tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50977672003681803302024-03-19T21:53:01.321+11:00Domestic DelusionsWell this is my first foray into the world of blogging...it probably isn't good... and may never be... but I'm going to give it a red hot go... so please enjoy the ramblings of my family life.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-60588858159565606752012-10-18T14:45:00.002+11:002012-10-18T14:45:55.036+11:00Somehow he made it to 5!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not sure how he did it, but somehow Xavier made it to 5. There were several moments where we questioned quite seriously if we may sell him or leave him out for hard rubbish, but in the end we kept him. in a nutshell, 4 was bloody hard work!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some random facts about Xavier;</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">he still loves purple and after our trip to England last year, he has a heap of purple clothes and shoes to wear, finding purple boys clothes in Australia is next to impossible. He is having a bedroom makeover soon, and has requested that his feature wall be purple... I have found a fantastic purple, silver and cream wallpaper. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">His sister is still his best friend, unless she annoys him or wont be bossed around when he tells her that she is no longer his best friend and she comes to me hysterical. He also lists Bella, Lara, Liam, Olivia and Oliver J high on his list. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">He still love dancing, and has started Rock Band classes. He got a guitar for his birthday (purple of course) and lovingly named it Bella Lara. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">He has moved on a little from playing with dinosaurs, now its all about lego. Which of course daddy and grandad are loving (i am not loving picking it up and stepping on it quite so much).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">His favouite foods are mac and cheese and he loves making home made pizza.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">When he grows up he wants to fly aeroplanes, have 5 babies and a purple car. Apparently he will start with a purple ute, but once he has babies he will buy a bigger car with more seats for them, but it will still be purple. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Oh Xavier, Xavier, Xavier what a ride this last year has been. You have said things that have broken my heart, you have done things that have broken your sisters heart, and you have even made your father completely lose the plot at you on a number of occasions, not an easy feat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">BUT you are clever and funny and inquisitive and can be so filled with love and compassion for others it makes my heart hurt. You shine while dancing, and the sly grin after Rock Band is too cute for words. That curly hair of yours continues to grow out of control and I'm not even close to being ready to let anyone convince me to cut it off (not even daddy). Next year you become a big school boy and I can see just how ready you are. You need to be busy, you need to have things to do, you need to be around people, even if you don't want to speak to any of them, I hope that school will be exactly what you need. I hope you love being around others, learning, playing, laughing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">so far my boy, your odd number years have been wonderful, 2 and 4 were pretty sucky, so I'm looking forward to blowing this 5 year old business out of the water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Love your guts my button pusher. </span><br />
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Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-30828467938959359552012-02-12T21:24:00.000+11:002012-02-12T21:24:32.525+11:00Happy 3rd Birthday StellaToday the baby girl turned 3. Its been a big last 12 months. Stella has weaned from breastfeeding, traveled overseas, had tantrums at some of the most famous sites in London and Paris, started 3 year old kinder and started daycare for the first time. <br />
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Besides the tantrums, she has approached it all with gusto and confidence. The baby who slept in our bed, breastfed constantly and needed to be held to not be screaming, the child who I was making numerous rods for my own back with, is the most outgoing, self assured, clever little girl ever.<br />
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Stella on this your 3rd birthday know that I think you are amazing. I love nothing more than being in your presence. You make me laugh and smile and scream. You are so ready to be a big girl, but always seems to know when I need you to stop and take up residence in that spot on my lap that you just curl up into perfectly.<br />
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I look forward to the coming year as you find your feet without your mumma hovering nearby. What a ride its going to be.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-52534483387333936702012-01-16T22:35:00.000+11:002012-01-16T22:35:21.598+11:00Just a quickie..Yes I am well aware that I still owe blogs from our time in Paris. The fact that I still haven't done them, may give you an inkling of how I felt about the city of love.....<br />
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Anywho, this is a quick blog post to direct any of you who may be interested over to my newest blog <a href="http://grannysquarechic.blogspot.com/">Granny Chic</a> where I will be blogging about my 365 (366 due to a leap year) challenge of making a granny square a day.<br />
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If you have an interest in my crafting, it might be worth a read.<br />
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Also you will find the link to my friend Nessa's blog. Nessa will be doing a weekly yarn bomb for this year... she had completed 2 already and I got a sneak peek at week 3 while she was at my house today...Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-59492594816356612602011-12-31T09:00:00.006+11:002012-01-11T20:35:43.942+11:00Looking back on 2011<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last year I posted looking back on <a href="http://domesticdeluisons.blogspot.com/2010/12/looking-back-on-2010.html">2010</a> and reading it again made me want to reflect on how 2011 has panned out. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here is the list of what I was looking forward to in 2011, lets see how much of it has come to fruition.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What I'm looking forward to...</span></div><ul style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Xavier going off to kinder next year. he is so very ready and needs more than I can give him at home. it has meant the world to me that i have been able to stay at home and be his sole carer for over 3 years (besides grandma) but he is ready to move away from me and gain a small amount of independence. I cannot wait to see him shine</i>. <span style="color: #6aa84f;">It's funny this one, as despite me thinking he would settle into kinder life quickly, it actually took him a good 7 months before he actually spoke to either of the teachers. He has become firm friends with a few of the girls in the class and tells me he enjoys going there, however, compared to how energetic and talkative he is at home, he is still like a mouse at kinder. I wonder if being there 3 full days in 2012 will help him feel more at home in the surroundings?</span></span> </li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>trying to get away with the DH and kids for a short break. I don't work all these extra jobs for no reason.</i> <span style="color: #93c47d;">Well not a short break so to speak, but a really long 5 week overseas adventure. </span> </span> </li>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>finishing ABA training and starting to really help women who want to breastfeed. they say being able to breastfeed your child is the worlds greatest joy, helping another women to breastfeed her child is the second greatest joy.</i> <span style="color: #6aa84f;">After heading to Sydney to get this finished, I absolutely love my time both on helpline and in the office helping mothers with breastfeeding issues. </span></span> </li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>finding some me time and believing that I'm actually worth it and deserve it. This could be the tricky one</i>...<span style="color: #6aa84f;">I really think I have started to get there this year. I no longer feel guilty at going to craft night, or to the movies with friends, or even asking my mother in law to mind to kids so that Adam and I can have some time out together. </span></span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">So now for 2011 in review. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Highlights;</span></span></span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Qualifying as a Breastfeeding Counsellor and being able to help mums in an official capacity. I love my work in the office, I love working with Yvette she is not only knowledgeable but also so supportive of me and others. We feed and bounce off each other so well. Not only am I learning about the practical breastfeeding stuff, but also the history and workings of the association. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Finally getting to Tasmania to spend time with Emma blessing the way for the birth of Isla. It was lovely to get away kid free and even lovlier to be so welcomed into Emma's home. Now to get back there to meet Miss Isla in the flesh.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Watching the amazing relationship between Xavier and Stella grow. They still fight, a lot, but the adore each other, miss each other when they are apart and spend more time giggling and causing havoc then fighting now. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Squirrels in London. These little buggers are seriously the cutest things in the universe. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Rock of Ages in London. To be honest, I think this show would have been amazing wherever I had seen it. Definately my favourite show so far. Would happily see it again. <br />
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</ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Lowlights;</span></span></span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Stella weaning. It was bittersweet. She breastfed for almost 2.5 years, it was a slow and gentle weaning process, exactly what I wanted it to be, but still the reality of knowing that I will never breastfeed again is still a sad one. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Running out of time while overseas and just not making it to Italy. Oh well, guess it means we will have to come back again to see everything we missed this time. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Paris. I was so looking forward to going to the city of love. But it was dirty, crowded, I constantly felt unsafe and uncertain. I'm glad that I went, but would I go again. No. </span></span></span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">What I'm looking forward to in 2012;</span></span></span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Stella going off to kinder next year. She is so ready that its not even funny. Although I do suspect there will be several accident report forms to be signed for my little miss clutz.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">More one on one time with the kids. With Xavier being at kinder 3 days and Stella there 1 day, it will mean a lot more time one on one with them. Having 2 kids so close together has both its perks and challenges. Despite the fact that they adore each other, they also feed off each other, so if one is happy, both are happy. But if 1 is being a pest, they both completely lose the plot, and its exhausting. One on one however, they are perfection. So I'm looking forward to having more awesome time with each of them and really making the most of the few short years before they are both at school and I return to working more hours. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Even though travel hasn't been all roses with the kids, I fear we may have been bitten by the bug, so I do look forward in getting away somewhere for a short getaway. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">Finally getting around to doing our ensuite. Its been 9 years since we moved into the house. When we bought it we said that we needed to redo the bathrooms and kitchen. We did the main bathroom early on, but the apricot and black ensuite is still as ugly as ever. We were going to do it this year, but the trip to England has sucked all our finances. So back to saving and hoping to get a new ensuite before the end of 2012. </span></span></span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-74943910198734281572011-12-27T02:37:00.000+11:002011-12-27T02:37:02.451+11:00Sunday 25th December<div style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Merry Christmas. </span></b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">*Can I just preface this post with saying that neither Adam or I can believe that we took barely any photos today. I'm hoping that the family managed to get some good ones I can pinch later, as Stella looked oh so cute in her Christmas skirt I made her* </span></i></div><br />
Stella woke around 3:30am mumbling something about biscuits and Santa, then drifted back off until about 6:30am when she came into our bed for a chat. She chatted on and on about Santa and biscuits and presents. Adam tried his best to convince her to go downstairs to check if Santa had been, but she was certain that she had not yet heard reindeer's on the roof so there is no way that Santa could have been yet.<br />
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Eventually Adam offered to go down with her to see, and a little voice from the other room piped up with 'Can I come down too'. This was it, the kids were both up and we were ready to rock and roll.<br />
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They got lots of little gifts from us as we knew we were going to have to take it all home with us, (as well as all the shopping I may have already done here and we haven't even been to Paris yet). Stella was rather taken with her Tinkerbell doll but the hands down winner of the morning were their Zhu Zhu pets. I have never really seen the appeal of these before, but watching them scoot around the house, crashing into stuff before backing up and racing off in the opposite direction and the accompanied squeals of laughter from the kids, I now get it. <br />
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Asking the kids to get naked for a shower/bath wasn't a big deal, as it rarely is. Asking them to get dressed so that we could go out for lunch however, was rather traumatic. Finally after some pretty intense meltdowns, everyone had clothes on and we headed out the door to a pub lunch. <br />
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Grandma & Grandad were very restrained in their Christmas gifts for the kids, knowing we had limited space to bring things home. Stella got a my little pony and Xavier some new matchbox cars (I do hear rumours however, there are more gifts at home for them though). Uncle David & Aunty Teresa were also rather restrained with a skirt and top and a lipgloss/nail polish kit for Stella and this awesome glow drawing board thingy and a dinosaur quicksand kit for Xavier. Aunty Sarah however, went a bit nuts. Luckily for her she had prearranged with Grandma & Grandad to take some of the presents she had for the kids back with them, meaning that we may just get away without having to pay excess baggage to fit it all in.<br />
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The pub we had lunch at was on the river Thames so after lunch we collected up the bread we didn't eat and went out to let the kids feed the ducks. The Thames is a tidal river, which really doesn't mean that much to me, but I worked out quick smart what that meant yesterday. When the kids began feeding the ducks the water was about 5cm below the stone bank. within 10-15 minutes, the entire road between the river and pub was flooded and the locals confirmed that during a really high tide you actually get stuck in the pub waiting for the waters to recede. It was insane. I have never seen anything like it before. And this happens every day. I'm not taking slightly wet feet either, I'm taking knee high waters outside the pub. Still now, I cannot believe just how fast the water came up.<br />
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We were dropped home and the kids happily played with their toys (minus Stella's Zhu Zhu which she somehow left at the pub) while Adam and I got to tidying up and packing up all the things we didn't need to take to Paris with us. David is going to collect what we aren't taking tomorrow and store it at his house while we are away. We will collect it from him new years day before we fly home.<br />
