Henley Elizabeth Kleweno

I know it has almost been three weeks since my last update. I am so sorry. Things have been craaazzzy around here. Baseball season has started and the team I coach has something 3 nights a week. Add to that baby shopping, craziness at work, and April starting a new job. Well...the blog has just been put to the side.

So April is at 25 weeks now. It is kind of hard to believe how fast time flies. She is doing awesome and feeling great. She is still working 40 hours a week but left Walgreens for an independent pharmacy less than 2 miles from our house - (MidTown Pharmacy for those of you in the area). It gives her "normal" hours and we think the regular schedule will provide an easier situation for us to raise a baby in. So far she loves it and feels the change was definitely the right choice for her at this point in our lives. We both made a lot of good friends while she was at Walgreens and we are thankful for the relationships we formed while she was there.

The baby seems to be doing great. At our last doctor's appointment everything was fine. It went so quickly that April and I were both like "that's it". I guess that is a good thing though. We have both felt the baby moving and kicking. April has been feeling her for many weeks now...I first felt her move on May 12th (wow that was even 3 weeks ago). That was a special moment for me...it was so cool. It is funny to hear April talk about the baby doing acrobats after she eats some sugar or drinks a little caffeine.

We have also decided on a name. Henley Elizabeth Kleweno. So let the monogramming begin. :-)

We have been working hard on the nursery and with Nana and Papa's help we got a great start on it this past weekend. I will post an update and pictures later this week.

Europe Days 10-12 - Paris

I have to preface my opinions of Paris with 2 things. 1) None of us spoke French. Andy knew a few words from grade school and thank goodness he knew that much. 2) We were unprepared for Paris. With the ash cloud, we all honestly thought we weren't going to make it and none of us really researched Paris like we normally would have. So on to the trip...

We left London early Friday morning and boarded the Euro Star train headed to Paris. The Euro Star is the high speed train that travels part of the way under the English Channel. The train ride itself was nice. You really couldn't tell you were going any faster than normal and we arrived at Paris in just over 2 hours.

As we approached Paris, the surroundings got dirtier and dirtier. By the time we were actually in Paris itself, there was graffiti everywhere. I mean everywhere! I was slightly disappointed, but I figured the train station might just be in the bad part of the city. Ummm...no. Honestly, it was like that in the majority of places and was such a contrast from London. Really from what I could tell only the touristy or historical areas were remotely clean.

So we got off the train and planned to take the metro to our hotel. Luckily, we pre-purchased Paris metro passes in London before we left so we didn't have to worry about that. We followed the signs towards the correct metro line and we hit stairs. Not a few stairs...like 2-3 flights worth. Keep in mind we had all our stuff for 12 days with us. A huge suitcase and a carry-on for each one of us. There was no way the girls were carrying their bags up and down these stairs themselves. No elevators, no escalators, nothing - only stairs. We didn't exactly plan for that. So I am struggling, carrying both our luggage pieces at once. Andy and Lisa had two big duffel bags that were very awkward to carry. So Andy is either carrying one bag down, then running back up and getting the other bag or just dragging them both down the stairs at the same time. Bang, bang, bang. Needless to say, we were getting some looks!

So we finally board our first metro line after the stairs fiasco. We get off to change trains and we had more stairs both up and down this time, oh goody. We finally get to the next turnstile where we have to run our tickets. Well one of the luggage pieces I am carrying gets stuck in the turnstile so I am basically stuck. I start looking around for help, and I hear Andy yelling about somebody stealing his wallet. He is screaming at this guy and yelling police. Of course, there is no one around. We are basically on our own. Some guy pick pocketed Andy as he tried to get his bag through the turnstile. Andy felt it and started yelling at the guy. The guy actually had his wallet but threw it back at him after Andy starting yelling. I guess he didn't want the trouble. Eventually, I was able to get my luggage free and get through the turnstile but after that we never really felt safe. We knew that we stuck out and that there was really no one there to help us.

We finally made it to our hotel. It was small boutique type hotel with a psychedelic feel. That afternoon we took the metro to the Louvre. The building itself was pretty amazing especially the pyramid. We walked around for around 2 hours and saw the highlights - Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc. But it was so hot inside and we were so tired from all the walking from the metro to the hotel, we were just ready to get out of there. We ended up leaving the Louvre and taking a boat cruise down the Seine river. Like the Thames river in London, the Seine river runs through the main part of the city. We were able to see many of the hot spots from the water - the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre and the Orsay Museum. It was nice to see everything without having to do all the walking.

