Week 12

So this week started out really fun with a visit to our friends, the Frailey's. Momma Frailey and I went to high school together. She and her clan have been living in London for about 3 years now I think and are here for at least another year. They have a very lovely house in Kew - which is just west of the city. It has a big backyard - huge by London standards really - complete with swing set and bounce house! I'll admit - it did take us 12 weeks to finally get together, but it was well worth it. My boys and her girls had a great time. They were wonderful hosts. We played, ate pizza, fought, flirted and had a most enjoyable time. Poor little Stella even got a bee sting on her tongue...ouch! It was really really nice to get out and play in a more intimate environment than play group - more like home. We loved it.


The rest of the week was more of our usual with the excited undertone of YaYa coming. We talked about it all week. We started counting down days until She got here as well as counting down days until we flew home to "Tess-ess". Not sure it's all sinking in, but we've been talking about the flight and how we have to sit in our seat all day. We have special treats that we shopped for that we can have on the plane and fun activities. I'm sure that since I explained it all to him so clearly that he will be good as gold. No? Logic and a two year old? This is going to be fun!
Saturday was Leeds Castle. Cade wasn't his usual self Saturday morning. He was noticeably tired and a little moody, but we aren't about to let that stop us. Throw 'em on the train and lets go...Now maybe two logical adults should have thought this through. 60 mile an hour moving vehicle. A two year old - who - lets just say isn't the most coordinated. Standing. On a vent. Oh Jeez. So down he goes and there is is. Our first chipped tooth. Now, not a bad chip by most standards. But I'm not most people. I'm...um...particular. And to me this is horrible. Enough to send me into a tirade about "what kind of idiots let a two year old stand up on a moving train?" Now I WAS referring to BOTH if his parents in this statement, but my poor husband looked over to Cade and under his breath said "I think your mom just called me an idiot..." Sorry. It's a character flaw. I'm working on it.

Leeds Castle was beautiful. We're pretty good at getting in a through castles these days. We don't waste our time on the audio guide...we have our own running commentary from the peanut gallery. And if they say it's a "2 hour tour" that generally means we'll have to rush through in about 30 minutes. Natives. Restless. You get the idea.

There is also a little village on the grounds with some places to eat, some shops and a dog collar museum (um, No. We didn't visit this one. I'm sorry, I know you wanted pictures). There is also a maze. We've done a couple of mazes before and they weren't really all that much fun. This one we decided to do a little differently. We split up. I took Cole and Steve took Cade and we set out to see who made it through first. After about 15 minutes and running back into each other 3 times, we teamed back up to make it to the center. Once you get there, you go up to a peak and you can look down on the maze. It was really cool. Then you walk through the best grotto. It was really really fun. The pictures don't do it justice. We really love it. By far the best one.

After the maze, we walked through the gardens and the aviary. I would post pictures of the birds, but apparently they all had a pact that none of them would look at me and under no circumstances would I be allowed to photograph anything but their backs...so fine, No bird pics.
We had to catch the bus back to the train station and while we waited for the other passengers, the bus driver let Cade "drive". Cutie. (Cade, not the real driver.) The day must have wiped him out because he fell fast asleep in Daddy's arms on the way home. It was a VERY quiet trip.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY...we went to get YaYa at the airport. It was hard waiting...mostly for me. Cade kept himself well entertained riding the foot rails like a horse. After about 30 minutes she finally came through the doors. What? Are you serious? You look that good after a 9 hour flight. I looked like the walking dead, but whatever. I guess I still love you.

We didn't do much else fun on Sunday. We made a few trips out for groceries, diapers etc. We hung out and played and napped (the boys, not us). Geared up for week 13...and our FINAL LONDON BLOG...

Week 11

Well, I did a little better this week and got the boys out to the park playground and a quick trip to the fountain. Combined with daily trips to gymboree, Playing with out new helper, Claire, our Thursday playgroup, and one shopping trip that included getting caught in a downpour - it was a fairly full week. We had one Very bad day that included a super duper fat lip (Cade) and a huge blue goose egg (Cole). No - they didn't collide. They were two separate falls about 2 hours apart and just about pushed mom over the edge. But we made it through the week and headed, battered and bruised into a fun weekend.

