London Zoo

Another short, busy weekend has passed.  Now its Monday morning and its time to get ready for work and school (and another long day of Mummy and Ben).

Yesterday we took the kids to the London Zoo.  Its not a particularly large zoo (maybe comparable to the Philadelphia Zoo) but we still didn't get to see everything.  Susanna loves reading maps, and immediately identified the butterfly house and wasn't interested in much of anything that we wanted to look at on the way.  We started in the aquarium, then the reptile house, then gorillas.  If I could get her to slow down and actually look, she was a bit interested, but she was more interested in keeping up with Ben (who was hardly interested at all) and Daddy.

She identified the butterfly house from its picture on the map and we spent several long minutes admiring the butterflies.  Once again none stopped to check her out.  We then walked through a good bug exhibit and saw all kinds of creepy crawlies (of course I see those everyday in my house!)  The anteater was MIA and the tigers were sleeping, but the camels were good for a quick visit.

Susanna's favorite part of the day was petting the animals (sheep and goats) in the Children's Zoo.  Ben's favorite part was the fish.  (There were no ducks or I'm sure they'd have been the real favorite!)

You say to-mah-to, I say to-may-to

Susanna is starting to develop just a tiny bit of an accent.  When she says certain words we can definintely hear it.  Like tomato, for example.  Every day at school all kids under age 7 are offered fresh fruit as part of a government eat-more-fruit scheme.  Its usually bananas (or ba-nah-nas), apples, oranges, or tomatos.  Susanna was surprised the first time tomatos were served - she didn't realize they were fruit!  Occasionally there are veggies, too - today she had beans.

I imagine that her accent will continue to develop over time as she learns letter sounds, phonics, and reading at school.  No accent for Ben yet...

Babyccino

Ben loves going for coffee with me.  Of course that is because there is usually a treat in it for him, to keep him amused while I enjoy my drink.  Ben knows the Starbucks logo and can spot it from a mile away.  He is also quickly becoming familiar with Costa, which is also common in these parts.

It recently came to my attention that Costa sells a drink called "babyccino," which is basically warm milk with lots of froth on top.  I suggested that Ben try this and he wasn't too sure.  Yesterday we stopped at Costa for a drink and I ordered him one.  It comes in a small but "real" cup - very grown up.  At first he thought it was too hot, but after I added chocolate from the shaker and a straw, he became more interested and slurped it down.  This morning we had to stop in at the big grocery store in town, which has a Starbucks cafe.  Ben had a babyccino again and this time liked it even better - must be an acquired taste!  

On the drive home, I asked whether he like Starbucks or Costa better.  His answer?  "Oregon Dairy in Brownstown!"  

Photos from Tam's visit

We just got some photos from Visitor #1.  Here are a few for you to enjoy!

Ben and I at the model village.

How do you like Ben's shirt?
Susanna in her summer dress (excuse the hair - long day at school!)

Rolling up the hill

Happy Monday!

We have had a busy weekend – I’m looking forward to the school week to have a chance to rest!

Yesterday we went to visit some friends who live a little over an hour away.  Once there we all decided to go to a nearby place called Knebworth House, a 16^th century Tudor mansion with extensive grounds that include gardens, a dinosaur trail, a train ride, and a big park with lots of play equipment and a bouncy castle.  It was a lovely place to spend a Sunday afternoon and the weather was very nice as well.  At one point the kids spotted a big hill that other kids were rolling down.  All the kids (my two and a friend) climbed to the top, but Ben was the only one interested in rolling down.  He could quite get himself in the right position to roll down the hill, and ended up doing a lot of sideways rolling and at one point even rolled up the hill.  It was very funny to watch.  Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera.

All the kids (and adults) had a great time and were exhausted by the end of the afternoon.  The drive home was about an hour and a half, through back roads, some of which were very narrow.  At one point Ben announced that he had to use the toilet, and within 30 seconds, we came across a shopping centre that included a Toys R Us.  What great timing Ben has!  Lucky for us it was still open (until 5 on Sundays – we were there about 4:40) and after going potty Ben found a kids’ cricket set to buy.  He is very interested in cricket right now – unfortunately Brad and I don’t know much about it so its hard to teach him!  It is similar to baseball, I think, with a bat (a bit different from baseball) and ball – Ben held the bat and Brad tried to hit it with the ball and Ben was happy.

