Buckingham Palace Tour

Yesterday my friend Holly & I went into London for the afternoon to go tour the Buckingham Palace State Rooms. The palace only opens for tours once a year while the Queen normally heads north to her residence in Scotland for her summer holiday.

Since this summer season is quickly approaching the 3rd anniversary of our arrival in the UK, I was determined to see the palace state rooms before we leave the island! Scott really did not have a great interest in going to see the palace rooms and luckily Holly's husband wasn't as keen on it either, so we decided to make the journey ourselves.

We booked our tickets in advance (such a key point - allows for VERY minimal queuing) and so we were able to basically walk right up at our specific time slot and began the tour of the state rooms.

So many interesting things to learn about Buckingham Palace beyond just browsing around at the magnificent splendour inside. Buckingham Palace is Queen Elizabeth II's official residence, and has been the official London residence of Britain's sovereign since 1837. The state rooms at the palace have been opening to the public for just the past two decades, since 1993, after a fire at Windsor Castle. Initially the summer opening was a way to pay for the damage at Windsor Castle but the tours have become so popular that the Queen has continued it every summer when she goes to one of her country homes for about 8 weeks.

Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms!!! These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. Buckingham Palace is not only the London home of The Queen; The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal and Princess Alexandra also have private offices and apartments located within the Palace. Unfortunately we did not get to see these private bedrooms and offices but the state rooms that we did see were quite lovely indeed. No photos were allowed to be taken inside the palace but I did get a few outside...

Everything from the entrance, to the exit, to the temporary restrooms and temporary gift shop were set up specially for the Summer Opening of the State Rooms.

In the gift shop at the end of the tour, mini wedding cakes from William & Kate's wedding were available for purchase. Apparently the British have fruitcake covered in fondant at their wedding for their cake. Not my choice of a cake, but then again I am not British!

The temporary gift shop at the end of the tour.

Holly & me at the end of our tour - the back side of Buckingham Palace.

The highlights from our tour of the state rooms included: Seeing Kate's wedding dress, veil, shoes, tiara, earrings, flower bouquet, and the wedding cake (I wonder if it were a replica cake though?). We also got to see the red room where many of the "official" photos of William & Kate were taken at the palace after their wedding ceremony. It's pretty cool to me to think that whenever I see that photo of them in the future, I will remember walking in that same room of the palace when I went for a visit! The other bit that stood out to me was a "secret door" that the Queen uses to enter one of the state rooms - a short cut for her from her private residence area. After taking the main tour now of the state rooms, I think it would be really cool to tour the back hallways and private residence areas of the palace....but I guess everyone else would want to do that too!

Traveling with an infant

Last week we took our first family holiday abroad. Yes, we did already go back to the US with Crosby so it wasn't her first international trip, but this last week was our first vacation where we were not going to stay with extended family, etc.

Before Crosby came along, Scott & I had been maximizing our time off of work to travel as much as we could while we have been living over here in Europe. We have grown to love traveling more than we ever thought we would. We knew our travels would not cease once we had a baby, but we did recognize that we would probably slow down a bit since traveling with an infant is not as easy as just traveling with two adults. Luckily for us, Crosby seems to be a good traveler - she is quiet on the airplane, the pressure of the flight doesn't seem to bother her too much, she doesn't have car sickness while driving on windy roads, and she seems to be interested in her new surroundings so she likes to take in the sights in new places. She is still at a good age where is "portable" and isn't eating food yet so it is a bit easier on us for now.

The one part that has changed and that is not as portable is all the GEAR that comes along with a baby. How does such a little being require so much stuff??? In reality, we do not bring that much extra "stuff" for Crosby but on this last vacation we could see the difference when we rented a car. With a car seat, stroller, baby, plus all of our luggage, we knew we would have to upgrade the size car we needed for the week.

Beyond the car seat and stroller, the other "gear" items required on this trip included: a travel cot/"pea pod" for a sleeping location (the house we rented only had one baby cot and there were two babies so we needed an extra bed for one baby - it can double as a sun shade for baby since it has UV protection), an inflatable swimming ring for the pool, baby bjorn carrier, a baby monitor, two baby bottles, bottle brush, sterilizer bags, and of course an assortment of baby clothes, burp cloths, bibs, and more.

