Thursday, December 31, 2015
It's a Wrap
Well, 2015 is a wrap, folks, as is our Christmas holiday. We had a grand ol' time in Merry Ol' London, and hung around the house this week without killing each other (with just a couple close calls). We'll be doing a family-friendly New Year's Eve with some friends tonight, and then it'll be au revoir to 2015. Here's to 2016!
Thursday, December 24, 2015
London, Baby!
The kids have been dying to go to London - Jack, because of a certain young wizard who lives in a cupboard under the stairs, and Ellie, well, she is just tired of hearing French. So, despite that our Chief Travel Coordinator Jared wasn't around, we decided to head off to Merry Ol' England.
This was our first time taking the train, and I must admit I was more than a wee bit worried about it. Maybe way, way more than a wee bit. But turns out it was just fine, and we made it from Brussels to London with no international incidents.
Once we got to windy London, we decided to check out the area around our hotel. The map wasn't of much use.
We were staying right near the Marble Arch, which, well, is a big marble arch. As the name implies.
And of course our first day in London wouldn't be complete without some fish and chips.
Our first day, we also spent a little bit of time at Winter Wonderland, which was in Hyde Park, about a 10-minute walk from our hotel. We mainly just walked around, since the rides were horribly overpriced and I wasn't quite ready to take a second mortgage to pay for all of them.
The next day we did an all-day tour through the main sites of London. Here's Westminster Abbey.
We then hopped on a boat ride along the Thames.
The boat dropped us off at the London Bridge.
We had an awesome tour through London Tower, although we all did hope to see a few more torture devices. Yes, we're a bit sick that way.
Then it was off to Buckingham Palace. Ellie felt very at home.
The windy, rainy day demanded a hot cocoa break.
Then it was back into the blustery weather for a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral.
Our tour ended at the London Eye, where we got an awesome view of the city. Although the kids kept waiting for the ride to finally speed up. Yeah, it didn't. This is the obligatory photo of Lydia, to prove that I was actually there.
And that's enough of Lydia pictures, thank you.
The next day was THE day - the trip to Harry Potter Studios. Jack was literally jumping up and down. And he really, really wanted to crawl into that cupboard under the stairs. But the security guards seemed to think that wasn't such a good idea.
And mo matter how hard we tried, we couldn't seem to break through that wall at Platform 9 3/4.
Maybe next time!
All aboard the Hogwarts Express!
A visit wouldn't be complete without some butterbeer - which was actually much better than I expected.
They even had butterbeer ice cream.
Outside, we were able to visit Privet Drive.
And don't forget Hagrid's motorbike!
There were all sorts of cool special effects displays.
My favorite was walking through Diagon Alley.
They had a really cool model of Hogwarts. I could totally have lived there, but alas, it was time to go.
Before leaving, we did some major damage in the gift shop (the kids don't really need their college funds, do they?). We had fun trying out the all-flavor jelly beans (and yes, there are some truly nasty flavors).
Our last night, we saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over in the West End. We felt quite English doing so.
And now, it's back from windy, rainy London to windy, rainy Belgium. But the kids are already planning the next train ride back there. Til then, London!
This was our first time taking the train, and I must admit I was more than a wee bit worried about it. Maybe way, way more than a wee bit. But turns out it was just fine, and we made it from Brussels to London with no international incidents.
Once we got to windy London, we decided to check out the area around our hotel. The map wasn't of much use.
We were staying right near the Marble Arch, which, well, is a big marble arch. As the name implies.
And of course our first day in London wouldn't be complete without some fish and chips.
Our first day, we also spent a little bit of time at Winter Wonderland, which was in Hyde Park, about a 10-minute walk from our hotel. We mainly just walked around, since the rides were horribly overpriced and I wasn't quite ready to take a second mortgage to pay for all of them.
The next day we did an all-day tour through the main sites of London. Here's Westminster Abbey.
We then hopped on a boat ride along the Thames.
The boat dropped us off at the London Bridge.
We had an awesome tour through London Tower, although we all did hope to see a few more torture devices. Yes, we're a bit sick that way.
Then it was off to Buckingham Palace. Ellie felt very at home.
The windy, rainy day demanded a hot cocoa break.
Then it was back into the blustery weather for a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral.
Our tour ended at the London Eye, where we got an awesome view of the city. Although the kids kept waiting for the ride to finally speed up. Yeah, it didn't. This is the obligatory photo of Lydia, to prove that I was actually there.
And that's enough of Lydia pictures, thank you.
