Our very own house!!!

So, last summer Brad and I decided that we love London enough to stick around for a few more years, and that we just couldn't keep renting.  We were basically paying someone else's mortgage and getting nothing out of it.  There were several things we would have loved to do do our rental house that we did not because it wasn't ours to change.

We started looking at houses, and we had a very small area of consideration because we knew we wanted the kids to stay at Garfield and Brad still needed to have easy access to the Wimbledon train station on a daily basis.  We viewed about 8-10 houses, and some were discounted immediately due to location, or layout.  It was different than the other two times we were looking for houses, as we had to make all the appointments on our own this time and there are SO many different estate agents in  London!  But rightmove was amazing at helping to find houses with all our wants/needs.

The first house that Brad looked at is the house that we one we decided to make an offer.  The location is great on a quiet street, the storage in the house is amazing, the kitchen extension is great, and it's a tad bit bigger than our rental house.  We made the offer on the 24 June, the day before Brexit, which was good time for us as the pound dropped, which meant that our dollar would go further than before Brexit!  So, began the process.  We were finally able to agree a completion date of early November, and once the contracts were exchanged in early October, at that point we were legally bound and half of the money was in the hands of the solicitor! (The estate agent for the seller said this process was super easy comparatively.  I think we were lucky because the house the sellers were buying was the end of the chain because it was an older man moving out..)

The keys were finally ours on 4 November!  Hooray!  We are on the property ladder.  We had some painting done on the house and then we were ready to move in.  I will say this move of about .3 miles was so much less stressful than any other move we have made, especially the move to London.  And I (and my dad) did all of the packing, which forced me to purge a lot of stuff, which is a great feeling!

We are finally feeling very settled, so here are some photos of our new home, which feels more like home than our other house ever did!

The front door/walkway.  A house with the door number easily identifiable on the outside!

The front garden.  The shed contains the bikes.  And it is nice to have 3 trash bins.
And yes that is our Christmas tree...

The front entrance.  Note the British flag mat (a gift from Brads co-workers.)

The reception room, which contains the carpet that had been in storage for 5 years.  We didn't intend to bring
it to London, but I am thankful it did because it's perfect!

The other side of the reception room.

The downstairs powder room, with an actual coat closet on the left!

The Kitchen.  On the far left hand side of the photo is the desk.

The eating and cooking areas.

The patio is an extension of the kitchen when it actually warm enough to open the doors!

The door is to the very small, but amazing laundry room.  So glad it's not in the middle of my kitchen anymore!

The kids/guest bath

Thank you Granddaddy for hanging the shower curtain rod from the ceiling!

Drew's room, note the absence of the train table, replaced by the Pottery Barn chair that was in the eaves of our last house.

Drew's room

The box room/ craft room/study/linen closet

The girls room, also with enough space for pottery barn chairs!

Finally some new bedding

Thank you Mum Mum for the amazing wall decal!  "Sisters make the best friends."

Master bedroom

Actual built-in wardrobes, AMAZING!!!

Master bathroom with a shower that has great pressure and consistent hot water.

How my life has changed in 2 years living in London....

It is so hard to believe that we have been living in London for 2 years.  The time has passed in an instant, and in just a few months, London will be the place that Drew and Alison have lived the longest, and will probably remember the most.  I don't think Alison remembers living in New Jersey at all, and only remembers the last year or so of Kentucky.  I have been thinking over the past couple of weeks about how many things are different here, and how my life has changed.  Some ways are fairly significant (like walking everywhere rather than driving), while others are just because British people do certain things differently.

These are in no particular order, just the order of how they came to me.

1. I now dry my hair outside of the bathroom since they are no real plugs in bathrooms here.  Only plugs for shavers.  I guess they are afraid people are going to electrocute themselves.  (Another note on the bathrooms here: the flush power is amazing, which is interesting considering the water pressure in our rental house was RUBBISH!!!  So very thankful that our new house is a vast improvement.)

2. I have discovered that I am a city person....I LOVE being able to walk and take public transportation everywhere.  I miss getting my step goal when I not in my normal routine.  The public transportation system is this country is PHENOMENAL!  And Citymapper is my favourite app for figuring out how to get places.

3. I have learned how to do about 90% of my grocery shopping by delivery.  But I am still not that saavy at is because I still find myself going to the grocery almost everyday because I forgot something.  (but it's so convenient to do that here!)

4. We have taken advantage of the NHS.  Between the kids, I think we have been to A&E at least 8 times, two of them have gotten glasses, 4 free epi-pens, and numerous free antibiotic prescriptions.

5. Running is much better when you have more than one route to run from your house.  The route that I ran around Hillcrest was not nearly as exciting as trying to decide which way I should run!  (However, I do miss my running buddy Kristen!)

6. I have discovered the beauty of uniforms!  Not only does it make for much less laundry and fewer arguments about what to wear in the morning, they look so stinking cute in their uniforms!

7. My palette has expanded: I have tried leeks, beets, brussel sprouts, and parsnips and must say I really like them all.

8. I have gotten 9 new stamps in my passport (and that doesn't include all the stamps from the UK airports on my visa.)  I am so thankful we are able to take advantage of Europe at our doorstep!   So many fabulous memories and experiences in new places.

9. I have made friends from so many different countries, who speak different languages and have a different religion than me, and have learned so much from them.  What a great lesson for our kids to learn that the world is comprised of people who are different from them but at the end of the day, people all have the same basic needs of love and compassion.

10. I have been fortunate enough to accompany my children and their classes to awesome places for field trips, most using public transportation: Hampton Court, Science Museum, the Monument, British Museum, Museum of London, HMS Belfast and Godstone Farms.  The looks that people give when they see a large group of kids in their high-vis vests in priceless.

11. I have learned how to shop without Target, which means that I pretty much have to go to several different shops to get lightbulbs, printer cartridges, toothpaste and paper towels.  But it probably takes less time and I don't end up buying 10 things I didn't have on my list except the one thing I went to Target to purchase!  (But that doesn't mean I don't miss Target!)

12. I have developed a love for the British pub.  First of all, you pay for the your food when order at the bar which means when you are finished eating, you can leave (unless you want another drink of course).  Second of all, most of them have things for kids to do and they are not irritated by the presence of children (at least until about 9 PM.)  And of course, the Sunday roast and the food in general; there is nothing like fish and chips and a proper British pub.

13. I have drunk more Prosecco than I ever imagined and I LOVE it!!

14. I got the first bike I have had since I was a kid.  I still have only ridden it two times, but I am afraid of driving it on the road.  However, one of my goals for 2017 is to become more proficient on my bike.  It will be good cross training for the marathon.

15. Airbnb is our friend, travelling as a family of 5 with severe food allergies.  We have had such great luck so far (touch wood).  I am grateful to the people who have let us use their spaces for our holiday!

16. I have decided that our kids need to learn another language.  There are so many children at their school who speak English as well as one or even two other languages fluently!  And that amazes me so much, and many of the parents didn't speak one work of english when they arrived here.  Maybe I should make learning a new language one of my new years resolutions too.

