Day 32 – Legoland Windsor

So today Scott took off (since he worked on 4^th of July) and we went to Legoland. We arrived at 11 and it was packed. We went on a lot of rides and waited in a lot of long lines.

Our first ride was the Jolly Rocker – a big boat that swings back & forth like the Buccaneer. My stomach dropped every time but we all had a good time. I was laughing during most of the ride. Then we went on a laser ride – really long line. Scott of course creamed us by shooting the most targets. Emily came in second. Then we decided to have lunch. The Merlin Pass gave us a 20% discount which was quite nice. After lunch, the girls got to go to Driving School. Again, a very amusing time. No one over 13 could drive, we had to wait on the side – not that I would do any better than the kids. There were probably 30 kids on the course. Clearly some were from countries where you drive on the right side of the road. We saw a few collisions. And a few kids entered the roundabouts on the wrong side. Emily & Ainsley got the left-side driving although they too were a bit confused when they headed into a roundabout. Two Asian kids stayed on the right side the whole time. Scott & I were laughing so hard. At the end, all of the kids got a drivers license.

Next, we went on a Fire Engine race. In this, 4 people get into a fire engine, Two people have to pump to get the fire engine to move. Once the fire engine has reached the “house on fire”, you have to pump the fire hydrant to get the water to spray out of the hose. Poor Ainsley – I was laughing too hard to pump enough water out. It dribbled more than sprayed. Then we headed back to the fire truck and had to pump our way home. Unfortunately we came in 3^rd place – out of 4. I was laughing so hard. It was so funny.

After the fire engines, we headed to the creation station where the girls could build and race cars. They loved it. Then we went to check out miniland. I thought it was for little kids but in fact, it was where all of the lego models were. We were in awe. We saw Big Ben, parliament, St. Pauls Cathedral, London Eye, Loch Ness, Space Shuttle & Kennedy Space Center, Edinburg Castle, Belgium, Holland – lots of windmills, France – Sacre Coeur and lots of other mini models. It was amazing. The entire park is full of Lego models. We were all amazed. Then we headed back to the Dragon roller coaster and ended the day at Pirate Falls - a log flume. Scott didn't want to get wet that late in the day, so it was just the girls. And we did get wet but not as wet as some others because we all ducked. We left at 7:30, when the park closed. We drove back had a quick dinner at home and then off to bed.

Day 31 – Polo & Pubs

So today, Scott went out for the Windsor bike ride. But he actually got home at 12 because they did not stop for tea & cake. Scott said the riders are quite good and fast. And Scott couldn’t keep up. Luckily he was able to make it back without even needing the map on his phone. Once he got back, we all took baths and showers and put on skirts, dresses and slacks and headed to Polo. Our house had a picnic basket so we filled it up with stuff to eat, water & wine and headed out for a picnic right by the Polo match. I had Pretty Woman playing in my mind the whole time. I didn’t have my polka-dot tan dress or a hat, but we went out and turned the divits over during the half-time. We warned the girls of “Steaming Divits” and Scott & Emily found a few that they didn’t turn. The whole thing was quite comical. We watch ½ of one match and the entire second match. I think it was just a scrimmage between the club members because some of them switched teams after the first match. The guy announcer during the first match was replaced by a woman. We thought the guy was funny until we heard her. She was clearly inebriated and was calling the players by the wrong name. Once she called a ball as out when the team had actually scored. She was sacked (her words) after two periods by the brother of one of the players who would do a better job (again her words). It was a very relaxing fun day. Then we walked over to The Fox and Duck pub across the street for dinner. They were unfortunately not serving food but we had some drinks and the girls played pool. Scott struck up a conversation with one of the locals who was bringing stuff over. He even took our trash from the picnic basket.

Then we headed up to the New Inn for dinner since we knew they’d be serving til 8. Then off to home, and bed early.

Now I want to watch Pretty Woman again.

Day 30 – Mall & Dinner by River

So most of the am and part of the afternoon was spent trying to get Scott’s credit cards & drivers license replaced. For UBS, after getting switched to 4 different people, I decided to go get in the shower in the back part of the house. About 3 minutes into the shower, Scott arrived with a towel. The 5th UBS person needed to speak with me and the internet doesn't work in the back so I had to get out, very wet to answer UBS' questions. I was not a happy camper! After all of that was completed, we decided to head to replace some of the stuff. Someone had told Scott that there was a mall in Kingston. I had not seen anything in my travels there that resembled a mall but we set out in our replacement car to find out.

We had run into our neighbor who gave us directions and we were off. When we got inside, it was like we were home. It was truly a mall – I would say a very small mall but it was complete with elevators and department store (1) and stores that we recognized from the malls back home – H&M, J Crew, Gap. And it had teenagers too – some things never change.

In the department store, while looking for a replacement laptop bag, we found the American section. I was drooling. They had lots of brands from home – Kraft Mac & Cheese (Ainsley tried the version here and did not like it at all), Motts apple sauce, Aunt Jemima syrup, Snyders pretzels. While they went upstairs to look at wallets, I stayed downstairs to get a few things. I bought all of the above plus Jiffy Pop microwave popcorn, Betty Crocker cake mix (for Ainsley’s birthday next week) and a Betty Crocker cookie mix and it cost a fortune. I won’t be doing that again but it was nice to have a little bit from home

Then we decided to eat at Kingston so we looked on Yelp – yes they have Yelp here too, and found a quaint French restaurant right on the Thames called Frere Jacques. We were seated outside and Emily got a bonus Sprite with her dinner because she ordered lemonade and it was Sprite. The food was great and the location was very scenic. Then we headed home to bed. Everyone was exhausted.

Day 29 – Princess Diana Playground, lunch, tea with work colleague and our luck ran out

I bought a 7-day travel card yesterday knowing it made more financial sense than using my Oyster card on a pay-as you-go. And my boss had told me that my co-workers who were here for sales meetings might be available to meet up today so I figured it would be better to be in the city. We didn’t get as an early start as yesterday, but we made it down there by 1. It was a beautiful day, the first day all week that the sun was out consistently. So our first stop was the Kensington Palace Gardens – home of the Princess Diana Playground, which we had played at in January, well they played, I shivered. Given that most of our playground trips have been quite desolate, I foolishly brought my computer thinking I could do some work while they played and I'd be able to see them easily. Wrong - it was PACKED. I couldn’t do anything because there were so many kids there. And so many parents just sitting on blankets on the sides. Our intentions were to head back to Regents Park and onto Madame Tousseads, but I received a text from one of my co-workers that he was in Earl’s Court. So the girls and I headed to Earl’s Court where we got to meet up and have some tea near the station. I was surprised that he was not flying out but he was visiting with friends in the city which is why he was still around. It was nice. We actually had never really talked that much at work about anything not work related. Then he left and the girls and I had some muffins before we took the underground back out of the city. We knew Scott wouldn’t be home until late since he was going to his Jiu Jitsu class after work.

