Week 3

In case you thought I forgot about you, here's week 3! As you can see by the pictures, this week was all about the Birthday girl. Yes, Bridget is now 13. I hope we are all ready for this :) Everyone was back into the swing of school, with reports, spelling tests, oh and fund raisers! Yes, the boys have to study and pass a math test on math facts and for each one they get right they get 5 points and then they collect money for a local charity based on their points. Just when I was relaxing about not having the magazine sale!

Bridget's classes continue to get moved around as they sort out what Math group to place her. A computer error placed her in the wrong class and she was quite bored, it took 3 trips to the school for me to track down the "head of Maths" to correct it. She has all sorts of interesting classes and projects including Technology, where they are designing toys, Science where she got to use a Bunsen burner for the first time. The groups had to decide whether their volcano was going to blow and whether they should evacuate their village. Bridget was the communications officer for their group and they decided NOT to evacuate...sadly, the villagers all perished.:( Interestingly, the only group that DID evacuate, it turns out didn't need to, so they got criticized for wasting tax payers money!!) She was elected to School Council and this weekend met with the teen Choir director and will be singing at the 5:30 Sunday night teen Mass. Sports are supposed to start over the next few weeks for her. Her classmate wants her to play Net Ball..we are told that is something like Basketball..I guess we'll find out!

The boys have been doing soccer on Thursday's and Saturdays and having lots of fun. This weekend was the Rugby open house. It is quite the thing here. Several of Matthew's classmates all play. We spent the afternoon watching various ages/levels play and Nick was thrilled that at his age it involves contact. Matthew was equally thrilled that at his age it does NOT! It seems if you can push forward with people hanging on to you and hold a ball, you are a star. And if you are willing to hang on to people and be dragged....this is also good...we haven't found a down side for Nick yet! It is all just training and learning and you pay 2 pounds each time you show up for a session...so they both wanted to try it out next weekend. It is co-ed and they need older girls(there's only a few and the coaches were eagerly trying to recruit Bridget)..we will see what she says next week.

Frank's favorite part about the whole thing is that there is a bar/barbeque/coffee/tea and really anything else you want over looking the field...so the kids are out playing and the adults wander back and forth from the bar. In fact the coach told us that they encourage everyone to hang out for an hour or so after the training is over so that the kids just run around like crazy and the adults socialize. It all closes when the last man leaves! I think Frank will start playing if the kids don't just to have a reason to go and visit!

After our Rugby outing we walked to Wimbeldon Common and then on to Richmond Park. It is all just miles and miles of walking/biking/horseback riding paths that wind around for ever...just glorious. We saw a deer just wandering and gave it a few apples.

The weather has continued to cooperate with us and it is again sunny and 70's. Frank is headed to Finland for the rest of the week, so I am sure we will have some adventures while he is gone. I have been getting involved at school and have made friends with several of the moms. I don't have a work-out buddy yet, but 1 of the mom's mentioned she's doing a 1/2 Marathon so I may try to get a run in with her. I've looked into my work options and of course with a bit of paperwork, everything is possible...it just depends on whether on not I can prove I speak English. Apparently, I need no less than 4 verifications on this. HHMMm..we will see how that all pans out.

Not too exciting otherwise, we talk of you often, think of you daily and hope for a visit soon!

She can still bounce

These are some of the tricks Bridget has perfected. It took some doing to capture the flip! Hours are now spent bouncing away. Can I just say it feels a LOT different the next morning than when I was 10!

The new trampoline..yes this was before all of the safety equipment was attached..it got late!!!

This was Bridget's B-day dinner
There weren't any 13 yo party hats...so we went for the mask!
In the morning she was greeted by an iPod..in green!
This is dinner at our "local", meaning our local Pub, kids are welcome, they have this outdoor eating area and that night there we Pig Races! Our pigs lost, it was a sad, tough lesson on the concept of chance :(
Since you saw how shiny and new everyone looked on the first day of school, here's how they look coming out !

Us on the London Eye

Some sightseeing from the top of the London Eye

Week 2

OK, I have clearly taxed my internet acumen (if that is even a phrase) and I realize that I am a MAC snob. I have newly added 3 pictures..we have dozens, but why only 3..well after about an hour of futzing around with this laptop(not a MAC) I have gone nearly insane with my inability to click and drag to the location of my choosing! So before I lose my writing mojo, I thought I would abandon for a brief update on our week and as promised...food!

School began and we started to see some sense of normalcy. After school we go to the library, do home work, use their internet and printer since ours is slow and the printer isn't here yet, come home and attempt dinner. The boys seem to be settling in nicely and like their teachers and classes seem on par with what they were doing at St. John. Nick already had a book report and Matthew is working through his times tables. Both are doing Mad Minutes. Bridget had a fun week following around a fellow student(Danielle) and on Wednesday had some testing to see which group she would be in. So far in Math and Science, it is all stuff she has done before so we shall see what happens. She likes her Science teacher and used a Bunsen burner for the first time! She also had French, graphics, Art, Comparative religion, PE(where of course she smoked everyone in the "how many laps can you run in 10 minutes"), Geography in addition to English, Math and Science. The schedule changes each day and we are eager to see where she end up. She likes the girls and now walks to school with a girl down the street.