17. I have been introduced to new fair games: tombola is my favorite.  It's a way to get rid of random stuff  that you don't want, and the school can make easy money as it's £1 for 3 tries to win someone else's unwanted stuff.

18. The kids now know to stop and EVERY corner of the street before crossing.

19. We discovered Google translate, which is especially useful for reading labels in countries where they don't speak English.

20.  The kids watch MUCH less TV, since we only have one television and it's in the reception room, which is not connected to the kitchen where we spend the majority of our time.

21.  I have gotten accustomed to hearing swear words and seeing body parts on TV as they don't have such strict communication laws here as in the US.

22.  Riding in a car is a treat...so I never say no to a ride anywhere.  Although I did get my UK driver's liscense, I haven't driven alone in a car yet.  I hope I remember how when the time comes....

23.  I have become both a recycle AND compost nazi.  They collect compost every week, so there's really no reason not to compost.

24. I have not had to put my mail on hold while on vacation because we have a mail slot where all mail can be delivered anytime.  It's brilliant!

25.I can convert temperatures from Celius to Farenheit (Not as saavy going the other way), but I am still struggling with cm to inches and kg to pounds.  So whenever they weigh the kids at the doctor, they sounds really tall and really light to me!

26. I use a scale for baking to measure butter (and dry ingredients if it is a British recipe) since butter is sold in packages marked in grams, rather than tbsp and cups.  It was a bit challenging at first, but I have gotten pretty good at estimating.  Although, I do still have to look at my handy chart to convert tbsp/cups to grams....

27.  I am still baffled why the paper sizes are different here (letter vs A4).  It's not that much difference, but enough that all the folders and notebooks that I brought from the US annoy because the paper sticks out of the top!

28. The kids have discovered new authors: Julia Donaldson, Jaqueline Wilson and Roald Dahl (I know he was in the US, but not nearly as popular as here even though he spent a great deal of time in the US and wrote many of his books there as I discovered while reading a biography to Alison.)

29.  I have gotten very creative in terms of storage and realized that we still have too much stuff.  Having a small house where almost every inch is utilized every day makes it very obvious how much stuff we had in the US!  And so much is not necessary!

30.. Skype/FaceTime/Whats App make this adventure so much easier because I can talk to and
see my family on video.  I think it would be so much harder if I had to pay for all the phone calls I make home.

31.  I find myself signing e-mails and texts with either "Kind regards" or "xx" depending on the audience.  I read a funny facebook post from someone in the US whose company flagged an e-mail from a British family member because of the "xxx" in the e-mail.  Hysterical!

32. I am amazed at the number of different types of lightbulbs that are available in this country.  Way too many!!!

33. I signed up to run my first marathon.  Training officially starts next week. I am looking forward to it, but I am still feeling overwhelmed by the amount of running I will be doing in the next 16 weeks.  (And apparently the amount of food I will consume.)  If anyone fancies a trip to Copenhagen, the marathon starts at 9:30 on Sunday 21 May.

The one thing I miss the most is my family and the ability to see my close friends more than once a year.  I miss celebrating birthdays and Thanksgiving with family.  But I know this experience is completely amazing for all 5 of us, and we have made so many great friends and fabulous memories here.  (And we bought a house which I never thought we would do.)

who knows where the future will take us, but I am thankful for this amazing experience!


And an interesting thing I learned last year....
doctors do house calls.  How cool is that?  I saw one of the doctors from our surgery coming out of a house close by and I said "I didn't know doctors made housecalls."  And he responded with "Of course GPs make house calls!"  Not in America.....

Nana and Papa's Visit to London

It's hard to believe that Nana and Papa's nearly three week visit has ended!  They have been busy, and spent lots of great time with us and the kids.  After their initial flight out of the US was cancelled 24 hours before they were due to leave, they arrived around 2 PM on Friday and were greeted by Brad.  Drew and I got home from his music class not too long after they arrived.  He was really upset because he thought they were arriving right after he got out of school, so he was happy to see them!  The girls were equally as excited when Daddy and Papa collected them from school and walked in and saw Nana!

Saturday, the girls and I went to Zumba and Brad, Papa and Drew went to football and then Lauren and I were off to a birthday party.  Saturday night, we had a gathering at the Garden Shed, which was super fun!  Brad's parents were able to meet several of our friends here in London, as well as several of Brad's work mates.  It was a great night and the kids had a great time as well.  Lauren, Alison, Booey and Patrick had a funeral for a dead pigeon they found under the table.  They named him "VIP" (Very Important Pigeon.)

Sunday, I taught Sunday school and then we went for Sunday Roast at our favourite spot the Crooked Billet!  Nana and Papa enjoyed it just as much as we do!  It was a pretty warm sunny afternoon so after finished eating, we were able to sit in the sun while the girls climbed the trees and Drew rolled down the hill.

Monday was a lazy day, Nana rested.

Tuesday, Nana and Papa went to meet their Finnish exchange student at Hampton Court Palace.

Wednesday, Nana and Papa took Drew to the Natural History Museum.  They all enjoyed it a lot.  Drew does really love the dinosaurs!

Friday, Nana & Papa went to the V&A museum and had a great time exploring all the wonderful exhibits there.  Nana found some beautiful jewelry.

Saturday, Papa took Lauren to the British Museum.  I think they had a good time together seeing the Mummies and visiting.  We had a low key day because Brad was resting up for the big event.

Sunday was the big day: THE MARATHON!!!  Brad was out the door around 7:30 and we were somewhat lazy and headed out around 10:45.  We met our friends at the Northern Line, and we were waiting and waiting and finally they announced that the train was closed because of an animal on the track, which meant that we had to re-route ourselves through Wimbledon.  Thank goodness for Anise who directed us how to get where we were going!  We had to change our plans of where to see Brad because he was already past where we were planning to see him at Mile 14, but we were only waiting at Mile 21 for about 3 minutes before he ran by!!!  I almost missed him!!!  As soon as we saw him, we were back on the train heading to the finish line.  It was pretty crazy because a lot of other people were doing the same thing.  The kids all got a little bit freaked out because this guy jumped off the train just as the doors were closing.....not so smart.  And it was REALLY crowded.  We finally found Brad in the family meeting area!!!!  He was feeling pretty good, but tired of course.  We all headed back to the train and back to Wimbledon to get something to eat.  We settled on pizza at Frango Manca.  A guy bought us a bottle of wine in exchange for the sunshine balloon.  Totally random!!

Monday, Helen and I went to Wimbledon Village to do a little shopping.  We found a few things to buy and had a fabulous lunch at this french cafe.