At 9:30 we got the call. It was Scott. He was standing outside his car which had been broken into and his laptop was stolen – along with his wallet. And unlike me with my cell phone, chances were pretty good that this stuff was not going to be returned. He went to call the police and the rental car agency. Then he headed to the airport to swap out the car. Shockingly, the robber did not steal the booster seats. Not a good start to our 5^th week.

Day 28 – Old Friend, London Zoo & Regents Park & Phantom

So today, we really made up for the boring day on Tuesday. We got up very early and got out the door by 8:45 (not bad since I was shooting for 8:30). We were down in London by 10. We then had a very brisk walk to the zoo (we didn’t realize that the underground was 20 minutes to the entrance of the zoo). But we made it in time to see an old friend who has lived here for years, Siobhan – a classmate of my sisters. We got to meet Siobhan’s kids – Finn (4 – who looks like a McCartan) and Riley (2.5 – who looks like a Murphy) and spend some time seeing the animals. My girls were very excited because the zoo has giraffes (the last time we were down at the Smithsonian Zoo, the giraffes were not there because their habitat was being redone). We spent about 2 hours together – got to go on a merry-go-round and have a milkshake (similar to a Blizzard). It was a lot of fun. But Siobhan had to leave so Riley could nap so then the girls and I looked at some more animals and went on a slide – similar to pump-it-up. After we left the zoo, we head back through Regents park and discovered a playground that had a “real see-saw.” We played there for about 30 minutes then continued our walk back through Regents Park. We got to see some of the flowers /gardens that we had briskly passed and not even noticed in the morning. Then we got back on the tube to go back to Richmond.

The reason we had to go back to Richmond was because we had to get my phone. We took a different bus out to the terminal. We were one stop away when a man boarded the bus and refused to pay or get off. After trying to trick him off the bus, the driver had to call the police so Emily, Ainsley & I decided to walk to the next stop along with most of the bus. Apparently this man had indulged a bit to much at the pub, started a quarrel with a man at the bus stop and got on the bus with the man. We made it to the station, got the cell phone – I didn’t have to provide any ID since my license was with my phone – and then we were off to go home.

At home, we had a 15 minute turn around and we were back off to the city. Scott had purchased tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera. We have been listening to the music for months now and when we found out we were coming here, it was a request from both girls to go see it. Ainlsey loved it. Emily was not as thrilled with it and said she actually liked Wicked more. It had been a long day and both girls were wiped out. So Tuesday was far from their memories.

So the end of 4 weeks and it was quite an ending today.

Day 27 – Chessington World of Adventures – Part 2

So to make up for the very boring day yesterday, we went out to Chessington Park again today to ride some of the rides we missed last week. We got to go on the rollercoaster (we didn’t even see it last Friday). It was called the Runaway Train. It was very similar to the Big Thunder Mountain ride in Disney World – but smaller. But we got to ride it 3 times so it made up for the shorter distance. Then we headed to the Laser Ride – think Buzz LightYear in Disney World but with Mummies, not aliens. We all scored well. Then Emily waited in line for the Cobra ride and Ainsley and I went on the bumper cars again. After the bumper cars we went to watch as Emily got on the ride – it was perfect timing. I went to get my phone out of my bag and realized it was missing. As soon as the ride ended and Emily said it was awesome and not very scary, we retraced our steps but to no avail. We did get to ride the laser ride again looking for the phone, not alas no phone. So we went home after a brief stop at the Sainsburys to get some food for dinner.

Luckily, when Scott got home that night, he had a message on his cell phone. The bus driver had found my phone and had dropped it off at the terminal for us to pickup the next day. We were very, very lucky.

Day 26 – Plan for Scotland =- BORING day

We spent all day planning on our Scotland trip and it was raining outside so we had to stay in once I was finished. And I heard it – it was a boring boring day. More than once:-).

Day 25 – Lunch in town and nails

Today we got a late start since we got to bed later last night. I did a bunch of work and did some research for our trip to Scotland. So we did not get to leave the house until 2:30. I didn’t think we could go anywhere given the time so instead we headed down to Richmond. We had a late lunch/early dinner at GBK – Gourmet Burger Kitchen. The burgers there were very tasty! Then we headed to the nail salon that I had made an appointment at to get all of our nails done. Unfortunately, the streets were not well marked and we walked by the street it is on about 5 times. (We actually have driven with Scott on the street and number of times but just didn’t know it’s name) And to make matters worse, it had started to rain and we had forgotten our umbrellas. So after stopping in 4 beauty-themed shops where no one had heard of the nail salon or the street name, we finally made it 30 minutes late for our appointment. Luckily they still took us.

Then it was off to Tesco with our new fancy nails – Ainsley got green ones with flowers painted on the thumbs and Emily had blue ones with fireworks painted on the thumbs and me with plain coral. We quickly shopped and headed home for dinner and bed.

Day 24 – Harry Potter

So the highlight of our day happened later in the day so we just hung out in the house in the morning/afternoon. Got TWO whole loads of laudrey done which was quite an accomplishment if you could see my machine – you need a magnifying glass:-). Scott joined a bike riding club so he went for a round trip bike ride out to Windsor castle that left at 9. He said he would be back around 12 based on the mileage but he didn’t show until 1. The excuse – the riding team stopped for tea and cakes at both the middle of the ride (right outside Windsor Castle) and at the end of the ride (Richmond Park). He said it was a beautiful ride and maybe we could follow him out one day and have a picnic or meet for tea & cake. Unfortunately, that would require me to drive and I have yet to do that. Last time I sat behind a driver’s wheel was over 3 weeks ago. So I am not sure that will actually happen.

