Back to London {August 2014}

With school starting for the kids in a couple of days, it was time to head back across the pond.  Knowing we had to attend the school’s orientation the very next day, we were worried about jet lag.  Of course no one slept a wink on the 10 hour flight.  Ugh.  This will be a treat.

Trying to pack as light as possible while slipping in as many things we can’t find in England (Crest toothpaste, Melatonin, medicines that actually work, good deodorant, favorite snacks, etc.), we loaded up all our bags and settled on the plane.

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Tyler couldn’t bear to leave his new guitar home – buying a new (soft) case to take it aboard.  He was so cautious taking a great care to get it there in one piece and was so very close to making that happen until the very end when it was sitting atop the luggage cart and bumped (by an unnamed brother) crashing to the concrete.  While it still plays fine, it now has a little extra character on the backside.  Poor guy.

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If only these sleeping masks did the trick.

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Nathan warmed up with the giant socks on his arms.

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New School

The main criteria we had for staying in London an extra year was getting the kids in school.  While I appreciate the time I had with my kids the previous year and all the experiences we shared, I knew homeschooling was not my cup of tea – at least not with four boys in a small apartment stretched from Kindergarten to High School.  Kudos to the parents that can hack it.  I know my limits!

Applying to various private schools was the most stressful, time-consuming endeavor.  It felt like applying to college, times four, with all the essays, reports, teacher recommendations and interviews.  By the time we had to decide to extend our stay or go home, all four boys hadn’t officially been accepted.  Taking our chances, we made the decision to stay – crossing our fingers things would work out.  When we heard over the summer that all the boys got into the same school, it was the greatest relief!  For the first time ever, all my kids would be in one school (instead of four) and I would have nearly nine hours to myself.  Such a drastic change from last year!  Not that I’m excited or anything.

With only a few hours of sleep, we headed over to their new school for orientation day.  The boys were greeted with friendly classmates who showed them around the expansive school and we admired the beautiful grounds and learned all we could for the coming year.

Once a mansion-house to a family of Barons in the mid 1800s, it is now an international school outside of the hustle of the city.  The school is beautiful inside and out with several restored or original rooms showcasing the beauty of the 19th century.  There are students from around sixty countries so the boys will be exposed to many new cultures and friendships.

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Nathan lucked out getting the teacher he visited with last year.  The entire class had moved up, so he even knew some familiar faces.

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During WWII, the inhabited mansion was bombed multiple times and one landed in the well shaft of the courtyard now memorialized with children’s sculptures.

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Hyde Park

After a few long naps and settling in a bit, we ventured out to their favorite park at Kensington Palace knowing it would be one of our last times to soak up summer.  The construction around the pond is finished and they now have access to feed the swans again.

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Can you believe it’s been 17 years since Princess Diana’s death?  A memorial was starting at the Palace gates.

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Walking throughout the extensive park, the boys spotted a tree with Dr. Seuss’ “Horton Hears A Who” clover.  “There’s a speck on mine,” Jace shouted.

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Hyde Park is massive and somehow we missed seeing the Italian Gardens until now.  They were really pretty.

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The next day, the weather took an unexpected turn while en route to Lynn’s office and I was grateful we actually had an umbrella this time.  Looks like summer is officially over kids.

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First Day of School

It’s not going to be easy getting all the boys up and ready at 6:00 am to make it to the bus stop – these boys are night owls like their parents.  Time to get a strict schedule!

With supplies all packed (thank goodness we could order the boxed sets online) and everyone fed and ready, we walked to the nearby bus stop and met the other 25 kids in the area joining them on the shuttle bus.

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Jace couldn’t be more excited to start Kindergarten.  He’s been watching his older brothers head off to school for years and was ready for his turn.  There’s only 9 other kids in his class – with only one other American so he’ll get plenty of individual attention – hopefully emerging as a strong reader by the end!

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Nathan is set to start 4th Grade.  He seems to think he skipped 3rd altogether since he was home schooled last year.  Hopefully he’s up to speed with his classmates!  Thankfully he has a friend from Seattle who just moved over here for the year, so he’s got a buddy in his class.

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The older boys will be starting the MYP  – which is the Middle Years Program that transitions into the International Baccalaureate program the final two years of high school.  It will be quite a change for them having eight classes instead of six with a crazy rotating schedule and different types of classes than they’re used to, but they have new opportunities to learn with a global mindset and even travel throughout Europe with their class.  Tyler is able to take private guitar lessons at school during the day (I think he enjoys getting out of class once a week) and they’re both looking forward to starting sports in winter.