Thursday, Helen and I had a reservation at Fortnum & Mason for a proper afternoon tea, upon the recommendation of my friend Helen.  Wow, what an amazing place.  It is one of the oldest department stores in London.  There are doormen holding the door, and on the ground floor is the most amazing display of food and drink you can imagine.  There was an entire wall of jams, over 100 different varities, including grapefruit.  An entire section of chocolates, and of course the teas.  There were teas that were made for the wedding of Kate and William and many other royal events.  The tea room was absolutely gorgeous.  We opted to get one savory offering and one sweet.  The sandwiches were the traditional sandwiches of cucumber, coronation chicken, egg salad, salmon and ham.  The scones were AMAZING!!!  And the desserts were equally amazing.  And they also had an entire table of cakes to try.  We were stuffed with goodness.   And of course we each had our own pot of tea.  After we ate, it was time to shop!!!  We took the stairs so we could check out the other floors.  Each floor was full of fabulously beautiful items, including silver fountain pens for the bargain price of £400.  And then we spent quite a bit of time on the ground floor selecting some yummy food to try.

Friday, Brad took the day off and he and Papa went to the British War Museum.

Saturday, Nana and Papa took Alison to the aquarium, which they all really enjoyed.  Saturday night, Brad and I went out for a friend's 40th birthday party.

Sunday, we all went to Richmond to meet up with Anna and her family.  Anna is a Finnish exchange student who lived with Brad's family over 20 years ago.  Anna is married to a Brit and they have lived here about 15 years.  They have a son Harry who is just about the same age as Drew.  We had a nice long lunch at a really cool pub right on the green in Richmond, and then we went for a walk down by the Thames.  Brad and I decided to take his parents to a proper Indian restaurant for dinner, as they have never tasted proper Indian food.  We took them to Wimbledon Tandoori in the village and they REALLy enjoyed it!!  We tried many different dishes and I think we have changed their views on Indian cuisine.

Monday was a bank holiday, so we had a lazy morning and then Brad took his parents and Lauren to KFC (how could they be here and not go to KFC??), and Drew, Alison and I went to Pizza Hut.  Brad took his parents to see the Wimbledon Tennis stadium and the kids and I went to Wimbledon Park for awhile.

Tuesday was Nana and Papa's last day here, so they had a nice lunch in town.  I made shepherd's pie for dinner, which was a hit.  I ususally make chicken pot pie for Papa when he visits, but I figured I should make something more British!

They got picked up early on Wednesday morning.  Drew and Alison were awake, and they were both really sad that Nana and "fluffy beard" were leaving.  They had a great visit, and we really enjoyed having them here!!  Papa said the trip far exceeded his expectations, and we are so thankful that Nana was able to make the trip and got to do so much!

September 2016

September has always been one of my favorite times of year.  School starts, the weather starts to turn a tad cooler, college football.....in London, the weather has started to get a tad cooler and school did start, and college football is known not to many and the games are much later in the day!

The first football Saturday, we went as a family to Drew's soccer class and then played and had a picnic at Wimbledon Park and then we took the train into the city to go to Borough Market, which is quite a place!!!   We had some really delicious ice cream, and then headed back.  The kids were not too excited to be there; it was very crowded, but I look forward to going back on my own in a couple of weeks to explore!!

School started for the girls on 7 September.  They were both so excited to get to school that we were there earlier than we have ever been at the school gates!  Amazing.  Alison is in Year 3 (2nd grade) with Mrs. Clarke, who is a new teacher to Garfield and Lauren is in Year 5 (4th grade) with Ms. Garraway, who is also new to Garfield.  Both girls came out of the school building with big smiles and happy about the first day, which is great!  It is hard to believe that Lauren will be the oldest in the school next year.

Drew and I headed to church to help with some cleaning up of toys for Twiglets and then we tried to go to McDonald's for lunch but the fryers were not working, so after calming down a very distraught little boy, we went to Burger King instead, which turned out to be a decent substitute.  And we FINALLY got to see "Finding Dory," which I promised Drew we would see once the girls started school.  It was a cute movie, and the funniest part was that Drew took Alison's doll Abby to the movies because she asked him to.  He carried her all the way into town and all the way home and held her in his lap for the entire movie.  He didn't once ask me to carry her!  He will make a good Daddy someday!

Thursday, we took the bus and tram to Ikea after taking the girls to school.  On the, bus, we saw Drew's friend Gracie who he tells everyone that he is going to marry one day! (And she tells her mom the same thing about him.....)  We had a good time at Ikea, looking for ideas for the new house.  And then Yvona and the girl she nannies for , Gracie, met us for lunch at Ikea.  What a nice treat, a lunchdate!!!!  And then we got a ride home, which was great since I bought more than I thought I would at Ikea.  That would have been a pain on the tram.  Lauren went to the optician in the evening, and she will have to wear glasses all the time now.  She is short-sited liked Alison and me.

Sunday, Alison and Lauren were riding bikes in South Park Gardens while Drew and I were at his friend Oscar's birthday party.  I got a call from Brad "You need to come home right now, Alison broke her arm."  Not the call you ever want to hear....so I rushed home and we were off the A&E (we were due a trip there...)  She was riding, and she and boy who was going a little too fast veered out of each other's way the same way and crashed, so there you have it.  She got a splint and an appointment for Tuesday to see Ortho.  At the follow up, we discovered it was indeed a greenstick fracture, meaning it didn't break all the way through, but a cast is required for 4 weeks....

Wednesday, Drew and I headed into the city and went to the Musuem of London, which was very interesting all about the history of London from pre-historic times all the way up to current times.  Drew's favourite thing was the cars and trains.  there was an exhibit that showed London above ground with buses, cars and horse drawn carriages, below ground with the trains and then below the trains with the sewers, etc.  Then we also walked past the wall that the Romans built around London, and then to St Paul's Cathedral.  it was an amazingly fun day!!

18 September, we met our friends Debbie and George and their two boys Sebastian and Dominic at Camden Town and took a boat ride on the canal from Camden Town to Little Venice.  Wow, it was two extremes!  Camden Town was totally hopping with all sorts of food stalls and markets and people everywhere, and then when we got off the train at Little Venice, near Paddington, it was SUPER quiet.  We were able to sit and have a drink and the kids played in this little basin.  It was quite a relaxing afternoon.

19 September: Drew started reception today.  He was very hesitant to get dressed, but he finally did and he looked SO handsome!!!!  He was great going into his classroom, but when I gave him a hug to say good-bye, he wasn't so sure about me leaving quite yet.  So, I stayed until they rang the tambourine and as I walked out, i broke down.  I can't believe my baby boy is in school!  I am ready for this stage to be over, but at the same time, I am sad about all of the growing up.  While he was at school, I took Alison back to the ortho and she got a new cast above her elbow this time in yellow.  That was somewhat unexpected!!  I just thought they were going to check and make sure it was healing ok.  When I went back to pick Drew up, he was all smiles and was so proud of himself that he ate all of lunch, which he promptly showed me.  And he said he made a new friend called Billy, and he was really happy!!!  And he said when he does work, he is going to try his best so he can be proud. What a sweet boy!!!

20 September I attended my first secondary school open night.  And all I can say is WOW, this secondary school decision is going to be quite a lot of work.  I went to see Ricards Lodge, which is the closest school to our house, but is still a 20 minute walk away.  I was pleasantly surprised actually.  They are very arts focused, so they have a dance studio, a drama studio, and a photography studio.  There were also quite a few visual arts displayed on the walls.

