Scrubba-dub-dub - three kids in the tub

The girls like to "help" Cael take a bath.

Update

Just wanted to give everyone a short little update about our move. We've had a busy week so far. We now have the house listed for lease and the international movers are scheduled for Feb. 06 and 07. The attic is now empty (but now the garage is full). I still haven't found homes for the cats.

Also this week, we filled out the paperwork for the house in London.

There are so many thing left to do. I don't know where to start!

London via Houston

It somehow seems we are getting London weather here in Houston: COLD AND WET!

At Aunt C.'s

Family

(Thanks for the pictures: Tim and Caroline)!

Gherkin

This was one of the things we saw on Saturday. This is the Gherkin Building. It was not on our list of things to see but when we saw it walking towards Tower Bridge, we just had to see it up close. Here is link to info about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_St_Mary_Axe

Forgot to mention

I forgot to mention that our relocation agent, Clare, got back in touch with us about the house. Seems the landlord IS going to refurbish the entire house. New kitchen and bathrooms. Also new flooring :) I can't wait to see it! I was entirely OK with how the house was before. But now, it will be FANTASTIC!

Jet lag (edited)

We are back! We got back in at 2:30 yesterday. Going through passport security and customs was pretty easy. The hardest part was remembering where we parked the truck. The parking garage elevators were really busy and slow so we took the stairs. We had to search 3 floors before we found it. As most of you know, I have a tendency to over pack (understatement) and carrying luggage up three flights of stairs was no fun. Perhaps this will teach me to pack lighter (never gonna happen!).

We were so glad to be back home with the kids. I missed them terribly. The girls seemed really happy we were home but Cael - I don't think he really cared. Aunt Eddie did a fabulous job. Everything was way cleaner than when we left and the kids were happy. What more could you ask for.

I fell asleep really early and slept till 5 which is really really early for me. Drew had trouble, he woke up at 1:00 a.m and he had to go to work today. I am ready to go back to sleep now but forgot about Girl Scouts tonight. I also forget about Caels 2 year check up. We made it but I will never again schedule anything the day after traveling. Before this trip, I knew nothing about jet lag! Now I do.

And the winner is:

Here are some pictures of our potential future house in London.
The pictures are as follows: 1. Front of house, 2. Garage Area, 3. Dining room, 4. Kitchen, 5. Master bath, 6. Main bathroom, 7. Girls room, 8. Caels room, 9. Living room.

The house isn't exactly what I was hoping for but the area is so nice. Great location - close to the tube, the High Street, and the school. The garden (backyard) is nice. There are kids in the neighborhood too. It is also on a cul-de-sac.
We will also have a guest room! So get those passports ready!

Word of the day: Trafalgar

We






We got a late start out today. Seems that the jet lag is getting to us both. I am having trouble switching my clock over to London time. I was up too late last night.
We got out after 11:30 this morning. We started out by heading to see Big Ben. We passed the London Eye on the other side of the Thames. The bells of the cathedral around Big Ben were amazing! We hiked up to Trafalgar Square. We had lunch in a pub nearby. We then headed towards Piccadilly Circus. Drew said it reminded him of a little Time Square. We took Regents St. up to Hamley's Toy Store. It really is a fun place to visit.

After the toy store, we headed back to back towards the House of Parliament. We stopped in for some tea at the Silver Crown pub. We then took a stroll through St. James Park. I noticed a sign that said Buckingham Palace was on the other side of the park. We didn't see the Queen of course but the Palace and the square in front with all the fountains and statues were awesome! We decided that we had walked enough and headed back to the hotel. After resting for a while, we headed back out for dinner. We had pizza across from St. Pauls Cathedral. It was delicious.

Tomorrow we head out to look for houses. P.S. I cannot for the life of me remember how to pronounce Trafalgar! Drew keeps making fun of me!

Two on the town

Today Drew and I decided to try and visit 3 famous tourist spots here in London. We set out to see Tower Bridge, Big Ben and the London Eye. Well, we didn't get that far. We made it to Tower Bridge and that was it... only we made other stops along the way. I will tell more tomorrow (aka more pictures). Goodnight for now!

View from Blackfriars Bridge

Leave the Cannoli take the Sherbert!

We went to eat an Italian Restaurant tonight. The food was most excellent! After we finished our meal, we decided to share the cannoli. The waiter brought it out but it was made with chocolate. Drew was apologizing to me about the chocolate and the owner came by and offered to make me something else. They brought out a lovely dish of sherberts. The first was raspberry or strawberry, the second was orange (I thought it was lemon) and the last one looked like vanilla ice cream. I took one bite and my mouth puckered and my jaws clinched. WHAT WAS THAT? Drew tried it (his mouth did the same thing as mine). After I was finished, I asked the waiter what it was. He said "lemon and basil". I thought no way... tasted again and sure enough (how could I have not known immediately that was what it was). This is all that was left of my lovely and strange dessert!

Exploring London (more)

Two good place to visit anywhere you live!

Exploring London