Hey everyone....just thought I'd pop in and let you know that we made it home last night about 7pm. We had a slight delay in San Francisco that worked to our advantage, getting the kids home a bit closer to their actual Pacific bedtime.
This morning we woke up at 5am--which was a lot later than I was expecting. Danny and Maya headed to the grocery store about 6am and Fin and I hung out at home. We are just getting ready to head off to school and work. It will be a short day but it feels important to get back into a bit of a schedule.
We have a ton of pictures and stories. Our internet connection was spotty at best so we couldn't post as we went. I will try and do a couple a night...so page through for the back dated posts.
Here is a photo teaser--a shot of us on the Millennium Bridge--yes, both girls are passed out cold.
Today (Monday the 20th) we had breakfast here at the Duke
I know it is usually Danny that writes about food but I'm going to take a line or two to talk about the loveliness that is the breakfast at the Duke. English breakfasts are hearty...to say the least. Pippa, a co-manager, made a breakfast that was to die for. I had poached eggs and toast. Danny decided he was just going to do cold cereal because he was feeling "full" from the night before. Maya had a great time choosing between the mini boxes of cereal--Frosted Flakes became a quick favorite. Of course, the instant my food came out Danny was feeling a lot less full! :) I'm not a big breakfast eater but in England and at the Duke...hell yeah I'm going to eat breakfast!
Now back to your regular scheduled programming...
Then went to Paradise Cottage (yes, that is it's real name) to explore the abode of Matt and Jane – communed with the Chickens then strolled down the lane to commune with the sheep and cattle…
This was shortly after releasing the beast from the car. This pic is shot from Matt and Jane's house and down the lane (yes, a two-way road). She was intent on locating the moo's and baa's that she was hearing.
She found a fence gate and hopped up to make googly eyes at the cows and sheep. They kept their distance and stared back curiously and a bit frightened (a good choice on their part).
We went back and looked at Matt and Jane's chickens (including the cheeky chicken who constantly escapes) but didn't document the meeting. A deal was made the night before between Jane and Maya about going to sleep "easily" and if she did that she could feed the chickens in the morning. Needless to say, Danny and I were sleepy and Maya didn't feed the chickens.
after gathering ourselves together and getting motivated we drove to the Sea at Bude (I think that’s the spelling)
It was a lovely day--sunny and warm--but the breeze definitely had an April chill. Here is the crew making our way down to the beach. I should add that we hopped on the chance to go to the sea on a "nice" day because we weren't sure when / if we would get another. Little did we know we would have sunny, warm weather the entire week! (Lucky us.)
Maya, of course, was ready to disrobe and get in the water. She grabbed Uncle Matt and dragged him down to the water. Danny followed while Jane and I sat and enjoyed the sun and sand with Fin.
There were several trips back and forth. Even Fin got a trip down the water--although she didn't get dipped.
Even Auntie Jane got in on the "cold feet" action! The things Aunties do! (The weird arms / hands are because they dipped their hands in as well.)
We did have a "tragedy" at the ocean. Jane, through no fault of her own, lost her cell phone to the salty water of the sea. After much drying and putting together / taking apart, the phone was pronounced dead the next morning. This tragedy continued to haunt us the remainder of the week. (I should add that there was quite a bit of giggling and smart-ass jokes re: aforementioned tragedy.)
Fin and I enjoying the scenery, looking a bit wind-blown.
One of the beauties of toddlerdom (can I still call Maya a toddler?) is building sandcastles in your underwear.
we had a nice time it was sunny and gorgeous but windy and cool we played for a short time on the sand and in the water and then Maya and i found the playground.
Another task that only toddlers would willingly repeat...sliding down a metal pole with no pants on.