On our second day in Paris, we decided we would do the hop-on, hop-off bus tour again since we had such great luck with it in London. This time it was OK. The weather didn't cooperate as nicely. It started off sunny but it got colder and colder as the day went. It was also a "bank holiday" so Paris was packed with visitors and we had to fight the crowds to change buses multiple times. We ended up seeing pretty much everything we wanted to see, but everything was just so crowded. One of our best memories was getting banana, nutella crepes for lunch. They were delicious and the pastries are "to die for". The French definitely know how to do dessert.

Our last day was a travel day. It was a 9 hour flight back from Paris to Charlotte and then a quick 20 minute flight to Greensboro. We did decide to pay for a taxi to the airport this time. Worth every penny...or euro. All in all, it was a great trip. We had a blast with Andy and Lisa, as always. We loved seeing so many different things and getting to meet Andy's family. As we were leaving we joked how hard it was to believe that we had seen Stonehenge on this same trip. It seemed like so long ago and we had done so much since then. It was our last big vacation before Henley arrives and we were glad to spend it with such good friends.

Europe Days 6-9 - London

We left Ellesmere Port Monday morning (4/26) and began our drive to London. It was a 4 hour drive so we decided to stop along the way and see another castle. Warwick Castle was built in 1068 in central England. 1068...you don't find stuff like that in America. This was by far the biggest castle we saw on our trip. The views from the top of the castle were awesome. You could see Oxford in one direction and Stratford-Upon-Avon (where Shakespeare was born/raised) in the other. We spent the early afternoon there and had lunch. We probably could have spent the entire day there but just didn't have time. From there we headed straight to London the longest stop on our trip.

London was awesome. We would go back in a heartbeat. Our hotel was situated in Pimlico which is slightly outside the main tourist areas but still close enough for us to walk or take the "tube" (London's subway system) anywhere we wanted to go. We shared a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen. By the time we got to London, got the rental car turned in, and got situated in our rooms the day was almost over. We went out for dinner but really spent our first night getting acclimated with the city and figuring out what all we wanted to see.

Our first full day in London we decided to do a "Hop-On Hop-Off" bus tour. That way we could see all of the city and if we wanted to see more, we could just hop off as needed. We went with the Big Bus tour group and started out in western London. We saw Kensington Palace (where Princess Diana lived), Notting Hill (fashion shops and setting for the movie), and Hyde Park. We moved on to central London visiting Piccadilly Circus (known for large video billboards similar to Times Square), Trafalgar Square, and then down to "10 Downing Street" (where the Prime Minister lives). Then we got to the "big sights". The London Eye (450 ft Ferris wheel), the House of Parliament (clock tower with Big Ben), and finally Westminster Abbey (where Princess Diana's funeral was held)...I could spend an hour writing about just those 3 things but I won't bore you....Then we headed eastward and saw St. Paul's Cathedral, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London (where the crown jewels are). At the Tower of London, we hopped off and ate lunch. We then took a river boat cruise back down the Thames river and got to see many of the same attractions from the water. That was pretty cool. On the cruise we also got to see Shakespeare's Globe which has London's only remaining thatched roof. After the river cruise, we got back on the bus and finished up with Buckingham Palace (where the queen stays). That was the end of our sightseeing for day one. Wow...we did a lot huh?!? No wonder we were so tired. :-)

We found out that the "changing of the guards" doesn't happen every day so we started off day two at Buckingham Palace. We arrived early so we could get a good spot and man were we glad. By the time it started the place was packed. They put on quite a show with a parade and horses and a band. Now you would think that this would be some official government type ceremony and for the most part it is but about half way through the band starts playing the exact music from the intro to the movie, Austin Powers. You can't do anything but laugh at that. In fact, the band eventually even played "Thriller". Needless to say, it was half ceremony, half show, but definitely worth seeing. After lunch, April and I did a full blown tour of St. Paul's cathedral while Andy and Lisa decided to go see some other sites. St. Paul's was beautiful and absolutely huge! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but the artwork was huge and so exquisitely detailed. It is something we were really glad we experienced.

On our third full day in London, we started off with a tour of the Tower of London. It is a historic castle located on the Thames River. Throughout history it has been everything from a royal palace, to a fortress, to a prison. It was the location of the beheading of King Henry VIII's 2nd and 5th wives, among other executions. The tower is currently the residence to the Yeoman Warders (also known as Beefeaters - half guards/half tour guides) and the Crown Jewels. Pretty cool place. We probably only saw half of everything that was there. Lots of history and a couple pretty good museums. After the Tower of London, we headed back towards the House of Parliament and took more pictures of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. Still my favorite area of London. It is so cool to be able to see all three sites at once. Lastly, we visited the Royal Pharmaceutical Society museum for the girls. They enjoyed seeing the old pharmacy tools and drugs and seeing how much things have changed.

