I am so far behind...

As you can tell, I am a little bit behind the power curve these days. I'd like to think it's because of the pregnancy but to be honest, I have been quite a lazy daisy. As you might have noticed, I posted an entry about finding out we're going to have a boy in June. I actually wrote it in April but it's taken this long to post. Well, I suppose in the grand scheme of things 2 months isn't that bad. Some of you are still waiting on Christmas cards from 2005. :)

I will try to get a little more motivation to update the blog more often in the upcoming months. We can't have you all forgetting about us over here. So what's been happening:

- Over our snowy Easter, we were thrilled to have our New Jersey neighbor, Kelly, come and visit us for almost 2 weeks. It was the most tourist-like we've been since we landed in London and it was fantastic. We went to Stonehenge, Bath to see the Roman Baths and eat a Sally Lunn bun, Camden Town, the London Bridge, the Tower of London, the London Eye and we even went Ghost Hunting in the center of LondonTown (nope, we didn't see any).



- We went back to the states to New York for a little refresher since the girls had 4 weeks off from school. It was nice but COLD! There wasn't much going on but we definitely made use of the strength of sterling compared to the dollar!
- We moved house in May. We are now in Chiswick which is a lovely place that feels like a village but is still very much in London. The house is awesome and we have some space to spread out and breathe.
- Sloane had her 3rd birthday on the 27th of May and was thrilled to find out that she did get the cake she wanted: one of Iggle Piggle. Iggle Piggle is a character in a TV show out here that has friends named Upsy Daisy, the Tomblyboo's, Macca Pacca and the Ninkie Nonks. Sounds ridiculous but she's infatuated and ate just about every bit of fondant on that cake. Despite the fact that it was an English style cake: they're usually incredibly dry with fake jam in the center and fondant icing that you can use to patch drywall, this one was actually really good.
- In early June, Matt took his first test for the CFA and is the only person in the world I know that would come home and say to me "I think I over-studied". Talk about opposites attracting! We haven't found out the results but will shortly and I'm positive it will be good news.
- Avery competed in her 2d Club Championship and did really well. She placed 2d in the range portion which has to do with flexibility and strength. This girl has lats like you wouldn't believe, biceps that are bigger than the boys in her class and abs to die for. She is such a little machine and she continues to love every minute of it.
- I am growing in size by the minute. As of today (26 June) I'm 29.5 weeks but feel like I've been preggers for an eternity. So far everything is going great and he's head down. Keep your fingers crossed that he stays that way (unlike Sloane) or else I will find myself with chiropractors, acupuncturists, hypnotists and priests. Anything to avoid the c-section.

Hmmm....what else. That's about it I guess. We're getting ready for summer and Avery's last days of school at her current school. She won't have much of a summer this year since her last day is 9 July and she starts her new school on the 21st of August. But we'll fill it fun nonetheless. Hopefully we'll get some good sunshine and be able to put up the pool in our back garden. So, until next time...

And it's going to be a....

BOY!

That's right folks...the London Dunker's are no longer going to be a sorority with a den daddy. We are actually going to have a B.O.Y.

The girls are over the moon and dad was almost beside himself. I have to say that I was in a bit of shock as well considering I just didn't believe that it was in the cards for us. I figured I had done something in a previous life to "blessed" with all girls that, no doubt, would be raging teen-wannabes at the ripe old age of say...8.

Alas, it is not to be. And thankfully so because the deal was, that if the sonogram showed another little girl, Matt could get a dog. A boy dog. I actually promised him two boy dogs just to try to even out the numbers a bit. I was starting to feel a bit guilty for all the estrogen despite the fact that it was all his fault from the git-go anyway!! We women are merely hosts and the guys really have no one to blame but themselves. :)

This was at only 19 weeks

You know you had a great weekend...

...when you can come home to a measly stocked refrigerator and see that the only thing in there, a 2 liter bottle of maple syrup, has completely drained itself of it's contents into every square inch of your tiny English fridge...and you don't even bat an eye. You simply grab a wash cloth and get to work.

About an hour later and an immaculately cleaned fridge, I figured that I had better keep chugging on the blog train and get something out there. So about the weekend we had. Simply fantastic.

Wells-Next-The-Sea at low tide

Here it is at high-tide.

Last week, Matt had briefly mentioned that he might take Monday off and perhaps make Friday a short day. Usually we'd think there'd be a few days off for disgusting long hours of television watching, PS3 playing, Wii sports challenges and of course, Avery's gymnastics practices. This time however, Avery had a day off from the gym as well so we were completely commitment-free. A first since we arrived in London, well almost.