While the gear is much greater than we have been used to for travel purposes, it is manageable and we are slowly learning what is necessary and what is not. The part of this trip that was not expected when we thought about traveling with an infant was the airport and airline issues we encountered this time around.

The day we flew to France, we went to the airport in advance of our flight and proceeded through security as we usually do. We are pros at pulling out our liquids and knowing what will set the alarms off, etc. So in advance of the scanning machine I told the security agent that I had breastmilk in a cooler - bottles for my baby. These are completely legal to bring through for flights and I have already been through three major airports (including this airport, BHX, which we were going through again!) and have never had any problems with Crosby's bottles.

After our bags and items went through the scanner, we got pulled aside for further inspection. (expected since we were traveling with milk for a baby). The security guard asked me to taste the milk. [a side note - the UK will ask you to taste breastmilk, but the US will NEVER have you taste it because since the US is such a litigious society, you could poison your own milk and then sue the airport for having them ask you to taste it! Insane.] After I tasted it and all was fine, the security agent noticed the freezer pack I had to keep the milk cool. The agent then proceeded to tell me I could not keep the freezer pack and it was considered to be a liquid so it would have to be thrown out. I questioned this response because I had already flown THREE times with this freezer pack and it was never questioned and furthermore how was I supposed to keep the milk cold for baby Crosby without it (plus it was a special pack made to keep the bottles cool)? SHE didn't care. (I really thought it was 10 times worse since the agent was a WOMAN and had to have had some compassion). She told me freezer packs were only allowed for medicine and milk was not medicine so she threw it out, in front of me. It took Scott to almost pull me away to not completely loose it over this issue. There are so many reasons I was upset about this interaction and way it was handled but I was most upset about the milk I was carrying potentially going bad before Crosby could consume it.

Fast forward to the week we returned from our trip. I was frantically searching online for information regarding the rules and regulations for taking breastmilk on an airplane. Apparently the TSA in the US has a very clearly stated policy about this topic on their website: breastmilk is considered to be in the same category as medicine, so freezer packs ARE ALLOWED. In researching this topic, many women have said it is best to print out this specific site to show to security agents if you encounter any problems when traveling. I will do so for my future trips within the US, however I could not find such information for the UK policy. Consquently I am writing a letter to the airport team to inquire about this topic. I also called Medela - the company who makes the breastpump and freezer pack - they were GREAT! I told them about my experience and they sent me a new replacement freezer pack for free and are looking into the airport guidelines for me.

As if the start to this trip didn't cause me enough of a headache with the security screening debacle, then we went to board our bmi baby flight and we surrendered the stroller and car seat at the gate to be gate checked. I inquired with the flight attendant as to when we would be able to collect the items when we landed. Her response was "at the side of the airplane when you land." Because I had a weird feeling about things, I grabbed the baby bjorn and put it in my carry on bag just in case. I was glad I did! Sure enough, we landed in France and had to board some buses and were shipped to the main terminal where we had to walk for eons to get to baggage claim....all WITHOUT our stroller for the baby! And then amazingly enough this happened AGAIN to us on the way back from France to the UK and we had the same responses from the airline staff again.

While the airline staff didn't seem to know their own policies regarding gate checked items, the airplane was also ill-equipped for babies. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that although bmi baby airplanes are always filled with families (and lots of babies!), they are not baby friendly. NO BABY CHANGE in the bathrooms. Why??? The airline attendant said to me "I know it's silly but sorry, we just don't have any." She offered me the jump seat where the flight attendants sit, which was very nice but unfortunately kept flipping up and so it was not a very secure space to change a baby.

I knew traveling with a baby would have its own set of challenges but these were not the expected kind. Needless to say, I am composing a few letters of feedback for the airport and airline to inquire about these issues encountered....

Ziploc: Why France and Not England?

We have just returned from a week's holiday in southern France and while the holiday was positively lovely (more on that later), I was surprised with a find in the grocery store in France: ZIPLOC BAGS! Why does France have them and England does not?!?!? Do the French like to store their items tightly and the British don't? I was so surprised to find actual ziploc brand bags on the shelves in the supermarket that I had to take a photo just for proof....

They had a HUGE selection - gallon size, snack size, quart size and more! Maybe someday England will catch on to this great idea too....

