shawni, dave and the girls come to town!

a couple of weeks ago, my sister shawni and her family were in london for a few days! i was so happy and glad to spend some time with some of my very most favourite and treasured humans here in my city. these guys are a ton of fun and i love them so dang much. they stayed at an airbnb place really close to our flat, and i had a great time showing them around and joining in on their london tourist adventures.

some photos from their visit:

  
^^ this is the “pothier girls classic” jumping photo pose. i’m pretty glad these four let me and baby boy join in the fun for a few snaps :) ^^
 
^^ shawni and family also let me join in their nightly travel tradition of playing cards at the end of the day. i love these faces! ^^
^^ one day we added elle’s friend sophia to the jumping fun too! ^^

^^ most gorgeous flower wall in notting hill! ^^

^^ ian (and sophia) getting in on the card-playing action one night ^^
 
^^ it was such a treat to have family members in town and helping me celebrate on my 30th birthday! (more on that back here) ^^

^^ dave is the selfie king – i love how he was snapping them at every destination. his arm is better than a selfie stick for sure. here he is in his element on the london eye! ^^



it was so great to spend some time with shawni and her family + the crofts family! the crofts hosted shawni’s daughter elle when she lived in london for the summer last year, and have since become dear friends of ian and i since we moved to london. but they had never met elle’s parents and sisters until this trip!

it was pretty fun to see shawni and dave connect with brian and rachel in real life, and to get all eight of these great girls together (brian and rachel also have four daughters). all together one afternoon we rode the london eye, had dinner at the awesome world food stalls at camden market, and then took in the views from primrose hill.
^^ we ran into a friend of rachel and brian's at primrose hill, and she and her daughter got in on the selfie action! ^^
 
^^ ^^ the national gallery and the british museum on a rainy london day! ^^ ^^


it was crazy to say goodbye to shawni, dave, elle, grace, claire and lucy knowing that the next time we see each other, i will be a mom! especially because i won’t see them this summer at bear lake (since baby boy is due to arrive right in the middle of our epic annual family reunion!), i was especially glad to see these beloved people this summer here in london.