Thought about Kew garden..

Then we lost motivation..


And went to the pub for dinner, the girls needed a day off..



O and Noni at the pub.





Jen and P



Drinks came with knotted straws






Fried foccasia balls..panzarotti- BooYah. Delicious at the girls new favorite restaurant. Bistro George. It's no bronco billy's but will do in a pinch.

Princess dianna' playground.. Where I lost my mind

The girls and I split up from Jen and Mom. They headed to Waterloo station on the rail and the girls and I took the bus to the tube. Not too shabby.

We caught the bus to the end of the line. Found Houndslow East. The tube is actually making sense if you stare at it for hours and plot tirelessly not to get lost. And If you do, don't admit it or a six year old will consistently ask at each stop "Are You SURE we're not supposed to get out here" while you're eight year old will tell you how much "getting lost freaks me out" over and over and..

Anyhow it was only one wrong stop.

We trundled up to Kensington park. Found the playground and spent five hours there. That's right, that's how we roll on vacation. Extreme play grounding. Have to tell you it totally rocked.



Beautiful huge pirate ship, tons of greenery all around. Teepees. A flowing stream, slides all enclosed.


Did I know it was all enclosed? No, not until I lost sight of the two of them and started looking like a crazy person calling their names. Finally a mom next to me told me it was all enclosed. Went up to the front booth, and I quote "they're on the playground".

She was right.

Took me another 3 minutes to find them (longest three minutes of. My. Life). They were in the hull of the ship happy as clams. I was so relieved and vowed to have them tattooed with my cell phone #.

Mom and Jen tried to meet us but they wouldn't let them in the park with out kids. We came out and I lent them mine. (Check for moms email about their day.) I got 10 minutes of peace. Of course I got fleeced at the carrousel again but it was worth getting the kids out of the park with out a fight. And again, what's with the speed? They're blurry because they're in warp drive.



Made it home safely, missed being in the front 4 cars.. Missed our stop. Which set off a peel of "where the heck are we.. Are we lost AGAIN?" Holy mole I am tired.

And so it goes. Dennis just walked through the door. Happy to have him home. He's happy to be in a cool house.

Love from abroad,

Sarah

A day of waiting.

It was a much nicer day, it stormed hail and rain, complete with thunder and lightening. The girls were a bit freaked out but loved watching the rain. But so much cooler.

Jen was due in at 7:10 and landed at 10:30. 3 hours on the tarmac with a medical emergency, then they couldn't get the cargo door shut. Mom at 10, both delayed by 3 hours. We didn't see the whites of their eyes until 2pm. They both arrived at different terminals and finally met up at terminal five. Cab to our house where mom spilled the bad news. Peanut butter was confiscated by TSA. Doh! Wah wah waaaah.

The girls cracked out on TV while we plotted the next few days. After prying Mom off the couch we took the bus to Richmond for dinner Wagamama! You guys will have to fill me in on your favorites, cause mine was pretty bland.



A fountain in Richmond, proof mom made it.




Bused home hit the corner store for milk and I'm pretty sure Jen and mom are toast. Mom's composing her version via email.

Just for reference, mines true. :)

All the best,

Sarah

I'm melting.. Melting

You know the SNL skit from the 80's where Tammy Faye Baker says "demonic raisins I rebuke you" and her mascara runs down her shirt? You tube Church Lady

Anyhow, i don't know how anyone around here can wear make up at all. within 3 minutes of walking outside, I felt like very pore on my face had magically opened up and emptied trickling into a river of sweat that pooled at my ankles. I was imagining my how my ankles would look with eye liner. Okay, so hallucinatingly hot.

Dennis left for Munich yesterday. I felt bad he had to go to work until he emailed me this:


Seriously? The beer is as big as his head.

The girls and I crawled out into the heat and headed for a bus stop. The buses here aren't air conditioned. Think Indiana Jones when they open the Ark.