A Birthday for a Super Dad

This week we celebrated Scott's birthday. It was his first birthday as a Dad so I decided that the birthday cake theme this year would be "Super Dad," since of course he is a great Dad (and husband too!).

My littlest pastry chef was busy that morning icing Scott's ice cream cake! Unfortunately Crosby did not stay awake long enough to eat the cake and blow out the candles because Scott had a late night at work.

When Scott did get home, he opened his gifts. No, the big case is not a rifle gun, but a set of monogrammed grill tools from his in-laws. We will all benefit from his use of this gift!

And then we had his favorite - mint chocolate chip and homemade chocolate ice cream cake! A super birthday for a Super Dad!

Online Grocery Shopping

This past winter I embarked on a new adventure...online grocery shopping. I had heard about this idea of ordering your groceries online and then having them delivered to your house soon after we arrived here in England but I never felt that I wanted to try the service because I love going to the grocery store. I could wander the aisles for a long time (and sometimes I have done so!) and I enjoy looking at all of the products, especially the British products over here. I like to see the various placements, packaging of products and more.

However, the thought of having to go grocery shopping when I was going to be home with a newborn started to panic me a bit. Before Crosby arrived I kept thinking about the out of town visitors we would be having right after the baby arrived and I kept wondering how I would manage to shop for them and for us, with a newborn in tow, when the grocery store is always such a zoo by us? Because of the driving differences, I knew our house guests were not going to be willing to drive out to the store at a moment's notice - plus, they don't know how to get around over here. So, I decided that it would be worth trying the service before I "needed" it to see how it was, and then if I liked it, I would continue on with it for the first few weeks after the baby was due to arrive.

Well, I tried it and I fell in LOVE with this service. I have been so pleased that I do not have to fight the parking lot mess at the big retail park by us on a weekly basis to do my shopping for food! (the parking lot woes with a baby in tow will be covered in another post) Plus, I don't have to spend the money on the petrol to get to and from the grocery store either! The groceries now come to me.

I order them from the comfort of my living room, I then select my delivery time slot (an hour's window), and then voila, on the day and time of my order, a nice delivery man in a fancy delivery truck shows up at my house and unloads the grocery bags for me. He even walks them into my kitchen if I want him to do so.

The nifty part is that when the groceries arrive, the bags are color coordinated so I know which items go in the freezer (Green bags), which go in the fridge (red handles), and which items are to be left out for the cupboard area (purple handles). Genius!

The one challenge with the online grocery shopping ties back to the English language. As an American shopping online at a British grocery, I sometimes cannot find what I am looking for. I have become to realize that when I was physically shopping at the grocery store I knew where the item might have been located within the store, but now when I am searching for it by name, I do not always know the proper name of the product.

Some examples:

dishwashing soap = washing up liquid

diapers = nappies

tomato sauce = passata

tomato paste = tomato puree

sour cream = soured cream (not a huge difference, but interesting, isn't it?)

popsicle = ice lollie

garlic powder = garlic granules

zucchini = courgettes

chips = crisps

french fries = chips

I know this service is one part of British life that I have already become attached to in a very short period of time. I am surprised that this concept is not more popular in the US, given that there are so many customer service centric stores there. Hopefully by the time we move back, our local grocery store will have adopted this concept because I would sign up again in a heart beat!

Red White & Blue

Happy 4th of July from our littlest American!

Although we are not having the day off and fireworks here in England, it is a nice sunny day with a bit of humidity - very fitting for the 4th of July. Thinking of everyone back home in America!

The Fish Finger Sandwich

The longer we live here in England, the more food I find that I think I will actually miss once we move back to the US. Shocking I know since the English are not known for their food, but there really are some good treasures to be found over here.

The most recent food item to be added to my favorite food list is the FISH FINGER SANDWICH. This sandwich is typically found in a pub, usually on a lunch menu and really there is nothing fancy about it but I have fallen in love with it. I have ordered it quite a few times at one of our local pubs, and although they claim to make homemade fish fingers, I am still a bit skeptical about that part of it.

Tonight, I decided to embrace the fish finger sandwich at home to try something new for dinner. While I did not make my own fish fingers, I did make these hamburger buns from scratch for a homemade touch.

