One Year On

The Friday before Thanksgiving our family celebrated one year in London.  Acknowledgment of the milestone occurred only after friends asked when it was that we moved to London.  Matt and I looked at each other and made the realization that it was that very day we left The 407 for The Manor.  We attributed almost forgetting the anniversary to having made a comfortable and settled life in our little London borough.  

That's not to say a lot did not happen in the previous 365 days:

First off, we left our life in America - family, friends, jobs and locations that are very special to us.  Sadly, we experienced the passing of family members on both sides of our family, and we are still not over the pain of the losses.  The upcoming holidays will be another opportunity for the family to heal together.  

Our kids love, love, love school.  The kids have an impressive menu of extra curricular opportunities during and after the school day.  Oldest Kiddo had chess, French, and clarinet lessons during the day.  Both kids had the choice of football (British for soccer), basketball, martial arts, street dance, net ball, French & Spanish lessons, and gymnastics to name just a few.  We've put in Oldest Kiddo's application for secondary school <sniff, sniff>.  We will find out in March if she got a place in our first choice school.  

Youngest Kiddo can't get enough football.  He turns every gosh darn thing he can into a football.  Pillows, stuffed animals, and clothes for the laundry bin are all fair game for a fast dribbling drill.  

Both kids have an accent!  Oldest Kiddo speaks with a full British accent at school and with her friends.  She switches back to 'Merican when she gets home.  We laughed when an adult at school learned that she had not lived in England her whole life as her accent is spot on.  Someone even called it a posh accent.  Youngest Kiddo comes by it unknowingly.  He is around kids that speak with it all day so it's no surprise that I'm sometimes referred to as Mummy.  

We  actually spend more time together as a family and a couple.  Matt and I usually have lunch once a week, and his travel has decreased significantly.  In the last year he's been away from home overnight for about 10 nights.  Back in America it felt like he was only home ten days a month!

The family in Lisbon & Amsterdam

Speaking of family togetherness, our expat family traveled quite a bit as well!  Matt and I had the chance to go to Munich and Stockholm during my mom's visits.  The four of us spent time in Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Barcelona.  I've been to Paris twice in the last two months - once with my mom and a second time with two friends from school.  

Of course, we learned more and more about the great city in which we live.  I swear that the kids could actually navigate the Underground on their own.  Don't worry family, that's not going to happen.  However, if you ask them how to get somewhere like Trafalgar Square or The London Eye, I am sure they could tell you the best route to take.  

Same location, different year.  Both kids look older and Matt and I look younger :)

Stay tuned for more expat adventures in 2015!

Just A Typical Day

I've been asked what my day is like in London, and this gives you a good idea of a normal day.  Although it might seem like I spend a ton of time in the city, I really only travel out of our borough once or twice a week.    

The morning starts early around here.  I do my best to be ready by the time the kids need to get up, but lately that hasn't happened because it is incredibly dark when my alarm goes off.  The lazy sun does not decide to get up until almost 7:00!

When the kids are finally roused out of bed they are always ready for breakfast.  Sometimes furry friends have to join us in order to keep the morning moving in a forward progression.  

Our journey to school varies from day to day.  This week the kids had the pleasure of riding their bikes to school as Oldest Kiddo had bike training.  There was no way Youngest Kiddo was letting his sister ride her bike alone.  Repeat these words over and over while you look at the next photo, "Eyes forward!  Stop aiming for the parked cars!" 

After dropping the kids at school I sometimes need to do a spot of shopping.  I brought my trusty granny cart with me on this day, but it didn't seem to hold everything.  After my last stop I had to drag the bags that wouldn't fit along on the bus ride.  

The afternoon was filled with baking for the school bake sale and a little Chicago radio via the internet.  While I enjoyed my lunch, I caught up on an episode of Friends.  I may or may not have taken a nap, too.  

How you doin'?

Before I knew it, the time had come for the afternoon school run.  I had to do a quick flat iron before leaving as the humidity and rain does funny things to just one side of my hair.  Believe me, that is as vain as I get.  A quick stop for a coffee along my route gives me the boost I need to finish the day.   

The kids wanted to make a stop by the charity shop on the way home.  Oldest Kiddo likes to hunt for new clothes while Youngest Kiddo scopes out the toys.  It's inexpensive entertainment for the kids.  Notice how dark it is?  We just left school!  

Once we arrive back home, the kids change from their uniforms into comfy jammies for the night.  

Depending on the evening, we might run across a little bit of fauna in the house.  Tonight this slug found some way to sneak into the conservatory.  I graciously plucked him off the door and returned him to the great wild.  We've been home to several spiders since the weather started turing colder.  They are creepy huge!

The kids usually have a quick snack (tonight was a bit indulgent) then it's time for the bedtime routine.

Once they are safe in their beds, I typically dive into my bedtime routine and call it a day.

It's hard work getting up before the sun. 