Found a park along the way. The girls came back for water after 2 minutes and asked to leave. It was too hot. We jumped a bus for Richmond the place Dennis said reminded him of Berkeley. Found a movie theatre and a few second hand shops to browse. O found a jr. Scrabble game and P was upset I wouldn't let her get a ragged looking belle costume. We kept on going - I've found I can get the girls moving with the phrase 'they might have ice cream'. We found a boat repair place along the river, wild looking shops (no shoes yet Brandi!) and finally found an ice cream shop. Both were happy and cool enough to endure the bus ride home.

We came home and both kids flopped on the couch. We headed outa later in the evening around 6 for dinner and milk. Found out the grocery shop owner has a sister in Union City. Small world gets smaller.

P ended up in my bed last night. Like a mollusk that child had either a hand, butt or foot attached to me at all times that night. I built a wall of pillows down the middle she literally -in her sleep- sat up, sighed and dramatically splayed across so she could reach me. It's been a long night.

Got on FB this morning, Jens flight had an emergency landing in Canada because someone got sick. Hopefully they'll be here soon.

Hope you all are well, I've finally figured out how to reply to your comments (duh).

A six hour tour

Late start yesterday, the girls crashed hard and rebooted to London time! Yippee!

We thought of doing Lego land, but it's 2 hours to get there and we wouldn't have had time to enjoy it - so something quick? A big bus tour! How long could it take? Never mind it's hotter than Dante's second level..let's go!

Trained in to Waterloo station, hopped off and picked up the bus. Easy Peary lemon squeezie. Head phones in we started the tour. No one told us Rod Stewart was playing in the Kensington park and traffic would be a nightmare. So slowly slowly we dragged around, finally realizing how long the tour would take.

The kids were wide eyed at the Free Tibet protest and counter protest by Chinese nationals. Unfortunately they were blocking the entrance to Wagamama noodle shop- the place so many of you have recommended to us. So lunch at a Bistro where it was in the 90's and not an ice cube to be found. Now, I promised not to bitch about mayonnaise, but seriously? Hot dogs on pizza? What's could be worse you ask? Dennis ordered it and loved it. Meh I say, meh.

After a couple wrong turns and pop into Harrods (air conditioning, potties) out to the street, poring sheets of sweat we found our way to the big bus tour with the live guide and prayed we would make it back to Waterloo. It had been a long day. For some reason we had passed Big Ben four times. Interesting factoids (or, what stuck in my head)

- the Churchill statue is electrified to keep pigeons away
- 2000£ fine for feeding pigeons in London
- if they didn't control the pigeons the acid in their poop would erode the monuments. (ew)
- London bridge once took 80 men to operate.
- it's hard to concentrate with a 6 year old talking non stop for six hours.

There's so much more we learned, it was truly amazing.

Made it back to the station had an hour to kill spent it trying to figure out how to recognize our train line. Of course when we figured it out, hopped on and finally settled- P had to pee. Mad dash to the bathroom, 30 pence to pee and a mad dash back- think of doing a 100 yard dash in a sauna-all was well. The train was hot, we were a sticky mess by the time we got home.

Last night was rough P and O have decided that sleeping together involves relentlessly talking and tormenting each other. Might have to invest in an air mattress.

Today Dennis soldiers out to Munich taking an afternoon flight. He'll be gone for a couple days. I have to learn how to properly lock the door, reload my Oyster card and find a real grocery store.

Tomorrow Mom and Jenny arrive. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Guess who..

Finally got out of the house around 10. Found the rail station literally 5 minutes from the house in Islesworth. Funnily enough named.. Islesworth. Hopped on and headed to Waterloo.. I'll wait while you sing the Abba song... (and pause for the young ones to google it)

Back? Okay then, station was a breeze slid out and found the Eye no problemo. Dennis took one for the team and went to buy the tickets. Ten minutes later, as he was next in line, they evacuated the building. Mr. Jeske channeling his "Keep Calm and Carry On" attitude moved us away from the building eschewing my need for postcards. (thats why you haven't gotten one yet). Really. So, we moved 10 feet to the playground and to wait at the crosswalk for a "Mr. Softy" ice cream truck. Dennis thought this dire situation called for sugaring up the kids. (Because that's what you want to do before locking yourself hundreds of feet in the air in a confined space, um, that's always my first thought too-not.)

