When Life Gives You Lemons

Sometimes you would rather suck on them than make lemonade.  That's the mood I've been in lately because the family is set to move back to America in December.  

Matt's two-year contract will not be extended as we really, really hoped.  The reason for no extension stems back to a company merger nine months ago.  That left a surplus of employees in Europe and a shortfall for help in America.  On the plus side America needs more people, and my guy is just who they need.  

Hang with me while I be selfish for our family for a moment.

Selfish Point #1 - We love living in London.  The city setting works well for our family; public transportation and delivery services keep our no car family running day to day.  Come on, the history that we walk by every day constantly awes us.  On the walk to school alone we pass by several WWII bomb sites, and our house is well over 100 years old.  When you visit places around the city to realize that many of the buildings are over 600 years old, it becomes apparent that America is just getting started.  

Selfish Point #2 - It took us a long time to get The Manor to feel like our home; rented accommodations are never near as inviting & cozy when you can't really make it your own.  White walls and subpar appliances aren't my cuppa.  The Manor finally started to feel like a home in March of this year - that's sixteen months.  

Selfish Point #3 - Leaving friends is never easy.  Upon moving into The Manor, we quickly found out that it was extremely hard to make friends as adults.  The neighbors are polite, and we only hit it off with a few.  We created a quality support system with the families at school, which was a life saver on so many occasions. I also have an amazing friend that I met through Instagram who became my partner in city touring shenanigans.  Our girls became good friends in the last year, too.    

Selfish Point #4 - Oldest Kiddo started middle school in September, and we hoped that we could stay through the end of the school year.  You remember middle school, right?  The most awkward time of your life.  We want to make sure her transition from UK schools back to a US schools is as smooth as we can make it.  It won't be perfect, but we'll try darn hard to make it so.

Selfish Point #5 - The biggest reason I have to be a sourpuss - We are not done here!!!  A UK home base facilitates travel to Europe with short, and often cheap flights.  Yes, we've traveled to a lot of stupendous places: Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Brussels, Dubai, Berlin, Italian Lakes, Florence, Stockholm, Barcelona, Lisbon.  There are so many more places we want to see!  We will squeeze in one or two quick trips before we repatriate, but there are so many things to get done before that can happen.  Yes, yes this is a first world problem.  

As I've gone through the stages of grieving our pending change, I also have to remember that it's not about me.  Matt's job brought this opportunity to our family, and we have to do what's right for the family.  If the next stage in his career happens to be in America, then that's where we go.

Now that I'm ready to make the lemonade, there are several things to which we look forward.  First we get to decide where we will live.  If you recall, we sold The 407 in the Chicago suburbs so we can live wherever we choose.  The only thing we need in our new town is easy access to an airport for Matt's work travel.  There are several things that would be nice, such as little or no snow.  We've started researching houses in different cities to see what our dollar will buy.

Positive Point #1 - We will be back near our family and friends (somewhat).  Regardless of where we decide to move, our family will be closer to us than to London Manor.  Despite the amazing things we've seen and done in London, it's been hard being away from our families.  We've missed holidays, birthdays, and simple weekend picnics.  Sadly, we've said good bye to three very close family members in our time here.  On the other hand, we've happily hosted several guests at The Manor and shown them the city that we love.

Positive Point #2 - A move back to America presents opportunities to show our kids more of their home country.  Although the ease of travel to Europe greatly diminishes when we return, that won't stop us from returning when we can! 

Positive Point #3 - It sounds cheeky, but I so look forward to proper pizza & Mexican food.  London just doesn't understand the fine points of a quality taco or salsa.  Although I've gotten quite good at making my own.  

Send good thoughts our way for a smooth transition back to 'Merica.  

What's New With You?

      We bought a house.         

In America.

The expat adventure is almost over, folks.  Our two-year contract went by fast, but we jammed a lot into it.  Our official leave window is mid-December, so there's just over one month to finish off the must see in London list. 

Just to keep things interesting, we decided not to move back to Chicago.  The multiple years of Polar Vortex (Polar Vortices?) ensured that we could find more suitable climate.  Matt's job put no geographical requirements upon his return to America, so we had 50 states from which to choose.

