I recently visited Claire, Jim and Evie in London for 10 days and it was wonderful! Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite pictures from my visit!
My first day with Evie. She and Claire met me at the train station when I arrived in London and we took a very nice cab back to the house to avoid the hustle and bustle of the tube.
A motto I should follow.
This is how Evie sleeps. Not on the floor, but in general.
Claire is amazed at the Morris Dancers.
Paddington Station the day we went to Oxford for our day trip.
The day I got to London, we took a nice walk to Hampstead Heath, a park near Claire and Jim's flat, and climbed Parliament or "Kite" Hill.
Evie in her basket bed. She looks so cute in her little bear hoodie.
Back on Parliament Hill with Jim, Claire and Evie. This was following a lunch party we had at their flat with various friends. We all took a nice walk after eating delicious French pastries.
Evie and I looking our best on our trip to Oxford.
It was Mothers Day in England when I visited, and a random man in Oxford was giving all women flowers in celebration of their being mothers. Or not mothers, in my case. It was nice!
Another first meeting picture.
Evie prefers pop videos or America's Next Top Model to news shows.
This is the craziest store I have ever been in. Everything in there is fairy or princess related. It is vomit-inducing.
Here we are preparing to go out to a pub with Claire's friends from school. Evie is sporting her fly outfit and shoes Mom gave her!
Evie gets a spit bath, followed by an oil rub-down massage.Followed by......
Evie was very interested in the monkey on her play mat because I was making such expert monkey noises. HAH.
Here I am feeding Evie on my first morning in London. We dropped my stuff off at the flat and then wandered to a yummy breakfast place and had some food and smoothies.
This is a not very good view of the garden outside their flat. You can see Finchley, though!
Our first stop in Oxford was the Oxford Castle where the Morris Dancers were celebrating in the Oxford Folk Festival.
I couldn't resist.
Here we see the previously mentioned Morris Dancers at the Oxford Folk festival.
While in Oxford, we all dreamed and wished we were smarter than we really are.
Claire and Jim also prepared Evie for her future as a student there.
A highschool friend of mine, Cade, is at school in Oxford and was our tour guide for the day.
It seemed as though Spring was in the air in London! I think it got super cold the day I left.
In Jim's favorite secret alley, there is a cool brick wall.
Finchley through the door.
Flowers at a garden we visited.
Frog eggs??
At the "scream" viewing of Marley and Me. Here is my non-professional opinion of that movie: the dog parts were pretty good, the non-dog related parts weren't all that interesting. AND bring some tissue because they drag the damn dog's death out WAY too long. I continued to cry periodically throughout the remainder of the day thinking about Moose dying some day.
At the Camden Market. We went there after taking Evie to get some immunizations one day. It was raining on and off and the sky was pretty awesome.
At the Camden Market. We went there after taking Evie to get some immunizations one day. It was raining on and off and the sky was pretty awesome.
Here is Evie being a good girl while we tooled around at Camden Market. She is such a good girl!
Canal-side flats in Camden
This guy and a girl were repainting this bridge in Camden. Again, the sky was awesome, especially with the city skyline and those bright colors.
I thought of my visit as a learning experience for Evie. I taught her how to look stylish whilst pushing a stroller, as opposed to her father.....
I taught her the importance of smelling flowers and enjoying their beauty. And, of course, the importance of always looking your best for a photo shoot.
And finally, I taught her that I AM the most awesome aunt she could ever wish to have and that it's ok if you have a little spitup on your lip in pictures as long as you're as beautiful as we are.