Just going through pictures and posting some that I never got around to.

May was a fun month at school for the kids. Avery had a field trip to Banham Zoo, Allie had 2 field trips....one to Dinosaur Adventure Park and another to Audley End House and Gardens. I didn't go to any because I obviously have Blake. Derek was actually off the day that Allie went to Audley End House but I secretly didn't want to go to that one because everyone, even the chaperones, had to dress up like they were in Victorian times. No thank you! :) We had a heck of a time trying to figure out an outfit for Allie. We finally put something together that I thought was pretty cute.......and she LOVED it. It's actually one of my dresses so she thought that was pretty cool.

Of course Avery and Blake wanted to get their picture taken too.

 

I had lunch at school with the girls at the last Hedgehog Hangout.

 

They had their Spring Fling........

Blake and Avery spent a good chunk of their tickets on getting their faces painted.

ROAR!!!

 

At the end of the Spring Fling there was a basket auction. We almost didn't go but there were a couple baskets that we were interested in. Didn't get them because they were way too expensive BUT halfway through the auction they said they had awards for the top boy and girl in 1st thru 5th grades in a program called Reading Counts. Allie was so hopeful that she would get one. They read the 2nd grade girls name and it wasn't her. She broke down in tears. I kinda figured it wasn't her because I knew nothing about this award and thought if she was to get one we would have been notified. She was so upset we gathered up our things to leave....but Derek really had to go to the bathroom so we stood at the back as they finished up. Then all of a sudden I heard "Allison Hoober" and a bunch of kids correcting the lady by yelling, "Huber." haha. We aren't even sure why she got it. Was she the top overall? Not sure, very possibly could have been. We know she is the top in her class......by a long shot. At any rate, it made her night and she was so happy. She deserved it!!

 

 

Bus Stop fun....climbing trees

 

Birthday party fun, painting pottery. All of the kids were there. I just got a pic of Blake because I couldn't leave his side (just so he wouldn't fall off of that chair). He LOVED it!

 

Playing at a new park we found

 

A London taxi.....nowhere near London

 

Afternoon bike ride

 

Whenever Blake takes a nap he has to pick out 2 cars. Then he will just lay there driving his cars around on his pillow until he falls asleep. It's so cute!

 

I'm not sure if I have already posted this or not. Derek's squadron had a picnic a couple weeks ago. Derek put on a cornhole tournament and we made these mini cornhole boards to give away as trophies. We got about half way through the tournament and a big storm rolled in. :(

 

Lastly, a couple videos. Mom -- this is why I want you to join Facebook or at least Instagram......because it's so easy for me to quickly post this stuff there........and these are old videos/pictures!

 

 

10 year Anniversary

Derek and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary. In some ways it seems the 10 years have flown by......yet, at the same time, it feels like it's been a lot longer. We have been through a lot together and it has not always been easy, sometimes putting a strain on our relationship but, no matter what, we stick together and work through things.....and we always will. Derek said it best when he said "it's been a great 10 years with 3 amazing kids and tons of great memories."

Thursday, May 29th was our actual anniversary. Avery had her last soccer game last night so we spent the night doing what we all love....watching/playing soccer. Friday night was already filled up with the school's Spring Fling so we decided we would do something on Saturday. Derek said he would take care of finding a babysitter and planning the day. I was very pleasantly surprised with the date he put together for our anniversary! He found a sitter for the entire day and we set out on a day in London.

The date started off with lunch at Chipotle. Then we made our way to the Apollo Victoria Theater and we had amazing seats to see the musical Wicked!

 

He had even made dinner reservations for after the show and planned the route we would walk to the restaurant from the theater. The walk took us through St James park, along the river and past Buckingham Palace, and then by Trafalgar Square.

 

The restaurant he booked us as at was on a boat on the river Thames that is docked right across from the London Eye. We both had really yummy steaks!

 

It was a great date. Of course we talked about our wonderful kids a lot and worrying how they were (we don't leave them anywhere ever, really). It was so good to be able to get out just the two of us though and the kids were fine, well-behaved and were very happy to be getting a break from Mom and Dad! :)

Wales

We're trying to make the most of our 3-4 day weekends. Hard to believe a year has already gone by since living here. Planned a somewhat last minute trip to Northern Wales (only a 5 hour drive). Really, it was like a month in advance but it just so happens to be term break for the British schools so a lot of places were booked and prices of everything are double what they usually are. We found one cottage that didn't jack up their prices and it ended up being the perfect place for us to stay!

