Time just escapes me...

So I mentioned posting pictures from Thanksgiving....and that got away from me...so we'll just start from today.

Thanksgiving was a great time to spend with friends. Greg did all the cooking (as most of you know he's the better one in the house, so we usually just leave it up to him...I can bake a cake, but he can make the best food ever).

Here's Levi decorating his own "Big Brother" shirt...I thought it would get him excited about the whole thing. He had a good time with it and so did I.

Here's our big man taking his bike around the backyard.

On Saturday the 27^th we went to the Bury St. Edmunds Christmas Festival. It was an experience…we had to leave early to get there in time to find a good parking space since Greg was on call and he would need to leave fast if called in. So, although it started at 10am we were there by around 930 and walked around as they were setting up. As if to make it feel more like Christmas, it started snowing. Not the flurries we were used to in North Carolina and Tennessee, but a pretty steady snowfall for at least 30 minutes. During that time we took it upon ourselves to go into the Mexican restaurant we had discovered a week or two before and have tea and breakfast. Now it is humorous to me that here we are sitting in a “Mexican” restaurant having a cup of tea and baps. Baps are basically a type of bread with something like sausage or bacon on it. We had our bacon baps…which the bacon here is a thick slice and oh so delicious.  So we sat eating breakfast and watching the snow fall outside.

After breakfast we headed up the street to see some more of the festivities and different vendors. They had some really neat things for sale and it’s easy to see how you could get caught up in all there is to see and buy. We found a hot chocolate stand (as shown below) and had some DIVINE hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. I’m telling you, an addiction has formed :c)  I now know why they are constantly drinking coffee, hot chocolate, etc here…it’s so cold and the drinks just warm you right to the core while you continue to go about your daily activities outside. I think in the states we would just go from our car inside and it was never as cold and so we didn’t really need something to warm us up as we walked around outside. Here it’s completely different, you just go about your daily activities regardless of rain or snow. I suppose it might be the same up north or in other places where it rains and snows a lot. All of you, in those climates will have to let me know.

DELICIOUS...

A metallic nativity scene set up outside the abbey. It was really well crafted and beautiful.

Levi walking in the abbey gardens all bundled up.

As most of you know. Levi is not the greatest eater in the world and so because he's in the first percentile he gets to eat whatever he wants, for the most part. Well McDonald's was never on our list of choice establishments in the US, but we must admit that here in the UK (at least every one we've been to) they are amazingly clean, consistently good food and have balloons for the children. The balloons are a highlight for Levi and an absolute pain for Greg and I, especially when we're driving away and it always manages to get in your line of sight. Point being...we occasionally take Levi to McDonald's to eat a cheeseburger and here we are sitting at the kiddie table with him. He can actually eat almost an entire cheeseburger by himself, which for us is quite impressive. Their hot chocolate it also delicious...who knows it might just be Swissmiss, but there's nothing like hot chocolate (not to mention they have a loyalty program...as in buy 6 cups get on free...needless to say, I indulge in the program).

Levi in the snow.

Nothing like trying on daddy's combat boots for size.

Elveden Forest is a quaint little place about 5 minutes from our house. They grow their own Christmas trees and for a few days during December have Newfoundland dogs that will take your tree to your car for you. I was so eager that I was getting everyone out the house so we could be there when they opened. Well, I have to still learn that life is a little more relaxed here and so although we were there for about an hour we didn't actually get the dogs to take our tree to the car because they were late in setting up, etc. Levi did however, manage to get to see the dogs and pet them. He loved the one dog because they put reindeer ears on him and he thought that was just too funny. Here are Greg and Levi getting the tree on the cart.

Levi helping to pull the cart.

Just two of the many dogs they had.

It was a bit tougher for me to get a photo of Levi and the dog, since I was petting the dog and trying to take the photo :c)

I took a picture of the frost...it's interesting the lack of snow, but it still gives the wintery feel with all the frost sticking to everything, including spider webs, etc.

So, as most of you know we went to go get our dogs last week after having been separate for 6 months or so. My parents were graciously watching them at their house while they lived out their quarantine period in the US instead of some kennel over here. On our way to the airport we managed to be about 5 cars behind a car transporter truck that started fish tailing and then just flipped on it’s side and skidded down the 3 lane interstate. It was on the M25 loop which is sort of like the equivalent of I-285 around Atlanta…it’s the interstate loop around London. It was as if we were watching an action movie in slow motion right in front of us. Greg pulled over and went to check on the guy who thankfully was fine. We then figured we’d be there for at least 3 hours or so and so began letting Levi check out all the fire trucks and police cars coming by…as I mentioned we were 5 cars from the accident with no car in front of us in our lane. Next thing you know the police were telling us to turn the car around and head off the off-ramp (slip road as they call them here). We were there for maybe an hour and were quite impressed with how efficient they were at getting the cars rerouted. Here’s a picture of us driving the opposite way to get to the sliproad :c) We thought it was funny….needs the caption, “Do you ever feel like you’re going against the stream” or something of that nature.