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The shuttle bus that arrived wasn’t nearly large enough for all the kids.  There’s 35 between our stop and Notting Hill. The next day, they got the big bus, which they liked a lot better.  It’s so comfy, Jace falls asleep on the 45 minute bus ride home nearly every day.  It was great meeting several other moms and starting new friendships.

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Jace came home anxious to share his first project. “The Kissing Hand” is one of our favorite books about the transition from home to school.   Made me a little teary he’s growing up.

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We’re looking forward to a completely different, new experience here and hope the boys will grow in many ways that will enrich their lives forever.

Back in Britain

It was risky flying solo with the four boys, but they did surprisingly great.  We left Seattle around 11 am and flew direct to arrive the next morning at 9 am.  The boys didn’t sleep a wink again so they were all messed up.  We attempted to take a little nap once we reached the apartment.  I thought surely one of us would wake up in three hours time, but no.  We all slept nine hours and woke at 5 pm, right in time for Lynn to come home and crash from his jet lag from Asia.  We felt like walking zombies, taking nearly all week to get back on the time zone here, but eventually we got caught up.

How strange it felt to be back.  Familiar yet foreign.  My focus was getting the kids’ schoolwork back to normal.  It’s been so sporadic fitting it in when we can.  We still need our daily outings and made it to a few playgrounds and museums throughout the week.

Princess Diana Memorial Playground

The weather was surprisingly wonderful for this time of year so we ventured out to the parks daily to burn off the boys’ energy.  They love Hyde Park and the Princess Diana playground.

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My eye caught a familiar face, even though she didn’t have any makeup on–and sure enough we saw Adele and her little boy playing right next to us.  It was clear she didn’t want to be bothered.  Her body guard shooed away a curious man so we didn’t try.  But Tyler snuck a picture.  She was really sweet sitting right in the sand with her little boy.

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Holland Park Adventure Playground

Our other favorite park is Holland Park because they have a unique playground for all ages.  No celebrity sightings here, but it was packed with plenty of people wanting to enjoy the outdoors.

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Tyler was excited to be back with his buddy here.  They discovered a ladder outside our front door in the ceiling that takes them up to the building’s rooftop.  They felt like James Bond, climbing across the building tops.  He and Cade had some friends over to play guitars up there one night under the stars and looking out at the city lights.

British Library

On Saturday, we decided to check out the British Library.  I was hoping we could get library cards and check out some books for the kids.  Little did we know, it was more like a museum.  I don’t even think they have children’s books here.  And the process to get a card is much more intense, I don’t think we’ll bother.  Hopefully we can find a more usable library, however this one was interesting to see.  They liked checking out the rare stamp collection, old books, and vintage printing presses.

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Along the way we were impressed with the St. Pancras  Renaissance Hotel.  Wow!  I’m astounded how many times we’re surprised by such architecture, many times in the least expected places.

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Cutty Sark Tea Clipper

We finished off our first week with a field trip to Greenwich.  What a beautiful area!  We will definitely go back since we couldn’t fit everything in we wanted to.  First up was a tour of the world’s only surviving tea clipper, the Cutty Sark.  The boys were anxious to tour the ship and learn its history.  It was originally built in 1869 to transport tea to China and there were many exhibits showing exactly what it would have been like, including a seat that swayed like sea motion.  It was the fastest sailing clipper in its time, transporting all sorts of cargo, including wool to Australia.  She eventually was retired to the faster steamships that were more reliable.  The boys liked seeing what the crew ate and pretending to be captain for a day.

 

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The ship has been preserved and restored as a museum ship for visitors now.  Suspended 3 meters above the ground, you can see the entire hull of the ship and view the world’s largest collection of ships’ figureheads in the gallery below.

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National Maritime Museum

Next up was a tour of the National Maritime Museum which happens to be the world’s largest.  We explored the vast collections of British history at sea.

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The little boys pretended to be explorers on the high seas in all the different boats.  Through the icebergs and the battles, they imagined grand voyages afloat.

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The older boys learned all about Admiral Lord Nelson and the Battle at Trafalgar viewing many of his personal items that brought to life what happened so long ago.  Of course Tyler loved learning about all the warships and seeing the battle displays.