She went for an encore performance when all of us (Matt, Jane, Fin and I) made our way up. She realized that it really is quite a bit fast and less painful to try this trick with your pants on! :)
We all gathered for a tasty lunch and then wrapped things up with a final romp in the tide. Matt and I drove the little ones home and they both passed out on the drive so Matt and I could get our full gab on – the ladies went and picked up a few necessities at the grocery store (and got our gab on as well), and we all ended up back at Paradise Cottage for a lovely dinner of Roasted Venison and chicken, mashed potatoes, cabbage and spinach…
As we had plenty of little odds and ends to attend to, including two daughters who we were hoping to get on a regular sleeping schedule and Uncle Matt had schoolwork to do we called it an early night and came home to get the girls in bed and get caught up on pictures and journals and stuff like that…
After Maya's full night of sleep we all slept until 9:15am Sunday morning – and had a 10am checkout – we hadn’t packed and the kitchen was full of dirty dishes and Chinese takeout!
OH NO
hurry hurry
But it worked we got out and got going – got ourselves to Dino’s Italian Café for a full English breakfast??? and then on the Tube to Paddington…
Maya definitely seemed to be getting the hang of traveling. She declared herself in charge of her carseat (with stroller attachment) and took advantage of her seat while we waited for the Tube. She looks like such a pro reading her book and taking in the tourists (: while waiting!
Trained it to Devon – The train was crazy full as it was the end of a holiday weekend so there were vacationers and students all with loads of luggage all over the place…
It was pretty high stress finding a seat and a place for our luggage… eventually Matt just camped out in between cars with our bags.The rest of us had seats but ended Jen and I ended up with the kids both passed out on our laps. It was good to have the time to wind down after getting so tense at the start of the ride…
We arrived in Exeter and spent a little time fighting with the carseats then drove directly to the Duke. There was a crowd gathered we sat and drank and ate in the back garden
Maya instantly made some friends Sarah, Benjamin and Samuel who she ran around with for a while – so that Jen and I could get acquainted with Jane – we had a lovely visit that lasted ‘till late in the evening when we all came up into the room for a night cap – we plugged Maya into the DVD machine with her prize for an excellent night of sleep the night before (Anastasia, the childrens animated take on the fall of the Romanovs…).
But unfortunately we nightcapped for too long and Maya turned into a bit of a Rasputin herself…
Someone was feeling a bit spry and sassy this morning...apparently jet lag activates the attitude button in the biggest of the littles!
Saturday was a very busy day for a number of reasons – We had plans to go to Kensington Gardens and the Royal Mews – meet Uncle Matt at the London Eye at 2:30pm and meet Bryony Lavery at Barbican at 5:30pm…
We started the morning with a shot of all of us wedged in the elevator. A sidenote: it took 3 trips to get us and all our gear up to our apartment...this was much preferred to the 5 flights of winding stairs!
Turned out to be our first beautiful day weather-wise – Kensington Gardens and the Princess Di Memorial park were fabulous
We walked through Kensington Gardens and had to stop and say hello to HRM's swans. Maya wanted to pet them...thankfully we convinced her otherwise thanks to a man who donated some bread to our distraction efforts.
Onward and upward to Neverland. I'm not sure who had more fun, Maya or Danny! It was a wonderful place. The gated park is open to the public from 9:30-10am daily but from 10am-close adults must be accompanied by a child to get inside the grounds. It may be a false sense of security and safety but it felt so good to let her go and run--some much needed freedom for her.
Fin spent a lot of time nursing and napping but woke up to watch Danny and Maya tearing it up!
we headed to the Mews and had to stop for food and ended up running out of time but the rest of the day fell together perfectly
Here we are at lunch. Lunch photos aren't so exciting you say. Well, I believe these could be indicative of our future with a pair of sisters!
F: Hey Maya...look over there.
F: Hmmmm....you have such lovely hair.
F: GOT IT!
F: Who me? I'm just sucking on my hand. I'm cute!
We met Matt and purchased our tix for the Eye in just enough time to make the 2:30 ride. We rode the Eye and by the end of the journey Matt and Maya were fast friends – in fact I think Maya was houting “UNCLE MATT UNCLE MATT” nearly the entire trip.
