We put Grandma to work!

Well, we have had lots of excitement around here... and amazingly enough, it's really starting to look like home.  E's mom came out for a couple of weeks to help us unpack all the boxes that have been sitting in storage for the last year and a half.  Let's just say, there were many things in those boxes that I completely forgot I owned.  It was like Christmas!  The get-rid-of pile takes up about half of the garage right now.  Can anyone say yard sale?

Within 48 hours of her arrival, the moving truck showed up with crates full of stuff.  To my great surprise, we actually got most of the stuff we wanted out of storage, and not too much we didn't want.  We also had very, very little damage.  Amazing considering it was packed in Alaska a year and a half ago, sat in storage until June, were it was sorted into what we wanted here and what was going back into storage, then re-crated, shipped from AK to Seattle, put on a train (we think) across the US, and then shipped across the Atlantic.  I wonder if household goods can get frequent traveler miles?

After a big day of unpacking we headed out for some pizza.  How come I can't get a picture that good of them, and they cheese away for Grandma... and the pizza I suppose!

Grandma B was great about walking N to school in the morning, and taking little e too.  This gave me about an hour every morning to get some boxes opened.  She also took them on trips to the local park.  Here are the two budding basketball players.  Watch out Uncle T!

Occasionally we needed to get out of the chaos that was our house.  So we took Grandma to my favorite picnic spot and had some fun on the playground too!

Yup, that's N, just walking on a 1000 year old pile of rocks... with a 700 year old cathedral in the back ground.  So cool!

One day E and his mom went to see a famous cathedral near-by.  Without the boys they were able to take a tour of the inside and up into the tower!  It's amazing what you can do without two toddlers around!

Here's Grandma peeking out of a window...

... and E peeking into another one.  While on the roof.  Again, no toddlers, remember?

But eventually I put my foot down and said I needed some time out of the house too, so we got a sitter and headed to London for the day.  Our first stop was Buckingham Palace where we took a tour of the state rooms.  Amazingly ornate.  And lots of artwork.  I wasn't expecting that.  The highlight of the trip was seeing the dining room all set up for a state banquet.  I don't think I've ever seen so much china, silver, and crystal in my life.  There were like five glasses for each person, and like nine pieces of silverware.  I was feeling for the royal dishwashers!  Here is E and his mom outside the front of the palace before the tour. 

And all three of us outside the back after the tour.  As you can see the weather was perfect!  The queen has lovely gardens!  

I really wanted to get to Harrods, and I knew E's mom would want to go too.  So we dragged him through with us.  The food halls are absolutely amazing.  Seriously, we would lose my dad in there for days!  We made it out with some chocolate, a new bag for me, and some sushi for dinner.  Not bad!
Here is E humoring me and letting me take a picture of him in the amazingly ornate stairway inside, but what he's really thinking is, "get me out of this giant department store!"

Anyway, despite all our distractions, we did manage to get the house put together.  The downstairs only needs a couple of window treatments, and the upstairs needs a few pictures hung... but finally, I can say we are through the move.  Yippie!  Thanks for all your help, R!

British word of the day...

Yes, a lorry is a truck.  Really any type of truck.  Our favorite is what we would call a semi, but they call an "articulated lorry".  It just sounds better than semi, doesn't it!

By the way, the trucks, or sorry, lorries are huge!  Especially when they are on the very narrow "single carriageways" which are often barely two lanes, but people drive 60 down.  That's actually my biggest issue with driving here.  The narrow roads.  Not narrow like the small road back in Korea, but not much bigger, and people drive way faster on them.  Our van has automatic folding mirrors on them, and I feel like I should fold them in whenever we pass a truck.  I honestly hold my breath every time hoping we don't get sideswiped.  Ah the joys.  

This brings us to our new words for the day.  Kerb and verge.  As in, the roads would be so much better if they had verges, or if the kerbs were set back a little farther!  Enjoy!

British word of the day...

Lorry... as in, the lorry that came to my house yesterday brought WAY too many boxes and WAY too much furniture for this house.  So up to my eyeballs in boxes, trying to come up with the energy to continue unpacking.  Cardboard is the new decorating look for fall, right?

N's first day of preschool

When did this kid get so big?  Here he is, on his way to his first day of school.  He was so excited.  He couldn't wait to wear his new sweatshirt and carry his new book bag.  (Never mind that all he had in it was a pack of raisins for a snack... it's still a necessary item!)  He goes five days a week, and so far is loving every minute of it.  I don't even get a good-bye at the door.  He just runs right in and starts playing.  

His little school is so awesome.  It has a little farm attached to it, and yesterday they went out and saw the animals.  There are sheep, alpaca (I don't know how to make that plural - alpacas, or is it like sheep, one alpaca, many alpaca, anyway), goats, pigs, ponies, geese, goats, bunnies, and so on.  The kids get to help feed the animals, it's pretty cool.   They also have an amazing garden that the kids help to plant and water.  But for me, the best part is that I can walk there, which I love!  We're still adjusting to having a 'morning rush' as we all try to get out the door... and so it begins!

Legoland

First of all - You have to know something about E and I.  We love Legos.  Love them.  We love them now, loved them as kids.  Between my Dad's basement and E's parents' attic, there is a whole toy store of Legos.  As a child I never lost a Lego, and kept them sorted by size, shape, and color in little containers I stole from my mom's tupperware drawer.  I know, I know.  E's parents actually began to buy two sets of Legos, one for E and one for his brother and sister.  Apparently someone didn't share so well with his siblings... Now who could that be?  