But then as it got closer to 5:15, the girls started getting more and more excited. We were going to see Harry Potter at the cinema up in Kingston. It was an IMAX theater in 3-D. It was very good. I won’t give away any secrets. But at the end, it was sad for me. Not because of the plot but just that it was over. All week, we have been watching interviews with the cast – wait to you see Neville. And it was all over. No more books, no more movies. There is a special next week on tv of the 20 best scenes in all of the movies (save this one probably). It is just sad that it is all over. It was such a good story line, one we have thoroughly enjoyed for the past year and ½.

Then we went to grab some food to make for dinner and the grocery stores were all closed. I couldn’t believe it. I found out that on Sunday’s they close at 17:00 – 5pm. I guess that is what it was like with the blue laws but it through us for a loop. Then we swung by the pub and unfortunately they stop serving at 8. So we went home and I was able to scrounge up a hodge-podge for dinner and then it was off to bed.

Day 23 – Wicked, dinner with Laura

So we woke up today to rain. I went for a long walk into the downtown from our house (took about 1 hour). Then I did some quick shopping and I was home by 11 because right before I left, we bought tickets for a 2:30 matinee of Wicked. So we got all gussied up for the theater and headed down via the train into the city. We all loved it. It had quite a different spin on the story and there were a few very good songs in the musical that Scott wants to download to his Nano. Both girls loved it (I wonder if we can buy a patch since it was offered in DC for girl scouts?) We also hung out at the Victoria train station and had a quick bite to eat since we arrived early to the show. That was very amusing. Scott ordered milk for the girls to share and the dialogue went something like this Scott: “I’d like a glass of milk” – Pub worker1 – “Milk?”, Scott – “Yes, Milk” Pub worker 1 – “Milk?” Scott- “Yes, Milk, the white drink” Pub worker number 2 – “Milk” Scott – “Yes, milk from cows” Pubworker #2 – “Oh milk” And then proceeded to pour a glass of cream-like milk of which the girls drank 2 sips. It was quite comical. The pubworkers were actually immigrants from Eastern Europe.

Then we hurried home because we had invited our next door neighbor over for dinner as a thank you for all of the help she has given us. Scott and the girls went to Tesco while I went home to start cooking. We had Shepards pie and she had seconds because she liked it so much – quite a complement coming from someone from Scotland. I owe it all to the American Heart Association cookbook. We also got all of the gossip about the owner of the house we are renting. It explained a lot about the condition of the house. It was a nice night. The girls were tired and excused themselves to go to bed. She couldn’t believe it.

Day 22 – Chessington World of Adventure

Today, we opted to go to Chessington World of Adventure, an amusement park and small zoo not too far from the house. With all of the bus stops and transfer. It took about an 1hr to get to. We used our Merlin passes again to get in but we only had about 2 ½ hours because I did not realize t would take quite as long on the bus nor did I think it would close at 5. The amusement park had a bunch of things I had never seen before and a few things were 1.4 meters which meant that neither girl could go on. We did go on the log flume which was a lot of fun, very wet. It was Ainsley’s and Emily’s favorite ride that day. We saw one ride that we were not tall enough for that I had never ever seen. Imagine the Rainbow at Viva Vienna that goes around. But instead of swinging to the side, it swings forward. And it goes upside down and it stops and water shoots up and gets everyone on the ride wet. It was causing lots of screams. Then there was a 4 person roller coaster that zoomed around on the track, sometimes sideways as a it spun. Even Emily, the dare devil said if she was tall enough, she wouldn’t go on. We did get to go on the bumper cars and two kids playgrounds as well as a mini Buchaneer that spun as well as going back and forth. We had not seen it in operation so we didn’t realize that it spun. Ainsley & Emily went on it by themselves and both girls had a look of surprise when it started turning as well.

But alas the park closed at 5 so we had to head back home. We stopped in Kingston to switch buses so we did a little food shopping at Sainsbury before heading home for dinner. Given that we have the Merlin passes, I told the girls we would head back next week.

Day 21 – Horseback riding again

Today was a day that had little chance of rain so we decided to go back to the Kingston riding stables for another lesson (Ainsley had been begging to go again since we came back last Tuesday). When I called, I discovered that the stables offer a kids camp in July & August so I signed both girls up for the last week of July. We walked back to pickup our pottery first and then jumped on the bus to the stables. Given that I did not know how long it would be, we erred on the caution side and arrived 45 minutes before their lesson. So we waited and watched some of the people feed the horses and brush the horses hair. Then we were ready for our lessons. This time, I took a video of the lesson. Both girls had the same ponies they had ridden last week as well as the same teachers. Both teachers said that the girls are much more confident than the previous week.

After the lesson, we decided to check out the Kingston Library. I got a temporary membership there as well. So we got out some more books. Emily was a bit disappointed as they said that they had some Nancy Drew books, but alas they did not carry them anymore. But we found some other books – one is Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix – which is very long and thick.

Then we walked home from the library – it was a bit longer than I thought – but only by 2 bus stops so although there were complaints, it really wasn’t that bad. And when we got home, we were able to unwrap Ainsley’s sugar bowl and put some sugar in it. It was the first thing the girls said to Scott when he got home that night. Another week has come to a close. Hard to believe we have been here 3 weeks. We have hit the maximum that I have ever been out of the country consecutively.

Day 20 – Eye, Aquarium, clinic

So to make up for yesterday being a day stuck at home for the most part, we decided to head back to the city and visit the London Eye & Sea Life Aquarium. We got down around 1pm and was surprised to see so many people – especially kids there. Because we got our Merlin pass at Warwick, we just got to wait in the line to board the London Eye (Huge Ferris Wheel) instead of waiting in the equally long line for tickets. Once we boarded our “pod,” we got to view the city for 30 minutes (the time it takes to go all the way around without it ever stopping). It is quite an operation. They have an extra long boarding/debarking area. So unless someone needs assistance because of a wheelchair, it never stops. You step on and off while it is moving.

After the ride, we went to the playground right next to the line for the eye. It was a lot of fun. And we heard a lot of American accents there as the school kids were not in the playground – it was all tourists.

After the playground, we went next door to the Sea Life Aquarium (also a part of the Merlin Pass). The aquarium was also packed with kids – many of them in uniforms. School is still in session for another week or so and a lot of the kids were there for field trips. They were on the Eye too.

At the aquarium, we saw sea horses, lots of fish, penguins, coral, eels, and all types of sharks. It was great, very crowded with all of the school kids, but the girls were able to make their way to the front a lot of times to get a look. One time, Ainsley ended up getting stuck as a swarm of school kids pushed their way to see the penguins as she was trying to get away from the window. The chaperone got the kids to slow down so she could get out. The aquarium had a lot of information about saving the fish and protecting the environment which the kids too time reading about and answering the questions.

