We packed up snacks and water and headed off by bus to Victoria Station where we could get on the Tube and make our way to the first stop on the tour- Temple Station.   Taija decided just as we were about to get on the bus that she was feeling a bit icky and chose to go back home.  We missed her but we didn’t come close to completing the tour so she and Dave can join us next time. It will be a good Sunday family outing thing to do and I think the littles had enough fun that they’d be into doing more of it.

The tour took us to many streets and places that we hadn’t been to yet or hadn’t investigated much beyond walking past them.  The connection between many of the stops was tenuous at best but even a slight connection was enough to get the littles to check it out and it meant that Jesse and I got to explore things that we wouldn’t have been able to drag the littles to willingly otherwise so it had something for everyone.

2 Temple Place- our first stop

As well as directions to get to each stop along the way, the Tour directions also included some information about the buildings and locations as well as a little scavenger hunt for some of the places.  The kids had fun checking out what they were meant to look for at each stop.

There wasn’t any true HP connection except that the building looks like it might make a good Ministry of Magic building.  We did find  out that 2 Temple place was built to elaborate specifications by William Waldorf Astor  ( of Hotel fame) who was later first Viscount Astor as his residence and estate office in 1870.

looking through the fence at 2 Temple Place searching for the scavenger hunt item

From here we moved through a very cool alley and under an arch before heading up Essex Street.  The little alleys are of the sort I’ve never seen anywhere but London.

Terran found the treasure hunt item on a very cool old building on Essex street

We found the building which didn’t have any HP connection at all.  It was a beautiful building though and worth seeing.

We carried on along Strand and up to St. Clement Danes Church.  This is the St Clements from the children’s rhyme which I don’t think I ever knew more of than the first 2 lines.

Oranges and lemons
Say the bells of St Clements
You owe me five farthings
Say the bells of St Martins
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey
When I grow rich
Say the bells of Shoreditch
When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney
I’m sure I don’t know
Says the great bell at Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head

chop chop chop chop the last man’s head

The church contains display cases with various antiquities to look at.  Jess stayed outside and looked at the building while the littles and I took a peek inside and read some of the information about the church and the rhyme. We were just walking around in the back of the church looking for our treasure hunt item when Aidan’s inexperience with being in churches lead to him being asked to remove his hat by a gentleman who was sitting in a pew praying.  He was very sweet and respectful and it gave us an opportunity to talk about church.

From here we headed across the street to Australia House which was where the interior of Gringott’s Bank was filmed.  You aren’t permitted to enter and the view through the window wasn’t very good.  The tour describes  it as having a  glorious marble interior and being sumptuous.  We didn’t get to see any of that.

We are familiar with this whole area because it is near Dave’s office and so we’ve spent quite a bit of time down here.  Jesse has an interest in the disused tube stations and had been wanting to check out Aldwych station sometime and so was delighted to find that it was our next stop.

Aidan quickly got this picture as we crossed the street.

Aldwich Station was originally called Strand Station and was built on the site of the Royal Strand Theatre.  It was formerly on the Picadilly line but was closed September 1994.

The entrance around the side of the old Strand Station

The station is frequently used in movie  and television programme filming while the ticket office  can be rented out for events such as art exhibitions and private parties.  There is a bit of a ghost story connected to it which is mentioned in the tour but no HP connection.  Still worth checking out!

Next we were off around the corner and down yet another small, dark alleyway, this one was less lovely than the first we walked through and was full of many very suspicious looking yellow puddles.  We scooted through quickly while watching our step as we headed to the next stop on the tour, the Roman Baths.

The Roman Bath, very cool!

The bath is a cold, spring fed plunge bath right in the heart of London. I had no idea this was here!  The first written reference to the bath was in a book by John Pinkerton in 1784. Charles Dickens  mentions the bath in David Copperfield and is said to have taken a plunge himself. It remained open to the public until the end of the 19th century.   There is a sign by the National Trust which states that you can get a look a the bath through the window which was fairly grubby and peering into the dark interior didn’t show us much but we were able to get a bit of a look.

Unfortunately our directions to the next stop told us to backtrack up to the Strand and so we braved the yellow puddles and stench once again and found our way to the Church of St. Mary Le Strand.  We’ve passed it many times but never bothered to stop and take a look. It is a gorgeous church, right in the middle of the street.

Aidan had to back way up to get this picture of the church

According to the tour, the church stands on the site where the May Pole used to stand and was the church where Charles Dickens’ parents were married.  The architecture is beautiful and well worth the stop by.

Aidan and Terran posing in the courtyard at Somerset House

From here it  was just a short walk to Somerset House.  We have caught the bus here many, many times but for some reason we have never stopped in.    The courtyard is a large, open space with a fountain and a cafe. We say plenty of families spending a hot, humid London afternoon hanging out in the courtyard. Mums read books and sipped lattes while bare bottomed children cooled off in the fountain. I’d like to go back another time and have a better look around at the galleries and such.  They also have an outdoor cinema in the courtyard which would be fun to go to sometime.

The boys found the scavenger hunt item in the courtyard

After a little rest and a snack we heded to the Lyceum Theatre where the Lion King is currently playing. This is an stunning old theatre built in 1911 and in  1994 it was substantially refurbished. We took the time to sit on the steps and read about the ghost story connected with it.  There was a plaque ( Jesse’s favourite) stating that Bram Stoker wrote Dracula while working at the Lyceum.

Aidan was our photographer for much of the day

The tour took us next into Covent Garden Market.  This is one of my favourite areas of the city. I love the vibe, the shops and restaurants and the street performers giving lively shows.  We found our scavenger hunt item and then stopped to watch a performer doing some very impressive tricks on a very tall unicycle.

We spotted this guy standing outside a tobacconist shopshop

We scooted down yet another little alley, this one was by far the prettiest. It used to be known as Fishers Alley. This delighful little alley has the feel of Harry Potter’s magical world about it.  It is lit by gas lamp and one side is a row of lovely Georgian houses with wooden bay windows. This is the sort of place we may not ever have stumbled down if we hadn’t been doing the tour.

From Fishers Alley to Diagon Alley!  We made our way to Cecil Court which the tour claimed was the real Diagon Alley.  The tiny street is filled with interesting shops filled with old books, maps, manuscripts and prints.  I think Jesse could have stayed there all afternoon, I wouldn’t be surprised if he made another trip down to have a better look around.

