Good Morning... back to our London updates!!! This past weekend was Gabe's Bday and we did the "hop on hop off" tour bus around London, and it was really fun and great to see everything! I fell in LOVE with the Notting Hill neighborhood, and dragged my whole family back up there to walk around and get a better look on Sunday!

Today is Mr. George's BIRTHDAY!!!!! We are all going to head to Kings Road, a big shopping street! There is a toy store called Daisy and Tom, they apparently have a carousel in the store for the kids to ride, and George will get to pick out some toys!!!

In other FANTASTIC news...... my dear, beautiful friend Erin called me to tell me that her husbands cousin is over here in London for school, and can BABYSIT! I swear ... the clouds parted and the Angels sang to me... it was a Hallelujah moment!!!

Ok---
so this blog entry may be a little off because I have on a small space in the upper left hand corner of my computer screen to see what I am typing... why? Because there was an incident in our lovely home.. and incident which involved a yo yo, that belonged to George. Mary-Mae wanted to play with said yo yo. George would not allow it- Mary-Mae freaked out like I have never seen, and picked up a remote control and threw it at him. Luckily my computer screen saved George from probably needing stiches by taking the blow, and now the inside is shattered and I can't really see... Looking for someone to fix it.. where it won't cost more then the computer in US....

I will be posting pics, and update soon!

Oh, my, GOSH... I am sooooo tired!!!! It has been a busy week! YAY for Saturday! Today we wet out with scooters and headed over to Glouster Road, which is a great street about a block away that has... ta da.. a starbucks. With iced latte in hand the kids and I had a pow wow on the streets and decided that we would set out to see a new museum, we chose the Science Museum, mainly because when we walked by it the other day George noticed a huge poster of video games. They are having a history of video games exhibit. We headed off that way and made it there in no time. The museum is fantastic and I am sure we will be back again and again, and like most museums in London.. FREE! On advice of the information desk we headed downstair where there is an area called "The Garden" this is kinda like a mini children's museum with lots of hands on stuff, and it was great to be able to get Phoebe out and let her crawl around and explore and Mary-Mae and George had so much fun running around and playing. After spending a good amount of time there, we headed into the exhibit next door, which I ADORED. It was the Evolution of household appliances and good.... really cool... seriously.. I LOVED it, and so did Mary-Mae.. I think George was just confused.. but pretended to like it because I was so excited! After that we headed over to the ice rink and met Gabe done when he was done work... here is where it gets funny. He promised he would take them ice skating but we get there.. and ooops... he still has his suit on... so who straps on the skates??? yours truly... it was fun and both kids did really well... I was surprised.. but George can skate!!!

Ok- week one is almost over- we are all looking forward to this weekend, as it is Gabe's birthday on Saturday. We are planning on doing the double decker "hop on hop off" tour bus if the weather permits... because we are only doing it if it isn't raining so we can sit on top-- it is top of the list for things Mary-Mae is wanting to do. Sit on the upstairs of a bus! We think we might also attempt our first meal out since arriving in London.
Today the kids and I headed back to the Natural History museum to see some things we weren't able to the first time. We went into this cool exhibit about the human body- they had a giant simulated womb, that was complete with giant baby! It was really cool.. it was dark and hot and the sound echoed just like a real womb... pretty cool! Oh, and we were caught in our first London downpour of rain on the way ... not fun- We took our first bus ride, and survived, and only got off 2 stops too soon! Ok, so there is a learning curve for me and transportation :)

Ahhhhh... today we had a nice relaxing "non-vacation" day. I think we all need to take it down a notch- Everybody's sleep seems to be sorting itself out! So that is nice!!! We did some laundry today, fun, fun!!!! The washer and dryer are across the hall, which is nice that they are so close... but not nice that I kinda have to stick around when I am doing it, as it is a shared facility. After some laundry and a nap for Phoebe, we headed out in the neighborhood for a walk, and to check out a nearby hotel for my parents and sister when they visit! The kids brought their scooters, which happens to be the chosen method of transportation for all children over 3 in London! Pretty fun!!! I just brought them, because they fold, and we were able to stick them in the luggage.. I had no idea we would fit in so well with them! We headed up to one of the main streets we hadn't been to yet- and I purchased an Oyster Card... that is a prepaid transit card.. kinda like an EZ Pass... The kids and I are on a mission to figure out the tube and the buses.. to start exploring other neighborhoods! Oh, gotta say, among other things.... great perk about living in a hotel, FREE MAGAZINES!!! Everyday they have a new stack of magazines to take!!! I've gotten InStyle, Marie CLaire... even OK! which I gotta say, LOVE IT!