Needless to say, we were slightly later at picking up the dogs than we had hoped. But all in all it was a good day and we were glad the man in the truck could walk away from the accident. 

Levi was just too thrilled to have Duduza and Iqhawe here with us. We hadn't mentioned it to him since we wanted to make sure everything went smoothly...so all he knew was that we were going to the airport to get a present...and boy was he happy about his present. He kept talking to Duduza and Iqhawe on the way back home and telling them all sorts of things. Once we got home he wanted to show them everything....it was too precious. I think the dogs were slightly overwhelmed with this toddler who know could speak to them since the last time they saw him he only had a few words in his vocabulary. Here's Duduza with Levi on Levi's bed.

I have to still mention that Iqhawe was barking at the TV and so I said, "Iqhawe stop barking" probably at least 2 or 3 times...then out of Levi's mouth comes "Iqhawe time out" ... Greg and I had to hold in the laughter and so I said "Yes, Iqhawe needs to go to time out for not listening" I then proceeded to hold him in my lap. It's interesting to see how he likes to tell the dogs what they should do, we're hearing a lot of "Iqhawe go upstairs, or outside" "Good boy, Duduza" "Iqhawe walk on sidewalk" "Come on Duduza" "Look Duduza" "Iqhawe sit on Levi's lap" "Here you go Duduza" it's just great to see how happy he is with the dogs. As I mentioned before they sometimes wonder off and hide in our room, to get a break from this little man who just wants to pet, hold and play with them.

As far as baby news...none yet. We'll try and update everyone with an email or blog post once there's something to be said, but as for now we're just hanging in there and doing well. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and gets to enjoy the time with family and friends.

Bury St Edmunds

We went to Bury St. Edmunds on Saturday to get out of the house and of course, like most towns they have a Saturday market. We went with two dear friends, Pastor Tom and Erlene...Levi just adores them and so do we. On our way up the street we came across the Bury St. Edmunds bagpipers which was fun to watch and listen to. Levi enjoyed it and enjoyed putting money in the can, I'm assuming they were collecting money for a charity. This week he's been reminding me that he gave money to the man :c)  It's things like stumbling on a group of bagpipers that remind us of how unique our opportunity here is.

Pastor Tom and Levi

We also tried a restaurant that we hadn't been to and had some delicious Mexican food...it's more of a Spanish influence I think, but delicious none the less.

This picture is from the auction we went to on Friday. They apparently have these all over England. You basically go before the auction to scout things out and see if there's anything you like. You can put a price that you're willing to bid to and then someone else will bid in your absence. If you really want something you should probably show up on the actual auction day as well. It was fun to see the stuff....no we didn't bid on anything. :c) But I thought I would post this picture of Levi because the background makes me think of what I think England looked like before we got here...please note the fog and somewhat freezing look on Levi's face :c)

We had a great weekend and are looking forward to Thanksgiving and fellowship with friends. It will hopefully be an eventful weekend, to be followed with photos on the blog.

Ducks are dangerous

Yesterday we went to the Abbey Gardens (if you've been following the blog you may recall some pictures and commentary on it when we first arrived). Well, we were meeting playgroup there, but I had mentioned to Levi that he could feed the ducks and of course it took about 5 seconds of being in the gardens and he was saying "feed ducks bread, please." I let him out of the stroller and there were about 5 ducks. The first duck he forgot to throw the bread and so it grabbed it out of his hand. Well a few pieces of thrown bread later and he was just standing there empty handed watching the ducks and birds swarm towards us....it is a bit of a frightful experience to all of a sudden feel like a targeted object. Next thing I know I see this duck and he walks up to Levi and bites his finger...I'm sure assuming there was bread in his hand. We quickly moved on as Levi started to cry for a few moments...partially from the shock I'm sure...and went to feed the ducks in the water a safe distance away. :c) I didn't really say anything about it to him, just made sure he was okay. Then, on our drive back home a few hours later I hear "duck bite finger (followed by the sound he makes for eating food)" Needless to say, I snickered quietly and then when Greg came home told him to tell daddy about his finger. So, now for the past 24 hours if you ask him to tell anyone about his finger he'll tell them that the duck bit it. Too funny.

I think slowly he's being tested by the wildlife here...bee sting on the tongue, duck biting the finger. What's next?

Should have taken a picture...