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Later in the afternoon David, Teresa and Sarah dropped back in and hyped the kids up no end. We had to let them just wind down for a good hour before even considering bed once they left. <br />
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I burnt pizza we were planning for dinner, so I had leftover pasta from the night before and Adam had soup. We stayed up too late organising bags and waiting for clothes to wash so we could attempt to get them dry before David collects our bags tomorrow.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-67683424375912691122011-12-27T02:06:00.000+11:002011-12-27T02:06:38.342+11:00Saturday 24th DecemberAdam headed off early to get into Leicester Square in the hope of picking up 4 half price tickets to Rock of Ages. We had heard that sometimes there were big lines but when he got there it was only him and 1 other person. He managed to secure us 4 tickets in the 5th row of the stalls for almost half the price of regular tickets.<br />
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The funny bit is, last night he had looked online to see if there were seats available, and it offered us the exact same seats for 69 pound each, we got them for 39 pound each. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJE873KWKn8/TviFBlz5E6I/AAAAAAAAAmU/ibas9JOaaEY/s1600/rock+of+ages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJE873KWKn8/TviFBlz5E6I/AAAAAAAAAmU/ibas9JOaaEY/s320/rock+of+ages.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It was FREAKING AMAZING! I love going to the theatre, I have seen a fair bit. Had we not had the kids with us on this trip, I would have been at the theatre every second night catching up on everything I have ever wanted to see. Which is almost possible here as there is just so much showing all the time.<br />
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The lead guy who played Drew was HOT! And I will admit I rather enjoyed the scantily clad women also. At the start of the show one of the hot women came and sat in the empty seat next to David, but he was scared and refused to suck her icypole. I would have, she was hot too.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03Sj0nG7F8w/TviGXSurv-I/AAAAAAAAAmg/NJWP1B1qyEA/s1600/Rock-Of-Ages-Dress-7-09-11-Shaftesbury-756_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03Sj0nG7F8w/TviGXSurv-I/AAAAAAAAAmg/NJWP1B1qyEA/s320/Rock-Of-Ages-Dress-7-09-11-Shaftesbury-756_opt.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br />
It was funny, laugh out loud funny. We sang, we rocked, we got covered in glitter. I adore live theatre. There is something about seeing someone so close that is awesome. I love it when someone tells a joke that is so funny they cant help but laugh at themselves and almost completely lose it. I love it when stuff happens that no one, including the cast, are not expecting. During our show, Lonny (the narrator) dressed Drew as a Christmas elf, which had everyone in hysterics. <br />
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During interval I said to Adam, this is the best, when can we go again?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyWs_OGAfjQ/TviMdZmwHwI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/UY4HIwbP56w/s1600/2011_12_24_1497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyWs_OGAfjQ/TviMdZmwHwI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/UY4HIwbP56w/s320/2011_12_24_1497.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My charming husband groping my boob after the show</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I purchased a new suggest work uniform for myself<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B0itOzvGfGE/TviKA3WSVGI/AAAAAAAAAms/eXyYKR3Uejo/s1600/boobies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B0itOzvGfGE/TviKA3WSVGI/AAAAAAAAAms/eXyYKR3Uejo/s320/boobies.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yvette isn't keen as it doesn't come in purple</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We were able to head out to the theatre only because Aunty Sarah was willing and able to come and sit with the children. They did baking, making cupcakes and decorated biscuits for Santa. She even convinced them to tidy up as well as eat dinner. Stella was in bed when we got home, not asleep, but in bed, which is quite the feat.<br />
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Naturally we sat up until some insane hour to wrap presents for the kids and organise the letter from Santa letting the kids know that he had left some of the bigger presents at home for them, a trampoline and scooters.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-29126361699513892912011-12-27T00:47:00.000+11:002011-12-27T00:47:53.150+11:00Friday 23rd DecemberToday we headed off to the Tower of London. We had saved up our Grandparents babysitting options in order to not take the kids to the tower with us. Its a long day there and in all honestly its just not interesting to 2 small children. While they have done their best to be wheelchair accessible (aka pram friendly) its an ancient castle with cobbled roads and lots of stairs and narrow halls. Sadly, Grandma called around 7am (waking us up) to tell us that Grandad wasn't feeling well so they wouldn't be able to have the kids. I will admit I did entertain the thought of telling Adam to go to the tower alone with his sister as the kids were just going to ruin the day for us anyway, but I wanted to see the Crown Jewels too.<br />
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Having to pack for the kids for the day at short notice meant that we were a bit later than expected not to mention the stairs that Adam had to carry the pram up and down from trains. It was surprisingly busy there, its the first time we have had to actually line up to buy tickets to anywhere. A free tour with a Beef Eater is included in the entry price, however, there were about 40+ people on each tour and the kids were just going to be noisy and disruptive so we decided we would just wander at our leisure.<br />
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The kids were whiney, as expected and Adam spent a great deal of the day like this;<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--UAeuaA_MMo/TvhuZppczCI/AAAAAAAAAk4/179EqDQ5K3I/s1600/2011_12_24_1399.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--UAeuaA_MMo/TvhuZppczCI/AAAAAAAAAk4/179EqDQ5K3I/s320/2011_12_24_1399.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daddy is a pack horse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Stella was rather interested in the guard with the machine gun who was guarding the door to the jewels, so we headed over to have a look at him. Clearly not only does my daughter have a calling to spin around every single pole she sees (she is in her element on all the trains here) but now she also has a fascination for men who carry weapons *sigh*<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6RhINW-otjo/Tvhy-v5ky6I/AAAAAAAAAlE/n9S7pUSoHLE/s1600/2011_12_23_1371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6RhINW-otjo/Tvhy-v5ky6I/AAAAAAAAAlE/n9S7pUSoHLE/s320/2011_12_23_1371.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I cannot begin to imagine how boring and annoying that job must be</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The crown jewels are pretty much the only place you cant take photos at the Tower. But I will admit I did roll my eyes when on the train Adam came out with "Are you going to enjoy checking out the diamonds in the crown jewels? Some are the size of your ball sack." charming hey? The hilarious bit is that he wasn't wrong. There are some freaking HUGE diamonds in those crowns. <br />
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The ravens at the Tower are huge. There is the belief that if the ravens ever leave the tower then the monarchy will collapse. It appears that feeding them fresh meat, including the odd rabbit, isn't enough to ensure they stay. They also clip their wings so that they cant fly away. I also read that raven's mate for life. I always get a little kick out of animals that seem to fall in love and hang together forever. <br />
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There is the massive central building at the site, that was once a palace but there are also areas all around that look like your general suburban street. We discovered that they actually are regular houses where the Beefeater's and their families live. Pretty cool I think. I wonder what their addresses are. 13 Offwithherhead lane, Tower of London? The Beefeater's are actually pretty cool. I expected them to be more like the guards, just wandering around being all stern and serious, but they are really great at chatting to the kids, stopping for photos and one tried his best to humour Stella out of a foul mood. It didn't work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OKe6vdwggJk/TvhztD1xVCI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/nMStUzSIU6c/s1600/2011_12_23_1367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OKe6vdwggJk/TvhztD1xVCI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/nMStUzSIU6c/s320/2011_12_23_1367.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The White Tour (original palace)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Xavier was slightly interested in the canons, so we talked a bit about how they worked (thank god for his knowledge of the result of a bouncy ball into a lego house which made it all much easier) and he really seemed to enjoy the armour. He made everyone around him laugh when he asked in that bumpy bit was to protect the man's doodle (it was a pretty over exaggerated cod piece to be honest).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oyHtZq4yXTQ/Tvh0adXj42I/AAAAAAAAAlc/WEo_CmTlilQ/s1600/2011_12_24_1380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oyHtZq4yXTQ/Tvh0adXj42I/AAAAAAAAAlc/WEo_CmTlilQ/s320/2011_12_24_1380.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WP2tVmka1n8/Tvh61sHDtCI/AAAAAAAAAmI/xPUMg_AIhCU/s1600/2011_12_23_1449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WP2tVmka1n8/Tvh61sHDtCI/AAAAAAAAAmI/xPUMg_AIhCU/s320/2011_12_23_1449.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xavier was rather taken with this dragon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Adam wanted to do the walk around the top of the outer walls, it was starting to rain, it was cold and the kids were driving me nuts. I suggested that Adam take a child with him and I would take the other one to have a coffee. Naturally, as soon as they were separated, they were both the picture of perfection. Stella and I had a hot chocolate each and despite me buying a muffin to share, Stella pretty much inhaled the entire thing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAvLZAVn3X0/Tvh1PhkXAmI/AAAAAAAAAlo/pkFd0tUBc28/s1600/2011_12_24_1341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAvLZAVn3X0/Tvh1PhkXAmI/AAAAAAAAAlo/pkFd0tUBc28/s320/2011_12_24_1341.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam took a photo from the top wall of Stella & I sharing coffee. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>By the time we were ready to go the rain really started to pick up. We took refuge in the gift shop and bought a few small items then made a run for it to an undercover area. Adam commented on facebook that it was pouring with rain in the following photo, and a friend commented that he had imagined that it was raining in all our photos. However, it was the first real rain we have had since we have been here. There have been patches of light rain for 10 min at a time, and even this rain was all over and done with within half an hour.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p1hbp4E6mY4/Tvh5vnp45xI/AAAAAAAAAl0/YFN3ajj9aDw/s1600/2011_12_23_1457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p1hbp4E6mY4/Tvh5vnp45xI/AAAAAAAAAl0/YFN3ajj9aDw/s320/2011_12_23_1457.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Xavier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CGCRv9Z1l90/Tvh6EI18ZAI/AAAAAAAAAl8/lAqwt0N4-jY/s1600/2011_12_23_1459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CGCRv9Z1l90/Tvh6EI18ZAI/AAAAAAAAAl8/lAqwt0N4-jY/s320/2011_12_23_1459.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pouring with rain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have no doubt that Adam really enjoyed the Tower and had we been kid free, he would have spent a whole lot more time there. Personally, it was just one more lot of old stuff for me. The Crown Jewels were cool but the rest of it I could have left and been fine. I have said several times since we have been here though that I really need to get a better understanding of the history of the royals to perhaps understand the significance of it all more. I was tempted to buy a royal history children's book to get up to speed. lol.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-7459729118293583422011-12-24T23:19:00.000+11:002011-12-24T23:19:08.827+11:00Thursday 22nd DecemberAfter dragging the kids around to all kinds of things they are just too young to really appreciate, we decided today was about the kids. I had booked tickets to see a Santa panto and Aunty Sarah was coming along for the ride.<br />
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The station next along the line from ours is called New Malden. Xavier announced very early on that New Malden was his favourite station and every day on the train he asks if we are getting off at New Malden. Today was that day. We didn't need to go to New Malden, but I had to go and top up the credit on our phones in Kingston before we could head to the lunchtime panto, so Adam and Xavier got the train in the opposite direction and got off and New Malden just to see what was there and just so Xavier could say that he got off at New Malden.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yx4sI92q4iE/TvW_jzRTCiI/AAAAAAAAAik/lKT1Kvs7CBo/s1600/2011_12_22_1406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yx4sI92q4iE/TvW_jzRTCiI/AAAAAAAAAik/lKT1Kvs7CBo/s320/2011_12_22_1406.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They discovered New Malden has a McDonands. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Stella and I just missed a train at Kingston as I had to also top up my travel card, but it turns out that when we got to New Malden, Adam and Xavier were standing at the exact door of the carriage we were on. I assumed they would have got the earlier train, and even so, whats the chances of them actually getting on the same carriage without even knowing which one we were on. <br />
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The panto was small but cute. The theatres big panto is Aladdin, however, my kids have no idea of that story so we figured that the smaller Santa one was a better option. The kids sang along and got into the 'behind you' and 'hello charlie' of the panto, but neither was keen to sit on Santa's knee after the show. He was a wonderful Santa, with a real beard and really did his best to get us pics with him in them. Best Santa we have seen ever I would go as far as saying.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WgFlb5dzKRU/TvW_2AfdgtI/AAAAAAAAAis/Y1189hAX1i4/s1600/2011_12_22_1409.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WgFlb5dzKRU/TvW_2AfdgtI/AAAAAAAAAis/Y1189hAX1i4/s320/2011_12_22_1409.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the Panto to start</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella is not at all sure about Santa</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HiM_84KDlH0/TvXAfamj0RI/AAAAAAAAAi8/naeace8DyHM/s1600/2011_12_22_1412.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HiM_84KDlH0/TvXAfamj0RI/AAAAAAAAAi8/naeace8DyHM/s320/2011_12_22_1412.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xavier is really not happy about the situation</td></tr>
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A Peppa Pig stage show is coming to the theatre next year, and while we wont be here to see it, the kids (and Adam) did enjoy playing with the poster.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qFUDm25iPs4/TvXA4RF6DmI/AAAAAAAAAjE/J6mjYMgb7_w/s1600/2011_12_22_1413.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qFUDm25iPs4/TvXA4RF6DmI/AAAAAAAAAjE/J6mjYMgb7_w/s320/2011_12_22_1413.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam & Xavier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y93Cos0nQto/TvXBujbhlDI/AAAAAAAAAjc/F_eC0br20nA/s1600/2011_12_22_1424.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y93Cos0nQto/TvXBujbhlDI/AAAAAAAAAjc/F_eC0br20nA/s320/2011_12_22_1424.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella & Adam (think she was chucking a fit) </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O-Ygflym6c4/TvXBjwEvHuI/AAAAAAAAAjU/F6sjo9uZK0k/s1600/2011_12_22_1417.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O-Ygflym6c4/TvXBjwEvHuI/AAAAAAAAAjU/F6sjo9uZK0k/s320/2011_12_22_1417.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photography by Xavier</td></tr>