When people were let back into the building, I drew the short straw. Had to stand with the crush of humanity and differing understandings of 'personal space'. Good news my credit card works; Bad news, my credit card was charged for the worlds slowest ferris wheel. I kid, I kid..Honestly, it was neat, would have liked to have a reference some how of what all we saw from above. The girls were thrilled even P who said 'I'm afraid of heights' hung on to the rail and was enchanted.

The whole experience lasted 35 minutes or so, and then we passed a bunch of street performers - those who know me would be proud. I didn't scream or throw anything at the mime!

Went to the nearby park, guess who we ran into..






Charlie Chaplin filmed a few of his movies in the Niles canyon by our house in CAlifornia, Pretty cool.

And if you look closely you can see Darth Vader to the left behind him.

The girls and Dennis rode what had to be the fastest carousel ever. Had to be booking at around 5 rotations a minute. We had lunch at the station, great baguette sandwiches then trained home for a nap.

Wandered through the st. Johns church faire up the lane, wish I had gone earlier they had BOOKS.

We also noticed the next door is a B & B of some sort, will have to find if we can stash my brother there when they visit. But I cannot find it anywhere online. Yes, I know I could just walk 2 feet, but I'm so addicted to google and convinced that if isn't online it doesn't exist.

We went out and tried the local pizzeria. Both girls approve. We did take away, so I don't know if we would have been chastised for not using forks (We'll let you know Eileen!)

Hope you're well- it's 8:45 and we're taping the girls eyes open until 9..wish us good sleep vibes.

- Sarah


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Red room

The girls are eating.. Wait for it.. Rice Krispies. I wish I had followed my instincts and brought a couple cereal boxes.

Made it out to the corner shop. The Indian gentleman threw in a couple boxes of chocolate pretzels for the girls- those pockey things. I think it was a gift of gratitude we were leaving his shop without P declaring everything in his shop as COOL.

Dennis hit the chip shop. We dined on kebobs, fish and chips and .. Toast. The girls are slow to warm up to any new foods, so my expectations are not high, but I figure if they're hungry enough they'll at least try new foods.



Here's where I'm blogging from. The door behind me leads to the living room-this post brought to you by Peets. Thank you for caffeine.




And this door behind to the third bedroom. View from opposite direction.

We did meet our neighbors Manuella and Ray. Very nice. Though she did mention how "lovely and quiet" this place is.. perhaps it was due to my kids running amuck in the driveway? I'll have to think about that..lol

Will post more later today.

Much love!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

30 thousand feet

So, not at my best but the kids seem to be surviving. I had packed treats in their school lunch bags expecting to dole them out as necessary. P thought the first 15 minutes of flight it was "necessary" to eat as much as possible. O was more discerning, happy to eat all the cashews and chocolate chips from my trail mix - there by insuring she'd have treats on the other side

I had forgotten to ask Dennis to book kids meals for the kids, but surprisingly both tried lasagna and liked it. Airplane food.. Who knew? Perhaps also, because we stated no cheese cake until they ate some.

I should probably back up and talk about the obnoxious passenger 2 rows ahead of us. Toooootally ticked off French dude, mad because his family was not seated together. Almost got into a fight with this poor man behind him because his kid was kicking the seat. Thought we might have return to the gate. Total bad behavior. Quick update, he was scolded by the steward, ran up to business class to complain 3 times. Total toad.

The girls have been swell, I have a feeling jet lag is going to be brutal. It's 8 pm CA time and the sugar high continues..

Best travel accessory has been my Zen class over the seat tray zipper pouch. Cut down on my under the seat grabs by 90%. Well that and the iPad. The entertainment unit crashed and had to be rebooted and the kids just grabbed out iPad and were happy as clams. If I had a chocolate chip left, I'd be a happy camper..

We have 6:16 more to go.. I hope to pass out soon.

UPDATE: P slept for 6 hours, O, Dennis and I an accumulated 15 minutes. Brutal, but we're here. House is amazing with a couple of "holy mole's" thrown in..



