Pictures Galore!

Enjoying the Hebden Bridge Playground

Watching the Ducks in Chipping

In lieu of doing all of the jobs I should be doing today (washing the kitchen floor, organizing the HUGE pile on top of my dresser, cleaning the bathroom, folding laundry), I've decided to take the opportunity while Jack's napping to upload all of our photos since April (!) to Snapfish. I finally got a new camera the day before we left for England so hopefully I'll start capturing some of our summer fun on... media card (?). (I was going to say "capture it on film" but I guess that's a thing of the past.) So check out our group room on Snapfish for lots and lots of pictures.

The camera I bought takes a different kind of media card than I thought it would and so I ended up having to buy the right one halfway through our England trip. That means that all of my pictures only feature one side of the family (Mick's dad's side). There's no need for worry though as Mick's mum took dozens of pictures too (her house is seriously a shrine to Jack!) so I will get those from her soon and post them as well. **Update - Julie has sent me a few photos so I've added a couple here & put the rest in the album on Snapfish.

Mick pretty much said it all in his post about our trip: Jack is a phenomenal traveler and so incredibly adaptable to different beds, different environments, different people. He is such a happy baby - we count ourselves so lucky to have him as our son. Traveling internationally with an almost-toddler is not easy. There were a few times (mainly on the flight back) that I found myself wrought with stress. It took Jack 5 days to adapt to the 5-hour time difference, meaning we were up multiple times every night and often very early in the morning with him. However, seeing the family respond to Jack and he to them made it all worthwhile.

It's been a long time since I've been in England during the summer. I was actually quite surprised that there were a few days that were so warm (by English standards) and equally surprised at how fickle the weather could be: balmy with sunshine one minute, covered by black clouds and torrential rains the next. Mick and I were able to sneak away for two meals together without Jack: one at the the Inn at Whitewell (where the queen has eaten) and one for fish & chips in Hebden Bridge. One of the best things for me (truly!) about the trip was getting to watch some of the cricket and to finally learn the rules sufficiently enough to follow along and to understand what the scores mean (232 for 4 means 232 runs have been scored and there are essentially 4 outs (with 10 outs being the end of an "inning"). I still laugh though about the fact that cricket matches are stopped for tea & that the opposing teams take tea together. I could never imagine that happening between, say, Michigan and Ohio State. (Speaking of which, college football season starts in 50 days; I can hardly wait!)

Here are a few of the best photos from our time across the pond.

Great Granny Collins and Jack

Great Granny Angus and Jack

Great Grandad Angus and Jack

The family on Ed's 60th birthday

Jack with one of his biggest fans: Harry

Jack with Uncle Chris & Aunt Jan

Jack & Granny - Sporting the Same Hairdo

We're home for a few weeks before heading to Michigan for vacation with my family & then Mick will leave for Australia for business for about 10 days. And the summer rolls on...