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The museums here are so incredible and geared towards hands on learning for kids.  We love them.  It’s been a wonderful way to enrich their learning and education this year beyond what they could have learned in a classroom.   

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Driving the ship simulator and making it successfully to port was everyone’s favorite.

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What beautifully intricate replicas of various vessels throughout the museum.  Truly impressive!

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Happy are we to be back to continue our journey in this great land.  Still so much more to see and do…

Grandma and Grandpa Smith’s visit

How exciting to have Grandma and Grandpa Smith come visit us!  We were feeling a little lonely for the holidays, being used to large extended family gatherings on both sides, that we were thrilled they could come spend some quality time with us.

Friday

We asked each of the boys what they wanted to do with their grandparents.  Jace was eager to take them on the top of a double-decker red bus and Nathan wanted to go feed the ducks and swans.  We loaded up on the bus and took them to Kensington Palace and Gardens with crackers and bread.  The boys are getting pretty good at attracting the birds to land on them; Nathan even made a few feathered friends.  We enjoyed the unusually warm winter weather, walking around the park a bit before heading back.

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Trying to set a record for bird holding

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Finally, Nathan figured out how to attract the birds

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Kensington Palace

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Lynn and I had his work Christmas party that night so the kids got to spend the evening with tired grandparents.  We were grateful they were there to help out and felt bad leaving so quickly.  The party was fun, even if we were the only ones not decked out in “roaring 20’s” attire.  Boy, they really got into it with rented costumes and everything!  It was great to meet so many co-workers and spouses there too from all parts of the world.

Saturday

That next morning, Tyler got his pick to take grandma and grandpa to Portobello Market.  He’s been dying to go and we’ve held off until they arrived.  It’s an extremely crowded antiques market with a mile long road of everything vintage you can imagine.  We’re really not sure where Tyler’s obsession with old things comes from, but he could have spent all day there.  He has his eye on some old pocket watches.  Nathan found a 100 million year old fossil rock to add to his collection and Jace fell in love with a little soldier bear.  Cade, as usual, didn’t want a thing.

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Tyler’s in heaven looking for antiques

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Jace loves bears just like grandma!

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Nathan’s fossil from Madagascar

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This was a brave moment for Jace!

Tyler also wanted to show them Blackfriars, where our first apartment was.  He’s determined to eat at this pub before we go back to the states.  It’s so small and always so crowded.

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We barely made it in to St. Paul’s Cathedral to hear an evensong and prayer.  I need to make sure we come for a Christmas choir while we can.  The acoustics are so powerful.

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St. Paul’s Cathedral

Lynn wanted to take his parents to the new office, which the boys always love.  It was a beautiful night on the roof.  On our way down, a filming crew was wrapping up and Lynn’s mom said, “I recognize that voice!”  Sure enough, it was Maggie Smith, Britain’s most recognizable actress who played the witch McGonagall in Harry Potter (and is also in Downton Abbey, which I have yet to see).  She was clearly not in the mood for fans, but we found out they were filming the sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  I’ll be looking forward to seeing that.

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A view of the Shard

Our next adventure was to take them to see all the Christmas lights on busy Regent Street and Oxford.  A sweet English lady sat next to us and was our own personal tour guide of the city.  I love how knowledgeable and friendly people are here in sharing their city’s history with us.

Sunday

After church and a quick nap, grandma had a special project for the boys.  They each got their own gingerbread man to decorate.  Keeping the candy on the cookie and not in their mouth was the hard part!  We haven’t been able to carry on our normal holiday traditions here so this was such a treat for them to do!

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Gingerbread boys

 

Taking sugared-up kids out, we ended the night with Cade’s choice– to take his grandparents to Big Ben.  We couldn’t have asked for nicer weather, considering how freezing it is back home too!  Parliament was lit up with Christmas trees and lights everywhere.  I love this time of year!  Nearby was Nelson Mandela’s statue with a memorial for his recent passing.

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Monday

Grandpa took the older boys to Holland Park while Grandma, Jace and I went shopping.  It’s dangerous living in the midst of so much retail!!  I haven’t had the chance to really shop (having all the boys with me all day), so it was wonderful to get out and see what’s out there.  It’s a mix of familiar stores (even if their names are a little off—TK Maxx) with unique European ones.   A trip to Harrod’s was necessary and we had a lot of fun.  We got some ornaments to add to our tree and to send to family back home.  I’m pretty sure getting lost in there is their mission.