My adventures have been in the grocery store. Again, as I have said we are still urban camping and we are pulling off dinners with 1 knife, 1 pot and 1 saute pan. This is no small feat. Move over Julia/Julie...I dare you to try this. Again, like the driving, I have taken some risks and put together "Pork Involtini with late summer tomato sauce", "Gorgeous Roasted Vegetable Curry" and a "Stir-Fry chicken with honey,soy and cashews". Thanks to Jamie Oliver, Sainsbury's free cookbook and the Waitrose grocery store! By Friday we had pizza.

You may ask why take on such projects? Well, all the usual foods and things I cook I can't find in the grocery store and we don't have a grill and remember that 1 pot problem. Things I can't find...Black beans,salsa, refried beans, kidney beans, you know where I am going..try to make a simple chili but to no avail. I have tried 3 different chains of stores, my last hope is the ASDA which Frank tells me specializes in canned foods..who knew? Other odd things I can't find; steak..for grilling and such, you know flank steak, flat iron steak, skirt steak..all perfect for fajitas, or just plain. I can find any number of roasts and "braising meat" which I am told is for stews and such, but no quick easy steaks. Hot dogs...again 3 stores, I found 1 that had something akin to a European style weiner, but otherwise it is sausages. This has had an interesting effect as right before we left Nick had decided to add hot dogs to his repertoire. When he ordered one at one of our outings and I saw the sausage come out, I held my breathe, but since we have been walking many miles a day, starvation wins out and it wasn't until the last bite that he commented "a little spicier that our hot dogs at home". Soy sauce, it took be about an hour in 1 store to finally find it, odd since this area is known for its Korean markets and restaurants. Chicken broth...I can find the little cubes to make it, but none in cans or boxes.

On the things I can find and don't know what to do with: LAMB..everywhere, lamb chops, roasts, legs, tongue, you name it . At the Costco there is a whole section dedicated to Lamb! Aubergines..I have seen this in several recipes, they are eggplant..many of you are laughing at my lack of French I am sure! Courgette....zucchini..again, I look at the pictures, look at the names and then hunt through the store and say..OOOOhhh that's what it is. Peas..they are served with everything, I never knew how little I ate peas until they turn up everywhere. and of course, pies..all sorts of meat pies..this week I am even going to attempt to make one....hey it's all in 1 pot right??

On the things that we've found and we most certainly know what to do with: Bacon..in all sorts of formats, thick, thin, smoked, cured, maple, bacon steaks..bacon sandwiches are a staple for breakfast and lunches at all the shops we seen. Cheese..oh my, I should have had my cholesterol checked before we left to compare, but ooooohhh the cheese in all shapes and sizes and origins throughout the UK..so far nothing has been anything but delicious . Cream and milk products of all sorts..yogurt, butter, and double cream...in coffee in the morning is a decadence beyond compare!

On that note, Frank has been diligently cooking in the background while I work away. Tonight is roasted turkey breast, roasted potatoes and green beans, in case you were wondering. I will go and enjoy before the next week begins. Next weeks installment..who knows..so many options....

Missing everyone, write us soon and of course, we'd love a visit!

Bus Ride to town

Nick and Matthew on the 213 Double Decker that takes us to town

This is our house, with Nicholas and Matthew being our stone lions guarding the fortress!

Hey..good news, after a week being disconnected from the world..we seem to have internet!! The bad news is that all of my e-mail contacts are floating around on Frank's computer and he is off at work. So the week in summary and then the most important thing..the school calendar..we only have Bridget's in, but I am thinking that the boys will be similar.

So we arrived last week in a delirious stupor. The first 24 hours is filled with transport to the new house, finding sleeping bags, blowing up air mattresses and putting everyone in bed at noon. We surface around 4 and make our way via a double decker bus(the boys want to make sure I tell you that part) into town. We hit Bridget's favorite store..the Waitrose. Whereupon we embark on a fantastic journey of the senses and piece together a crazy meal of Indian food, pasta bake something , fruit bread and cheese. We come home to 'camp" in our kitchen where we have NO pots or pans, no utensils but our 5 camping forks,spoons, knives. After some excitement trying to figure out what the stove is telling us..we put it all together. Thankfully the weather was and continues to be just beautiful...this is also good because we have no table so we eat all of our meals outside on the patio furniture! The back yard is quite nice...about twice the size of ours in Seattle with a lovely little shed in the back...more on that later.

Jet lag: let me just say that I have come to learn that there are 2 kinds of people. Those who experience jet lag, and those who apparently walk around in a chronic state of sleep deprivation, so that when placed in a situation where is it in their best interest to just go to bed...they do and are thankful for it. In my family we have both kinds of people. Friday evening..we all went to bed around 9pm....I slept soundly until around 10 the next morning, Bridget slept until about 11 and Nick racked up a grand total of 15 1/2 hours of sleep waking up past noon!!!!!!. Frank and Matthew , I am told, wandered the house in the wee hours of the morning keeping themselves company, I only know this b/c when I surfaced the next day, Frank was gone and Matthew was asleep upside down at my feet. We later found that Frank had taken refuge in Matthew's unused bed.

