Autumn in Hampstead.

Autumn this year has been more colorful than the previous years. We've had some dry spells and bright afternoon sunshine.


The Heath changes so quickly. The paths I run on which I've seen a full cycle - from winter bleakness, to spring feather-leaves, to full on lush cover - are now colorful and dropping.


We really love Hampstead and this spot may stop our move-every-year-to-get-to-know-London pursuit.

Cooper's Baptism

TJ was honored to be Cooper Hammitt's godfather. It was my first time in Richmond and loved meeting Will and Cooper.
Will did such a good job throughout the ceremony and is such a smart, funny, easy-going little guy.


Spending time with Craig and Rebekah is always for us like picking up a conversation right where you left off. Their house and neighborhood are fantastic - I did some nice long runs, we ate dinner on the water and then walked home (through dark forested streets...the city in me came out as I developed an odd aversion to spiders.)




It was such an honor to not only be present on such a momentous day - but for TJ to be a part of it. They are family to us, and now we get to shower Cooper with even more love through his life.

I got to meet Rebekah's parents and loved chatting about travels with her mom.


We toured around Richmond and went to see the University.


Picturing TJ and Craig in their college years here together was so fun for me. (Fun and funny.)

I don't think things have changed much.


I could have stayed much longer. The pull of moving 'back to the US' was very strong as we left.

Travers

Our summer travels wrapped up with another trip to the US. This time in honor of Cooper Hammitt's baptism in Richmond, (TJ was the proud godfather.)

We started this trip with a visit first to D.C. (Bethesda) to see Andrew and Puffin and their sweet children Cecelia and James.

TJ met Cecelia before and came back with stories about not only how cute she was but how smart and funny. She quickly remembered him, and as we got to know each other, on our second day said to me, "I can't believe we only met yesterday!"



We got to see their fantastic neighborhood - running paths, park at the end of the street, lovely neighbors, minutes from shops and restaurants and Georgetown....


We were able to see Cece's school....




And spent lots of time in Puffin and Andrews lovely new home playing with James and Cece. James had a mild obsession with a ball, and TJ thought indoor soccer would be a fun game to teach him =)





Puffin's friend stopped by on our last day, and sweetly talked about the 'honor' of eating at Puffin's table and being in her gorgeous home. She talked about being slightly 'green or chartreuse' with envy about how lovely it all was. I too was a pale shade of green - but more so that Puffin's friend gets to see them all the time.

Bethseda is now officially on the list of places I could see us living! Ideally next door to the Travers.

Bordeaux

TJ and I (together with our friend James - and his wife Susan and baby Ian who lead our cheering squad) ran the Medoc marathon. While the pictures from this race are hysterical (we wore costumes,) they will have to wait for another post. It was a race that combined a full marathon with many stops at various Chateaux for wine tasting.

Great articles describing it are here:

and here


Our rule was that we had to run the entire race and stop and enjoy every wine stop. We enjoyed tasty snacks including steak and oysters along the way and got to see many Chateaux close up. It would have taken us at least a week to visit so many if we were sight-seeing. We gleefully completed the marathon in 6 hours.


While in Bordeaux we stayed at a the St. James in Bouillauc. We were celebrating not only our race, but sweet baby Ian's first stamp in his passport.

He traveled on the Eurostar with barely a peep. He took the entire trip with an air of calm and collection. I can't say the same for the rest of us. Our trip included what started as a smooth 40 minutes on the Paris Metro and quickly become a mad dash between train stations in Paris. The four of us looked like a comedy troupe of clowns as we scaled escalators, squeezed suitcases and daintily shoved pram between bars, sprinting for the train.

We pushed and heaved our way on as the whistle blew and doors closed.


But alas, we had this waiting for us.

There was plenty of enjoyment of the last days of summer and a long soak for tired legs.

TJ and I had a full day and subsequent morning to ramble around the town of Bordeaux. (Some of us were very disappointed that a renowned cheese shop was closed. Hint - not who you think. I have the photos to prove it.)



It is a glorious city made up of old money from the large wine brokers whose houses ring the harbor. Sort of like a similar in chicness to Paris, with a bit of modernity and a lot of history and grandeur.



The perfect ending to an adventurous experience.

Sarah and Jack Franke

Also in August - seemingly years ago - I was able to meet the latest additions to the Franke family. Jack and Sarah Franke were born to Ed and Christine and the whole family anxiously awaited and celebrated their births.

Sweet Megan couldn't wait to hold 'the babies'. She was skipping around the room and announced to, and inquired of me, "I have hair on my legs...my name is Megan, what is yours?"






It was a sweet, sweet day.