This morning I hear from the bathroom, "Mommy toilet paper" I think...hmmm I guess he needs to go to the bathroom. Wrong. I walk in and Levi is standing over the toilet with half the toilet roll unraveled and pulled into little pieces (for wiping, no doubt) sitting in the toilet bowl. All I could think was "thank you for making British toilets almost impossible to flush for toddlers." It really is a skill to flush a toilet here...but that's a different story. After removing most of the toilet paper I thought, "man that would have been a funny photo." But alas you're stuck with a mental image of what occurred at the Dunn household this morning.

Other than that we had a "mini" vacation....we like to call them mini vacations as they're day or two day trips that we take somewhere. Well we went to Alton Towers Water Park and stayed at their hotel. It was a lot of fun. Levi has become a lot braver with the water and they had a boat that he could float on which he enjoyed. Of course, another lesson was learned. The lesson that humans were not made to breathe under water. Levi started walking towards the deeper side of the pool and the water just kept going up and he just kept walking...a few seconds later he inhaled a nice amount of water and was sputtering it out as he was picked up out of the water. We then explained he can't just keep walking into the water. It took him a few minutes of being gripped like a small monkey to its mother before he decided he would release me from his hold and put his feet back into the water. So we had fun for 2 days at the water park and then headed home. Sadly there are no pictures of this outing because you can't take photos in the water park...I'm sure it has something to do with them wanting to have you pay for the photos they take of you going down the slide, as well as, protecting peoples privacy.

Yesterday we went to Norwich where they have built a mall into the grounds of a castle. I can't really explain it well, but it's pretty impressive how they have the castle somewhat underground and then the castle just sitting there next to it. They also have a little market where Greg picked up some spices, mussels, etc to make for dinner. Oh, and the best fudge ever...it was clotted cream fudge. Yes, it may sound a little odd and will probably clot an artery, but it's the price you pay for something delicious :c) Levi ate about half the bag....need we say more.

Blood, bees and FUN

So my last post is somewhere in cyber space. I'll try to hit the highlights.

Last week Levi went for another blood draw. A. Which they forgot to tell us he'd need 2 and B. Apparently their policy states they can only draw 10mL's of blood at a time because he's underweight (at least that's what they told me). So we went back to get that whopping last 5mL's taken. He was a champion though. He cried because they were holding his arm down and when he saw the needle go in, but after it was finished he was fine. 

Then, we headed to the park to hang out with some of his little friends and he was eating a cinnamon stick and somehow a bee managed to sting him on the tongue. I don't know if it's me and the fact that they know I won't swat them, but I feel like there are far more bees here than in the states...they tend to migrate towards me. He was crying and the bee was stumbling along the floor, no doubt with it's last few breaths as I pulverized him with my shoe. I think it was a bit of concerned mommy and allergic to bees instinct kicking in. We hung around the park so that we could be close to the hospital, but his tongue didn't swell it was just really red and painful for him. I did think to myself..."how could his day be any worse. A blood draw, a bee sting on the tongue, what else?"

But fortunately the day went without any further incident.

Other than that, we went to the Duxford Imperial War Museum over the weekend and had a great time. They had so many different planes and then of course tanks, etc. A lot of WWII stuff which was interesting to take in. Levi had a blast. They have an active runway on site and so there were biplanes and other little planes (we assume people trying to keep up their license) taking off and landing the entire day. We watched the planes several times and were able to go inside a passenger plane and concorde. Levi does love his "fighta planes" and somehow my making the comment that they are at daddy's work has translated in his brain to daddy must fly them. So we had to have a chat that daddy doesn't actually fly planes...Greg said he's sure he just lost some points on that one :c)  Daddy helps people just isn't the same :c) So here are a few photos of the day.

Greg and Levi getting on the passenger plane

Walking around in one of the hangers with the fighter planes, helicopter, concorde, etc.

Yesterday we woke up and Greg is really good about getting us motivated when he's motivated and so we decided to go to Alton Towers (an amusement park). It was a 3 hour drive away (although it was only 111 miles from our house) and so after breakfast we set on our way not knowing what to expect. For those who don't know...in England you just go and do things regardless of what the weather looks like or is being predicted to be. So off we set. Levi fortunately fell asleep for the last 30 minutes of the drive and so was set with his power nap for a day filled with excitement. 

We were thrilled when we got there because they had an entire "Old McDonald's Farmyard" section for little children with rides, a  petting zoo and playground. It was great. They won Levi over with their tractor ride which is the first thing he saw when he walked in.

I thought it was fitting that our tractor's name was Smokey (Go Vols).

Levi pressing the horn.