I don't know if it is the real Diagon Alley but it was certainly whimsical and lovely

Everyone was starting to wear out by this time and the novelty of the excursion was wearing off somewhat.  We decided that ice cream was requiredto lift the spirits.  We walked up the street to the next location, a pub and found our next scavenger hunt item while we hunted for ice cream.

We walked past this and only found it with the help of Aidan's keen eyes!

On our way to the National Portrait Gallery we spotted an ice cream vendor where we managed to get ice cream cones for the littles but Jesse wasn’t so successful.  They were out of everything he asked for and he and I ended up settling for lemon ice lollies

Jesse looking rather dubiouosly at his lemon ice lolly

Happy ice cream slurping Terran

Aidan ( aka Freddy Machete) with the long awaited ice cream

We wandered up to Trafalgar Square to sit amidst the pigeons while we had our treat and then were off to the National Portrait Gallery where we found a portrait of the 3 stars of the Harry Potter films, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.  It wasn’t very exciting but we did spend some time in the Tudor gallery which everyone enjoyed quite a lot.  What could be more fun than looking at portraits of grumpy looking Tudors?  We sat on the bench and Aidan and I played our game of museum eye spy. I came up with this game during one of our museum excursions where Aidan was having an especially miserable time.  It encouraged him to actually look at some of the things in the museum or gallery while he was sitting and resting. We had great fun playing eye spy and looking over Tudor family tree charts and Aidan increased his knowledge of Roman numerals by reading all the Kings names.

Hunger was striking again by this time so we ventured out of the gallery to stop and have a snack just in time for it to begin raining.  So much for our picnic!

Just as it started to pour we hurried back to the gallery where we sat in comfy chairs and used the computers to look at some of the portraits.  Jess was impressed and pleased that his youngest brother recognized and could name Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

We had a look at the next stops on the tour and discovered that they took us almost directly towards Dave and Spencer’s office.  The rain had let up but clearly a picnic was out of the question and plans would have to change.

We made a quick stop by St. Martin in the field, another landmark we’d often walked by without paying it much attention.  More snacks were had while I read aloud about the church.  This is another church that is mentioned in the rhyme about the bells

You owe me five farthings Say the bells at St. Martins

The church was designed in 1724 by architect James Gibb to replace the church that good ol’ king Henry VIII whom we’d just seen a very large portrait of had build for the people when the area was literally in the fields .  I read a lot of details about the church’s architecture and how it’s style was brought to New England and many churches there were built as this one was, with the steeple over it’s east end instead of west as was the usual practice.  How scandelous!  No one was very interested at this point however, and it was beginning to rain again so we hurried along St Martin’s Lane stopping only momentarily at the Chandos pub to find the final scavenger hunt item of the day.

WThe office is only a few blocks from there so we were early to meet Dave and Spence but the kids sat in the lobby and had an Expedia picnic of watermelon and popcorn while we waited for Dave to finish up.  Since a picnic was out of the question in the drizzle, new plans were made and we followed Spence back through Covent Garden and over to a Wetherspoon pub by Holborn station.  These pubs have a child licence and are usually welcoming to families and we were all looking forward to some pub grub. Dave and I could almost taste the Guinness already!  The pub was mobbed, as we should have expected, no tables in the family section to seat 6 people.  We hopped on a bus to Elephant & Castle which is on the way home and where we knew of another Wetherspoon pub which held the promise of not being so crowded.

A table was found and we were enjoying a beverage while we looked over the menu when an employee  approached our table and informed us that the pub has a “no children after 6pm” rule and that we would have to leave.  We hastily finished our drinks while Dave and I scrambled to find a new pub since disappointing Terran at this point didn’t seem to be an option.  We packed up, grabbed our bags and were just about to head off into the torrential downpour when a different man dressed all in black and wearing a headset stopped us and said that they wouldn’t kick us out due to the weather.  How nice!!  I want to say a big thank you to the kind gentleman at the Wetherspoon pub who let us stay, have our pints and our curries and burgers and enjoy each other’s company.  It was a splendid evening!

Freddy Machete was on a Chicken Tikka Masala Safari!

Full and sleepy we headed home on the bus.  Poor wee Aidan almost fell asleep on the journey.

Dave and Aids at the back of the bus. I couldn't get a decent picture due to the reflective strips on the backpack

I am not sure how Harry Potterish the day was but the even dodgiest links to Harry and his friends made it interesting enough that the littles schlepped around all day in the heat fairly happily looking at things that we wouldn’t have had a hope of  getting them to otherwise.

All children polled have said they’d be into continuing the tour.  This may become our Sunday ‘let’s do something together’ activity.  It doesn’t require much preparation and an Oyster and a blackberry is all we need to head off on our adventure!

It’s a great way to see parts of the city and learn about things we might not otherwise.  If you have a few hours to kill on a sunny afternoon I highly recommend it.Jess and I are already looking at some of the other walking tours available.  The Sherlock Holmes one may be the next on the list.    I think I also saw a tour that takes you to a bunch of historic pubs.  I think this might have to be our next date night!

I came up with a fun thing for us to try.

Harry Potter Walking Tour

It took a bit of convincing to get Aidan and Terran to agree that it might be fun and I haven’t seen the other 2 yet but Jess is usually up for an outing of any sort and Taija has been rereading the Harry Potter books so she might be somewhat interested.

I have discovered that I can view the page on my blackberry which eliminates the need for printing it all out, which is a bonus.

The plan is to pack up some provisions and follow the route, do the treasure hunty bit and take pictures of what we find then come back here and post our results and our review of the tour.

After we tire of touring we’ll meet up with Dad and Spence after work for a picnic in the park.  It sounds like a fun day to me anyhow

Perhaps I’ll even convince costume loving Aidan that this would be a good time to dress up!

Wish us luck…

I can’t even begin to cover all we did since May but here’s a quick recap.

Mother in law Jude visited for 3 wonderful weeks and we visited Ireland and Scotland.  We also took advantage of having childcare and the big man and I snuck off for 3 glorious days to Mallorca where we renewed our vows on the beach and then celebrated our 18th anniversary in June by getting matching tattoos.

