Bunny!

With Easter being so close to us returning home from Tulsa, we really didn't do much this year.  We did however manage to make it to The Resort again for their annual hunt.

G did brave the Easter bunny this year for a pic and scored TONS of eggs!

Treat For ME

While Gunnar and I were in Tulsa, Nick was keeping busy around the farm (despite some really wintery weather).  During our phone conversations he told me about the odd jobs he head been called to do, the cleaning he had gotten done etc..  However, when I got home the house was a mess

and I had a BRAND NEW ENTRY WAY!

Look at that gorgeous "beam" and the redwood between each step:

 Nooks!:

 A stained handrail!

 Beautiful!

Like many people we mainly use our back door to enter the house.  Unfortunately it is also one of the few areas of our house (upstairs) that we have never improved.  It was a fright!  Icky peach walls, exposed sheet rock seams with large gaps and awful linoleum covering the stairs.

Thank you, thank you to the most amazing husband ever!  

Spring Break - Tulsa

Gunnar, (Pip Pip) and I traveled to Tulsa to visit during spring break this year.  While the weather did disappoint a bit we had a wonderful time catching up with friends and family and taking advantage of many of the kid friendly activities Tulsa has to offer.

Gunnar was a super trooper traveler.  It takes 2 legs each approximately 3 hours (with a layover) to make it to Tulsa and he weathered it all (with a few bribes) very well.  On one leg we met one of the pilots as we were boarding and he even let Gunnar sit in the cockpit.  So cool!

Two of my girlfriends hosted a family get together/shower for me while we were there.  Gunnar had a BLAST playing with all (FIVE) of their girls and I got tons of wonderfully generous gifts!

My brave brothers even braved the event!

 Lot's of great game advice from the girls:

 You may be noticing a party theme here, G and the sombrero:

We hit up the Tulsa Zoo with some very special perks thanks to "Uncle" Pat:

G and his bestest girlfriend Keira being silly on the train:

 Riding the CAMEL!:

 Riding the shark on the carousel.  You will notice a distinctive shark theme to this trip as well,  He was obsessed!:

Next up was the friend meet up.  One of my girlfriends is so generous every time we come to visit (okay it has only been twice:) ) that she hosts a huge get together at her place for all our old school friends and their kiddos.  This year she really out did herself as there was a bouncy house!

All the kiddos (that could fit in the frame) baking in the sun:) :

 Kiddos in the back of the Beast with one very willing supervisor:

 Oh geez, look at those eyes!

 And again with the sideways glance.  We are going to have to keep a very careful eye on these two in their teen years!

To wrap it all up and seal the deal with G's shark fascination we also went to the aquarium.  It was packed (and I say that after spending 10 years on NYC public transport!) but we had a great time.

Believe it or not there was tons more fun had!  Not sure when we will make it back again with another little person in tow so it was a very special trip.

Time Warp

I knew it had been a long time since I posted but wow, I had no idea it had been this long!  I am at a loss of even how to recap!

Christmas was a roaring success!  Santa did find Gunnar and deliver his much desired tricycle and helmet with no problem.

We hosted Christmas dinner and it was the first time I was able to use the beautiful china I inherited from my grandmother.

Nick and I made it to my company's bowling Christmas party this year which was a BLAST and the first time G spent the night away from home with Gigi and PopPop.

I got a NEW CAR and sold the GEO!  I am now the extremely proud owner of a 2000 Jetta TDI.  It is the first car I have ever loved enough to ignore Nick's complaints and put a bumper sticker on.

Last but most certainly not least (and probably the main reason I have been post delinquent) we are expecting Pip Pip London August 15th!

Now let's see if I can do better with posts!

Some general cute shots of G to tide you over:

More Festivities

We officially had our first "good snow" of the season last week and Gunnar is definitely a mountain boy.  He LOVED the snow.  Spent hours out in it and any time he had to come in it was a major melt down.  Lucky for him his daddy is the outdoorsy type too so he had an excellent partner in crime.

Here is the view out the east side of our living room:

 G taking it all in as the snow fell:

 Daddy making a few mods to his sleigh:

 Me pulling the sleigh:

 Then we had a friend's Christmas party to attend.  It was a blast but I am pretty sure the highlight was that SANTA stopped by.  Here is my favorite candid shot ever as G squealed with excitement at seeing Santa:

 G and the big man:

 There was a pinata to wind up the festivities and of course all the kids were thrilled:

 Then, this weekend we had some friends over for a little Christmas celebration.  The highlight of the evening was the game we gave her son - "Doggy Doo" .  The kids were DYING over the dogs intestinal distress and the adults couldn't stop trying to imagine how the original marketing pitch went.  It was so much fun since G really was able to play and he was so into it.  We had a bit of a meltdown when it was time for the game to go to it's new home and he woke up still talking about "the poop in his shovel".  Hilarious!

 I thought this was also a great shot of G and his kitten.  They are both getting so big!

 We have done Christmas this year in a more Chanukkah fashion, allowing G to open a present a day.  It is really nice as the bribe is handy plus he really spends time with each new toy and acknowledges who it is from versus the total Christmas chaos we had last year.  Today he opened binoculars from Sophie and Keira in Tulsa and loved them!  Then of course we got to talking about going to see Sophie and Keira and now he is totally over the moon.

I am sure I won't be posting again until after Christmas so, MERRY CHRISTMAS from London Acres to your neck of the woods!

The Next Big Thing

As you all know, Nick loves his Vanagon. He looked for about 4 years before he found his and as the blog has documented, he has made a ton of improvements. Because older car karma is such a bitch, every time he upgrades something something else would rear its ugly head and need attention. Nick has long dreamed of simply doing away with his pesky engine all together and doing a Subaru conversion to really get the van in tip top shape. Of course that would mean the mechanical stars would have to align with the small finance stars and then he would be set. So he has looked and waited and looked and waited and ALAS he found his engine. A friend on the mountain rolled his 2005 Subaru and was in a bad way to get some cash so Nick grabbed the engine for a very good price. He was also able to grab as he puts it "every bit of wire in the car" and any random electronic components he may need.

Here is the engine: 

 And here is the wiring

Nick and his dad have poured over the wiring and have it mostly assembled in the new "wiring harness" he will need to make the whole thing run. I am in awe!

G and I are headed to Tulsa for spring break this year and Nick will be staying behind to try and get the engines swapped. Wish him luck!!!

A New Leaf For Both Of Us

Gunnar and I both have been stretching our comfort zones lately.  He is now officially in a big boy bed and I (wait for it) have been sewing.  The big boy bed has been a relative success (3 nights out of 8 with him sleeping in it all by himself all night) and I have managed to only cry during one sewing project.

Here is a combo shot of Gunnar in his bed holding the dinosaur pillow I made him:

And here are his new curtains:

Not going to be making any ball gowns soon but again, relative success for the both of us!