Looking back at Greg and I to make sure we weren't causing any trouble :c)

Levi and I on the second go around. Greg graciously took our photo.

This is part of the petting zoo. They had some plastic chickens next to the real ones. Levi's pointing to the fake chickens here :c)

I thought this was amusing :c)

They had a boat ride with all different animals that you had to identify and then press the button that corresponded with their picture and then would make their noise. We had fun :c)

This is what we mean by how great it is that the English just get out and go for it. A flume...yes lots of water splashing on you. Something we tend to think of would be great fun on a nice hot day. The boats were full and  this is just one of the families that decided. Yes it's probably 45 degrees outside and a bit windy but no matter we'll get wet anyways because it's a fun ride. We're not quite there yet. We're able to go out and do things with the realization we may get rained on, but we haven't actually subjected ourselves to purposeful drenching. Who knows we're still here for almost another 3 years.

Levi's first trampoline experience :c)

This is back in the farmyard. The little carousel had all different farm animals and there's a button on each one that makes the animal noise. We had a great time.

They also had cable cars which were great. Levi loved them since we were high in the sky. The fall leaves were changing color and the view was magnificent. They have roller coasters, shows, pretty much like any amusement park. There was also a small aquarium and for those who don't know, Levi loves sea life. We went to see the fishes and they had some sharks and sting rays. Levi loves to tell the sharks they need to brush their teeth. It was just too cute because the shark kept swimming by him and he would wave and say "hello shark" then after a while he was saying "How you" to the shark. We're certainly lucky that he likes aquariums since we seem to be able to find them frequently. 

We finally made it home around 830pm and Levi had fallen asleep in the car. The park closed at 5pm and as we were driving off I said to Greg it's no wonder since the sun goes down by 5pm or a little after. I really do think the sun sets faster here. It seems you're just thinking, "the sun is going down" you blink and it's pitch black.

Well that's what we've been into. Send us an email and let us know how all of you are doing. We'd love to hear from friends and family. Love to all of you.

London revisited :c)

I know...

I've fallen off the blogging track again.

 We've had an exciting October and were thrilled that Greg managed to get the week off to be able to spend time with family in London.

Here Levi is eagerly awaiting Grandpa and Bebe's arrival from the US.

Finally...on the Underground. We literally drove for about 2 hours trying to find a car park with available spaces to be able to leave our car for the week and get into London. We even stopped at Ikea to have lunch just to give ourselves a break from all the driving.

Here are Levi and Greg walking down the street after a delicious breakfast of cornish pastries

This photo was a few days into our trip...I know you can't see Levi, but he's under there. His head is on the left side and you might be able to make out the dents where his legs are towards the middle right. It was hilarious because he pulled the covers over his head and was talking then the next thing you know he was fast asleep. I think we wore him out :c)

The Tower Bridge at night...we took pictures while waiting for the Ceremony of the Keys to take place at the Tower of London.

Nothing like a family hug. Levi loves hugs and how can you not oblige with a face like that.

On the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. I think the look on Levi's face is one I've seen in photos of my brothers when they were getting into mischief....I'm sure he's learned that face from his daddy too :c)

Another photo of "the exhaustion of Levi"

Levi really enjoys riding on the buses..."double bus" or "decker bus" haven't quite gotten down the "double decker bus" unless we say it slowly and he repeats us. The best seat is on the top in the front. :c) We managed to see quite a bit of London this way. He even got to see all the taxis and could identify them by the end of the week. We'll have to find a London taxi for him the next time we're in London. We had bought him the double decker bus and didn't even think to get the taxi.

I also think it's funny that he knows the "train" is down stairs....as in the Underground. 

Levi being chased by Grandpa...a scene we often see.

Going to see the Changing of the Guard and the Changing of the Horse Guard.

I just liked this photo....our little family :c)

Changing of the Horse Guard

Okay, not the most flattering photo by any stretch of the imagination, but....doesn't it look like Levi has his own little chair on my stomach :c) His little brother may not appreciate it if he sits on him when he's born...who knows he might be sitting on Levi soon enough :c)

The Tower of London Yeoman Warder....we actually visited the Tower during the day as well. It was amazing to see the Crown Jewels...absolutely beautiful and stunning pieces.

Tower Bridge during the day.

The London Eye....hilarious how excited Levi was about the London eye this time around. He kept saying "see Wondon Eye, see Wondon Eye".......Too cute.

Levi and Greg playing on the way to the Churchill war rooms.

We had such a great time and were so thankful to have family come and visit. Now we just need someone to book their tickets for November :c) Thanksgiving in England anyone, anyone ? :c)

We are around the 32 week mark and are getting excited that our new little one will be here in the next 2 months. At some point the reality of it all will hit us. :c)