Hello America! Fall 2014

Hello again!  Here is the point where you can remove yourself from the email/RSS feed if you don't want to hear about the boring adventures we are having back in the states :)  We haven't even travelled on an airplane or train (besides JJ for work) since we left, so the jet setting days are officially over.  But for family a little further away, and our own little family record, I do want to keep this blog up.  We are almost entirely settled back into life here.  It has taken a lot longer than I thought it would.  It took about 3 months to get settled into life in London and it has taken about the same amount of time to settle into life here again.  I miss a lot about our London life, but it is also so nice to be home sweet home!  Here is a recap in pictures of the last few months.

The first weekend back in Chicago was the air show.  We could see it from our rooftop deck.  Tyler was in heaven!

My mom came to help with Tyler while we unpacked.  They love spending time together!

A little taste of France in Bucktown - eating crepes!

We headed up to see JJ's grandma with his sisters and went to an Octoberfest celebration.

Tyler loves American things - like Home Depot!

And big trucks!

And "driving" the car everywhere!

And grocery shopping!  Since I ordered nearly all my groceries online in London, this is a bit of a novelty for him.   He is actually quite helpful grocery shopping.  At first I would go while he was in school but he likes it so much that it's now an activity he looks forward to.  The cool carts at the new Mariano's make it even more fun!

Jam time at the aunties' new house!

First day of pre-school!  The first couple weeks were rough.  Pick up on the first day was particularly hard when he burst into tears and said, "I did NOT have fun today!"  But now he loves it and looks forward to it every Tuesday and Thursday.

We went to a little kids fair in Highland Park where kids could ride in big trucks.  Big T's favorite was the helicopter of course!

A beautiful Chicago sunrise from our deck!

We had a photographer follow us around in London before we left.  She took a ton of awesome pictures but here are my favorites!

Tyler is much better with loud noises now but this was still during his "cover the ears" phase

He misses riding the choo choo!

I caught Tyler acting like his teacher playing "circle time" with his stuffed animals :)

Apple picking at the apple orchard

Friends at the orchard

Tyler is very curious about the new baby and he loves looking at his baby book and talking about when he was a baby.  He will be a great big brother!

Tyler got a little nostalgic about Hampstead Heath one night at dinner.  We had to point out some favorite spots on the map.

He loves his new balance bike!

Pumpkin patch fun!

Tyler's first carving experience

Cheers Finn!  We have the same sippy cup!

Zoo fun with Daddy

The Lionel train ride at the Lincoln Park Zoo

Trick or treating at Daddy's office.  He was really confused about everything.

T-rex hard at work!

Nana and Grandpa Gary came to visit!

Welcome to the world Gyan Robert Kern!  Matt & Raji had their baby a few weeks early on Halloween and he's adorable!  We are so excited to have another baby in the family!

We attended our first Michigan football tailgate in a couple years at Northwestern.  It was a terrible game but fun to put on the Michigan gear again!

The tailgate crew.

JJ has run a couple races since returning to Chicago.  Tyler loves wearing the medal he got at this Hot Chocolate race!

Goodbye London!

Tonight is our last night in London!  We successfully moved out of our flat today after a long two days. I felt so bad for the movers.  The staircase leading up to our flat is narrow and winding and up 3 flights.  They were really working hard both days, and now that I'm 6 months pregnant I was especially thankful to not have to do any lifting.  Tyler was great through the move.  It was hard to keep him entertained while we were stuck in the house and feeling in the way.  But he made friends with the movers and tried to help sometimes.  He did have a hard time watching them pack up his beloved toys but he seemed to accept my explanation that they were taking a little boat ride and that they would have a great story to tell him when they saw him in Chicago.  And he liked our "picnic" meals on the floor or sitting on boxes.  It's such a relief to be out and have everything buttoned up on this end.  Now we just need to make it through the flight which should be a piece of cake and then get settled in the US.  We are really excited to jump back into life in Chicago.  Tyler keeps asking if we are in our new home yet :)

Here is the recap from our last week here in London!

We went for one last London lunch with Daddy near his work.  Tyler had to go check out this row of fast motorcycles.

We had one last trip to Tyler's favorite lunch spot by JJ's work, Byrons.  It's a burger place.  He loves the cheeseburger and fries and of course the milkshake at the end!  Not sure why he insisted on drinking out of this tiny bowl, but he was happy!

We had a great photographer follow us around London on Saturday to take some shots of us near Big Ben and then in Hampstead to commemorate our time here.  She sent along this one as a teaser.  I can't wait to see the rest!

Here is another at Trafalgar Square

The crepe stand by our flat is only open Thursday - Sunday so Sunday night we had to get one last crepe!  Big T was pretty excited!

But however, Big T does not like to be messy and was VERY upset when chocolate squirted onto his favorite Superman shirt.  

He recovered well and kept on eating though!

For our last day together in London before the movers came I wanted to go to Leicester Square to pick up some London souvenirs for his new room in Chicago (going to have a transportation/London theme).  I asked Tyler what he wanted to do in addition to that and he said,  "Ride a double decker bus!"  I thought that sounded like a great idea so we took the tube down to Leicester Square and then got the best seat at the top front of bus on the way home.  We both had a blast! 

We had dinner with the playgroup boys one more time to say goodbye.

For the last night in the flat we also had a lot of bubbles to use up so we had a big, giant foam party!   

Surrounded by boxes!!!

Moving is exhausting!  Tyler couldn't keep his eyes open on the ride from the flat to the hotel.  He also never let go of my old blackberry that he found while we were packing and claimed as his own!