Tim and his girls - Abby had just "helped" me frost the cake!

A pretty cool dragon in Salisbury.

The Salisbury Cathedral

The Avon

Its bigger than it looks in these pictures...

The first view of Stonehenge...

Hi All -

It has been a little while since I wrote. Not sure who reads these or if they are even interesting! I guess I can print them off as sort of a journal of our time in London if nothing else.

The first week of June we spent missing our May guests. We were so fortunate to have had five people stay with us last month. As Tim mentioned, my parents and aunt and uncle stayed with us for two brief stints on either side of a trip to Norway. We had a wonderful time hosting them and hope they enjoyed their time here too. They were terrific sports in our chaotic house with us wanting to show them all around everywhere. Tim's cousin Brian also spent some time with us and really made an impression on Abby. All are welcome back anytime and we still miss them terribly... BUT we have such a busy summer coming up, we hardly have time to cry. Upcoming events include: a weekend trip to North Yorkshire, Abby's dance recital, two weeks in MN and IA, Kristin and family in August, Anne and Pat in September and my parents back in October!

Monday was Tim's birthday and Best Buy here (this must be a UK thing) gives off birthdays. It was a school day for Abby (which is a whole other story for another day) and so Sophie, Tim and and I went and had a quick breakfast on the high road and packed up the car for a road trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury. We highly recommend this as a day trip for all who come visit us. We really had no idea what to expect. I was picturing Stonehenge off a winding road, up on a hill. Nope, in a farm field, just off the highway (see pic) - making it even more surreal. The tour was interesting and was a great place for Sophie to stretch out her legs. For lunch we drove about 10 miles to Salisbury which is a medieval town and as picturesque as you drive into it. It has a famous cathedral there and lots of cute pubs and shops. The highlight for me was that the Avon River flowed through it - one step closer to Stratford-Upon-Avon. Definitely a place Tim and I would like to revisit!

Tales from Tim

Hi all!

It's been awhile since my last (OK, only) post, so I thought I would share a few updates. I'll start with a few fun things we've been up to lately, then share a few things going on at work.

I took a day off work yesterday (Friday) and had a great golf adventure! Joe Benitez, who is our Head of Retail Services, is a member of a golf club called St. Pierre, which is in Wales. Joe hosted 7 of us from the office to a round of golf at club. Our tee times started at 8:00, and it's about a 120 miles from my house to the course. Three other guys (Bob, Scott and Carl) met at my house at 5:00AM (!), and we headed out. After stopping for a bacon sandwich (mmmm) and coffee, we arrived at the course in Wales around 7:30. Once we realized that we had 4 Americans and 4 Europeans, it was obvious that we needed to to play Ryder cup format! It was an absolutely fantastic morning, and the course and views were beautiful. Unfortunately, my golf was neither fantastic nor beautiful, and I'm sad to report that the Americans fell. Needless to say, a bitter rivalry has formed that will (hopefully) carry on for years to come!

We had a great time our visitors a couple weeks ago - we had Doug, Carol, Jarv and Mary with us for two weekends (bookending their visit to Norway), and in between, my cousin Brian stayed with us for a few days. We really enjoyed both visits, and were able to play host at home, and join everyone for some sightseeing around the city as well. One location that exceeded my expectation was the Imperial War Museum, which we visited with Brian. It's not the most child-friendly museum, but I would definitely recommend it to any visitors who enjoy history.

Sarah and I got to have a wonderful date night while the Watnemo's were in town. We went out to dinner at an amazing Thai restaurant that we had visited once before, called Patara, near Soho. Then we went and had our first London theatre (sp!) experience, as we saw a show called We Will Rock You (which was my choice). It was the same concept as Mama Mia, which was a musical play set to Abba music, except that We Will Rock You was entirely set to the music of Queen! I thought it was amazing - the vocalists, the story, and the band (it was all live music). Sarah was slightly less enamored (I think the story was a bit too sci-fi-ish for her, and somehow she managed to fall asleep at one point, despite the rock and roll). Anyway - it was a great night out!

