Prosit!

Last weekend Al and I went to The Tiroler Hut with a few friends. This is one of Al's favorite London spots even though it happens to be an Austrian Beer Hall. It was also nice to have one last visit because we had planned to go to Oktoberfest in September (funny enough) but with T2 and the move we had to cancel. I had also bought a dirndl for Oktoberfest so I figured this would be my last chance to wear it for awhile. I do have to say that my cousin Kerry helped me to pick it out while we were visiting her and Chris in Munich and perhaps she could have chosen me a more modest top! Anyway...it was a great night. Al got to sing New York, New York and Josef even had a drink with him and sent him off with his very own stein.

My very best friend Erin Timmons was in town with her Mom and sister, Kelly this past week and I was lucky enough to see them for lunch AND dinner! Here we are at dinner at Le Boudin Blanc.

AIDAN IS GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER COUSIN!!!! My sister, Erin, is pregnant and she and Mark are expecting their little one 9 days after T2!! I could not be happier for them and know that they will be the most amazing parents and Erin will be the most adorable pregnant lady you've ever seen. Erin will also be arriving in London on Monday and I can't wait. Al is thrilled to have two pregnant sisters in our house. :)

Here are Al and Aidan outside of Al's office...today! Aidan spent the day at the Goldman creche so that I could get a lot of moving homework done (and finish another Blog Post!) which I did! It's not every office that you step out the door and see St. Paul's Cathedral! We are going to miss London SO much!

Catch Up Part 3: Double Feature

Well, now that I'm all caught up with all of our travels, there are two more nuggets of information that the Taylors need to share. First of all, we are expecting a little brother or sister for Aidan at the end of January! Aidan and T2 (As my sister Erin has named the new little one) will be 17 months a apart and will hopefully be very good friends. We are very excited and can wait to meet T2 and see if this one will also have crazy, Kevin Bacon hair like his or her big brother. (I promise that is the scan of T2 and not Aidan!)

The other giant piece of news for us is that Al has been transferred back to New York! He has been offered an amazing opportunity in New York on a new desk that is going to be revamped and restructured and the New York guys wanted him to be on it. I am so happy for Al and he is excited to get started in his new role. It will also be great to be back in New York and closer to our friends and family but we will be leaving behind a lot of friends in London who have become our family over the past five years! It is truly a bittersweet move and will most likely happen at the end of August. So lots of exciting changes for our growing family.

Here is Aidan not handling the two days of hot weather we had in London very well. The kid is in for a rude awakening next summer! And yes, his father brought him to the park in his pajamas.

Here is Aidan enjoying his remaining time in London taxis. Al is trying to decide what kind of car to get in the US...I think a London Taxi would be a good option cause I can just pop the stroller right in!

Catching Up Part 2: Chicago

The next part of our trip brought us to Chicago! We stayed with my parents in Willow Springs and had a very busy week. Al left on July 3rd and then Aidan and I had a bonus week by ourselves. We had so much fun and it was nice for Aidan to enjoy Chicago in the summertime!

We were so lucky that our trip overlapped with Stephanie and Gracen's trip and they came over with Erin for a little mini-play date. I obviously look a little travel-weary...yikes!

Aidan and his Great Grandma Shirley (GG) got along great. She taught him all sorts of fun tricks and he showed her that her cane could also be used as a dancing pole.

One of our big field trips was to the Shedd Aquarium. I was shocked at how much Aidan like it. He seemed entertained by the different colors floating by but I think his favorite thing was his own reflection!

It was a gorgeous day when we went and Aunty Erin even joined us too! Thanks to Mom for becoming a member...I know we'll definitely be back at Shedd again soon!

We were also able to visit my Aunt Maureen in her chambers and courtroom. Luckily my Aunt is on the up-an-up with the security guys and we were allowed to bring our cameras in for some photo ops! Grantie Maureen also invited us to spend the night at her most beautiful summer house in Grand Beach, Michigan. We went swimming and got to hang out with Aunt Jane and Uncle Frannie. We had a great dinner and a super restful visit.

Aidan fell right at home in a courtroom. Perhaps he'll stray from the family business of Wall Street!

Marian is still living in Chicago and joined us for dinner at the Fireplace Inn and then whisked Aidan away so that the rest of us could enjoy a great show at The Second City. The show was awesome and Aidan loved spending time with his Great Aunt Marian!

Al and I checked into the Mogensen house for a one night stay and of course had to have dinner at one of Al's favorite spots...The Twin Anchors. The next day we used the second set of Cubs tickets we got from Al's friend Chris and saw them win again! How about that?

Aunty Erin completely spoiled Aidan while we were home. She got to see him almost everyday and Aidan got to see his Uncle Mark a lot too...Uncle Mark seemed to be the only one to think that Aidan wasn't super heavy. I think he's had some good training holding Mogy babies!

A big first for Aidan while in Chicago...shoes! His Grandma and Grandpa treating him to his first (three!) pairs of shoes. Here he is sporting his sandals and learning how to operate the Velcro.

Thank you to everyone in Chicago for showing us such a good time. We had so much fun and so many laughs. It's always tough to leave but at least we know we'll be back for Brigid and Joe's wedding in September!

For all the pictures from both New York and Chicago, click this link:

http://gallery.me.com/nora.taylor#100176

for some reason they are all out of order...sorry!

Catch Up Part 1: New York

We recently spent about three weeks in the US and our first stop was New York. As usual we stayed quite busy...here is a little "greatest hits" of our trip to the Empire State:

Here's Aidan on the Airplane...he was pretty good on the flight, but verrrry curious.

Part of our trip was to celebrate Pat and Bob's 40th Wedding Anniversary! It was a great night and great food. It was nice to be able to celebrate such a great couple.

We also got to welcome Sadie Tallarico in the Catholic Church! The Christening was so great and we were so excited we got to be there to celebrate with everyone. Sadie is adorable and so sweet...it was nice to see a baby girl!

Al was very excited to hit up some of his favorite spots in the Hamptons...one of which was Cyril's. Here are the boys post-BBCs (Banana Baileys Coolatas)

Aidan had a great time getting reacquainted with his cousin Ryan. Aidan was in awe of Ryan when he'd run around and make him laugh.

We spent one afternoon in Manhattan and even though it was a hot one...we had a great time. I got to have lunch with my friend Cristin, Al brought Aidan to Steve's office to learn more about Sales Trading and then Aidan and I met up with Stephanie and Gracen for a music class and then a little outside picnic/swim play date with Gracen's friend Ethan. We capped the day off with a super tasty dinner from Duke's with Nate and Sharon.

Rob was able to get us AMAZING seats for the Mets game. Al and I were very excited to be able to see a game at the new Citi Field...

...unfortunately the game was rain-delayed so we left. But we had a nice train ride and were able to enjoy some hotdogs and beers at the ball park.

Thanks to all our New York "peeps" for making our trip so special and so much fun!