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We got back to Kingston and began the hunt for a new suitcase, as the airline broke one of ours on the way over. We also managed to talk the kids into visiting one of the story telling sheds. It was nothing like we expected. I thought it would be people dressed up simply reading to the children, but it was actors actually telling a story. The woman we had was wonderful, she moved around, she made eye contact with everyone in the room, she had the children and adults alike fully engaged in what was happening. And the best bit, it was all over in 10 minutes, the perfect length of time for young children. <br />
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We got home, had dinner and 2 exhausted children were in bed before 6:30pm. Yah!Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-25341347845927363452011-12-24T22:48:00.000+11:002011-12-24T22:48:50.958+11:00Wednesday 21st DecemberToday we all headed into London with the plan that I would go and visit Shakespeare's Globe theatre by myself. Adam was going to take the kids to do something else and let me have some quiet time to enjoy the theatre without the kids going nuts. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k1i4a-J8etI/TvW1F3HRBUI/AAAAAAAAAg4/h_684BehM6Y/s1600/2011_12_04_0402.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k1i4a-J8etI/TvW1F3HRBUI/AAAAAAAAAg4/h_684BehM6Y/s320/2011_12_04_0402.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the Globe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tc1UTJokZnY/TvW1XzVCcxI/AAAAAAAAAhA/Qe6R87Uv3Mk/s1600/2011_12_04_0403.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tc1UTJokZnY/TvW1XzVCcxI/AAAAAAAAAhA/Qe6R87Uv3Mk/s320/2011_12_04_0403.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view outside</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have always loved teaching Shakespeare. I love the sauciness of the times and the controversy surrounding his life. The Globe is situated in an area of London known as Bankside. Now its a nice suburb that draws locals and tourists alike, but in Shakespeare's time, Bankside was considered the wrong side of the river. People only went to Bankside for the theatre, brothels, animal fighting and drinking. No-one ever considered actually living there. <br />
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The current Globe isn't built on the original site (the original Globe burnt down when a canon prop went wrong during a play and the reconstruction was torn down years later by some religious crazies) but this globe has been built using traditional dimensions and building techniques. Sadly during my tour there were restoration works going on, which meant that I couldn't see all of the stage area but it is still a very impressive building. I'm so sad that they don't run a winter season, it would have been amazing to actually see a play being held there, but we did get the opportunity to watch some actors rehearsing some Shakespeare which was better than an empty stage I guess. I visit sites of significance like The Globe and Stratford-Upon-Avon and the poets corner in Westminster Abbey and just cant stop thinking about how I can organise a school camp to these places once I go back to work. I crave visiting such sites with other who not only appreciate how important they are, but also are as awestruck as myself when there. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k0p2kYAS134/TvW20bBUqtI/AAAAAAAAAhU/t8I4nFo6vG4/s1600/2011_12_21_1184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k0p2kYAS134/TvW20bBUqtI/AAAAAAAAAhU/t8I4nFo6vG4/s320/2011_12_21_1184.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rehersals</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">thatch roof, this is what caught fire in the original globe</td></tr>
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To add the the sauciness of the time, I also learnt during the tour that in Shakespeare's time one of the churches (I don't recall which one and don't want to get it wrong and insult and entire religion) owned all the brothels and allowed their 'girls' to attend the theatre looking for work. These women were referred to as the white geese girls, they wore pale makeup, a white apron and waved a white handkerchief making them apparently look like white geese. So while women were not allowed to perform on stage due to it being completely immoral, it was perfectly fine for the church to employ prostitutes to scout for work at the theatre.<br />
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I did spend up a bit at the gift shop, needing to buy new illustrated versions of Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet (my original book was lent to a colleague who never returned it), I also bought a great "You are quoting Shakespeare' poster a magnet and an "out damn spot' tote bag. Can you guess Macbeth is my favourite.<br />
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After my tour I met up with Adam and the kids and we jumped on a train and light rail to Greenwich. Which was nothing like I expected. I'm sure I had in my head that Greenwich was this awesome, cute, funky little village with great shopping, and maybe it is, maybe I just missed that bit, but all I saw was the Naval something or other and the massive hill up to the observatory and the line thingy. (you can gauge my level of interest here, hey?). There was no way that with my knees on fire (still) I was hiking up that hill, Adam didn't even ask me if I wanted to, he knew the answer already, so instead he asked the kids who both wanted to go with him. So I sat in a covered walkway and watched the as far as I could up the hill. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SiK4uBAMxPk/TvW4-o1NZmI/AAAAAAAAAhw/09_1CLcpSYQ/s1600/2011_12_22_1199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SiK4uBAMxPk/TvW4-o1NZmI/AAAAAAAAAhw/09_1CLcpSYQ/s320/2011_12_22_1199.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The massive hill to the observatory</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam and Stella across the line</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QN7agCat6E4/TvW6TyhqPpI/AAAAAAAAAiA/-nRhe43WWRc/s1600/2011_12_22_1203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QN7agCat6E4/TvW6TyhqPpI/AAAAAAAAAiA/-nRhe43WWRc/s320/2011_12_22_1203.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bunny had a turn too</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Axf-v0QxUK0/TvW6yyEl8iI/AAAAAAAAAiI/_AMHwogYeO0/s1600/2011_12_22_1205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Axf-v0QxUK0/TvW6yyEl8iI/AAAAAAAAAiI/_AMHwogYeO0/s320/2011_12_22_1205.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RuSGJbOXadc/TvW7TEdYyPI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/4p_-dE26bAU/s1600/2011_12_22_1207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RuSGJbOXadc/TvW7TEdYyPI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/4p_-dE26bAU/s320/2011_12_22_1207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was sitting under the walkways</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
We got a little lost trying to find the right train back, but a lovely policeman must have seen us looking confused and asked if he could help, the entry to the station was across the road from where were had stopped, so we weren't as lost as we thought. We made it home in one piece and despite claiming we needed an early night, stayed up much later than we should have.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-58276123264405335132011-12-21T19:37:00.000+11:002011-12-21T19:37:09.049+11:00Tuesday 20th DecemberAfter our late night last night, the kids were up ready to go at 7am, so in total about 6.5 hours sleep. Nowhere near enough for kids who need at least 12 hours to function.<br />
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Adam cant just sit still, so he headed into London to continue his mission to get photos of the complete monopoly board.<br />
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We had no food in the house, so the kids and I decided to head into Kingston to grab something to eat. It took almost 2 hours to convince Xavier and Stella to get dressed, and ended up in me dressed and walking out the front door without them before they realised I was serious about putting some clothes on.<br />
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We bused it into town and ended up at McDonalds, where else would you end up with our kids? The kids had a lovely chat to a woman on the bus and her teenage daughter, the woman was a nursery school teacher, so was wonderful at getting them to share. After lunch I suggested that perhaps we could go and listen to some story reading. Here in Kingston during Christmas they have like little wooden sheds set up throughout the town and people in costume read stories to the children. It's free, but you are encouraged to make a donation to a local charity. The shed is all warm and has cushions and soft lighting and looks rather inviting. I thought story reading would be awesome, but Xavier pretty much laid down on the footpath at the suggestion wailing "I'm too very tired, I must go home and just have a little rest right now". So we came home. Of course once we were on the bus, Stella declared "Mum I thought we were going to story reading? I wanna go to story reading. I wanna hear stories, mum, mum, mum, mum why aren't we having stories?" etc etc. Of course at that moment Adam called to tell me Dave was coming over to collect his suit so it was handy we were on the way home anyway. All the while Stella continued on with the story reading complaints. By the time I got off the phone to Adam the kids had decided that one day Xavier was going to stay at home with Daddy and Mumma and Stella were going to get on the bus for story reading. I did suggest that they both stay home with Daddy and I could go and do something alone, but Stella matter-of-factly informed me "that just not going to work for me mumma." *sigh*<br />
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They did come home and crash on the beanbags and watched a kids movie about Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. Which reminds me, we still need to take them to Richmond park (walking distance) to see actual deer. Although at one point Stella got rather upset about Rudolph 'not being able to do anything right' and there were tears when the abominable snowman dropped a log on Rudolph and knocked him out. But all was well once he got to lead Santa's sleigh. *phew*<br />
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Despite being so tired, they still both farted about for a good hour at bedtime. I just keep reminding myself that Xavier was just as hard to get to sleep at Stella's age and it will pass.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-64420302503002414962011-12-21T19:36:00.000+11:002011-12-21T19:36:51.213+11:00Monday 19th DecemberThe day started bright and early with Adam and Xavier needing to head off early to David's to prepare for the fun that was to follow.<br />
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Teresa is Chinese and in the last few days we have learnt there is a whole world of tradition that goes along with a Chinese wedding. Apparently we got the abridged version, but it was still a whole heap of fun.<br />
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The festivities began at 9:15am where David and his 'posse' arrived at the bride's house to complete some challenges set by her bridesmaids to prove he was worthy of marrying her. Stella and I were there already waiting to see what challenges were going to be set. As Adam was one of the best men, David had the option of handing over any challenges that were too hard to the best men to complete on his behalf.<br />
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After being dressed appropriately in a Chinese jacket, hat and a big red bow, David was asked to first prove his strength by doing 20 push ups, easy enough, but they added a small cousin to his back while this happened. He was then presented with a plate of small crackers topped with chilli paste and wasabi with the instructions that the entire plate was eaten. He chose to share these tasty treats around his posse. Next the posse had to carry David (who is 6'5") across the street and back, and its a very busy road they had to dodge buses, cars and cyclists. In honour of the stag do, the posse had to perform lap dances for David as well a lick chocolate sauce and wasabi out of a nappy (don't ask). There was passing a jelly bean around the circle, using only their mouths and a drink of soy sauce and wasabi to wash it all down. At this point the bridesmaids decided that he was worthy of Teresa's hand, however, there was the small task of negotiating how much cash David was willing to hand over for her. Once payment had been made, David was allowed to enter the house and carry Teresa down the stairs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDOBgfPPYMNIIUUbHcFZekeUYfS4a4_qBNdr4ZltgRfEVMmy_yqpUCpIfqr5I9LoIy1jmsYkL0z_bhXNskxRm75-glXy27GBleqQIcoN0slyYPPKKpCA_xDoe5f28LoHL34epIJVOkt0/s1600/2011_12_19_1019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDOBgfPPYMNIIUUbHcFZekeUYfS4a4_qBNdr4ZltgRfEVMmy_yqpUCpIfqr5I9LoIy1jmsYkL0z_bhXNskxRm75-glXy27GBleqQIcoN0slyYPPKKpCA_xDoe5f28LoHL34epIJVOkt0/s320/2011_12_19_1019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_7S8wHFFffFXZmTm0LxRPCQc6WiqltqGmX2viRPU5taCSkvMv3qf8oA4n54VG3SOlpma5PAzeiI_e9AYzX2MIIQAT_gU0ydRWUH1nXewMD9rnno00ifagGc4TipVuNHhd-J2qVcbD7MI/s1600/2011_12_19_1027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_7S8wHFFffFXZmTm0LxRPCQc6WiqltqGmX2viRPU5taCSkvMv3qf8oA4n54VG3SOlpma5PAzeiI_e9AYzX2MIIQAT_gU0ydRWUH1nXewMD9rnno00ifagGc4TipVuNHhd-J2qVcbD7MI/s320/2011_12_19_1027.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJo_CSdZ8NEu-G7xdXoaWVCveC_UqdSTCiF9Svq4ATd1-lbKMoOPxOCMsWbKQPWNXdU7yRq9j5-wrC5hW7le7rfxH7qLak5LIQyEIQWAbxxiefZtD7Z_HkUk5dgFMnkReR-CX3vOvnN5E/s1600/2011_12_19_1030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJo_CSdZ8NEu-G7xdXoaWVCveC_UqdSTCiF9Svq4ATd1-lbKMoOPxOCMsWbKQPWNXdU7yRq9j5-wrC5hW7le7rfxH7qLak5LIQyEIQWAbxxiefZtD7Z_HkUk5dgFMnkReR-CX3vOvnN5E/s320/2011_12_19_1030.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7CmHoPT40Caahw5f__W4j8mPwCZMWtIOzwtae5khhccGqLD3lEdRioZCwjgLFWQnA7cr8hisTfsJ529EzkuAM1GvrNzm0UsJBPyEANk05ykuqDZRJvBvt4sHLSMJ9aM_j_05pJVLIus/s1600/2011_12_19_1040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7CmHoPT40Caahw5f__W4j8mPwCZMWtIOzwtae5khhccGqLD3lEdRioZCwjgLFWQnA7cr8hisTfsJ529EzkuAM1GvrNzm0UsJBPyEANk05ykuqDZRJvBvt4sHLSMJ9aM_j_05pJVLIus/s320/2011_12_19_1040.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
There was food and drink for all before the official tea ceremony began. David and Teresa had to serve tea to family members starting with the eldest and working down. For generations older than them David and Teresa had to kneel to do this, but for their generation, they stood to serve tea. Adam and I were close to the last to be served, seeing as Adam is only 16 months older than David, even though I am younger than both David and Teresa, because I am married to David's elder they had to serve me tea too. In return for serving us tea, we handed them a red envelope with lucky money enclosed.<br />
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Adam, David and Xavier then headed back to get suited up for the wedding. Stella went with Grandma and Grandad to get ready and I headed to the hairdresser to glam up a bit. <br />