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Shopping at Harrod’s

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For family night, we went to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland.  What a crowd, it was massive!  We looked through the small Christmas market for gifts.  Once the little boys spotted the rides, they wanted tickets.  I ended up going on the double-decker bus ride and Jace was brave and went on a few more by himself.  Somehow Tyler and Cade talked me into going with them on the most extreme ride of my life.  I can handle just about any ride, but I wasn’t prepared for the intense thrill rides of Europe!  What was I thinking, having a fear of heights?  We got strapped in by rushed Germans with no patience, and I had no chance to back out.  Within seconds we were whipped up incredibly high above the park grounds, which would have been a spectacular sight, had we not rotated 360 degrees as we raced down nearly skimming the ground and back up, flipping upside down at alarming speed.  Over and over—it got faster each time.  I was so terrified, I wasn’t even nauseous.  I squeezed my eyes shut and begged for it to end.  After a little panic attack as we were stuck high above the ground while they unloaded the others down below (because the boys were swinging their feet and teasing me), I could have kissed the ground when we got off and vowed to never do anything like that again!

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Warning–this is more terrifying than it looks!

The park was huge and extremely packed, not the place for Lynn’s headache so we ended the night early after a few treats and games.  Cade tried to earn £20 by climbing to the top of a rope ladder, but didn’t quite make it.   Nathan bought powder that turns into fake snow.  It’s pretty cool, although I’m sure we’ll regret the mess!

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Tuesday

Another fun night spent together was going to see the new musical “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”  It’s one of the few shows I’ve seen that encourages eating candy while watching the production!  We thoroughly enjoyed it, adults and kids alike.  The sets and special effects were exceptional.  It was a bit of an updated version from the original, but not in the creepy Johnny Depp kind of way.  It stayed true to the classic storyline with humble Charlie and his poor family (loved the grandparents), but the other kids who win golden tickets are more modern, annoying characters you’re glad to see swept away. The boys favorite part was when this bratty boy got sucked into a video game and his mom pulled him out of the tv and he was this little miniature squealing boy.  Still not sure how they did that, but it was cute.  If you get the chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

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A night out at the theatre

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Covent Garden near the theatre

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The kids loved having grandma and grandpa come to see and experience our new life here. We spent the next day getting ready for our holiday trip to Munich Germany.  What an adventure that was.  Details to come…

Homeschooling begins

I’ll admit–I wasn’t looking forward to today.  We’re officially out of tourist/vacation mode and starting school.  While I would like this to be one long vacation, the kids need to stay educated.  Plus Lynn is going to work full-time which means I’m managing this crew all on my own during the week, and that’s a little scary.  I mean really scary.   By the end of the summer, I’m usually counting down the days for the kids to go back to school.  Don’t get me wrong, they are the world to me and I love them dearly.  But they are high energy, strong-willed and well, they are boys.  They fight, they wrestle, they can be quite loud and they do the craziest things without any thought of the outcome, and by the end of the day, I’m utterly exhausted.  So the thought of being cooped up in a little apartment trying to teach them all when they’re in such different stages (preschool, elementary, middle and highschool) seemed like a crazy, impossible thing to do.  And it might be.  But I’m going to try.

We thought about putting the kids in the British school system here, but the schools are all full near where we live and we want to be flexible to travel and sight see.  So I did a lot of research and found some great curriculum before we left that is mostly self-directed with short daily lessons.  Tyler’s still doing BYU highschool online and staying on track so far.  Last night I set up everyone’s daily school schedule and made a reward chart.  I was feeling pretty confident I could do this.  Last night.

This morning I was awoken by a sick little guy who couldn’t stop throwing up.  Poor little Jace wasn’t feeling well, but that was one less student to keep on track for the day I guess.

Things got a little rocky after a few protests from another student, but we figured things out and they all got with the program.  The great thing is they can be done within 2 hours or less (except for Tyler), and we can move on to more exciting things.

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Nathan loved art time and drew the cutest Big Ben and double-decker buses.  He finished up his math, science, grammar and spelling test and was so excited to put stars on his chart.  Crossing my fingers he doesn’t lose interest in the reward system.  He’s dying to buy souvenirs and candy at all the little stores.  Jace perked up and begged for crackers and Brie and I knew he was feeling better.

