Bianca's off to Meadowmount

Bianca was so excited to get accepted to Meadowmount School of Music for this summer (seven weeks, which is sooo long).

Eric flew out to New York City with Bianca in the middle of June. They spent a couple days exploring New York, then he drove her to upstate New York, near Lake Champlain, where she spent the next 7 weeks.

We missed her a ton, and I think she didn't like being gone for quite that long. She got a little homesick near the middle and asked to come home. But she made it through and had a good experience. For a while, she was sending me a picture a day so that we'd stay in touch.

Portia turned 9!

Portia is obsessed with the Warrior Cat book series. She's read nearly all of them (and I'm pretty sure there are over 20—and they're long)!  So, she was dying to have a Warrior Cats birthday party. Although it was rainy (so they couldn't adventure out in the woods in our backyard as she wanted), Portia was pretty happy with how it all turned out. Portia and Bianca helped make the cat-ear headbands and I had cupcakes custom made with the Warrior Cat clans on them.

Spring Break in California with my Sister!

The girls and I spent spring break with Susannah and her family in California this year. She's truly the best hostess ever and spoiled us with tons of day trips and lots of yummy meals. I'm so lucky she's my sister! And I love when my girls get to spend time with their cousins, although sadly it wasn't their spring break.

We went to Disneyland:

We went paddleboarding on the ocean and saw seals (no sharks, thankfully):

We went to Santa Monica Pier and did some shopping and ate at Steak 'N' Shake:

It was the first day of the opening of Harry Potter world at Universal Studios and was crowded, but we went anyway. We even met some friends from our neighborhood there:

Portia's Reflections Entry is going to State!

Portia wrote a song on her cello (called Hunting Birds) and is going to state for Reflections! So proud of this little composer! Sometimes it's okay when you're messing around on your cello instead of practicing!

England Day Ten: London

We woke up at 3 am and left Anstruther. I couldn't sleep anyway most of the night because the wind was shaking the house, so we drove on to London!

We arrived right before lunch and checked into our hotel, The Town Hall. We're only staying here one night but it's nice and comfortable. Eric dropped off the rental car and we took a taxi (I swear the drive looked exactly like Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey) to The New Globe Theatre. We stopped at TAS Pide for Turkish pides (boat-shaped bread filled with meat and egg). We loved it!

When we got to the Globe Theatre, we almost bought tickets to see Cymbeline in the candle-lit inside theatre, but the only two tickets they had left weren't near each other and we didn't want to split up. So instead, we took a tour of the outdoor theatre. Our tour guide was great and kept directing his comments to Portia, who was the youngest person in the tour.

Afterward, Portia and I took the underground back to our hotel to swim, while Eric and Bianca went shopping at Picadilly Circus.

In the morning, we took a taxi to Gatwick Airport and flew home. We arrived home on New Year's Eve.

Scotland Day Nine: St. Andrews

Today is our last day in Scotland. We have absolutely loved it here and wished we had arranged to spend more time in Scotland. We'll have to come back someday. After breakfast, we went to the water again. The wind had died down a bit and the sun was out. It was gorgeous!

We were going to visit Kellie's Castle but we kept missing the turn—the signs weren't so helpful—on our 10-minute drive to St. Andrew's. Another beautiful city! The waves were crazy, like 20 of them curling to the beach at once, and the ruins overlooked the sea. Portia wanted to stay near the water, so I stayed with her while Eric and Bianca explored the castle. We met back up after we explored the cathedral ruins and the historic harbour. We stopped at a bookstore (of course!) and then headed back to Anstruther for lunch.

We took the girls to our fish & chips place we loved so much. I got the hot smoked salmon & prawn salad with chips & curry sauce. That places is truly amazing!

After lunch, Eric and I walked into town and it turned windy & cold again. The waves were crashing so violently against the stone walls, it was spraying the people on the street. We stopped into a couple gift shops and ended our evening by playing Monopoly, then packing up as we leave again in the morning.

Scotland Day Eight: Anstruther & Edinburgh

We love Anstruther! It's windy—really windy—but so charming and quaint and beautiful! We walked down to the rocky beach first thing after breakfast. Then drove to Cowdenbeath, where Eric's grandma Peggy grew up before she came over to the US when she was 16. We walked around the cemetery looking for family names but didn't really find anything interesting.

Next we drove on the Edinburgh. We were starved by the time we got there, so we had lunch at a restaurant called The Wedgewood. It was so good! I had the potato & leek soup, gnocchi and for dessert: parsnip brulet with thyme ice cream! Sounds weird but tastes divine!

We walked all over Edinburgh—to the royal mile, up to the castle, and then did some shopping.

We went into the most amazing bookshop called Armchair Books!!! And we walked by a Cat Cafe but couldn't go in because it was all booked. Portia thinks we should start a Cat Cafe of our own and call it The Cat & Cocoa Cafe and serve gourmet hot chocolates. Bianca says Edinburgh is here favorite city she's even been to.

When we returned to Anstruther, Eric and I went to a Fish & Chips place near our place, where we walked along the ocean to get there. Still windy, but lovely. I had some salmon & dill fish cakes. What a lovely time we had!