22 September: Lauren got a tooth extracted!  We went to the dentist because she had been complaining of a toothache, and when we had been at the dentist previously, she noticed that the permanent tooth was coming in, and the baby tooth was somewhat loose so she decided to pull it.  sh first numbed Lauren's gum so the shot wouldn't hurt.  The funniest thing was the look on Alison's face when she saw the needle!!  Lauren was very brave, although the numbness went all the way up her face which is quite a weird feeling.  And I think it was all worth it as the tooth fairy brought her £5.

23 September: Lauren went back to Stagecoach, which is her most favourite 3 hours of the entire week I think.

24 September: Family day out to Drew's football class, then a lovely time at Wimbledon Park.

25 September: I ran a half marathon in Windsor.  It was a very beautiful course, and running towards Windsor Castle at the end was quite spectacular.  The hardest part of the run was the 3 hills in the last 3 miles, but it was very picturesque through the countryside on a perfect autumn day!  Brad and the kids came to watch, and there were right at the finish line, and it was great to see them as I was running those last few steps.  Then we had a lovely lunch in Windsor and back home.  I had over 35,000 steps that day!!

26 September: Drew's first full day of school, and I was SO happy when he walked out of his classroom and said "That was the best day EVER!"  What a great thing to hear.  He is completely thriving at school, as are the girls.

27 September: I took advantage of my 6 hours and went into London and took a tour of Buckingham Palace.  The state rooms are only open for August and September, so I wanted to ensure that I was able to tour that as this is the last weekend.  There is also a special exhibit on the fashion of Queen Elizabeth II where they showed clothes from each decade of her life, including her christening gown, wedding gown, and coronation gown.  They even had the lime green dress that she wore for her 90th birthday celebration in June!  I was amazed at the number of hats, as well as the variation in style.  How amazing to be the milliner to the queen.  Many of the outfits that she wore paid tribute to the country she was visiting when she wore them, which is quite honorable.  And all of her clothing is made by British designers.  The state rooms were also quite interesting.  I was amazed at the number of mirrors throughout the house, as well as the numerous pianos in each of the drawing rooms that were open to the public.  I had lunch in St. James park and then walked to Waterloo, and I don't think that seeing Big Ben will ever get old!  When I collected Drew from school, he had 2 stickers: 1 for eating all of his lunch and 1 for good playground behaviour!  I am so glad to see him doing so well at school!!!

28 September: I attended my second secondary school open night at Burntwood School for Girls, and Lauren came with me this time, which was great to get her perspective!  We were a little late, so we were able to join the last tour, and were only able to see the computing, visual arts, literacy, and PE buildings but I was very impressed by the school!  It is HUGE and very modern.  Lauren was very impressed that the school has it's very own pool and also that the performing arts is such a huge part of the school.  I could definitely see Lauren going to school there, and it's about a 25 minute walk for her.

30 September: Brad worked from home in the morning and we were able to have lunch together in Wimbledon!  I Loved it, it was so nice to do something a little different!

Here are a few new terms/words I learned this month:

bills=notes (it's not a £5 bill, it's a £5 note)
horseback riding=horse riding
shots=necking it

NOVEMBER 2016

3 November...Happy 5th birthday to Drew!  I can't believe he is a whole hand old.  He was SO excited for his birthday, he was telling every person he saw that it was his birthday.  Our neighbors Kayla, Ella and Anna sang for him on the way to school and then his friend Reuben and his dad sang after school.  We celebrated with dinner at Pizza Express and Brad got back home from Paris just in time for dinner.  Our waitress was celebrating her birthday the next day and she sang to Drew as well. So proud of the confident, sweet, funny boy he is becoming.  He still loves his Daddy, but he will come and say to me quite often "I love you, Mommy."  He comes into our room every once in a while, but he brings his pillow and blanket and sleeps on the floor!

I was also lucky enough to go to the HMS Belfast with Lauren and all the other Year 5 students.  It was a really cool ship that was used in WWII.  The size of the bullets was amazing, as well as the torpedos they had on the boat.  The highlight was using morse code to type their name and they received a certificate that said their name was transmitted from the HMS Belfast.  The views of Tower Bridge were amazing.

4 November...THE BIG DAY, we completed on our new house!!!   WOO HOO!!!!!!  So very exciting.  All in all, the purchase of a house in London was fairly smooth for us from what I have heard.  We started looking in late May/early June.  We looked at about 8 houses, and the first house that Brad saw was the best, so we decided to make an offer, as it was the best location and the most similar to our current rental.  A few of the other houses were a bit closer to town, but were missing some major conveniences like a powder room, or a dryer.  The offer was accepted the day before Brexit, and the wait began for the dreaded chain.  (I am still not completely sure what a chain is exactly, but I do know that we had no chain meaning nothing to sell which made us attractive buyers.)  The sellers needed to find a house, and depending on the chain on that house, it could take a while to get to completion and exchange (aka closing.)  They were moving further out, and they found a house pretty quickly as I think they were motivated to find a place quickly, so once we returned from the US, we were a bit nervous that we were going to move before October.  But the timing worked out absolutely perfectly.  We exchanged contracts just before half-term, at which point we were legally bound to purchase the house as we paid 50% of the down payment and we agreed upon an exchange date of 4 November.  And all this time, we had a solicitor (aka lawyer) doing all the paperwork with the seller's solicitor.  We never met the solicitor or the seller face to face.  We received the keys from the estate agent (aka real estate agent).  It was the first time we have bought a house without the assistance of a real estate agent and the first time we have purchased a house for a local move.  I would say it wasn't as brutal as I expected.  It definitely helped that we had a very specific, very small area in which we were looking since we wanted to stay close to the school and not add too much time to Brad's walk to the train station.

5 November....our first time to the new house as the owners!  We needed to measure and discuss placement of the furniture.  And we ordered KFC.  So our first meal in the new house was KFC, which is the reason we are buying a house in London anyways.  The kids are all very excited for the new house.  The sellers were very sweet and left us a bottle of Prosecco and a really nice note.  We are looking forward to meeting our new neighbors.  And then that evening, Brad and I went to the most posh wedding I have ever seen.  It was a franchisee from KFC who is Indian, as well as his wife.  It was held at the Grovesnor House Hotel, right near Hyde Park, which is THE place to hold  a wedding in Central London.  We took an Uber to get there, which took almost an hour because there was a football match in Chelsea but it was SO COLD I was thankful to be in the car, although I don't know that I could ever drive in Central London.  We walked into the venue, and there was someone directing us to the coat check, and then we walked into the room where there were placecards in alphabetical order (750 of them) and Indian music being played live.   Then we walked towards the ballroom, which was lined by people holding trays of drinks (Virgin pina colada, virgin mojito and various fruit juice.)  The balcony was overlooking the ballroom, which was very elegantly decorated and set up for the reception.  We stayed up there and chatted with a few of Brad's co-workers and had some yummy starters that were being passed for about an hour and then we were directed to the floor.  We found our table, no 57, and sat down.  Brad knew a couple of the people at our table.  They presented the bride and groom and then they did several traditional Indian ceremonies to ensure a healthy, prosperous life.  They were all performed by the mother of the groom and the brother of the bride explained each one to the crowd.   Then the starter was served, which was really good.  The main was served a little past 10, and it was served on a silver platter with four little small bowls of curry.  It was pretty good; the funniest moment was when Brad ate an entire chili!!!  His eyes were watering and he was sweating it for a few minutes, but he recovered quickly.  I am glad he warned me because it looked like a green bean.  After dinner, the best man and the groom each gave a speech and then they cut the cake that was about 8 tiers tall.  And then the served dessert, which was NOT the cake.  By this time, it was nearly midnight, so we decided we needed to head home.  And on the way out, we spotted the dessert bar which looked AMAZING!!!!!  Another Uber home, but only about 25 minutes this time thankfully.