It was a terraced home. Ours is the one on the far left....with the red car in front of it. It had a beautiful mountain stream running right in front of it as well.

 

The mountains were right behind the home. There was a steam train railway along the mountain. We heard the train a couple times but never saw it. There was also a mountain path behind the house but we never got to check it out. It rained 3 of the 4 days we were there. :( We still had one and a half days of nice weather. There was so much rain that everything was muddy though. We made the most of it and had a great time. It is so beautiful there! We may have to go back!!

 

Since it rained so much the first day we were there all of my pics are on my phone......so not the best quality.

 

Our first stop was Ty Hyll, the "Ugly House", in Betws - y- coed. Don't ask me how to pronounce any of that. The Welsh language does not make any sense to me. I can't tell you how many times we were talking to people to ask for directions or whatever and Derek and I would just smile and nod, walk away and we both would say, "did you get any of that!?!" Anyway, the Ugly House is not ugly at all. There is supposedly a 4 lakes walk that starts somewhere behind the house, and that is what we were planning to do, but we couldn't find it.

 

 

Then we went to Swallow Falls. Breathtakingly beautiful!

 

We had dinner at the Stables. There was no available seating inside so we found the last semi dry/covered table that was outside!

 

Sunday morning/early afternoon was gorgeous out! We made our way to Conwy.......walked the city wall, found Great Britain's Smallest house, and then explored the castle.

 

Walking the walls was kind of stressful. There wasn't much to keep anyone from falling, especially kids. Blake is at the age where he is hitting his terrible twos and he does not want to listen, loves to run off, hates being restricted, etc. He wasn't happy to have someone constantly holding his hand. If we let go for a second he was off!  I am not a fan of heights either and there was one point where we were up quite high......little to no protection to keep us from falling.......I just about had a panic attack! I was shaking and had to take deep breaths. Derek was just laughing at me!

 

 

 

 

The views were awesome though.

 

 

Then we made our way down and found Britain's Smallest House.

 

 

Blake didn't care about the house. There were boats in sight!

 

Next we went to Conwy Castle. The kids had fun solving the kids challenge (even got a badge afterwards for completing it!) There were some spectacular views from this castle.

 

 

Here is a view of the wall from the castle You can see the highest point (scary) in the background.

 

After we left Conwy castle we set out to try and find an amazing abandoned castle. We found it from afar......just couldn't figure out how to get to it. It would have been so neat to get up close to it. At about that point it started raining.....and rained for the rest of the day. We decided to go back to Betws y Coed and hike to Fairy Glen. On the way we went through this town and across this bridge. It's hard to tell in the picture but the bridge is v-shaped. You cannot see if another car is coming from the other direction and there is only room for one car to go across! If you get to the top and there is another car one of you has to back all the way up! Luckily we didn't run into a car.

 

Fairy Glen

 

The next day we finally had great weather! It didn't rain until we were back home and in bed! We had booked a steam train ride up to the top of Mt Snowdon before the trip. So glad we did as it was the only available day and time slot left while we were there! Since it was in the middle of the day we had to find something to do beforehand. We went to the village of Portmeirion. It is a village right along the ocean that was designed to look like a little Italian village. So pretty!

 

 

 

Next up was the train ride to the top of Mt Snowdon!! It's a 2 hour round trip train ride......or you can hike it. Takes about 6 hours round trip to do that -- probably without kids! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we got back down we walked to another castle. Dolbadarn Castle.

 

The next day was time to head home. It was rainy, of course, but we wanted to get one last hike in. We went back to the Ugly House to try and find the 4 lakes walk again.....still couldn't find it. We did find another hike and just went for it. It ended up being really fun!

 

We ran into this guy.

 

The hike led us through a field of sheep.....

 

and along a pretty river

 

It was a great trip!!!!!!!!!

 

If you are wondering how the kids keep entertained on our excursions.......this pretty much sums it up.