We have just returned from a wonderful week at HESFES and are looking forward to the London Unschooling Conference on Saturday.

I’m busy teaching yoga and building my business Becoming Yoga
Here is a quick photo recap of the last little while, in no particular order.

Grandma and the little boys on the Thames river cruise

Taija's 13th birthday party

Taija posing for the camera in Camden Market on her birthday

all 6 of us squeezed in a telephone box across from Big Ben while Jess leans against it looking cool

Jesse in Edinburgh-he always looks like he belongs here

The sign on the door of the loo in a motorway service station on our way back from Scotland Jess saw it and said " that is one full nappy"

It's not a great shot but it is the only picture we took of us together in Mallorca

Our vow renewal picture- toe love

a rare shot of the 5 Coons Kids together at a castle on our last day in Kinvarra, Ireland

My anniversary tattoo. Dave's is identical but on his outer bicep. Double infinity symbol celtic knot. They're both on our left sides ( like wedding rings!) and yes, it hurt!

Terran and his friends on his 11th birthday

Another awesome cake by Dave - retro choco goodness

the caravan I worked so hard to renovate sporting it's new flowers!

Dave and I saw this at a pub near King's Cross Station and had to snap a pic for my dad

Dave and I went to see Neil Young and some other bands in Hyde Park at Hard Rock Calling. Hot day, cool music and cold beer!

Taija showing the plastescine rose I made at the Wallace and Gromit exhibit at the Science Centre

Jess does some sculpting

Terran makes pretzels!

Jess on his English Road Trip with friends

Terran with his face painted- hesfes

Jess hanging in the caravan awning at hesfes

Taija and friends hamming it up at hesfes

last day at hesfes, packing up

Spencer and his friend on our last day, note how they are not helping pack up

Aidan and his friend Ruby getting ready to say goodbye and head home

The Bigs in the caravan on our last hesfes day

I will try to update more often now that things are settling down a bit and we’re not so busy.

Until next time…

Three weeks ago we decided to spend a late Saturday afternoon in Crystal Palace Park with Dave. The kids and I had been once already on Jesse’s birthday. We entered the park on the far side from the dinosaurs, which was the thing Jess most wanted to go see there so we all ended up schlepping through the park to find them and then doing a quick run by of them before trying to find our way home by bus so we could pack to leave for France the following day and I could make a birthday lemon cheesecake.
Dave driving us meant that we could park close to the dinos and that we wouldn’t run the risk of accidentally ending up in Penge. It was a gorgeous day and just right for a leisurely stroll through the park.

groovy Dinos in the park

These are just weird. Victorian Paleontology at it's finest

Aidan had fun running ahead and taking pictures

Taija on the steps of what used to be the Palace

Our original plan for the Saturday had been Stonehenge but after some consideration we thought it best to plan ahead a bit and get up bright and early and head out on the Sunday which is what we did, sort of.  Dave and I didn’t wake up quite as early or get moving quite as quickly as we’d planned and by the time we had packed some food for the road and stopped for petrol and such we were getting away later than intended.  We got a bit turned around at one point as well which made us even later.   We still arrived in plenty of time to have a nice afternoon checking out the henge. We also arrived just in time for the most torrential downpour we’ve experienced since landing in the UK.  After looking at admission prices ( and seriously, they charge admission to get you on the other side of a fence, just a bit closer than if you didn’t pay and just looked from the parking lot, but no matter.  We came to see Stonehenge and we were going to pay and go see it!)  we decided to spend the extra money and get an English Heritage Family Pass so that we could come back to Stonehenge again as well as take in tons of other really nifty stuff for the rest of the year.  Dave was handling the transaction with the very kind woman behind the counter and being adorable, charming and maddening in a way that only he can which prompted this kind woman to look at me and ask goodnaturedly ” is he always like this”?  to which I answered smartly ” no, usually he is much, much worse”

With our pass in hand we ventured out and made our way to the stones as the rain began to come down in earnest.  We sped up thinking it’s just a little rain and we’re already here.  By the time we were halfway around the rain was blowing sideways and had turned to more of a slushy-sleety sort of stuff that reminded me of Ooblek.  We were all drenched to the skin and pretty well running around the lovely stones at that point.  I kept taking pictures but couldn’t actually see much of what I was taking pictures of because the rain was so heavy.  We raced back to the car and had a bit of a look from the car park. We had some snacks and looked through our new English Heritage booklet and thought about other fun day trips we could take, including a trip back to Stonehenge in less hostile weather.

Here are some pictures from our race around the Henge

Our first look and the clouds are rolling in

So cool to be standing there!!

Soggy Terran

Crazy Rain!

Spence and Aidan drenched and hurrying along

unbelievably wet

A last look ...but we'll be back in sunnier weather

This past Sunday we decided it was time to try out another attraction and use our pass again.  We chose the site of The Battle of Hastings.   ( for some Battle of Hastings Edutainment check this out ) There’d be a bit to see, some walking around outdoors, there was a kids play area and it was battle themed so Aidan and Terran would like it  and it shouldn’t be too, too boring for Miss Taija.    We packed some snacks and our book and headed off with a plan for a lovely afternoon exploring battlefields and some fish and chips for supper.  Perfect day!  The weather cooperated and we did have a gorgeous day for it.  Once again, the morning got away from us and our plan to stop on the way in Bromley at a mall to find Aidan and Terran some much needed shoes and a jacket for Spence took far longer than planned and culminated in us watching the meter maid leave us a parking ticket as we walked up the street (Three minutes…give us a break!!)  We eventually found our way out of the city and to the site. We were later than we meant to be but not concerned as our English Heritage guide book said it was open until 6pm so still plenty of time for us to have a good look around.  When we went to the counter however we were informed that they closed at 4pm and it was already 3:30. ( We had been given last year’s guide book and they’d changed their opening times since)  They did say that although the abbey and museum closed we were free to walk the grounds after closing and just go out through the gate.  So, another speedy tour  it was!  We had enough time to see everything quickly and get some good pictures and then took our time strolling around outside.  It was a great day!

The tower from the outside where we hung out reading signs and plaques not knowing we only had a short time there

up the stairs we go

Aidan on his way back down

the stairs were amazing

Taija trying to make the best of it

The flowers were all in bloom. Such a gorgeous spring day

the incredible ceiling in the dormitory

pillar in the dorms

Terran, not quite in focus but so cute!