As of today we have exactly one more month of school – the end is in sight!

Summer fayre

Tonight we went to a summer fayre at Susanna's school.  It was a very nice evening.  They had inflatables, kids games, hamburgers and sausages, and other assorted stalls.  It was fun to see the different games - pig races, lucky dip, mystery jars, and chocolate tombola.  Susanna had fun running through it all with some of her new friends.  Brad enjoyed a beer and also won a bottle of wine (actually I think Ben won the wine).  Ben also won a bean bag toss game with the high score for the night in the under-5 age category.  I worked for a bit at a tile painting stall and unfortunately was the one on duty when a paint pen exploded and a girl got paint all over her pretty dress and sweater.  Hopefully it will wash out.

Susanna continues to do well at school.  Her reading is getting better everyday.  She does come home very tired, but she's happy.  Each week a child in each class is "Star of the Week", and this week Susanna won the honor.  She is very excited about that!

We have a busy weekend planned.  Tomorrow Ben has football, Susanna has a birthday party, and we all have a BBQ with another family.  On Sunday, we have plans to visit another friend who lives about an hour away.  And of course I have to catch up on laundry and find time to buy some groceries.  Thinking about all this is making me feel very tired.  Hope you all have a good weekend.  Goodnight!

The deer came back (see previous post)

I just finished a post about all the lovely wildlife in and outside of our house, and once again, I saw the baby deer!

This time I managed to get the camera.  The picture is a bit fuzzy because I took it through the glass - didn't want to open the door - even so the deer didn't like being photographed.  It retreated into the hedges at the back of the garden and didn't come back out.

Here it is.

Going buggy

Have I mentioned how many little critters we have in this house?  I know every house has its share, but I've never seen quite so many in any house I've lived in.  For starters, there are the potato bugs (at least I think that's what they're called).  Anytime I go in the kitchen I see at least one crawling along the floor.  Sometimes I see them in other rooms as well.  Some are quite big, some are very small...  For the most part I leave those alone since they usually stick to the floor (at least they did - now that I'm writing about it, it will probably change!)  Then there are the spiders.  Again, some quite small, some rather large.  Some very leggy, some are meaty.  I  have a harder time being generous with the spiders.  I know that spiders enjoy eating the other bugs, but I still don't like them, particularly in or near the bedrooms.  However, I don't really like going after them either.  Since the windows don't have screens, we also get a nice selection of flying insects, including yellow jackets and loud buzzing house flies.  

Outside the house, in the back garden, we've seen some slightly more interesting wildlife.  There is always a magpie or two picking at the grass (I imagine finding lots of yummy bugs!)  We also have bunnies, and we've even seen a red fox and a baby deer, who entered through a hole in the fence.  The baby deer even left a little "present" for us by the shed!

Spiderman!

Light and dark

England has a lot of daylight hours.  We are realizing this when we wake up to a bright and sunny day, then look at the clock and realize that is just after 5 in the morning.  Of course all this sunlight is an effective alarm clock for the kids, who are usually awake sometime around 6.  In the evening, it doesn't get truly dark until about 10 - its shortly after nine right now and still quite light out.  Fortunately the kids don't have trouble falling asleep with the light.  I do love all the windows in this house, but I think I need to add black-out curtains to the shopping list.  The kids (not to mention Brad and I) really don't get enough sleep and its starting to take its toll.

Speaking of lack of sleep, I am still recovering from my two later-than-usual nights with our visitor.  On the second night she was here, we went to London to see Wicked.  It was as good as I expected, if not better.  I actually didn't know what to expect.  Of course I knew it was a prequel to the Wizard of Oz and had to do with the Wicked Witch of the West, but I didn't know anything about the actual story.  So the whole thing was full of surprises for me, and I loved it.  I also love that you can buy ice cream in the actual theatre at intermission.  I had chocolate.

First visitor

We have our first visitor this week.  A friend of Brad's from working in Harrisburg is in Europe on holiday, and has made a two-day stop at our place.  Its been fun having someone else around, and for me it means two nights out in a row!  Last night we went to dinner at a pub in town, and tonight we are taking the train to London to see Wicked.  I am very excited for that!

