Have You Met My Cutie Pie?

His name is Sullivan.  I love him so.

Mollie's: The Sweet Shop of Our American Dreams!

We took Sierra's tooth fairy money to the local mall today and happened upon this gem.  Mollie's!! It is an American candy store that sell American candy, but get this.....also A1 Steak Sauce, Gatorade, Snapple, and pumpkin pie mix.  Oh there's more....syrup and pancake mix too.  We are love and it's been here the whole time.  A taste of home is just a 10 minute drive from our house!

Washing Machine Broken: Please Send In Reinforcements

This a rather random post, but aside from all the cute travel and kid pics  I want to make sure I record some of what it is like living abroad.  Our original washing machine could only hold about a day's worth of clothes in it.  This means that to stay ahead of the game.  You MUST wash 2 loads a day.  It's not optional.  If you don't, it piles up and up and up.

So we decided it was worth the investment to buy a brand new one. It was amazing.  It could hold double what the other could.  I got down to having to only do laundry three days a week.  It was quiet, digital, a thing of beauty until it just shut off mid load one day and refused to start.  That was two weeks ago.

Two repairman trips later it is still not fixed.  The thing got rave reviews, but it turns out we got a dud.  I forget that we are living abroad until things like this happen.  Then I remember I don't know my way around and get lost finding the closest laundrette.  I also discover I have 30 dollars in quarters which obviously won't work here.  So I then spent an hour trying to figure out the location of another ATM when the only one I knew of happened to be out of cash that day.  I get back to the laundrette and realize I don't have time to run 1 load before I have to be back for the school run.

I have never paid to have my laundry done in 33 years of generating the stuff, but desperate times called for desperate measures.  I mean I had 6 laundry baskets full of items in the back of my car. Total cost = 47 pounds (around 75 USD) Money well spent to maintain sanity.  I plan to make Panasonic pay the whole thing. Tonight it shut off again and next week will be filled with more follow up phone calls to the repairman and Panasonic.  And probably another trip to our local laundrette.

If you don't hear from us, check the TV to see if UK has suddenly started broadcasting about a nudist family from the USA or call 999 (UK equivalent of 911) as we may be trapped under a mountain of laundry we couldn't get out of :)

Home with Desmond

Tuesdays and Thursdays Desmond gets to stay home with me all day.  I love having him around especially since he has really gotten in to dress up clothes.  One day he is my knight in shining armor rescuing me from a fire breathing dragon.  The next day he is a builder fixing my whole house.  Today he was a police officer putting all the bad guys in jail.  Gotta love little boys!  I know I love this one to the moon and back!

Sierra Loses Another Tooth!

Sierra has had a very, very, very wiggly tooth for several days now.  We thought for sure she would lose it in London.  Then we thought for sure she would lose it each her lunch at school.  Then magically when she woke up this morning her tooth was gone!  She told us she thought she saw the tip of the tooth fairy's wand and that the tooth fairy came in the middle of the night and took her wiggly tooth out.  She just knew that the tooth fairy had to have left some money for her under her pillow.  Zach ran to make sure :)   And by magic, the tooth fairy had in fact arrived!!! Lots of excitement and plans for buying candy with her tooth fairy money were had all morning :)

Ladies in London Day 2: Goodbye Hotel, Hello Underground!

We woke up early and had fun lounging around our hotel before the tourist sites opened up.  Sierra loved how the hotel had a picture of Big Ben above our bed and the all-you-can-drink hot chocolate machine in the lobby.  Today we had tickets to see the Tower of London and planned to see Tower Bridge.  We hopped a subway over to Tower Hill.  Sierra has become an expert at riding the Underground at this point.  She has been my map reader since Euston and loved keeping track of how many stops we had until our destination.  I love my little travel buddy!!