Time for a fieldtrip

Once they completed their daily work, we loaded up and rode the tube to South Kensington to go to the Natural History Museum.  Holy canolli, it was the most amazing museum I’ve ever seen in my life!  We walked inside and they had the largest Diplodocus dinosaur on display, which happens to be Jace’s favorite dinosaur of all time.  It was almost too much to take in…the architecture, the grandness of it all and the millions upon millions of items displayed throughout the enormous buiding.  I can’t believe this place is free.  Going to a small museum in Seattle with the family is outrageous, so we’ll be taking advantage- especially since it’s so close to our new apartment. We only made it through a small part, but the kids were fascinated by all the extinct species, fossils and displays of animals.  This could really fulfill their science learning for the year.

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The Natural History Museum

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This creepy looking fish has been extinct for millions of years

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Another Ice Age animal

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We managed to make it back during the crazy rush hour on the tube and saw the coolest sunset right outside our apartment.  I don’t imagine we’ll see the sun for much longer.

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The good news of the day was our offer was accepted and we’re planning on moving in to the new apartment in Kensington on Friday night.

Time to plan for another full day tomorrow.  All in all, it turned out to be quite a wonderful day.  Maybe I can do this.

Day 2

The day started off a little chilly since the water heater went out.  Cold showers all around.  The maintenance guy came out and worked on it while the cleaning crew came to spiff the place up, so we headed out today and made it a full day of field trips.  I love being this flexible.  I’m really not going to stress that they missed their schoolwork.  They’ll make it up later.

It was the first day of rain.  The kind that blows sideways, which made our jaunt to the tube pretty comical.  Our umbrellas blew backwards and within 30 seconds, Jace’s feet were soaked from stepping in puddles.

I thought we’d spend the whole day inside museums, but by the time we got to South Kensington, we had blue skies.  Nathan was sad we missed “recess” yesterday so we headed to Hyde Park to play at the Diana playground again.  We had to stop along the way at this quaint French bakery for a ham and cheese croissant and a baguette style hotdog smothered with cheese and Dijon that made Tyler very happy.  That boy is loving the food here!

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Jace’s idea of a good bakery

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Tyler fell in love with French food

We came in a different entrance and were amazed by the Prince Albert Memorial.  Everything here is so intricate and grand.  The details carved into stone is impressive, even if it’s on the simplest of buildings.

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We got a little lost and ended up in Kensington Gardens at the pond.  It was filled with birds and beautiful swans.  A sweet lady shared her bread so the boys could feed the birds.  It was the highlight of their day.  Tyler and Cade were covered in birds and feeding swans from their hands.  Now we know to pack stale bread from now on.  It was such a picturesque place with Kensington Palace in the background.  I’m pinching myself that this is our life for now.

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Feeding the swans at Kensington Gardens

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Jace tried so hard to lure a bird on his arm with his Cheez-it to no avail.

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We never did end up getting to the playground because it started to sprinkle, so we went back to the Natural History Museum to see more displays.

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This massive sequoia tree is over 1,300 years old

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Tyler was so intrigued by the gem display and wanted to show us the Vault, which has priceless gems in it.  My favorite was the diamond display that took 25 years to collect all the natural colors of diamonds!!  Tyler started his own little collection and bought some copper in the gift shop.  They have some incredible, rare items on display.  The most recent was a meteor from Mars.

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Every natural color of diamond on earth

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Recent meteor from Mars

Next we checked out animals preserved in jars for scientific purposes.  This fascinated them and grossed me out.  There’s a whole Charles Darwin Center and huge cocoon you travel through looking at how scientists work.

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Jace had to see the “robot T-Rex” which scared him just as much the second time around.

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With aching feet, we trudged to Lynn’s office to watch the Guy Fawkes fireworks display from the roof.  November 5th is the day they celebrate the botched plan of Guy Fawkes, who tried to bomb the Parliament back in 1605 aiming to kill King James. He was arrested, tortured and killed and for years, locals would burn a dummy on the top of a bonfire to celebrate.  Kind of strange.  It’s turned into more of a Bonfire Night celebration connected with Halloween and open park festivals.  We saw quite a few fireworks in different areas, but they were small and the kids were a bit disappointed-expecting more of a July 4th production!

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Fireworks from the roof

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Tyler went out tonight on splits with the missionaries tonight and talked to all sorts of people.  What an eye-opening, cool experience for him!  This is great preparation for what will come in just a few years.  Even though the youth program is small, they have a lot of activities and do really cool things, as well as meeting weekly to play soccer and basketball.  He’s got a big stake youth event this Friday night.  We’re keeping busy for sure.

