We arrived at Sea-Tac only to find that Stephen's company failed to book Noah's ticket! We had to shell out $800 just so he could sit on my lap! Luckily, the company will reimburse us but still quite a shock! The flight was pretty uneventful and fairly smooth. I am not a big fan of flying but the big planes tend to be a lot smoother and I am more comfortable on them. The flat seats in business did make the bumps more obvious when lying down but overall it was a good experience. Esme was a handful for the first hour but she quickly fell asleep for the rest of the journey. Noah was an angel baby, as usual and had no complaints.
I wish I could say that our post flight journey was as smooth. We had a car to collect us from the airport and somehow managed to get all of our suitcases into it. It took us over 4 hours to get to Canary Wharf, where our corporate apartment was, and was the most miserable journey I have ever experienced. The last thing you want to do when you arrive somewhere after an 8 hour flight is spend four hours in the car. It took us 8 hours to go 5000 miles and then another 4 hours to go 20 miles! Unbelievable. When we finally arrived, Grandma Jill and Granddad Richard were waiting for us. They were very excited to meet Noah for the very first time and thought he was a lovely little boy.
Grandma Jill and Granddad Richard brought us some much needed essentials (milk, dinner, tea, biscuits, etc.) and also a few presents! They also delivered their car to us. They were very kind to give us their second car and we couldn't be more grateful. Their generosity really made settling back into this country a lot easier and we couldn't have done it without them! Thank you both very much. We had a brief visit with them before they had to head back to Little Dunmow.
The weekend we arrived, we headed up to Louth. The rest of the family was up there visiting Auntie Norah and we thought it was a good opportunity introduce everyone to baby Noah. The rest of the family was staying at Auntie Norah's house so we stayed at a bed and breakfast down the road. We spent some time at Auntie Norah's house visiting and having nice meals prepared by Grandma Jill. Auntie Norah was very pleased to meet little Noah.
Before everyone arrived, we took a stroll with Granddad through Louth. It was a beautiful day and Esme enjoyed getting to run around the park. Noah was a little prince and was very well behaved while riding in the buggy.
We walked by a little stream and Esme got to feed the ducks. A nice family gave her a few pieces of bread to break up and feed them and she was in heaven. She loves all little creatures. We even found some swings on our walk!
The beautiful day quickly took a turn for the worse and it started raining! Esme loves the rain and puddles so it didn't even phase her. The adults and Noah, on the other hand, were happy to find refuse at a near by pub.
Granddad and Noah
Esme enjoying the rain- we are really grateful to Grandma Julie for teaching her to jump in puddles!! Thank goodness for wellies!
The boys were excited to meet Noah and see Esme again, too. This picture is super cute- what a good looking bunch!
We took a day trip to Gunby Hall. It was Noah's first National Trust property so we started him a passport. We started Esme's passport when we came to England for Uncle Adrian and Aunt Helen's wedding last September. As soon as they collect stamps from 30 different locations they will earn a certificate- that shouldn't be hard as daddy has a lifetime membership and we plan on visiting many more in the coming years! Gunby had a lovely house to look at and very large beautiful gardens. Esme had fun chasing her cousins around. We can already tell that her and Miles are going to be good friends- they are both a little bit cheeky!
Esme in the gardens
She is definitely her mother's child- she found a kitty to play with!
Playing with her cousins
Mommy and Esme
Gram and Daddy
Granddad pushing the stroller- it suits him, don't you think?
One of my favorite memories from this trip was watching Esme play with Miles and Stuart. They seem to get along well and have fun with each other. At one point, I made a comment about how Esme's pants were too big and that I had to keep pulling them up. Miles looked at me in a very matter of fact manner and informed me that "those aren't her pants!" Too funny! In England, pants are underwear and what we call pants are trousers! It was a lovely weekend and we had fun catching up with family.
We returned to London but the excitement wasn't over. There were riots in the streets all over London- shops were being looted, people were robbed and an immense amount of damage was done to local businesses and homes. We were glad to be 11 floors off of the ground and in a fairly safe part of London (Canary Wharf) but we did get some action. Our local grocery store was vandalized and we had police blocking off our driveway.
What a brilliant welcome back! ;)
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