I thought it would be nice to do a little update on what I have been up to the last 6 weeks. It has been absolutely manic.
Last summer we decided we wanted to move back into the city rather than living in the countryside, in our FREEZING cold farm house. Unfortunately we couldn't find THE PERFECT place until just before Christmas! This meant that we moved house on the 3rd of December. Talk about THE WORST time to move, EVER.
Not only was it freezing out, we all had colds, Grey's 1st Birthday was fast approaching and my family were coming to visit. I literally had to pull the house together in 1 week once we moved in. To make things worse, we lost a loved one our first couple of days in the house and had that trauma to deal with as well. It was a bit of a nightmare. However, we got there in the end.
Did I mention we didn't have internet...until this week! ONE WHOLE MONTH! I actually had to sit down at night and not touch my laptop...good in some ways and difficult in others.
Finally, things were on track around the 16th when my Dad, Stepmom and little sister arrived. They came just in time for Grey's birthday party on the 17th. I was on my death bed with a horrendous sore throat so it was great to have the help and of course Ruth was there to assist me with anything I needed.
This is what Grey's Birthday consisted of...and what a lovely day it was!
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| While everyone was busily prepping the rest of the party, I got to do the fun bit and make Grey's cake! |
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| Of course it was an In the Night Garden (inspired) cake...that he would have no clue, nor remember I ever made it! HA |
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| The grassy bit...I was never one to colour inside the lines...hence the overspill :D |
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| Then the night sky was applied at the top. |
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| All finished :D -I'm all for last minute jobs. I finished this two hours before the party. |
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| Iggle Piggle and Makka Pakka and the little Pontipines |
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| Grey 'trashing' the place before the party started |
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| First taste of pumpkin pie! |
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| Trying out the Big Boy bottle...He stole it from one of the other children at the party |
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| Grey had no idea what we were doing and why a room of 30 people were shouting at him. |
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| ...still no clue what everyone is going on about. |
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| My Daddy during the party. He's so cool and I loved this photo so had to put it up. |
Once the party was finished, my family could finally start to enjoy the new area we moved to, which is just outside of Cambridge...a tiny city (one of the smallest in England...only considered a city because it has a Cathedral...the English are strange) called Ely.
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| Ely Cathedral |
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| This is from the top of Ely Cathedral |
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| You can see my house from this photo |
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| I won't tell you WHIIICH house is mine though ;) |
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| This view is the top of the Cathedral from my house |
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| The lovely tree inside the Cathedral... I love Christmas I DO! |
We then made our way into Cambridge centre which the family hadn't seen before as we lived in London the last time they came to visit.
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| Here's my Dad being the ultimate 'tourist' |
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| King's College Chapel. |
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| Grey ordering a spot of lunch! |
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| Grey's incredibly young Mema (Grandma) |
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| More of King's College...I live here and I still think it's pretty impressive to have this in the middle of our city |
After we visited Cambridge, we started preparing for our Christmas trip to Berlin. How exciting....
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| Buck wasn't AS excited. |
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| Grey was pretty chuffed though! |
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| Bron, not so much. |
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| While we pack, Grey and Buck play |
We finally arrive in Berlin! We rented a house for 4 nights in the west side of Berlin...unfortunately we were all full of cold and flu so we didn't go and do AS many things as we probably wanted, but we definitely saw the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Topographie des Terrors (the former SS headquarters), and a few beautiful Christmas markets and LOTS of Gluhwein (Mulled Wine) mmmm.
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| 1 of 3 Christmas Markets we checked out! |
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This one had the WURST Kraut apparently. I didn't try it so I wouldn't know. Har Har
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| Brandenburg Gate |
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| Rainy walk in... |
THEN we celebrated Christmas!
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| Grey celebrated his 2nd Christmas even though he is only 1. |
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| My stepmom got some german Christmas houses for next year |
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| We bought each other gifts at the markets on Christmas Eve so that we all had something from Germany :) I bought my dad his badger shaving brush |
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| My Dad drinks a lot of tea! |
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| Then we made our way to Christmas Markets again! |
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| mmm Gluhwein |
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| Little too many sweets... |
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| ...Had by all |
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| My sister had a face transplant. This one suits her! |
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| My poor Stepmom had to go on this massive toboggan slide.... |
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| The VERY punctual U-Bahn ride. England...you need to step up your game on the Underground |
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| We were able to receive our passes to get through Brandenburg Gate :) |
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| Brandenburg Gate |
There are many many more photos but these were the loveliest of them all. So, though the rush up to Christmas was manic, we ended up having a lovely time once the family arrived.
