Sunday walk

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day in London so we walked to church.
I just love these old mile markers throughout the city.

Todd and the kids on the way home from church. That's Royal Albert Hall straight ahead of them.

Notice the blossoms on the bush near the sidewalk? This made my day! There's nothing quite like Spring in England. I know, spring in January is a little early, but I won't be here in April, so I'll enjoy the few blossoms in January.

Cinema--city style

Saturday morning we played at the park with some friends while daddy was at work (he's nearly finished with his last year-end close--Hooray!).

Saturday afternoon we took the kids to see the much anticipated (by Mary especially) 'Tangled'. We took a taxi to a new mall in London. We counted the 'Tangled' double-decker buses that we saw on the way. 4 (and it was a short ride).
We bought our movie tickets and had some time to shop before the movie started. The boys each got an England jersey of their choice. I hope their jersey's will be welcomed in Australia :)

We found a great burger and milkshake restaurant for dinner. Can you believe it? We've been in London for 2 1/2 years longing for a good burger and milkshake and we finally found a great place our last week here. We may have to make another stop there before we fly out on Thursday.

We were in the VuExtreme theatre to see 'Tangled'. The screen is the size of 4 double-decker buses. Very cool!

Literary day

I had another doctor visit on Friday morning. I received an updated letter for the airlines to clear me to fly to Australia. I'm already 32 weeks along so my time to fly is running short. It looks like we'll be on our way this coming Thursday.

After my doctor's appointment Luke and I went to the British Library. I could've spent hours...

After lunch and the library we found the Charles Dickens House Museum. Charles Dickens and his family lived in this house for 2 1/2 years while he worked on 'Oliver Twist' and other works. While he lived here, 2 of his 10 children were born.

By the time we got to the Charles Dickens house, Luke was exhausted. Instead of walking around the museum, I sat in a chair near the reception desk with Luke asleep in my lap. The museum wasn't busy so the man at the desk gave me reading material about Charles Dickens. By the time Luke woke up, we had to head home to get the kids off their school bus. We didn't get to see the whole museum. Oh well, I learned a lot about Charles Dickens that I didn't know before.

Michael came home from school Friday afternoon with a book he wrote for Luke. His teacher helped him laminate the front and back cover and bind it. It was one of those moments that moms live for. Michael read his book to Luke while Benjamin and Mary looked on. Luke loved it so much he had his brother read it to him at least 3 times.

Michael and Benjamin were invited to a playdate after school. I don't have my car anymore so I took them on the underground with Mary and Luke in tow. It was an adventure. By the time I took my shoes off Friday evening, my swollen feet showed the indents from my shoes (i'll spare you the picture).

Bank of England, London Bridge & Fire Monument

Luke and I went exploring today. This time Luke got his wish and we took the underground. Our first stop was the Bank of England Museum:
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the bank museum which was unfortunate because I found some incredible discoveries.

First, a note dated 16 October 1688 to Mr. Francis Child (a goldsmith banker). This type of note was the forerunner to banknotes. It said:
Mr. Child
Pray pay to the bearer that money of myne which you have in your hands upon site of the bills.
Jackville Turfron

Second, I found a list of Bank of England Proprietors (holders of Bank of England stock) dated March 25, 1721. On that list was ****Sir Robert Child.
The four stars means that "they are capable, by their stock, of being chosen governor, deputy-governor, or directors."

Very cool! I don't know yet if there is any relation to my grandpa Child, but it's exciting to see a family name connected with dates from so long ago.

Next stop:
The view from the London Bridge:

And our final stop for today: the London Fire Monument.

I've always wanted to climb to the top of the fire monument but for one reason or another I haven't had the time. When I was told today that there were 311 stairs to the top, I decided not to do it. Then, as I was walking away, I decided to go for it. Why would being 7 months pregnant with my fifth child stop me? Here is the view of the stairs from the bottom looking up:

Luke was such a trooper. He kept telling me that we were almost there.

We stopped to rest once or twice.

We made it! It was well worth it too. The view of London was great from up there.

We're getting used to these self-taking shots since we were the only two at the top today.

We each received a certificate for making it to the top. My legs will be sore tomorrow but we did it!

Bits and bobs

From what I gather, 'bits and bobs' is the British version of 'odds and ends'. I like it. It's catchy.

Luke and I are getting comfortable in our new neighborhood. While Todd is at work and the 3 oldest are at school, Luke and I go for walks to explore. Yesterday we stopped at a 'mums and tots' group (I love my spare time these days). We had a nice time talking with the other mom's and kids but the best part was the view out the window.
On the way back to our apartment, we passed this old mile marker. I took a picture of Luke in front of it:

Then I wanted to take a picture of just the mile marker, but Luke didn't want to move.

So, he made himself comfortable.

The view of Kensington Palace from the front porch of our apartment building.

Luke loves to push the buttons on the lift. It's a great way to learn numbers and letters, right? He knows 'G' and 'LG' and numbers 1-4 already. We keep discussing that the yellow bell is an alarm though. Hopefully his curiosity won't get the better of him one of these days.

My new found favorite snack. Blackcurrant preserves on tea biscuits. Can't get enough of it!

My exploring London buddy. He asks me every morning if we can go on the underground train. I'm having too much fun walking. It's so nice to be within walking distance to so many cool things.