Today the kids and I walked to Harrods. We had luch at "Planet Harrods" which is a cafeteria style eatery with kids movies playing on TV everywhere.... Harrods is so expensive, that well, I was appalled. Mary-Mae wasn't hungry and didn't want lunch, and after I paid... gotta say, glad she wasn't hungy. George got a kids meal of fish and chips and it was $18!!!! Ok, Dad, I have officially been paid back for ordering that $12 milkshake I ordered when you took me there. AT least I drank it- after George's lunch came, he declared he didn't want it---- UGH!

WE did it! The kids and I made out into the city together! Hooray! We just stayed in the neighborhood but still got around while Gabe was at his first day of work.... We got a late morning start as the kids are still a bit jet lagged, and woke up in the middle of the night.... and then slept until 10. We walked to the Natural History Museum, which turned out to be a lot of fun! I chose it because a) it is close and b) it is free, so if a melt down occured, we could leave without the admission guilt. After there Mary-Mae wanted to go the Diana Park again, so off we went (note: George was STILL walking, I was very impressed with his effort....he's not much of a mover.) We entered Kensington Gardens on the other end then we did the other day, so we saw new things. We walked past the Albert Memorial, and Mary-Mae said "Look! A Jesus Castle."
Once at the playground, George then proceeded to climb up a certain part of the pirate ship where he got scared and refused to come down for 20 minutes... woohoo.. that was awesome!

Oh, cutest thing in the world? British school children! Holy Moly.. I saw what I guess was a preschool.. they looked to be about 3, and even their coats are part of the uniform... the girls had on long green wool coats, and the boys grey duffle... too cute!

By the time we were done at the park, Gabe was on his way home from work, and stopped by to meet us. He took Mary-Mae and George on a tube ride home, and Phoebe and I had a leisurely relaxing walk home. Heaven!

Kensington Gardens

PICTURES!!!!!

We made it to LONDON! So far it has been FANTASTIC! The airplane trip was great, I LOVE British Air! We had the bulkhead with this nifty little seat that Phoebe was able to sleep in, and the older two seriously thought we were in first class. They had their own movie players where they could choose a movie, (they both chose Shrek), and a kids meal with like 12 yummy things to choose from. They kept smiling and saying, "This is so fun."

I LOVE our apartment, and neighborhood. We are in South Kensington, and it is so nice to walk around, there are lots of kids and babies being pushed around. I am however in the minority in that I do not have a Bugaboo stoller.. but I can live with that. Today we walked to Kensington Gardens, with a brief stop to take a picture in a "London phone booth" . Kensington Gardens is really big and beautiful, and it is just so fun to see all the people. We saw Kensington Palace, and Mary-Mae was VERY intrigued, and has been asking a lot of questions about Princess Diana. There was a picture of Diana on the gates, and Mary-Mae thought she was so beeutiful.. Mary-Mae asked "Did she come out of the Palace to see all the kids play?'
"Sometime..." I replied
"But if she loved Children, wouldn't she want to see them?"
"Yes, but it was hard for her to come out."
"Why?"
"Because when she would come out, it would cause a lot of confusion, and people would mob around her."
I thought this was such an interesting exchange.... it made me think how sad and tragic and messy things can be, and how children can be so darn logical.

Anyway, we are back in the apartment, and I have my email up and I am SO excited to be in cyberspace! I will post pictures soon!

There are STARBUCKS EVERYWHERE!!!! (Thanks, Sally!) Am I a total loser that everytime I see one my heart skips a beat, and I feel somewhat comforted??? :)