Tuesday 29 November 2011

Visit to Daddy's Office

Today Owen and I went on a special outing. We got to take the big choo choo (tube) down to visit Drew's new office and go out to lunch. Owen loves to ride the tube around London and he is always such a good boy when we take him. We got to Drew's office and then Owen had to sit in the lobby and wait for Daddy to come get us. He saw the TV with CNN on and wanted to know if they could change it to "Gabba."

Then Owen got to see Daddy's office and sit in his chair.  He even took a couple of calls.



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Then Owen found the "doors"...one of his favorite items.  Owen can play with doors for hours!

Owen went out into the cubicles to meet some of Drew's co-workers and found some more doors!

Then he found the doors to the bathroom.

Then we took Daddy out to lunch at a nearby pub.

Owen drank from a big boy cup with a straw and just had french fries, "chips" for lunch.
 

Thursday 24 November 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving has me feeling a little homesick for the first time since we arrived in London. I miss a day with family, food and American football.  Today Drew worked, Owen went to school and it seemed like your typical Thursday.  Even though we are far away from extended family, I am so thankful today and everyday for my sweet little family. I have two healthy and happy children and an amazing husband who is also an amazing father.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

While Lucy was napping this morning I made pumpkin whoopie pies for dessert, a little more adventerous than pumpkin pie and they tasted fabulous! I think this may become our new Thanksgiving dessert tradition....bye bye pumpkin pie!  



This is what my fridge looked like today. This is also the size of my fridge and I feed a family of four from this tiny vessel...it is an exact science.

Here is the turkey ready to go!  We got ourselves a 10 pounder that cost us £49 which is the equivalent of about $60!

Here is the stuffing ready to go!  Yes, it's lazy but frankly I don't care.

In the oven!  Looking good!


Daddy giving Thanksgiving hugs!

The bird is done and it looks good!



Owen AND Lucy both decided not to take naps this afternoon.  Owen is exhausted and in full tantrum mode.  I am amazed I put together an entire thanksgiving meal with these two underfoot.

Lucy was ready to eat!

She ate everything on her plate and then kicked back to relax. There are no pictures of Owen at the table because he never sat down with us.  Par for the course.





Tuesday 22 November 2011

The making of a xmas card

Every year it is the same dilemma...what to do for our annual Christmas card? I try to be creative and make each year something special for our kids to look back on. I have started framing the card each year so that we will have a framed copy on display during the holidays, and someday we should have quite a collection!

Each year it is the same struggle...trying to get the kids to sit and look at the camera so that my card will resemble the image I have created in my mind. It takes bribes of marshmallows and a very patient assistant (Thank you Drew!!) It is stressful and there are tantrums....but each year I am glad we made the effort :) The entire photo shoot usually only lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, that is the attention span right now.

It starts with an idea and two t-shirts....

...and then we add two cute models!

The shoot looks pretty much like this the whole time.  Poor Drew was sweating by the time we finished.


Just when we thought we had them both sitting....Lucy takes off!

Drew making adjustments on Lucy's shirt.

Finally!!!

There was one more piece to the card.  I had envisioned two pictures on our card this year.  One of the kids with their union jack t-shirts and the other was of the family in the classic Abbey Road picture from the Beatles album because we live so close to this landmark!
  

When my parents were here visiting in October I knew we needed to take advantage of having a photographer and we headed to Abbey Road early on Sunday morning...where there would hopefully be lighter traffic.  It is amazing how many tourists you see here trying to replicate the exact picture and it is also amazing how annoyed the traffic gets with this obvious roadblock! That being said, this was the best picture we could get.  We wanted a shot that was straight on but I wasn't willing to risk my father's life in the middle of the road for our xmas card!

Our first attempt.....not so good.  Nice red car in the background :(

Then with a little photoshop action, I added the sign...just in case people didn't quite get the idea!

This is the result...Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Simply Modern Band Holiday Card
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Sunday 20 November 2011

Winter Wonderland

Today we went to "Winter Wonderland" in Hyde Park.  This is a great event they put on every year in the park with rides, food, drink and a german christmas market.  It started out a very foggy London morning but warmed up quite a bit and we even saw some sun!


Owen very much enjoyed the rides today!  We will be coming back in December to go to the Christmas Circus with Nana and PaPa.



First ride was the choo choo!


Then we were on to the hot air balloons.



...and then the airplanes.



...then the geese.



Lucy was making so friends while Owen was riding the rides.  Poor Lucy was too little for the rides :(


Dada and Owen got to ride the ferris wheel.
 





Last ride of the day was the carousel.
It was a good day Owen and you had a blast!