We decided our next city should have:
        * no (or virtually no) snow
        * East Coast timezone to keep work calls back to Europe not too inconvenient
        * low cost of living (almost anywhere is lower than London)
        * easy access to other major cities
        * did I mention no snow?

When we looked at the map, and by that I mean Youngest Kiddo's Ravensburger puzzle, we quickly came to a decision: North Carolina.  More specifically, Raleigh.  From our research, Raleigh seemed to tick all the boxes for our family.  Even more, just a short distance from Raleigh is the Atlantic Ocean in one direction and the Appalachian Mountains in the opposite.  You better believe I'm all over Instagram scouting for places to eat and visit.  I'm always open to your suggestions for what to see & do in our new hometown.  Leave your favorites in the comments below!

How are we all feeling about the move?  That's for another time, but for now we have a list of things to accomplish and see before we go.  Our expat adventure will soon morph into a repatriation adventure, and I sure hope you will follow along with all the fun!

October 2015 Half Term

I have a love hate relationship with the kids' school half term breaks (See what we did for October 2014 half term).  I love the chance for a decent break before the usual Christmas & Easter times.  We get a chance to sleep in and stay up late.  It also provides for another opportunity to travel Europe.  When we stay in London, the best part is that I get to take my kids out into the city to experience the amazing things I see when they are in school.

There is one piece of half term that irks me - everyone else.

All of the schools in England (and possibly quite a large percentage of Europe) are off at the same time.  So that means the museums are beyond packed.  If you can book something in advance, you had better book it six months ahead because the Brits are planners.  Despite my annoyance with crowds, we try to cram in everything we possibly can.  This October, I let the kids help decide some of the itinerary.

Saturday: MC Escher exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.  I've known his art for a long time, but I never knew it belonged to him!

Sunday: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - The autumn leaves are in their full glory, and we were happy to spend the day amongst them.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage site, too.    

Monday: Ai Weiwei exhibition - I left the kids home with Matt so I could see it.  Phenomenal show by a great artist.  There might also have been some walking in the city since the sun was shining.  We needed a top up of tea from Fortnum & Mason.  

Tuesday: Tower of London - My annual pass expired at the end of October, so we had to visit what we could one last time.  We brought one of Oldest Kiddo's friends along so that made for a really nice day.  The weather cooperated so much that everyone in England decided to go to the tower as well.  The Tower of London is another UNESCO World Heritage site.  Matt left for a week in America so I'll entertain the kids for the next seven days.  Wish me luck. 

Wednesday: Oldest Kiddo went for a sleep over at a friend's house in the afternoon.  I took Youngest Kiddo out for a dinner date to the ever exciting mall.  A little Five Guys & Cherry Vanilla fountain Coke makes me happy.  Some window shopping at Lego makes him happy.

   
Thursday: The day after a sleepover usually necessitates a rest day for her.  No one complained about watching movies in our jammies all afternoon.  A friend dropped her toddler off for a few hours while her older kiddos had swim lessons.  He was more than happy to play trains the whole time.  

Friday:  We had a big to do list to complete today to get ready for a few weekend birthday parties.  So we went back to the mall for lunch and a little shopping.  We barely made it home before the sun went down.  

Saturday: Halloween in London is super low-key.  Oldest had a birthday party in the morning and Youngest had one in the afternoon.  Then we all went out trick or treating with friends in the evening.  They received some interesting candy.  A few houses passed out marshmallows, single unwrapped marshmallows.  Ew.

Sunday: We had a full week to complete homework, but did we do it?  Heck no.  After pain au chocolat, the kids labored through their work.  When I say kids, I mean I played referee through each task because they could not have cared less about doing it.  As you can see from out the back window, there was nothing to see anyway. Pea soup out there, it was.

Next week is back to school for them (YAY!!), and I'm back to my real job - touring the city with some brunch mixed in for good measure.  

A4 Update - October 2015

We changed the clocks back an hour, and now the sun goes down at lunchtime.  You think I'm kidding?

*Holly & Oldest Kiddo took a day trip to Paris.  It might be one of Oldest Kiddo's favorite days of our whole time in Europe.  

