Today is the first day of February. Alison is home from school with an ear infection and Lauren walked to school on her own this morning. She said she was going to get a headstart, but she was so far ahead, I didn't see her until we got to the school gates, and then she didn't need me to get out her lunch and she barely said good-bye. Part of me is happy, but the bigger part of me is sad because it means she is growing up and getting independent. She walked home part of the way on her own yesterday because she had Choir, and she was in the best mood when she got home: she told me all about her day. It was astonishing how the independence made such a difference.
5 February: we had a nice family day. We went to church, then had a nice lunch at Al Forno and then went to see the movie "Sing." A really cute movie with great music. We all enjoyed it!! And then we had a small Super Bowl spread in honor of the Superbowl. I watched the first 2 drives, and Brad watched the first quarter. It was amazing to watch Lady Gaga's performance the day after, especially knowing that Laura was there to support her cousin! What an incredible experience!!!
The kids have a renewed excitement for Marbleworks. We built a track and then they named all the marbles and made up a racing game to determine the true winner!
I have eaten many full english breakfasts, but it took 2 years of living here before I prepared one: poached eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans. YUM!! We didn't need much more food to eat that day.
Lauren got a really nasty stomach virus and was home from school for 4 days! I took her to a GI doctor, but it seems that thankfully nothing major is amiss.
HALF TERM: we decided to have a staycation for Half Term this February. Drew was very confused that we weren't going anywhere! Monday, we stayed home in the morning and then went to the mall to pick up Lauren's new glasses and then go to swimming. Tuesday was Valentine's Day, so I took the kids to FlipOut where they had a great time bouncing! And then we went to Wandsworth Southside for lunch and a bit of shopping. Drew and Alison had McDonald's, and Lauren and I had KFC (convenient that they are right across from each other!). And we all tried the new KFC zinger fries, which are very tasty but SPICY! Lauren spent the rest of her birthday money at Smiggle and she was very nice and purchased a nail polish rubber for Alison and a "D" keychain for Drew. Such a thoughtful big sister!
Thursday the kids went to a local sports camp and they LOVED it!!! They played basketball, dodgeball, a star wars game, colored pictures, did crafts. It was great fun. And Lauren of course made a new friend. While they were at camp, I went into the city to meet up with some AWC ladies to explore Spitalfields Market, and wow was it amazing!!! Such a cool little place.
Friday, the kids went back to camp for a half day so I could get my run in, and they were bummed they couldn't stay all day.
Saturday morning, Brad and I both participated in our first ever Parkrun in Wimbledon Common. Parkruns are a big thing in the UK; every Saturday, there is a 5k in Wimbledon Common. You just have to show up with your Parkrun number, do the run and then at the end, you receive a barcode, which they scan along with your Parkrun number to calculate your time. The course was marked with white flour. I think there were about 450 runners or so, and we finished in the middle of the pack. It was kind of chilly and muddy but not raining. And then we went and had a proper breakfast!
Then, Drew went to 2 back-to-back birthday parties for two of his classmates. The first was for Maria, whose mom is from Bulgaria. All the moms brought flowers for her, and she said it was to give a gift to the mom for planning the party. What a great tradition! The second party was at Wacky Warehouse for Elsie, which Drew always loves!
Sunday, I taught Sunday school and then we all went into the city and went up into the Shard to see the view! Wow, what amazing views of the city from up there! Much better even than the London Eye. They had a deal for half-term that kids go free, so it was perfect. They had written a book about a fox who got stuck up in the Shard while they were building it, and a guy read the story and then asked a question for a chance to win a stuffed Romeo the fox and guess who won...ALISON! And then Drew and Lauren decided they needed one as well, so we came home with 3 Romeo stuffed foxes.
Lauren has been having some major stomach issues, so we took her to a GI doctor, and he did a celiac blood test which came back positive, so later this month she will have a endoscopy.
Tuesday 21 Feb, Lauren and her class went to the science museum. I thought I was going as well, but they didn't get the form that I had said I could go, so I had a found day which is always good!
Wednesday 22 Feb, I finally redeemed my birthday gift of a cheese tasting at Neal's Yard in Borough Market. It was quite cool to go into the city during the week and meet up with Brad. We had a beer close at a pub just around the corner first. The pubs were hopping!! The cheese tasting was quite interesting. They had paired the cheeses with white wine, red wine and beer. We were able to taste 10 different kinds of cheese: 3 goats cheese and 7 cows milk cheese. I really enjoyed all of them with the exception of one that was a bit strong for me. At the end, we were able to make our own cheese board of our 3 favorites. I learned a bit about cheese making. Cheese is aged much like wine. The first cheese that we tasted had been made the week prior.
23 Feb, I did a tour of Westminster Abbey with AWC. We had our own private tour guide, Robert, who told us all sorts of interesting tidbits about the Abbey. It doesn't receive funding from the church or the government, which is why they have to charge for entrance. The Abbey has held 39 coronations, and is the only place where coronations take place. Royal weddings are not required to be held there, but all instructions for the coronations are contained in the library at the Abbey. It was built in 1000 and has the oldest door in London. It is quite spectacular inside. And there are so many tombs and memorials for so many different types of people. There is a very interesting sculpture of Newton. And the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is a soldier from WWI. The gold letters of the script are made from old shell casings from the battlefield where the body was recovered.
26 Feb, the girls and I went to the Science Museum to meet a new friend I made and her 8 year old son. He had brought an old phone with him, and so he and Lauren immediately clicked! And she added him to my contacts! Oh dear. point proven why she doesn't have her own phone. We did this really cool exhibit called the WonderLab, where they had all sorts of hands on experiments.
28 Feb, Lauren had her gastropy. She was quite nervous. The doctor does the procedures in the evening at Kings College, in SE London, so we took the train to the hospital. We arrived at 4:45, but we didn't even go down to the pre-op until after 6:30!! She had to fast from 4 PM. Once we got down to the surgery center, Lauren was really, really upset at the anesthesia. The anesthesiologist came and spoke to her, and that seemed to calm her down a bit. And then she realized she was going to get to go for a ride in the hospital bed and that seemed to help as well. They took her back around 7:20, and I was able to hold her hand while they gave her the gas, and then they took her in to do the procedure and then she was out by around 8:00. She was a bit groggy and tired and hungry. And very curious about the IV in her hand, which they had put in after she fell asleep! The doctor said he could see evidence of celiacs disease, but we won't know for sure until the biopsy results come back next week.
quite the adventures in one Month!
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