A4 Update - November 2014

Happy One Year in London!

Us at the Tower Bridge

• We made it to the one year mark on the 14th.  Happy to say that one year in everyone is happy and healthy.  We are so thankful for all that we've seen and done in this year.  
• The kids had a half-term break at school.  We spent the week touring far and wide around London.  
• Holly picked poppies at The Tower of London.
• Thanksgiving was a non-event at our house.  It was just Thursday in Britain; the kids had school and Matt worked.  We made a big batch of baked ziti over that weekend so we could experience a food coma.    
• Matt spent a few days back in 'Merica.  He packed in visits with family, attended a colleague's wedding, and even squeezed in a bit of work.  Of course he found time to stop at Trader Joe's and Target for some essentials.  And by essentials I mean TJ's pumpkin bread mix and M&Ms.
• At the end of the month, Holly took a day trip to Paris with two mums from school.  We took a 7:01 train from St. Pancras and a 10:15pm train back home.  We walked, walked, ate, and walked.  
• London is starting to look like Christmas.  We took a Christmas lights walk on the last Saturday of the month.  The different streets sure put on a good show.  

Time In the Moat at The Tower of London

Britain is commemorating the centenary (British for 100 years) of World War I in many ways this year.  One of the most overt rembrances was the Tower Poppies installation at The Tower of London.  Each poppy on display symbolized the death of a Commonwealth soldier during the war.  Volunteers spent many hours assembling an astounding 888,246 ceramic poppies to plant in the moat.  The installation started in August, and the final poppy was planted on Armistice Day (Veterans Day in the USA).     

If you've seen any of the photos I liked on Instagram, you'd notice my slight infatuation with the Tower Poppies.  Check out some of the photos by Historic Royal Palaces, Levanterman, and TheLondonHeli on Instagram for more amazing shots.

The Tower Poppies from The Shard's observation floor

While on our expat adventure, I've been fortunate to view the poppies several times as the installation grew.  As the installation grew, so did the number of tourists.  Toward the end of October, the huge numbers of people visiting the display often required the Tower Hill Underground Station to close due to overcrowding.  

On an overcast Saturday in November, I was a part of something extremely special.  I spent the morning in the moat of The Tower of London removing just a small portion of the 888,246 poppies.  Each one of these beauties was purchased as part of a charity fundraiser to benefit several charities.  

I was astonished at what it took to make the installation possible.    

• The poppies are ceramic so there is an element of fragility.  Each poppy was allocated to a paying customer, so each broken poppy ate into the charitable profits when it needed to be replaced.  
• Each poppy was comprised of six parts!  The ceramic poppy was sandwiched between four different sizes of rubber washers.
• To finish it off the poppy was perched upon a metal rod.  

After our group leader gave instructions on how to dismantle the poppies, everyone got to it.  By that I mean taking selfies.  Holy moly, I think some volunteered so they could take pictures for the entire shift instead of actually getting their hands dirty.  I suppose when working with the public you get what you get.  Once most of the group got their fill of photos, it was down to work.  

I was super happy that I wore my wellies

We took turns unplanting the poppies and safely organizing the parts.  The poppies went into their original box, and the metal rods were bundled into groups of 30.  The most tedious of the jobs was sorting the four rubber washers.  Just when we thought we'd made a dent in the pile, someone would pour on their group's stash.  Some of the metal rods had started to rust and the washers were stuck so it took strong hands to remove them.    

The poppies harbored the perfect environment for some massive worms!  All I could say when I saw these birds was Mine! Mine! Mine!

 

Our leader was thrilled to share that we'd unplanted over 3,000 poppies!

The only way out at the end of our shift was to walk all the way around the moat.  I could not have been more excited about the walk.  Truly an experience I will never forget.     

Stonehenge - Touring Tuesday

Our day trip to Stonehenge continued on after our picnic at Highclere Castle.   

I'm not sure about you, but I had some romantic ideas about Stonehenge.  I pictured the stone formations in the middle of a huge field surrounded by idyllic fields of grazing animals.  Well that's not exactly how Stonehenge is laid out.  As you can see, you can do a drive-by viewing from the road. 

Aside from the road bisection, Stonehenge is surrounded by the fields of grazing animals.

The visitor center for Stonehenge newly opened in January 2014, and it is a modern space.  The former visitor center used to be next to the rocks, and I appreciate that the new one is nestled at the bottom of a rolling hill and out of view from the rocks.  It is a mile and a half ride via the tram or your own feet to get up to the rocks.  The visitor center exhibition provides history and theory behind the rocks.   

Then we made it up to the rocks.

Wow.

Visitors are not allowed to walk among the stones as the composition of the dirt is heavily chalk based and therefore unstable for masses of people each day.  For a separate fee you can get up close to the stones.  Or you could be President Obama and just go among the rocks because you can.  

Oh and the clouds.  What a spectacular addition to the day.