Then we decided to cross a bridge over the Thames instead of taking the underground. It was windy so we walked quickly but I did get to take a picture with Big Ben in the background. The bridge we were crossing I found out later is the Westminister Bridge. Duh. Then we took the underground back to Richmond. Ainsley's rash had still not really dissipated so we went to the Teddington Hospital Walk-in clinic so the doctor could write a prescription for some hydrocortisone (not an over-the-counter drug like back home). After 2 1/2 hours, we were done. And somehow, it was 100% free even the hydrocortisone because Ainsley was under 16. I tried to pay, but they said we were covered under the NHS, the health plan here. Then Scott called on his way home and decided to meet us in Teddington. So we had dinner at a Tapas restaurant he had gone to before and then headed home. Long day, but definitely made up for yesterday.

Day 19 – Day of rest, Ham IC, Shady Lane

Today I had to work a bunch (for those who don't know, I am actually working at my job from here) so we didn’t get out of the house until too late to do much. After I finished with work, we decided to walk over to Ham and get some ice cream. Then we went to Shady Lane park near our house to play in the playground. We got there so late, that we were the only people there. Since most kids had school the next day, it made a lot of sense. Tomorrow will be more exciting.

Day 18 – Picnic by River, Petersham Road Playground

So today, we decided to relax in Richmond. We went down to the Thames and had a little picnic. Emily tried to put her feet in the river, but we were not allowed, at least by the pier and the steps were too slimy.

Being that we do not do many picnics, we didn't bring too much to do so after we ate and walked by the river, we decided to go to Richmond Park – the Petersham playground where they played at the playground. There were a bit more kids there as school had already gotten out so the girls played with some kids in the sandbox. We stayed there for almost 2 hours but had to leave to go to the store. When we sat waiting for the bus, I discovered our first medical issue and no surprise it was Ainsley. Her skin in all of the exposed areas had red blotchy marks. Since we were heading into town, we stopped off at the pharmacy. The pharmacist said it looked like a rash and suggested we buy some Benadril (their equivalent) and calamine lotion. It almost looked like a sunburn but we weren’t out in the sun long enough to get one so we chalked it up to the sand. Luckily it wasn’t itchy & she wasn’t at all feverish, so we did some grocery shopping and headed home to take the medicine.

It was a very relaxing day, even with the rash. I actually felt somewhat antsy as I hung out at the playground, not being productive at all. But I guess we all need those kind of days every once in a while. And, there were a LOT of English that seemed to thoroughly enjoyed not doing anything. The picnic was a lot of fun.

Day 17 – Blenheim and trip home

After we got up the next day, we headed to Blenheim Palace, the place where Churchill was raised. I’ll admit I was a bit reluctant because I was getting all castle/palaced out, but my mind was quickly changed. The Palace had two floors to visit. The first floor had all of the traditional type rooms that we have seen elsewhere but Blenheim did something special for the kids. While the parents were listening to the audio guide, the kids had a scavenger hunt where they had to find certain things in the paintings on the wall. It completely kept them from being bored. I wish the other palaces and castles did something similar. The upstairs of the palace was devoted to the history of the palace – the original Duke & Duchess of who lived there and followed it through current day. (The 11^th Duke of Marlborough, a cousin of Winston Churchill, still lives there.) Again, the presentation was very engaging and both girls said they loved the palace. I highly recommend it. But then we came to the icing on the cake – the gardens. We took a little train to the gardens which had a large playground, butterfly garden, 4 life-sized chess games and a large maze – bigger than the one at Hampton Palace. Ainsley won and got out first after going to the center. We stayed until it was closing. Then we headed back to the city. Another travel note – driving back toward the city on a Sunday evening/night is like driving on the beltway during rush hour. Our 1 ½ hour trip took more like 3 hours with the traffic. But we finally made it back. It was a great weekend.

Day 16 – Road trip to Warwick Castle

So today we took our first trip outside of London. We travelled up to Warwick Castle, about 2 hours away. The castle is now owned by Madame Toussauds, and the people Scott works with said it was a bit cheeky. Warwick Castle is what you would envision at a Renaissance Fair plus the castle. We first went to the Merlins Dragon show where we got to help Merlin battle the evil Dragon. We didn’t do much except watch a little show but the girls thought it was pretty cool. We then grabbed a snack and headed to the Princess show. There, we helped a lady-in-waiting get her mistress dressed for her wedding. (Scott and I were definitely understanding the cheeky comment but the girls were loving it.) Then we went to the live bird show where a trainer had and owl, bald eagle & type of vulture fly around. It was great! We went to see the birds after. There were even more birds and a baby owl – a little puff of white. Very cute. Then we were right next to the Trebuchet show. There, we got to see the actors launch a large rock from the trebuchet. It was so neat! We made a final stop to the playground at the castle and then off to the hotel to spend a night in Coventry.

Word to the wise, do not stay in Coventry. It was the closest hotel available to the castle at a pretty decent rate (As Scott said, our standards have been lowered by our stay in our house:-) But Coventry is a pretty non-descript city. I was just so happy to have a proper shower!

Day 15 – Green bath, playground & pottery

Today, we decided to use the bathtub in the bathroom attached to Ainsleys room instead of the shower (it is the one that leaked 2x and although fixed, I didn’t want to take any chances). So it is a white tub and as I start to fill it up, we notice that there is a light greenish hue. The girls thought that it was cool. Because the fixtures are all gold, it somehow gave the water the slight coloring. I am just glad that now we don’t have to go to the gym to take showers for them.

After our baths, we walked up to Wendy’s Workshop – a clay studio just like Clay Café or Color-Me-Mine. The girls painted their chosen pottery items for about 2 hours. Wendy, the owner of the workshop hails from the US but has lived in the UK for 20 years. We were the only people in there for a while so we got to chat. And they had some magazines, which I got to look at while the girls painted away. We put all of our magazine subscriptions on hold and I forgot how much I actually enjoy down time of reading magazines. Ainsley decided to decorate a bowl that we could use as a sugar bowl back at the house. Emily made something to give to daddy for his birthday next month. After that we went home, met up with Scott and went to the New Inn, the pub a few doors down from the house, for dinner.