This is a door in a gate outside. Just so cool and beautiful

a close up of the handle

The Coons Clan minus mum

I love groovy old trees

I can't resist climbing cool trees either. I nearly killed myself trying to climb in those boots though. I am really a barefoot tree climbing girl.

Taija found a bench as usual

Terran and Dave after their long discussion on " where did people start"? I love Terran's happy smile!

Aidan looking considerably more cheerful than he did when we first got to London! He's actually starting to like it here

We haven’t planned the next outing yet.  There are some great looking castles though so I’m thinking perhaps one of those next.  We have a very busy April and then Grandma Jude will be here for May ( hurray!) .  Dave and I are off to Majorca while she’s here for a quick 2 night getaway and then we’re all off for a nice little stay in Ireland at a great house that Jude found for us.  Fun!  June looks like we have some friends coming to visit, July we’ve got HESFES and the London Unschooling Conference ( both of which I’m teaching Yoga at~  check the new website More of Spencer’s lovely design work)  and then we’re into August.  Before we know it we’ll be celebrating being in England for a year!

I think that’s about it for today.  I must scoot and get the kids ready to leave.  We’re off to the British Museum for a bit this afternoon and then meeting up with poppa at his office and heading out for dinner.

I remember listening to this song back then and thinking about playing this for my children some day.  Somehow over the years I had forgotten about it but last night during one of my Blip.fm crazes  ( seriously, that thing is like a drug for me.  I am stupidly addicted. )  it suddenly came to me and I got to play it for Jess.  It brought a huge smile to his face just as I’d imagined it would.

Today I’m feeling grateful for all the abundance and blessings in my life.  In awe of all that Dave and I have created.  The couple of Kooks who fell in love in highschool have come a long way. We have  five beautiful, amazing children who humble us and make us feel privileged just to know them.   We’ve lived in three countries and are having a fabulous time exploring, learning and growing together.  Through all the ups and downs and curves that life throws us we just keep getting better, stronger and more filled with joy!

So, here it is.  Thanks, kids for taking a chance on a couple of kooks hung up on romancing.

This update is a bit past due ( I do not seem to be making improvement on this front at all)  but better late than never, right?    We awoke on the Friday of our planned departure to Aidan tapping on our bedroom door and announcing ” I puked”.  This isn’t my favourite way to start any day but especially not when we’re supposed to be leaving for France in about 2 hours.   Dave and I jumped out of bed and ran through the routine that all parents go through when they’ve got a barfing child. Aidan did what most 8 year olds do when they’re awoken by the urge to heave and barfed right next to his bed.  *sigh*  I ran to clean the mess while Dave tended to Aidan and we were both glad of having 2 parents on hand to deal with the mini crisis.  Any parent who has dealt with vomit duty on their own knows how glad you are to be able to divide up the tasks.
Once we had all of that done and Aidan was cuddling on my lap looking pale and sleepy we were faced with the big decision.  Should I stay or should I go?  Clearly the whole trip couldn’t be canceled because a) it was Jesse’s special birthday trip and b) we’d already paid so someone might as well go and enjoy it.    We went back and forth trying to decide and checking in with Aidan who just said that he didn’t feel well enough to go but he didn’t want to miss it either.  We  decided that if he and I stayed and then he got better by afternoon we’d both be bummed at missing the trip and if he was still sick I could help him away from home nearly as well as here.

The ordeal caused some grumpiness and arguing between Dave and I and culminated with my passport being tossed onto the desk in the study and all of us piling into the purple people mover and heading off to catch our train.    We needed to make a quick stop to pick up a motoring abroad kit  containing a bunch of things you need to drive an English car in France
We didn’t make it quite to the shop before Aidan started vomiting again.  We pulled over and cleaned him up the best we could and then headed to Halfords where as well as our kit we also grabbed some shop towels and a car shampoo kit which helped the clean up efforts considerably and then we were on the road and headed for the Eurotunnel.  Poor little Aidan just crashed after that and slept most of the way to the tunnel.

Poor wee Aidan and his bowl. He was such a little trooper!

We were feeling good and sure that the mishaps that plagued the beginning of the trip were behind us until I started to dig out everyone’s passports and realised that neither Dave nor I had remembered to grab mine off the desk.  D’oh!  Dave assured me that there wouldn’t be a problem and there wasn’t…going into France.  Coming back wasn’t so easy and after showing ID and getting reprimanded by the friendly man in the booth we were told that next time I would not be admitted back into the country without it.  Phew!

The Eurotunnel crossing was fun and easy!   We got out and stretched our legs and passed the time eating chocolate digestives ( a new favourite )  and the 35 minute ride was over before we knew it.    The drive from Calais was lovely and fortunately uneventful ( meaning Aidan didn’t need to use his bowl).

In queue to enter the train

It's almost our turn

the Purple People Mover is on the train!

Aidan in the Eurotunnel

Terran is chillin' out and enjoying the ride

It took a bit of driving around looking but eventually we found our hotel just outside Paris near Disneyland Paris ( we are already thinking of trip there next summer!)  in Marne la Hongre .  It wasn’t fancy but there were enough beds for everyone and for all the time we would spend there it would do.  We freshened up and hopped back in the van and headed into Paris for an evening look at the Eiffel Tower and some dinner.

We drove into Paris and found a nice parking garage to leave the PPM ( Purple People Mover ) in.  Aidan got out of the van and was feeling sick again.  (  Note ~To the man we saw the next day driving around the parking garage in Bercy on a little cart we’re sorry for the mess.)   Getting tickets for all of us at the Metro station wasn’t as straight forward as we would have hoped but between Dave’s use of french nouns and gesturing and my rather out of practice, spotty french and the very patient and helpful woman behind the counter we got it all straightened out. 7 day passes for the weekend, perfect!!  We headed to the turnstile only to be called back and told that we had purchased tickets for Saturday and Sunday…not Friday and Saturday as we thought.   We went through more gesturing and bad french and purchased tickets we could use and were on our way ( with much lighter pockets) .  When we got off the train it was freezing but we walked along by the The École Militaire and up to the Eiffel Tower.    We opted not to go up but had a good look around and then it was off to find some dinner and get warm.  We searched all around but in the touristy areas at that time of night** we just weren’t finding anything that seemed suitable for our large crew of picky eaters.  We chose to hop back on the metro and back to  Bercy to see what we could find around there.  We lucked out and in this quaint little square we found a Hippo which looked just right for us.  Hardly the height of French Cuisine but the the menus had english on them and the atmosphere seemed at least a little familiar to the kids so it was the right choice.  We had a nice meal and Aidan finally ate  ( chicken wings and ice cream is apparently the perfect cure for an upset tummy)  and we headed back to the hotel well fed and happy.