Our first weekend here

We all slept in pretty late today.  It’s a combo of jet lag and non-stop exploring.  We finally made it out of the house at 2:30 and surprised the boys by going down to Regent Street to check out the big car show.  There were cars from the 1800’s to today.  Tyler has a deep love for cars and goes to all sorts of car shows with my dad at home, so you can imagine his delight.  It was incredibly crowded, but we made our way through and saw some amazing old cars that had less horsepower than our lawnmower. Jace & Nathan were more excited about the balloons they got than looking at the cars.  Jace was pretty devastated when his flew away.  There was no way we were going back in the sea of people to get a new one.

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Regent Street is so unbelievable with it’s incredible buildings and fabulous shopping.  They’ve already started decorating for Christmas and I can’t wait to see it lit up at night.  It will be spectacular for sure!  I’m told each street has its own Christmas lighting ceremony with celebrities each night so we’re looking forward to catching some of those.

We hopped on the bus and decided to stop at random places to see what was there.  We really haven’t had time to research where everything is yet, so we’re learning as we go.

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Getting familiar with this tube stop by our apt.

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We ended up at Hyde Park and checked out the Royal Artillery Memorial of WWI.

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We happened upon the cutest ice skating rink and carousel in South Kensington.  They’ve made it into a winter wonderland.  The boys chose riding the horses over the ice, so I’ll have to wait until next time.  A perfect Christmas event for later.

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Right around the corner, we found the church building we’ll be attending on Sunday and met the sweetest sister missionaries, one of whom who knows my sister-in-law from back home in Utah.  Small world.  They had a really neat visitor’s center and we’re excited to meet the ward members soon.  The grounds where they built the church was a bomb sight in WWII, which Tyler had to hear all about.

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After a quick dinner at the Noodle House, we made a few more stops in Victoria and .. and made a bad call taking the buses back home.  The Saturday traffic here is insane.  There are so many people out and about all day.  It’s a learning process, but the kids were troopers.  On the bus ride home, Jace found what he believes is his long lost balloon and was so happy!!

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Hooray for finding the lost balloon!

Sunday

No sleeping in today.  Church starts at 9 am which meant we had to leave for the tube ride by 8:15.  We were welcomed by the friendliest members, most of whom are Americans with the most interesting stories of why they are there.  We are in the Hyde Park 2nd ward.  I love that church feels the same no matter where you attend.  It was a lovely service and we met so many wonderful people who gave us all sorts of advice and tips.  I’m so happy to meet other moms and get involved in playdates/museum outings with other families.

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The kids all went off to Primary and had to start practicing for the primary program that will occur in 3 weeks.  We just had ours back home, so they’ll get to do it twice.  We’ll see if Jace is brave enough again.  Nathan met several friends (one named Jace from Africa..there’s now 3 Jace’s in the ward) and Cade met a few boys in his class from Tacoma, WA.  Go figure.  We were so happy Tyler had a 16 year-old boy from WA D.C. to go to class with, who moved here 3 weeks ago.  He’s doing BYU highschool online too, and they’ll be able to go to early morning seminary together with the few others that attend.  He’s already lined up with lots of activities this month in the Young Men’s program.

Tyler’s hatching a plan to convince us to stay until next Halloween .  He learned a ward member’s son is friends with Paul McCartney’s grandson- and McCartney was disguised this Halloween in a Frankenstein mask handing out candy at his grandson’s in St. Johns Wood.  He wants to dress up as a rock star with a guitar and just so happen to ask for his autograph.  Keep dreaming!

We had to get the kids out of the apartment, so we went back to Hyde Park.  I will be spending a lot of time here.  I love it.  It reminds me so much of Central Park.  We went to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground and snuck in right before closing.  What a wonderful place for kids.  This is where we’ll be doing recess since it’s walkable from where we will be living.IMG_3092IMG_3073IMG_3085 IMG_3065

A few steps away was Kensington Palace, where Prince William, Kate and baby George live.  We need to get tickets to tour it soon.  I was surprised at how open it is to the public. What a beautiful place!

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“Mom-I want to talk on this iphone!”

By the time we made it back home, Jace begged me to put him to bed.  Music to my ears.  He didn’t even bother changing out of his clothes, he was that tired.  I think we’re pushing his limits of stamina.  What a weekend, I’m exhausted too!  Hope I can pull of our first day of home school tomorrow…