At the New Inn, we were surprised at the number of people who had their dogs accompany them in the restaurant. We started chatting with some people next to us with a dog, which the girls then got to pet. We have found so many people are so friendly around here. I think that Richmond, while considered a part of London, is not a hot spot for Americans on “holiday” so they are curious about us.

Day 14 – Library & a friends house

So today it rained right at the beginning of the day so the plans to go to the playground were out. And the girls were bored, bored, bored. We only have 5 channels on the TV. We aren’t allowed to get cable because they would have to drill in the side of the house, which is prohibited in our lease. And because our computers know we are in the UK, due to licensing restrictions, we can not watch any shows online. So the fall back of TV was not available. So the girls thought I should give Hannah’s mom a call. We chatted and found out they were attending story time at the Richmond Library so we decided to meet up with them. The story time was for younger kids (Hannah has a 3 year old brother - Michael) but they got to color and read some books instead of paying attention to the storytime. Then we were invited to play at Hannah’s house.

They live less than 10 blocks from the library. So we walked up there. It was a very interesting walk. Right in the middle of town, backing up to a car park, is a cemetery that the kids walked though while we walked on the sidewalk. It was filled with really old headstones – dating back to the early 1800s. One headstone was that of a member of Louis XVI court who escaped France before her head was chopped off and lived a long life in Richmond. It was pretty neat.

Then we got to Hannah’s house. It is a 3 level flat. The girls got to play with some of the toys they brought with them from Australia. And the toys looked pretty much the same as what we have – ZhuZhu pets, legos, doll house. We all had some hot tea and some muffins that Hannah had helped bake that morning. The girls discovered that they like hot tea. We stayed long enough that we even got to meet Hannah’s older brother Cameron when he got out of school. It was funny, as soon as Cameron arrived home, Michael and he started bickering and Michael being 3 started getting quite frustrated and fussy. Emily asked Jenny, Hannahs mom, if Michael needed a nap because he was cranky. It was too funny to hear from an 8 year old.

We stayed for maybe 30 more minutes and then left them to make dinner as their dad was coming home. We discovered that their dad likes bike riding too. Cameron told the story of how he was supposed to get a new bike and somehow, instead, his dad got a new one even though his current one was perfectly fine. It sounded surprisingly familiarJ. Then we made our daily trip to Tesco and home for our dinner and bed.

Week 2 came to a close. The highlight of the week was horseback riding, hands down. Both girls can’t wait to go back.

Day 13 – Bowling

When we had gone into Kingston last week, Emily had noticed a bowling alley so we thought we would check it out. Online, I discovered that the bowling alley was having a summer special – 2 games and a sandwich/fries for the cost of less than 1 game at regular prices, so we signed up and took the bus to the bowling alley that afternoon. The girls won both rounds – it was their combined score versus mine. Then we had our hamburgers and they played a little in the arcade. In comparison to the AMF’s back home, this place was opulent. Because we were there before the schools got out, the alley was relatively empty. We got to bowl in the newer lanes, that you didn’t need bowling shoes for! The lanes had a kind of tiling right up to the part where you rolled the ball thus allowing you to wear your own sneakers. And the bowling balls seemed lighter. I was prepping the girls that there may not be bumpers but there were as well as the ramps you can roll the ball down. They even had bowling balls that had handles instead of holes for your fingers. I think we all tried them but didn’t like them as the handle snapped and got our fingers.

After bowling, the girls went on a simulator ride right there in the bowling alley. While it did not go upside down, they both loved it – there were two seats so they both went together. Then they played a game of air hockey. Ainsley kept scoring against herself which both girls found quite hysterical. Then Ainsley won at the car racing arcade game and Emily tried one of those “Claw” games where you get candy. Unfortunately it was broken and ate our money so instead of refunding us the coin, the guy let each girl choose 3 pieces of candy which the girls were very excited for because it was “British Candy.”

Then it was a quick trip to the grocery store and home for dinner and bed.

Day 12 – Horseback Riding

The girls had seen the ability to ride horses in Richmond Park so I looked into some horse riding lessons. We found a stable, close to the park and reachable via one of the buses near us and given that it was not supposed to rain until later, we booked lessons for that day. Since we had never been there, we decided to leave extra early which was a very lucky thing. We got to the bus stop and just missed a bus but given that they come every 8-14 minutes, and we had given ourselves plenty of time, I figured we’d be ok. Well we waited and waited and waited. Then the schools got out and a flock of kids in uniforms joined us. And then we waited and waited and waited. Finally, after 45 minutes, the bus came. No explanation and no one seemed that phased by its lateness. We got off the bus at 3:20 for our 3:30 lesson and ran the 5 blocks to the stables. Then we quickly got suited up (riding hat & boots) and got our horses with 30 seconds to spare.

The girls had a blast – a very expensive blast at that for only a ½ hour. Both girls had 1 on 1 lessons with separate instructors in the outside rink. Both had ponies, not horses and Ainsley’s looked like a Shetland pony so it was smaller than Emily’s. They learned how to mount and dismount, get the pony to turn, they trotted, and learned to get up & down on the horse – that was amusing as they each had 2 laps with the instructor saying – “Stand up, sit-down, stand up, sit-down”

We lucked out because as they were bringing the ponies back to the stables, it started to lightly rain. Then we ran to bus stop which was covered. And we waited and waited and waited for another bus. At some point, we heard the reason for the delay. Apparently, there was a house fire on the bus route and traffic was at a standstill so no buses could continue on their routes. Instead of going around the street with the fire, the buses had to wait because the streets are so narrow that a side street was really not an option. Finally a bus came (only waited 20 minutes this time) and then we went home instead of going to the park as had been our intention. Even with the rain and the long bus waiting, it was by far the girls favorite day here.

Day 11 – The pool

Today, we decided to go back to the pool. It was a bit warmer, so we did a little bit of all of the pools. Then the girls discovered the outside shower – which had pretty cold water. They would go in the outside shower, then jump in the outside pool which was slightly warmer than the shower. We didn’t meet anyone today. We did find a private shower in the ladies restroom (unfortunately they can’t use the ones in the locker room of the fitness center like I had done on Saturday.) But it was nice to shower. Our shower at home leaked to the first floor twice last week so even though they said they fixed it, we were hesitant to use the shower part in the girls bathroom and the one in our bathroom has no curtain so that was not really an option for them either.

