The End

This will (sniffle) be our (sniffle) last post from Windsor (sniffle, sniffle). My mom accidentally took our camera home with her so now that we don't have Tio Diego's camera anymore, there won't be any more pictures to share.
Tia Ale returned to Paris yesterday and Tio left this afternoon. We had such a special time with them - thanks guys for making the trek up here to see us! We miss you already!

In honor of the closing post, I used Tio's camera to take pictures of some of our favorite places and a few shots of our home-away-from-home.


This cafe is steps away from our apartment and has become a daily stop for us. Confession: I went there twice today - a coffee in the morning and one in the afternoon. A more dangerous discovery was that they sell their scones prepared with clotted cream and jam to go - my weakness!


This cute little ice cream shop has served up many (probably too many) ice creams for Diego. We walk by it every time we leave the apartment and every time he asks for an ice cream. He doesn't get one everyday, but just about :)


Paradise on a plate! Ricardo and I went to this restaurant on almost every date night and it is now an all-time favorite.


Our corner store where we'd stop in for water, chips, etc


Ignore the mess, but this is our cozy bedroom.


Our wacky kitchen. All the appliances are behind doors. Inside those cupboards are the washer, dryer and dishwasher.


This living room is perfect and is just the space we needed. Even on all the rainy and/or cold days, we never got cabin fever because the apartment is so spacious and bright.


The best view we have ever had and one we will miss dearly


Diegos being silly

Family Fun

We said farewell to Grammie on Thursday and on Friday Ricardo's brother arrived from Paris. Diego is absolutely crazy about his Tio (uncle) and has become his shadow. Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Windsor so we had a blast. Our friends, Emma and Charlie came over for lunch and for a stroll around town and we had a wonderful time catching up with them. After nap time we headed back out again to walk around and play frisbee with Tio. Ricardo's sister, Ale arrived from Paris Saturday night and it was so much fun for us all to be together. Diego has been on cloud nine with his auntie and uncle to play with.
On Sunday we went to church in the morning, home for lunch and then we all took a nap to gather energy for the afternoon. When we take Diego out, he doesn't walk, he RUNS. He goes into his stroller when we tell him he has to, but he much prefers to be running.
It's hard to believe that this is our last week in Windsor - the time has flown by! Tio is with us until tomorrow and then we head home on Friday morning. Diego will certainly miss Windsor. Several times a day he asks to go out to see the big buses. Last week when we were on our way to church he saw a double-decker and said "Que linda, que belleza, double-decker, es enorme!" ("How pretty, how beautiful, double decker, it's enormous!") That's passion!




A family shot on the Windsor footbridge


Diego loves riding this "choo choo"


Admiring Alexia




The Lopez siblings (Ricardo's other three siblings are missing)





Tio is crazy over his little niece


Double Diego

On our terrace with Emma and Charlie

Diego would play frisbee with Tio for hours - I'm sure Tio would run out of energy before Diego would

We go to this bus station everyday to watch the buses - the joys of being two!

Spring time in Windsor

Sorry for not posting this week! I have more pictures and stories to share, but wanted to quickly post a few pictures from our beautiful spring day yesterday.
Grammie just left :( and Ricardo is gone until tomorrow night so we're on our own! Diego and Alexia are napping right now and that's where I'm headed...!

A new week!

We had a great weekend. Once again, it was drizzly and chilly, but we were still able to get out a bit.
The weekend began with a great date on Friday night. We were nervous to leave Alexia, but she slept the entire time and we even had extra time to go for a nice stroll after dinner.
Ricardo had to work both Saturday and Sunday so we took quick breaks. On Saturday we went out to lunch and in the afternoon Ricardo took Diego out to feed the swans. Windsor is a very popular destination for tourists so it was incredible to see how many people were out and about. It was hard to maneuver the stroller through the crowds. On Saturday night we had delicious take-out from a place called Wagamama, a word which amused Diego!
On Sunday we went back to the same church and felt right at home. Diego sat with Ricardo at the front of the church and I stayed in the back with Alexia. They both did great.
In the afternoon I met up with two girlfriends which was a blast. I worked with them at Four Seasons Boston and we always get together when we're here in Windsor. We hung out at the apartment for awhile and then went where else, but to have tea! Of course Alexia joined us and we had a special girls afternoon.
My mom couldn't bare to leave today so she extended her stay and will be here until Thursday...yayyy!!!