We decided to pack up, take the girls out of school early on Friday and skip out of school on Monday and get ourselves the heck out of this city. We headed north to a place called Wells-Next-The-Sea which is in Norfolk. It didn't take too long to get there but I have to say most of the roads were meant to fit two bicycles side by side than automobiles. I think the upstate NY Amish would have a hard time with their horse and buggies navigating the twists and turns of some of those...let's just say...paths.

It was pretty cold and we were most definitely one of the few brave families out sight-seeing during this frigid weather. We simply didn't care and just really needed to get ourselves out of the city. We had no plan...just go. And we did.

We had a fantastic room at the top of an old Inn and the girls made themselves at home quite quickly. We decided to go exploring...thank you TomTom (sat nav)! We found a little cafe and had some tasty hot chocolate and learned from the Aussie baristo (is that what a dude behind the counter is or are they barista's too?) that the town has been deserted because it's not quite the season for "people like us" yet. It reminded us a bit of Alexandria Bay in January. Empty. We wanted to check out what the North Sea was like so we found a place that would take us out to go seal watching. The other places had canceled their trips due to high winds but luckily there was one place that wasn't deterred by the gusts and howls whipping through us as if we didn't exist. So off we went to find some seals and hopefully not freeze to death. Check out the shots below and you'll see that we did, in fact, survive and we had a blast despite the frigid temps and wind.

We even had the chance to do a little bird watching before boarding our tiny boat!

All aboard!!

Talk about getting up close and personal...we could have touched them!


Completely unaffected Sloane...freezing wind? Where???!!!

Of course, post seal experience we hit a pub and warmed ourselves by their fire and planned our next excursion. We thought it completely appropriate to hit a castle while we were out in the country and so we did some quick research and found Castle Rising Castle. How can one not be intrigued by a name like that? Come to find out, after we returned home, Castle Rising Castle is one of the most famous and supposedly most haunted castles in all of England. It's a 12th-century domestic keep, set amid huge defensive earthworks and is stunningly beautiful albeit completely creepy at times. In its time, Rising served as a hunting lodge, royal residence, and for a brief time in the 18th century even housed a mental patient. The most famous period in its history was when it came to the mother of Edward III, Queen Isabella, following her part in the murder of her husband Edward II. When you marry someone also known as the She-Wolf of France you're bound to be risking your life. I guess Edward II didn't see it that way. I won't even tell you the details of how he was supposedly killed... eck! (it had to do with a wood burning stove poker and a place on the body not usually seen by most).

Photo compliments of Castle Rising's on-line gallery

This is where the chapel was at one time.


Avery...not the mental patient. Although sometimes we do wonder...

Or are these the mental patients?



Part of the huge earthworks built to surround the castle making it almost impossible for intruders to pass.

What was next...ah yes. The North Sea. It only took the entire long weekend before we figured out why there was always a crowd of people and cars across the street from our lodge down a long dirt road. It was the easiest entrance to the beaches along the North Sea. Our trip would not be complete without a trip down the beach so we bundled up and off we went. It was a long, long, looooong cold walk but it was worth it. There is nothing like seeing our girls run with reckless abandon into the beginnings of the ocean and chase seagulls as they swoop through the mist. It was truly a day...a weekend...that we'll never forget.

THE DUNKERS ROCKED THE NORTH SEA!

Well well well...

It has happened again this year...time just flew by. This year for some reason though, it went by faster than ever. All of a sudden we were finishing up our Christmas shopping a month early and the next minute we were celebrating the New Year. What happened?

Well this year, we spent another Christmas in London although this time we've had no snow this winter season. It's been incredibly mild which has been a bit of a let down for the kids. We were hoping to get in one teensy weensy snowman but alas, it is not to be. (it will probably dump on us tomorrow...you watch!). We had a great time watching the girls tear into their presents and watch the joy on their faces when they saw what was inside. Sloane really understood what was going on this year and LOVED the whole ordeal. The girls were excited to add two new members to the Dunker clan. Ballory and Little Mouse became officially Dunkers on Christmas day. They are Campbell's Russian Dwarf hamsters and they are just about the cutest things ever. Little mouse (gray) is Sloane's and comes out to get some love whenever you come near the cage. Ballory is a pretty white with a gray stripe down her back and she's a bit more timid than Little mouse but cute nonetheless. I vowed we were not going to have 4 legged creatures in our house while we're living in the city but since these little things have their own exercise wheel I'm not too bothered. It's not like I have to go out on our dreary days and walk the little rodents. We just stick them in this little plastic ball and try to make sure they don't roll down the stairs.