We stopped in the café attached to the pool for some lunch. It was pretty good – not just chicken nuggets or hot dogs like most places. Then we hurried home for a 4 o’clock meeting with the real estate agency representative to go over the house (and some of the things that needed to be fixed – I forgot how much fun it is being a renter:-). When I turned on my computer when we got home, Skype rang. It was Nora Galvin. We had totally forgotten it was the 4^th of July today. They don’t really celebrate it here. So Emily and Ainsley got to chat with Nora and we got to give another tour of the house. Technology is truly amazing. We just walked around the house with the camera on the laptop. Truly amazing.

After the real estate agent and the guys to fix our washing machine left, it was a quiet rest of the day.

Day 10 – Kew Gardens

So today we decided to go to Kew Gardens, which also was quite close to the house. We opted to drive and as we were looking for a parking spot, passed a Bus 65, the one that goes right by our house. The gardens were AMAZING. It too is a very large park. It had greenhouses dedicated to certain types of plants – those from mountainous regions, those from desert regions (saw some plants from Arizona), those living in the rainforest. There was one greenhouse dedicated to huge water lilies. It was so pretty in there. We had lunch in the Orangery and then discovered the kids playground. It was packed with kids. There was an outside part – complete with a low zipline and an inside part. The kids had a blast and didn’t want to leave there. But there were still other things we knew they’d like. So we visited the Bamboo forest and a Ming house – Ainsley is fascinated with anything Asian. We also went to the Tree Walk – 7 flights of stairs to a catwalk that went around the tree tops. Ainsley & I made it up 3 flights when we decided to turn around but Scott and Emily went to the top. So down on the ground, Ainsley and I learned some facts about trees – do you know how many trees it takes to produce enough oxygen for a family of 4? We stumped Daddy & Emily with that one.

Then back home for a quiet dinner and bed. I wish we could get an upgrade yearly pass but alas, not here.

Day 9 – Windsor Castle

I woke up at 6:30 to head to the gym today. I had my induction set for 8 am. Since we had only been to the pool, I needed to be shown around the equipment. My instructor set up a gym card so now I have a gym plan. It was funny because I didn’t know my weight. It is the one thing that for some reason I find hard to remember how to convert. And even worse, a lot of people in the UK go by “stones” which is really somewhat foreign to me. However, it did explain why the scale in the house was saying I was around 9. I thought I may have had a radical weight loss or something to be only 9 kilograms. Then I took a shower at the gym and headed home just as everyone was waking up.

By 10, we were off to Windsor Castle – a 30 minute train ride. Scott took the bus for the first time to the Richmond train station where we were able to pick up a direct train to Windsor/Eton. We learned all about the history of the castle and walked around the rooms in the palace part. If the flag is up, the queen is in residence and a flag was flying. However, we did not get to meet the queen (or see her for that fact). There was a room completely dedicated to Prince Philip her husband. (I am still not quite sure why he isn’t King Phillip. I think it may have to do with the fact that he was not born in the UK – similar to President) We got our tickets stamped which allows us to return for up to 12 months which the girls and I may do because the castle has kids activities in August. We also learned about the Order of the Garter, a special group of knights. It was started to mimic the Round Table of King Arthur. Emily wrote about it for one of her “Summer Bingo” squares.

We stopped in the town and had a quick bite to eat. The train station is for Windsor Castle and Eton College – where William and Kate met. There was a lot of stuff about the Royal Wedding in the town. On our walk back to the train, we passed a Pizza Hut – which in an commercial we heard pronounced Pizza Hoout, so now whenever we see a restaurant, we like to say Pizza Hoout. You probably had to hear the commercial to find the humor in it. Then we took the train back to Richmond where we had dinner in a French restaurant. Then back home for bed.

Day 8 – The pool & a friend

So today we decided to head down to the pool, earlier than on Monday thinking it would probably not be as crazy. Since it was not as warm, we thought we would stay inside. When we got there, however, we found that it was packed with kids in the middle of the day. When we asked someone, we found out that the kids were there for their PE class. The kids take a bus to the pool for their gym class. We couldn’t believe it! We tried to imagine a Flint Hill class at Oakmarr for PE but we just didn’t think that was very feasible.

We started in the big pool and then discovered a smaller pool for kids under 8. Since it wasn’t that busy, we decided that it would be better in there. Then another little girl, who looked around 6 or 7 years old came with her mom. We got to talking and learned that the little girl was home schooled hence why she was at the pool during the day and not part of a class. Emily and Ainsley played with Hannah while Jenny (her mom) and I chatted. I learned that Hannah has been waiting to get into their local school for two terms. Apparently it is quite hard to get into the school close to them. They too are not from England. They moved for 2 years for their husband/fathers work. They are originally from Perth, Australia. They had to leave and they gave us their phone number if we wanted to play another day. The girls were ecstatic, their first friend.

Then later that day they got to talk with some friends from home – the Murphys. Given that our new internet was not set up yet, they were confined to the back of the house and they got to show Alexandra & Stephanie the fixed up and set up Doll House.

Then given that it was late – 9:30-10:00 here, it was time for bed.

Day 7 – Ham Village

So I did some research this am on local libraries and found a library in Ham that looked like it was walking distance so we set off this afternoon to find it. Ok, so the map I was looking at online actually was facing the opposite direction, so I made a left instead of a right but then we figured it out and were back on track. We made it to the library just as it was about to close for lunch. They gave me some applications and told us to come back after 2. As we went home to have lunch, we made a very important discovery – a playground. We had decided to go to the Richmond park playground that day but after finding the Shady Lane playground, decided to go to that one instead. Today was a very important day to be at the Playground – Emily had already decided that. See today, many of the teachers in London were on strike just for the day which meant that there would be kids at the playground during school hours and she was correct.

After we had lunch back home, we set off for the Shady Lane playground. We brought some activities – a ball, the kite, some chalk, the jump rope. At first, Emily & Ainsley were playing together only, but then they got the kite out. Then all of the kids wanted to take a turn and after we put the kite away, the kids all played tag. Although they were still younger than Emily (except 1), they all had a good time. We quickly ran to the library before it closed and got 1 temporary membership allowing us to take out 5 books at a time. Not ideal, but at least something. I will see if I can get additional memberships next time we go to the library.