Our plan was to go to Brighton on Saturday, but the London weather had a different plan. Since it seems as though Fall has come early this year (highs in the upper 60's and rain every day), Saturday was no different and since it was heavy rain all day, we opted NOT to set out for the beach, but rather head down to Madame Tussaud's. This was not originally on our list of attractions that we planned to see, but we have run plumb out of things to to "inside", so we decided to try it out. We got there just after it opened and the crowds and lines were unlike anything I've ever seen. Seriously unreal. Some of the figures were better than others of course. I thought it was fun to see. Not sure if it was worth the $90 for 2 tickets - but we didn't have anything better to do so why not....

Top row is Royalty - Henry VIII, His daughter Elizabeth I, Princess Di and I guess Hollywood Royalty - Nicole Kidman. Bottom row is what I like to refer to as the "Hot Mess" row - you can probably figure that out...

Sunday proved to be a much nicer day. While there wasn't really much sun, it wasn't raining and that's good enough in my book - so we headed off the the beach...Brighton. Here are our customary train pictures. Seems like I post ones like this almost every week, but we do love our train trips.

Brighton has more to offer than the Pier, but since we decided on a day trip instead of an overnight, we only made it that far. It's about a mile or so walk from the train station (and a pretty train station it is) and there's a lovely water view to accompany you most of that way.

The Pier is what I would assume is a very common set up. Lots of Carnival games, rides, food, arcades, and views of the water.

Cade was squealing with glee at all the fun to be had. He was totally overwhelmed and literally didn't know which way to look, much less what to head for next. We came upon this little gem of a kiddie roller coaster. We were sure that as soon as it started moving and he realized that mom and dad weren't there that he would break out in hysterics. It started moving and was going WAY faster than I anticipated. Much to my surprise though, he was in heaven. Who needs mom and dad? Bring on the coaster baby! There were tears though. Not because he got scared - but because he had to get off. Dad quickly got more tokens so he could ride again...sucker

There was also a bounce house and slide for munchkins just his size. At a $ a minute...I hope he enjoyed it.

Mom and dad were completely beat on the ride home...but not my boys...

Well, this was our last weekend alone with just the 4 of us. YaYa is coming on Sunday and we are all very excited. I'm starting to get nervous about leaving. The idea of being without Steve for another month after it just being US for so long...feels really weird and sad. I am super excited about coming home though. Here's to you Texas...13 days and counting.

Week 10

Well, I have to admit, there's not a ton to write in the blog this week because after 2 fun filled weeks of guests, mommy took a week off from fun. I totally fell down on the job this week and we didn't take one trip to the park or a museum or anything! We did, however make it to Gymboree all 5 days and we scored a new and Oh-So-Fabulous babysitter. Her name is Claire and she works at Gymboree. She's about to go on holiday to Croatia and needed a little extra money - which is great since I needed a little extra help ;). She's 28, an actress/singer and super, super, super, sweet. She's thoughtful and helpful and responsible. We really like her. So lets see - since I don't have any interesting stories of what we did this week, maybe some stories about Cade and his adorable-ness.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that every time Cade would get hurt, I'd say to him "I'm sorry", and therefore, he too would start saying it to me as soon as he would get hurt. And sometimes, when I bring the buggy up the stairs, I jiggle the boys a little hard and I say "I'm sorry boys, that's my fault" So now, whenever something "undesirable" happens, Cade says "I'm sorry, that's my fault" and I say "No baby, it's not your fault". To which he almost always replies "It's Mommy's fault". Well - looks like I can check the lesson in blame off the list. Seems like we have that one pretty much covered.
And Cole - Cole signed "more" Saturday morning. Now, I can't guarantee that it was on purpose, but it was the correct sign and it was while he was eating so I'm goin' with it.

This weekend we went to Hampton Court which I was really looking forward to. It's the most famous of Henry VIII palaces as well as where sis son, King Edward VI was born and his mother and Henry's 3rd wife, Jane Seymour died. It is really beautiful - and BIG. We of course took the train there. Cade is loving trains these days and there were lots of smiles from my boys on the way. We had most of the car to ourselves and didn't have to worry too much about keeping them quiet which was nice. Oh yeah - and Cade jumped for the first time. He's not the most coordinated kid in the world, but man he has fun trying.



The gardens were really, really beautiful. We also went through the hedge maze (in the rain) which is suppose to be the most famous of it's kind in the world. I didn't get any pictures since it was raining and also since...well...you couldn't really tell it was a maze unless you were shooting from above.