5 November....Lauren went to a fancy dress disco for her friend Lalima's 10th birthday.  She had a really good time I think.  I arrived early to pick her up, and it was fun to watch her interacting with her friends.

9 November...Drew's birthday party at Eddie Catz.  It was so much fun!!  We ended up inviting all 29 children from his class because when I asked him if he wanted to invite someone, he said "yes" to every person.  I am thankful that is inclusive of everyone.  And almost everyone came.  This age is perfect because they are big enough to go and play on their own, but not so big that they are bored.  Drew had a blast!  He was so happy when we got home, and all the kids in his class had a blast as well.  It was a great opportunity to chat with some of the other parents as well.

10 November,,,,I got to eat a super yummy Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Whole Foods, organzied by the American Women's Club.  It was amazing!!  My favorite was the roasted brussel sprouts with hazelnuts and the pecan pie.  Yum, yum yum!!!

13 November...Drew's special birthday outing with Mommy and Daddy to see "The Gruffalo" in London.  What a super cute show!!  The entire show was put on my three actors, and there was singing, audience participation and lines from the well-known book.  It was just the right length, and Drew was engaged the whole time.  Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Jamie Oliver restaurant.

15 November...Granddaddy arrived!!  The kids were all so happy to see him when we collected them from school!!

17 November...Garfield's Got Talent at school.  What an amazing show!  We were completely amazed at the amount of students that participated, but also the number of kids who came to support their friends.  It was truly amazing.  The girls and their friend Freya did a dance to "Black Magic," and they did such a good job.  The best act of the night was Ethan, a year one little boy, who danced to "Smooth Criminal."

18 November....MOVING DAY!!!  The movers arrived around 8:45 AM, and we took the kids to school and then watched Alison receive her achievement award in assembly.  The movers made quick work and the van was packed up by around 12:45.  There were finished unpacking around 4:00 and our house was boxes everywhere!!!  I took Alison to the allergist to be tested for sunflower seeds, lentils and chickpeas and it looks like she is ready to be food challenged for sunflower seeds, which is amazing news!!

20 November....I taught Sunday school and then Granddaddy, Alison and I did some shopping.  Then, later that afternoon, Lauren has a stagecoach Gala in which all the Stage 2 and Stage 3 students in all the 5 Wimbledon classes performed.  I continue to be amazed by what they do in Stagecoach.  Lauren's class did a song from the TV show "Smash," and it was great!  At the end, all the Stage 2 students performed and then all the Stage 3 students performed.  There are so many of them!  Lauren requested dinner at Jimmy's World Kitchen, so we all stuffed ourselves silly and regretted it the next day, but it was fun!

21 November....Dad and I did some work at the old house.

23 November....Granddaddy and I were able to assist in the Year 3 class trip to the Museum of London.  It was quite a short trip, as we didn't leave school until 10 and got back around 2:45.  The Otters class ate lunch first, then had time to look at the Anglo-Saxon exhibit followed by the Roman exhibit.  Alison had a great time drawing pictures of all the things  she saw and she even won an award for the best drawings.

24 November....Happy Thanksgiving!!! I did an abbreviated meal this year, including just a turkey crown rather than a whole turkey.  The sides: dressing, twice baked potatoes, corn pudding, roasted brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce and rolls.  I only made chocolate chip cake for dessert but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without that!  Trying out my new oven for cooking a Thanksgiving meal was like being thrown to the fire. literally.  But I managed ok.  I am so thankful that Granddaddy was here to celebrate with us.  Poor Drew went to bed without dinner and then was sick later that night.....
And all the boxes were collected, hip hip hooray!!  The box room is still a bit of a mess, but at least all the stuff has been removed from the boxes.

25 November....Granddaddy and I had planned to go to Buckingham Palace today, but Drew stayed home sick, so Granddaddy worked on hanging the shower curtain rail in the first floor bath and I spent time getting the kitchen organized.

26 November....Lauren's birthday party!!!  She had 6 of her friends over and they made bags.  First the selected the fabric, then they decorated with all sorts of different decorations like sequins, ribbons, felt, and then they did some hand sewing for some the of the decorations and then the party planners helped them use a sewing machine to sew up the sides of the bags and then attach handles.  They all enjoyed it, especially Lauren.  It was great because she had a few friends from school, and then a couple of other friends from Stagecoach.
And then it was THE game.....Michigan at Ohio State.  Both teams with the same record, Ohio State ranked No 2 and Michigan ranked No 3.  It was a VERY intense game with double overtime, with unfortunately not the right ending.

27 November...LAUREN IS 10!!!!  And what an amazing girl she is.  Drew was not feeling great, so the girls and Granddaddy and I went to church, and then we did some shopping, had some lunch at Ely's so Granddaddy could get his fish and chips and then headed back home.  It was Winter Wonderland in Wimbledon, so Brad, the girls and Granddaddy went up to ride a couple rides and watch the fireworks.  We ended up ordering dinner in since Drew wasn't up for going out to eat.  And the weekend of celebrating Lauren drew to a close.  I know that she enjoyed all the celebrations and I am glad that Granddaddy was here to celebrate as well.

28 November...we said good-bye to Granddady.  He was very productive when he was here and we are so grateful for all his help.  He hung a shower curtain from the ceiling, put in a dryer vent, fixed a couple of doors, filled a few holes, repaired stair spindles and much more.  Next time, we will do more sight seeing!!

OCTOBER 2016

Autumn has most definitely arrived!!!  But I do miss the colors here, most of the trees stay green, at least around Wimbledon.  I am sure in the parks it is different.

First of all, the term I just thought of today is that items are not "on sale," they are "on offer."
Other funny British terms:
bits and bobs
done and dusted
tuck in (as in "I am going to tuck into this curry.")


The first week of October, Lauren decided she wanted to buy "school dinners," aka school lunch.  She reviewed the menu and decided she saw something each day she could have; at Garfield, you have to have the same lunch all week-either school dinners or packed lunch.  Let's just say that her buying school dinners only lasted one week.  I will say that she is always asking for curry, so I guess her tastes have changed a bit!

