The day and life without my cell phone

I'm really, really trying to be patient with this whole get a new SIM card, not a new phone but you need a new network plan but don't do anything until the phone is unlocked thing! As of right now some mobile phone shop in the center of Marlow has my phone. I'm not the least bit comfortable not having a cell phone at my side.  I know - no one should be that dependent on it but I am. I'm going to try and forget about it for now.

Today was a busy sort of day but successful. The kids and I went to drop things off at the dry cleaner this morning- a very "hey I feel like a local" kind of thing. We then went to two different phone stores because they both served a different purpose. The kids were less impressed with that errand. We then took a snack break at Costa cafe- and of course there was chocolate involved. We all deserved it.

Once we got home we were greeted by our new sitter! Yay! Her name is Annie and she is lovely. A teacher by trade (I hear my teacher peeps applauding). Great personality and the kids were quite drawn to her. Oliver took her hand and had her read two books while sitting on her lap within 10 minutes. Our first date night is September 5th.  Done. 

THEN I met with a handyman to help with some odd tasks around the house. Such as checking outlets, drilling the appropriate holes in the wall to hang pictures (we keep bending the nails because the walls are like concrete!), and putting together a leather chair. Jordan's was nice enough to not assemble our chair before it went to the shipping warehouse to get on our boat. Great right? So it actually came in pieces. 

Tomorrow we have two appointments with day schools for the kids. Should be interesting.  Before I sign off I wanted to share a few pictures. 

Oliver was enthralled with the washer today. "Truly wonderful the mind of a child is." -Yoda

And this was from yesterday-

They get some serious air on this swing in the back yard. Mark said its like the pirate ship at Canobie. Almost. I am also realizing I should make my kids were pants more often. 

Goodnight. Xo

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep

Its Mark.

I took advantage of a 'bank holiday" today and brought the boys on our first English hike.  The woods were actually quite lovely, dark and deep.  I think the boys were a bit confused, though - every time we came across other hikers they asked if they were pirates. 

And miles to go before I sleep (well, maybe not...).

After nap, some painting and swinging.

Happy Bank Holiday!

Cheerio,

Mark

Unpacking

Probably one of the most unpleasant tasks in my book. Right along with packing. The shipment from the boat arrived yesterday and we have been non-stop ever since. Thursday the first truck load arrived at 9:30. I was on my own but I was set, ready to go. Coffee, kids ate and properly stationed in front of the TV and of course plenty space prepared for all of our things. And then when it started it just didn't stop. In the middle of it all the rental furniture company came to collect all of their items.  I felt like Julie McCoy! "That goes here, yes ill be right there, no back up that need needs to go outside, yes I'll sign, hold on I have to take him to the potty, yes kind sir you can use my bathroom (ugh), wait that isn't our bed post (someone somewhere is angry about their bed not all being there), no I have no idea how to put that together, Oliver leave Henry alone, Henry don't sit on your brother" and then my wonderful husband came home early and all was right with the world!

 I took this around noon. Yes, they are still in pjs and Henry has chocolate chip cookie all over his face. 

Now, the unpacking. The team that packed us in Melrose did a subpar job. They didn't label everything, some things were ruined and the boxes that they packed were done poorly. For instance, Mark unwrapped this:

ALL OF THAT PAPER AND THEN SOME FOR A ROLL OF TAPE! 

You can see what this lead to...

Have a good night everyone! Xoxoxox 

Doesn't matter where you are...

You're 3 year olds will still test your limits, make you go nuts and force you to take a time out. It was one of those days today. Yesterday was great- today, polar opposite. That's ok, we move on, have a bottle of red wine and we start fresh tomorrow. (Let me note that the bottle was shared with my beloved husband).

Yesterday we met Mark's co-workers wife and her three cuties at the park. Now, you know I love this park but yesterday, in addition to the amusement ride, they had a castle shaped bouncy house. This just leads to more explanation as to why they can only have one turn (because its not free!), and more discussion on when- maybe before we leave or after lunch. On and on and on. I hope all of these "extras" disappear when the school year begins. I like the good ole' fashion park. In any case, here is a picture of the said bouncy castle. 

Once we returned to the play area Henry spent about 20 minutes on what I call the circle of danger. This thing is not only slanted but it spins around. Kids walk on the top of it while other kids are trying to lay down or sit on it. And then you have the older kids spinning it around really fast while your kid is holding on for dear life. I tried to have Henry come off the thing but he actually enjoyed all of the action that was going on. He fell off a bunch but picked himself right back up and got on. Me, the helicopter  mom, backed off. I'm learning that my kids are so much more capable in playgrounds than I give them credit for- so hard to let go!

Here is Henry- getting back on. 

Oliver asking me if he can go on the amusement ride. "Mom, I was thinking that after lunch we could go on the round and round ride again.  Does that sound like a good idea mom?".  This is how he is ending most sentences these days. 