Sunday we visited the Royal Mews or stables. This is where some of the horses are kept, but also where the royal coaches and limousines are. There wasn't a ton to see there, but it was interesting nonetheless. Steve wasn't too impressed, but he did say "well, it was the coolest horse stable I've ever seen". Touché.

Two weeks until YaYa comes. We are very excited, but I'm starting to get uneasy about leaving London without Steve. He still has a lot of work to do here and seems no closer to the end despite 70 hour work weeks. Although I understand our reasoning for the boys and I coming home, I can't help but feel a little like we will be abandoning him. I will be praying that things start falling into place and that he will be re-joining us in Texas sooner rather than later.

Week 9

It was a fun week here. There were some very happy Hiltpolds - enjoying time with KK. On Monday we finally went to Kensington palace - which I had really been looking forward to. It was a ROUGH morning. The exterminator came so we had to be out of the house at 9 for at least 4 hours. I was running late and so the morning got off to a bumpy start from there and just kind of kept sliding downhill. We put Cole in the buggy for his nap and he proceeded to scream...not cry - no, there were no tears...just screaming for the next hour. I swear I though they were going to kick us out of the cafe at breakfast. People staring - me staring back. It was lovely. I finally gave in when we got to the palace (after I spilled hot chocolate all the way down my pants and on my cream colored sweater). I took him out of the "lay down" part of the buggy and sat him in the seat in the back. He was asleep - hanging over the edge strangling himself with the strap - within 3 minutes. Sheesh.

So, I was really looking forward to Kensington palace, but it seems as though they have changed the tour/exhibit recently. Gone are the Princess Diana dresses and debutant exhibit. Now it's...well, I can't even explain it. It kind of defies comprehension. It's a modern art/creepy haunted house kind of. It's got graffiti on the walls and weird recordings in the background and mannequins suspended above beds. Weird. Disappointing. Sad really. Still scratching my head trying to figure out what the heck happened.

KK was really keen on having "tea" in London, so we headed to the Orangery for that, but Cade wasn't into that and they don't serve a proper tea until 3 pm and it's only like 11:15 at this point, so we get up from the table and head for a walk in the park. This is when it starts to rain. But do I have the rain cover for the buggy? Nope. I do, however have 1 umbrella which is nice, but surely not enough for 4 people. We went and stood under a tree and waited for it to let up. When it did, normal people would head home - but wait - we're having a carpet beetle treatment, so we can't do that. We walked about 1/2 mile in the sprinkles to the mall across from our house. I gave the boys lunch at Starbucks and we walked around until it was time to come home. Oh - did I mention that at this point I'm sick? Yeah...fun day. We finished up with Gymboree in the afternoon which we seem to be doing most days. It's something we all look forward to.
Tuesday we went to Harrods and spend a couple hours, but not much money which is good. Our sick count now is up to 5 - KK and the boys have it too. There are such copious amounts of snot here it's ridiculous...

Wednesday we went to the zoo.

At this point Cade is getting really spoiled with taking taxi's and whenever he sees one he says - "we get in that taxi". Oh how quickly they learn.
Thursday we did play group and music class.
Friday we went to lunch at The Wolseley, then walked to Buckingham palace, then up to Oxford street.
Friday afternoon we went back to open gym and Cole officially started crawling!!! I tried to keep him from doing it as long as I could, but he's a man on the move now.

Saturday we visited the HMS Belfast. Cade is getting so big, climbing those steep stairs all by himself. He does seem a little weary of the creepy mannequin staring down at him in the "sick bay" exhibit though.

In the gift shop at the exit, KK bought the boys hats. How cute are my little captain and first mate???

Down on the pier, we saw the "invisible man". Cade gave him some money...then tried to walk off with the can while the whole crowd laughed.

Sunday was sad. KK left early - about 7am. We all said our goodbye's and Cade cried a little when we said he couldn't get in the car with her to leave.

We headed in to get ready for the day and go get pancakes to make him feel better. After that, we walked to the science museum where we saw lots of fun stuff.



We even went to the Imax and made it about 20 minutes into the movie before Cade was done and said he wanted to leave.

We headed home to rest from the busy week. It was so much fun having KK here. We are sad the 2 weeks went by so quickly. Now we are on countdown to YaYa coming...19 days!!!

Week 8

YAY!! This has to have been our best week so far! Not only did I get my mew computer (praise the lord), but we had visitors! Yes - more than one!

