springtime has arrived!!!

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there is nothing like london in the spring. nothing!!

we had an unseasonably warm week last week and bam! spring arrived. we spent our days just intoxicated with that giddy joy that comes from the start of springtime. we're now back to dreary skies and chilly air for the time being, but the blossoms are out! and there's a lot of warmth to look forward to.

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it's been getting lighter earlier in the day, and i've been heartily enjoying sunrise runs around hyde park and kensington gardens.

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we've been blown away by this incredible yellow tree that burst in our garden, and all the magnolia trees blooming like crazy in our neighborhood.

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ian and i got to go to a football match for a date night. it was such a fun cultural experience. sooo much energy in that stadium, and our home team, chelsea, won 3-0.

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gabriel has been scrambling all over the flat with his adorable one-knee-one-foot crawl. he's the wiggliest, giggliest baby ever.

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moses did a couple half-term football classes (all the schools in london are out for a week in the middle of their term, so the football clubs offer one-off classes during that time). and i have never encountered a child that loves swinging even half as much as gabriel does. he kicks his legs vigorously and squeals with glee any time he gets in a swing!

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ian wasn't feeling well one day last week and so he worked from home. moses found an old laptop under the bed and looooved "playing computer" with his daddy for a few minutes, haha.

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big stretches of grass in the parks are blanketed with crocuses!

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moses transitioned to a "big boy bed!" he's almost as pumped about that little fact as he is about once again sharing a bedroom with his baby brother (we had gabriel sleeping in the living room for a while when his nighttime sleep had regressed). it's so fun to "spy" on the boys via our video monitor. sometimes they are checking each other out...

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but most of the time they are sleeping soundly, hooray!

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neither of the boys were too keen on this sharing-the-swing situation, but i had to snap a few pics of them sandwiched in there together ;)

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on one of the crazy warm days last week, a big bunch of mom friends met up to play and picnic in the sunshine. mo was having so much fun that he was devastated by the fact that i brought him over to the group when they were snapping a picture, haha. it was such a fun morning. (we are missing a half a dozen toddlers in this pic that were also there but further away so not worth the effort of dragging into the photograph...)

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last saturday we went as a family to whipsnade zoo. our london zoo passes get us into this place, about an hour north of the city, for free - so we thought we'd check it out. i can't believe i didn't get any better pictures (only one of a rhino's bum and one of moses pointing at the map, haha!) -- that place is amazing! they have an old steam train that you can ride past wallabys and elephants, a fabulous indoor play place, and an epic playground ... not to mention lots of different animals from all over the world. we had such a fun, sunny day there together.

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it always feels nice to get out of the city and into the countryside. this is the view from one corner of the zoo! (both boys are having their nap in this photo!):

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i mean, seriously, he really loves the swing.

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yesterday i ran ten miles, and my pace was quicker than usual. it felt amazing! i ran through kensington gardens and hyde park, then along green park and past buckingham palace, then through st. james's park (which is covered in daffodils right now!), then by westminister abbey and the houses of parliament to lambeth bridge, across and then along the thames passing under the london eye, then across millennium bridge to st. paul's and back up the strand to st. james's park! i felt so in love with london and so grateful for my body. this coming saturday i run a half marathon. i figure if i have to run thirteen miles for training anyway, i might as well get a medal and a goodie bag for it...!

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welcome back to london, springtime! i'm so glad you're here.

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