Road trip to Dorset

We headed southwest for the late summer bank holiday last weekend to the county of Dorset. We rented an apartment for the long weekend and Tyler got his own room and we enjoyed making our own breakfasts and lunches. Our apartment was in the quiet town of Southbourne. It was so peaceful and we basically had the beach to ourselves. We rented a car so we headed all the way down the coastline and saw some really beautiful sights during our time there. We even stopped at Stonehenge on the way back to London.

The beach right across from our apartment in Southbourne

These beach huts are all down the coast.  I fell in love with these and took a million pictures.  They are just one room and basically a shelter from the beach and a small kitchen that you can rent for the day.  I tried to rent one online but they seemed to be all booked.  I was disappointed to see that most of the ones by us were empty when we got there - guess I didn't know which ones to look for!

More colorful, empty beach huts

Tyler really enjoys being buried in the sand

Beach fun!

He's so advanced - look at how well he prints :)

Right down the road from us was an area called Hengistbury Head - it's a big nature preserve right on the beach that is beautiful.  We walked all the way down the end to Mudeford Sandspit which is a tiny sand peninsula that has colorful beach lining the middle of it.

There was a land train that took people from the car park to the Sandspit - the "choo choo" was a big hit with Tyler

View of the beach huts in the distance, all in a row

Tyler loves to hike!

Tyler and momma overlooking Mudeford Sandspit.  He was feeling especially cheeky this day and this was right before he head butted me.

I loved this one!  The sign says "My little beach hut."  These were a little bigger than the ones we saw at Southbourne beach and have these tiny bunks to sleep in.  I guess it's similar to camping but I would think things would get a little cramped in there!

We ate dinner right on the peninsula at the Beach House Cafe.  Tyler, again was very cheeky all through dinner.

More rock climbing with Daddy

We got this picture framed.  In case you can't see the boat's name is Cheeky Monkey.  It was a good boat for Big T.

The next day we woke up and hit the road to go to Durdle Door (pictures below).  On the walk to the beach, cattle just wandered around with the people.

Cow crossing on the way to the beach - Tyler loved all the "mooooo's"

In front of Durdle Door - an interesting rock formation on the coast.  It reminded me of the coastline of the UP of Michigan near Painted Rocks.  It was absolutely beautiful.

The family in front of Durdle Door

Overlooking the other side of Durdle Door

Hiking down to the beach.  This was a haul.  I was once again thankful that JJ took him up.  He's getting pretty good at hauling Tyler on hikes!

The obligatory toss in front of a landmark :)

We stopped at a pub for a beer and snack.  This pub had livestock roaming around.  This rooster was particularly vocal.

This picture reminds me of the scene in Forest Gump where Forest and his son are in exactly the same position.  Are these two the same or what?

Tyler made friends with the bunny

We stopped in an old town to see Corfe Castle.

Corfe Castle.  I guess some of it was destroyed in the English Civil War in the 1600s and now it's really just ruins but has been around for 1,000 years.

Tyler loved to play in all the nook and crannies of the ruins

Feeling cheeky!

Even more cheeky!  Don't worry JJ was holding him from the back.

Family pic in the castle ruins

We stopped in Boscombe Beach for dinner on the way home from a long day.  The beach was fun and had a surfer vibe to it.

Seaside dining.  This was right before he absolutely lost it at dinner.  Luckily we head the world's biggest attraction right behind us - the beach!  I took him down for some water fun, trying to keep him dry.  I quickly realized that was impossible so I had to bring a sandy, wet baby back to dinner (luckily I had a change of clothes in my bag).

We stopped at Stonehenge on the way home

Another family pic in front of some rocks

I like to take pictures of him playing in front of cool places.  No big deal, I'm just hanging out at Stonehenge!

It was a lovely day for sightseeing and another good trip in the books!

Matt and Rajani's Wild Wedding Week

We are back from our week long trip back to the US for JJ's brother, Matt's wedding to Rajani.  It got started quickly as JJ left about 30 minutes after landing to go to Matt's bachelor party.  We had week long celebrations of JJ's mom's birthday, an Indian wedding in West Virginia, a rehearsal dinner for the American wedding back in Michigan, and then finally the American wedding ceremony at a lovely farm in Dexter.  We also got a chance to spend lots of time with my side of the family in between it all and a good time was had by all.  Tyler was a big trooper with all the travel and he really got to know and have fun with the whole family.  We are so happy for Matt and Raji as they start their married life together and are so glad we could be a part of it!  I didn't take the best pictures with my phone of the weddings but I'm hoping to get better pictures that I will post later on.