I took Drew to his football class, and was very surprised when I arrived at Wimbledon Park and there were huge signs for the Jacksonville Jaguars as well as 8 fields of flag football games being played.  They had a big bouncy obstacle course and a throw the football through to the receiver game.  Drew was pretty unimpressed, but he did enjoy the bouncy course.

Brad and I finally got a date night out.  The Michigan games here are on at either 5 PM or 8:30 PM, which makes date nights on Saturday nights difficult, but 8 October, the game didn't start until midnight London time!  We had dinner at a French restaurant in the village, which was surprisingly very tasty.  I wasn't quite sure what to make of the menu, but the starter was AMAZING: a blue cheese veloute with tortellini and grilled cep (mushrooms.)  Brad ordered a 7 hour suckling pig and I had a delicious pumpkin tartlette.  We decided to go somewhere else for dessert, and we discovered this cute little cafe called BREW.  Whenever I walked past, I thought it was a coffee shop, but it is also a pizza place and they had GREAT desserts and also great coffee to enable Brad to stay up to watch the 78-0 routing of Rutgers.  Then, Sunday, we went to the Science Museum.  We watched the bubble show, which was actually pretty great.  Alison was able to open the show my blowing bubbles, and they filled bubbles with helium and they rose to the ceiling and then they filled them with carbon dioxide, which made them sink to the floor.  Then we went to the little kids area and the girls made a sofa out of the big lego blocks and Drew had a good time playing in the water.

11 October...Alison finally lost her other front tooth, and I love her new smile.  And she got a new cast, a shorter blue one this time.  I have never before seen a kid have 3 casts for one injury!  But hopefully just 2 more weeks.

12 October...Garfield's 60th birthday celebration!  How fun it was to be able to go to the school and have lunch with all three kids together and to see so many parents come to the school to take part in the celebration.  They released red balloons up into the sky, which was so cool to see!

13 October....My day out in London was a trip to the Tate Modern with a few friends to see the Georgia O'Keefe exhibit.  It was amazing, I had no idea how prolific of any artist she was.  And she lived to be nearly 100 years old.  She had so many different styles of paintings, from New York skylines to abstract art to flowers to landscapes to skull and bones that she collected in New Mexico while living there.

14 October....the exchange of contracts is happening today for our new house.  Exciting but nervous at the same time!!!  About one month until we move in.

Alison has developed a love for Roald Dahl books after they had the 100th birthday celebration last month.  We just finished reading Matilda and now we will start Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I have been able to find quite a few for a good price at the charity shops, which is great.  It will be good to have them for when Drew gets a bit bigger!

16 October....Lauren had the privilege of performing her Disney Dazzle number at the New Wimbledon Theatre.  It was an entire showcase of Stagecoach numbers, and it was pretty spectacular. There were about 7 different Stagecoach groups that participated, and each performance was very different: a couple of medleys of Broadway shows (Hairspray and Billy Elliott),  a few dances, and one David Bowie (pronounced liked the part of a ship not like the thing girls wear in their hair) dance number.  I am so happy that Lauren has found an activity that brings her so much joy!

19 October, we had the kids parent-teacher conferences at school.  They are all doing really well, and we are so very proud of how well they have all adapted to school here.  Alison's teacher said it has been a bit of a challenge with her broken arm with writing in literacy and maths, but she has enjoyed science and topic and making the mosaics in art.  She is always very engaged, but needs to show a bit more confidence in group discussions, but she said she is getting better.  Lauren's teacher said Lauren is doing really well, and her ideas for her stories are amazing, and she is great at sharing her ideas in class and working with others.  And Drew's teacher said he is a super star and has risen to every challenge she has presented to him and he will never give and will keep trying!  Well done, Scheiner kids!!!  Mommy and Daddy are so proud!!

20 October...the last day of school before half term and Drew had a birthday party at Wacky Warehouse (a local soft play place).  The party was super fun until the very end when  Lauren hit her head and she had a huge goose egg, so I dialed 111 the NHS directline and they sent an ambulance for precautionary purposes and then we went to St Georges (Man do I feel like I LIVE there!), and after waiting a LONG time, the doctor checked her out, and while impressed by the size of her bump from a SOFT play, he was happy with her responses, so we were sent home thankfully.

22 October-27 October: Trip to Rome!!  (See separate post)

31 October-Halloween.  This Halloween is definitely the most laid back I have ever been.  I didn't even purchase a real pumpkin for carving, only a foam one with a light inside.  And the only costume I bought was a Gruffalo costume for Drew that cost £8.  Our friends Anise, Rosalind and Florence came over as well as Sudha and Sol.  Rosalind and Florence are the same ages as Lauren and Alison but they switched schools last January and we hadn't seen them in quite a while, so it was nice to see them  And Rosalind's friend came along and she knows Sol from a drama class, so it worked out perfectly.  The kids had a great time running between the houses.  I will say they can go to many more houses in a shorter amount of time in London because the houses are so much closer together.  However, not every house is giving out candy.  If a house has a lit pumpkin outside, then it means they are celebrating.  And there were several houses with very creative decorations and well-carved pumpkins.

Tales from a Polish wedding

Wow, all I can say is that people were not kidding when they said there was lots of food, drink and dancing at a Polish wedding and that it goes into the early morning hours!!!  We had such a great time at Yvona and Marek's wedding.  I am so thankful that we were able to be a part of it.

The kids and I flew out on Friday evening, along with our friends Elena, Patrick and Adriano and Kevin, Natalie, Elise, Kara and Sayan.  Everyone but Kevin and Sayan arrived at the airport together on the same train.  Kevin had taken the luggage to the airport in the morning, so we were waiting for him.  The kids were so good and VERY patient.  They colored and listened to music.  We were sitting there waiting and all of a sudden, Drew says "I think Victor went to the wrong airport."  It was hysterical!!!  First of all, he called Kevin Victor and second of all how did he even know how to process that?!?!  We made it through security with just a few minutes to spare and we were off to Poland!!!  The kids were great on the plane, although Drew did have a moment where he was not so happy because he didn't get the window seat, but he recovered.  We arrived safely and were collected by the same driver who we had last year when the ladies were in Poland.

We arrived to the Roma resort around 11:30 PM I think.  Marek was there to greet us, and there were a few people left at the BBQ, so we went over and had some soup and "Victor" made Drew a sausage.  I gave Alison a bit of the soup and she immediately vomited.....oh my goodness did I panic!  We were in Poland for an hour and she already had an allergic reaction.  We discovered that the soup had white peas in it....so that cut the evening a bit short, but it was a good thing because it was after midnight by that time.  Marek helped us into our cabins and the kids were asleep in about 5 minutes or less.  I unpacked the luggage because I always do that immediately after I arrive somewhere.....

The cabins were very rustic, but ours was clean.  The ground floor was just a kitchen, small bathroom, table and a sofa.  The loft contained 4 beds all lined along the wall and a wardrobe.