The tower at night

Saturday was Museum day and we were off to The Musée des Arts et Métiers,  We drove in again and parked in the same parking garage ( different spot …wonder why)  and had some breakfast at at cafe  before heading to the Museum.  Most of us loved the museum. Jess was in heaven.  A museum filled with water clocks, Jacquard  looms and steam engines is about as good as it gets for him.  Taija wasn’t thrilled but tried to make the best of it since it was Jesse’s birthday outing.  She was our coat check girl and went from sofa to sofa dragging our coats and bags along with her.  We did promise more excitement later in the weekend!

breakfast at the cafe in Bercy

the museum was originally a Priory. This is a picture of the ceiling of the chapel

The original scale model of Lady Liberty

After the museum it was off to the Arc de Triomphe and the the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and then a mad rush back to the tower so Taija could get a picture of it in the daylilght.  We decided that rather than tromp around in the cold anymore hunting for a french restaurant for dinner we’d head back to the little town where our hotel was and see if the area around Disney would offer anything the kids would like. We ended up choosing a really cute Italian restaurant that wasn’t busy and was very family friendly.  Dave and I got to enjoy a bottle of wine and the kids had yummy pizzas and pastas.  The service was friendly if a bit slow and we all managed to speak enough frenglish to get our point across.  It was a great ending to a super fun day!

Arc de Triomphe

walking around Paris

Taija in the Arc holding the rose Dave bought me at the Metro station ( it was Valentines day in Paris after all!)

you can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave

Snogging in Paris on Valentine's Day...how romantic ( or gross if we're your parents)

Sunday we knew we had limited time before we had to start driving back to Calais to get our train.  We finally decided on The Palace at Versailles as a nice way to get the kids outside running around and see something cool as well.   We left there a bit later than we should have and then tried to stop in a couple of little towns and find a shop where we could buy some ” road food ” but eventually gave up and plowed on.  We ended up stopping at a little rest stop along the motorway and getting baguette sandwiches and crisps but the extra stop made us late for our train.   We arrived at the tunnel and  things worked out perfectly and we were just in time to get on the next train , missing our booking was just fine.  After narrowly escaping being left in France all alone while my family went back to London for my passport we popped into the duty free shop for sweets for the trip home for the kids and wine for when we got home for mom and dad.

Our first look at the Palace

Old King Louie XIV sure had grand taste

Jess on a chilly Sunday in Versailles

Her face says it all...as boring as the museum and no leather sofas

Aidan feeling well enough to run around but still not interested in 'old boring buildings'

The gardens in February. I'm sure they're gorgeous in summer

Spence at the Palace giving me that " oh mum, do you have to?" look

Aidan checking out the fountain

Terran by some of the strange animal statues that are all around the grounds

A rare shot of the parentals together

We were all glad to get home and were greeted by the dishwasher beeping at us.  It beeps when it is finished but not just a couple of times. No, it beeps until you shut it off.  It had been beeping away here all alone all weekend.

Overall I’d say that the trip was fun but I’ve decided that I’ll plan a bit better next time and pack more familiar snacks for the kids so that they stay well fed which should help with them getting worn out and grumpy.  That’s what this is all about though, isn’t it?  Living and Learning!

Spence had a meeting in Central London on Monday and so we all went into the city with him and had a blast walking around, watching street performers and riding the carousel.  It was a glorious, sunny afternoon. Just the kind that lets you know for sure that spring is right around the corner.  Everyone was out walking around and enjoying the day and I saw so many smiles that day.

A nice shot from our side of the river

Close up of the London Eye

riding the carousel on a Monday afternoon

Aidan sword fighting with Zorro on the street~ great fun!

a very cool Dali statue near the aquarium

we walked past this cool building on the way to our bus and just had to take a picture,

After typing all of that and looking at the pictures it seems like we packed a lot into one weekend!  Again I’m reminding myself to get here and update more often.  I’ve got pics from the big boys’ birthdays and a great day at Crystal Palace to share.

* If you don’t get this lyrical reference the run right now and listen to all the Joni Mitchell you can get your hands on to redeem yourself.

**  It wasn’t until we were driving back to Calais on Sunday afternoon that I was reading through one of our travel books and discovered that France is an hour ahead of England and that we’d been carrying on all weekend with the wrong time.  Yes, we felt silly.

Our trip will begin at our house on the morning of Friday, 13 February 2009 and we expect to follow this route.

We have booked passage on the Eurotunnel Train from Folkstone, UK to Calais, FR and need to arrive there to check-in before 11:52 for our first trip under the english channel.  To read more about this incredible feat of engineering, Wikipedia is a good place to start.

Once we arrive in Calais…I of course will have to remember to stay on the ‘wrong’ side of the road…since in France, they drive on the right hand side of the road, just like in Canada.  This time of course, I’ll be driving my British Auto with right hand drive…so, it’ll be weird to say the least.

Our first destination for the afternoon will be Citea Marne La Vallée, which is a villa complex in the Brie region of France…about 30 kilometres from Paris.  We booked a couple of nights and got a great rate on Hotels.com at this highly recommended family accommodation.

Our plan is to head into the city for a little evening sight seeing and dinner, but details are to come.  Saturday we’ll visit the Musuem that Jesse wants to visit, the Musée des arts et métiers. We also expect to fill the day with some other activities.

Sunday morning is so far open, with our return trip through the ‘chunnel’ booked for 6:30 Sunday evening.

Now, on to the planning of the rest of the details for that trip…where to park, what to see, when to see it, and the like.

Dave has given a good overview of the time since we left Maida Vale but I’ll add some more deets and some pics as well.

