January 2017

1 January was a very lazy day, which was perfect.  It was a bit odd not to watch football all day, so instead we booked our travel for the first few trips of the year including Copenhagen for the marathon (eek!)

2 January was the last day of the break as well as the final day of Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.  It was pretty busy, and we had a good time!  The kids each did a couple of rides, and Brad was able to win another oversized stuffed toy in tin can alley (thank goodness he got one extra try...).  And it was the 10 year anniversary, so it is the same age as Lauren!

3 January was back to school for the kids!  I think they were excited to get back.  Mum Mum was still here, so we took the train to Kingston.  What a fun place!!  And I found out there is a huge mall in Kingston that I didn't even know was there, and it has Smiggle that is even bigger than the one in Wandsworth.  We had a nice lunch at Patesserie Valerie.  I took Alison to the optician, and she is far sighted and her eyes are getting better!

4 January Mum Mum and I ventured into London and went to St Paul's Cathedral.  It was SO amazing!!!  It was built in 35 years by Sir Christopher Wren, and it is astonishing to me that it was built so long ago and it is so amazing!!!  We had a very nice tour by Liz, and she told us quite a few interesting stories about the cathedral.  We had lunch at the cafe, and then we took the stairs up into the dome.  Mum Mum went up two stories, and I ventured all the way to the top.  There were some AMAZING views from up there.

5 January was Mum Mum's last day here......so we went into Wimbledon to a pub for lunch.

13 January....Friday the 13th was a good day for the Scheiner family.  Lauren received the achievement award in her class for challenging herself and others.

 Drew and Alison both decided that they would like to try Stagecoach.  Brad reluctantly said that Drew could try.  They both LOVED it.  Drew even received the "Performer of the Week" award!!!!  His teacher, Rosie, said he just came right in and was engaged and enjoying it the whole time.  And Alison came home and said she made a new friend called Anna.  SO happy!

14 January...Drew had football and Lauren auditioned for Dance Troupe with Stagecoach, which she really enjoyed.

21 January...I met up with some friends in London to attend the Women's March.  It was so powerful to see so many people together for a common cause.  We saw lots of great signs.  I think one of my favorites was "Making Trump president is like making Voldemort the Minister of Magic."

Alison got some new glasses, which help her far-sightedness.  The opitician actually said her eyes are getting better, and eventually she might not need glasses.  Alison has also been obsessed with the Furbys from McDonald's and one of her friends was nice enough to give her the colors she didn't have.

Drew's teacher said he loves to write and anytime he sees a piece of lined paper, he asks if he can write on it.  He brought home this paper last week!

Lauren is learning about space at school now, and one of her homework choices was to make a space cake, so we did!  We used jawbreakers as the planets and Smarties as the sun.  It was a hit at school, especially since everyone in her class was able to take a slice home.

25-27 January-Alison went on her PGL trip to Sayers Croft.

 Different schools in the area do the trips at different times, but at Garfield they do Year 3 and Year 6.  She left on Wednesday morning and they returned around 3 on Friday, so they had about 2 days of fun doing different team building and outdoor activities.   She was SO excited about going, and she had a great time!  The first thing she told me about when I picked her up was the campfire and the s'mores  (however, here they use digestive biscuits, which are like graham crackers with chocolate on one side.)  Her bunkmate was her friend Freya, and Alison got to sleep on the top bunk.  They did a night walk one evening, and they did shelter building and a blindfold walk.  She said the food was pretty good.  I will be honest and say that I was very nervous about the food, but the facility is a nut free facility and they have a process in place to handle food allergies.  She told me after the fact that she didn't have an extra socks the whole time because she didn't realise I had packed them in a separate pocket in her suitcase, and after they unpacked, they put their cases away.  It was SO cold on Thursday when they were there, her poor toes must have been like icecubes!  We definitely missed her around her; it was strange to only have 2 kids at home.  I was so thankful to see her big smiles when I picked her up on Friday.

28 January- Brad and I participated in the American Women's Club pub quiz at a pub in Hammersmith.  I have been to a couple of them in the past, but this quiz was Brad's first one.  He enjoyed it more than he expected I think.  It is very different from the pub quiz they have in the US with the electonic keyboard.  This pub quiz is on a piece of paper and they are strict about no use of mobile phones.  We were on a team with 2 other couples who just recently moved to London, so it was interesting being the more experienced Londoners!











TFL is having a competition to design a new tube station for the Elizabeth Line.  Construction has just begun, and it due to open in something like 4-6 years or something.  But it is going through Wimbledon (which has caused lots of controversy.)  The girls both did a design.  Lauren's theme is based on the world being equal for all skin colors.  Pretty amazing!