Saturday morning, the kids slept in a bit and we discovered that Marzena, Karolina, Jenny and Georgie were in the cabin next to ours.  We set out to get some breakfast and explore the resort.  Wow, what an amazing place!!!  There was a huge playground which the kids loved, as well as the beach right on the lake.  Drew had a great time chatting with George on the docks while the girls played on the playground,  Then, we went back to our house and got cleaned up and ready for the wedding.

The transportation to the church was a horse-drawn carriage that held about 30 people.  Somehow, Kevin and I were on the first carriage with all the kids!!  All the other adults were smart enough to wait. Yvona, Marek, Victoria, Alex and the best man and matron of honor arrived in their small carriage.  Yvona looked AMAZING in her backless dress!!!!  As we were waiting for everyone else to arrive, the kids found a HUGE swarm of ladybirds and they had a great time playing with all of them.  We went into the church, and the ceremony was all in Polish, so we couldn't understand, but Alex was very emotional about it.  After the ceremony was over, they had the receiving line where everyone gave them gifts (except me as I expected there to be a box at the reception...oops.)  They received a lot of flowers and envelopes!

We took the carriages back to the resort and the reception, which was bumpy.  We were lucky enough to be on the carriage with the bass and the violin so we got to listen to music the journey back.  Once we arrived back to the resort, the reception was all set up.  They had one separate table just for the kids!!  And there was an entire candy bar set up, and the ones that were safe for Drew and Alison to eat were very clearly labeled.   (It is so nice to have friends who are so thoughtful in regards to the allergies.)  Marek and Yvona came in and were presented with a loaf of bread and some salt.  Everyone was seated.  The adult table had juice as well as a huge bottle of vodka per 4-6 people.  the kids table however contained Pepsi, 7up and Squash.  Boy was Lauren happy about that! The toasts began, and they were all in Polish, and after each toast was a shot of vodka.  The first course was soup that was YUMMY!!!  Then came the chicken and salads, then the veal and pork and veggies, followed by cheesecake.   With all shots of vodka interspersed as the toasts continued.

The best part was that they had arranged for baby-sitters for the children, so after they finished eating, they took them outside to play.

After we were all stuffed, the dancing started.  They did the first dance, and were accompanied by a Polish band.  Marek and Yvona were dancing, and then people started cutting in to dance with them.  Victoria cut in and dance with Marek, and Yvona danced with Marek's dad.  After the dance, Yvona presented Marek with a huge snuff dispenser (which is a Kaszubian tradition), so Marek took the first sniff and then passed it around for everyone to try, which I did because why not?  It was very mentholated and opened up my sinuses!  The kids came back in and they did some dances for the children like the chicken dance and the macarena.

More food was presented on the tables, and there was all sorts of food to snack on, as well as sweets as the night progressed.  Thankfully Victoria was translating the next few activities that happened, or all the non-Polish people would have been so lost!

First, Yvona tossed her bouquet to the single ladies and her friend Iz caught the bouquet, and then a single man was selected as the next couple.  A basket was passed around and money was collected for them.  Then, two other couples were selected to compete against them in a balloon game.  It was Jane and Christian, our American friends that live in London and Monika and Chris, Yvona and Marek's longtime friends.  Each couple had to pop three balloons and the couple who completed the task in the shortest amount of time was the winner.  The three positions were the man sitting in the chair with the balloon in his lap, the lady leaning with her butt in the air, and standing up.  It was HYSTERICAL to watch.  Jane and Christian came in a close second, but Monika and Chris were the quickest.

The next game was a find the object game and our friend Debbie was selected, as well as 4 others.  The first item was toilet paper, then a lighter, then a shot of vodka and last a tie.  Debbie was the proud winner....we all knew her competitive side would come out!

I can't remember where in the night that the wild boar came out, but an entire boar with sparklers on it came out!  It was amazing!  Then they carved it up and served it with cabbage and some sort of grain.  It was delicious!!!

And there was cake out in the gazebo on the lake.

And then more soup.

All the food explains why I wasn't feeling so bad after doing all those shots of vodka between all the dancing and eating.......I think my favourite song was when the band played "YMCA" with a polish accent.  It was Amazing!!

And all the Polish kids were still going strong when I finally left to go to bed around 3 AM.  Alison and Drew went to bed at Faye's house around 10 PM, and Lauren and several of the kids her age were at our house around midnight.  They were all asleep at the time we arrived back at the house thankfully!

Man I was tired when  they woke up around 8 and I had NO voice!  Drew really liked my scratchy voice, and he kept asking me why I had a scratchy voice.

Sunday was pretty low key, and there was an impromptu pizza and BBQ in the evening.  Kevin was the DJ, and the kids enjoyed dancing and playing in the lake and playing on the beach.  The playground at the resort was amazing as well!   We all went to bed pretty early, but the party went on pretty late.  I don't think my kids would have made it without an early bedtime!

Monday, we decided to go into Sopot and go the fish restaurant and the beach.  It was a perfect day and the kids had the best time playing on the beach.  We just sat and had a couple drinks and some great food while the kids played in the sand.  Karolina's foot got stuck in the see-saw, so Marek took her to the hospital, but it was just sprained, not broken so they were able to meet us at the fish restaurant.  Then, we decided to go into Sopot and walk around and we were able to find a place to get some dinner, but getting back to the place took a little longer than expected and we got back pretty late considering we had to get up super early to head back to the airport the next morning!  And Jenny was locked out of the cabin she and Marzena were sharing, so they had to drill the door open and they were putting a new lock on the cabin when we returned.

Tuesday, we headed back to London, and it was a chilly, gray day which was sad as we were missing the sun in Poland!

JULY 2016

Here goes July.....it's going to be another busy month like June!

1 July - Brad had a procedure on his leg to try and figure out why he has been having muscle pain since about 2 weeks after the marathon.  The hospital was SO nice and all the staff was so nice.  Now I understand why people pay for private healthcare even with the NHS.  They brought me a pot of tea to drink whilst I was waiting and then he got an huge plate of sandwiches after he was finished.

2 July - I was sneaky and I arranged for a surprise party for Brad at this really cool pub in Putney right on the River Thames.  He truly had no idea!!  The only glitch was that we arrived before most of the guests because we were 10 minutes earlier than the 8:15 I had written on the invitation......oops.  The baby-sitter was 15 minutes early and then Brad got un Uber because of his leg and I didn't have any stall tactics.  But he was still very surprised and had a great time with work colleagues, school friends and neighbors.  After the pub closed at 11 (which was way too early I think!), we went with Yvona and Marek to this club called Tunnel267 which is right across the street from the Polka Theatre.  It was great fun, and I never even noticed it before!!  Brad and his friends sat and had a couple drinks, but I was on the dance floor.  When I woke up, I had 9,878 steps already!!