The day we left the flats ( Dec 22 I guess that was)  we stopped by the house before we headed off to Wales and it was really good to see the place again.  When we came to see it with the agent I instantly loved it but oddly didn’t give it a really thorough looking over because somewhere inside me I thought it was too perfect and so kind of just wrote it off.  Silly me…I should know better by now.  It was perfect and meant to be!    I had been mentally planning where all our stuff would go and it was good to compare my very inaccurate memory of the rooms with the real thing so I could think about it over the Christmas holiday and be ready to start telling movers where to dump stuff when they arrived.

The trip to Wales was uneventful.  Our new Purple People Mover got us the distance with no problems.  The exhaust system issue does give it a distinctive sound  though and Dave will need to get busy replacing it soon.  ( It has a very “Slagathror-ish” sound for those of you who might remember the big car  we had back in ‘90…Slaggy was a good car but the noise it made lived up to its name)   Dave’s printed googlemaps directions  were good right up until we got to Carmarthen and nearish to the cottage and then it all went kind of wonky.  I’m not the best navigator and somehow I tend to get worse when the turns on the road don’t match up with those on the map.  After a bit of driving back and forth on very narrow Welsh dirt roads in the dark we found the cottage.  This was our first ” self catering” rental and it was a fabulous experience and something I’ll defintely do again.  The farm was fantastic. Really everything I wanted for Christmas.  Quaint, old, charming and cozy with animals to check out and country roads to walk and explore and then a roaring fire to snuggle up by on chilly evenings.

If we hadn't seen this sign, I'm not sure we would have found it!

The front door...a welcome sight

The cottage is a converted carriage house, lots of original stonework is still visible. I never did get to ask Fiona how old it is

Interior of the cottage

Jesse's shirt says it all! Wales is Okay!

Spence kicking back after the long trip

Terran getting some kitty love

Momma and her baby

One of the many horses living on the farm

Highland cattle are freaky and smelly. You know the 'wet dog' smell? Well, imagine if that dog was a cow

up close and personal with our shaggy friend

Aidan having fun with cattail fluff

Mud puddles and Wellies! I love the trees reflected in the puddle

Jess noticed this cool tree in the yard

One of the buildings around the cottage

Welsh signage, lots of fun!

This little piggy...

Packing up to leave Washington it was in my mind that we’d be spending the holidays without our stuff but somehow that didn’t translate to the idea that I should at least pack up the stockings and things.  Dave and I ended up finding the mankiest looking cheapo-cheapo stockings at Woolies at their big close out sale for 77p.  They are ugly but they did the trick! The kids and I had sort of feebly made an attempt at making some homemade tree decorations when we were in Maida Vale but posh flats aren’t the place for messy crafting and besides, we didn’t have our craft stuff either.  We settled on buying some baubles and lights when we got our tree at the B&Q in Carmarthen and decided that while it wasn’t like our usual tree, it was lovely in it’s own way.

Brother love in the Purple People Mover on our way to get a Christmas tree

Dave taking a break from getting the lights on our tiny tree

Introducing...Bruce ( the Spruce) named by Terran

The stockings were hung by the woodstove with care

Taija and Aidan hanging out

We had a fun Christmas and a nice big feast on Boxing Day and then decided to head out and see some of Carmarthenshire the next day.  It turned out to be the coldest day since we’d arrived but we bundled up in coats and boots and braved the wind. We had a blast reading all the signs in Welsh and Jess and I put our love and knowledge of language to use trying to figure out words and pronunciations.   Wales is just littered up with Castles all over the place so we ventured to check out a few of them.  Our first stop was Dryslwyn Castle which was built c1250. Only a portion of a few walls still stands but it was well worth the cold, windy climb up the steps to see it.

Jess exploring the ruins

Cold and windy, but worth it!

Aidan and I ducked into a little alcove along the wall to get out of the wind

The sun is so low in the sky even though it is pretty early in the day

We warmed up a bit while we drove the winding country roads of Carmarthenshire to get to Paxton’s Tower.  We all bundled up again and braved the freezing walk up to the tower.  The tower was built circa 1808-1815 and was dedicated to Lord Nelson.

up the stairs in Paxton's Tower

Dave noticed that in the wind the ancient wooden floor was moving and decided to head back down

So cool!

At this point all the little kids were feeling done with ” old boring buildings” and were cold and Spencer had twisted his ankle when he fell in a frozen deer track on the way back to the car but Dave and Jess and I were feeling adventurous, wanting to see more of the beautiful countryside and we like old, boring buildings ( even ruins of buildings) so we ventured on a little further to Talley Abbey.  This abbey was founded for the Premonstratensian order by the Lord Rhys, between 1184 and 1189.  We had a laugh at the sign on the gate directing us  that if we wanted brochures we could get them ” at the house opposite”.

The Abbey grounds

Jess checking things out

Aidan and Terran climbing the walls

Snuggled up in his new scarf trying to keep warm

A good shot of the stonework

It is hard to take a bad picture with scenery like this

Spence is heading back to the car...he's had enough

There was no convincing anyone to brave the cold any further so we headed back home for cocoa and dinner and board games and telly.

The next day I decided ( despite some protests) to venture out again and try to check out Dinefwr Castle but when we got there we found that the centre was closed for Christmas and the Castle itself was situated so far back from the car park that none of us had it in us to do the big walk in the cold again and at that point even I had to agree with the littles that one stone ruin is much like the next.  We opted instead for pints and cocoa at a 600 year old pub.   The White Hart Inn and Brewery was warm and welcoming and just what we needed.  Dave and I are lovers of a good pub and a good pint and this was just the place to be on our last afternoon in Wales.

This is my attempt at getting a picture of the high hedgerows along the narrow roads while we're driving. I was fascinated by these. They look even niftier at night

Yes! This is the place. Pints and Cocoa and a bite to eat

Dave getting our orders so he can go place them at the bar. There is plenty to look at while we wait...just look at the ceiling!

hot cocoa and fish & chips with peas for Miss Taija

Terran in his new hat, showing us his placemat

sampling the hot cocoa

Spence is warming up

somethig from the bar?

