When Nature Calls

We've done it! Antalya is officially diaper free during waking hours. Can I get a big "hooray"! That doesn't mean she completely accident free, but we're getting there.

Tonight we all headed to the park to feed the ducks.

After the ducks got their fill, we headed to the playground. For those of you who haven't experienced an English park, they are huge! This particular park has several ponds, a playground, tennis courts, soccer field, etc, etc.

So while we are at the playground, Antalya makes it known that she needs to pee. I have no idea where the toilets are, so I quickly pick her up and all four of us start walking over the entire park trying to find a toilet for Antalya so that she will understand that there are toilets in places other than at home.

After 10 minutes of searching, we admit defeat and find a little secluded area with some bushes to hide behind. I help her take her pants off and try to get her to pee in the bushes. She of course has a different idea and runs out, half naked, onto the grass, sits down, and takes care of business.

I'm proud of her for not having an accident in her pants. But now I can just see her every time she needs to pee, thinking she can pull down her pants and sit on the grass and do it. I think I better warn her teacher at school just in case she tries to do it school.

Happy Easter

Since easter egg hunts aren't a common thing here in England, we decided to head to a park on Saturday morning and create our own. The girls played while Jason hid some eggs in a small area (I'm sure those who saw him thought it was really strange). This was Victoria's first egg hunt, but she quickly caught on.

After they had their fill of candy, Antalya was excited to do some climbing,

and Victoria is always happy when she can find some ducks to chase.

On Easter morning, Antalya was super excited when she realized there was more chocolate to be had!

And Victoria couldn't believe there was bubbles in her easter basket.

Although all the candy and egg hunts are fun and make it memorable for the girls, it was pondering on the true meaning behind the celebrations that made this a memorable Easter for me. There is something about getting older that makes eternal truths more meaningful to me. I am incredibly grateful for Jesus Christ, for his sacrifice and atonement, and for conquering death that we might all live again!

Happy Easter!

The Missing Egg

Antalya has hidden an egg somewhere. We can't find it.

In order of least likely to most likely, here is what might have happened to the missing egg:

1. Antalya cooked it, ate it, and cleaned up her mess.
2. It got flushed down the toilet.
3. It is in the garbage.
4. It was hidden in some obscure place without breaking the shell.
5. It is smashed in some obscure place only to be found when it begins to stink up the whole house.

Wish us luck :)

Resident Fashion Expert

This last week Victoria has become very insistent on what she will and will not wear. It usually means she picks out an assortment of clothing and wants them all layered. And every outfit must include a hat! Here are a couple of her latest styles.

Patience

I wouldn't say patience is one of my strongest traits. In fact - I hate waiting for anything. Sometimes even waiting for a red light will make my blood pressure rise. It's always been that way, but I think it is only getting worse as I get older.

I've always been one to make a decision, and then jump on it. Like the week after I graduated High School and decided on Sunday that I wanted to move out, and by Tuesday had moved into my own place. Or when Jason and I decided to get married a couple days before Thanksgiving, and by New Year's were already on our honeymoon.

Once a decision has been made, the waiting becomes pure torture for me.

And that's where I'm finding myself this week. We made the decision to move back to the states, the plane tickets are bought, but now I just have to wait. It's not that I'm anxious to leave England, because truth-be-told, I absolutely love this country. I'm just anxious to start the new phase - the phase that will hopefully lead to a job, and eventually settling down somewhere.

I'm anxious for my girls to have a yard to play in, walls to decorate, and toys that are worth keeping. I'm anxious to have to walk outside to get the mail, to live on a quiet street without fear of a double decker bus running over one of my girls, and a king size bed that is big enough to really stretch out on. I'm anxious for hot summer nights, and fireworks, and picnics at the park with cousins.

Luckily, I get to spend everyday of the waiting with these cuties who have no concept of time.

They take each day, and in fact, each moment, as it comes.

I am continually amazed at how fully they can enjoy the moment. Their laughter is medicine to me, and a reminder that this time will pass so quickly, and before I know it we will be back in the states, and I will be longing for the simple, quiet life we had here in London.

Cornwall

For months I have been dreaming about taking a vacation this spring to some warm, beautiful beach somewhere on this side of the world. I spent hours online trying to find the perfect get away for our family. But it always came down to just one problem - we are students with no income and there was just no way we could justify the cost.

I had given up on a family get away when I happened to come across a great last minute deal for a weekend cottage in Cornwall, England. So I jumped on it! It wasn't Spain or Turkey - but it was just right for us.