Beds: can I just say I believe I am now deaf from the ungodly noise that 5 people tossing and turning for a week on air mattresses can make!

The next few days are filled alternating between foraging for food that we can camp cook, trying to do some sight-seeing and trying to sort out all of the schools stuff including which school is Bridget going to and therefore which uniform etc. By day 2 we decide after spending quite some time on the lovely city buses that there are just some things that can't fit on a bus...we attempt a car.

Car: Can I just say, I laugh at triathalons, I mock 1/2 marathons, throw me a double black diamond ski hill because I have now spent the last week DRIVING A STICK ON THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS OF GREATER LONDON!!!! After nearly crashing and ricocheting off a sidewalk in the first 1/2 mile of driving and some pretty tense moments all around that first day...I am proud to say that by Friday, when Frank had left for Paris(more on that later) the kids and I had our last few errands to run and we hopped in the car and with Bridget as my co-pilot sign reader we took the highway, found our school supply shop AND a parking space in front and in busy traffic I demonstrated my goddess-like parking skills and took it. It was a profound moment !
One of my biggest worries was whether I would remember to stay to the left. Well, you quickly learn that it really doesn't matter, because as best as I can tell no street is really big enough to have 2 sides to it and it is one giant game of "chicken". Oddly, no one gets mad, they just move off the the side, or you do and everyone waves and life goes on. There also seems to be no rules of the road! the number of U-turn parking jobs I have seen on busy city streets is mind-boggling. Really anything goes! The pedestrians are equally dangerous..several of whom tried to shorten their lives by leaping out in front of me without any warning...at least in Seattle they do that at crosswalks..here it is anywhere. Now the bikes(do you see how the roads quickly fill up!) clearly this is where all the suicidal people come to ride their bikes...not a helmet for miles around...old people too with their shopping...has no one told them the rates of head injuries???? Oh yes, then there are the motorcycles and mopeds and delivery bikes...they ride on the yellow double line..any direction they want!! I am sure car insurance agents in England must be wealthy people!!

Highlights of the week including finding the IKEA..they are all the same, the same mind numbing maze and confusion, but in the end we ordered beds, a table and desk set up for the office and we arrange delivery. Also found was COSTCO...Bridget and Frank went on an explore one night after work and found it....they were so excited, they filled the car...the more exciting part was finding places to put all of this Costco size stuff in our proper(read small) British kitchen cabinets! We did the London Eye for old times sake, found some awesome museums we hadn't found before from the "50 London Walks with Kids" book a friend gave us. The science museum had a Wallace and Gromit exhibit(we spent almost 3 hours just in there! The went on to explore the "Secret Life of Home" which included a full collection of toilets through the ages including a life-size working model to demonstrate the inner workings on flushing...Frank is so upset he was off at meetings :( We have found several local parks all of which include some type of skate boarding park, walks along the Thames, the local pool where kids under 16 swim free. All the museums are also free and kids ride free on the buses and tube.

Our furniture arrived on Thursday and the next few days were spent trying to get the house in some order..most importantly getting to sleep in a BED! By Sunday we were in good shape and had our last sight seeing adventure before summer ends and school begins.

Today everyone was up and ready to go. Bridget has to walk 1 block to school(Coombe Girls School). We all walk her down and leave she and Frank to get her registered and the boys and I continue 5 more blocks to their school. It is surreal here on school mornings. Every school wears some version of the same uniform. Skirt/pants/white shirt/tie/sweater(called a jumper) grey socks and BLACK SHOES, only black no sneakers(trainers). So as we leave our house we must cross one street that is the main road to another school who has royal blue sweaters..we cross that line of people to be sucked up by the sea of green...Bridget's school...as the boys and I swim up stream past the sea of green, we are drawn into to navy/yellow sweater group for to block..we then get to our cross street and the seas part and the maroon tide takes over into Corpus Christie School(the boys school). Pablo would have a hey day trying to direct traffic...it is all on foot...even the few brave bikers have to get off and walk as the sidewalks are so packed with kids/parents. A rare car tried to make it through, but could not pass the sea of sweaters. By 9 am, the streets were deserted and all had made it safely to their destinations! I picked up the boys at 3:15 and Bridget had made it out early(was supposed to be 3:30) and met us at home. Whew..all had smiling faces with tales to tell, the best of which is no homework until next week for the boys as least. Bridget has testing on Wednesday to see what "group" she will be placed in for math etc. Matthew has his house name--but I forget it now, Bridget is Venus and Nick forgot his. I have been typing for so long, I am getting evil looks so I best go. I will have more details as the week progresses and am debating a blog vs facebook...I'd hate to have to have everyone sign up on facebook to look at pix(which will follow) The school schedule for everyone's travel plans: Autumn 1/2 term school's out; Oct 24-Nov 2 Christmas Holiday: Dec 18-Jan 4 Spring 1/2 term break Feb 12-Feb 22 Easter Holidays: March 31-April 19 Bank HOliday May 3 1/2 term break May 28-June 7 School ends July 21st Thinking of all of you, missing all of you...thanks for taking time to listen to me Love maggie