Basically, the fish finger sandwich is just a "bap" (aka a sandwich roll) with tartar sauce, fish fingers, and then tomato and lettuce on top to make it a hearty sandwich. Some may say places like McDonald's sell fish sandwiches....and maybe they do - but I think this one is best eaten at the local British pub around the corner.

How Time Flies

I know it's an old and frequently used cliche, "how time flies," but really, isn't it amazing how time flies??

This week has come with some time sensitive news for us regarding our life over here. First, we have been scheduled for an appointment next week to have our biometrics redone for our new visas since our current visas are due to expire in August. We moved here on an 18-24 month contract for Scott's job and now we are close to the 3 year mark....how quickly it has passed! I marvel at the strength and great experiences it has brought to us as individuals, to our marriage, and most importantly now to our family of 3. When I think about the difference time has made for us in these circumstances, I think about how nearly three years ago we kept thinking - "Won't it be great to get back to America to do x, y, z, etc. when we move home," and now, how we often say "We know we will move home, but we are surely going to miss x, y, z, about life in England when we have to move home. Let's hope it's not too soon, we still have a lot to do and see over here."

The time has gone by in a blink of an eye and I did not think when Scott accepted his assignment here that we would be one of those couples who signed up for a couple of years abroad and then enjoyed it so much that it turned into (?) number of years. It feels like just a few days ago that we were saying good bye to our families (and of course I was crying for having to leave!) and we were both filled with excitement and a lot of nerves about what was in store for us. And now, here we are, searching through the filing cabinet to find our original birth certificates, marriage certificate, and other appropriate paperwork so we can apply to stay here for a bit longer. Within the past three years, it is incredible to think of the world monuments we have seen in person, the trips we have taken, the different culture that we have now grown to embrace for so many reasons, and the reliance on one another that has cemented our marriage and family together.

The second time reminder came when our tenants living in our Chicago house informed us that they would not be renewing their lease this fall. Scott & I were giddy with dreams for our future when we bought that house. It's strange to think we only lived there for a year before we moved out and the plan for what we thought was going to be a life in downtown Chicago, became a life (temporarily) abroad. We have now had tenants who have lived in our house longer than we ever did and probably ever will. With the time that has passed is now the concern that we do not want to move back into that house when we return. Time has changed our needs and since we have been living in England we have lived just 5 minutes from Scott's office. In Chicago, we chose to live in the city and Scott commuted nearly an hour (more on most days) each way out to the suburbs to his office. Since we have lived so close to Scott's office here in England, the long hours he puts in at the office don't seem as long as they did in the US because he is home much quicker at the end of the day. The time he is able to spend with us as a family is important so we will live closer to his office when we move home.

And thirdly, my baby is growing SO quickly! How is she already 4 1/2 months old?

I have mentioned my mixed feelings about the year-long maternity leave here in England before, but right now, I am nothing but grateful for the time with Crosby. I am not sure how I would have ever been able to go back to work already. I feel fortunate to be able to spend this time with her and to enjoy the milestones of her first year as they happen. Yes, at some point we may decide to have another baby, but I keep thinking to myself I will never have this time back with my first child, just the two of us together. I am trying to relish the days and experiences we are having now. I keep thinking - I want to keep her this age forever, and then a few weeks later, I find myself more in love with her than I was before, and I think no, this age is even better, she is even more adorable now. How does this continue to happen? I am grateful for this time and hope I am soaking up as much of it as I possibly can, because time really does seem to fly....

Lunching with the Ladies

One of the expat American women's club activities that takes place every month in our area is called "Pub Lunch." It's a good excuse to try out a different pub once a month for a nice lunch out. I enjoy trying the pubs for lunch because then if they are good, Scott & I will often go back for dinner on a weekend evening. Today Crosby attended the pub lunch with me and so she went "lunching with the ladies."

Crosby before we left the house for lunch. She was dressed in a pretty little dress and cardigan, and outfitted with bows!

Crosby on the end with one of the ladies at lunch. She was the perfect little baby and didn't utter a peep the entire time! She smiled and cooed and sat up nicely at the table for a while before she took a short snooze during the main course.