The next day was THE day - the trip to Harry Potter Studios. Jack was literally jumping up and down. And he really, really wanted to crawl into that cupboard under the stairs. But the security guards seemed to think that wasn't such a good idea.
And mo matter how hard we tried, we couldn't seem to break through that wall at Platform 9 3/4.
Maybe next time!
All aboard the Hogwarts Express!
A visit wouldn't be complete without some butterbeer - which was actually much better than I expected.
They even had butterbeer ice cream.
Outside, we were able to visit Privet Drive.
And don't forget Hagrid's motorbike!
There were all sorts of cool special effects displays.
My favorite was walking through Diagon Alley.
They had a really cool model of Hogwarts. I could totally have lived there, but alas, it was time to go.
Before leaving, we did some major damage in the gift shop (the kids don't really need their college funds, do they?). We had fun trying out the all-flavor jelly beans (and yes, there are some truly nasty flavors).
Our last night, we saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over in the West End. We felt quite English doing so.
And now, it's back from windy, rainy London to windy, rainy Belgium. But the kids are already planning the next train ride back there. Til then, London!
So this happened
It's been almost two months since I posted, and it's been pretty quiet. Well, except for when this happened.
This guy went and grew a fuzzy beard and took off for Places Unknown. Well, not unknown, Afghanistan, actually, but it sounds more exotic to say Places Unknown or Far Far Away or something like that. He'll be there for 9 long, long months, which stinks, but at least I don't have to deal with the itchy, scratchy Grizzly Adams beard. So there's that.
But sweetly, before he left, he took us on a birthday (for me) sleepover in Brussels, where this happened:
That's a lot of tasty, tasty Turkish meat. That sounded dirty, I know, but it really was tasty. As was this:
Yummy baklava - although it wasn't as good as homemade baklava that my friends have made. So Jared took off (for Places Unknown), and we settled into things again. Then this happened:
That's our Jack-Jack and his Amazing Achievers Award. He's been rocking the whole school thing, been enjoying cub scouts, and has been taking guitar lessons (I told him it'd help him score the chicks, so hopefully that'll keep him interested for a while). In January, he'll take a few coding classes to keep up his Geek Creds.
And meanwhile, this happened:
Jelly Bean has taken up cheerleading, and seems to be a natural (hopefully without the Mean Girl tendencies that come with cheerleading). In January she'll start cheering at local games, which means I'll be seeing a lot more spectator sports than I'm inclined, but hey, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. Ellie is also enjoying girl scouts and, since my kids are both smarty-pants, doing great in school.
And on the dog front? Well, this happened:
The dogs have discovered that the kids' beds are much more comfortable than their dog beds. Which is fine, except for now I have to vacuum, yes, vacuum the beds daily because of the dog hair. Yes, all you OCD neat freaks, think on that one.
So that's what happened around these parts. Now we're getting ready for Christmas, where hopefully more fun stuff will happen.
This guy went and grew a fuzzy beard and took off for Places Unknown. Well, not unknown, Afghanistan, actually, but it sounds more exotic to say Places Unknown or Far Far Away or something like that. He'll be there for 9 long, long months, which stinks, but at least I don't have to deal with the itchy, scratchy Grizzly Adams beard. So there's that.
But sweetly, before he left, he took us on a birthday (for me) sleepover in Brussels, where this happened:
That's a lot of tasty, tasty Turkish meat. That sounded dirty, I know, but it really was tasty. As was this:
Yummy baklava - although it wasn't as good as homemade baklava that my friends have made. So Jared took off (for Places Unknown), and we settled into things again. Then this happened:
That's our Jack-Jack and his Amazing Achievers Award. He's been rocking the whole school thing, been enjoying cub scouts, and has been taking guitar lessons (I told him it'd help him score the chicks, so hopefully that'll keep him interested for a while). In January, he'll take a few coding classes to keep up his Geek Creds.
And meanwhile, this happened:
Jelly Bean has taken up cheerleading, and seems to be a natural (hopefully without the Mean Girl tendencies that come with cheerleading). In January she'll start cheering at local games, which means I'll be seeing a lot more spectator sports than I'm inclined, but hey, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. Ellie is also enjoying girl scouts and, since my kids are both smarty-pants, doing great in school.
And on the dog front? Well, this happened:
The dogs have discovered that the kids' beds are much more comfortable than their dog beds. Which is fine, except for now I have to vacuum, yes, vacuum the beds daily because of the dog hair. Yes, all you OCD neat freaks, think on that one.
So that's what happened around these parts. Now we're getting ready for Christmas, where hopefully more fun stuff will happen.
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