3 July- a very rare event happened in Wimbledon:  There was tennis on the Middle Sunday due to all the rain earlier in the week.  It has only happened 4 times in the 135 year history of Wimbledon!!!  Tickets went on sale on-line only at 3 PM on Saturday and Brad was lucky enough to get 2 grounds tickets.  They sold only 22,000 tickets and there was no queing, only ticket holders were allowed in.  Brad really wanted to go, but with his sore leg, he said I should go instead.  Alison was the lucky one to come with me, and Lauren will go to a baseball game with Brad in the US.  It was a brilliant day!!  We arrived at 10:45, and then went to get something to eat because the matches don't start until 11:30.  We split and pizza and had strawberries and cream whilst listening to some very relaxing jazz music.  Alison (obviously!) loved the strawberries and cream.  We went and took a seat on Court 2 and waited for the tennis to start.  First the head judge came out and she inspected the net to make sure it was the right height and the right slack.  And then all the other people came out: 6 ball boys/girls and 6 line judges.  I was fascinated by all the different ensembles each person was wearing. It is immediately obvious what they do by the clothing they are wearing.  We watched the match between Timea from Switzerland and Anastasia from Russia.  It was a good match, and it is amazing to watch the strength and agility of the players.

Then, we decided to venture out and we went to watch an American called Alexandra play on one of the smaller courts.  Her family was about the only spectators, but they called her Ali, which Alison thought was pretty cool.  We found a great spot on the hill and watched another women's singles match that was quite exciting.  The most exciting match of the day, however, was the 5th set on the Isner-Tsonga match.  So the entire match lasted over 4 hours and the 5th set was over half of that time because it was 36 games long!!!!  Absolutely amazing.  There was some great tennis in those 36 games, and Alison really got into it and learned a lot about scoring a tennis match.  After that match was over, we went back to Court 2 to watch doubles.  An American team of twin brothers was playing and we sat two rows from the court.  Wow, was that amazing to be close enough to the court to hear the players talking to one another.  And Alison was so excited because they were American and they won in 2 sets!  The most interesting thing for one is that one of them was left-handed and the other was right-handed but they are identical twins. Perhaps they were groomed that way on purpose.  We went back to the hill to watch the end of another men's doubles and then decided we should head home since it was after 6!!  What a fabulous day with my girl Alison!!  I think she has found a new love of tennis.

4 July- a little different here!  It was just a normal day where the kids went to school and Brad went to Paris for the day.  The kids and I celebrated by going to Wimbledon!  After school, they came home and quickly changed clothes and then we headed to the Q.  The line was pretty short, but we waited for quite a while, as Andy Murray just started playing after we arrived.  We were in line for nearly 2 hours, and then we got in!  First stop was a court where boys singles were playing.  I think Drew was pretty fascinated by the players.  Then, we went to get something to eat and got our food ; just as Murray won his match, which meant the hill totally cleared out. Which was good; however, the match on the big screen was not quite as exciting.  And the weather was kind of chilly.  But I still love being there.  We stayed in the stadium for nearly two hours and then we were off the train station to head home.

All the kids had sports day at school!  This year, I had the priviledge of attending all 3 of them.  Alison (KS1) was first, and they did a lot of team games including over/under, egg & spoon race, skipping and then it ended with a sprint.  Alison came in second in her heat, and I won my heat in the mom's race and even received a gold medal!  Lauren's was second, and she participated in the 400m race, the javelin and skipping.  It was very well organized, and it was so great to see all the support and teamwork between the houses they have.  I came in second in the moms race this time.  Drew's sports day was the last one, and they split them into groups and they did simple races like run between the cones, toss the beanbag, and a little more challenging one...walking on paint cans.  He did great and had a big time!!!  The last race was a very short sprint.

9 July was the Garfield Summer Fair organized by the PTA of which yours truly is the chair so it was a busy time!!  It was a great time, and we raised about £3100 which will go to the new library.  Amazing!!  It is so great to see all the kids having such a great time, and seeing all the families enjoying each other.  We did a "splat the teacher" this year, rather than the ice bucket challenge, and the Year 6 students who splatted Mrs. Summers, Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Shaw really got them, their face and hair.  But the kids love to see it!

And then the next day, I ran a 10k through London.  It is a really great race, as it starts on the mall and then through Trafalgar Square, Regents Street, along the Thames past the London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey and ends in Whitechapel.  I enjoyed the live music along the route, especially the steel drums.  The only thing that would have been better is if Brad was by my side, but his recent health issues prevented that.  But he did come and support me and we had a nice breakfast afterwards.  And then in the afternoon, we attended a cricket birthday party for our friend Magnus!  It was great fun to play and learn the rules of cricket.  His Grandpa was teaching everyone what to do.  In the warm-up, I made two pretty good hits.  None of our kids participated in the warm-up, but Alison stepped up in the actual match and was sucessful in getting at least two hits! The ladies and the boys were victorious over the girls and the men.

16 July we had a small party for Alison with a few of her school friends to celebrate her birthday.  It was very low-key and not very structured, which was absolutely perfect!!  A little crafting, some cake and then free play.  It is so nice to see Alison enjoying spending time with her friends and being silly and outgoing.  Then we went to Wimbledon Park and the kids had a GREAT time playing in the water, the sand and on the playground.

17 July Brad and I used his birthday tickets and took in a cricket match at Lords, the home of cricket.  It was day 4 of a test match between England Pakistan.  It was England's turn to bat, and they needed 273 runs (or something like that) to get a draw.  The match started at 11 and we arrived not long after that.  There is really no comparison for the field; the most similar American sport would be baseball but only because there are runs and batting.  Not many more similiarities really.  Around 1:00 was the lunch interval in which the picnic areas opened and picnics and drinks were consumed until play resumed at 1:40.  Play continuted until the tea interval at 3:40, at which point we decided to leave.  The tea interval is only 20 minutes and then play continues until about 6 PM.  That is quite a long day, and it doesn't always mean that the winner has been determined.  We listened to the remainder of the match once we arrived home, and England lost, but it was to be expected as they had quite a deficit to overcome.

19 July - Drew's last day of nursery!!  In September, he starts school full time, which is crazy to me.  At this age, Lauren was going to school three half days, and Alison was going 4 half-days.  And he will go from 8:45-3:15 5 days a week.  He is ready, and I think I am too.  I am looking forward to the week and a half I will have with him when the girls go back before he starts.

20 July- the girls last day of school.  I am so proud of them and how far they have come this year!!  Lauren has really shown her creativity, and her teacher said in her report that the teachers and the class have enjoyed her performances and imagination.  She received above grade level marks for english and literacy and on target for everything else.  Alison has truly blossomed this year as well; she has made some great friends and she is a great reader and also has lots of great ideas.  She loves to sit and color.  She learned about Van Gogh (pronounced Van Gof in London!).  Both of the girls were crying on the last 2 days of school because they were so sad to leave their teachers.  To us, that is the sign of a great year!!!  I am so very proud of all 3 of them, and I feel so blessed by Garfield and how they have all really excelled there.

21 July-24 July We went to Disneyland Paris for the weekend as part of Stagecoach Dance the Dream.  (Will have to do a separate entry for that one!)

28 July off to the US for our big holiday to see our family and friends!!!