Maya taking in the sights riding in the London Eye pod. Do you remember yesterday's trip in search of the carousel? Well, between Big Ben, London Bridge, Fleet Street, the Thames...Maya found a carousel!!!
What did Fin do? Nursed and slept. Are you sensing a trend here?
Then we walked up the bank enjoying the weather and the buskers…and the CAROUSEL!!! Maya wanted Uncle Matt to ride with her but at the last minute asked me to ride with her. So, off we went. My ponies name was Robert and Maya's was Dorinda. The third pony in our row was Daniel. Maya thought that was kind of amusing. She kept saying, "Look Daddy is riding with us too. Noooo, just a horse with his name!"
We made our way to the Millennium Bridge and Uncle Matt and Maya were fast friends until Maya fell fast asleep… (Our family photo that I used as a teaser post is on this bridge.)
we crossed the millennium bridge and made our way up to Fleet Street where Uncle Matt hailed a cab and we cabbed it a few blocks to the Barbican… Jen was a little early for her meeting so we all sat and had a drink while the kids dozed… Jen split to go find Bryony and Matt and I caught up told stories and b.s.ed for a while. Fin woke up and ate some peaches and eventually Maya did too – she had a snack
I do have to make an addendum / correction here. So Fin woke up before I left to interview Bryony. Fin desperately needed a diaper change so Danny set off to find the baby changing station. There were signs all over for a family bathroom but after several attempts he gave up and handed her to me. I tried to find it but didn't have any luck either. So I decided to go out into the Barbican lobby to broaden my search. As I'm walking I suddenly feel something wet on my leg--Fin is peeing through, yes through, her diaper and her pee is falling through the air and onto my leg as I walk. I give up, go to a corner of the lobby and change her diaper.
I liken this experience to my wedding day. I never thought I'd get married with my hair soaking wet with sweat (thank god for veils) nor did I imagine interviewing Bryony with baby pee on my leg!
Needless to say, I receovered and headed off for my interview and left everyone to catch up / meet Uncle Matt.
we all went potty and then we went outside – it was about sixish – we looked at the fountains and the water for a bit – and not long after we went outside Jen and Bryony came to find us – how exciting to meet her!
When Bryony heard "the fam" was in the cafe she asked if she could meet them. It was great to share that with them!
Maya had everyone stepping in line in no time!!
We were all exhausted after our big day – but managed to get the tube home and stop for some chicken for Maya on the way…
Later Uncle Matt went and got Chinese take out and cider for the grown ups… We stayed up late chatting and catching up which was kind of a mistake because Finley was in full on again off again mode thru the night – Maya however was a rockstar and slept thru the night! a really great last night in London!
**I'm not sure I made note of this earlier but I am not suffering from font difficulties. Just trying to keep the voices separated for you guys. The "Times text"is from Danny's trip journal and this text is my added commentary and photo descriptions.
Friday we slept late again after another long night with both kids not wanting to sleep
Fin has wanted to nurse steadily thru the night we have sort of a one hour on one hour off kind of a thing – and Maya is just having a hard time adjusting to the time zone waking up in the early am hours ready to eat and play – and very frustrated…
Anyway – we had a late start – munged around the flat eating bathing and so on –
Fin had a nice long mid-morning nap on the couch (the most comfortable place to sleep...the beds were awful!).
Meanwhile, Maya had an "English" bath. I'm not sure what I mean by that other than we were in England and she took a bath! Although it was a challenge to figure out how to rinse her hair when there are separate hot and cold taps. I tried to convince her that a blast of cold water is good for you; she didn't really buy that answer. Please note the saucepan bath toy!
then met up wit Jack (a UO professor) for lunch in a nearby pub – he treated – for Jens birthday present –
Weirdly, we ended up staying less than 2 blocks from where 20 or so theatre students from UO were staying while they studied there this term. It was a very strange coincidence but it was fun to periodically pass them on the road.