Father's Day

Unlike Mother's Day in the US and Mothering Sunday in the UK, Father's Day is celebrated today in both countries. It was Scott's first Father's Day as a Dad so hopefully he had a nice day. While we didn't do anything too exciting, we did manage to all go to the gym (Crosby had her first visit to the creche there) and we grilled steaks for steak salads per Scott's request for dinner. Celebrating these holidays now as a parent myself is a bit different than before. I have never doubted my love and appreciation for my parents for being such good examples to me and for providing a wonderful life for me, but now that I have little Crosby, my respect for both of them is so much greater than before. Maybe that is how life works - we learn more about the past with every future experience? Right now, I feel a bit like that and I know my parents now see something with me and Crosby, similar to what their parents must have seen when I arrived (and then also my sister) with them.

On a day like today, I do marvel at how lucky I am to have such a wonderful Father and how hard he has worked to provide for my family throughout my life - and how he continues to do so even though I have moved on into my own little family. My Mom & Dad both say to me, "We will always be your parents so we will also continue to do things for you as parents should." And now with Crosby's arrival, I understand that a bit more. I hope that as we raise Crosby, we will always put our children's best interests first, doing everything possible to provide for them, and to give them enough love and support for them to thrive. Being so far away from family on these holidays is a bit more difficult now that Crosby is around, especially since we are also celebrating her Grandfathers today too and we are unable to be with them.

However, I am reminded that we are away only temporarily and the reason we are here is because Crosby has a Dad who wants to provide the best life for our new family. His career has carved out this challenge for him and we have taken this opportunity in hopes that this experience will allow him to continue to succeed in the future. Today especially, I am glad to celebrate Scott on his first Father's Day, as I know he is working hard for us, is being a good example for Crosby and will be for the rest of her life.

Crosby in her special outfit in honor of her Daddy!

Hanging with Dad for the afternoon.

An attempt at a family photo on Father's Day.

Crosby's gift to Dad - coordinating half pint/ Pint t-shirts to celebrate Scott's first Father's Day living in England. Unfortunately it was a bit too close to nap time and little Crosby was not so thrilled to be modeling her new shirt....she was ready for her crib!

A Garden Tea Party

This afternoon I attended a proper English Tea/Garden Party with a group of expat ladies for a fundraiser for a local charity. It was great fun and reminded me of some of the great perks of being an expat wife. Hats or fascinators were required since it was a proper tea and it also coincided with Ladies Day at Ascot today, which is another place where hats are part of the attire for women. I opted for a fairly small fascinator by English standards but still felt a bit like a fish out of water since I am not used to having such large things in my hair!

An attempted self portrait to capture a picture of my fascinator before leaving for the tea.

The tea was full of sweets, cakes and tea sandwiches to enjoy.

I had volunteered to bake a cake for the tea. I baked this strawberry cake (not a proper English tea time cake, but yummy all the same!).

With Anne & Michele in our hats and fascinators at the tea.

There was traditional victoria sponge cake (one of my favorite British cakes).

And plenty of delicious finger sandwiches! Salmon, cucumber, egg salad, and ham & cheese.

And of course scones with real clotted cream and jam. Talk about leaving on a sugar high!

When I returned home, I arrived to find my little Crosby fast asleep after being a good little baby for the sitter. It was a lovely afternoon for a good cause!

The Nappy Report

This week I left Crosby home for almost the entire day with a sitter for the first time. Crosby & the sitter did just fine but of course I was worried and thinking about my little baby the entire time! Crosby is used to this sitter already which is good. We found her shortly after all of our parents went home after visiting so I could get out for a few hours every week, since we do not have family nearby to watch her if needed. The visits with the sitter have only been a few hours at a time before so I wasn't sure how the entire day might go. Luckily everything went well and when I arrived back home, I was given the full nappy report.

Nappy Report? Code name for Diaper Report. And that's not the only baby item called by a different name over here....

When I came home from the day out, the sitter said to me: "Crosby was an angel. She had four wet nappies and no dirty nappies. She drank her bottles and I took her in the pram on a walk into town."

Yes, in the world of a baby, there are more differences in words between the British and Americans. So, because we have a British babysitter, I find myself correcting myself when giving her instructions to ensure we are both talking about the same thing....

American word = British word

Diaper = Nappy

Pacifier = Dummy

Burp Cloth = Muslin

Stroller = Pram or Pushchair

Crib = Cot

Convertible Crib = Cot Bed

Bassinet or small rocking-type crib = Crib (the cot/crib situation was very confusing when shopping for a "crib" as we know it in the US!)

