Word on the street is my computer comes home tomorrow!!! Oh-My-God- I am so excited... I cannot tell you.
We had a pretty great weekend. Yesterday Gabe took the kids to a recreational center, where they went swimming in a pool, with a wave machine, and had a fantastic time. Phoebe and I hung out, with plans to go out and about, but with the quiet flat.. Phoebe decided to sleep the whole time. So, I had a lot of down time.. took a lingering shower, and put in some good Nintendo Gameboy Advance time. SOme how I have become addicted to Super Mario WOrld. Good news is, I almost have it beat, and then I can stop.
Today we all headed to to Regent Street and Carnaby Street, for some walking and SHOPPING! It was a nice day and we had a great time walking around, and we all came home with a goody or two!

In other news I am currently OBSESSED with Marks and Spencer (M&S) SImply Foods. It is the most amazing store with fresh pre made ready meals... everything is so yummy and pretty. I no longer even obsess about the fact that my fruit cup cost two and half pounds.. I buy it and LOVE it.

Looking ahead, my friend Leigh arrives on Thursday, and I am excited excited excited!!!

I adore London, I love being over here and having this incredible opportunity! I love living in this fabulous neighborhood, and being able to walk to all these fabulous places. I love living in a hotel, and feeling like I get to start everyday fresh. Fresh towels, fresh sheets, yesterdays garbage gone. It is like a new day, everyday, a fresh beginning. I love it all.... yet today I was hit with the biggest most sudden pang of homesickness. The kind that makes you feel like you have a hole in your gut. The feeling like, you are floating in some sort or never never land, and there is nothing to tether you down and connect you... no schedule, no commitments, no home, and worst of all.. no friends and family!
My parents and sister and niece were here and we had such a wonderful time, and then they left yesterday, and then my dear friend Sally called today, and just the glimpse of my family and friend and such a short span, left me wanting more!!!!
boo hoo boo hoo...

ok,that's enough feeling sorry for myself...

Some great highlights of my family being here were... riding the London Eye, boat ride up the Thames, lots of great walks around the city...

The kids and I went to the Natural History Museum and saw this great talk on .the Chinese New Year and learned about the Chinese Zodiac, Gabe and I are both Rats, MM is snake, George is Horse and Miss Phoebe is a Dog.. totally fun!

Happy Valentines to everyone! I must admit, it is a little strange to have not been up last night making out all our little Valentines for the kids to take to school today, and the excitment of the party at school. The past couple years Valentines has become a busy day!
Gabe returned from NYC yesterday, all is well.
The kids and I are going to venture out for some Valentine goodies to share! It is pouring rain, but hopefully that will let up. The weather is a lot like Seattle in that it changes.

Phoebe can walk! We had a great day yesterday! We were lucky to be invited to some people Gabe works with, house in the country. The house was huge and beautiful, they had 22 mo old triplets, and an 11 year old girl, that plus 2 fantastic playrooms...I think the kids had the best day they have had since arriving! We all did. It was so nice to have other adults to talk to, and everyone was lovely and dinner was fantastic. ...and while we were there, Phoebe walked for the first time. A pretty great day!
Gabe has off and left for NYC this morning... so we are hoping the weather holds up and no travel delays are incurred!