then a folly of a mission to find a carousel – watchacallit (Covent) garden – where we saw fabulous buskers – a dancing string quartet in particular –
Fin and I stayed up on top to watch. Maya had been collecting pence all morning and decided that the quartet was deserving of some of her money. She was definitely entranced by their performance.
and a an ice cream cone –
but no carousel
I still haven't figured out where the carousel I remember from my Concordia trip nearly 15 years ago. All I remember is that it was around the corner from my favorite jacket potato diner and just around the corner from a tube stop. I was positive it was Covent Garden...clearly I was wrong. Thankfully an ice cream cone was a big enough distraction from a much loved merry-go-round.
so we made our way on foot to Picadilly Circus and then Leicester Square hitting some of the major London points of interest – we were moving quick as it was misty/raining…
This is an area of many of the West End shows and we just happened to pass by...MAMMA MIA!! I don't think Maya really understood why we took her picture here...but it was a fun and perfect coincidence on such a meandering / lost afternoon.
Fin got wrapped up in my coat to keep warm on our wet journey home and promptly fell asleep.
So she was ready and raring to eat and converse during dinner. Conversely, we made Maya walk most of the way and, like the previous night,
Maya fell asleep at the dinner table for the second night in a row – we tried to keep her a wake – and managed to keep her up until just past nine with the hopes that she would sleep thru the night – and – had better luck Friday night than any night previously…
Unlike the previous night we were watching for signs of her falling asleep and kept prodding her to stay awake. (We had predicted it happening and thus put her in her jammies before supper.) When we realized it was a lost cause we pulled out the camera.
The still shot which captures her with her eyes at half-mast and toast still raised.
And even better...a movie. Holy hell were we laughing. Repeated viewings of this video are suggested!
Finally, a Maya Thomas original picture of the four of us on vacation.
it was a good if not exactly fulfilling adventure in the evening we ate burgers and made our plans for Tuesday –
Starting our adventures for the day. Maya was largely unfazed by big city life...really, just more things to touch and feel. She also took great pleasure in pointing out every red bus that she saw! "Just like in Madeline!"
We had a bit of a "Look kids, Big Ben" moment at the beginning of the morning. The Tube is quite user friendly but, like many aspects of this trip, I felt a lot of pressure to get things right the first time in order to keep it simple for the kids and our sanity. We rode back and forth between a couple of stops and then...off we went!
today we had planned to go to the royal mews and Buckingham Palace but the weather was on the soggy side so we chose the Natural History Museum looked at dinosaurs whose names have all changed (to protect the innocent?)
Once we mastered the Tube and found the museum we were frightened by the LONG line. Of course this is the point Maya declares that she has to pee--Right Now! So we grab hands and start racing around the neighborhood searching for a lunch spot / restroom. We made it just in time...
at lunch at a pizza joint – it was very nice and kid friendly jen and I had panini sandwiches and maya had minestrone soup.
There were a million and three people at the museum. It was the end of Easter break week, rainy and a sight with free admission--you can imagine the rest! The animatronic T-Rex was a bit much for Maya. She kept hiding her face and peeking out from Danny's shoulder to see if we had exited the room yet. It should be noted that after we left the room she kept saying that the dinosaur was "very sweet".
Fin and I stayed very close to one another...too close really for the temperature and number of people.
Back at the ranch things were much the same as if we had been at home. The girls played, Danny made supper and I...well I called Bryony! It was great to talk to her and make the connection. We decided to get together on Saturday at the Barbican Theatre. It definitely made the interview a lot more real...and scary!!!
Danny cooking our pasta with flair!
A little game play between the chef in the kitchen and the ballerina in the living room. (Danny is taking this picture from the kitchen window...it was kind of a fun game.)
Well, the ballerina held on through most of supper.
We thought she was just playing games with Baby on the chair...but nope...she was sound asleep curled up on her chair. Snoring out cold asleep!!! I guess jet lag and a very busy and active day exhausted the little one.
an item of note: all our meals so far have been Italian even those prepared at home brittish Italian is so different than American Italian… frozen pizza last night, paninis for lunch and pasta for dinner (jen had grilled cheese) we had toast and cereal and sausage rolls for breakfast…
Just a quick post to say "Hello" and "We made it!"
