London - Spring Break 2014

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since we returned from London.  I've put all our pictures into an album, but I do want to still share some of my favorites.  We had such a fantastic trip...pictures can never tell the whole story of everything we experienced and the memories we made.  Here are some moments I will always treasure.

Lots of evenings at Kensington Gardens

Sarah's 16th birthday dinner at Barbecoa

See lots of iconic sites like Big Ben 

Riding the London Eye

Our lovely "neighborhood" of Kensington

Our hotel on Cromwell Road - Crowne Plaza

Views from the Eye

Lunch in Greenwich

Walking by Tower Bridge at some point every day 

Driving by Buckingham Palace every day

Tower of London

Kensington Palace

Westminster Abbey

I am so glad we got out of our comfort zone and went on this adventure.  I am no longer afraid to "cross the pond", no longer afraid of what may happen if I leave the states...it's a big world out there, and this wet my appetite to see even more.  I loved our time as a family (even when we got on each other's nerves from time to time), and it was even nice to not be able to use our phones unless we were back in the room (ahhh, the freedom of being off the grid!).  This will definitely go down as one of my favorite spring breaks - with the kids getting older, we don't have too many left!

March Wrap Up

Oh my, it's been a full month since I've sat down to document anything!  March was soooo busy, filled with all great stuff, but the days went by in a flash.  Here's what I want to remember about this last month of winter:

Shan, Mark and Joe Jr. all have birthdays within a few days of each other, and we all had dinner at the Hamilton's on a Sunday night to celebrate. It's always fun to see that side of the family...Joe's Mom and Dad weren't with us, but we enjoyed hanging out with Susan, Ed, Joe Jr., Nikki, Reese, my parents and the cousins.  Love my sister - so glad we live in the same town and get to see each other a lot. 

Shan, Mark and Joe Jr. 

Helen gave Shan one of her Carlton Ridge necklaces, which she loved

The girls

Love my sis 

The Hamiltons love to give funny cards 

Susan gave Shannon this really cool Louisville plate

Next up was my spring scrapbooking retreat at Country Lake.  I can't believe our "club" is celebrating 15 years of retreats!  I had such a fun weekend catching up on the kids' albums ...I adore these women, most of whom I never would have met had it not been for Gayle Garvie starting our club 15 years ago.  We had a little celebration to mark the occasion.

The "club"

Our cake that Rosemary brought - so sweet

Me and our club founder, Gayle Garvie

In between busy weekends there was lots of school work, field hockey practice and lacrosse games (a few basketball games for John too!).  Had a great book club meeting where we discussed "Me Before You", and then at the end of the month we discussed "The Light Between Oceans", which I loved.  I also had a chance to have dinner with Mary Oliver, which happens so rarely these days with us both being busy raising our kiddos.  I didn't get a picture of us, but I really enjoyed catching up with her.  

Sarah had some big projects due in March
and could be found in her room most afternoons

Book Club at Hurstbourne - one of my favorite
nights of the month

The Friday before spring break March Madness reached a frenzied pitch with UK playing UofL in the sweet sixteen.  The kids got to sport their team's colors to school that day.  Hmmmmm, I wonder who they chose to represent?

That night we boarded a plane to London right at tip off time - no Wifi on the plane, which was agony for my Cats fans!  London pics are coming soon!