Back here in London we are all still a bit jet lagged as it is harder to get used to the time zone on the way back.  Tyler is on a teenager's schedule of staying up until 11pm and sleeping until 11am.  It's nice for him to sleep in though, so I can't complain.

We got upgraded to business class on the way home to Detroit.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, man it's good to be Tyler Kern!  Look at all that leg room!

He enjoyed playing with all the gadgets.  We even got him to watch a bit of a few movies!

Uncle Matt and Aunt Raji got him a set of golf clubs that he loves, although he has an unorthodox swing.

Fun at Nana's!

What do you do with a jet-lagged toddler at 4am in Oxford?  Head to Meijer!  He enjoyed riding the pony that is still just 1 penny!

Henna night before the Indian wedding!

Tyler got to meet up with friends Louie and Lena Green, MacKenzie and Cooper Stull and Parker, Hudson and Briggs Brzustewicz in Birmingham for a play date! 

The bride asked us to pick up a couple things at an Indian grocery store on the way to West Virginia.  Tyler quickly took it upon himself to clean things up a bit :)

We got the beetle leaves, I repeat we have the beetle leaves!  Turns out they looked to be pretty important in the ceremony so we were glad we could help out :)

This is all I got on my phone of the ceremony since I was chasing around Tyler and too far away to take a good pic.  I will try to post more later if we get copies from the photographer or family.  It was really cool to be a part of the ceremony and see all the traditions!  At one part that Tyler was watching they started to throw rice at each other and Tyler kept saying "Uh oh" every time they threw it :)

Close up of his casual Indian attire - Matt and Raji brought back beautiful clothes from India for all of us to wear.

Tyler's casual outfit with the shoes.  He loved wearing the shoes - I think he thought they were fancy!

We took pictures by the capitol in Charleston West Virginia.  Abe Lincoln was a progressive man, I think if he saw Tyler pantless on his statue he would think, "No pants, no problem!"

Break for a PB&J during pictures!  He changed into his "fancy" outfit for pics.  Do note that on normal sized Indian boys this is a shirt.  I had to bust open the seam (see onesie coming through) to make it a jacket so it could fit on his big belly.

"Um Uncle Matt, I think you still have some rice in there...."

The beautiful bride and groom!

Back in Oxford, Gigi (that is what Tyler calls my mom because he can't say Grandma yet) took Tyler to Cooks Farm Dairy, an old childhood favorite!

Cow kisses!  This friendly cow got a little closer than I think Tyler was expecting!

The ice cream was a big hit.  Tyler started saying "more, more more" immediately after the spoon touched his lips.

Fun at Kids Kingdom in Oxford with Gigi

The sun setting behind the bouncy house at Red Tail Farm the night before the wedding.  Matt and Raji had a bounce house and a dunk tank at their wedding.  I had to take Tyler back to the hotel to meet the babysitter during the dunking but from what I hear, the bride got Matt dunked on the first couple tries!

Tyler and mommy selfie all dressed up!

Raji's parents couldn't make it up from West Virginia for the wedding because her brother's wife had a baby earlier in the week and they were helping there so JJ got the honor of walking her down the isle.

The beautiful couple at the beautiful farm on a beautiful day!

Tyler really likes to take selfies now (my fault!).  It was hilarious at the wedding he kept pointing the phone toward himself and smiling and saying "cheese!"  Auntie Kris photo-bombed this one!

"Hey ladies, can I interest you in some bubbles?"

Matt and Raji with his parents

Another wedding, another pb&j!

Tyler made a friend at the wedding - Kyla Brewer!  They enjoyed dancing to the string quartet

This is the best photo I could get of the three of us!

I love photo booths at weddings! So fun!

Bouncy house!!!

Getting kisses from the beautiful bride and new Aunt Raji!

Tyler was tuckered out after all the activity!

He could watch airplanes for hours.  It makes going to the airport very easy.

Look at that huge smile on his face - I think airplanes are his favorite things ever!