We got home yesterday from our epic trip to the UK, and buckle in because I have a lot of pics and stories to share. I’m going to break up my posts into the three places we went, so let’s get started!
The trip started off with an enormous amount of stress, when I got a text that our flight to Houston was delayed. The delay would mean we would miss our flight to Heathrow. Um, not an option. I got on the phone with United, and after 40 minutes of being on hold, we got put on an earlier flight to Houston, which would get us there in plenty of time to catch our flight to London.
Waaaaaiting and waiting and waiting at the airport
But then that flight kept getting delayed, to the point where again, we were going to be in danger of missing our connection. Fortunately, the flight took off with some time to spare, and we landed in Houston. And sat and sat and sat on the tarmac. My blood pressure was rising a bit more every moment, until finally we got off with a few minutes to get to our next gate. Read More
It’s been an eventful start to the summer already. Gareth‘s sister and family are in town, which has been really fun for the boys. Rachel has two boys who are nine and twelve, and all of the boys have become fast friends.
There was hanging out at the pub, coloring all of the bricks…
Swimming on Memorial Day…
Taking over the levee last night…
and generally just being goofy. I’ll be sad when they leave at the end of the week! Hopefully we’ll see them again soon, either over on their home turf (the UK) or back here.
I also took Miles to see Angry Birds (terrible, but look, triplets!)
and Linus and I went shopping, where I bought him his very own plant to take care of. (It’s spearmint.) (He liked the smell.)
And some movie nights on the sofa with popcorn.
Fun times! Next week will be camp for the boys, and the week after, I leave for Europe! Eep!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 190,000 times in 2015. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 8 days for that many people to see it.
Got home from the Grand Meetup Monday night and MAN was it good to see the boys and George. I got so many good hugs. And the boys’ front teeth all seem to have now fully come in, so they looked older and different. Sigh.
The evening I got home I got to meet Gareth’s sister and cousin, who had come over from the UK. They were lovely, and I wish I could have spent more time getting to know them. Well, we’ll just have to make another trip over, that’s all!
One of the hardest things about being away last week was missing Gareth’s service, but I was able to help a bit by making the slideshow for the service and one that played continuously at the pub afterwards. I got lots of positive feedback on it, so that felt nice.
When I was in Park City, I wrote a post for the New Orleans Moms Blog about how much I love my neighborhood, and it was kind of a clumsy word vomit of emotion, but sometimes you just have to.
I hate a post without any photos, so here’s a #tbt for ya. Technically, it was 5 years ago yesterday, but it seems as if my photos from October 22 through the years have been less than scintillating.
Anyway, it’s adorbs. Linus and Emily at the pumpkin patch when I took him to Virginia.
At least you can’t see the poison oak he had which made much of our trip a living hell. Good times, good times.
We lost a friend this weekend, and I just wanted to share to everyone who didn’t know him what a great person Gareth was. This isn’t going to be eloquent, I just need to get the words out.
We’ve known Gareth for, gosh, I guess at least 11 years? I’m not really sure. I do remember the first conversation I ever had with him. It was about our wedding planning, and he was telling me something about the royal wedding. You know, the Charles and Diana one. I don’t remember what he told me about it, though. Just that we chatted about it.
When George and I were planning our honeymoon to London, he urged us to take a few days and visit the Welsh town he grew up in, Hay-on-Wye. So we did.
Our wedding was just a couple of months after Katrina, and he’d stayed behind for the storm. Anytime our wedding came up in conversation later, he’d always say, “Pammy…that was the best wedding ever. Great party.” So many people needed the celebration, not least of all him.
I searched my blog for a mention of Gareth, and the only one I found was that he came to visit me in the hospital before I had the boys. Because that’s the kind of guy he was, even though I’m sure he’d have rather been anywhere else on earth.
In June, grossing me out with his bloody eye.
At our friend’s wedding in August
In our backyard in 2007.
At the pub prom in 2006.
At prom in 2006
In a friend’s yard in 2007.
On the levee in 2007.
When the neighborhood was raising funds for a friends’ son’s surgery, Gareth showed us all up by donating a huge amount. He had been saving it up for something special, but gave it to the surgery fund instead. He was so generous in that way.
Wearing a suit in July.
In July, there was a Proms-themed birthday party for friends at the pub. July in New Orleans. The man wore a suit, vest, and tie in the sweltering heat, because that’s what a gentleman wears to the Proms, and to honor his dear friends.
Gareth had two dogs, Owen and Lizzie. They were always with him. They are the sweetest dogs, and the first dogs the boys were not scared of. (Don’t worry, Owen and Lizzie are being well taken care of now.)
Anyway. There are a million stories to be told. A million memories. A million laughs.
Cheers, you crazy Welshman. We’ll miss you so much.
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