Jordan: day 1 Aljoun and Jerash

Jordan is probably the most amazing place I have ever been. I was nervous to visit this small country bordering Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Israel and surrounded by so much conflict (but was assured by my partners in crime that it was safe). And safe it was. What made this trip so incredible for me was not the historic or religious sites, or seeing a Wonder of the World, but it was the people. I have never met such warm, welcoming and respectful people. We found the people to be so loving, it was almost overwhelming at times. 
After our late night arrival into Amman (and Ty and Jared's night out with some locals) we visited Aljoun Castle.

The kids had celebrity status with this group of incredibly sweet and loving Army nursing students. Otis wasn't sure about it at first, but then ate it up. Many people would grab Milly and kiss her and squeeze her cheeks and as you can see in the pick below she would make her body go limp and resist.

"You are welcome". Everyone said this to us. You could tell that locals were proud of their country and were happy to share it with others.

JERASH: Next we drove north to see the Roman ruins in Jerash.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. All these sweet Jordanian nursing students surrounding us trying to talk to Milly. 

York, Scottish Borders and Edinburgh

Over Easter weekend we rented a car and headed for the border. The kids were in heaven singing songs and playing animal games with Grandma on the drive. She has more tricks up her sleeve for entertaining kids than I could ever even imagine. My time with Peggy on this trip showed me where Ty got all his loving patience from. 

 

Sometimes all we could do was laugh when the kids were melting down at the same time.

And just so none of us ever forget...Milly sang herself (and all of us) into delerium with "Ba Ba Black Sheep" on this trip.

Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh is probably was of my all time favorite cities.

Downton Abbey

Peggy and I decided to take the train to Highclere Castle to see where Downton Abbey was filmed because we both love the show so much and it was such a fun day trip!

 Waiting for the train with 2 sleeping kids

Grandma Peggy comes to London!

We had such an amazing time with Grandma Peggy. It was the perfect mix of sightseeing and just hanging with Grandma.  Not to mention what an expert she became on navigating around the city!

 Sampling nuts at Borough Market

Millenium Bridge between St. Paul's Cathedral and The Tate Modern

Trafalgar Square

The London Zoo

Box Bike Rally!

The Dougall's invited us to their bike box rally. They started the movement of these bikes 5 years ago and a lot of people have followed. They were our inspiration for getting one.

Otis missed most of the party

Dear Doctor,

Here is an email I wrote to our doctor today:
"Hi Dr Noimark, I'm sorry to bother you, I just have a concern I want to ask you about. This week Otis swallowed a tiny doll (the size of half of my pinky finger). It passed in his stool within 24 hours. But it was a doll that I bought last week in Prague and I am wondering if I need to be concerned about lead poisoning?"

At least Milly still has a complete set

When Otis does something he's not supposed to, he always immediately says to me, "don't look at me" or "don't go look in my room". So he just said this and I went into his room and he had peed all over his train rug and some books.

This has happened before and will happen again but I decide to write this down for some reason today. Then while I was cleaning that up he went to the bathroom and when I went in to ensure all was clean and flushed I noticed the tiny baby of the nesting dolls I just bought for them in Prague. Gross. The kid puts everything his mouth. When he was a baby, everyone told me he would grow out of it... I'm still waiting.

But he's still my super hero. He still comes in and snuggles with me in bed every morning around 5am. He is full of energy. He is full of kisses. And he is full of love.

Annual Jackson Ski Trip

This was in January, and it was the best.

Top of tram

top of Headwall

I will serenade you some time too.