Today it is a wet, freezing rainy day. UGH- it is going to be a challenging one. The one motivation, other then WANTING to experience this cool city, for getting out everyday is the reality that 3 kids and a mom DO not mix so well in a hotel apartment. The kids get a little loud and crazy, playing some game that involves Mary-Mae being the Mom and George being a frog. Phoebe just gets all around fussy and bored...oh well. I can't complain, the weather for the most part has been fantastic.
A funny thing that has occurred is Mary-Mae has made quick friends with the hotel desk staff and manager. SHe often will run up there to tell them something, ask for something, etc. She loves it, and they seem to love her. Gabe coming home from work the other night, walked in to see her behind the desk...she is our little Eloise.
My new obsession is PerezHilton.com. I still don't have my computer back or my email... and I miss my email so much--- that I have re directed all my energy into checking perzhilton every 10 minutes. Also, love the London newspaper. They publish births everyday, and list the brother and sisters names. I love reading names. In case you were wondering.. Amelia, Isabelle, and Lucy seem to be the girl faves. Alfie, William and James top the boys. Also Cosmo and Cosomina make more appearances then you would think....
Another side note...we stopped in this little gourmet market yesterday on the way home from the park to get some bread. They had a whole "import" section of American food.....Lucky charms, marsh mellows, oreos, fruit loops... all the hits.. the real piece de resistance for Mary-Mae, who was squealing at this point of the excitement was the box of Nilla wafers. I almost said yes, until I looked at the price 5 pounds... that is TEN DOLLARS!!!! No way, little girl.

This whole being alone with my kids for pretty much 24/7 has given me much reflection time. I am so amazed at how my babies are changing. Mary-Mae is this being, that I don't even know where she came from. I stare at her sometimes when she isn't looking, and just search, search for that little baby she use to be. I remember all the events so clearly, her being born, her starting to walk, her first birthday, her getting sick, her learning to re-walk. But sometimes I can't find the baby that all that stuff happened with inside this GIRL in front of me. She is becoming her own, and I catch more glimpses of the future with her then I do the past. I guess that is because she is my first born, and my trailblazer, and she is always moving forward at 100 MPH! She LOVES being in London and having a list of activities to choose from daily. Her energy never fails, I love that about her. SHe keeps me going.

Today we went to the DIana Playground, the kids rode their scooters, and the sun was warm but the air was cold when we were in the shade. We had a nice time, and then walked, rode scooters all the way back! George passed out when we got home, and took a nap. I know I will be paying for that later tonight as I struggle to get him to bed. Unlike Mary-Mae he, I think, is tiring of all the activity of being here. He prefers a nice balance of fun and down time. Heavy on the downtime!
Both kids are getting homesick. Which is tough, because it stirs up a whole range of emotions.

Tomorrow we are suppose to get snow, snow, snow! YIKES.
Gabe leaves for NYC on SUnday morning, and will be back on Tuesday. Kinda strange, that I will be alone in another country...... but not a big deal I guess in the scheme of things.

oooh, I have discovered Project Catwalk with is London's answer to Project Runway. It is hosted by Kelley Osborne, who interestingly enough is EXTREMELY popular over here. You get on the tube at any time of day and there is usually a gaggle of girls ... anyone could be a stand in for her.

In all my confusion of no computer and not blogging for that week or so, I totally forgot to mention that one night when I came out of the food store, I saw Prince Charles drive by!!! Gotta tell ya.. pretty exciting... I LOVE stuff like that-- and am an AVID Royal watcher. When I was little, I watched both weddings for Charles and Diana and Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. I remember writing letters to them and telling them how pretty I thought their weddings were. AND they wrote BACK! Well.. I am sure one of their aids wrote back. Anyways.. it was pretty exciting, I came out, and the intersection was blocked off and everyone on the street had stopped walking and was just standing there, and so I said. "what's going on?" ...and this guy looked at me like I had 8 heads a pointed..."It's Prince Charles!"

Every once and awhile.. I am caught by the overwhelming fact of just how much HANDS on parenting I am doing over here...I miss my Mom's night out.. and my coffee with friends during school hours... and school!!! I try not to think about it too much-- because it makes me tired and overwhelmed. But, it is short lived and I am trying to enjoy and embrace this unique opportunity!This morning, I was dragging at the thought of getting all 4 of us ready and out the door, and then off to do whatever... but I dragged us all out, packed the diaper bag, and headed to the Lobby. Like an angel the manager, who is lovely, says "Your children are so lucky that you get out with them everyday. It must be a lot of work."
....ahhhh , just a simple pat on the back made me feel re energized!!! We went to the Victoria and Albert Museum today. It is filled with lots of beautiful and historical objects. The kids were interested in the British section, there was a whole section of tea time and dress back in the 1700's and that all reminded Mary-Mae of the American Girl Felicity, and so she like looking at all of that. George LOVED the suits of armor.
We are looking SO forwarded to our visit from my parents and sister and Miss Lainie is a week! Other then that... all is well!

