The last month!!! Part 1

I think this will be in at least 3 or 4 parts if not more. We have been so very, very busy the last month traveling and visiting with dear family and friends that I am just now able to sit down and begin digesting it.

As most of you know, Orson and I made our first trip alone together, and being Orson and I, we decided to go all the way to England to visit with Dad (grandpa) and the Lucas's (Aunt Lynda, or sometimes Mrs. Auntie and Uncle Mike, called Unkie Mike by my dad). We had an absolute blast and I can honestly say that for the first time I was able to relax and let others take care of Orson. It was how I imagine those of you with family nearby feel....it was awfully hard to give it up and come home....if we hadn't missed Matt so much, I'm not sure we would have :)

Well, the plane trip on the way over went relatively smoothly, we were assign a seat that a bassinet could be hung in front of and there was another baby in the row with us on the flight between Houston and Heathrow. We were also blessed to be invited by the Pools to their house during the layover in Houston (I'm not sure if we would have made it through the 4.5 hour layover otherwise). Orson also got to meet his Godfather, my brother Nate, for the first time while we were waiting as well.

Orson and Nate...none of their pictures turned out great unfortunately :(

Orson on the plane pretending to be a big boy and in his bassinet fast asleep for a little while at least.

Orson upon arrival at Grandpa's house...boy was he hamming it up for the camera and Grandpa!

The first weekend in London, we went to Hammonds (London's largest toy store) and to 3 gardens, including Kew. The stair at Hammonds was all decked out in the Lion, the Witch and the Waredrobe set....which was perfect because we had been reading that at home.

There were also lots of baby life size animals for Orson to climb on and pretend to ride, his favorite was this dinosaur.

Orson made off with the goods, with both a book (Paddington Bear to go with the toy Dad sent him earlier in the year) and a red wooden race car!

We enjoyed a quick lunch and then set off for the Avenue and St. John's gardens in Regency Park.

Dad brought some bread along so we could feed the ducks.

The above was the most amazing color combination of flowers, the picture does not do it justice.

On the way home we walked along the canals and ended up at Paddington Station, since bear was along for the ride, we just had to take some pictures.

My pictures are a little out of order...below are Orson and I heading out with Lynda during the week on the train. And the results of one of those trips, an amazing pair of shoes for Orson:

After spending Saturday with Dad, we joined the Lucas's on a trip to Kew gardens. If my blog was forever long, I would post all of the resulting beautiful pictures of flowers. Instead I had to limit myself to just the few below and I am afraid some of you may find even these to be too many :)

Unkie Mike and Orson on the bus and the entrance to Kew.

Matt and I want to nature scape some of our yard...I found lots of inspiration on our walk:

Orson absolutely loved to touch and feel all of the plants, we just had to watch and make sure nothing found its way into his mouth!

The angels trumpets were big but not as big as the perspective of the above picture makes them look :)

We ended the day by flying home together....Orson's laughter was so infectious that I just had to join in the fun. Life is so amazing when seen through the eyes of my son.