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I'm not scared to say that there were several people worried about if Xavier and Stella were going to come to the party and perform in their roles of ring bearer and flower girl. They had both gotten dressed without too much fuss, which was a positive start, but when push came to shove, Xavier was more than prepared to step up to his very special job carrying the rings but despite all the coaxing in the world, Stella refused point blank to walk down the aisle with the other flower girls. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuD2j3eLTUbDUhSCM-5pjNjd2NJKK1vmxdy6wqqslDO8Vgb6miXlhj5OQRP0cpxmXar6gnk4XIGNBkfViHY7862svPYQSfBxMkQA_8Wjl7rpD59aPqf1k6hTcQQEPYaec-IVa2259Zno4/s1600/2011_12_20_1053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuD2j3eLTUbDUhSCM-5pjNjd2NJKK1vmxdy6wqqslDO8Vgb6miXlhj5OQRP0cpxmXar6gnk4XIGNBkfViHY7862svPYQSfBxMkQA_8Wjl7rpD59aPqf1k6hTcQQEPYaec-IVa2259Zno4/s320/2011_12_20_1053.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep Stella wasn't going to walk down any aisle. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwKC-AtY8hiUNMSN2Ai1Phpokw1nYTxKK28_fQRphPPH-jQnQMkMuPlVNT7a9RxRdkRUAZW1NsuWsz9KaE4QaQQXEnI9ZTcccoKzG1XTnJd_oFgvXY8LniVyjE0SXw6Bwsb_-ftO1S-Y/s1600/2011_12_20_1071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwKC-AtY8hiUNMSN2Ai1Phpokw1nYTxKK28_fQRphPPH-jQnQMkMuPlVNT7a9RxRdkRUAZW1NsuWsz9KaE4QaQQXEnI9ZTcccoKzG1XTnJd_oFgvXY8LniVyjE0SXw6Bwsb_-ftO1S-Y/s320/2011_12_20_1071.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xavier was questionable too</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQe1LVJOmkC48q37e8L_RhJkb8b25QnjqYOxPeNbDcX4dQUOjfBvkoIjtro2oP0rs3j9rpP3Dv0tIZpTTVzUczuUww2KQyOqT6KQ7vN7lztyDp7RrRaLmz4pzlJ3_RD9ZZ5IupQnDtfmo/s1600/2011_12_20_1055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQe1LVJOmkC48q37e8L_RhJkb8b25QnjqYOxPeNbDcX4dQUOjfBvkoIjtro2oP0rs3j9rpP3Dv0tIZpTTVzUczuUww2KQyOqT6KQ7vN7lztyDp7RrRaLmz4pzlJ3_RD9ZZ5IupQnDtfmo/s320/2011_12_20_1055.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HA81JlYKROXbEzH2IOK8A7F13h_1m1Xw86QCKnfYfdWRdc3_19b7Fuw5J75oqT1PRQteuo-quTlYT7dLcaz71rZM_S4VOsPwXazgdMKwogBAi7c09_Lk_1Mv8Qn2u0dTjDnQew311X4/s1600/2011_12_20_1065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HA81JlYKROXbEzH2IOK8A7F13h_1m1Xw86QCKnfYfdWRdc3_19b7Fuw5J75oqT1PRQteuo-quTlYT7dLcaz71rZM_S4VOsPwXazgdMKwogBAi7c09_Lk_1Mv8Qn2u0dTjDnQew311X4/s320/2011_12_20_1065.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The wedding was beautiful. The venue amazing. The meals delicious. The photos will show this better than any words I can come up with. Adam was so nervous about having to give a speech but he totally rocked it. I planned to stay around to see the first dance, then take the kids home. The first dance was an entertaining choreographed number with a series of lifts, all very tongue in cheek, but beautiful and sweet. After the first dance everyone was invited onto the dance floor which is where my plan (or need) to take the kids home ended. They danced the night away. They danced with each other, with the bride and groom, with friends and grandparents and even I got a look in. Adam however, didn't get any love from the kids. They had an absolute blast, and just quietly I think they may have stolen the show with their moves. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1aW7C0VPOrPbbz8qg_UBvducQUR3K6JRdT0YIf8Vc14w3w4l1Ucy5eaTqA3d0WHzof7OhhKE_Q7z_gajaGmZ3rDVOzt5xHMRTDxRX8hyGywnpPa0cpg3Yee7mcofOXFeIN1ptE8ZaIY/s1600/2011_12_20_1073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1aW7C0VPOrPbbz8qg_UBvducQUR3K6JRdT0YIf8Vc14w3w4l1Ucy5eaTqA3d0WHzof7OhhKE_Q7z_gajaGmZ3rDVOzt5xHMRTDxRX8hyGywnpPa0cpg3Yee7mcofOXFeIN1ptE8ZaIY/s320/2011_12_20_1073.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella sitting next to me rather than walking down the aisle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DRScRKGPgo6ioK_2lJojYpLXiLeFdzmzLxDd3K-C78yB5x6SSB6XCWvgM4doTdVfMRrtE8RHmIR_1PIIXSrGSI_xTJDBpqJngiDBn-hdN_0ElPXSHQqJeM1G1uLioL2fmvjSGu8gS0A/s1600/2011_12_20_1076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DRScRKGPgo6ioK_2lJojYpLXiLeFdzmzLxDd3K-C78yB5x6SSB6XCWvgM4doTdVfMRrtE8RHmIR_1PIIXSrGSI_xTJDBpqJngiDBn-hdN_0ElPXSHQqJeM1G1uLioL2fmvjSGu8gS0A/s320/2011_12_20_1076.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xavier got to the end of the aisle, saw Adam and his face lit up </td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcxe8IfakEEPMbXb1SMnqE-DrV3aez1JgEvh1z9YDcyQDDscdYyPHVC2o4NPMzAGs2nRrO2u9SgN2iYFcODEUMTvo52ThPbEfyr87MfH-BK-JYwryIkfYGvGhwg0sgoXsCeegXOuB-vw/s1600/2011_12_20_1081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcxe8IfakEEPMbXb1SMnqE-DrV3aez1JgEvh1z9YDcyQDDscdYyPHVC2o4NPMzAGs2nRrO2u9SgN2iYFcODEUMTvo52ThPbEfyr87MfH-BK-JYwryIkfYGvGhwg0sgoXsCeegXOuB-vw/s320/2011_12_20_1081.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqoxhm7pcRQglcuCAlNnQJ802L4q52skXOOJRU5KOIX7cFaL783HUqycPeMF_sNYP71xe5VtBAFffcUGZt9PNi3kqfOiyKDPxc6wXzmpxF1cDDjVQvN7FfqMEoBj8GRmffYGehVNRb7o/s1600/2011_12_20_1100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqoxhm7pcRQglcuCAlNnQJ802L4q52skXOOJRU5KOIX7cFaL783HUqycPeMF_sNYP71xe5VtBAFffcUGZt9PNi3kqfOiyKDPxc6wXzmpxF1cDDjVQvN7FfqMEoBj8GRmffYGehVNRb7o/s320/2011_12_20_1100.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The reception room</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpdmVNPk4KcQlUYwt9ZsYnAQRkEZ3hHqWcAqgPvtGCpfTslMveshafFMAN2JiQlyhA_5ZLwfukVHamvJgSu1UqQPAJHAq08adQXvIbn2qhku-kCx0n7gcDpzm1VsDURd2m2QUIgCVyws/s1600/2011_12_20_1158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpdmVNPk4KcQlUYwt9ZsYnAQRkEZ3hHqWcAqgPvtGCpfTslMveshafFMAN2JiQlyhA_5ZLwfukVHamvJgSu1UqQPAJHAq08adQXvIbn2qhku-kCx0n7gcDpzm1VsDURd2m2QUIgCVyws/s320/2011_12_20_1158.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loft space in the reception room</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9M162fU7lKBrshJyL7i6LbfXqVg9y2moHwwWnT7_3XVo2Ij04fuG76uFVOG0ihLESqtotev8J1Gspt2LBTqt0juSohZAHQLy9fvKXa2ruKN3yUrqYbf_d3kcNXVl8Yxz-iOwEIcPz58/s1600/2011_12_20_1134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9M162fU7lKBrshJyL7i6LbfXqVg9y2moHwwWnT7_3XVo2Ij04fuG76uFVOG0ihLESqtotev8J1Gspt2LBTqt0juSohZAHQLy9fvKXa2ruKN3yUrqYbf_d3kcNXVl8Yxz-iOwEIcPz58/s320/2011_12_20_1134.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first dance</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTIZ3TKFg2eEzzAL9u9jCLRZQy09epF_prbqCDatZNuQYwyxhwdCde_ZmBFpHSh2BP5kiOCvTz9dvGMB1o1iVLXpu4rLQ_YOtGDrlZ05Zo2XuTii7BAlsOCTXHAWrNg9Gio-RNZ_Rba50/s1600/2011_12_20_1143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTIZ3TKFg2eEzzAL9u9jCLRZQy09epF_prbqCDatZNuQYwyxhwdCde_ZmBFpHSh2BP5kiOCvTz9dvGMB1o1iVLXpu4rLQ_YOtGDrlZ05Zo2XuTii7BAlsOCTXHAWrNg9Gio-RNZ_Rba50/s320/2011_12_20_1143.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xavier, Stella, Aunty Sarah and Uncle David</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2E9cecnvKsMioZ4etXpdfLOGjs64bkSiI-3RO7d623Abo0f1g1uG4CL0jnOoBGwIXK0wV7zrI0QeVLQDKPnSHU6fJoju4B1NC6liKImImbmT3L-_3qvd62743mODz25Jlg6o7Bnsytw/s1600/2011_12_20_1145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2E9cecnvKsMioZ4etXpdfLOGjs64bkSiI-3RO7d623Abo0f1g1uG4CL0jnOoBGwIXK0wV7zrI0QeVLQDKPnSHU6fJoju4B1NC6liKImImbmT3L-_3qvd62743mODz25Jlg6o7Bnsytw/s320/2011_12_20_1145.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at how much he loves dancing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKfgrHeII5nctTmUoINn-Ie2j5ap0K1GPkBHGXpwMOBq_Z3GWZLKwoCjT2C1aIkuJQYG-KkQ5aC-oAgybueCbEgEFvpZ9LDet4SsDZGIv0feerCftR_1mgqHB1YCJZmtW3B-itO8aGKn0/s1600/2011_12_20_1147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKfgrHeII5nctTmUoINn-Ie2j5ap0K1GPkBHGXpwMOBq_Z3GWZLKwoCjT2C1aIkuJQYG-KkQ5aC-oAgybueCbEgEFvpZ9LDet4SsDZGIv0feerCftR_1mgqHB1YCJZmtW3B-itO8aGKn0/s320/2011_12_20_1147.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shaking her groove thing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXO0mWczK5yYsRNrP3o3OWZDfaWqNz8gbB9sgizqVKRYBU9qeA_bvK69OA1ZG-ebxpvCUjQij9pXs2vCyTh_nEeFXnePpW8hBwXS5QlQehvvf-LbArZ3BMH4aXfdTwD5U5pEBZNzTdFI/s1600/2011_12_20_1152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXO0mWczK5yYsRNrP3o3OWZDfaWqNz8gbB9sgizqVKRYBU9qeA_bvK69OA1ZG-ebxpvCUjQij9pXs2vCyTh_nEeFXnePpW8hBwXS5QlQehvvf-LbArZ3BMH4aXfdTwD5U5pEBZNzTdFI/s320/2011_12_20_1152.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancing with grandma</td></tr>
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The level of cute of the kids on the dance floor quite honestly made up for all the carry on of the past few weeks. <br />
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About half an hour before we were due to go home, Stella passed out on the couch. It was an easy drive home, to find a fox standing in the middle of our street *shock* we carried children inside, got them as undressed and redressed as we could before hitting the sack for the night. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_p5L4xjQHIESQQQj8o6zyzoZ8F4c8Zg5gxTTIqtGGu7SjmUkHG2nhAgnYZMbUMk9jF1C0NSvhvyoqVqKo-mR-4HDm0EXxDiTF_hfRp9uhKsqhJsLh8Kl2SUSWeomaLzUOeQm-_1vywk/s1600/2011_12_20_1159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_p5L4xjQHIESQQQj8o6zyzoZ8F4c8Zg5gxTTIqtGGu7SjmUkHG2nhAgnYZMbUMk9jF1C0NSvhvyoqVqKo-mR-4HDm0EXxDiTF_hfRp9uhKsqhJsLh8Kl2SUSWeomaLzUOeQm-_1vywk/s320/2011_12_20_1159.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21olrTYur_z8DHznxL32Dpv64JbrrfGx2L5FbT2TNvkZYoU2_aQFly5iOySHNzUafCXMQSmi7BnSwOdNDXdhardWquWfh9M8layjfrhcqLHJN7h4fA3T0ebKLwJYhZNNZ-AA7L4nkBpU/s1600/2011_12_20_1160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21olrTYur_z8DHznxL32Dpv64JbrrfGx2L5FbT2TNvkZYoU2_aQFly5iOySHNzUafCXMQSmi7BnSwOdNDXdhardWquWfh9M8layjfrhcqLHJN7h4fA3T0ebKLwJYhZNNZ-AA7L4nkBpU/s320/2011_12_20_1160.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
It was such an honour to be able to be here to witness this wedding. I have always been a big fan of David and to finally meet the woman who has stolen the heart of our Aussie boy it all now makes sense. Teresa is gorgeous, inside and out. She is warm and friendly, funny and outrageous. She has welcomed us into her life with love and excitement and has embraced Xavier and Stella as if she had been there from the start of their time earthside. Xavier and Stella have showered her with the same excited affection, even Xavier, the quiet, reserved boy who sits back and assesses situations before jumping in, just couldn't hold back with his new Aunty Teresa. I cant wait to hear news of them having children of their own, but I really cant wait to hear news that they are going to be calling Australia home, even if just for a short while. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdLOn7o8luIgUXAoAwPZ_P7ndDqIgdjN8eNqR5xfulEtwQM7-KCx8offVeCrb-T3uGTgtysH8VJfCOzYJwq6MsZsIN5wRcvPwhDeruVWYpM43dK1Vn5DuDwIrI9zjfxMM2WAslhrZa8k/s1600/2011_12_20_1163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdLOn7o8luIgUXAoAwPZ_P7ndDqIgdjN8eNqR5xfulEtwQM7-KCx8offVeCrb-T3uGTgtysH8VJfCOzYJwq6MsZsIN5wRcvPwhDeruVWYpM43dK1Vn5DuDwIrI9zjfxMM2WAslhrZa8k/s320/2011_12_20_1163.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just before we left we remembered to get a photo of us together</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-14244139799651446842011-12-21T09:40:00.000+11:002011-12-21T09:40:37.474+11:00Sunday 18th DecemberAdam's parents must have taken pity on us after the lunchtime antics of the kids on Friday, because yesterday Sarah called Adam to ask if she and Grandma could take the kids for the day, they were thinking perhaps to a movie. Naturally we jumped at the offer.<br />
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Xavier and Stella were collected about 10:30am and headed off on the bus with Grandma and Aunty Sarah with plans of a McDonalds lunch and movie visit confirmed. Adam and I headed to the train Station into London to spend some time admiring all the artifacts at the British Museum. The Brits like the tell you that they are taking care of all of these precious items for the good of the entire world, however, its really just a collection of stuff that England as stolen from other countries.<br />
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Like all museums in the UK its free entry, because we didn't have the kids and therefore the pram, we had to check our coats and bags into the cloakroom. Its so cold out, that you need to really rug up, however, there is nothing at all wrong with the heating in most buildings in London. You walk in the door of anywhere and almost pass out with the overwhelming heat. Shopping is a constant state of dress, undress, dress, undress, its nuts. Also because shopping centers as we know them aren't really the norm here, strip shopping on a high street is much more the norm. <br />
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I was starving so we headed off to find something to eat, we thought seeing as we were kid free we would skip the sandwiches at the cafe and head up to the restaurant for something a bit fancier. However, on getting up to the restaurant we almost passed out, not at the heat but at the prices. We decided that perhaps sandwiches weren't so bad after all and we might get something nice for afternoon tea on the way home instead as our little indulgence.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tqQxxr59qSTnmTYqXo99_U6_EGrHk64VZ9xJbRzA5iynAQWFx4NfBcRuML8ssD-7kXFmL7ti-xkJu-NQof9TgTeTbQdFhg8z2O_H33FJvHv5cJ7wL06jGM-bQp28bVr77nIZT5jhz-0/s1600/2011_12_19_1004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tqQxxr59qSTnmTYqXo99_U6_EGrHk64VZ9xJbRzA5iynAQWFx4NfBcRuML8ssD-7kXFmL7ti-xkJu-NQof9TgTeTbQdFhg8z2O_H33FJvHv5cJ7wL06jGM-bQp28bVr77nIZT5jhz-0/s320/2011_12_19_1004.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the inner area of the museum. It used to be a courtyard but they filled it in to make more exhibition space. Its breathtaking. The Restaurant is at the top of this central round section. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>We figured that seeing as the Rosetta stone is the pride of the museum we would head there first. The stone is a pretty significant item. Its a massive slab of stone with the same passage carved into it in Hieroglyphics, Ancient Greek and something else (yep totally a history buff am I) which was the standard language of the general people. Finding this stone meant that researchers were able to, for the first time, really able to decipher the hieroglyphics they had found as ancient Greek was commonly understood. So a pretty huge find. It was found in Egypt, so technically belonged to the Egyptians, however, somehow the French had it, and when England conquered the French, they took possession of the stone. Now you might think that the English might hand this significant item back to the Egyptians, but nope, they are 'taking care of it' for the good of the world.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsJDaI6dXqD1donKCbOxv9eGYARlbjL3AGoyWwzaNPtcjnRIlb89xSXKVPaWgesmSMx5c1nr3592B8U4M1TFEIo12dCFq7Max6CjEGbRmBmgsR-vEbYGD5lVeKOCicpQ15pyqlypulG4/s1600/2011_12_19_0974.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsJDaI6dXqD1donKCbOxv9eGYARlbjL3AGoyWwzaNPtcjnRIlb89xSXKVPaWgesmSMx5c1nr3592B8U4M1TFEIo12dCFq7Max6CjEGbRmBmgsR-vEbYGD5lVeKOCicpQ15pyqlypulG4/s320/2011_12_19_0974.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosetta Stone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We spent a bit of time in the Egyptian section of the museum and boy are they taking care of a fair bit for the Egyptians. We saw statues, sarcophagus's, mummies (OK so these were freaking cool) and a range of pots, stones, blah blah blah stuff. But the mummies were pretty awesome. Seeing the mummies made me realise how small people used to be, we really must just be getting taller and taller each generation. I also really liked the x-ray pics that went with the mummies showing what was inside. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOBDKJUS_84NmKWt8kNydJx4RqCIci56l3T_Y3pzB9yKHG7BoA1QV_jqOnE15HI-P2F1uABhQJ_2V3fCrbg-dnK93JXBOjTMqUosmxnamPqdJC9KDfRBFbtUnhyphenhyphenZJMylwjUyrETL6Grk/s1600/2011_12_19_0978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOBDKJUS_84NmKWt8kNydJx4RqCIci56l3T_Y3pzB9yKHG7BoA1QV_jqOnE15HI-P2F1uABhQJ_2V3fCrbg-dnK93JXBOjTMqUosmxnamPqdJC9KDfRBFbtUnhyphenhyphenZJMylwjUyrETL6Grk/s320/2011_12_19_0978.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHUxqFsAnvsIyi95htrqCFSKEZRUSNSQ0JId0Zdouci0uBKqOGSCWsVj7ufyA-5Dixy805JJjF3mzt1NY9yZhx_Zo2qBjRfYtqQGPK4ICnytOF-OSNAZS9PsPYvxOtX-oGwCmubbCNMQ/s1600/2011_12_19_0979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHUxqFsAnvsIyi95htrqCFSKEZRUSNSQ0JId0Zdouci0uBKqOGSCWsVj7ufyA-5Dixy805JJjF3mzt1NY9yZhx_Zo2qBjRfYtqQGPK4ICnytOF-OSNAZS9PsPYvxOtX-oGwCmubbCNMQ/s320/2011_12_19_0979.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1vMCg-JfUaISm2CIkHjzDZm6iHtPbEhBejQEEBscWWAo4gn5ZyriPKqJNPwDJSx3ekd8M1DBi9wWehg4vYp5lJkJvRkCsrMfxfDlOZd8D5rGUDVtlpZ-pLljbxfq7qhWYoCqK_xX9vk/s1600/2011_12_19_0989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1vMCg-JfUaISm2CIkHjzDZm6iHtPbEhBejQEEBscWWAo4gn5ZyriPKqJNPwDJSx3ekd8M1DBi9wWehg4vYp5lJkJvRkCsrMfxfDlOZd8D5rGUDVtlpZ-pLljbxfq7qhWYoCqK_xX9vk/s320/2011_12_19_0989.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7r0KTF3l-t0BRgQNidKTTyrVya8TA3-h3osaNSvyZctY0OZ-pcX85nRBEcdzPTgAVPptbGIxSW1J4efFAemqEq3x2SbLc1_uucI50Cz4e1MaMzzYrr2p3oH7hYpcHKERZduONjWGBHkM/s1600/2011_12_19_0998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7r0KTF3l-t0BRgQNidKTTyrVya8TA3-h3osaNSvyZctY0OZ-pcX85nRBEcdzPTgAVPptbGIxSW1J4efFAemqEq3x2SbLc1_uucI50Cz4e1MaMzzYrr2p3oH7hYpcHKERZduONjWGBHkM/s320/2011_12_19_0998.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And a piece of Pyramid, ya know, just looking after it.</td></tr>