Overall, we loved London. We thought it was so clean and beautiful. You can tell the people that live there actually care about their city and take care of it. Everyone was very nice and we never felt unsafe or uncomfortable.

Paris...now that was a different story.

Europe Days 4-5

After our time in Bath, we headed north to see Andy's family in Ellesmere Port, England for 2 days. Ellesmere Port is in the north west corner of England near Liverpool, very close to Northern Wales. We stayed with his Uncle Paul and Aunt Pauline at their house. We had a great time with them. They could not have made us feel any more welcome. Truly some of the nicest people I have ever met.

The first day was mostly a family day for Andy which was really fun for us. We got to meet his Grandmother, Nan, who is 98. Andy's brother Mark, his wife Liz and their 2 kids. Andy's cousin Nigel, his wife Cheryl and their son. And his other cousin, Sarah, her husband Garreth and their 2 kids. Along with Uncle Paul, Aunt Pauline, Andy, Lisa, April and I...you can tell it was a full house. (We missed you, Ro and George!) We spent the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful weather, eating, taking family pictures, playing with the kids, and getting to know everyone. They were all so nice and made us feel so welcome.

That evening we walked to Nigel and Cheryl's house for a BBQ. They grilled out and we enjoyed a wonderful meal together with them. We spend the reminder of the night listening to old stories about the trouble Nigel, Mark, & Andy used to get into as kids and then played a round of Wii bowling which April and I won. :-)

Our second day there Andy took us to Wales for some sightseeing. We first went to Colwyn Bay to see where Andy went to boarding school. April and I thought some of the buildings looked like old haunted mansions...very spooky from the outside. Explains why Andy is still afraid of the dark. :-) From there we went and saw Conway Castle. It was built in the 1280's by King Edward I. It was so cool to see something so old and yet so beautiful. It is situated right on the water which gives it a picturesque backdrop. April really wanted to see some old castles on our trip and this one definitely hit the mark.

We continued on to Llandudno which is a seaside, beach town in Northern Wales. It had a boardwalk and a pier and was quite crowded for what was a cool , windy day. For the most part it reminded me of a normal U.S. coastal tourist city except for the beach itself. The beach was very rocky and not what I would really want to walk around on. But the people there didn't seem to care. I guess it is whatever you are used to.

We had a great time in Ellesmere Port and Wales. It was nice for Andy to get to see all his family and we enjoyed meeting such wonderful people.

Next up...London and we loved London!!

Europe Trip Days 1-3

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. You may remember me talking about buying tickets for our Europe trip the day we found out April was pregnant. Well that is where we have been the last 13 days. We went with our good friends Andy and Lisa and had a blast. We really weren't sure we were even going to be able to make it there. The whole volcanic ash thing came about and no flights were going into London for over a week straight. When we landed, they announced that our flight was the first US Airways flight to land at London Heathrow airport in over a week. We were very lucky to have made it at all.

We started off the trip with 2 days in an English city called Bath. It is about a 2 hour drive west of London. We stayed at a cute little B&B and had an authentic English breakfast each morning. Andy was especially excited to get his "beans on toast". Yes, that's baked beans for breakfast...the rest of us stuck to more "normal" foods like eggs, bacon, porridge and of course the girls had their English tea. We spent the first day touring Bath which has a lot of ancient Roman history and architecture. A very pretty city with lots of quaint shops. We had our first pasty which is like a pie crust folder over on itself, stuffed with all sorts of different fillings. You choose the filling of course. Andy and Lisa thought I was crazy because I just called them glorified hot pockets. We also had our first authentic fish & chips which by the way is served by the same shop that serves Chinese food, by Chinese people. Not quite what we had imagined as "English Fish & Chips" but still very good.

The next day we drove and saw Stonehenge. It was amazing to see in person. We then visited a little English city named Wells. It had a gorgeous cathedral, cobblestone roads, an old castle with a moat and people playing croquet on the lawn -- exactly what you would envision in an English countryside city. We then saw the Cheddar Gorge which is where water had cut a ravine through a mountain and formed this beautiful gorge with tons of caves. They found that the caves were had the ideal humidity and temperature to make cheese and they claim that cheddar cheese originated here.

Ok...so that is just the first 3 days...more details to come including visiting Andy's family, London, and Paris.

P.S. - it was really hard to choose photos. April took over 1000 - maybe the rest will make it on facebook at some point.