Fun December in London!

There are so many things going on in London for Christmas!  We had a great time exploring and spending time with friends!

The first week of December was busy!!!  Tuesday, I was able to go to Hampton Court as a chaperone for the Year 4 field trip.

 We took the train to get there.  My group was Lauren, Thomas, Karolina, Moundir and Sanaly.  Karolina is a good friend of Lauren's, as is Thomas.  Monduir and Thomas both sent home love letters to Lauren earlier in the year!  So, it was fun to spend time with all of them.  We did a tour around the kitchens, then ate lunch and then we had a one-on-one tour with a servant who was in charge of the laundry.  She did a great job telling the kids things that had a shock factor, like how they collected urine to get the linens extra white and how they used to lower little boys down into the latrines to unclog them.  And she also tested their knowledge of Henry VIII.  At the end, we walked around in the gardens and took a group photo.  All in all, a good day!

Wednesday, I chaperoned the Year 2 class to the Science Museum.  We also the tube to get to the museum.

My group was Alison, Janan, Haron, Naomi, Lacey and Filipe.  Janan is Alison's best friend so she was really happy about that!!  All the kids were hungry as soon as we got to the museum of course.  The first thing we did was store all of our coats a locker in the basement, which was great so we didn't have to carry them.  Then we split into groups and went to do our activities.  Our first stop was a Three Little Pigs show about materials.  The kids really enjoyed that, and Alison got chosen to be one of the Three Little pigs.  After that, we walked around for a bit and then had lunch.  After lunch, we went to the Pattern Pod, which was a cool place and they were able to learn about all different patterns.  The walk back to school was somewhat slow, but all in all, a great trip!

So thankful for Drew's friends Hugo and Reuben and their parents who watched Drew for me after nursery!

Then, on Friday that week was the Christmas Fair at the kids school.  (Thankfully several of the other PTA members help keep things organized during the week while I was chaperoning!)  The Christmas Fair was not as much planning as the summer fair, but still somewhat stressful.  It was a good fair, and we got lots of positive feedback about the fair.  It helped that we had a few activities outside, and several good external vendors.   Brad and I also went to dinner with some neighbors for a curry that evening, which was a good time!  We haven't really been out in Wimbledon Village that much, so it was fun to do that as well, and try a good local Indian restaurant.  We love our curries!

Saturday evening, we walked back up to Wimbledon Village for the tree lighting.

It wasn't as exciting as I was hoping, but the kids did a small ride and then we were able to see the tree lighting but only because the first time they tried there was a slight malfunction.  It was a pretty small tree and not much of a wow factor, but I do really like Wimbledon Village

Sunday, we headed down to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland to go ice skating.  Ice skating is everywhere in London in December! The strange thing is that it's not all that cold, so the rinks are pretty wet around the outside, but I wanted to try it.

The girls and I did two laps around, and they got  better on the second lap.  Drew however was on the ice for about 10 seconds and he was over it.  The girls both fell and got their pants wet, but I think they enjoyed it!  Everyone had warned me about how expensive the rides were, and they were right!  The rides were some serious rides.  The first ride the girls and I did made my stomach turn, it went upside down and round and round and really fast/  Eating right before going on the ride was probably not the best idea, but oh well.  Drew's favourite ride was the last one they did, which was a Lightning McQueen ride and very low-key.

The highlight of the day was definitely when Brad won a Minion for the kids!  He tried at least four of the booths before he finally found the Penguin Plunge where the aim was to knock over a stack of tin cans.  It only took two tries, but I think he really impressed the workers!  And the kids were SOOOOOO excited.  It was definitely a proud Dad moment.

Lauren had Tudor day at school, since she learned all about the Tudors, so she dressed as Elizabeth I.  We even painted her face white!

The girls did Christmas cards for each child in their class because that's what they do here, which is really nice.  They remembered everyone in their class without even looking at the class list.  Drew did a few, but maybe next year....

The following weekend, Brad and I went to dinner with his co-workers on Friday night.  We went to Sticks N Sushi, which I have been wanting to try for quite some time.  It was YUMMY!!!  Three of the guys came over to our house before we went to dinner, and the kids gave them quite a show...the girls have learned all the words to "Don't Stop Believin'," so Brad put it on and they sang the entire song for them.