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One thing that I was pretty excited to see was a real 'bog' body. I studied bog body poetry in high school and have since been fascinated with the bodies that were so perfectly preserved in the peat bogs. So much so that I once wrote an entire Rock Eisteddfod around my fascination with these amazing memories of the earth (it was awesome too). I would love to someday go to Ireland and see more of these bodies.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBBtvPvdIGOQJ0V5uKwyzMKfGQ7DgAgoQ0eY8iB9vvxmeb33WJDlqg8t16r-0QUujd1BS3rycf6MC3AT-LnxJqmwON6h7KQsxG6KIecS49bl3UgyF5xXZoaW06Zr3PrBZMP56k2-_CCA/s1600/2011_12_19_1001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBBtvPvdIGOQJ0V5uKwyzMKfGQ7DgAgoQ0eY8iB9vvxmeb33WJDlqg8t16r-0QUujd1BS3rycf6MC3AT-LnxJqmwON6h7KQsxG6KIecS49bl3UgyF5xXZoaW06Zr3PrBZMP56k2-_CCA/s320/2011_12_19_1001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously amazing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The museum is so huge that there is no way you could see it all, even it you arrived at opening and were kicked out at closing. We finished up with the Parthenon area. Just one more item that the Brits are taking care of for the good of all. I kid you not, they have to have at least 50% of the carvings from the Parthenon there. Apparently the Greek government have asked several times for it back but the Brits are refusing the give it back claiming that its an important part of the museums collection in helping people to understand the time line of civilisation. <i>right</i>. They also like to emphasise that while they have it, it is able to be viewed by anyone for no charge. They also had a tonne of statues from the Parthenon, all but 1 without heads. Apparently the heads are being 'taken care of' by someone else who decided they needed taking care of first.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKxrCgp-e8rEOkv1OKeKK4w-71DuFOQYJkmojNkVUPkMavw1KgWzMyHct73YCDfFJoPTQoLHPZ_UBy8R_yEvBxvAMFawCzyCBooAfVHO8G10rqnowFXBMzkl9x8msj8RW7k8giDulPrA/s1600/2011_12_19_1014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKxrCgp-e8rEOkv1OKeKK4w-71DuFOQYJkmojNkVUPkMavw1KgWzMyHct73YCDfFJoPTQoLHPZ_UBy8R_yEvBxvAMFawCzyCBooAfVHO8G10rqnowFXBMzkl9x8msj8RW7k8giDulPrA/s320/2011_12_19_1014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See, walls of the carvings</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnClFyGAFqFTwk1HLZzj9mSqolMrWZhGZ-cUyB7PcT7o9AXWU2w8OJA9_qV7k118giYfK8AVZ9MVqixC-XglyYv7AA3-UCZ00X8m4xALok3q9Rj8SetaHT3PyTZ3y8Tr1lo-lWWqTmOg/s1600/2011_12_19_1015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnClFyGAFqFTwk1HLZzj9mSqolMrWZhGZ-cUyB7PcT7o9AXWU2w8OJA9_qV7k118giYfK8AVZ9MVqixC-XglyYv7AA3-UCZ00X8m4xALok3q9Rj8SetaHT3PyTZ3y8Tr1lo-lWWqTmOg/s320/2011_12_19_1015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 1 statue with a head</td></tr>
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By this point my interest in old stuff was wearing very thin. I was BORED! So we headed back to the station with the plan of getting a small snack along the way. We walked back through a small park, where I was naturally overjoyed to see a squirrel. Then ended up with some hot chocolates for the train ride home.<br />
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</a></div>Of course the kids were perfect for Grandma and Aunty Sarah and had a wonderful day. Although when we got home Xavier was missing. He had been borrowed by Uncle David to go and jump on their new bedding. HUH???? Yep my 4 year old was being encouraged to jump on a bed. Why, I hear you ask? Its Chinese tradition for the bride and groom to receive new bedding as a wedding gift, traditionally the brides mother/sisters/aunts would make it (I'm not sure who made this one) but before the wedding they have young children (usually nieces and nephews) come and jump on the bed for good luck and the hope that they will soon be blessed with children of their own. Teresa's nieces had participated in a good bed jumping, but to encourage some sons also, David came to borrow Xavier for him to have a jump on the new bedding too (he didn't want Stella and her girl germs). Fingers crossed it works for them and we hear the pitter patter of tiny feet soon. Also fingers crossed that Xavier doesn't think that jumping on new bedding is OK at home.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchZB93y60FwiM5djj40Sy1Ee8AqyBI4mHGhyphenhyphen2LYjk8Ap3jd_5zq1pb34UcCQeEqLQI3TfsJiTjLivbJwJjg-yatwy9PZc9ntx-3zUzG4KM-eBICqwt7iiWusZHZ-CKfPqPo0CVTnNzZA/s1600/bed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchZB93y60FwiM5djj40Sy1Ee8AqyBI4mHGhyphenhyphen2LYjk8Ap3jd_5zq1pb34UcCQeEqLQI3TfsJiTjLivbJwJjg-yatwy9PZc9ntx-3zUzG4KM-eBICqwt7iiWusZHZ-CKfPqPo0CVTnNzZA/s320/bed.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
We spent the night getting all ready for the big day tomorrow. The day we have travelled half way around the world for, the wedding day of David and Teresa. All the time hoping and praying that Xavier and Stella would perform their duties beautifully.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-74545407190086577842011-12-20T23:49:00.000+11:002011-12-20T23:49:27.470+11:00Saturday 17th DecemberAfter the appalling behaviour of yesterday, the plan for today was to divide and conquer. At home the kids spend time away from each other with things like kinder, grandma days, dancing class, but for the past 2 and bit weeks they have been living on top of each other 24/7. It would be enough to drive me bonkers (who am I kidding, it IS driving me bonkers). Not only are they not getting any time apart, they are also sharing a room, so they don't even get their own space at the end of the day.<br />
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Adam was keen to go to the Imperial War Museum, I was not. So that's where he and Xavier headed off to. The bride to be had seen the kids owl hats and requested one of her own, which was perfect, as I was getting rather restless with idle hands for so long (At the last minute I decided to not bring any wool or crochet hooks with me), so Stella and I headed off to a place called Hobby Craft. Think a combination of Riot Art and a small Spotlight, very small spotlight. To get there we had to get a bus to the station, then a train to Wimbledon, then a 'tram' (whatev's) to Croydon where the nearest Hobby Craft was. Well technically it wasn't the closest, but using public transport it was the easiest to get to, still took just over an hour though. Stella was an absolute dream child the entire trip. She sat in the pram, played with her iPad and made the odd amusing comment every now and then. <br />
<br />
I stocked up on wool and bought me a crochet hook and yarn needle, we also picked up some felt doll kits (must learn blanket stitch) and some new pencils for Xavier and Stella. The stop before we got off to Hobby Craft, was where we could have gotten off to go to Ikea. Clearly I have no reason to go to Ikea in a foreign country, but I had decided that if we couldn't find somewhere nearby for a tasty lunch I would use that as an excuse to stop at Ikea and indulge in some meatballs. Thankfully/Sadly there was a TKMaxx next door (they sell discount name brand stuff and have a cafe) so we grabbed some lunch there, used their loos and had a look around before making out way back towards home. <br />
<br />
Adam messaged several times during the day to tell me that Xavier was also being perfectly behaved and that they were done at the War Museum and were going to check out the Science Museum.<br />
<br />
There were plans for social drinks at the local pub with the nearly weds from 4:30pm, and Adam and I agreed that it was probably easiest for us to just meet up there. Stella and I arrived back in Kingston around 3pm, so I decided to stop at the supermarket to pick up a clothes order I had placed online (weird hey) and to grab some apples and bananas at the request of a small girl. We could either arrive at the pub really early or grab a coffee in Kingston. We chose the latter. We had hot chocolates with marshmallows, until it was time to get the train to the station near the pub.<br />
<br />
Stella, for some reason, had decided that she didn't like uncle David anymore, and spent the evening shooting him filthy looks, but she chatted happily to others there. Adam had lost track of time and got the pub at least an hour and a half after we did. On seeing each other, Xavier and Stella only had eyes for each other. There were cuddle and kisses, and racing around. Chatting, and giggles and Stella sharing her juice. It was exactly what they needed, time apart. We grabbed some dinner, before heading home for the night.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-34130538610151043662011-12-17T09:11:00.000+11:002011-12-17T09:11:27.127+11:00Friday 16th DecemberHad a bit of a crappy night with the kids. Xavier fell out of bed, Stella woke at least 3 times before she climbed in next to me and fell asleep with me pinned under her while she was somehow also dangling off the edge of the bed. Not long after (or maybe it was, who can tell in the dark) Adam kicked Xavier half way across the bedroom thinking it was the weight of the doona he could feel on his feet and not his own child. A double bed is barely big enough for 2, its definitely not big enough for 4. <br />
<br />
Adam got up with the kids about 8 and I went back to sleep. I just wasn't ready to face the world. We had to be out for lunch at 1pm so could afford a slow start to the day. I suggested that seeing as the kids would be dressed nicely for lunch that perhaps we could swing past Santa and see if we could convince the kids to get a pic with the big man. <br />
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The kids got dressed with little to no fuss, even Stella was rather compliant about what Adam had picked for her to wear for the day. They walked well to the bus, they sat well on the bus. Things were looking good. They were happy to go to see Santa, but refused point blank to sit with him for a photo. I will be trying again, I have a photo every year so far, and I will be disappointed if I miss one. I did manage to get one of Adam and Santa, so perhaps that will become the tree decoration for 2011. <br />
<br />
We got on another bus to get us to lunch. Luckily I decided to ask someone on the bus if they knew where we might need to get off, as we had been told the stop AFTER the bus station, when in fact it was the stop BEFORE the station. Phew. <br />
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What happened after that I'm not sure I even want to commit to writing. The kids were appalling. Xavier was overwhelmed with all the people there but was better once we allowed him to sit on the floor in the corner and play with the iPad, but Stella was in fine form. She screamed, she threw food, she threw herself around, she was embarrassing. She had to be taken outside at least twice by Adam and Grandma. I watched the colour drain from the brides face as she clearly could think of nothing other than what the hell would she do if they did THIS at the wedding. All the while, her nieces, who are of similar age, sat quietly and behaved perfectly, unintentionally making my 2 seem even worse. <br />
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Walking to the bus Adam said to me that he has never been that embarrassed by our children before. Sadly, I couldn't agree, I have been at least that embarrassed several times, and more embarrassed on a number of occasions. Stella got on the bus and raced to the top level (I stayed down the bottom as knees are still aching) then was deposited back to me by Adam when she began carrying on that she wanted me. She sat quietly on my knee with her head resting back, and I was almost able to recall the sweet sprite that I generally adore. Almost. I was still fuming about not only her behaviour today, but her behaviour since we arrived here. I know she is only 2, but the 2 year old in <i><b>me</b></i> wants to stamp my feet and shout out loud in her face to STOP RUINING MY HOLIDAY.<br />
<br />
Apart from the horrible carry on, we experienced our first real yum-cha today. The bride ordered for the table, in Chinese, so we had no clue what was coming. Being a fussy eater I was a little nervous, but it was fabulous. Yeah I probably ate the boring stuff, but it was tasty. Adam even tried a chicken foot, he didn't finish it, and confirmed that he will never try one again. <br />
<br />
At home the kids ate a banana and a tub of yoghurt for dinner then were put in bed. Which of course created a whole new world of drama. <br />
<br />
We are over half way through our trip, there is still so much that we want to see, particularly Adam who is loving all the history around him. But the thought of taking our kids out in public again makes me want to kill myself. So tomorrow, we are going to attempt to separate them. Adam is going to do some stuff in London with Xavier that I don't want to see, and Stella and I will find something to do somewhere. I have no idea what yet. There is a big Westfield nearby, maybe we will head there, in the warm and try to have some mumma girlie bonding time. <br />
<br />
Oh and apparently there was a very very small amount of snow this morning. We didn't see, but it was cold enough today to believe it. We will definitely be on the lookout for it tomorrow.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-42491772625851088322011-12-17T08:39:00.000+11:002011-12-17T08:39:29.114+11:00Thursday 15th DecemberOnce again my knees were aching and Adam was desperate to do the lonely planet walking tour of London, so I told him to go. We all got the bus into Kingston and the kids and I headed to the play center (again, no really, this time they gave me a loyalty card) while Adam jumped on the train into London. <br />
<br />
The kids played, I read. We snacked, we drank. The phone rang. Grandma & Grandad were lunching nearby and were hoping to be able to come and visit us that afternoon. Sure. No problem. Except the house looks like a bomb had gone off in it. The kids were getting ratty and were tired, so I messaged Adam to tell him we were heading home, I would do a quick tidy and that his parents were coming over. <br />
<br />
When we got home the kids flopped in the beanbags with their iPads and zoned out. I put things away as best I could while wanting to just curl up and nap myself. Grandma & Grandad came over, I made them tea, they entertained the kids for a bit. Adam got home not long before they were about to leave. They were going to the airport in the morning to meet my sister in law Sarah, and I did suggest that they might like to take a child for the night and to the airport in the morning. I had no doubt that Sarah would have loved to see one or both of the kids there to meet her, however, they must have been able to smell my desperation and declined. <br />
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I attempted to cook honey mustard chicken for dinner (out of a jar that in Australia is delicious) and it was disgusting. Couldn't even eat it, it was so bad. So instead Adam had cereal and I had garlic bread for dinner. Wonderful.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-62870048522596651332011-12-15T10:37:00.000+11:002011-12-15T10:37:01.480+11:00Wednesday 14th DecemberThe day started with plans of heading to London and trying to fit in both Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. We attempted to head out early so that we weren't coming home in the dark (which happens at 4pm), but still didn't manage to leave until almost 10am. It all comes down to negotiating with a small girl about what she might like to wear for the day (and not freeze to death in the process) and trying to convince a small boy that shoes are indeed necessary and that a jumper before going out isn't an unreasonable request.<br />
<br />
We got a bus into Kingston again. We can walk to a train station in under 10 minutes, however, my knees are really really painful (so much so that if I were at home there would be an appointment made with my hot physio and maybe even my Dr) so if I can avoid stairs and additional walking I'm going to take that option at the moment.<br />
<br />
The train trip was fairly uneventful. Its was a lucky day that others on the train seemed to find Stella's antics of swinging around every pole she sees on a train amusing rather than annoying (the difference between a peak hour train and not). Thankfully Westminster station is disabled friendly, which means that we can use lifts to get around rather than having to convince kids to get our of the pram and Adam carry it up and down a million stairs. It was windy in the city and bitterly cold because of it. While waiting to cross the road we happened to run into Grandma and Grandad unexpectedly.<br />
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Westminster Abbey is nothing short of stunning (no pics as you aren't allowed to take photos inside). There are some big names buried in that place as well as some big names who walked the aisle there on their wedding day. Westminster while huge and beautiful, doesn't seem to be trying as hard to show off as I felt St Paul's did. Despite the fact that its just accepted, I'm not sure I'm ever going to get used to walking over the resting places of people as you walk around inside these places, there's just something that doesn't sit right with me in doing this, but in order to get around you just cant help it.<br />
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The other thing that I find really interesting is that we have visited 4 churches now. Bath Abbey, Holy Trinity, St Paul's and Westminster. Bath and Holy Trinity are free or very close to to get into, you pay a few pounds to get into Bath Abbey and its free to go into Holy Trinity, but they do ask for a small entry fee to see Shakespeare's grave, however, both of these places not only allow for you to take photos, they actively encourage it. The remind you to take pics, they point out places to get the best pics and I have no doubt that if you asked they would very happily take a pic for you should you ask. On the other hand, St Paul's and Westminster are very expensive to get into (around 17 pound or $24 AU) granted you get an audio commentary, but you aren't allowed to take pics at all. I just find it interesting and a little odd.<br />
<br />