The next day Dave had us all up and organised bright and early  and on the road.  We got a teeny bit lost making our way back into London but still made it back in time to meet the movers.  All in all the move in went well.  There was only damage to a few items which we’re still waiting on getting  settled up but otherwise it was all good.  In just 2 weeks ( and a long trip to Ikea) we’re pretty well moved in and unpacked.  We’re still without a few items like a telly and a microwave which Taija is lost without.  You’d think I was asking her to build fire in the hearth with nothing but flint and steel to heat her food the way she carries on about the inconvenience of warming things without microwave technology.  How did we ever survive in the days when we had to reheat leftover mac and cheese without one??  This brings to mind the time when Spencer was young and asked me one day ” Mom, did they have toast when you were a kid”?…sheesh!

All the rooms are in order but we have accomplished this by filling the back garden under the pergola with all the crap that we don’t want or which needs to go in the shed which was full of stuff when got here and currently looks like someone picked it up and shook it upside down so none of our stuff is going in there just now.  We’ll get to that when we get to it though.  When the movers were here I told Dave ( in a moment of craziness!) that I’d be happy if we were all settled in by next January so I guess we’re well ahead of schedule.

Moving day at last!

A wall full of bookshelves in the study. They'll soon be filled!

We're loving the interesting details in our old house, like this vacant/occupied sign on the door of the loo

Trying to get the kitchen together the first night we quickly realised that the high cabinets were just not going to cut it

That's better! All we needed was 5 hours at Ikea

Taija hanging out in the kitchen looking to be fed

Dave had a birthday on Saturday. I would say he celebrated it but he refused any celebration or acknowledgment of it .  Yesterday we had a nice Sunday family outing to Brockwell Park which is just a short walk from the house.  It’s a great little park for the kids to ride scooters in and will be good for walking our dog ( when we finally get one).

Our thoughts now turn to Robbie Burns suppers at the local pub, Spencer’s upcoming birthday and a trip to Paris for Jesse’s birthday next month.

Now that I’m back online and pretty settled in I must get better at updating more often so I can spare  you, dear reader ( and myself!)  the these mondo-posts.

The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy, so here’s a catch-up!  Tracy will likely be on later to get you all a more warm and fuzzy update along with pics.

22-Dec – Spencer and I headed out of the flat early with a Van load of all the stuff we were not taking to Wales for the holiday.  Our plan was to go to the lettings agent office, sign the final paperwork, and pick up keys for the house, then drop off our load, zip back up to Maida vale and pick up the rest of the family.  The only small glitch in our execution was that I got slightly turned around after crossing the Vauxhall Bridge.  We eventually found the place, and were still earlier than we needed to be…so plenty of time.  We got our keys, and Spence and I headed over to the house…he was pretty excited since he was the first of the family other than Tracy and I to see the inside of the house.  I gave him a quick tour, but we needed to get going since check-out time was upon us.  We left the cleaners in peace.

The kids were super excited to get to see the inside of the house.  We’d driven by the weekend before after we bought our new 1997 Toyota Previa, but it was dark and you couldn’t see much.  They all got to roam around a bit, and all agreed with the choices of rooms we had made for them.  The only hold-out was Taija.  She wasn’t happy at all with the house, let alone her rather small room.  Now, in fairness, she has a room that’s probably 10×11 (small for America, but could easily hold a double bed) and she has a loft bed (meaning, all of that 10×11 is hang-out space for her desk, chair, stuff)…she was disappointed because it had carpet (she wanted wood) and…oh, the reasons were endless.

Getting through that, we were ready to head out of the city to Wales.  The drive (according to Google) should be slightly under 4 hours.  We were getting away about an hour later than I wanted to be…but it was all good…we had a place to be for the holidays that had some furniture.  We found the way, and although I’m sure the drive was beautiful, it so overcast that the light didn’t last long once the sun went down at about 3:50…I hadn’t realized exactly how short the days are this far north of the equator.  We made our final 50 miles in darkness, which made navigating the single lane Welsh roads somewhat of a challenge.  We eventually found the place, key hidden under the flower pot, and settled in.  Since we hadn’t had room in the car for food, Taija and I took off to find a store in Carmarthen (apparently only a few miles away) that was still open to stock-up…luckily my urban planning skills held, and I found the giant Tesco Extra.

Anyway, we settled into life in Wales very easily…enough beds for all.  It was a little strange being on someone else’s farm, in the middle of horses and pigs and cats and sheep, but it was all we had expected…and perfect for what we needed.  We spent the first few days getting ready for Christmas, having Christmas, having our big boxing day feast (turkey and all the trimmings on Christmas day has fallen out of fashion for us).  After Boxing day, we headed out to explore a bit of Carmarthenshire, and we found the ruins of a castle not far away…one that had been built about 900 years ago, and destroyed by an attack by Edward I of England.  We also found a more modern monument to the glory of Lord Admiral Nelson (built in the 1700’s it was still pretty cool).  Then we moved on to a 1000 years old Abbey…we had a lovely day…although the bitter cold had settled in, so our time out of the car was briefer than we would have liked.

The day before we left we headed over to The White Hart Thatched Inn and Brewery for Sunday roast…which was brilliant.  The place was built 600 years or so, and it was pretty cool to be just hanging out there with so much history surrounding us…and our kind of history too…pub history!

29-Dec – Move in day!  We made it back to the house with 10 minutes to spare…the movers were already staked out in front of the house, and it didn’t take us long to get them working.  We all bundled up seeing that the heat in the house had been turned way down for a week, and the weather had turned bitterly cold…having the door open for the entire day wasn’t going to help things.  The movers unloaded our two trucks in the first day, and then returned to unpack some stuff, and assemble some others the next morning.

It took fully three days for the ambient temperature of the house to get up to a reasonable 20, and the thermostat to kick off.  I’ve programmed the boiler to stay on 24 hours for the next while until it stops being January weather.

30-Dec – Our first shopping trip for stuff for the house.  We spend an unbelievable 5 hours at IKEA…apparently just like casino in Vegas, the lack of windows must be accompanied by pure Oxygen to keep shoppers full of energy.  We got a bunch of stuff for Taija’s room and a whole heap of stuff for the kitchen in order to make it work for us.  We had plans to do some other shopping but when we got out (in the dark) and noticed it was 6 o’clock, the wind left our sails and we headed home to unload and get some dinner.