On Monday, my cousin Erin came to spend the day (and night) with us. She's a captain in the US Air Force and by chance, got sent to Swindon for the Royal International Air tattoo. We didn't make it to the show, but she took the train to London on Monday and we got to spend some time together. It wasn't until after she left that we realized we hadn't taken a single picture. I know - impossible. Sad, but true. But trust me, she was here and we had a great time.

Tuesday we set out for the airport to meet KK. Cade was really glad to see her and boy does he have her number...immediately he started asking for presents We got her settled in and on Wednesday we went to the park. It was fairly warm and very sunny. We had a great time.

Thursday we went to ply group at the church in the morning and Gymboree music class in the afternoon. Cade is not totally into the following directions and participating as this mother would like, but he enjoys it so we will keep going. And it's paid for...so he better get with the program. Friday we went to Westfield and did a power shopping day. It was lots of fun for the girls. The boys - well, they played along. Then we went to open gym at Gymboree in the afternoon. This is much more Cade's speed. No rules - just run and scream and do whatever you want. I sat in the corner with Cole and bit my tongue.

Saturday we took the train to Windsor and toured the castle. It's really really big and you can't take buggys inside, but we managed and it was interesting to see. We also got to see Henry VIII burial place which is pretty cool since Steve and I have been watching the Tudors box set, so are learning about his reign (from the highly historical showtime channel). Nonetheless - cool.

We also got to see the changing of the guard again. This by far is my favorite picture of the day...

Sunday we went back to Westminster and did the London Eye.

We didn't do as much this weekend as we have in weekend's past, but we did enough to tire everyone out seeing as though 1)Karyn isn't use to the crazy that is London in addition to the crazy that is C squared.

2)Steve and I were sick.

Steve's project is hitting full tilt and work days extend to weekends now as well as late into the night. I'm so glad to have someone here to help out and share my days with. I can tell already that it will be hard on all of us when she leaves. The boys are pretty much sick of spending all day with me and love having other people to terrorize. We are trying to fit as much into her visit as we can, but more and more days without naps are leading to crankier spells, so we'll see how long we can keep this up.

Week 7

So this week kind of a lot happened - although it wasn't all necessarily stuff that we were planning on or appreciated...

My phone broke, which wasn't a huge problem, more of a minor inconvenience. Had to send it in for repair. Got a loaner which was a downgrade...from the $6 phone...so you can imagine what a gem that was. Whatever - it was fine. Then. Um. IT happened. I dropped and killed my computer. Dead. No bueno. Panic set in. Thankfully, my generous hubby agreed to buy me a Mac which was awesome. But it's much cheaper to buy one from the US than the UK. Problem is - they won't ship it here. So we decided to ship it to his mom who was leaving at 4:00pm on Monday to come here...Perfect. So we overnighted the computer to her and the Mac web site said that it should be there either Friday or Monday. But on Friday, we got an email saying that it was going to ship and should be there by Tuesday. Um...wait - that doesn't work. So I called Apple and kind of went on a mini tirade. I asked to speak with a manager. They put me on hold for 20 minutes and never came back. Well, I guess that was kinda fair. Anyway, we finally got a shipment notification and it said it should be there by 3:00pm Monday. Whew...lets hope. So we squeaked in just under the wire. I got my new baby when Karyn arrived this week...but more on her arrival in the week 8 blog. Lets remember that I'm a week behind here due to this little set back ;)

It rained a lot this week, so incidentally, we didn't go out much. So - for the enjoyment of all in their cushy houses back in the big TX...I decided to hit on a few highlights of our home here in London. Working our way across row 1 of pictures from the upper left corner...This is our living room. It's the biggest room in the flat if you don't count the impossibly long hallway (to the right). It's decor leaves something to be desired. Yes, that sofa probably does belong to Austin Powers. I mean...what were they thinking? The next pic down is a view fro the opposite side of the living room into the dining room. Since we do so much entertaining. It seats 10.

2nd row of pics starts with our bedroom. Yes - the drapes match the chair. If you look very closely at the end of the bed you'll see a throw rug. That is the extent of the "carpet" in the flat. So - carpet beetles huh? And never in this room. Weird. The blue tiles are from our master bath. I especially love the 1x2 holding up the corner of our sink. And the 4 tiles that totally don't match. Finally, we have our microwave that is no lie older than me. It has a lock people. never seen anything like it. Yes, I am certain it leaks radiation. And finally is our dishwasher. No - I didn't open it to show you how lovely it is. This is as far as it opens and thus this is as far out as the bottom rack slides out. Sweet. No, this isn't all of the loveliness that this apartment has to offer. I just picked some of my faves. Those of you who come visit get to see it in all it's glory.