This past Sunday we went into London (the family) to go see Dragon Boat races.  This was quite a trip from home - the train to London, two underground trains, then another train called the Docklands Light Railway, or the DLR.  We basically started out northwest of London and ended up southeast of the city.  The DLR is a driver-less train, and we got lucky on the way there and got front row seats for the kids.  They had a great time looking out and pretending to drive.  I think that was really the highlight of the day - getting there is half the fun (at least!)  The Dragon Boat races were interesting to watch - long thin boats with a big drum (and a guy beating it) and a dragon head on the front.  Across the water from where we watched was the London City Airport, thus we had the added bonus of seeing some planes take off and land.  The also had inflatables for the kids to jump on, and apparently some good Chinese food, but we had  stopped at a restaurant on our way and weren't hungry for more than ice cream. 

Here is a photo of the kids sitting at the front of the train.

TGIF

Another week is over.  I'm definitely ready for the weekend!  Our plans include some shopping for more house stuff (like hooks and pillows - exciting) and maybe a trip into London on Sunday.  

Today Ben and I had a busy day going to cooking class and then to the model village down the road.  He is getting quite comfortable at cooking class.  The first thing he said to both teachers this morning is that he will be getting a new toenail.  He squished his big toe in the bathroom door at our apartment over a month ago, and its close to falling off.  He did pretty well with the cooking, though he doesn't seem to like getting his hands messy (but he loves to make rock and dirt cakes in the back garden).  He also isn't very interested in trying what he makes, but I always enjoy it!

After cooking we went to the model village to see the trains and play at the playground there.  He spent a longer than usual amount of time looking at the trains and everything else, then had a good time at the playground.  We can't go there without having a popsicle, and its usually the same one, a strawberry Mini Milk.

While playing outside this evening, Susanna found a little snail in a pretty shell.  She enjoyed holding it and examining it, and watching it move around.  Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

Pretty snail.

Snail doesn't like being put on the leaf.
Leaving a trail of slime.

Such a gentleman

Over the past week or so, Ben has taken to occasionally opening the car doors for Susanna and me.  He is very sweet about it - opening one of our doors first, then his own.  He has been very independent about opening his own door for a while, both when getting into and out of the car.  I'm really not sure where he got the idea to open doors for the ladies, but I love the chivalry!

Rainy day

Today is one of the rainiest days we've had since moving here.  We all got soaked taking Susanna to school despite our rain coats and wellies.  I took the back way to school (Single Track Road) without even considering the possibility of the road being washed out until I was about to turn onto it.  Fortunately it was fine and I didn't even get stuck in the mud when I pulled into a ditch for another car to pass.  I am starting to like this back road (this one in particular) - not too many dangerous 90 degree turns, and its just like driving through a forest.  Sometimes I do have to back up to let other cars or trucks pass - I can't believe some the big trucks that drive these roads - they barely fit!

Back to school

Today Susanna went back to school.  I think she was glad to go back and play with her friends.  She seems to have had a good day and came home very tired.  Ben was axious to go pick her up all day.

Yesterday was Open Farm Sunday in England, where various farms open to the public.  Each farm has its own list of activities and displays.  We picked a farm called Hill Farm about 45 minutes away in Oxfordshire.  It was a really nice drive through little villages with lots of thatched-roof houses.  At the farm, they had food samples (actually from a supermarket!), a vegetable lottery game (the kids both won some carrots), and some animals to look at.  Ben loved the mama cow with her two babies, and Susanna like the baby lambs.  It wasn't quite as exciting as Oregon Dairy Farm Days, but it was a nice little activity on a Sunday afternoon.  

We've been here for nearly two months now - the time has certainly gone fast.  Ben seems to be getting much more settled here... maybe staying in the same house for over a month now has helped!  He still mentions old friends once in a while, but also talks a lot about new friends he's met.  Susanna continues to do very well - her adjustment seemed much quicker, perhaps because she could actually understand about moving and leaving her friends.  She still thinks about old friends and makes pictures for them occasionally, but she is also getting better with the names of her new classmates, which is nice to see.  We haven't gotten her involved with any extra-curricular activities yet - at this point, going to school all day is probably enough for her.  In the fall, we'll see what she's most interested in and start looking for classes for her.

Here are a few photos from yesterday:

Ben's favorites.

Three-day-old lamb getting a snack.
Something familiar.