We spent last weekend at The Olde House in the small little town of Chapel Amble, England. The girls absolutely loved it!

We spent two afternoons beaches near the cottage. It was one of the first times the girls have ever seen the ocean. Although it wasn't sun bathing weather, the beaches were gorgeous.





The property we stayed at had an indoor swimming pool, playground, and an old barn decked out with a giant ball pit and soft play, playhouse, and piano. Antalya was in heaven! The only problem she had was deciding if she wanted the pool or ball pit.





Victoria on the other hand just couldn't get enough of the farm animals, and was constantly begging us to go see the animals. Her favorites were the baby bunnies, the ewes, and a random duck that would sometimes roam. In fact she liked the animals so much that the last night we were there, she woke at 2am wanting to see the animals and was so devastated when we wouldn't take her out that she was up for several hours (In hindsight, we probably would have all gotten more sleep if I would have just taken her outside for few minutes).



As we were driving home we realized this is the first family vacation we have had with just our family in over five years. Antalya's only four, so really, this was our very first family vacation with our kids. Jason and I both agreed we need to make a better habit of getting away at times other than family reunions.

The T21 Traveling Afghan

We really enjoyed our week with the T21 Traveling Afghan. This is a special blanket that has been passed around to families all over the world that have a child with Down syndrome. It is such a wonderful tangible reminder of the common bond we share.

Antalya loved cuddling up with it in the afternoons to watch a show or read books (Victoria liked it too).




We had fun throwing it over our heads and making up games to play with it.


And it got to travel with us to our speech therapy/playgroup sessions.


To see where else the T21 Traveling Afghan has been, click here.

Count It Backwards

My conversation with Antalya last night at bedtime.

Me: Will you go pick 3 books.

A: No, 10!

Me: You want to read 10 books?

A: 9.

Me: You want 9 books?

A: 8

Me: 8 books?

A: 7

Me to Jason who was in the room: Are you hearing this?

Me to A: You want 7 books?

A: 6

Me: 6 books?

A: 5

Me: 5 books?

A: 4

Me: 4 books?

A: 3

Me: 3 books?

A: 2

Me: 2 books?

A: 1

Suddenly Jason and I break out in cheering so loud you would have thought we won the lottery! Antalya loved all the praise and was beyond thrilled with herself. What made the moment even better was that she showed us a new skills without any prompting from us - in fact, I had no idea she could count backwards. Not sure if this is something she has been working on at school, or if she just happened to figure it out in the moment. My Talya is always full of surprises!

Sheridan's Visit - Isle of Wight

We really packed it in while Sher was here. Less than 12 hours after returning home from our trip to Northern England, we were all piled back into the car and headed down to the Portsmouth on the southern coast to catch a ferry to the Isle of Wight. Jason took the day off to come with us!

The girls loved the ferry ride! I kept hearing, "boat, boat", "water, water"! And if that wasn't exciting enough, there also happened to be a dog on board which the girls were thrilled about!

(Not sure why Victoria looks so sad in this picture - she really was loving it)

Isle of Wight was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Ireland with it's narrow hedge-lined roads and little cottages.

We visited Osbourne House which was built by Queen Victoria as a holiday home for her family. This is also where she came to mourn the death of her husband, and where she later died.

We spent the later bit of the afternoon at Alum Bay throwing rocks into the English Channel.

And as the sun was setting we were back on the ferry and heading home.

It was a whirlwind week with Sheridan, but I am so grateful she was able to come visit and that we could see so much while she was here.

Sheridan's Visit - Trip Up North

Although Sheridan is American, her mom is English, and all of that side of her family still lives here in England. I was thrilled when Sheridan invited me and the girls to Hartlepool with her to visit her grandparents and other family members.

We stopped in York on the way up for lunch. York Minster was breathtaking. It is one of the largest Gothic Cathedrals in Northern Europe. And we took a walk through the narrow medieval streets know as the shambles.

We spent a day and a half at her grandparents home. Sheridan and I have been friends for many years now, and it was so fun to finally meet her English family. I felt right at home from the moment we walked in. Hartlepool is right on the coast of the North Sea so we got to make a trip to the beach too.

Enjoying our morning toast.

The moment the girls saw the water they started running towards it, and didn't stop until they reached it.

But the water was so cold, that their smiles instantly turned to tears.

But nevertheless, we had an enjoyable time - it just didn't involve playing in the water like the girls were hoping.