This picture below is just a plain old shameless plug for my kids. I got this from Alyssa yesterday. A lot of people have seen it but I need to share. This is at Aunt Alyssa wedding - in their ring bearer suits. 

Here is to tomorrow. A new day. 

A boat ride down The Thames

The weather today was beautiful. You probably won't see a lot of my posts starting with that sentence! We went to Higginson Park today. For future reference I will refer to it as the park from now on. If I happen to go to another one- I will name it. I have a feeling this is going to be our go to place for a while. Today they had an amusement ride set up and the kids saw as we set one foot into the entrance of the park. Ran straight to it.  They chose to ride the double decker bus.

After the ride we headed to the docks to get the 11am boat for a 40 minute trip down the Thames and back. It was a beautiful ride and the boys were so good. The family sitting in front of us with two girls were not as happy. Yes, I can say it - my boys were finally the ones who were the "behaved ones". This time around anyway.  I digress! The boat ride was lovely. We saw some beautiful houses on the river and an old church from the 12th century. 

The boys loved seeing all of the different boats go by and waved to them as we passed them by. 

After the boat ride we played at the park for a bit. Of course, it had to end with Oliver taking a big spill off of a ladder he was climbing. He is fine but it was the second I turned my head. We both were a bit shaken up. Thank God the entire park has soft play rubber throughout. 

The end of the day finished with a Skype call with Grandpa and tacos for dinner. After the kids went down I happened to catch a glimpse of the sky. Pretty night. 

My back garden view. And garden flowers below. 

Tomorrow is Marks first day of work here. We are going to miss him around here! Good luck on your first day honey- before you know it we will be visiting you for lunch again.

Gulp

We are officially on our own in England. We were so lucky to have my sister, Alyssa, come over for a little over a week and help us. We were able to get our bank details sorted out, buy two cars and get our house in order with a lot more ease. Doing these tasks with the boys would have been doable BUT nearly impossible at the same time. So a big thank you to you, Alyssa. She is now about 5 hours into her 7+ hr flight.  Ugh.

However, she left England on a high note. Last day/night we ventured into London and explored the Covent Garden area.  Lots of shopping and eating establishments.  Think of it as a Faneuil Hall on steroids. 

We shopped a bit and landed at a French restaurant looking over the open market of Covent Garden. We were a bit thirsty from all of our walking and shopping. 

We had a Russian Spring Punch at the bar before we were seated and it was lovely. I can neither confirm nor deny how many drinks we had after.

Saying goodbye to her today was very hard, not just for obvious reasons- I could go on and on about that- but also because it meant that this is it. It's just me and my three boys in this awesome, big, sometimes confusing (really, do the roundabouts need to be that insane?!?) country. It is so exciting and wonderful and a little scary and overwhelming at the same time. 

A big thank you to our families who supported us through this decision. You're all good peeps! Now, book your flight and visit. 

The Queen's Weekend Home

Windsor Castle. Ever since we have told the boys we are moving to England, we have told them over and over that there are castles here.  Windsor seemed to be a big enough castle to impress.

The boys also seemed very impressed with the guards.  Henry especially - he just stared and stared.  And it should go without saying that he wanted one of those hats.  I did too for that matter. 

                                                             Next time we bring a stroller!

                                                          A stop in the shade for a snack.

Windsor Castle is surely something to see if you are ever in England.  The boys did really well considering their tiny legs covered so much of the grounds.  All of us were pleased from our successful adventure (that includes the drive there and back home). Motorways and roundabouts...phew.

Follow up pictures from the day

Now that all our pictures have been uploaded, I can share them with you!

                                                                         
                                                                            Ta da!

An afternoon in London

Today we set out to ride the London Eye.

This was us before we reached the city. Happy and unassuming. 

We almost accomplished it but fell a little short. None of us thought that a random Monday would be too bad as far as crowds were concerned. We just completely forgot that it is still August - school is out still and August is major holiday time for Europe. Needless to say the lines were ridiculous to board the Eye. We looked around to see what else we could do- oh the aquarium. Perfect. Alyssa asked how long the wait was and they told her 45 min - just to get IN. Next idea please!!

Ok. So we moved through the masses holding the kids most of the time, trying to find somewhere to go. We opted to go toward the bridge that overlooks Big Ben and Parliament. So far so good. Saw a ice cream truck- YES please, 2 cones and lets sit somewhere! Found a spot and chilled for a bit.  Then found a small garden with a water fountain they could look at for awhile and chilled some more. 

We then decided it was time to head home.

For the amount of time we spent traveling in/out we didn't do anything major to show for it per say. But I believe just going in and out of the city via 2 trains and then driving home was pretty major. No meltdowns from the kids or adults the whole day! Kudos to us. 

Meltdowns came at bedtime. With a vengeance. 

This is what jet leg looks like when you are 3 years old

Henry and Oliver the morning we arrived. Out cold! They even slept through our setting off of the house alarm, an Amazon delivery, a pizza delivery and the movers moving in everything from our air shipment.