Hmmm...what else is new? It's been so long since my last post that I've sort of forgotten what's transpired these past few months. Let me back track from before Christmas a bit....

November was a busy month for us. We were getting all packed up to head to the states for Avery's godfather's, wedding. Avery and I were doing a reading, Matt was a groomsman and Sloane...well we had decided months prior that she was still a bit too young to handle a four day quick-turn trip to the states. So, we'd arranged her to stay in London with friends. For some reason though, neither of us could go through with it...so two nights before our departure we bought the Balogney a ticket and off we went. The wedding of Pat and Lindsay was absolutely fantastic and it was a good thing we brought Sloane with us. She managed to come down with the flu while we were gone and our friends that were going to keep her managed to wind up in the A&E at the local hospital with their daughter and a serious bout with pneumonia. As they say, everything happens for a reason!

One of the last times she'll get Foxy to all to herself!

She had to take full advantage! She had once said when she talked about getting married that
she wanted to marry Foxy. It was a sad day for Av but a very happy one too.

Also, in November we were very lucky to have Matt's sister Melinda for a quick visit. We hopped on a train, escaped the city and ventured our way to Windsor Castle. It was a gorgeous day, not a raindrop fell and it felt like we had the whole castle to ourselves...except the flag was flying which meant we were obviously not alone. The Queen was in....and I don't mean Avery or Sloane! It was a real treat for the girls to get to spend some time with their aunt and we loved having her out here. Just wish she'd send us some of the pics she took...hint hint Binday!!!




Av had her Christmas display at her gym. They had been working on this particular routine since October and it culminated in a show that spanned 4 days with a performance on each of them. Overall the gym sold over 2,000 tickets with some of the shows sold out. It was quite a production and the girls were so proud of themselves. They performed to Angelina Ballerina and all the girls were dressed as little mice. It was so fun to watch them all under the spotlight.

Avery is the one with her tongue sticking out in the middle. Flattering, don't ya think?!

What else....

Avery turned 6 just a few weeks ago. Much to her pleasure and me to my pain, I (I say I b/c Matt really was an innocent bystander) decided that she should have one last big birthday party. So we invited her school friends and gymnastics friends to a day at her gymnastics club. I figured that most would have something else to do, or wouldn't want to drive the distance to the gym but it turned out that quite a few really want to come to her party. So...35 children and multiple parent sets later we had ourselves one HUGE celebration! It was fabulous. BUT it was most definitely the last of it's kind.


Speaking of gymnastics, Avery, 1 day after her 6th birthday was asked to move up another level in her gymnastics. She's now part of an elite group called "mini's" and they usually don't take girls until they are 7. I was shocked when they asked and looked to Avery for the answer to their question of "are you up for the challenge of mini's?" Avery just bounded up and down and said "Please, please please mommy...can I?" So now our schedule has shifted a bit in terms of days at the gym and the hours have increased. She now trains almost 10 hours a week. This child has abs of steel and can do more chin ups than an incredibly athletic 16 year old boy. It's INSANE!!!

Sloane no longer wanted to be left out so she has joined a little class called "gymlets" where she is learning a great deal about hand-eye coordination and following directions. Well let's just say she's much better at the coordination bits! She has her own leotard that she is beamingly proud of and calls her class "My Nastics".


With all that driving, Matt and I are seriously considering moving from our current location to something a bit further out. Similar commute times to his work, quicker into the West End and only about 20-25 minutes to Heathrow. It's not completely because of gymnastics and might have a little something to do with the fact that we are expecting a third little Dunker in early Sept. Furthermore, 7 sets of stairs in my house is not my idea of fun a pre-natal workout despite the potential benefits of keeping a few pounds off my behind!

As if that's not enough new news....now I get to brag about my amazingly talented and hard working husband. So after we see the heartbeat of our upcoming Dunker edition on an early scan, Matt finds out that not only did he get a better bonus this year than last (it's been a rough one for many considering the overall 2007 market)....HE MADE VICE PRESIDENT ONE YEAR EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's going to be so annoyed that I'm yelling this through cyberspace but I just can't help it. He is such a stud and I am soooooooooooooooo proud of him.

Well, everyone...I'm writing this as the girls are eating dinner and watching Happy Feet and right now, it's about time I sign off. So...until next time...