Aside from the bird flu outbreak, and the letter bombs, we are still making out brilliantly here in London.
We had a nice weekend, on Saturday we all headed over to Marylebone to walk around the neighborhood. They have some fantastic shops, among my favorites was Cath Kidston, whom I adore, and have always wanted to go into one of her shops. So many beautiful things, and yet the terrible exchange rate always provides a damper and curbs my spending. I guess that is a good thing. So after some shops and a coffee and treat for the kiddos at a sidewalk cafe, the weather was SO nice this weekend, we walked over to Regents Park. I thought this park was so beautiful. The weather was fantastic and we just enjoyed a stroll through it as we made our way to the children's playground, which was a huge hit!
On Sunday, Mary-Mae and I made it out on our own to explore Covent Gardens. This was a really fun walk around because it is in an old fruit and veg market and there is just lots of space and stores everywhere, we got totally disoriented and lost walking around this area.. but found our way to a tube stop and made it home.

Today we are just taking it easy, as I am finding myself totally getting tired... I definitely need to find some sort of adult interaction during the day... aggh! We went to a little park close by, and there was one grandma and little girl there. Well turns out the grandma was from NJ and her friends have a summer place in Brigantine.. we had lots to chat about, and I was sad when she was like "OK, we have to go."
I was like please don't! Talk to me for a little while.. it is nice to talk to someone who isn't littering there conversation with demands for snack, drinks...etc.
Oh, well, we are back at the flat now, and the kids are watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I am enjoying the quiet!

I still do not have my computer, and am going CRAZY, loco, insane!! My apologies to all have emailed me, I have not had access to my email in weeks.. I am neither ignoring you or dead. I am posting this on Gabe's computer, which I hate using... but have wanted to post an update! Hopefully people are still reading... after not posting in a while..

We have been keeping really busy and have also settled into a nice routine. Our mornings are relaxing, and slow paced. When Phoebe goes down for her morning nap around 9:30, we sit down and do "school" and then when she wakes, we have lunch, and take off on an adventure!
Our favorite discovery has been the Science Museum which we have been to several times, and the kids just LOVE it. They are currently having a video game exhibit, where they basically have every game and gaming consoles of all time set up to play. George was mesmerized, and wants to go back every day. Mary-Mae was bored... ahhhh, the joys of personalities.
Also, we have become somewhat experts of the tube, and I LOVE it! SO easy to get around. Last weekend we made it out to the Children's museum with Gabe and that was really fun, and they were having a cool Miffy exhibit.

Today the kids and I took off for the Tate Museum of Modern Art. Which was ambitious and tough for me... my heart would skip a beat as we would walk into a room filled with Picasso works, quickly my eyes would scan the room eager to look at everything, and then my heart would drop and I would be pulled back to reality... I was in a museum with 3 young kids... looking at all the art.. not gonna happen. Oh, well.... someday!!! we did it at the kids pace.. (quickly) and I try to find something to slow them down. I taught them about the piece description found next to the art and showed them how to find the artist name, birthplace, name of piece and what it is made of and when. They thought that was neat. George in particular was curious about where the people were from and what it was made of. Mary-Mae was interested in the theatrical shock value art. No surprise there!

We are still LOVING LONDON! The weather the has been lovely and we have been going to some parks, and getting lots of outside time. On one of these visits Mary-Mae and George raced to the black iron gate when we were leaving, and Mary-Mae tripped and a black iron spoke cut open her chin! Poor thing, luckily no stiches. Also on bad news, poor Miss Phoebe is getting a moutful of teeth, and has been not very happy or sleeping well.