Ladies in London Day 2: Tower Bridge

We got to the Tower of London about an hour before it opened, so we spent our extra time walking along the River Thames and admiring the Tower Bridge.  We even walked up on the stairway and crossed the bridge.  Sierra was dying to go up to the top, but we ran out of time.  I told her we needed a reason to come back.  This was a gorgeous way to start our day.  Now off we go to the Tower of London!!

Ladies in London Day 2: The Crown Jewels

One of the first places we went to was the Crown Jewels exhibit.  They won't allow photography in this area so I don't have any pictures of us inside.  The images I have pulled are from what you can find if you google the Tower of London.  The building allows you watch a video of Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation day.  Sierra did not want to leave.  She asked me a thousand questions and related it back to Frozen where Elsa has her coronation day.  In the movie, you can see Queen Elizabeth II accept a scepter and orb very similar to what Elsa holds on her coronation day.  Inside they have so many amazing artifacts from Kings and Queens of past to present.  I have never seen so much gold and diamonds in one place.  There is a moving walkway inside that allows you to view the crowns of different members of royalty.  Sierra went twice just to see each one again.  Some of the diamonds had to be the largest we had ever seen.  There were also some of the serving dishes used for the coronation feast.  The coronation punch bowl was absolutely the largest and most ornate dish I had ever seen.

Ladies in London Day 2: The White Tower

The White Tower is the castle-like structure within the castle walls.  They have redone the entire inside and it was beautiful.  You begin your tour at the top of the castle and work your way to ground level.  The top floor is full of ancient knight weaponry.  From swords to lances to full blown armor we were mesmerized!

They had a huge collection of coins dating back thousands of years.  You could play with psuedo bow and arrows.  Pick up lances and axes. There was even a large dragon symbolizing Tower of London as a place to store weaponry.  Sierra liked looking inside of the canons and giggled over the bathroom basically dumped all it's contents out of a hole at the top of the building.  The basement had some of the most beautifully decorated canons we had ever seen and rows upon rows of ancient swords, rifles, etc.

Ladies in London Day 2: Medieval Part of the Tower

Our final stop before leaving the Tower of London was to walk through the medieval portion of the complex along the wall facing the Tower Bridge.  We got to see simulated bedrooms and throne rooms.  We also had a great view of Tower Bridge.

Ladies in London Day 2: Animals & Souveniors

A fact that I didn't know about the Tower of London was that for part of its history it housed exotic animals.  They have statues of animals throughout the Tower of London complex as a memorial to some of the animals that were housed there (i.e., elephants, gorillas, lions, tigers, snakes, oh my!).  At one point, the King of Norway even gifted the King of England a polar bear.Interestingly enough,  people were allowed to come and visit the animals, but this was before the day of will defined capitive spaces (i.e. modern day zoos) so they had a clipping from the local paper about a spectator who was eaten by a lion and a keeper who was attacked by a snake.

After the Tower of London, we had just enough time to get souveniors for the family.  Meet Stacy the Princess.  This is what Sierra chose as her souvenior.  She got Desmond a  knight's helmet, daddy his favorite chocolate Tolberone, and Sully a bear dressed as a Bobby or local policeman.  Then we boarded the train for the long trip home.

Ladies in London Day 1: The Train Ride

We woke up early and drove five minutes down the road  to our local train station in the town of Wellington.  We got on a Virgin train and took the two and a half hour ride to London.  Sierra was really excited for the first hour but quite ready to get there after that.  Any shift in the train or stop would foster another opportunity to have the "are we there yet ?" Conversation. Followed by mild disappoiment when we weren't.  Thank goodness for snacks, drinks, and the iPad.  

Ladies in London Day 1: Bridges, Carousels, and Parks

Within 2 minutes of walking outside of our hotel, we were on the Queen's Jubilee Bridge with a fantastic view of the London Eye and Big Ben.  When we crossed the bridge, we came across a beautiful old carousel, and of course, we had to take to a ride. We also found a fabulous park that was a huge obstacle course.  Sierra was in heaven!

Ladies in London Day 1: Parliament!!!!!

