Kew Gardens and a little Hambo life

After we returned from our summer U.S. vacation (and were living in Richmond, home of our temporary apt.), we spent an afternoon at Kew Gardens. It's a very peaceful and lovely place with some cool architectural structures including a Japanese temple and tower. There is also a huge greenhouse and some other areas, but we had limited time and patience so we didn't venture everywhere in the park. Mason found a peacock and enjoyed feeding it; the creature was obviously used to being handfed by humans. We also walked among the treetops on a stucture that was built to simulate what the birds see and feel from above. We could even see the London Eye since it was a clear day!










I've also included the first day of school--now that it's almost October--notice how Mason manages to keep such a vacant, delightful expression. Someday he'll regret being such a pain in pictures when he looks back and sees very few photos of himself as well as his pleasant demeanor in each one. The only way I can get him to smile is when he's caught off guard, when he's with Emma, and definitely when it's not morning.

So, a little random sampling of Nico's morning hair, Emma helping prepare her Dora fairy cakes (cupcakes), Westminster Abbey in London, and some more backyard shananigans.

And Now for Something Completely Hamberlin

The second leg of our summer journey took place in "This is the Place," UT. It was fun catching up with some family members that we hadn't seen in two years (yikes, Grandpa and Grandma H.) We loved being around the Olsen's, Pratt's and the original Hamberlin clan!

What Really Matters

Family!! We had a great time this summer visiting family in WA, UT, and NJ. Our only regret is how quickly the time passed and that we couldn't see everyone we would have liked. These pics are from the Stryker side in Seattle. We camped outside Bremerton, trekked into Seattle a few times (including a Mariner's game), feted Jennie's upcoming baby, and witnessed Emily's baptism. Thanks McCann's, for hosting and making all this possible! The White's, Stryker's, McCann's, and Fraze's joined forces for this event--lots of cousin bonding.

Home Sweet Home

Here are a few pics of the house and garden. It was a beautiful rare, sunny day!

Sorry, I pulled the photos due to security reasons.

The Blog's Name Remains the Same

Despite our move to England we will be retaining our blog's name as we will always be more wanna-be French than British (in our hearts :) We arrived in early July for a frenzied week of orientation ? with our lovely niece and cousin, Olivia. We visited such exciting attractions as Legoland, Windsor/Castle, Runnymeade, and of course, the always lovely London.

I also managed to get a flat tire when I pulled over near the curb to call for directions to the apt. where we were to stay after our initial one-week Runnymeade hotel stay. So, I got my "driving on the other side of the road" experience out of the way, hopefully. It's like baptism by fire driving right away here, with four kids relying on you and trying to find things on a map that may or may not be there in reality. Always an adventure! London was fun and we tried to pack in a full day of sight-seeing for Olivia: the London Eye, Madame Tussaud's, riverfront street performers, walking through Trafalgar and Picadilly Square, only the very best of tourist attractions for our family, ha ha. Lots more to do but we headed back to the U.S. for some family time. Back in August, we arrived at our scary apt. and eventually moved into our new home for the next 2-3 yrs. The next post contains some pictures of our home. It's a little nouveau-riche looking (whatever that means), but the kids are in heaven.