*The kids went to various birthday parties.

*Matt & Holly went to a taping of the Graham Norton Show, which is one of our absolute favorites.  

*Matt was gone from London only 8 days during the month.  That's not too bad.  

*The kiddos had a half-term break.  We split our time between seeing the city and movies on the couch in pajamas.  
*Holly saw the incredible Ai Weiwei exhibit at the Royal Academy 

*The kids trick or treated.  Halloween isn't observed by all households, but from the noise on the street past bed time the older kids loved it.  

*Oldest Kiddo continues to love middle school (weird).  She attends different clubs each day after school, such as art, drama, and orchestra.  

*Youngest Kiddo is obsessed with building everything with Lego.  He likes the prepackaged sets, but he's having a blast with creating his own ideas.  

Watching The Telly

TV in the UK is different than the US.  The first thing we noticed was the language.  Shows regularly drop the f-bomb after 9pm and basic nudity is no longer a shock on evening shows.  Another interesting piece about television is that reruns are not a common thing for popular shows.  Once the season is over, you won't commonly see it back on the air until the next season premiers.  In the last two years, we've come to enjoy several shows.  I tried to embed videos from some of the shows, if they don't play in your country try searching YouTube for them.
  

Gogglebox - Easiest way to explain this show, it's a show where you watch families watch TV.  While that sounds like watching paint dry, it's highly entertaining.  Each week the same families sit in their own homes we watch them watch TV.  The entertainment is in their commentary.  The varied personalities of the regulars make the show: the traditional family of four, the family of three, the two flamboyant best friends, the salon owning partners, the old married couple, the odd stodgy country couple, the foreign couple with their son's ex girlfriend, and the always entertaining pretentious drinkers in the grand house.  I hear this show is coming (or already started & canceled) to the US, but it will not be anywhere as good as the original.  America will try too hard.  The Brits just say it like it is. 

Graham Norton - Graham's weekly show is the highlight of our week.  He's sassy and says whatever comes to mind.  The Taylor Swift & John Cleese clip is just one of many hilarious clips.  Look up the shows with Bill Murray or Lewis Hamilton for more hilarity.  

Great British Bakeoff - Truly must see British TV.  It seems as if the whole country tunes into the competition.  The creations made with flour, sugar, and eggs astound us each week.  Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood are culinary celebrities, and the hosts Sue & Mel bring the color commentary.  On a side note, Sue has done two phenomenal BBC documentaries (the Mekong River & India) and written an autobiography.     

Through the Keyhole -  I LOVE this show.  Keith Lemon is the alter ego of comedian Leigh Francis.  When in character he tours celebrity houses and the panel has to figure out who lives in the house.  I usually have no clue who the celebrities are, but I love how Keith tours the houses.

Downton Abbey - Must I explain?  I'm sure tears will be cried when the final episode airs.  No spoilers in the video below, it's just the preview for the final season.  

Documentaries, documentaries, documentaries - Britain wins the award for documentaries.  Pick any topic and there is a documentary about it, probably on right now.  The documentaries we gravitate toward relate to WWII, WWI, the Underground, the Royal Family (are you surprised?), and David Attenborough's splendid nature documentaries.  Fun fact, I think David Attenborough is my grandfather's celebrity doppelgänger.  

Those are just a few of the shows we try to watch during the week.  When none of those are on, we can always catch a rerun of Friends, Big Bang Theory, or How I Met Your Mother.

Day Trip To Paris - See All The Things! - Touring Tuesday

Oldest Kiddo had a day off from school on Friday, so we took a day trip to Paris.  That's what you do when your kids have a day off right?!  I'll never get over how easy it is to travel when your base is the UK.  Actually, I booked this trip way back in August when Eurostar had a ticket sale.  

So we took the 7:01AM Eurostar train from St. Pancras International station with an arrival into Gare du Nord station at 10AM Paris time.  Since this was our girl's first time to the City of Lights, we had to see it all.  I bought a day Metro pass so we could ride any train or bus we wanted to not waste a moment.    

The first order of the day was a quality pastry.  It's not really hard to find them in Paris, but I had one in particular that I craved from Du Pain Et Des Idées.  The l'escargot chocolat pistache was well worth the wait in line.  As I fought Oldest Kiddo for each bite I realize that I should have purchased two.  