I had hoped to blog every night this week but our internet is spotty-at-best here. We are going to see if we can fix that today but if not I will document our adventures in Word and post them when we return.
A couple favorite moments thus far include: -Maya declaring (very loudly), "My voice isn't working. I can't make it be loud." on the airplane. Suffice it to say, her voice was working but her ears weren't. -Maya bursting into tears as the plane landed in London and screaming, "I thought we were going to London. We are at the AIRPORT!" -Last night at midnight Maya, who was hungry and not tired, looked out at the midnight London and said, "The whole world is so beautiful."
Clearly jet lag and toddlers and a dangerous and volatile mix.
I had tirelessly made list after list for 2 weeks prior to our trip. Slowly but surely items were checked off and just before departure Danny snapped a picture of the various crossed off lists. Here is an example. I definitely found the list making experience pretty intense for a 2 week international trip with two kids. (In the end, I don't think we forgot anything...)
Our journey began at the Eugene airport which is such a beautifully relaxing way to begin. There aren't long lines, the security people actually help wrangle the kids and stuff rather than walk away after dismantling any semblance of travel organization.
I think Maya remembers at least a couple of flying experiences; although, she looks a bit nervous in this pic. Please take note that Baby made the trip to England as well.
Our first flight took us to Denver where we had a brief layover before hopping our plane to London.
the plane ride was pretty much as expected…
luckily jen and I hit the wall at different times
me about the 5th hour jen about the 8th…
there were some spectacular moments of brilliant teamwork
and some not so pretty snappy moments
Maya called our black flight attendant Barack Obama…
and made “friends” with the poor girl next to her.
I have to admit I cringed and squirmed in my seat in the only way a mother of a chatty and precocious 3 year old can. Other high points from the flight include me feeding Maya and Danny (he was holding Fin) supper. I had 3 meals stacked on top of each other on my tray table and 2 hungry, grumpy and tired souls on either side of me. The flight attendants didn't really know what to think of us.
Thankfully, Maya slept for a few hours in her car seat and Fin slept in short spurts in the wall mounted bassinet provided by the airline. Bulkhead row is the only way to fly with kids--the extra space in front of us saved our sanity over and over and over again!
we spent our first day here in a stupor of deplaning
cab riding and checking in…
Maya thought the cab ride was cool (no car seat, don’t tell!)
but was not convinced we were in England till we saw a double decker bus…
we checked in to our room and despite plans and intentions to the contrary
ended up taking short naps…
The "Magic Bag" produced a lovely pair of new sparkle shoes for the trip. Maya got these on the airplane as a final distraction for the last hour or two. When she put them on I noticed they were a bit tight but I assumed it was because her feet were a bit swollen due to flying. She wore them a bit in the airport but started to complain about them hurting so we switched to her old shoes. After nap she put them on again for our grocery mission. Let's just say that the 8 hour time difference and the 20+ hours of travel time hit Maya (and us) square in the face. The sparkle shoes that fit brilliantly in the store a mere 2 weeks earlier were at least a half size too small. She didn't want to wear them, she didn't want to wear her old shoes, she didn't want to stay home, she didn't want to go out...she wanted and didn't want simultaneously. Here are the culprits. I promised her that we would go and buy a proper fitting pair when we got back stateside...I think she has forgotten...at least until our next trip to Target.
then out for groceries
home for dinner
and some play/movie time at home
we had a little midnight snack to help adjust our clocks
and maya was enamored with the city at night!
(but the screaming man upset her just a little bit.)
Thankfully our London accommodations were quite spacious which helped us deal with jet lag a bit easier than if we had been in a family room (all of us sleeping living in a single room). We had 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and living/dining space. They also provided a pack and play and highchair for our room for Fin.
