Day 46 – Keys & Pool

So today, after 2 failed attempts to get another set of keys, we headed to a third (and thankfully last) security store to get a new set of keys for Scott (since his were stolen). We got to take a new bus to a new town that we have never been. Then we headed back to Richmond to go to the pool as we had not been in a long time. Emily met a girl her age and they played together. Ainsley played “It” in the Under 8 pool with another mom and her son. Unfortunately Emily’s new friend had to go and the lifeguard told Emily she could not go in the pool with Ainsley since it was only for Under 8 year olds. Emily came over to me crying and the lifeguard said he did not realize that she was with me and that it was ok for her to go into the pool. That made her feel better but then she and Ainsley got me into the water to join in the game of It. We were there for almost 2 hours but I was getting cold so I convinced them that it was time to go to the store for dinner and head home. Which we did.

Day 45 – Last Windsor bike ride, Buckingham Palace and Kate's dress

Today was the last ride for Scott out to Windsor as we would not be in London on a Sunday morning anymore. Luckily, it was sunny and warm and was a beautiful ride. Then he quickly got home and got changed and we headed down to Buckingham Palace for 2:45 appointment. Because Buckingham is only open to the public for about 2 months in the summer while the queen is in Scotland, it is quite busy and they set times for people to enter. Given that it closed at 5, we did not have a lot of time. We got tickets to see the Palace State Rooms, the Queens Gallery & the Royal Mews. Unfortunately, we only made it to 2 of the 3. We drove into the city and this time, it was not as easy as there was construction. We finally decided to park and take the Tube one stop to Buckingham Palace. Of course Scott’s good weather in the morning turned into not so great weather in the afternoon and it was raining for a good part of our walk to the palace. The rain had also brought the cold so it was not a fun walk. Finally we arrived and were greeted by a security guard with an American accent. She was from Boston. We went to the Gallery first. We saw a lot of artwork acquired by various royals throughout the years. It was really amazing. They even had a few Rembrandts. It really is amazing the amount of wealth the royal family has.

Next, we went to the state rooms. We got an audio guide that was for kids, since the adult guide was at a different speed. So the whole family was guided through Buckingham by Rachel and Charles. We got to see the rooms where the Queen holds official visits (just in case we aren’t ever invited by the queen herself we thought we should take a look). We saw where Prince William and Kate had their wedding pictures. But the part the girls were most excited for was the dress. Kate’s dress was on display. It was so funny. In the gallery where it was on display, there were two screens showing the seamstress who designed the dress. She was going into a detailed account of every section of the dress. (Scott would argue that it rivals this blog!) What amazed me was the amount of people that were sitting there captivated by this – women and men. Then we got to see the video of the royal wedding. The girls started to stop to watch and I reminded them that it was probably still on our Tivo at home. Then we turned the corner and there it was. It is very pretty. I think there were more people watching the video than looking at the dress. We also got to see her shoes and the royal cake – I guess they aren’t freezing the top part and eating it on their first anniversary. That marked the end of the tour. We did go and color and design wedding dresses in the family activity room. Then it was back outside, in the cold, but at least the rain had stopped. On our way out, we got our tickets stamped so that we could return for up to a year. Since we are still here for a few more weeks, I figure we might make it back down to see the Royal Mews. We actually haven’t seen the changing of the guard either so we can do both at the end of the month.

Then we headed back home. We were early enough that dinner was still being served at the New Inn so we stopped for some dinner there and then home to bed.

Day 44 – Bath, Stonehenge & Avesbury

We realized this week that today was our last day to drive somewhere outside London during the weekend. So we decided to head to Bath – about 1.5 hrs west of Richmond. True to its name, it has a bath – the Roman Baths. I did not realize this (or maybe I did a long time ago). The Romans actually occupied England during the Roman Empire. And they discovered some natural springs in the western part of England that they built a city and temple around. These Roman Baths were famous for their rejuvenating and healing powers. It was a bit crowded as a tour bus let out right before we arrived. There was a kid activity for the girls to solve as we walked through the various baths housed there. Unfortunately, we were unable to take a dip as the pools were no longer opened to the public.