The girls and Dennis are sacked out. Sky TV has Garfield.




Our bedroom window..

More when ive had sleep and can complete sentences
-Sarah

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I've got my Rick Steves' bag packed. One bag and a carry on. I'm a firm believer in traveling lite but with two kids.. I'm having issues. Now Dennis is on his second suit case, "I'm going for work too" mmmm hmmm.

We've always had differing view of travel ie.
Me:"Let's go, we can stay in a hostel and have a great time, it will only cost us $25 -go pack clean underpants!"
Dennis "Let's go, we can stay at a five star hotel and have hot water and a real bed!"

See where there could be conflict? I think you can. My grime tolerance is way higher and my cheapness in ingrained (thanks Dad!) And when I came home with Travel Towels for the whole family I handed him one after a shower and got; "I hate them with the burning intensity of a Thousand Suns". I'm pretty sure that means he didn't like it - but I'm packing them any way.

Our digs for our trip is going to be in an old church in Isleworth . Three bedrooms, and a hedge row! My mom is coming over next Tuesday. Turns out she's told a "few" people. People I don't even know (or have forgotten I know) came up in the past couple months -
"I hear you're going to London,"
'um, who are you?'
And I'm actually eternally grateful she'll be there, as much flack as I've given her. She's the best. And I'm sucking up big time because I have dreams of actually being able to go out with my husband on a date. Woo hoo!

We're heading to the airport at 2pm. I have to get my watch battery replaced before then. Other than that I think we're good to go! Will post more on the other side of the pond.

~ Sarah

Errand Ninja

Thanks Ms. Gail for watching my cherubs this morning. Went out and stocked up on all the stuff that we 'had to have' and I know, I know, they have tylenol and tampons over there.. I just don't want to spend my time at the pharmacy looking for it.

So to Walgreens, Cost Plus, filled up the tank, up to score some new shoes (because when you're doing a massive amount of walking - who doesn't want new shoes?) and of course to the bank. Cha-ching. Now down to brass tacks and trying to remember not to put >3oz of liquids in my carry on. I figure I have 4 water bottles I'll just pack empty. I'm also packing a few of my reusable grocery sacks so I should be all green.

And in full disclosure I am going full coffee snob and taking 2lbs of Peets. I consider it a safety measure for my children. "Coffee makes Mommy a better person". Sadly, true.

The girls are packed. I'm on the fence about some stuff.. Do I pack bike helmets? Or can we rent them? Do they wear them? Should I throw in a ball? Q-tips? What have I forgotten ...

I'm re-dying the teal. P comes at me with, "But I told you I didn't like it". Well then. Don't do it to your own head then darling.








Mr. Dennis is was getting his visa today. Haven't heard from him, assuming the best.

And so it begins

Oh the first post!

Here I am surrounded by 4 open suitcases and a pile of cherub underpants that my 6 year old handed to me and said, "you asked for it". Yep- that about sums it up.

We're going to London. Dennis came home one night and said the head person of that office had resigned. And me, always sick with wanderlust said "GO TELL HIM WE'LL GO". He did as a total lark.. next thing you know the dude said 'yes'.

From that point, it hasn't been so smooth; visa's have been delayed, we just got housing today and plane tickets were just purchased. We leave in two days and it's just hit me.

Here I have my "Mommies." The ones I call to go to the pool, the park, the library. I know their kids and the rhythms of the neighborhood. I'm excited but not looking forward to trying to fit in and find those temporary friends. I'm going to rely heavily on the girls to do my all the work, praying I won't have to admonish "No, no, no. not the with the girls with the nanny".

Anyhow, Niles and greater Fremont, and Greater tri-city friends (oh and family) will be missed. I'll try to slide some links here and there for the library events - shout out to Sally, Lila and Mr. Ken at our branch. Woot woot

We'll miss our dog. Senor Fluffy pants aka Cody will be in good hands- and Julia -apologies for the late night howling, his pensive sighs near the door and his sweaty little body that will certainly overheat even on the coldest of days.

I'd better get back to packing before Dennis finds out I'm goofing off (again).

Much love from all four of us..