Ok, so what have I done in the last 2 months? Sit down, get comfortable, and let me catch you up. First, London. Clara & I spent our last evening dining with friends of Andrew & Katherine on a sail boat moored in a small marina next to Tower Bridge. Magical doesn't do it justice! It happened to also be a send-off for their friend Katherine...so there were 7 or 8 of us crowded in the boat (yes it was raining) drinking wine, eating great food, and sharing some laughs not always appropriate for children. Lucky Clara's a great sport!

Coming home from our trip was a shock to both of us. Clara spent several days sleeping in late...i just stumbled around at work in a fog, trying to get caught up, readjust to Seattle time, and get back in the groove of "normal" life.


So what's normal for me? I took a trip up to Bellingham to visit my parents. The kids LOVE my parents bathtub, so bathtime was an event in itself! I highly recommend a jetted tub to anyone that likes a lot of bubbles...the kids discovered how effective the jets are at frothing the suds!!

O - H - I - O!

This is the cheer my kids were taught by Makayla, and now will randomly start shouting when they're feeling fired up about Buckeye football. :) One of them will yell out "O-H!" and the others will respond "I-O!". It's hilarious! (I think I've actually seen Makayla tear up when they do this...) Saturdays have taken on a whole new meaning now.

Speaking of Buckeyes.... So, technically speaking a buckeye is a tree...the Ohio Buckeye, state tree of Ohio. According to wikipedia (buckeyes), it's also a chicken, an aircraft, a butterfly, and, oh yeah, a nationally ranked college football team. The last item that wikipedia calls out is the candy: "a peanut butter and chocolate candy made to resemble the nut of an Ohio Buckeye tree and enjoyed commonly in that state". Above is a picture of Clara, Bennet, and Makayla making said candy, and they are delicious! We stuffed ourselves with them..our friend Hannah had them on her birthday cake after sampling ours..and the kids still talk about them!

So there's the first chapter in the last 60 days of my life...England recovery, catching up with family, learning about college football, and generally having fun. Stay tuned for more...