Alexia with Ella and Aine. This is after we had devoured all of our delicacies.



I love this picture of Alexia with Grammie. She looks like such a big girl!

Diego loves drinking out of water bottles. He had never had one quite this big



Feeding the swans on Saturday afternoon. He was thrilled!


A special treat with Papi after feeding the swans


This was hilarious. Diego was drinking a boysenberry/raspberry smoothie and tried to blow a bubble (or something, I really don't know what happened) and the thing exploded back on him and he was covered in RED. I think most parents would have freaked out, but we couldn't stop laughing - my belly even hurt. Thank goodness my mom is here because she was able to get all the smoothie out of the white shirt.

The Disneyland of Windsor!

On Wednesday my mom and I took the kids to Legoland. My mom bought the tickets online weeks ago because she has been so excited to take Diego there. It was a huge amusement park with rides and activities and legos EVERYWHERE! It was a blast. Since we arrived in Windsor, Diego has been captivated by all the buses, especially the double-deckers. Legoland surely left a lasting impression on him, but the ride on the bus may have topped the wonder of Legoland. He was sooo excited when we told him we were going to ride the big yellow bus.

Alexia was so good. She fell asleep 10 minutes after we arrived and didn't wake up until THREE hours later, when we were back in our apartment (grammie and I carried her up the stairs in the stroller!) She has not been sleeping well lately so it was great that she napped for so long.

The last two days have been quite cold so we've been stuck inside. We spend our days watching a great toddler's television channel (way too much TV for my liking, but it keeps Diego happy and I know it won't continue once we return to our TV-free home), playing legos, reading books, watching the boats go by, eating and talking. It has been so neat to watch the development of Diego's English. We never get to hear him speak in English so we had no idea how much he could speak and understand. He only speaks in English to grammie. He sometimes gets his sentences backwards since the adjective comes after the noun in Spanish, but he's working on it. He will literally look at me and say something in Spanish and turn to grammie and say the same thing in English. He is speaking in complete sentences to her and has picked up even more words just by talking so much with her. Today she was sharing her breakfast with him and he said "Grammie, I want more blueberries. Grammie eat oatmeal. I want the blueberries."

The forecast for next week looks beautiful so I am excited to get out more. Grammie leaves on Monday and we will miss her dearly!

This is on our way to Legoland - not only we were on the bus, but we got to climb the stairs and sit on the seats way up high!

Legoland sits at the bottom of a hill so you have to walk down windy paths to get to the bottom. There are several slides along the way which Diego loved. Yes, that means you have to walk back UP the windy paths at the end of the day.

The helicopters were great. They had a control which made them go up, down and spin in circles. I thought Diego was scared at first (he was the youngest child by far), but he absolutely loved it.

He spent a lot of the time on my shoulders. Alexia took over his seat in the stroller so I carried him like this when he needed a break from walking.

"Chugga chugga CHOO CHOO" is what he kept saying. There were a lot of train rides and he wanted to go on every one of them.

Here we are on another train ride

Lunch break. What else do you have for lunch at an amusement park in England, but Fish n Chips! They were yummy and Diego enjoyed them too.

The boat ride was the best. It was surrounded by lego structures that would move, talk and dance. Diego was mesmerized.

This is his face when he was looking at the lego troll in the picture above.

There were massive displays of legos which fascinated Diego. He was sleepy by the time we made it to this area so we couldn't spend much time there. There was a train station, city, airport, soccer stadium, buses, trains and so much more.

It's hard to see, but this is the view of the Windsor Castle from Legoland.

On our way back home on the bus. Diego was driving.

And what has lil' Alexia been up to during all the fun you ask? She has been busy eating any single thing she can get her hands on. She loves the outings in the stroller and has been such a trooper!