Happy First Birthday Colton Lee!

We debated back and forth about what kind of first birthday party to have for Colton. In the end, given the hectic life we are leading right now, we opted for a quiet family dinner at home with gifts and cake. It turned out to be a late but really fun night for all of us.

Colton has had a big day. He had his one year appointment this morning and weighed in at a whopping 27 lbs (90ish %), 32 1/2 inches (off the growth chart) and a 42cm head circum. (again, off the chart). So he is "quite a big boy" as the doctor said. But he's very proportional for his size. So perhaps we're growing a future linebacker for the Aggies and then Cowboys??? Nothing would make his daddy prouder!

Here are some fun shots from our day. As usual, he's been an extremely happy guy (mainly because I put off the shots for a day or two so he could enjoy his day), and we couldn't feel more blessed. He enjoyed his new toys and loved ripping open the wrapping paper. He got a really cute big boy fleece blanket with British soldiers on it, an adorable group of Chuck cars and trucks, and some fun new bath toys.

He really liked the cake. I've never seen anyone attack a piece of cake quite like he did. He grabbed the cake while blowing out his candle. It was a wise decision on my part to strip him down before the carnage began. Enjoy! It was fun to watch!

German Christmas Market in England?

In Birmingham they have established a new tradition, a Frankfurter German Christmas market. I had planned to go with girlfriends and the boys while Jeff was gone, but Jackson began a fever that day. So as we were already in Birmingham for Cadbury World, we decided to go for a few hours before heading home. It turned out to be pretty authentic in feel and food. We had a really great time. The boys rode the large slide twice and we had a ball trying on hats. The big boys and mommy got new winter hats. Mommy got the Christmas pudding hat and the boys picked long scarf hats.

Cadbury World

Okay, it was the BEST TOUR EVER!!!! Just saying! When you get free candy bars and test samples and the entire place smells like chocolate you know it has to be the greatest! We decided to go with our friends the Higgins to Cadbury World to help celebrate Mike's birthday. So you get there and the entry area smells like chocolate. Then you enter the tour and no like, they hand you 10 items of Cadbury chocolate for a family of 5. They counted the baby! Then as you head through the factory it smells like chocolate. And they give you more candy along he way in case you ran out during the first part of the tour. At the end they let you in a tasting room and they pour hot tempered chocolate in a cup over your choice of ingredients and you eat it with a SPOON! It was the best day of my life I think!

So enjoy the goofy pictures of us eating our curly wurlies, which were 20 for 3 pounds sterling in the gift shop, my new favorite!

Jackson enjoyed the demonstration room where he got to pipe his name in chocolate. But his favorite hands down was the really fun playground outside.

I think Colton enjoyed it too!

A Day at Lacock Abby

I have been wanting to visit Lacock Abby for quite some time. They used the cloisters area for a lot of filming in the Harry Potter movies. Plus, it sits in this quaint little village in the countryside near Bath. We had a great day out. The weather was cold but sunny and there were no crowds. In addition to the abby and the cloisters there was an old brewery.

The architecture is amazing and we had such a good time playing around the grounds. I enjoyed photographing every inch of the place.

The boys even went down by the river and threw rocks for a while. Colton was delighted at getting out of the stroller and playing with the big boys.

Of course, at the end of the day we had to play a bit of Harry Potter and take some shots of the rooms used as classrooms:

the corridors:

and of course the courtyard areas.

After leaving the Abby we wandered around the village.

I loved the doors and the little timbered houses. I do have to admit I caved; after seeing the quaint little tea room and then the pleading look in my children's eyes, we went to McDonalds! Great day for us all! We did drive through Bath before heading home. We planned to get out and sightsee for an hour or two but the traffic downtown was unbelievable and the parking garages were full. The shopping looked incredible, so Jeff and I have decided it would be a place we would like to come for a weekend with no children. So we hit a Toys'r'us on the way back to Fairford. I have to admit I bought more for myself than for anyone else! Fun baby things to be had and of course I had to pick up a few birthday presents for our little birthday boy this week!