I'm continuing to try and enjoy as much of the local food and drink as possible, which is a rather enjoyable task, I must say. I've lost track of all the great British Ales I've been able to try, although I had a new one last night called Flowers Strong Ale, which was really very tasty, and less bitter than most. I also had my first Nepalese cuisine last week - which was fantastic! I'm learning the difference between various types and styles of curries (Indian, Thai, Morrocan, Lebanese, Nepalese, etc). Two of my coworkers, (and frequent dining partners) Mike and Stuart are very willing culinary tour guides.

We also learned that Mom and Pat will be visiting us in September, and we're really looking forward to that! It sounds like Doug and Carol may come back again later in October as well. We are also hoping to see Choi's some time in August.

Not sure if Sarah has posted this or not, but the four of us will be back in the States the last two weeks of July, primarily for Colin's baptism. Julia and Michael asked me to be Colin's Godfather, and I am very excited and grateful!

In other news, work is going very well - and our supply chain work is really starting to heat up. My project and task lists are growing much faster than I can get them completed. I hope to bring my Demand Planning team to the states in August to spend a week with their US counterparts. I think it will make a huge impact to the team to be able to experience both the Best Buy store experience, as well as the role of their US peers in the corporate office.

Well, I'm surrounded by fussing children at the moment, so I should sign off. Sarah and Abby are off to shop for my birthday (woo-hoo)! Sorry for the lack of photos, but I'll try better next time. TTFN (ta ta for now)!

Visitors

Our latest visitor - a really cool giant snail!

Hanging out with Daddy - watching a little Mary Poppins.

Watching Mary Poppins with her new best friend.

SOOO tired! Everyone fell asleep on the kitchen floor... :)

Tim wanted to show you all his new manly mower and sophisticated grass catcher.

We have been super excited this last week to have not one, but two sets of visitors! It took two months, but we coaxed our first victims into staying with us! Tim was able to take some time off and the girls have been mostly agreeable to days of sight-seeing. Not to mention there has been new blood in the house, which has been fantastic for our little social butterfly, Abby. Last Wednesday, Noni and Papa (my parents) and Jarv and Mary, my aunt and uncle, flew in and I picked them up from the airport (after 3 practice runs, so I didn't need to use our pesky and confusing (for me) Sat/Nav). A wonderful neighbor watched the girls and I brought home the Watnemo group with no hitches. It was awesome to see all four of them and, so far, they have been perfect guests. We just had a day and a half with them (though packed in The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Parliament/Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Harrod's) and then they flew off to Norway to meet relatives and see the motherland. They will be back this Friday and will stay through the weekend until they leave on Monday. That will be a sad day.

During this week, Tim's cousin, Brian Farrell has been visiting us. He has spent the last few weeks at conferences in Ireland and the UK for his doctorate and it has been a great visit too! He has seen much of London many times, so he has been more of a tour guide to us than us to him. Abby has taken a particular liking to him, and he is very sweet with the girls. Hopefully he (and his wife) will be repeat visitors.

Mothers' Day/Hampton Court Palace

Tim and Abby at the gate - crossing over the moat!
Just part of one wall in the weapons room...

We made it to the heart of the maze!

King Henry and a very unflattering picture of me...

The largest grapevine in the world with a circumference of over 12 ft. You can eat the grapes from it in late summer/early fall. We will go back to taste them!

Although Tim claims that we celebrated the English Mothers' Day in March with the purchase of a dryer (he's kidding, I think), I thought it might be nice if we celebrated the American Mothers' Day with a lovely trip to King Henry VIII's summer home: Hampton Court Palace. Tim agreed and so we packed up the kiddos and had a great day. It is a short trip from our home - just around 20 minutes and a really nice place to spend a sunny day. The palace is beautiful and has an audio tour available, there are characters (including Henry) walking about the palace, the formal gardens are amazing and there is even a hedge maze to get lost in. The day was complete with Abby being scared to death by King Henry as he bellowed through the halls while we were strolling through his apartments - yikes! We also enjoyed the gardens and had no trouble imagining his courtiers lollygagging about in the English sun - all for King Henry's enjoyment. We highly recommend this trip and it scores about a 6 to 7 out of 10 for a family-friendly experience... the palace itself is difficult with kids, but outdoors is perfect for them!