We made some other discoveries in the little town of Ham. There is a dry cleaner, 2 Newsstands (think mini 7-Elevens in a very non-descript way), a hardware store, a pizza place and an ice cream place. And of course, 2 pubs. After we got out of the library, we decided to go to the pub for dinner as Scott was not expecting to be home until after 10. While we waited for our dinner, we talked about 1 of the books we had checked out – “Tales of Beetle the Bard” by JK Rowling. The girls wanted to hear a story so I told them my recollection of the Tale of the Three Brothers from reading Harry Potter – Deathly Hallows. The bartender came over and said that she was listening to my retelling of the story because she was a huge Harry Potter (HP) fan and so we 3 chatted with her about HP.

Well week 1 has come to a close and I think we have accomplished a lot this week on our own with no car during the week. I do really love the bus system and the ability to walk. Some of the places we have taken the bus to, we probably could walk as well. Maybe next week.

Day 6 – Kingston, 99P, Doll House and an Oyster Card

So those who know me, know I love freecycle. And last night, I found that they freecycle here too. I joined the freecycle chat and asked if there were any discount stores – like the dollar store back home - that the girls and I could visit for crayons, markers, little activities, etc. This am, I awoke to a dozen replies to my request as well as suggestions on what to do. Well, similar to our names – and no, there is no Target unfortunately - they have dollar stores. Except since they use pounds, the stores are called Poundland or 99P (the “p” stands for Pence – 100 Pence to a pound). I found that there was a 99P store in Kingston – the next town up from us located on the Bus65 - so we set off to Kingston. We found the store and the girls had a blast – we got crayons and colored pencils and a jump rope and chalk. And everything was only 99p!

After our visit to 99p, we set out to find somewhere that I could get an Oyster card. The Oyster card is the pass people use on the bus that gives a discounted fare on the bus. We were told we could buy one at the post office. So into the post office we went, took our place in the queue, waited about 15 minutes, got to the counter and found out that the Post Office does not actually sell the cards, but the attached newsstand does. As we went to the newsstand, Emily goes – “Why didn’t they say that when then sent us to the post office? Why did we have to wait in that line?” What I have found is that if you don’t ask the question exactly right, you don’t get the right answer. The person told us the post office, but what he assumed we knew was that the newsstand by the post office sold them. He got us to the correct place, but not all the way there. But we figured it out and we didn’t have anywhere that we had to be.

We had two more errands – 1 of which was another trip to the grocery store – and then to buy Scott a bike pump and we were back home. I felt like a true englishman as I swiped my Oyster card on the bus on the way back. When we returned, the girls played with the activities they’d bought at Harrods as well as they worked on the dollhouse.

Scott had taken a picture of the dollhouse when he came to look at the house and the girls were very excited. However when we got here and they opened the dollhouse, they discovered that it was in disrepair. One of the items we bought at Harrods was some glue that we could use to fix the furniture. We bought some cleaning supplies at 99p that the girls used to dust the rooms and then I helped them start to glue the missing legs, canopy, etc. on the furniture. They were having a grand time fixing everything that they didn’t want to come in for dinner at first.

Day 5 – London – Harrods & the Natural History Museum

So today we braved the train and weather and went into London. The bus takes us to the town center in Richmond where we can then get on the underground. The train is an “overground” for the first few stops and in between the 2^nd and 3^rd stops, there was a pinging noise. The girls thought it might be hail and they were correct. A few hail stones bounced in the train from the slightly ajar windows. It was a downpour for maybe a minute and then it stopped. It was very odd and very nice that we were inside the train and not outside under our umbrellas.

We arrived at our destination which thankfully I had remembered correctly – HARRODS! The girls had received some $$ from both sets of grandparents so they wanted to spend it – or at least a little of it in Harrods. We set out to find the toy section – which is really not an easy thing to do – that store is HUGE! We found it and somehow spent almost an hour to find some activity boxes for the girls to do back at the house.

Next, we were starving so we made a stop to a restaurant called COSTA – similar to COSI or Panera and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Then, we were off to our final destination – the Natural History museum. We had gone there in January but has only 1 hour to spend and completely skipped whole sections. So we returned to visit the RED section which was all about the earth. We learned about volcanoes and earthquakes – we actually got to see what it felt like during an earthquake. We saw rocks & gems and learned about the solar system – Pluto is still a planet on their big wall J. We ventured into the Green section but did not stay too long as the dinosaur exhibit was under construction. It is very similar to the Smithsonian Natural History museum and the girls had a lot of fun. And we got to fill in one of the squares for summer bingo.

Then back on the underground, had to make one switch - which we easily navigated since we had done many switches on the tube in January - and we were back in Richmond. Made our daily quick stop at the Tesco – needed more milk as the largest size we can find is a ½ gallon – then back on our beloved Bus 65 and we returned home. It was quite a long day.

Day 4 - Our first day on our own

At around 5:30 am, I woke to a noise which I took to mean one of the girls had woken up and was coming up to get me. When I looked up in the direction from where the noise came, I was not greeted by either Emily or Ainsley. Instead, I saw the back side of a reddish/brown animal climbing into our closet/wardrobe. Not seeing the front and based on the color, I immediately thought one of the foxes in our back garden had come through our open window and gone into our closet. I immediately woke up Scott with a shake and a “THERE IS AN ANIMAL IN OUR CLOSET!” He looked to the closet just as the animal decided to walk out. It was not a fox as I had feared, but a cat - and a very brazen one at that. So Scott tried to get it to go out the window to no avail so Scott picked it up and brought it outside. Although the cat did not have a collar, it was very domesticated as it let Scott pick it up. While Scott was able to fall back asleep, I was not so I went downstairs to have some cereal in the kitchen. That is when I discovered how our friend had gotten in. Scott had opened the skylight in the kitchen to let the air circulate and I had not closed it. While it was too small for any human to climb through, it was large enough to let the cat slink through.

Then Scott got up at 7:30 and did something he has not done in over a year. He drove to work! He left at 8:30 and the girls and I were on our own. Ainsley learned how to swim with her head in the water right before we left and was desperate to show me her new skill. I had told the girls that we would find a pool here and so that is what we set out doing on Monday. We joined a public pool/gym for 2 months called Pools on the Park. We took the bus down to the town center of Richmond and walked about 5 minutes to the pool. The facility has both an outside and inside pool and given that it was 30C that day (~87 Fahrenheit), we opted to go swim in the outside pool. While the girls insisted that the water was warm once you got in, it was still pretty cold to me. But they had fun and I got to see Ainsley swim with her face in the water, which was so exciting. Once Oakmarr allows signups for the fall, we will be enrolling in swimming lessons again.