Onesie or baby bodysuit = Vest (commonly in the UK, vests are sleeveless, worn as undershirts really, and I have not found these in the US/ although I would also say vests could be with sleeves and then they might be worn as shirts as they are worn in the US)

One piece snap-front sleep n' play (as Carters would call them, actually I unsure what they are officially called in the US) = Baby grow outfits

Day care = Nursery

I guess only time will tell to see if Crosby picks up any of the British words for these items while living over here!

Jet Lag

Jet lag seems SO much more tiring with an infant! While Crosby was a dream baby on the return flight back to the UK, the first few days/nights back in England were a bit rough. Truthfully they were probably more tiring for me and for Scott than they were for Crosby. We arrived home only to smell a terrible stench in the house - our freezer had gone bad. Who knows if it went bad while Scott was traveling in Europe before he came to America to meet us, or if it went bad during the week he was in the US. Either way, our house stunk and we were already exhausted from the journey to get back here before we had to deal with cleaning out the soupy freezer and work on the smell.

After Scott wrapped himself in a mask and kindly threw out the contents of our entire freezer, he headed into the office for the rest of the day, and I spent the remainder of the day trying to entertain a baby who was completely off schedule.

After dinner, I walked into our living room to find the two other family members here looking like this:

Jet lag struck the first night for sure! Unfortunately it's difficult to tell a baby not to sleep all afternoon so she'll sleep at night....so we had a wide awake Crosby at 1am on our hands the first night back.

After about four nights of a somewhat mixed up sleeping scheduling, Crosby seemed to get back on track and luckily she is now going back to sleep at 8pm which makes everyone in the house happy.

Indiana

The last part of our trip ended with a week in Indiana. We started the week with Scott's parents in central Indiana, and then ended the weekend in northwest Indiana, with both sides of our family, where we had Crosby baptized in her Great Grandmother's Church. It was a packed and busy week but lots of people got to meet little Crosby. She even got to experience her first tornado warning sirens! (not a part of life in midwest we miss very much...)

Up early the first day of our visit and chatting away with Grandpa Craig in the morning. He's so entertaining, so Crosby had a lot to share with him!

Trying out Grandpa Craig's chair for size. Still a bit of room to grow...

One evening we went with Scott's parents to their choir practice. They had a pot luck dinner reception first so everyone could meet their new granddaughter, Crosby. Scott & I were commenting on the great American salads and dishes at a "pot luck" meal in the US. Pot lucks in the UK really don't compare to American salads and dishes - the UK tends to gravitate towards sausage rolls, store bought mayo based salads, pork pies and other rather different dishes.

Crosby was introduced to some of Grandma Cris' dearest friends, Carla and Randi, who have both known Scott since he was a baby too.

Meeting Mrs. Nancy

And Scott's friend Dan

Great Grandma watching Crosby swing away the afternoon.

Meeting Mrs. Linda

Celebrating Grandma Cris' birthday while we were visiting. Crosby didn't have any cake this time either but I think she enjoyed the candles.

On Grandma Cris' birthday, Crosby had special photos taken with both Great Grandma and Grandma Cris.

After the week with Scott's parents, we all headed to northwest Indiana to visit with more relatives and for Crosby's baptism at Great Grandma's Church there.

On Saturday evening before the baptism, Great Grandma hosted a lovely dinner for some of Scott's and my family so everyone could spend more time with Crosby. She got to meet her Great Aunt Kathie and Great Uncle Steve there for the first time.

Crosby also got to meet Uncle Matt!

And Uncle Todd!

We all had a nice dinner and a good time snuggling with the baby.

Back at the hotel that night, Aunt Carrie had a sleepover with Crosby in her room!

Sunday morning was the morning of the christening. Crosby looked so pretty in my dress that I wore for my christening, and she even had a new pretty pearl bracelet from Gram & Pa for the special occasion too.

With her godparents, Jonathan & Sarah, and us before the ceremony.

Both of our families before the ceremony.

The ceremony was very nice and it was even more special that we were able to have Crosby christened in the same church where Scott's parents were married and Scott was baptized too.

After the christening, we hosted a lunch at a nearby restaurant for both sides of our family. Many more cuddles with Crosby were in order! It was a great end to the trip to the US and a wonderful occasion for many of our loved ones to meet our newest treasure.