On our wander to the London Eye we walked past a Boots store. For those who don't know, Boots is kind of a have it all store. Its kind of a pharmacy with a really extensive perfume/make up section, as well as a small range of kids clothes and toys. They also have a food and a fabulous meal deal. For less than 4 pound you can get a sandwich or salad, drink and a snack. Bargain. Best bit is, its tasty too. So we grabbed lunch and kept walking. We were unsure if we were able to eat on the Eye so sat outside to eat, slowly freezing in the process. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXm01t1dvWVexVh6FKqsgSVZuxJul_-vtyBikn_t-Q9AqQ82ynq_5Qt5sCQCHtIsplFVgfDFsTMnO8T2xPMHRB3LsUCTiiGC7s-PwOsVT3XiMwGAjZ4o7-_Gt-ZQdYNs2YV04At0pMJJ0/s1600/2011_12_04_0371.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXm01t1dvWVexVh6FKqsgSVZuxJul_-vtyBikn_t-Q9AqQ82ynq_5Qt5sCQCHtIsplFVgfDFsTMnO8T2xPMHRB3LsUCTiiGC7s-PwOsVT3XiMwGAjZ4o7-_Gt-ZQdYNs2YV04At0pMJJ0/s320/2011_12_04_0371.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The London Eye from the Bridge</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgdcnv6xEumfnAjDY_SoqwJWuEvIlIB28UozvesC00SYmlRax7mQdhwK2DKcJ9SXvQLmHx-Cu8Mdlt9Id5ElRGySnPYYN124_GA0CpheH3pffwL22w12tXVxvY3Yzct85AetK_FTo7Ws/s1600/2011_12_15_0774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The London Eye was expensive, over 50 pounds ($75 AU) but totally worth it. The views are amazing and seeing Big Ben from this angle just confirmed that Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are my favourite buildings in London. Despite being wonderful, the London Eye isn't something you would do again its just too expensive. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from the top of the Eye</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgdcnv6xEumfnAjDY_SoqwJWuEvIlIB28UozvesC00SYmlRax7mQdhwK2DKcJ9SXvQLmHx-Cu8Mdlt9Id5ElRGySnPYYN124_GA0CpheH3pffwL22w12tXVxvY3Yzct85AetK_FTo7Ws/s1600/2011_12_15_0774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgdcnv6xEumfnAjDY_SoqwJWuEvIlIB28UozvesC00SYmlRax7mQdhwK2DKcJ9SXvQLmHx-Cu8Mdlt9Id5ElRGySnPYYN124_GA0CpheH3pffwL22w12tXVxvY3Yzct85AetK_FTo7Ws/s320/2011_12_15_0774.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From further down the Eye with the sun on her way down</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cePquMWy5rMUERLDzO7G2ELHxnpU0w4UfZ4mSgiqq-cdyOqHJyOB5EfBZxphSmuWDDqw8APyTZ34oag07CVOaPYF_4EjqPjsVyocrNrLJxonKL0uRuGdrC8HK54JbL9fjU6ujBnndi4/s1600/2011_12_15_0791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cePquMWy5rMUERLDzO7G2ELHxnpU0w4UfZ4mSgiqq-cdyOqHJyOB5EfBZxphSmuWDDqw8APyTZ34oag07CVOaPYF_4EjqPjsVyocrNrLJxonKL0uRuGdrC8HK54JbL9fjU6ujBnndi4/s320/2011_12_15_0791.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xavier with the 4 year old 'cheese' smile</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jj-3sk1sqNBrI2HIpHNNt43eeXRRzLPKTnyXYZQZPkJVKbXGi2cMzjC8BF4eFXvd2zbZ-Cn_g-hVdo2tSaGeDXJaUZO4bM5fZuUM3ioeC7jEx4sqwGuT1m6clfHWqnfYAlSuCHlX1Zw/s1600/2011_12_15_0793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jj-3sk1sqNBrI2HIpHNNt43eeXRRzLPKTnyXYZQZPkJVKbXGi2cMzjC8BF4eFXvd2zbZ-Cn_g-hVdo2tSaGeDXJaUZO4bM5fZuUM3ioeC7jEx4sqwGuT1m6clfHWqnfYAlSuCHlX1Zw/s320/2011_12_15_0793.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella, not surprisingly, was not in the mood for photos</td></tr>
</tbody></table> From the top of the Eye, Stella spotted a carousel at the Christmas markets that were along the bank of the river. My children have a new found obsession with carousels. We agreed that they could have a ride once we got down to the bottom, which made their 3rd carousel ride in the last week alone. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPga4_r0Vx2lKQUZ53j1vzmvXcxvrLd7KMjTRHbaeBdEBRjHrxPjjUtsM3QtgkgbC2elpkFMzLMMm-Pr30kggWbrASc_8znnTi7cm3Ki5ors_pq3HjF-rZEcrGnLmEpFND-S4Ns-eQOb4/s1600/2011_12_15_0820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPga4_r0Vx2lKQUZ53j1vzmvXcxvrLd7KMjTRHbaeBdEBRjHrxPjjUtsM3QtgkgbC2elpkFMzLMMm-Pr30kggWbrASc_8znnTi7cm3Ki5ors_pq3HjF-rZEcrGnLmEpFND-S4Ns-eQOb4/s320/2011_12_15_0820.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silly faces at mummy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'm sure I have mentioned it before but I love all the little Christmas markets that are around. I love the smells, the atmosphere, the hats that seems so original until you see them at the next market in the next town. lol.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJA8l-pLhmcJomFfzc604t601q4R2NEAZ4tBqc4i8YZAKKTTUuPRtRsnRPrl29eRMx1_52RlasTPiRWGxg5yu7DWsVe4S4-UA3plJDn4FNFD9SfPCHASevkNkVthpKUCOW8Ik2SLnad5E/s1600/2011_12_15_0822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJA8l-pLhmcJomFfzc604t601q4R2NEAZ4tBqc4i8YZAKKTTUuPRtRsnRPrl29eRMx1_52RlasTPiRWGxg5yu7DWsVe4S4-UA3plJDn4FNFD9SfPCHASevkNkVthpKUCOW8Ik2SLnad5E/s320/2011_12_15_0822.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view down the market area towards Big Ben</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Leftover spag bol and more garlic bread for dinner. Firming up wedding preparation plans. Yum Cha planned for Friday lunch, drinks at the local pub on Saturday evening and the plans for the big day on Monday fleshed out. Its getting close and exciting now.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-28329433487689550552011-12-15T09:48:00.000+11:002011-12-15T09:48:30.952+11:00Tuesday 13th DecemberToday was a cruisy one. The kids were tired, we were tired and there was Christmas shopping that needed to be finished. Plus I needed some time alone so had devised a rather clever plan to get some time out.<br />
<br />
Adam slept a bit later than the rest of us. I only let him get away with this as he was up at 2:30am writing his best man speech that he had apparently been dreaming of giving so had to get up and write down what he was saying. I had also had a good 8 hours sleep and the kids were up and downstairs and needed some form of supervision. <br />
<br />
Adam emerged from the bedroom about 10am with his usual greeting of "what are we going to do today?" my response "I was thinking that you could take the kids to that playcenter and let the run while I went and finished our Christmas shopping" his reply "sounds good".<br />
<br />
We bused it into Kingston and I walked Adam and the kids to the playcenter then headed out for a wander around the town to finish shopping as well as try to find something to wear to the tea ceremony we are attending the morning of the wedding. Teresa is Chinese, which means there is a lot of ceremony attached to a wedding. They have said that we don't need to attend these things, but are very welcome, and I'm more than a little interested to see how it all works. The bad news is that its a semi formal event, no probs, I bought a spare nice dress with me, but we cant wear black to the ceremony. Oh dear, I only wear black. So I had the additional task of trying to find something to wear that would be appropriate. I found nothing in the shops but ended up finding something that I hope will be OK online later in the day. Now to keep my fingers crossed that it fits. (for those who care its a red knit dress)<br />
<br />
I was very restrained with the other shopping I did. I grabbed Xavier a small gift for his stocking to even up the numbers as well as picking him up a T-Rex tee and a purple hoodie from Next. I decided to just give him the clothes right away, as he is 4, opening clothes on Christmas morning is crap. I grabbed some Peppa Pig Christmas wrapping paper and a Peppa Pig birthday card that I hope makes it home for Stella's birthday. <br />
<br />
I wandered down a new area of shops that we hadn't wandered before, but didn't find anything of amazing interest, before walking back to the playcenter to collect my family. We jumped on the bus home, stopped at the supermarket to restock on food and headed home.<br />
<br />
Despite being so tired they could hardly talk, the kids insisted on farting about for almost 2 hours at bedtime. Finally falling asleep in separate rooms with a parent in bed with each of them. Tonight I had the pleasure of Mr Xavier, who I might add hasn't asked for me as his bedtime pal for I cant recall how long. He chatted, trying his best to draw me into discussions to avoid sleeping, but I stayed strong. When the Xavier death rolls began, I knew it wasn't long until he finally surrendered to sleep for the night. The Xavier death roll is a name Adam and I devised for what Xavier does in the minutes before he goes to sleep. He literally rolls over and over in the one spot (bit like a crocodile rolls trying to kill its catch) until he stops and you know he is out. Its something he has always done for as long as we can recall, but seeing as he hasn't asked for me for such a long time, its something I had forgotten that he does. (Im sure its somehow linked the the massive twitch Adam does just before he goes to sleep too). Funny the things you notice about people you sleep with, hey?<br />
<br />
Once the small people were finally sleeping, Adam and I cooked our first real meal since we have been here. We have been eating a bit of take away as well as far too many of the 2 pound pizza from the supermarket (have I mentnioned just how awesome these pizzas are, they rock). We did a spag bol (the supermarket here sells beef/pork mince mixed already, which is the secret to a great spag bol) and chucked a garlic bread in the oven.<br />
<br />
After dinner I began researching where we might stay for NYE, which is also our last night here. We have to vacate our lovely little cottage on the 27th December which is when we head to Paris, but we have 1 night back in London before we fly home. We will get our 300 pound deposit for the cottage back in cash when we leave, and agreed that we would splash out and use that money to stay somewhere nice on our last night. Naturally there isn't a lot available on NYE with it being so close, also its hard to find something that can accommodate the children also. We found somewhere, and are just waiting to hear from the nearly weds (who will by that point be newly weds) and my SIL as to what the plans are for NYE other than spending it together. My hope is that we pay quite a bit more for the 1 bedroom suite at a hotel, have dinner at the hotel or nearby, then spend the evening in our suite chatting, watching the TV countdown and having a few quiet drinks. That way when the kids pass out, we can easily move them to the bedroom and close the door to let them sleep and only have to move them from the king bed to the sofa bed once everyone has gone, rather than having to move them from someone's house out into the cold to get them to the hotel.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-30881509266713804432011-12-13T10:20:00.000+11:002011-12-13T10:20:34.181+11:00Monday 12th DecemberAdam decided today that a trip to the Natural History Museum was in order. We had heard the dinosaurs there were pretty impressive and seeing as both Xavier and Stella love dinosaurs it seemed like a good option. The best bit is that all the galleries and museums here are free entry, so if Stella threw one of her epic tantrums it was no great loss to leave and try again another day should we have time. <br />
<br />
A toilet stop before we left found our neighbourhood squirrel back eating coconut, so at the request of JenJen I called Adam to bring the camera, which he did and I snapped the following pics of our cute little friend.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-Oz5Ro_9xeau6Ki_DZJizmjqnvgP95Yeskwunjvfwn8kuCsXt25bESstrv0LPSoV5qbcRFl2hIGErDy5Ds8N3LlGIEEeJDwnT-EhmC2a1YoumfiRwKx0FVjxSFApaQ2BrwPIA2nkukc/s1600/2011_12_12_0705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-Oz5Ro_9xeau6Ki_DZJizmjqnvgP95Yeskwunjvfwn8kuCsXt25bESstrv0LPSoV5qbcRFl2hIGErDy5Ds8N3LlGIEEeJDwnT-EhmC2a1YoumfiRwKx0FVjxSFApaQ2BrwPIA2nkukc/s320/2011_12_12_0705.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij03aN4hq7kt9i4C4aBsWUAWPfouvFmhf6rPsbNUtik6WzY-RQz0TfAc4m863fGRDXS2mKcfRLpBQDsgfIueiwi8dk8WIqXLwXiwOrXIQeQxYmdO92oVJvCvlKR-E5CNszZhON0Ovb1YY/s1600/2011_12_12_0711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij03aN4hq7kt9i4C4aBsWUAWPfouvFmhf6rPsbNUtik6WzY-RQz0TfAc4m863fGRDXS2mKcfRLpBQDsgfIueiwi8dk8WIqXLwXiwOrXIQeQxYmdO92oVJvCvlKR-E5CNszZhON0Ovb1YY/s320/2011_12_12_0711.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See he has cleaned out one half of the coconut shell, today he was onto the other half. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
At the museum we handed Xave our point and shoot camera and he had a ball skipping around checking out all the dinosaurs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2JmTD52ea0Jr7HYF7eZ7Bw2csezjAKuwRpGYAdxVaGw2OFBbwCnNjL2gd-4H_74IPZoS49y6X0pxhQ2bMbxkirjNR1Khb3lFlZYUmXSl12BuxRKNITPCBYwYSUCmyleNMVe1h_Xbp9U/s1600/2011_12_12_0741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2JmTD52ea0Jr7HYF7eZ7Bw2csezjAKuwRpGYAdxVaGw2OFBbwCnNjL2gd-4H_74IPZoS49y6X0pxhQ2bMbxkirjNR1Khb3lFlZYUmXSl12BuxRKNITPCBYwYSUCmyleNMVe1h_Xbp9U/s320/2011_12_12_0741.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice shot up the Dinosaurs bum</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCtBIqlrjTH7z9DKV-GeUJdhEzeqjpRoCfXwQY-38Xl3PDmZ1wt0A26Dak0GEdZsq-EZCH-cBMgHTJKsTIZapDZ7ByXGG2YBopxZ3sK8ONlrZ77hXoKepSNXsVbc298sJ-EqJxjbTQls/s1600/2011_12_12_0743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCtBIqlrjTH7z9DKV-GeUJdhEzeqjpRoCfXwQY-38Xl3PDmZ1wt0A26Dak0GEdZsq-EZCH-cBMgHTJKsTIZapDZ7ByXGG2YBopxZ3sK8ONlrZ77hXoKepSNXsVbc298sJ-EqJxjbTQls/s320/2011_12_12_0743.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">His beloved Triceratops</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCp_XWW2n__DYEvFkSmDqd45o3ACiA_DDbeUc6JxLKQ8SGo_amCsqpR6BMUSsb6TuUVgFgh4f88ysNBfXBma7LS21lmbhxy3JbiSNugaVBP9xuzYsnk43v8-36oo529qS-hsgh1EwNG4/s1600/2011_12_12_0757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCp_XWW2n__DYEvFkSmDqd45o3ACiA_DDbeUc6JxLKQ8SGo_amCsqpR6BMUSsb6TuUVgFgh4f88ysNBfXBma7LS21lmbhxy3JbiSNugaVBP9xuzYsnk43v8-36oo529qS-hsgh1EwNG4/s320/2011_12_12_0757.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr T-Rex</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Stella had her predicted meltdowns. Although I'm sure the lack of sleep last night played a big part in her temperament today.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW3oTjZQgzD-ytfqMec2fyfgM7CBX6ChsVq9-4i44rQuB_E_KwN_lImPa-RJPjnbjEcwJYd8oUWiEoY_-jpuOBMas-XzEDR3P4PhH-a65hzyM_HTZBW-oFt9El6DLtHMoR4YkL6s8m-ow/s1600/2011_12_12_0764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW3oTjZQgzD-ytfqMec2fyfgM7CBX6ChsVq9-4i44rQuB_E_KwN_lImPa-RJPjnbjEcwJYd8oUWiEoY_-jpuOBMas-XzEDR3P4PhH-a65hzyM_HTZBW-oFt9El6DLtHMoR4YkL6s8m-ow/s320/2011_12_12_0764.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the middle of the Restaurant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My step dad had given the kids $50 each before we left that we were instructed was to be spent on something the kids wanted that we wouldn't usually buy them. It had to be their choice and we had to be able to show him exactly what they had bought with their money. We thought that there was no doubt both kids could easily spend their money at the gift shop in the museum, so headed off there after lunch. We explained to Xavier that Pa had given him some money to buy something special for himself and that he had about 30 pounds to spend on anything he wanted. He looked, he picked things up, and put them down. He said several time, hey mum look this is cool, then he made his selection. Out of an entire store, with clothes, stuffed toys, books, cups, hats, etc guess what my son decided that he wanted? A 2 pound bouncy ball with a stegosaurus inside it. I kid you not. A bloody 2 pound ball. Granted its not something I probably would have let him have, no doubt it will be lost before we even get back to Australia and the next small boy to stay in our house will have a ball playing with it when he finds it, but Pa was very firm that it was ANYTHING they wanted. So we bought the ball. I also talked him into a small stuffed triceratops toy too that was 3 pound. <br />
<br />
Despite all the screaming she did today, and needing to lay with her to get her to sleep, just to physically hold her still long enough to stop and sleep, I'd have more. The screaming I can do without, but jeepers, its been so long since I have lay next to here when she sleeps that I had forgotten just how beautiful she is when she stops. I'm also really missing breastfeeding at the moment too. I'm sure that if she was still on the boobies, so much of the crazies we are experiencing now could be avoided.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-50160687400022606362011-12-13T08:41:00.000+11:002011-12-13T08:41:34.391+11:00Sunday 11th DecemberKnowing the my in-laws were going to be coming over at some point today, I figured that I had better tidy up a little. Adam tends to go insane cleaning when his mum is coming over, I'm a bit more relaxed, but the place really did look like a bomb had hit. Which in all honesty is bound to happen in such a small space with 2 small kids and all the associated crap that goes with them.<br />
<br />