Oh - and I DID get a very nice present from my sweet husband and kids too: a beautiful teapot and cups and saucers from Cath Kidston. So now I can learn to serve PROPER English tea when you come!

Sarah's Birthday

This is out of order... I can't fix it without re-doing all the pictures since I really don't know what I am doing. Anyway, Abby is about to get eaten by a giant T Rex head. Very scary.

Birthday Breakfast

Freedom!

This is why Daddy isn't normally allowed to clean me up after lunch!

I'm kind of a big deal... I'm on the tube.

An alive T Rex.

Some kind of scary dinos that move. I am sure my nephews could name them.

Last Friday, the 24th, was my birthday and it turned out to be a great day! I was worried, as I am in the middle of a little bout of homesickeness (that I am sure will pass!), but my wonderful family and new friends helped to celebrate number 34 the whole day. Tim took the day off, which was great. I was completely ready for an additional day of dual parenting. Abby had a partial day of nursery school. She is just going for half days during her "settling in period" until she fits in and gets used to school. So the morning started off with Tim and I feeding Abby breakfast and me opening presents and cards. Tim had brought me roses the night before and I had purchased some shoes a couple of weeks ago for my birthday. I also received some giftcards for the Gap and a great store called Kath Kidston. Shortly after it was time to get Abby to school (it is close enough to walk there in 5 minutes). Tim had never been there before, so he was happy to see her room and meet teachers. Abby was excited to show her daddy around too. Then Tim, Sophie and I went to the high road to go out for breakfast. It was absolutely beautiful day so we sat at tables out on the sidewalk and had tasty fruit, croissants, tea, etc. A perfect breakfast! Then the three of us continued on the high road and I spent some of my gift cards. We let Sophie out of her stroller since she is normally held prisoner by that thing everytime we are out and so she went running through a park. After lunch at home and a nap for Sophie (where more beautiful flowers were waiting for me from the Selbitschkas!!), I went to pick up Abby and we all headed to the Natural History Museum to see the cool Dinosaur Exhibit. Tim had not been to the museum yet, so it was a nice family outing. We ended up rushing home to get back to Chiswick in time to head out to a pub to meet some friends for dinner and cake back at our house. What a great day. The only thing that would have made it better is to have our friends and family here for it! Can't wait to see you all soon! Enjoy the pictures!

We have internet!!

Abby is ready for ballet!

First day of school. I guess I should have faced her the other way.

Walking on the grounds of Chiswick House. Its under construction...

Sophie mowing the lawn.

Abby riding on the tube...

Cadbury Cream Egg on Easter.

Easter Girls.

Easter basket with Daddy.

The nature preserve near our house. Not meant for strollers!

Hi Everyone - once again it has been longer than I anticipated to get another post on here. However, almost exactly 2 months after we moved to Jolly Old England, we have broadband at home. The story is too boring and annoying to get in to, but we signed up for Sky Broadband while my mom was still here - back in March. Here we are, connected to you all again (though my lovely iPhone saved me daily from isolation!).

Lets see - some things that have happened over the last month...

1. Abby started at nursery and likes it, but hasn't made many friends yet. She only goes Mondays and Fridays - so this is a difficult schedule for her to settle in to, but it was the best available. She likes her teachers, who all seem very nice, and the building is very clean and niceley done. Unless I start working, she will only stay there until fall when the school year starts.

