Quick London visit

After Madrid's tear down week, we had to go to pick up my and Sophie's visas for Spain at the Spanish Consulate in London, where we applied. We arrived on Thursday and flew back to Madrid that Monday. We visited our old stomping grounds around Royal Albert Hall and revisited a French crêperie. Sophie had strawberry gelato. Pink, of course. 

Afterwards, there was a walk-through butterfly exhibit that was amazingly fun! They were very friendly and landed on all of us. They must have liked our shampoo or something. Sadly, the following pictures were taken with my iPhone. We didn't bring the big camera on this trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We lazed around and took a well deserved vacation. It was glorious. We also spent a lot of time exploring Hyde Park, where Sophie furthered her expertise in dandelion retrieval.

 

 

Also while we were there, the heavens opened up and the stars aligned and we were able to spend a day with some close friends who live in Sweden, with two daughters of their own. Sophie and the girls got along quite well and it was a lovely day! It ultimately ended up being a wonderful but short trip. We met at the Science Museum where the girls got a chance to play and explore together. We also watched the 3D movie about the ocean. We had a nice lunch at the museum and walked around Hyde Park a bit, where we dined al fresco after the gentlemen ran (literally) to Whole Foods before they closed. The girls ran around and picked as many dandelions as they possibly could while the grown-ups could catch up. We hadn't seen them in a long time, so it really was a wonderful way to end the trip. 

Walking around Hyde Park, we saw a lot of beautiful things. The trees were in full bloom and the wild parrots (yes, parrots!) were all around. There was even a mama swan sitting on three eggs. 

We cannot wait to visit London again and I hope it's a possibility in the future, especially since we're in Europe for a while longer. London, especially with warmer weather than when we were there in January, is definitely one of my favorite cities! 

Singing with Sophie

Lately, Sophie has been singing songs from the show and she actually let me videotape it. Of course, now she asks to watch it over and over and over. Even now like she did as a baby, she enjoys looking at herself in the mirror and on my phone. This is a bit from Charivari, in Act 1, performed a few days ago. She's such a ham!

Throwback Thursday

This is another snippet of our life back in New York City. Sophie was about five or six months old here. She just found her voice and LOVED squealing. Just between us, she STILL does.

Throwback Thursday

 Here's some more from New York City, when we tried self-feeding some pears for the first time. She was maybe six months old here. It was a fun disaster that I could not NOT take pictures of. And OMG those CHEEKS!

Throwback Thursday

So we've JUST arrived in Bilbao and are trying to get settled in as best as we can. Here's a little throwback to when we were living/performing in New York City in 2009. Sophie was 5 months old. These were taken in Central Park for Mother's Day by one of the contortionists named Dasha with a penchant for pictures. These are some of my most favorite shots ever. She was so roly-poly back then! I just love her squishy-ness! Her cheeks, her arms, her legs, and especially her rubber-band wrists. Whenever I'm upset about something, I just look at these and immediately feel better. Please forgive my inability to choose just a few, as my cuteness filter is broken.

Throwback Thursday

This picture was taken by Jim while we were in Baltimore with KOOZA. She was maybe 4 months old. I was feeding her and she just did it with her finger. HA! She was not posed or manipulated in any way. She is already showing her true colors.