We aren't ready yet to share our childhood treasures with our boys yet, but we are all about Duplos at our house.  Especially E.  He builds tower after tower, with amazing fine motor skills and patience.  N prefers his Dad's method of building.  They build airplanes and airports (complete with hangers and runway lights - impressive for a box of Duplos!) But then they can never be taken apart.  This is a small crisis for little e who just wants to use those pieces to build a big tower!

So when we heard there was a Legoland near by, we jumped at the chance to go.  It was awesome.  We all had a great time, and will be back many times.  Not quite as cheap and clean as Everland (will anything be?!) but hello, the Legos!  This was our first big find of the day.  (After the three hours of traffic to get there - some things are the same the world over.)  Yes, an airplane.  Are you surprised?

Then N rode a couple of rides with daddy.  He is the perfect size for this place.  He can ride almost every ride there.  Little e isn't quite tall enough yet, so we went into one of the many building rooms to do, what else, but build towers!

To me one of the best parts was this little miniature land.  All these amazingly detailed buildings and scenes, built completely out of Lego!  It's like the town set of my dreams!  Even the boys were impressed, especially with the cars and trains.  

The best castle set ever!  All legos.  Amazing.

And yes, in case you forgot where we are living, it's Lego Big Ben, and Lego Parliament.

N is so into fire trucks, so we knew he would love this ride.  The riders have to pump their fire truck down a track, then pump water into a "burning" building, then pump the truck back.  Hmmmm, I'm pretty sure I know who is having more fun here - and it's not the three-year old!

At the end of the day we took N on a little roller coaster.  This is in the middle of the line, to keep the kids occupied.  How cool is that?  They loved playing, and didn't even mind the wait!  So smart!

Watching the roller coaster go by, it's almost our turn!  

Here we go!

Yes, more Legos.  Lego horse and rider,  and a lego dragon.  I wonder if they need more builders?  

And of course, since we are in Windsor - what day would be complete without seeing the crown jewels, in Lego of course!  I'm sure these are the queen's favorites!

A double-decker bus day

OK, so my new plan is to inundate you with blog posts, just to annoy you all.  But seriously if I don't get some of this written down, I will forget it all!  

Two weekends ago we did a more proper London trip, since all we saw on the first trip in was the Red Bull Air Races!  We bought tickets on a double decker bus tour of the city.  We figured it would be an easy way to see lots of sights with the boys, and we were mostly right!

We started out the day by loading in the Jetta, then driving an hour to the closest tube stop, then after another hour long ride on the subway, we were in Piccadilly Circus where we got on our bus.  We were tired before we even started!  But both boys were pretty happy once we got on the bus.  

After riding around for a while and taking in some sights... yes, that's Westminster Abbey and Parliament, we got off and let the boys play for a while.  Nice view huh?  

Then it was back on the bus to drive over London Bridge, and then Tower Bridge.  So cool.  We got off the bus at the Tower of London and walked around for a while.  How cool is that?  We're at the Tower of London, and not on vacation!

Part of our ticket price included a boat ride down the Thames, so how could we resist?  On the boat we got this awesome view of the Tower Bridge.  It might be my favorite structure in London so far. 

After the boat ride we headed for dinner... the boys were pretty frazzled by this point, so a fancy dinner was out of the question.  Mmmm, McD's to the rescue!  Some things are the same the world over!  We then pushed our luck and took one more bus tour.  We drove by the famous Harrod's department store.  We were experiencing complete melt-down by this point, (can you say ear plug?) so going in was going to have to wait for another day.  

All in all it was a great day.  We spent about 12 hours in cars, trains, buses, and a boat, so we were all a little pooped, but it was well worth it.  We're willing to do it again when you all come to visit!

At last... a back yard!

So we have not had a back yard since 2003... well before we had little boys.  I don't need to tell those of you with small kids how important a yard is, so a yard was a definite must on our house hunting list.  So without further ado... here it is.  Our back yard.  We love it, the kitchen opens right up into it, and when it's not raining (ha!) you can find the boys out there quite a bit.  Notice the barbed wire fence... ah, feel the charm.  

A family here was giving away two wonderful play structures, so the boys have something to climb on.  We added to the fun with a toy car that requires a lot of sharing... You can usually find one boy inside and the other pushing him around the yard, complete with squeals of delight, or anger... if the sharing isn't going so well.  

We also got N his first tricycle.  He loves it, and can even ride all the way to our local park.  When did he get so big?

But the best part is our back door neigh-bors.  Get it?  "Neigh"bors.  Ha.  I'm so funny, I know.  Seriously, these are right outside our back door.  We're trying to learn their names.  This one is Little Sham, and he took a liking to little e right away!  

We do live in a great little neighborhood.  I can walk to everything on base, and I can walk N to his preschool which starts next week.  We have a little park, and there are a zillion kids running around outside all the time.  Most of them are school aged, or high schoolers, but hey, that means baby sitters, right?  

I'm back!

Yes, still alive.  We now have internet at our house.  Just hooked up tonight.  I never thought I would be so excited about internet.  But as my only contact to the outside world for the past three weeks has been AFN... well, you can only imagine.  Anyway, I'm using much will power to not tell you all everything that has happened in the last few weeks right now... but I need to get some sleep.  Photos and stories will come... I promise!