2. Abby has also started ballet classes at Chiswick Theatre Arts. She has only gone once so far but really liked it. She came away from the first class with ballet slippers, a leotard, ballet socks, a sticker book for her stickers she receives after each lesson and information about a recital in June where she has to wear a butterfly costume. Its a little more than we signed up for - especially Tim, but it will be another good place for Abby (and perhaps me) to meet friends.

3. We have made it around the city a bit more - both in the car and on the tube. Tim comes when he can (on weekends and bank holidays) but otherwise it is the girls and I hooving it or hopping on the Underground. I have to admit, I haven't driven the car by myself yet other than immediate places in the neighborhood like the grocery store... it is my goal to get better at this soon! Anyway, we have made it to Holland Park for a playdate where they have a giant playground and peacocks roaming around, we have gone to Hammersmith, new streets in Chiswick, Richmond (I liken this to Stillwater...), Westfield Mall a few times - which is the largest mall in Europe and just opened in December and Oxford Circus which is the main shopping area of central London to meet some other moms that have joined the American Womens Club.

4. I also am in the middle of applying for PUBLIC nurseries for Abby to attend in the fall. I am applying to five and not guaranteed to get into any of them. I am visiting the one (Southfield) that we are supposed to be able to get into because of where we live... but it has mixed reviews. Part of the problem is that Chiswick has two councils (counties) that exist within its boundries: Ealing (where we live and is not the preferred) and Hounslow. I am applying for four schools in Hounslow - one in particular because it is the closest and considered the best primary school, since we literally live on the border of the two councils. Even the school that we are supposed to attend (Southfield) because we live in the catchment area does not have to accept us. If there is no room, although we will get priority for living in the catchment areas, we may get sent somewhere else. The four schools that I have applied for in Hounslow council will only accept Abby if they have room after they have let in Hounslow kids and their siblings, etc... And this is all for public school! Maybe the process would be easier if we were paying for a private school. Hmmm...

Hope you enjoy some random pictures from the past few weeks. Look for a new post soon from my birthday. Tim took the day off and we had a great time!

National Health Care

It has been longer than I wanted since the last time I was able to post a blog. First, whoever the kind person from whom we have been innocently borrowing their wireless shut it off for about a week and the only access to the web we have had has been our phones. Second, we have had some illnesses running through the house... which brings me to my post: National Health Care in the United Kingdom.
Essentially it can be summed up by a new friend of ours who stated: "In the US, doctors seem to look for more work for themselves. You know, every little thing could be cancer. In the UK, the doctors want to make less work for themselves."
Sophie has caught a bug or two over that last two weeks as well as bopping her head pretty well, coincidentally followed by a little stomach bug and then a nasty cold. We have had a paramedic to our house, a visit to the A & E (ER), an after hours doctor phone call, visit to a Saturday clinic and a check up at our normal "surgery" with the GP. So, I feel like we have had a good feel for the range of medical care available to us in West London (in the US I have never brought our kids to the ER or, thank goodness, had an ambulance called to our home). With all this medical attention, you should know that Sophie has always been just fine through this all- just had some scary symptoms and deep sleeps that alarmed even the nurse line. The drama never ends with these girls.
So which is better: paying through the nose in premiums and medical bills or waiting a little longer than we'd like for an appointment or at the emergency room? Right now I'd take neither. I really want the comfort of a pediatrician looking after my babies instead of a general practioner but I feel sick about the amount of money we spent each month on health care in the US. I am used to much more intervention than what has happened here with Sophie so far. The three doctors have all just said "ahhh, she's fine - its just a virus". Keep in mind she has been vomiting, unable to be roused, woke up screaming, shaking and unable to catch her breath all in the span of a week and a half. While it is becoming clear that the doctors here are likely right in that she just has a nasty virus, it has been an unfortunate week to been in the hands of a brand new medical system. I have to remind myself that the life expectancy is higher here in the UK than in the US.
Hopefully this weekend will go a bit smoother than the last two and I will have some good stories and pictures to add soon! Tim, the girls and I all really appreciate all the support many of you have showed us. Thanks so much for the well wishes!