Rome 2013

To celebrate Chris' birthday this year, we went away to Rome for a long weekend.  It was a wonderful getaway!  The warm weather gave us a nice break from the cool autumn weather here in London.  And, what's not to love about eating amazing pizza and pasta four days in a row!

Chris and I were in Rome a few years ago and we saw all of the must-see sites and went on all of the tours of those sites then, so this trip was a lot more laid back (which worked out perfectly since Nathan was with us this time).  We spent our time just wandering the streets, seeing whatever sites we saw along the way, eating gelato, and stopping to eat at whatever restaurants looked like they had good food.  It was a wonderful way to see a city!

Nathan loved Rome and wants to go back.  Although, when you ask him what his favorite part of the trip was, he says it was the basketball he got there :)  When we first go there, Chris made the mistake of promising to get him a basketball while we were there (basketball is his current favorite sport).  We figured we would find a little souvenir basketball somewhere (Rome does have a basketball team - apparently Kobe Bryant played there at some point when he was injured).  But, after two days of walking around the city and looking in all of the souvenir shops without finding a single basketball, we finally found a full-size Michael Jordan basketball in the Nike store.  It wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but Nathan was thrilled!  He carried it around everywhere we went for the rest of the trip.  Unfortunately, the flight attendants made us pop it on our flight home (they were worried about the air pressure, and yes, this did result in tears from a certain 3 year-old, but luckily he didn't really realize what was happening and was happy again once he figured out that they weren't taking it away from him completely), so Nathan ended up with a new one here in London :)

Here are some pictures from our wonderful Roman get-away.  And, happy birthday to my amazing husband!

Thanks to a strike by the airport workers in Rome, we had a 5-hour delay at Heathrow.  Thank goodness for the BA Lounge and the IPad!

Nathan is looking for the coins he threw into the Trevi Fountain.

The Trevi Fountain

Eating gelato with his Italy football (this was before we found the basketball).

The waiters at one of the restaurants we ate lunch at brought out a football and started kicking it around with Nathan.  They kept calling him "Baby Messi."

The Spanish Steps

Playing in the fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps

Piazza del Popolo

Listening to the Pope speak (he is in the second window from the right).

Waving his Pope flag :)

St. Peter's Basilica

A boy and his basketball.

The Colosseum

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A Day At The Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday, we spent the day at Garsons Farm with good friends.  The boys had a great time picking out their pumpkins and picking ears of corn.  Every once in a while, it's really nice to get out of the city!  

The Three Amigos hitching a ride.

Pumpkins!

Pretty sure that one is a squash, but we did eventually find the perfect pumpkin :)

Running through the cornfields.

Happy 3rd Birthday Nathan!

It's hard to believe, but our little boy turned 3 last week!  There is no doubt about it, he is not a baby anymore.  He is definitely turning into a little boy. 

Nathan is completely obsessed with sports (soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf football--pretty much anything with a ball).  He is extremely coordinated and I am finding that he is quite good at anything he attempts to play.  Needless to say, all he does (all day long) is throw, hit, kick balls around. 

He is extremely talkative.  I can't even remember when it happened (it's been quite a while now), but somehow he jumped from saying single words (last year) to using complete sentences. He often surprises us with the things he comes up with.  

Nathan is kind and loving and 100% boy.  And, we couldn't be more in love with him!  Happy 3rd birthday sweet boy!!

Here are some pictures from his multiple birthday celebrations this week (lucky boy!) at home, school, and his birthday party.

Making cupcakes to take to school for his birthday.

Birthday morning.

Celebrating his birthday at home with mom and dad on the night of his birthday.

Celebrating his birthday at school.

Nathan's birthday party at Gambado.

And, since Nathan is soon going to have to be sharing the spotlight with this little guy, here is the latest picture of his little brother.  

Nathan's First Week of Nursery School - September 2013

I can't believe my baby boy is growing up so quickly!  We hit a big milestone this week--he started preschool!  There were a few tears the first two days, but by day 3 (he only goes three afternoons a week), he was a pro--he said a quick goodbye to mom and was off to find a ball with one of his teachers.  I think he is going to love it!

Excited to start nursery school!

On the bus on the way to school.

Family picture in Nathan's classroom.  He found some planes to play with :)

End of Summer 2013

We had a great summer -- gorgeous weather here in London, an amazing trip to Croatia, and a great trip home to California -- but, it flew by way too quickly!  In 4 days, summer will officially be over for us, because Nathan will be starting nursery school - so hard to believe that he is already old enough to be in school!

Luckily, the beautiful summer weather has lasted into September (well, until today, anyway), so we have been able to continue to enjoy time outdoors.

We took a day trip outside of the city to Highclere Castle, a.k.a. Downton Abbey.

So much fun running through the grounds of Downton Abbey.

Playing baseball with Daddy at Battersea Park.

Intrigued by the trapeze artists who set up in Battersea Park.

Thanks for the bowling set Uncle Casey!

Yep, we just move from sport to sport all day long around here.  Special thanks to Jon Netter for the golf gear. 

Posing in his new shirt from the Goodwins.

A rare occasion - he stopped playing sports long enough to sit down and play with his Leaptop Computer.

Miniature golf in Hyde Park.

His first IMAX theatre experience.

Last week we hit the half-way point of this pregnancy.  Only about 4 more months until we meet our baby boy.