After my carb fantasy was fulfilled, it was time to see the town!  We hopped on the Metro to the Arc de Triomph.  She loved seeing the humongous traffic circle and the carved funny faces on the warriors.

Next, it was time to fulfill Oldest Kiddo's life long dream - The Eiffel Tower!  Her face was priceless when the Metro crossed over the Seine and the Eiffel Tower came into view.  She could not believe that we were actually there.  We even took a chance while at the Eiffel Tower and used the automated public toilets.  It was a silly experience.

To keep things moving, we got on the bus to get across town near The Louvre.  Our first stop was a walk on the path along the edge of the Seine to the Île De La Cite to see Notre Dame Cathedral.  The line to reenact Quasimodo was beyond comical so we moved on. 

A walk back toward the Louvre took us to the colorful pillars at Palais Royal.  She had a great time hopping between them.  After the exercise we grabbed a quick sandwich and took a little walk through the neighborhood.  Along the way we saw some cool fountains and the Pompidou Centre.  

We then returned to the Louvre to see the must see items with a few thousand of our closest friends: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.  The Louvre was very helpful for our expedited touring by placing signs throughout the museum to guide us toward the biggies.  Mona Lisa's harem was a sight in itself.  Our feet started revolting against us at the end of our time at the museum, and we took respite in the Apple Store's free wifi at the mall attached to the museum.  

By this time we had to make a decision, take the slow way back to Gare du Nord or squeeze in one more thing.  

Squeeze in one more thing!!

Our last stop of the day was to see the gorgeous Galleries Lafayette department store.  The atrium is beyond gorgeous and worth any moment you can spend in there.  Oldest Kiddo noticed a sign for the outside terrace, and we could not pass that up.  The view was amazing, but the sun was not in my favor to take any worthwhile photos.  

Then it was time to hustle back to the train.  We stopped into a market near the station for some dinner provisions and settled into our seats for the journey home.  Oldest Kiddo could barely keep her eyes open on the Tube ride home, and I'm sure she fell asleep as her head was falling onto the pillow.  I say it was a successful Parisian rendezvous.  

A4 Update - September 2015

Now that a majority of the tourists have left London, the daily touring has resumed!

Oldest Kiddo started secondary school.  She looks quite smart in her new uniform.  I think she might be one of the few kids in the world that actually likes middle school.  She takes the city bus to and from school each day with heavy texting in the morning to coordinate bus times with friends.  Her school goes through high school so there are some really big kids in the lunch line; she was a bit disturbed that several of the boys sported a mustache.

Youngest Kiddo is now in Year 2 (1st grade in the US).  Since his sister leaves earlier, I have about 45 minutes of time with just him in the morning.  He still is not a fan of leaving his toys to catch the bus, but it's certainly less hectic with only one kid to get out the door.

While the weather is still nice we've ventured way out of our end of town.  The first journey was to Crystal Palace to see Waterhouse Hawkins' dinosaurs.  I've had this picture book for years, and I was happy that we could see them.

On another sunny Sunday the kids enjoyed the massive slides at Victoria Park.

Holly took another tour of Buckingham Palace, The Geffrye Museum, and The Ben Franklin House.

The final series of Downton Abbey started!  

A4 Update - August 2015

It's almost back to school time!!!

Two of our very best college friends visited us for a week!  We showed them just about all there is to see in London.  

Holly and the kids took a day trip to Brussels with another mom and her kids.  We did not do a ton, per se, but we saw the highlights and ate frites, waffles, and chocolate.  

Matt spent a few days in America, but not too many. 

Holly and the kids went to a production of Bugsy Malone.  My kids loved that children made up much of the cast.

Several sites from the must see list were seen: Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, Primrose Hill's view of the city, the houseboats of Regent's Canal, and the Magnum Ice Cream Pop Up shop in Covent Garden.  I'll let you guess which spot the kids loved the most.

We had a great picnic in Hyde Park with quality people watching.

Summer is just about over, but thankfully the weather has been great to be outside!  The month ended with a day trip to Cambridge.