Then we walked back to the town to pickup the bus and did a little food shopping at the TESCO food market right there. We bought some things that we had forgotten to buy on Saturday. We could only buy 2 bags worth of food as that is all I could carry on the bus. It reminds me of the shopping I did when we lived in NYC and I could only buy what could fit in the bottom of the baby stroller. Then we took the bus home.

While the girls were getting ready for bed, I noticed my cousin pop up as available on Skype. So I gave him a call and the girls got to chat with Brendan and my Uncle Bob before heading to bed.

All in all a successful first day on our own.

Day 3 - Richmond Park

Today was a day of rest. We ventured down to Richmond Park – a large park 3x the size of Central Park in central Richmond, the town we are in. While we thought it would be best to take the bus because it stopped right at the playground, Scott wanted the flexibility of the car in such a large park so we drove. BIG MISTAKE. It was 29 degrees Celsius that day (~84 Fahrenheit) and EVERYONE in Richmond and the other surrounding towns was there. We drove around the park for about an hour looking for parking. Given the size of the park, you would think it had more than 3 parking lots but apparently that was all they had and each was packed. We got to see a herd of Red Deer (they all have huge antlers) just on the side of the road, really not at all concerned about people or cars. We finally found a parking space and we the walked to King Henry’s mound to get a look at London in the distance. Then we walked down the long hill (great sledding hill I would imagine) to the playground where the girls had a blast playing on the stuff that you just don’t see that often in playgrounds anymore. The playground had TWO of those merry-go-rounds like the one at Meadow Lane and a spider web that the kids could climb on.

As we had not had lunch and it was around 3, we decided to walk to the pub across the street from the playground to have Sunday Roast, a traditional meal on Sundays here. It was delicious. Emily, our carnivore, loves the whole concept and wants Sunday roast to be every day. When we arrived home, we discovered that no A/C is actually a big deal when it is 29C outside and the 2^nd & 3^rd floor rooms were unbearably hot. We opened windows but that did not help too much where the girls slept so the girls camped out in the tv room on the first floor, a much cooler alternative. Right before bed, we decided to give my parents a call and then we chatted on Skype. When we went to bed, I made sure all of the windows were closed as there were no screens on any of them and while the bugs are considerably less than home, I wasn’t taking any chances. Scott and I left our bedroom window open in the back because it was still so hot up on the second floor. Well the next am, we woke up to a surprise.

Day 2 - Hampton Palace

Today was our first full day in our temporary country. We decided to go to the Hampton Palace, it looked relatively close to where we were staying. So I proceeded to open the right side door only to be reminded that this was actually NOT the passenger seat. Once we set off, it was relatively a short drive. We missed a turn or two but made it in good time. This palace had a large Maze in the middle. Of course the girls breezed through it and got to the center before Scott and I both times. We got a tour of the palace and learned a LOT about King Henry VIII, the House of Tudor, how many wives he had (and how many he had the heads cut off – I always thought it was all of them but actually only 3) and we got to actually meet King Henry and Queen Catherine (I think the 2^nd Catherine – one of the wives who got her head cut off). We also got to visit the local grocery store – Sainsbury. It was Scott’s first time in a grocery store this year I think. The store was smaller than those in the US but had most of what we needed.

We discovered that our house did not have any internet. But luckily, we met two neighbors, one our next door neighbor who graciously gave us her security code to use her wireless connection until we could figure out the status of the internet on Monday.

The sun comes up around 5 am and goes down at around 10pm. So bedtime has moved up in the house as it is just too bright at 9.

Day 1.25

We made it to London. The flight was pretty good. We arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare. We had one packing snafu (at least that we have thought of thus far) but luckily, our neighbor was able to drive it ½ way to the airport and Scott’s parents were able to get it and bring it back to us before we even went to the gate. And, we were automatically upgraded to Economy Plus without me even having to tell them about all of the misery we had on our non-existent flight to Nantucket the weekend before. Everyone slept for at least part of the way which was great. We arrived at 10:30 am in London and began our hike to immigration. I didn’t remember how far it was from where we landed to the immigration line. But with 8 carry-ons + American girl dolls & pillow pets (making 2 of us unable to help with the actual bags), I felt as if it took us forever to get there. Then we exited into the sea of drivers holding up names and we did not see ours. So we waited until we found our driver – very nice man who was looking for us I think in Terminal 3 and we were in Terminal 1. Once we divided up the suitcases between the taxi driver and Scott’s rental car, we were off to see our new home for 10 weeks. Emily & I went with the driver and Scott and Ainsley braved the left-side driving themselves in the rental car. Even though we had to walk with our bags from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 to get to the car, the driver arrived first and we were greeted by Jenna & Scarlett, two co-workers at Scott’s “new” company. We heard tales that Scott had called from the road and it reminded the women of Chevy Chase in National Lampoons European Vacation – “Hey look kids there’s Big Ben.” So Emily & I got the tour of the house ourselves. The house is very big. It is a row home that they added a connection to a cottage in the rear of the row home making it one large, long combined house with two wings effectively. The women took the liberty of stocking the fridge with some essentials to get us started which was BRILLIANT because we were all starving by the time we arrived at the house. While we snacked, we tried to find any paperwork about the house – like how to operate the alarm system, the tv (there are only 4 stations that we were able to get reception on), the heating/AC (it was chilly), how to get hot water and where the supposed online connection was and if there was a password. Unfortunately in England, they don’t seem to do that with rental homes because we found some instructions, but not all in a little file. We decided to go to the pub at the end of the block to get some more food so I went to close the overhead window. Jenna & Scarlett had pointed toward the door when they said that is how I could operate the window so I pushed the only button I could see near the door, a large red button next to the door – BIG mistake as that was a panic button and set the alarm off. So the alarm went off for 12 minutes because as I previously said, the owners had not left us any information on how to disarm it or how it worked in general. And we got to meet 2 lovely police officers who came to check on the house since the alarm was going off. Luckily it stopped on its own after 12 minutes when the police officers were here trying to disarm it as well. As the one police officer said – we were announcing our arrival when we set the alarm off – "the Americans are here!" The rest of the day was pretty uneventful – us trying to log on to the internet and unpack and decide on rooms. Hopefully tomorrow will provide us with better connection to the outside world.

Pictures to come.