Final Christmas Final

The last Christmas post...I swear the decorations were put away a month ago!

George in fancy dress...

Dear Santa - again this year we were good...most of the time!

(Note the emergen-c for Santa's health.)  

Twas the Night before Christmas....the littlest one could not make it to story time...

Thank you for the teddy bear...

2010 ornaments from Crate & Barrel...appropriate for London...

Random Thoughts

1.  I geared up to make caramel for turtles from scratch.  But I actually went to a grocery store and looked to see if they carried them.  Lo and behold they do carry them in the regular grocery store.  Disguised under the name:  Dairy Fudge.

Update:  they looked like caramel but were NOT. 

2.  A big thank you to our good friend John Klein.  Your extreme cans of cream of chicken soup ensured our cornbread dressing was amazing on Christmas day!  The dressing on Thanksgiving was amazing too.  Our Yankee dinner guests have asked for the recipe but would be appalled to know my secret ingredients - cream of chicken soup and Crisco.

3.  I find myself say "Ah-men" instead of Amen.  This really bothers me.  I am fighting it.  Too pretentious.

4.  George had a rough day yesterday.  He had to sit on the naughty step before he could dress after his bath.  A naked time out defines bad day.   

5.  We had several days of sun this week.  It was glorious.

6.  I am expecting a new niece in June!  

7.  Cantina Laredo recently opened in London.  It is not the same but will do.  The queso tasted of flour.  The chips and tortillas were not fresh.  In true fashion they adiosed us from our table to turn it for the next diners.  That has never happens here and I was a bit offended. 

8.  George and I attended a playgroup for the first time in months.  I tried to be clever and take a footpath.  The footpath started as paved but turned unpaved to 4 inches of mud.  Thankfully I was wearing wellies.  A year ago I would have started crying, turned around and returned home.  Now I stayed calm and carried on. 

Lights of London

We took the girls out on a very busy evening to see the Christmas lights of London.  This is one of the few things dialed up here...

Oxford Street

I love how in London you find combinations you would never expect.  Instead of saying Christmas and space are in no way related they say we could join up Christmas and space for a brilliant display!

Carnaby Street.

Celebration of My Birth

Generally I try not to boast.  It is not nice.  But I have to rave about my birthday this year...as best I can recall:  was best EVER!

My birthday usually starts on strong note:  celebration begins at 12:01 just after saying Happy New Year!  

Sister promptly calls to sing.  

Thanks to the time difference I went to bed with email and facebook wishes.  Yeah me!

Next slept in.  

Then was named Queen for the day and served breakfast in bed...panettone bread pudding, black americano and buck's fizz (mimosas). 

Saw the sun for about 10 minutes.  

Read and did mostly nothing.

Ate Hopping John - black eyed pea soup.  Feeling lucky already.

Did more reading and gave self manicure - salons closed Jan 1.     

Talked on the phone. 

Took a power nap.

Had tea of my favorite - yellow cake with chocolate frosting....

Went to a dinner with Brent - pork belly was main course - again yeah me! 

Took a black cab - one of my favorite things about London.

Had a pint nightcap. 

Feeling good about being in mid-late 30s.  Thanks to girlfriend for pointing out still in 30s.  

Went to sleep feeling very loved and content!
 

7 Things about Caroline

 Sweet Caroline is 7 now.  My top 7 things about her:

1.  Her smile.
2.  She likes to sleep late.
3.  She is very funny.
4.  She is has mastered the art of doing nothing. 
5.  She still wants to hold hands when walking.
6.  Her yellow hair.
7.  Just being Caroline!

Christmasness

Christmas in London is festive but comparatively dialed down. No stress. Just a little busier than our usual day to day. We lit the Advent wreath nightly. The girls and I watched the English National Ballet's Nutcracker from the front row. We decorated little gingerbread houses. We enjoyed a pre-Christmas snow. The girls had a nice Christmas lunch at school. We looked forward to cards in the post.  We visited New York.  We watched loads of Christmas movies.  A snapshot of it all...

Caroline was Mary in her school Nativity play...

Tea towels and Tinsel....

Mary Kate's orchestra played at her Carol Service...130 school girls singing are angelic...

Little swags on the pot rack...

Christmas kitchen mantel...

My only decor addition this year is bunting from: Blue Moon Studios

O Christmas Tree...

The picture is tilted.  I finally pulled out the tripod and I am working on technical skills both with the camera and how to use the tripod.  It is hard for some people. 

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas was indeed and continues to be merry...

The week before Christmas I was hit with the dreadful strep throat - thanks for nothing New York.  So our celebrations are continuing into this week...!

Bruges

We used our Eurostar tickets for a complimentary transfer to Bruges (the g kinda makes a sh sound and the s is silent) - sometimes called the Venice of the North.  Bruges offered more oustanding chocolate, beer, and waffles.  Overall it was rather touristy but venturing just off the beaten path always helps.  

We stayed in a castle:  Kasteel Ten Berghe.  The adult highlight of the castle was the self-service bar.  The little room was filled to the brim with several varieties of Belgian beer.  They kept the window open for refrigeration.

Bicycles are very popular.  Although Brent and the girls only rode around the grounds.

There was a little chapel in the castle...

Out of desperation we ate one meal at what appeared to be a tourist trap and indeed was a disappointing lunch.  But dinner made up for the experience...Bruges Zot and the Belgian national dish:  Mussels.  

Waffles in action...

More chocolate...

I bought the middle one for Brent for Christmas.  

Shhh...don't tell. 

We had a luxurious lounge in our room...

A Bruges canal...

Another canal view...

We had extra time when we returned to Brussels for our return train.  We explored  the area around the Royal Palace and park.  And of course bought more chocolates to bring home. 

Brussels

We were pleasantly surprised by Belgium.  Not because we thought it would be bad, rather we did not know what to expect.  We visited for October half-term because of the direct Eurostar trains from London to Brussels.  The big surprise was the glorious food - waffles, chocolates, fries, steak, beer and coffee.  We ate it all!  The first night we lowered the boom with steak frites and beer...

The weather was rather bad...cold and rain.  Different rain than London - even our "good" umbrellas were flipped in the wind.  The Grand Place. 

Manneken Pis or Boy Peeing...it is a famous Brussels landmark and wears various costumes...

Apparently he is a popular souvenir item as well...I did not have enough cash to buy a t-shirt...darn...

This stopped us in our tracks...but we did not think it would translate so we kept walking...

More beer...

Our boy eating fries...

Chocolates on display...

Caroline sporting her travel clothes...funny thing is Brent has the exact same outfit...

Next stop...Bruges...

Hold up...

We were just kidding about returning to America at the new year.  We are excited to extend to the summer of 2012!  We were just finding our footing - they say it takes a couple of years.  If you plan to visit , this is your one time extension.  Alright - let it run...

Treats

Halloween was fun!  I think of it as the beginning of holiday-child-indulgence. 

Felicity and Felicity...

Kit & Kit...

George the Giraffe...

I HATE the hat...stop trying to make me wear it...

Brent's Jack-o-lantern creations...Elmo, horseshoe and puppy...

These received rave reviews and several parents took pictures.  Elmo was called Cookie Monster more than once...hmmm.