After Bath, we drove to Stonehenge. Although Scott’s co-workers said that it really wasn’t that exciting, how could we come to London and not go to Stonehenge? So we walked around the big stones. The girls got some pictures. We actually saw a bunch of people doing silly poses – like pushing as if they were pushing the stones. The actual stones are roped off as tourists started defacing the stones and chipping off pieces as souvenirs. We learned that the word “henge” means trench and that a trench surrounded the stones and then the stones were put on top.

After we crossed that off the list, we went to Avesbury on the recommendation of the choir accompianist at church. Unlike Stonehenge, the stones are quite accessible. They actually go all around the “town.” So we walked around the 4 sections. And the henge was quite obvious here. So the girls went down into the trench because it was easier to walk. That was due to the fact that along with the stones, there were lots of sheep and goats who also liked the stones. So walking was very tricky as there was sheep doo-doo everywhere. You could definitely tell I am a city girl by the way I was hopping around the doo-doo. Most others were just walking straight ahead in flip flops no less and they didn’t seem to mind what they stepped on. When the girls went down into one of the trenches, Ainsley scraped a bush and was itching. Of course the bush she scraped was a stinging nettle. So she had bumps on her leg but luckily, they disappeared in 10 minutes. Scott knew the reaction as soon as he saw it because I started to get alarmed that it was an allergic reaction. We finished our exploring of the 4 sections with the stones and headed back to the car for our drive back to London.

We decided to go to a restaurant in Richmond on the way home. Scott had gone to one right along the water but on Saturday nights, it is no kids. So we walked a bit more and decided to head to Pizza Express. It is a chain, but the Pizza was really good. Hit the spot after a long day. Then it was back to the house and to bed.

Day 43 – Lollibop

On the way to work yesterday, Scott heard an advertisement for a festival for kids in London in Regents Park so today, we took the train to London to check it out. It was packed with kids and parents (surprisingly a LOT of dads)! We arrived about an hour after it opened so thankfully the lines weren’t too long. Our first stop was the trapeze where the girls learned some moves on a very low to the gound trapeze. After that, we went over to a BIG airslide. To get to the top of the slide, the girls had to climb up 8 “stories” of crisscross netting – a story being about 4 feet. They eventually made to it to the top and came down the slide. And the line had doubled in size from when they got on so we went to something else.

The something else was face painting since we had missed out yesterday. Both girls got butterflies on their faces. After the face painting, we decided to grab something to eat. They weren’t too enamored by the choices and then we found a baked potato stand that worked. After we were finished eating, we watch a little of the ZingZilla concert. It was packed with three year olds and their parents so we couldn’t really see. We were most interested in the theme song which they played right away. Since we have very limited TV, the ZingZillas are one of the few shows that aren’t too babyish to watch. And as I said, their theme song is quite catchy.

After watching ZingZillas, we headed over to an open moonbounce. I had never seen one like this. It was a huge inflated circle that was not enclosed. What was worrisome to me was there was no side and no mats so if you fell off, you fell 3 feet to the ground. I kept telling them to “Stay in the Center.” A mom sitting next to me said she was worried about the same thing and was surprised that they had set it up this way. I wonder if that is why the first aid was set up right next to it? Then we went on the trapeze again and while I waited in line, the girls went over to the science tent and played with slime and smoke bubbles. They loved it. Then we went to play with the swing balls and then headed home for dinner and bed.

Day 42 – Thumbs up – It’s Thursday

I got a brochure when we were at the Tenpin one of the times we went about some free kids activities in Kingston every Thursday during the school holiday. So we decided to check it out. Unfortunately it was raining so we decided not to go on the ferry ride in the rain. Instead we went to Bental Centre first. According to the brochure, they were having a build your own solar and rubber band cars. Unfortunately when we got there, we learned that they decided to change to schedule and had done that last week. But the girls did get to make spinning tops to take home.

Our next stop was TenPin for some Harry Potter magic. However that too proved to be a bit of a disappointment as it was a magician and all of the kids watching it were 3 years old. The magician didn’t even teach any tricks like it said in the brochure. We were getting pretty bummed trying to find the next activity but at least the rain had stopped. I was two strikes and almost to my third.

But the rain stopping was a good thing because we walked right by some Bungee jumping and both girls got to do that. So all was better! Ainsley just bounced because the straps around her legs were hurting her. Emily started doing back flips. So the day was not lost anymore. And we walked past a farmers market so we bought some fresh strawberries and cherries.

