopping and then decided to grab some food at a restaurant in Harrod's.  Our pizza and waters were $50 - crazy!!  We were leaving Harrod's and I noticed all these advertisement for South Carolina and even a window display for Hilton Head.

On Tuesday night, we had a team outing and went out for Japanese food and karaoke.  We had a private little area and soon after dinner the song books came out along with the microphones.   The nice thing is that there was no stage and lots of group singing.  What a fun night!

Our last night in London, we went to East London to view the Olympic village and eat dinner at Jamie's.  It was very cool to get to see where the Olympics will take place in less than 90 days.  London is one of my favorite cities to visit.  I have probably been to London around 10 times and it never disappoints! I love how they have so much history but also are very modern.  We did some Olympic shopping and then enjoyed dinner at Jamie Oliver's restaurant.  It was all amazing!  After dinner, Pat and I did some power shopping with only 45 minutes before the shops closed.  I was able to get a fair amount done and somehow managed to fit everything in my suitcase.  The mall next to the Olympic village is brand new and it was awesome!
We got picked up at 5am on Friday morning to head to the airport and due to leaving London late and missing my connection in Chicago, I made it home just in time to kiss Avery and Ryan good night.  It was a long 22 1/2 hours!

Feels like Summer

On Saturday, I enjoyed time with the kids before I had to drive to the airport to catch my flight to London.  The weather was so nice and knew the forecast in London wasn't pretty!  We went for a long walk while Andy did yard work and then all enjoyed lunch outside at Panera.   After nap time, they headed to the park and on Sunday Andy survived taking them to swim lessons by himself and then took them out for yogurt!

Firefighters Museum

Saturday, we decided to check out the Firefighters Museum with a Groupon we purchased.  Of course, it turned out it was a free day - oh well!  It is a very cool building with lots of neat historical fire fighting items.  Avery and Ryan were probably a little young to enjoy everything, but they managed to have a good time.  We then went to one of Andy's favorite downtown burger joints, H Burger.  It was pretty good!

Easter Brunch & Egg Hunt

Ryan went with Andy to the airport as we figured he would just sleep, which he did. But, when they got to the airport, Ryan was not happy he wasn't actually getting on an airplane!

Avery and I went to the Carlson's for Easter Brunch and an egg hunt.  Avery had a great time playing with the kids.  All the food was delicious, including the desserts.  My favorite was the shrimp and grits that Jennifer made.  We hid the eggs while the kids went up to the play room and Avery had fun finding the eggs.  She even was nice enough to pick up one for Ryan.  By the afternoon, Ryan was finally coming around and Avery was able to share her Easter eggs with him.

Visit with Grandma & Grandpa

On Friday, Ryan woke up with a fever and stayed home with us, while Avery went to school.   He spent the day in his jammies and decided that Raleigh's bed was the best place to be (Raleigh never uses it!).  Grandma made a yummy brisket for our seder.  We were sad that Ryan missed it, but Avery enjoyed having dinner in the dining room with the grown ups.  And, her favorites from the dinner were matzah, charoset, and a boiled egg.

Saturday, Ryan and I were going to stay behind, but he was feeling better and was ready to get out of the house.  We headed to the Denver Museum Nature & Science to check out the Snake and Lizard exhibit.  We also showed Grandma and Grandpa all of Avery and Ryan's favorite animals on display.  The viewing deck was also open, so were able to get a few photos. The views are amazing!  For lunch, we went to Amato's Ale House in the Highlands and the kids did great.  In the afternoon, we headed over to the park to check out the jungle gym and play some soccer.  Nan babysat Saturday night, and we enjoyed a nice dinner at Ocean Prime on Larimer Square.

Ryan started going back downhill and Andy and I had a rough night.
Andy's parents had an early flight and we grabbed a few pictures of Avery with Grandma and Grandpa before they had to leave for the airport.  We had a fun weekend, just wish Ryan would have felt better.

Poor little sick Ryan (sleeping on Raleigh's bed, that Raleigh doesn't ever use)

Big Girl Avery

Being a good mommy to her baby

Silverman Visit

Josh, Brandy, Bailey and Emma were in Colorado to visit Brandy's family and were able to stop by for dinner before heading to the mountains. Andy and Josh's parents also arrived on Thursday to visit us over the weekend.  The cousins had fun playing in the basement and Avery and Ryan did a great job sharing their toys.  It was good to catch up with Josh and Brandy and hear about Houston.   We were able to get a few photos of the Silverman clan after dinner.  Bailey and Avery were so cute together.  Ryan did pretty well even though he didn't feel great!

Afternoon with Avery

Ryan was sent home from school this afternoon as he was running a fever.  Poor guy!  Andy picked up Ryan around lunch time and I was able to get out of the office early to pick up Avery.  Avery and I made brownies for our visitors (Andy's brother and family and his parents) for dinner tonight.  She loved it! We also did pigtails and took a few pictures.  She is quite the character!!