31-Dec – Tracy, Jesse and I headed up to find an ASDA (part of the Wal-Mart family) to get the hors d’œuvres for our New Years feast.  Exploring other areas of London has become quite a habit of ours.  That done (another 4 hours shopping) we settled into an evening of games, food, drink and cheer.  We were even able to enjoy some neighbour’s fireworks at midnight.

1-Jan – We’ve really spent the last week mostly just getting things unpacked, and working through the house room by room.  It’s really coming together very well, and very quickly.  The only unpacked boxes remain in the study which has become the catch all as we put the rest of the rooms in order.  The house is more amazing that we remembered from our brief visit, and the more we find out about our neighbourhood, the happier we are with our choice.  We seem to have found the biggest pocket of homeschooler’s in London, we have met a few of our neighbours already, and they’re all super friendly and happy here…some having lived here about 25 years.  There are decent shops on our local high street, and two blocks down the road on the other side of the tracks is West Norwood high street which is even better.  All the kids are super comfortable here, and the lack of a telly has been good for them for a while  The three littles got Nintendo DSes for Christmas, and we’re finding that having such easy access to a video game system has done exactly what I’ve been predicting…it’s just another thing to occupy some of their time.  They more often than we thought put them down to move on to something else.

Today we’re packing up in preparation for Monday when we’ll take whatever isn’t going with us to Wales over to the new house and let the kids finally see it.  We’re hoping to be heading off to Wales around noon on the 22nd.  We need to make everything that is going to the house fit in one trip and then somehow make everything that’s going to Wales fit in our new car with us along with all of us which is no easy task.   Yes, you read that right…we did get a car!   Dave found an awesome Toyota Previa on Ebay and went and picked it up last weekend.  It cost just over what we would have spent for a rental for our week in Wales and now we’ve got wheels to get us to France and to do some shopping for large items that we need to replace like a TV.

The new car! Not a good shot because I tried to get it at night in the pouring rain when the kids were getting in to go to the movies, but there it is.

Terran out for the first ride in the new van.

Jess out for a ride ( also this seems to be the last pre-haircut shot of him!)

We took the new van for a spin last Saturday down to Streatham to the cinema.  We all went to see Inkheart and drove the kids by the new house and around our new neighbourhood since they hadn’t see in.  Seeing the house made them even more eager to be able to go inside and check it out!

We’ve had a a lot of fun down here in the heart of the city and seen some fabulous sites.  We managed to take in a few attractions and museums and see a few cool things.

Some highlights

• The V&A Museum
• The Science Museum
• The Natural History Museum
• A walk along the Mall and up to Buckingham Palace
• Winterwonderland in Hyde Park as well as feeding birds and squirrels there.
• St. James Park
• Trafalgar Square
• We got to see the London Eye, Madam Toussaud’s and a bunch of other stuff but haven’t fully experienced those yet. They are still on the to-do list!

Here’s a massive photo recap of our time in Westminster.

Fun in Trafalgar Square

A rare shot of Mr Aidan looking happy about this whole adventure. A pic from one of the late night parties he and Terran have been having lately.

Sir Havelock in Trafalgar Square...not having a good day

Kids hanging out on one of the Lions in Trafalgar Square. There are so many people waiting to have their pics taken here that you have to queue up.

The Nativity Scene in the Square...who knew Uncle Jay was a shepherd?

The statue of Admiral Nelson as seen from below

The full view of Admiral Nelson

Our first glimpse of the Palace Guards on our walk along the Mall on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

Palace Gates

The Canada gate at Buckingham Palace

Some of the kids walking around in front of Buckingham Palace

This shot pretty much sums up Aidan's feelings about " another day walking around looking at old buildings" Note all our shadows, that's us all standing around waiting for Aidan to cheer up and come get hot cocoa with us.

Terran was having a much better time than Aidan

Playing in St. James Park

Taija riding a snail in St. James Park...not the fastest way to travel

Aidan captured this action shot of the zillions of pigeons in the "bird feeding area" in St. James Park

Taija got this beautiful shot of Big Ben as we walked up the street

Dave got this great shot of the London Eye from the bridge in St. James park while the kids were checking out the waterfowl

Another great shot by Aidan

Another look at the London Eye from across the Thames. More of Taija's good camera work

Jesse walking the busy streets of London, totally in his element

The kids checking out the War Memorial at Victoria Embankment just before we headed home for the day. Dave and Aidan made Sunday Roast

Taija goofing around at the War Memorial...such a great shot!

We had an awesome Sunday afternoon strolling around the city. We started at Trafalgar Square and made our way up the Mall which is closed to traffic on Sundays and then to Buckingham Palace.  Aidan had had enough of ‘boring stuff’ so we walked to St. James Park where we found a nice little playground and a place to get some hot cocoa and Americanos for Dave and I.  We strolled with our bevvies up through the park and eventually made our way to Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster and then on to Victoria Embankment for a quick look the Thames before heading home on the Tube for our Sunday Roast dinner made by Dave and his eager sous chef Aidan and to curl up and watch Star Wars together.  It was a great day and I think even Aidan managed to have at least a little fun. ( though he’d deny it if you asked him)

In an attempt to fill our days here at the flats Jesse and I keep dragging the kids out to “boring museums full of old stuff”  We visited the Science Museum, The Natural History Museum and the V&A ( Victoria and Albert).  I discovered that the littles enjoy it slightly more if they can take pictures so we have lots of photos from our museum visits. Unfortunately our old camera died with photos from the first two museums on it so we’ve only got pics from the V&A to share.

A carving of the initials V and A in the railing

Taija's favourite dress from the exhibit

Taija actually enjoyed this museum as it houses an exhibit of the history of fashion and she is all about fashion these days!  She had a great time running around snapping photos of all the different dresses and shoes.  I’ve promised to take her back without her brothers so she can sit and sketch all the pieces while I sip an Americano and read a magazine.  That sounds like a perfect day!

A view of the V&A from the back garden

A HUGE piece of Chihuly glass hanging in the main foyer which was so cool to see here after just leaving the Tacoma area.

a beautiful and ornately carved archway that was in a big room that looked like it was full of a bunch of stuff getting ready for a new exhibit.

A very old chair made of entirely of antlers except for the seat. The kids were fascinated byt this one!

Aidan took this cool pic of the gorgeous tiled floor