We got to tour Westminister Palace (aka Parliament) and it was honestly one of the most exquisite places I have ever been.  They will not allow you to take pictures after the first two rooms which is a shame because it just keeps getting more beautiful.

My favorite part was that Sierra was super into the audio tour.  The lady at the beginning of the tour told her how to find the numbers in each room and punch them into her handheld device.  She kept us on track the whole time and would be upset if I jumped ahead in number.

Here are some images I found online of some of our favorite parts of the tour.



The Robing Room: Used by the Queen as a "Green Room" of sorts before entering Parliament.  Side note: the black squares are all hand-carved scenes from King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.



Prince's Chamber: Ante-room before entering the House of Lords



House of Lords: The Queen's seat in the House of Lords used only at the opening of Parliament each year.

Ladies in London Day 1: Big Ben & Westminister Abbey

We couldn't stay at the park forever because we had a date with Big Ben and the Westminster Palace.  Our tour that afternoon started at 2:30 p.m.  We got there a little early, so we took lots of pictures with Big Ben and even got a minute to run by Westminster Abbey (where William and Kate got married).  Sadly, Westminster Abbey was closed by the time we got there, so we weren't able to go in.  However, even the outside was beautiful. 

Ladies in London Day 1: Trafalgar Square & Buckingham Palace

We walked out of Parliament to the most beautiful picture of Big Ben.  We took a little rest from walking to grab a "coffee" and then got right back on to adventuring.  We made it to Trafalgar Square and the National Portrait gallery.  Then we headed down the promenade to Buckingham Palace.  Can I just say Sierra was a trooper!!! My dad taught me my love for traveling the world, and it was so fun to have my daughter as my little explorer sidekick!  She is a great traveling buddy.  

Ladies in London Day 1: St. James Park

Sierra and I had a ball in St. James Park across from Buckingham palace.  They had a great playground, lots of ducks to feed, beautiful flowers, and an awesome view of the London Eye.  We even saw a few fun sights on the way home. We ended up walking by the Royal Horseguards and even saw a few double decker buses.  Great end to a wonderful day!

Valentine's Day Weekend 2015

We had planned to travel through Wales for Valentine's Day weekend.  However, my grandmother passed away and the weather didn't look good both events put us in the mood for something a little more low-key.  We opted to stay closer to home for the weekend. Zach found us a great local hotel with a pool.  You would have thought we were taking the kids to Disney World they were so excited.

The kids swam to their heart's content that night and the next morning.  Sierra even swam a little bit for the first time without her floaties.  Desmond could jump in and out of the pool without any help.  Most of all, they loved cuddling up in the hotel room, playing games, and eating snacks.  

First Playdate

Sierra has made some instant friends at school.  It has taken me three months to get to know their moms and invite our first friend over for a playdate.  Sierra was so excited to have her little buddy Ava join us for the day.  The girls did a ton of arts and crafts, had a tea party, played with the Barbies, and rode scooters.  The cutest thing that Ava taught us was satsuma cheers!  Oranges here are called satsumas.  Before she would eat a slice she would toast with her orange slice, "Satsuma Cheers!"  They would touch their little satsuma slices together then giggle for ages.  What fun to have new friends!

House Project: Playroom

The kids have a beautiful space for a playrooms.  We have sectioned into three areas (thanks Rachel!)  Each kid gets their own section.  They are very protective of their areas.  If they do fight, it is typically because "someone is in my area and he/she is messing with my stuff."

Zach installed a mini art gallery on our main wall and only the best work makes the cut :).  The kids are constantly changing what they want on the wall.  We also added some artwork from a calendar called "This is London."  It has lots of the tourist sights we intend to visit during our time in the country.  The kids love the double-decker busses and the Queen's Guard outfits.  Interesting side note: the artist who did these illustrations made a series of children's tour guide books in the 1960s.  I believe he has one of Paris, Rome, and Australia.   The fun part for me is to see their little worlds opening up.  The kids now recognize Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the Underground.