Random pictures of yesterday's walk:

Anniversary weekend

Twelve years ago I made the greatest decision of my life and married my husband. My friend Sandra took an hour and a half train ride to babysit our kids so that we could go out and celebrate. I took the diapers and wipes out of my purse and left our children happily coloring with Sandra.
Todd and I had a great time together. He opened my taxi door when it pulled up to the restaurant and he told me I looked beautiful. Ah...
We enjoyed a fantastic candlelight dinner together without cutting anyone else's meat or taking anyone to the toilet. :)
Then, we walked a few blocks in London to Leicester Square to see a movie. That's the theatre where many movies have premiered. It was fun to look at pictures on the wall of the movie stars that have been there.
When we returned home that night, we found our room decorated with pictures from our kids.Saturday Todd had to work in the morning but he brought me flowers when he came home in the afternoon.

We walked with the kids to Kensington Gardens and had a picnic lunch.

The kids played at the Princess Diana Memorial park.

The kids and I in Kensington Gardens with our apartment building behind us.

Saturday evening we ordered Pizza Hut take out. It's our tradition on special occasions to go around the dinner table and say something nice about the person(s) being honored. I want to always remember what Michael said about his dad: "I like it when dad kisses mom." I never realized how much it means to our kids to see that their mom and dad love each other. What a sweet boy.

Life in central London

I decided to stop counting our moving days in the title. We could get up to moving day 31 or more. Besides, it sort of feels like life is back to normal again. Sort of.

We're living in a furnished apartment in central London opposite Kensington Palace where Princess Diana once lived. Luke's new favorite place to play is at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground.

The older 3 kids went back to their school on Monday. A bus picks them up and drops them off at the door of our apartment building which is nice since we no longer have our car. They have enjoyed being back in class with their friends.

It has taken a couple of days to get our Internet up and running and to figure out some things in our apartment (like our washer/dryer combo machine). I think I've got it figured out though.

We have 3 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms-- each bedroom has a bathroom and there's an extra bathroom in the hall. This place even comes with a daily housekeeper. I've never had a housekeeper and the first day I didn't leave her much to do. However, I'm slowly getting used to it. Today I left lunch dishes for her to do. I even had a nap when Luke did today with all my extra time. Heavenly!

I really enjoy being in London. I'm so close to everything. Luke and I shop everyday at the market for that evening's dinner. We read books at the bookstore, play at the park, go for walks, and yes, take naps! This is the life.

Todd gets ESPN America on the TV here and his commute to and from work is shorter than it's been in years. We could get used to this.

I'm leaving you with pictures of our new neighborhood:

Moving- days 11 & 12

Yesterday was both low-key and intense. Low-key because the kids and I spent the day at a friend's house doing laundry, but intense because it was a day of decision making and planning for us.

We finally have a definite plan. Due to the recent flooding in Australia, Todd's work is cautious about sending us there until February. I am grateful for their concern for our welfare. So, as much as I have enjoyed this hotel, with English breakfast each morning, and a chocolate on my pillow each night, we are moving to a furnished apartment in central London until the beginning of February. The kids are starting school again on Monday and Todd will continue to work out of the London office. I'm a bit sad that the kids won't be in Australia for the beginning of their school year and this ruins our plans to stop in Singapore for a couple of days, but hey- we're stuck in London. How bad can it be? We are praying for the people of Australia in their clean-up efforts. This must be an extremely difficult time for them.

When we found out we were moving, I was sad to miss out on the royal wedding and the summer Olympics in 2012. I found a William and Kate book at the Royal Mews gift shop the other day, but I didn't buy it. I'm sure I'll catch the wedding on TV in Australia. However, we went shopping at the Olympic shop today and got a few things for the kids.
Luke is having the time of his life with his new bus.

We've been in a hotel for more than a week now and even though we have good sized adjoining rooms, space is limited. I found Michael in the handicapped shower today playing his DS. I guess he just needed some space to call his own for a few minutes.

We took the kids to the British Museum this afternoon. It is absolutely incredible. We could never hope to see it all, but we picked a few exhibits and then called it a day. It was nice to be together as a family.

Thank you to family and friends who are praying for us. I feel a bit removed from everyone without my vonage phone to call home whenever I like, but I feel encouraged by e-mails and blog comments. Thanks!

Moving- day 10

Turns out I'm a city girl. Who knew? I'm loving city life. Or maybe it's just London city life. I love being in the city where there's so much to do. I love that Todd's work is only a 5 minute walk from us. Okay, so in all honesty, it is crowded and smelly at times and maybe I'm not a permanent city girl but I'm loving it while it lasts.

The kids and I ventured out again today. We were lucky and boarded an almost empty double-decker bus. We went to the top deck and the kids had all 4 front seats to play bus drivers. I had flash backs of when I was a kid looking out the top window of the motor home on our family road trips to California. Good times.

We went to the Royal Mews-- the stables for Buckingham Palace.

This is Storm, one of the Queen's horses. Storm seemed to really like our kids and of course the kids loved Storm. Our boys did the Kung Fu Panda stare with Storm and I think the horse won.

We saw several of the Royal carriages that are used in Royal parades and weddings.

This picture is for you dad. It's a 1950 Rolls Royce-- one of 10 cars in the Queen's fleet. We were told that she prefers her Bentley though.

Being silly in the gift shop. Notice Luke with his 'Princess' lollipop.

Believe it or not, the kids still had more energy after our little excursion, so we stopped at Hyde Park for some play.

Still no final word on when we're going to Australia for sure. We're definitely not going to fly out this weekend as planned. We have a lot to consider right now with the kids and their school, the new baby, Todd's work, etc... In the meantime, we're glad to be safe and dry and all together.