Saturday we visited the Churchill War rooms. Much more interesting that I though. How would you like to use a "chemical" toilet instead of a flushing one? Um, Ewww.

After the war rooms, we headed to Trafalgar Square. It was super busy, so we kept walking. We came upon this HUGE parade. Probably about 5000 people - and worship music. Wow - maybe this is why it was so busy...

Next, we headed on to Picadilly Circus,

up to Oxford Street, back through Hyde park and home. Another full day.

Sunday, we did our usual breakfast then on to HP. We went for a stroll along Kensington High street, then back through the park for another carousel ride. At home, we started preparing for our company...TWO visitors this week! More in the next blog, but for now, just this ;)

Week 6

Wow - 6 weeks. So long and yet not quite 1/2 way through. This week we are finally feeling like our much awaited company is getting closer to arriving. KK will be coming for about 2 weeks beginning next Wednesday. We are so excited to see her and have someone else here. We have really been missing our family - we are a REALLY close family. So it's hard to not see everyone so much. And lucky for her - we had the exterminator come back this week - twice! Both the mice and the carpet beetles are under full attack and should be gone shortly. The Exterminator said how unusual it was - or seemingly unheard of as he made it sound - that we had so many beetles in so many room, yet no carpet. He was confused as to what they could be feeding on. Said he'd never seen it before. Sigh...why would I be the slightest bit surprised?
We had a pretty laid back week. We were going to join a second play group on Monday, but the forecast called for rain all day and Mom didn't want to walk over a mile there and get stuck in the rain, so we opted out. We went to the park a couple of days and we went back to playgroup on Thursday. Allie is now with us 3 nights a week since Steve almost always works until 8. She and I have settled into a routine for dinner baths and bed. Pretty much It's still me doing everything and her checking her text messages, but an extra body is still a help, so I won't complain. Friday we were going to try to meet a new mom's group at the park. We got there about 10 minutes early and instead of finding the group, we met another Ex-pat mom with 2 girls ages 1 and 3. She was very friendly and shared their sand toys with us. We played for about an hour and a half then she asked if we ever wanted to play again. I'll probably call her this week and set up a time. Nice to finally have someone we can get together and play with.

We left there and headed to the fountain to enjoy the 80 degree weather (and lets be honest...to wash off the sand). After 25 minutes there, we headed home for lunch and naps. It was a very successful day.
We are getting to the point now on the weekends where we have seen mostly all of the London tourist sights and are having to look a little harder for things to do. We headed to St. Paul's Cathedral Saturday morning. It was beautiful, but I was disappointed at the no photos policy. I look forward to taking pics to share with you all back home. I did snap one "illegal" photo while I was feeding the baby. Shhhhh...don't tell. Steve and Cade actually walked all the way to the top of this dome. You can't even see the balcony, but it's above the windows, around the very highest center point. He said it was quite the walk. The spiral staircase was apparently very very narrow and the ceiling very low. At one point we heard someone yell "he's lost a shoe" and sure enough, Cade's shoe had come off and tumbled down the stairs. Thank goodness the kind people passed it up to him...does this sound familiar to anyone??? Ski...ski lift? Anyone???
After the cathedral, we walked another 1-2 miles to Covent garden. This place is a mad house on the weekends. We found a pub and at lunch outside - enjoying the people watching. After lunch, we hit the transport museum and learned all about the development of the public transport system in London from 1800 - now.

Sunday we did out usual breakfast at Costa and then headed to Hyde Park again. We got to see up close and personal two of the helicopters arriving and then leaving again from Kensington palace. It was a lot of fun for Cade (and I think Dad too). Then we spend a few minutes exploring the pirate ship at the playground.

Next we walked to the Serpentine and the "big boys" took a paddle boat out. Unfortunately, Cole was too young to go, so he and I stayed behind.

Finally, we grabbed a picnic lunch and went back to the memorial fountain, Cade loves this place. I think he could play there all day every day.

And once again, I want to post some pics of CoCo just to show he's actually here...he doesn't seem to be part of the action most of the time and since he's usually stuck with me (behind the camera), he doesn't get as many pics. But nonetheless, he's enjoying himself immensely - especially if his brother is around. He's getting cuter and cuter (if that's possible) and I just love getting close ups of that little face.