After the bungee, we headed to the last activity – making masks because we couldn’t find the face painting. As luck would have it, after they started decorating the masks, I found the face painting. It was supposed to be over at 4 pm so I got in the queue at 3:35. About 5 minutes into waiting, the woman doing the face painting gave a sign to the little girl in front of me that said no one beyond her would get to do face painting. I just shook my head. I couldn’t believe it. In the US, if you are already in line, before something closes, you get whatever you are in line for. Apparently, that is not the case with face painting. We tried another face painting but found the same thing – the queue was closed even though it didn’t end for another 20 minutes.

So that was the third strike and we decided to call it quits for the day. We walked over to the big Sainsbury for some cereal for tomorrow. Then we headed to the Tudor drive library to return some books that were due today. Finally, we headed home. I made some dinner, had some baths and then to bed.

Day 41 - New Washer & Dryer, last day of Horseback Camp and Bowling Part 2

Today was an exciting day for two reasons. First, the new washer & dryer came! Our landlord finally (Only 5 weeks after the first time the old one broke) decided to buy a new one & this time it was actually two machines, not an all-in-one. We were told that they would deliver between 7 – 10am and they showed up at 10:15am. (Guess delivery is the same everywhere:-) Although I told them to install it where I was told by the rental company, they said no and put the washer where they were supposed to put the dryer. Then they tried to put the dryer where the washer was supposed to go and of course it didn’t fit. I tried to explain that it was because the washer was supposed to go there but their comment was – “We were only paid to install the washer which we did” and they left with the dryer smack in the middle of the kitchen. They told me to just get an extension cord to connect it to the wall. How’s that for customer service? So when Scott got home, he and I were able to get the dryer into the space they couldn’t fit it into and 15 minutes later, it was all set. And I did my first real load of laundry. (Ok still not as big as I can do at home, but better than before.)

Today also marked the final day of horseback lessons. And it is a good thing. Even though the bus leaves us 4 blocks from the stables, it is tiring walking there then back to the bus and then back & forth again so I am glad it was over today. Ainsley once again had Trigger – he is officially her pony. And during the stable management part of the lesson, she got to brush TomTom another Shetland pony who is even smaller than Trigger. While Ainsley had her lesson, Emily & I hurried to the Kingston Tenpin to play 2 rounds of bowling. Shockingly, we got it done and rushed back to pick up Ainsley. And Emily scored only 7 points less than me – without the handicap because she too got a spare. We arrived 5 minutes late to the stable but Ainsley was hanging out with all of the stable people so she didn’t mind. And they all loved her American accent. We have actually gotten that a lot here.

Then we took the bus back to Ham and stopped at the Library (On Wednesdays it is open til 8 pm). Emily was very excited because the book she ordered from another library had arrived. Then on the way back, of course we had to stop at the Sandy Lane park before we went home for dinner and bed.

Day 40 – Horseback riding camp and Baskin Robbins part 2

Last week, Ainsley was quite upset that Emily got to go to camp for 4 days but she only had 2 days so I signed her up for another 2 day camp this week. Emily was excited because she then would have some alone time with me since Ainsley had some time alone with me the previous week. So Ainsley went to camp part 2 this week. This week, there were 3 kids in camp – Ainsley and twin 5 year old boys. (Her camp was from ages 5 to 7.) Emily and I stayed for about 10 minutes to watch her lesson, then it was a sprint to the bus to head into Kingston for some ice cream at Baskin Robbins. We ate our ice creams and then decided to head to 99P for some quick, inexpensive purchases. Then it was a quick hop on the bus and we were back at the stables to pick-up Ainsley after her lesson (we only had 1.5 hr unlike Emily’s 2 hours the week before). I decided that I didn’t want them doing anymore lessons because the back and forth was killing me!

Since I was “full-handed,” we headed straight home from the lesson. Since I had

some bottled water in the one bag, I wasn’t anxious to walk any more than I had to. We were surprised that as we walked from the bus stop, we met Scott walking from the car parked in the other direction. He had decided to leave when everyone else left work that day so he was home before 7. So we all got to have dinner together during the week – something that did not happen too often this past summer.

After dinner, it was off to bed for the girls and not too long after for us.