The kids got out of school on 18 December, and then on Saturday, we went to Clip N Climb, which was a place that Alison and I went back in October.  Lauren loved it of course, and Alison had a great time the second time around.  Brad enjoyed it as well; Drew however was not a fan at all.  He was excited when he got the harness on, but then he was not happy at all.  He climbed up on step with Brad, and then about halfway through, one of the workers was able to convince him to climb a few steps and then at the very end, he climbed an entire ladder!  We will have to try again when he gets a bit older.  Afterwards, we had a nice dinner at Pizza Express.  The kids loved the Dough Balls!!  It was actually a pretty low maintenance dinner; I think we may have turned a corner on eating out which is amazing!!  Then, we decided to go to Regents Street to see the lights and go to Hamley's, a toy store that has been around since 1760!!  Drew fell asleep on the train on the way to the toy store, but as soon as we got there, he was awake.

Wow, it was quite a place!!  They had all sorts of booths set up where the kids could test out the toys.  And the second floor had a HUGE Thomas the train and Percy, which was Drew's favourite.  They also had the New Generation Dolls that they sell£50 (almost $100!!!).  It was 5 stories, and each floor had very intriguing items.  The coolest thing was these markers that you can mix and make lines.  As we were leaving, the kids became entranced with the magic kit.  The tricks were quite amazing, and Alison decided that is what she really wanted for Christmas (5 days before!!), and then we had to stop to see the powder that turns into snow when you add water.  Next year, we need to go to Hamley's at the end of November rather than right before Christmas.

Looking at the lights in the area was amazing!!!

Sunday, we went to church and then we went out to a Polish lunch organized by our lovely Polish friends, Marek and Yvona.  It was DELICIOUS and so much food, and it was so great to spend time with so many of our friends, including our American friends who have moved a little bit North.  The restaurant was perfect because there was a huge outdoor area for the kids to run around and play.  I have developed a taste for beetroot soup.

Monday, the kids and I went to see Santa at a local play place, Eddie Catz.  Monday night, we went to Kew Gardens to see the lights and it was quite spectacular!  There were several different areas with different lights, including a field of fire, big peacocks made of lights and a few interactive areas.  In the middle were a few rides and some food.  Drew was able to ride on a little train, and the girls rode on an old-fashioned see saw.  The kids favourite part was the marshmallows!  They had homemade marshmallows and roasting sticks, and they melted very differently than Jet-Puff marshmallows! They were VERY tasty!!

 At the end, we were able to see Father Christmas as well.

Tuesday, we went to Brad's office for a Pantomime.  It was the Snow Queen, and it was very well done!  There were several Frozen songs, but also some other songs.  At the interval, we had pizza.  The kids have a great time at Brad's office, and it is so amazing that they do these events.  As we left, they handed each of a box of chocolate!  In the evening, we headed to the O2 for Disney on Ice.  Brad was offered tickets by one of the vendors at work, so we were able to sit in a box, which was PERFECT!!  It was a great show: Toy Story, Little Mermaid, Cars and Frozen.  Drew of course was so excited to see CARS!!  And Lauren and her new friend Lyra were having the best time dancing in the aisle to the Frozen songs.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty low-key days after a busy few days!  Thursday we did go to church for the Christmas Eve service, which reminded me a lot of the Christmas Eve service at St. John's.  And then our friends Elena, Adriano and Patrick came over for dinner.  It was nice to have some other company here, and I made the best scalloped potatoes I have ever made.  And Lauren made a dessert: little white cookies with chocolate sauce and green coconut.

Christmas was FUN!!!  All the kids received bikes from Santa, which was super exciting!!  And I received a laptop from Brad, which was a nice surprise (although I had really dropped some major hints about it!)  We had a nice day, just playing and relaxing.  The kids each went out with Brad separately to try out their bikes.  Alison will need to most practice, as hers is a two-wheeler, which she hasn't tried before, but she did a good job considering that fact!