I sorted recycling. Here the recycling is collected weekly, but the general rubbish is only collected fortnightly. There is also an option of having a food scrap bin as well as a cardboard bag. Interesting. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of problems would be presented if you had a baby in disposable nappies. The rubbish bins that are collected fortnightly aren't as big as our in Australia, so would fill with nappies pretty quickly, however, without a dryer, using cloth nappies to save on rubbish would be near impossible. But I digress.<br />
<br />
I also put the lego that Teresa's mum had very kindly lent to us into a big bowl so the kids could play with it easier than in the plastic bag it was in. I also folded all the kids clothes, AGAIN, they seem to have developed a nightly game of laying all their clothes flat on the floor of their room in order to have a picnic there. *sigh*<br />
<br />
It was lucky that I did the mad dash around, as just as I was walking back into the sitting room to relax I saw them walking up the path. They had tried to text but for some reason it wouldn't work.<br />
<br />
The kids were so excited to see Grandma and Grandad. They kissed and cuddles. Grandad and Xavier coloured in and played lego. Stella was, for the first time since we arrived here, rather pleasant.<br />
<br />
By the time Grandma and Grandad left it was too late to go anywhere so we hang around at home and waited for Daddy to get back from Ireland. Daddy was home slightly later than expected, however, he did bring several surprises with him. A leprechaun (that daddy has named Finnigan and Seamus) each for the kids and Uncle David and Aunty Teresa. I do believe that a new rule is going to be implemented in this house. If Aunty Teresa is coming to visit so close to bedtime and is going to razz up the children, she will be asked to take them with her and get them to sleep at a reasonable hour. It was after 10 before they had calmed down enough to actually sleep.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-25118525589747607932011-12-11T07:00:00.000+11:002011-12-11T07:00:25.275+11:00Saturday 10th DecemberI survived the night with Adam away and the biggest dilemma of the day was whether or not to take the pram with me to the playcenter today.<br />
<br />
I decided that the thought of getting the pram on and off the bus was worse than the thought of either of the kids bolting, which I should add, neither are prone to doing. Its just these unfamiliar surrounds that are making me be a bit more of a nervy, helicopter parent that I would like to be. I did take the Mai Tai as security, knowing that I could easily throw Stella in there if she was being a pest (which ya know, she is prone to doing on this holiday).<br />
<br />
We walked easily to the bus stop and the kids waited patiently, however, I assumed that standing at the bus stop was indication enough that you actually wanted to get on the bus. Umm seems not. A bus drove right past us, doh! (clearly I don't do public transport often) luckily another came within about 2 minutes. Phew!<br />
<br />
The bus trip into Kingston is short, maybe 4 stops. We jumped off and started walking in what I thought was the right direction. It wasn't. but in typical me style, I found a friendly looking old lady sitting on a bench having a ciggie and asked here if she was able to help me out (of course had I been a man I would have wandered around for hours never being able to bring myself to ask for help). She pointed me in the right direction (the complete opposite of the way we were going) and off we went. We arrived at the playcenter around 11:30am and settled in for what ended up being 5 hours there.<br />
<br />
We ate. We drank. We played. Well the kids played, I read. It was wonderful. Although English milkshakes are weird. It was room temperature and thick, strange. I thought it was just me, until Stella had some of hers and immediately said, "mummy I didn't want a warm milk, I wanted a cold milkshake."<br />
<br />
At one point she emerged from the play area crying, upon asking what happened I was told "mumma that little boy hit me in the balls" Bahahahaha what the??? some further questioning established that a little boy had hit her in the ball pit area and not in the balls.<br />
<br />
I also noticed that the playcenter was opposite a big bus station, so after we were done we wandered over in the hope that we could catch a bus from there. Indeed we could and just as we worked that out, one pulled in. Bonus.Another easy trip home on the bus then a short walk.<br />
<br />
The kids were so tired that they didn't even have the energy to fight before bed. They both walked in the door and flopped on the beanbags with their iPads, ate dinner and then headed off to bed. Although as I sit here now, they have been in bed for over an hour and they are still farting about. <br />
<br />
My in laws arrived today from Australia, and the kids are very much looking forward to seeing Grandma and Grandad tomorrow. They are also looking forward to daddy coming home.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-76462358989737684982011-12-10T04:12:00.000+11:002011-12-10T04:12:27.718+11:00Friday 9th DecemberAlmost had complete panic stations this morning, got up only to find the Internet wasn't working!!!! Thankfully some trusty turning off and back on along with some cable jiggling seemed to fix whatever the problem was.<br />
<br />
Adam decided that we should only do a quick trip out today as he had to get organised to head off to Dublin for Dave's stag weekend. So we jumped on a train into London with the plan of checking out St Paul's Cathedral. The crap bit is, its not just 1 train, we had to change twice and navigate our way through the underground with a pram and 2 kids who really didn't want to walk. Unfortunately when Adam had to carry the pram up and down umpteen staircases, they really needed to just harden up and walk. We seriously need to investigate the buses better, there has to be an easier way than all this train swapping.<br />
<br />
Anywho, St Paul's is HUGE! Like really, look at moi, huge. The artwork on the ceiling is amazing though. Adam and Stella chose to walk the 500+ stairs to get to the top while Xavier and I sat down in the main area of they church and listened to the audio commentary and waved to Adam and Stella once they got to the top. Apparently Stella walked the first 100 or so steps by herself, then got daddy to carry her the rest of the way. Xave and I did get caught in the middle of the midday Eucharist which was weird.<br />
<br />
I attended catholic school until year 8, so am familiar with the receiving of holy communion. For many years now when I have been at church for weddings, funerals, etc I have chosen not to receive communion as I no longer consider myself catholic and feel that to receive communion just to appease family around me would be the wrong thing to do. Today was no different. I sat and listened respectfully (while silently being able to recite word for word what the priest was saying, 9 years of weekly church really does imprint on ones brain), I tried my best to keep Xavier's questioning to a minimum, but despite no longer associating myself with religion, I was still troubled by the number of tourists who were still wandering around during what I know to be a really sacred part of a mass. Although, I guess it wasn't an entire mass either, they do holy communion a few times a day, so perhaps the whole communion things is really just for the tourists too. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately there are no photos of St Paul's as you are unable to take pictures inside. But it is an impressive building. Almost too impressive. I kept thinking of how much it must cost to build and maintain such a huge cathedral and then start to wonder, who exactly it is that the church is trying to impress. Its a fine line between building a space to honor your God and just throwing money around because you can. But wasn't that always an issue with religions?<br />
<br />
There were more train changes to get back home and a quick supermarket dash to ensure we have enough food over the weekend as Adam is taking the cash card with him. Bought some cordial (or squash as its called here) as despite the water being safe to drink it tastes friggen awful. I plan to spend another evening reading and watching bad TV. I may also have a soak in the bath and my knees are so sore and I don't know why.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-73890435506522265782011-12-10T03:45:00.000+11:002011-12-10T03:45:41.646+11:00Thursday 8th DecemberTo celebrate being here an entire week, we stayed at home and did absolutely nothing.<br />
<br />
The thought of taking the kids out too far was too much to comprehend and I had blogs to catch up on, both reading and writing. I did suggest after lunch that perhaps we could take the kids the local pool for a swim (indoor of course) but Adam wasn't really keen on that idea. So we stayed home, ate toast and vegged out.<br />
<br />
I did spend an extended period of time sitting on the toilet. Mainly because there was the most adorable squirrel sitting on a bird feeding on the neighbours yard eating coconut from the shells that had been hung there. Seriously, I'm starting to believe I have a squirrel issue. They may actually be cuter than meerkats. Or I could just have 2 favourties, yeah?<br />
<br />
Adam got himself organised to head to see Bryan Adams with his brother and I got a very complex dinner of baked beans for the kids with the plan or ordering myself some Indian from the place at the end of our street.<br />
<br />
The kids were tired and annoying. They were eating slow, poking each other and just generally carrying on. I was on the final countdown to get them into bed and wishing we had taken them swimming to wear them out a bit more. <br />
<br />
Finally they slept and I ordered my dinner. Butter chicken is not what I am used to. It was yellow and well, buttery. There was no spice to it at all and not even a hint of tomato. It was nice enough, but not something I will order here again.<br />
<br />
Adam called from the concert during our first dance song, its the first Bryan Adams concert he has been to without me since we got together, so it was sweet that he thought of me. <br />
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I spent the evening laying on the couch, reading, watching TV and drinking Rekorderlig ciders.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-75417189950637570642011-12-09T00:10:00.000+11:002011-12-09T00:10:29.567+11:00Wednesday 7th DecemberWe awoke to another hearty English breakfast at the hostel before heading into Stratford to visit both the birthplace and resting place of one William Shakespeare. Being an English teacher, this was a big deal for me, I ached for my kids to be just that little bit older to understand why these visits were so significant, but alas, they are just babes themselves.<br />
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We headed to the Holy Trinity church first, Shakespeare's resting place, mainly because the kids were up early and it opened first. The church is stunning, the path to the small door, has graveyards either side, and the border of the path is actually made up from fallen headstones. Adam, always the surveyor, noted that that columns in the church were on a lean, while I was taken with the beauty of the pipe organ high above the seated area.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRzouo8aBU2OEWlWDGcWsA49MOvTUUc3p-fcCpr5yZr5M6ym4a_HTPHunvFfKmfTsP9tAAnc3s5TI_dxG7r3DSgl2gFpvEMEL1TZld7SRWEJQWlRdEOjBrxT4OUIfdSlbcpCo8W_TEQs/s1600/2011_12_07_0516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRzouo8aBU2OEWlWDGcWsA49MOvTUUc3p-fcCpr5yZr5M6ym4a_HTPHunvFfKmfTsP9tAAnc3s5TI_dxG7r3DSgl2gFpvEMEL1TZld7SRWEJQWlRdEOjBrxT4OUIfdSlbcpCo8W_TEQs/s320/2011_12_07_0516.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out that pipe organ</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmmy4U27OPrNWovE_00DWNhyphenhyphen8ZABWh0tshRwg5uwrjbEKjzE5Q3Ts9k9641GS3LXdcWOVQ_oz1eSQIhP0lgLF9hLp09KOBdFIBC74-3EUGV7wT_aBZKyICKL2NwRrZ_BEg9yLoA5eOXcg/s1600/2011_12_07_0502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmmy4U27OPrNWovE_00DWNhyphenhyphen8ZABWh0tshRwg5uwrjbEKjzE5Q3Ts9k9641GS3LXdcWOVQ_oz1eSQIhP0lgLF9hLp09KOBdFIBC74-3EUGV7wT_aBZKyICKL2NwRrZ_BEg9yLoA5eOXcg/s320/2011_12_07_0502.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> I'm not sure what I expected of the grave site, but its a stone carving in the floor right at the back of the church. Shakespeare's wife, daughter and son in law and another member of his family are all buried there. We too photos, we marveled at the beauty of the church, and I silently thanked the bard for plays, the sonnets and most of all the controversy of his life that I so enjoy using to lure teenage minds into the world of Shakespeare.<br />
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I purchased some books, postcards and a small bust of the bard to add to my teaching resource kit. Then we headed off to see where he was born and lived.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81q8IO6AYp5744qInzsk52t5BpG5RQ8BIFreKOKvzGrMjNa6wbJQiNc6ZXMXZ8bnUU1LFlnNRbxv5VL2r01hxgqS1u5GeghH_ed1bYNZ0hDaP-u81K9svLD3LxahF9vfsXFPGiGhkzV8/s1600/2011_12_07_0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81q8IO6AYp5744qInzsk52t5BpG5RQ8BIFreKOKvzGrMjNa6wbJQiNc6ZXMXZ8bnUU1LFlnNRbxv5VL2r01hxgqS1u5GeghH_ed1bYNZ0hDaP-u81K9svLD3LxahF9vfsXFPGiGhkzV8/s320/2011_12_07_0513.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xavier passing time just reading the bible. </td></tr>
</tbody></table> The house has been heavily restored, but is beautiful to look at from the street. By this point the kids were going a bit insane, so we quickly made our way through the house and got them in the car to begin the trek home.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTthj4CzHBwRdF-HYBnvFOqjCDm7Eg3KDJChss7KFdzgNvxIJCIcAPffGus50uZi9u2qmraYGJnkelWUveYAJxpHqcQrUFzjd1vk2_xPQjEUU8_lPmhrqP-XLUjZBklXgfnynaRLimzc/s1600/2011_12_07_0554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTthj4CzHBwRdF-HYBnvFOqjCDm7Eg3KDJChss7KFdzgNvxIJCIcAPffGus50uZi9u2qmraYGJnkelWUveYAJxpHqcQrUFzjd1vk2_xPQjEUU8_lPmhrqP-XLUjZBklXgfnynaRLimzc/s320/2011_12_07_0554.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The front of the house</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfIdzzurNS2ysa7Lbp0Bki_MmuFaOh1jDdaMaaw-GqSqkxVe2GYmstwz1Gy4fqHngdrKJugTqK-kAxgYSghl5Y-Dssw-Jq57ryPIzVOC8KZ11UeKqubY-FdWsRLAD5KzHt1uQGkzl7ZE/s1600/2011_12_07_0553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfIdzzurNS2ysa7Lbp0Bki_MmuFaOh1jDdaMaaw-GqSqkxVe2GYmstwz1Gy4fqHngdrKJugTqK-kAxgYSghl5Y-Dssw-Jq57ryPIzVOC8KZ11UeKqubY-FdWsRLAD5KzHt1uQGkzl7ZE/s320/2011_12_07_0553.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back of the house</td></tr>
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We did manage a pit stop to the giant teddy bear in Stratford I had heard so much about to have photos too.<br />
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</a></div>Adam was desperate to see a castle, and we both agreed that while Warrick Castle would be nice enough (although insanely expensive) we both agreed that a ruined castle would be so much more interesting than one that is is full working order. So we set the GPS for Kennilworth Castle a mere 20minute drive from Stratford. When we arrived we discovered that the Castle is closed during the week during the winter despite the guidebooks all telling us it was open 7 days a week. We decided that we would head to Warrick Castle instead and just have a look, not paying the 20pound each to get in to see it, except when we got there, it was 6 pound just to get into the carpark, blow that!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMOoxrm2QF35gtpqIXiLB-tXPWN0XMGb1P3v8S2GTXooxuaEhDlMfnQvn58lxk37ALaVpwhAyWtDGIVw6adW_ySqAAgysj_2JNz5Yc3GSi7_Ke_-_Fxjz_aPwW9cEXf_yaFSriFjQetU/s1600/2011_12_07_0588.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMOoxrm2QF35gtpqIXiLB-tXPWN0XMGb1P3v8S2GTXooxuaEhDlMfnQvn58lxk37ALaVpwhAyWtDGIVw6adW_ySqAAgysj_2JNz5Yc3GSi7_Ke_-_Fxjz_aPwW9cEXf_yaFSriFjQetU/s320/2011_12_07_0588.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenilworth Castle from the carpark</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We turned to the trusty GPS to find us something else to go and visit on our way back to London, and noticed that Cadbury world came up. Chocolate, hell yeah, lets go there! So we did. Yes it was expensive to get in, and even the free samples didn't really make up for the entry fee, although the free samples did have me and the kids saying that we had had enough chocolate for one day. But seriously, that place is amazing, and not even the chocolate making stuff.<br />
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Cadbury world is set in a town called Bourneville, which was built with the sole purpose of housing the employees of the Cadbury factory. Seriously, as the company grew they needed to move to bigger and bigger premises, so they bought a huge plot of land adjoining the Bourne brook and built the factory. They then built an entire community for the employees to live in, they built homes, schools, a swimming pool, sports fields, they implemented a 5.5 day working week, overtime wages, retirement plans and all kids of other stuff. I was blown away by the whole idea of it all. Amazing. <br />
