Spring is in the air!

Wow. It has been a really long time since we last posted anything. Sorry about that. Jeff has been the primary blog writer in the family and he has seemed to loose his momentum a bit, so I have volunteered to take over for a while. This is a bit challenging because the period key on our keyboard is broken and is now just a little nubbin. So every time I end a sentence I have to pause and press really hard on the little rubber nubbin. We really need to get that fixed...

But, on to more interesting topics. Spring seems to have arrived here in Brighton. Actually, it arrived several weeks ago. Every where I look there are crocuses and daffodils blooming. The trees are in full blossom, and the temperature has been in the mid to high 50's each day. We are getting a lot of rain which is really making everything quite green. It is just so bizarre to see spring so early. I remember February as always being one of the worst months in Minnesota--deep freeze and still months to go until spring. I miss Minnesota like crazy, but I seriously do NOT miss the Minnesota Februarys. Mia certainly seems ready for spring. Here is a picture of her in her hoola outfit practicing for long summer days on the beach.


Yes, we expect that she will be quite popular on the beach. Of course she won't look quite like this because I will have her covered head to toe in sun protective clothing, wide rimmed hat, and umbrella. Actually, Mia is quite a socialite these days. Mia and I have finally managed to get on the mom and toddler social circuit. We have joined a Tuesday morning art class at the local museum where we have made some wonderful friends. Every other Tuesday we now have art class and lunch with our group. It is quite wonderful. And we now have a long list of playmates for Wednesday socializing, and weekend playdates. This Wednesday Mia is hosting a tea party for her friends here at home. We have chosen fish fingers, fruit and drink boxes for the menu. Fish fingers weren't our first choice, but one of the guests will eat nothing but fish fingers, so we were a bit limited in our options. It should be a festive time. I'm a bit worried because this party means that I will have four little girls and four mums in a downstairs living space that really is only big enough for a few tiny elves. No worries--it will all be good fun.

Today we all headed to the Reform Synagogue for a Purim party. This was our first time to visit the Reform Synagogue and we found it to be quite lovely. It reminded us quite a bit of Temple Israel in Minneapolis. There seems to be a big community of children, and several of Mia's friends already go there. Not that there are a ton of activities for children Mia's age, but if we stay here we will choose this as the synagogue that she gets involved in. Here are some photos of the party today. This is Mia's good friend Mia (Mia seems to be a very popular name here in England and we encounter other Mia's everywhere!)

Eating homentaschen

In other news, my American friend Laurie Gardner and her husband David were in Brighton last weekend and paid us a visit. Laurie and I used to work together at the University of Minnesota. David is British and has family in the UK. They visit about once a year and decided to come to Brighton for the weekend to say hello. We had a very lovely lunch at our favourite local restaurant--Bill's. Unfortunately we didn't get any photos of the visit, but here are a few other shots of life over the past few weeks. Mia is getting to be quite the little girl.



This picture was actually taken by Mia!

Well, that is it for now. I will post again later in the week with photos of Mia's tea party.