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After our chocolate overload we set the GPS for our home in Kingston. After Stella's frequent tantrums all over the lovely Cotswolds, there was no way I was doing 3 hours on trains to get home again. I begged Adam to drop us at home and take the car back and train home himself, because just quietly I thought he was doing fabulously driving in the towns. He agreed, that was until we got close to London and he say signs for eco something and was convinced it was congestion charges which we had no clue how they worked, so he decided that seeing as Stella had slept a little in the car, we would brave taking the car straight back to the drop off and training it home. *sigh* I was not a happy camper. I suggested that perhaps we could splurge and get a taxi home, I really didn't have it in me to do 3 hours on the train with her.<br />
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From the time that Adam decided to return the car to the time we actually returned the car was almost 1.5 hours. With trying to find a petrol station, the GPS giving us no warning of turns, and just general traffic. I think had Adam been able to pick up the car and throw it, he would have. He was far from calm, he was pissed. The kids were whining, I was shitty about the thought of the coming hours, it was all just not going well.<br />
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Upon returning the car, the lovely man advised us (after I moaned about hours on the train) that there was a bus from terminal 3 that would have us in the center of Kingston in 25 minutes. WTF? why had we done 3 train changes and almost 3 hours to get to the airport when we could have done it so much easier on a bus? Because people had made out that the trains here were so easy and awesome, and the buses were really confusing and hard work, that's why. Bullocks to that I say. So we bused it to the town center, ate maccas for dinner, then got another bus that literally stops at the end of our street. Hooray, we were finally back home.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-38419904181887587402011-12-08T23:08:00.000+11:002011-12-08T23:08:08.414+11:00Tuesday 6th DecemberWe woke after a solid 12 hours sleep, oh yeah, got dressed and headed down to the dining room for breakfast, which was HUGE! Full hot English breakfast for 5 pound.<br />
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Adam wanted to climb to the top of the church in the center of Bath, which didn't appeal to me so much, so we agreed to separate, he would climb a million stairs and I would wander the streets and try to find something to take for lunch on our next leg.<br />
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I would have been happy to take a child each, but both kids were adamant that they wanted to go with daddy and climb the stairs. So off the 3 of them went together and I had an amazing hour completely alone on a town where I knew no one. It was wonderful.<br />
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Apparently when they got to the church there was a funeral happening so they couldn't climb, so instead they went for a walk down to check out the river for a while then came back after the funeral to look around inside the church.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimt_aTJWwsre_kN_TgXBdnNOHJZoQKddp5rStskQrdGpLcgKm4lBCubUF-8YUH_O2LjGHdLh787Y79L1Fgh5mnLp9E_eOS5qFWbT6n0b5sd-l8wrL7VSk-DyhUaYUSGfVvBalqB-ISWlg/s1600/2011_12_06_0450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimt_aTJWwsre_kN_TgXBdnNOHJZoQKddp5rStskQrdGpLcgKm4lBCubUF-8YUH_O2LjGHdLh787Y79L1Fgh5mnLp9E_eOS5qFWbT6n0b5sd-l8wrL7VSk-DyhUaYUSGfVvBalqB-ISWlg/s320/2011_12_06_0450.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bath is beautiful, however, I wouldn't want to live there, its just a bit too beige. </td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_3o8PTxEBYSnOuZb2dw01LroaGihgMkSMinZ-042z4lbOvb3pI-FebYbClFKkG-460zgsufPYYOcDe2nNfOL2KdmHJ9cz1nB6Ca5kKBMYtqMu35CdkyYrhYnswmdiaTkeFXjSOSRmrk/s1600/2011_12_06_0456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_3o8PTxEBYSnOuZb2dw01LroaGihgMkSMinZ-042z4lbOvb3pI-FebYbClFKkG-460zgsufPYYOcDe2nNfOL2KdmHJ9cz1nB6Ca5kKBMYtqMu35CdkyYrhYnswmdiaTkeFXjSOSRmrk/s320/2011_12_06_0456.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYLHV0yP90fIGTqX1yyLJckDknKX9OGrUd7Q4VlpdL-L9q1IkXfVbhGGuwLE77YCvr7GHZaIMyqqYv_q1yUEr3h4cX8m08Ix_1XNg5r-EttQw8t8Fl53dkHXIlYVybTjWDwQgHlldO2I/s1600/2011_12_06_0471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYLHV0yP90fIGTqX1yyLJckDknKX9OGrUd7Q4VlpdL-L9q1IkXfVbhGGuwLE77YCvr7GHZaIMyqqYv_q1yUEr3h4cX8m08Ix_1XNg5r-EttQw8t8Fl53dkHXIlYVybTjWDwQgHlldO2I/s320/2011_12_06_0471.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGTzNJSSBQm7RqgpxJ6Ie1T5mDNpPYvSVT3y14VVPf3ZjWWYgSiiDJwz5uh8AejLOzSRnxc56r3V5rp05yVKaOV2aZjF9iPfk5GAJzCEa2WtQrOWEv3SS8kzoOwzt5rwz4vTvRCWNYP8/s1600/2011_12_06_0475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGTzNJSSBQm7RqgpxJ6Ie1T5mDNpPYvSVT3y14VVPf3ZjWWYgSiiDJwz5uh8AejLOzSRnxc56r3V5rp05yVKaOV2aZjF9iPfk5GAJzCEa2WtQrOWEv3SS8kzoOwzt5rwz4vTvRCWNYP8/s320/2011_12_06_0475.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
I on the other hand, discovered a quilting store where I was very restrained and only bought some union jack ribbon for any future scrapbooking I may do of our trip. Although I was very tempted by the panels of hungry caterpillar fabric available. I also found a wool shop, where I again was restrained and only bought 1 ball of a magenta pink wool to make a hat for Stella from.<br />
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I then wandered to the market area and bought myself a hot chocolate, I asked for it to have marsh mellows, not realising that also meant it would be piled high with cream, marsh mellows and chocolate sauce. nomnomnom. I'd spent too long in the fabric and wool shops so didn't get a chance to grab lunch, but we had seen a deal the night before with a sandwich, snack and drink for less than 3pound 29p.<br />
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We met back at the front of the church at the agreed time, went to grab supplies for lunch, both kids had total meltdowns, then got in the car ready to head to our next destination. Adam had picked up a brochure outlining the tour route of The Cotswolds and we decided to follow that on our way to Stratford. Luckily we realised before we left town that Adam had put my handbag in the cupboard in our room back at hostel to keep it safe, because we had forgotten to actually get it our from there.<br />
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We really would have been completely lost without the GPS, there is nothing like being able to put 'town center' into the GPS and just sit back and follow instructions. We saw some beautiful little villages, stopped to use the toilet and visit a toy shop in one, checked out a local graveyard trying to find the oldest headstone, we ooohed and aahhhhed about how beautiful everything was and plotted how we could manage to actually live in such a village for 6 months at some point before we die. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-K0KpxmsvlIvteaEZYfYuND5x3WWVdmrwzPNkc2VouYT2C5zjoQa1jigUeF77Sb1I4N8-163u-edb8V2miE7ZG8iV6FLujDqqKm-PbbS7sCD0sPYclk-0y2CPkwJ3EOVsuecu7y16Kg/s1600/2011_12_06_0478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-K0KpxmsvlIvteaEZYfYuND5x3WWVdmrwzPNkc2VouYT2C5zjoQa1jigUeF77Sb1I4N8-163u-edb8V2miE7ZG8iV6FLujDqqKm-PbbS7sCD0sPYclk-0y2CPkwJ3EOVsuecu7y16Kg/s320/2011_12_06_0478.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who wouldn't want to live here?</td></tr>
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I will never get used to the fact that by 3pm its starting to get dark and by 4:30pm its pretty much nighttime, we arrived in Stratford around 4pm and headed once again to the youth hostel. It was raining in Stratford, so decided to stay in for the night, being fed a huge feast for dinner, sat up and read for a bit before calling it a night.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5097767200368180330.post-60959955804044293332011-12-08T22:11:00.000+11:002011-12-08T22:11:07.266+11:00Monday 5th DecemberSo our adventure to the English country side began bright and early this morning (around 8:30am). Adam meticulously packed (after all you want to take as little as possible when you have to carry it all on trains to go and collect your hire car) and we loaded the pram full of our bags and children and set off. I had suggested to Adam that perhaps he could go and collect the car then come and collect us and the kids, as let's be honest, Stella, is being less than pleasant so far this trip but he was nervous about driving through inner London suburbs, which I guess is understandable. Because we had elected to save about 30 pound and get a manual, he had to do all the driving as I have zero clue when it comes to a manual, had we got an auto however, I totes would have had a crack at driving through the city.<br />
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So a walk to the local train station was the start to our day, where we learned from our mistakes of previous train travel that there are special carriages for those with 'buggies' and boarded a very crowded morning train with our pram and 2 small children asking an insane amount of questions. Xavier wanted to know where everyone on the train was going, and in all honestly I would have thought that at least 1 person would talk to a small child and let him know they were going to work, visit a friend, whatevs, but no, many looked and smiled, but not one person spoke to him. We swapped trains at Wimbeldon buying the kids some chips from the vending machine in the hope that they may stay a bit quiet for the trip to our next train swap. We then got off at Earl's Court to swap to the train to Heathrow where we were collecting our car (the lonely planet guide suggested getting hire cars from here to avoid driving through the city).<br />
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At Earl's court the lift was not working, so we had to get the kids out of the pram and Adam had to carry it down the stairs to the lower platform where we needed to be. The woman working at the station was busy telling off another traveller who had left 2 suitcases at the bottom of the steps to go back to the top to collect the rest of his bags and his wife, all the while with a small baby strapped to his chest. After she has finished abusing him, she then turned on us for carrying the pram down the stairs, I pointed out that seeing the lift was broken we didn't have another option and she told me to watch my mouth and that we shouldn't have even got off at that station, there was another station we could get the airport train to. Yep because we totally psychically knew that the lift was broken at the station that is advertised as one that is disabled compatible. All in all she was nothing short of a bitch and she is lucky I didn't tell her so. <br />
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The train to Heathrow was long and boring, Stella was completely over it all by this point and was carrying on like nothing else, Xavier was feeding off her energy and I was silently cursing Adam for being too scared to drive through the city and inflicting trains with our horrid children on me. Once at the airport we found our way to the rental car courtesy bus and finally we were able to get to the car at 11:10am (yep, almost 3 hours after we left our house). We somehow got upgraded to a Ford Focus station wagon, which Adam told me at least a dozen times over the coming days that he loved, the kids car seats were organised (car seat rules are pretty relaxed here compared to in Australia, I was not really comfortable that Xavier who sits in a 5 point booster at home, just had a booster cushion and adult seat belt here), the GPS was set to Stonehenge and off we went.<br />
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Stella was asleep before we even got out of the airport, and all I have to say on that matter is Thank God!<br />
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We had heard that Stonehenge literally just pops up at you as you are driving down the road, and its true, it does. All of a sudden you come over a hill and BAM, there it is. Despite the fact that you can just stand at the fence on the side of the road and look at it, we opted to not be total tight arses and paid to go in and look at it closer. It was so very very very cold there, I think its quite possibly the coldest I have even been. We had to wake Stella when we got there, so she was in fine form once again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKN4gFfXaRL-iDVPLTru03Mr3tXJZsx7Hcp_qPlMb9JhW13-kz2hpo_ALfT-nxRg808iuU_Eg6g5pIfgWD7h584COu76GP4vnpEjQfo86wW_SP4g-sy8LqDc5HqfbjKsx49bQqlmjCOw/s1600/2011_12_06_0416.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKN4gFfXaRL-iDVPLTru03Mr3tXJZsx7Hcp_qPlMb9JhW13-kz2hpo_ALfT-nxRg808iuU_Eg6g5pIfgWD7h584COu76GP4vnpEjQfo86wW_SP4g-sy8LqDc5HqfbjKsx49bQqlmjCOw/s320/2011_12_06_0416.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stonehenge in all its glory. <br />
I have wanted to be at this very place since I did an assignment in grade 6 on Stonehenge. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Knowing the history of Stonehenge I really did expect to feel some kind of spiritual experience while I was there. But it's hard to feel anything when you have a 2 year old screaming at you, you cant feel your face from the cold, there are people everywhere and 2 busy roads run either side of this historical monument. The stones are not as big as you would imagine, don't get me wrong, they are big, but not mammoth like I had built up in my mind. Apparently there has been much campaigning for them to build a bypass under Stonehenge to reduce the traffic that goes past, perhaps that would make it feel more like the kind of sacred place its supposed to be.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kTSiJubauJEMGCwKkdl0nAIGRfbcGHt1V7jK43T11oGKIGfuRSn2X2kR4eBOB-Z3JIy-Kmvu-NZKBdjqbEUl-RrQ3ls3pa5IcJtfrJtA52RcWtkBaAS4lSGIWhgZNoh4OF4g0HMVcpE/s1600/2011_12_06_0434.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kTSiJubauJEMGCwKkdl0nAIGRfbcGHt1V7jK43T11oGKIGfuRSn2X2kR4eBOB-Z3JIy-Kmvu-NZKBdjqbEUl-RrQ3ls3pa5IcJtfrJtA52RcWtkBaAS4lSGIWhgZNoh4OF4g0HMVcpE/s320/2011_12_06_0434.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, it's cold alright. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Considering it afterwards I would totally love to be hanging there with my village, drums holding a beat and beautiful people twirling fire all over. The best bit is its dark by 4:30pm here, so we could twirl for hours and hours. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6fheTi8LM-nWqxkXGXGV7Udl5S0TlA-GS157Skx3AOFFpnWZ3Z0_uYCUqJi8XQPbqgigVKHDGhqkwKbWWRcMNibdf7Gyt4p_vCQua4a6MTWO2ZBvHLXUiPQ4qjT3B6vI7rpoQt_-4CM/s1600/2011_12_06_0414.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6fheTi8LM-nWqxkXGXGV7Udl5S0TlA-GS157Skx3AOFFpnWZ3Z0_uYCUqJi8XQPbqgigVKHDGhqkwKbWWRcMNibdf7Gyt4p_vCQua4a6MTWO2ZBvHLXUiPQ4qjT3B6vI7rpoQt_-4CM/s320/2011_12_06_0414.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You's almost think she was happy here. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>We piled back into the car, cranked the heater and set the GPS to take us to the town of Bath where we had accommodation booked for the night. We drove through some of the most beautiful little villages, the English country side is just amazing. So green and vast and old. You would spend time driving through areas of green paddocks, then suddenly around a bend there would be a dozen of so stone houses then back to open space again. Its just gorgeous. Sadly the roads are so narrow, its really hard to stop to take photos safely of just how beautiful the area is.<br />
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We got to Bath, checked in to the local youth hostel (yep they cater for families too) then headed into town to have a look around and try to find something for dinner. Because its December all the small towns have Christmas markets going on, so we wandered the stone streets, bought warm chocolates for the kids, let them ride the carousel, marvelled at the Christmas lights decorating the streets, and found something new every corner we turned. We also popped into the Disney store and I sneakily purchased something for Stella for Christmas, seeing as she is very into Tinkerbell at the moment. I also convinced the kids to come into the Clarks store with me as they both needed new shoes and managed to pick up 2 pairs each for a total of 90 pound (about $150 Australian, bargain).<br />
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We headed back to the hostel with plans to explore the town more before we headed off in the morning, and I do believe that I crashed before the kids.Kinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200333475953271988noreply@blogger.com2