tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31969226828184370032024-02-06T18:00:23.216-08:00The Sweet Married LifeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger191125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-10700137596008550292021-02-17T07:09:00.000-08:002021-02-17T07:09:37.221-08:00A Long Weekend in Brussels, Belgium <p>As I mentioned earlier, the English school system is what Americans would call "year round" - they have a very short summer break, and then other long breaks sprinkled throughout the year. Each of the three terms has a week-long break halfway through, imaginatively called the "half term". Our first one, back in the fall, we'd spent in Amsterdam and had a lovely time. So, for the next one, we decided to go to Belgium for a long weekend. We expected it to be similarly lovely, and because it's so close to London, it would be an easy trip. </p><p>At this point, it was February of 2020. Not only does that make it a cold and dark time for travel, but of course the pandemic was on its way. We had no way to know this would be our last trip before everything locked down. We all had been sick earlier in the week, and weren't feeling great when it was time to travel. So- in short - this trip was not as nice as the weekend in Amsterdam. It had some good moments, but not our best. </p><p><b>Day 1: Travel</b></p><p>One of the coolest things about this trip was that we took the train to get there! It was so much nicer than fussing with the airports - we just tubed into the city, hopped on the train, and arrived in no time. I made Mission Impossible jokes the whole time as we traveled through the tunnel under the channel. When we arrived, we did a quick walk into the old part of the city to see a very nice lights display, and then decided to pick up easy dinner from the grocery store instead of braving the restaurants. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDu6N8ZGQz0uvbZireZRUMVOciwClj287398MpzMevAgd16gh4VOGt0jNccM4928L3CjBQVlALpfGHeTARb7ymbCDDOaX43vpBVpK0XGUZ8Wuo_k9mAJD_xFYGuZotBnbzy-3EHasZ19M/s2048/IMG_4318.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDu6N8ZGQz0uvbZireZRUMVOciwClj287398MpzMevAgd16gh4VOGt0jNccM4928L3CjBQVlALpfGHeTARb7ymbCDDOaX43vpBVpK0XGUZ8Wuo_k9mAJD_xFYGuZotBnbzy-3EHasZ19M/w400-h300/IMG_4318.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">on the train- heading for the chunnel</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAUvnh5ESXxx2ES7tFuLkYJJCVkY4Ji2woivEUj_zp829ShICDzWzAdTzQ8t8wadai34VPicB3AhZu9I4Hxmxk7B9ateZdWwIaib4KZkxHXYHbDszzUDD6X6rc6DGTtLyiMh-V2MiF4s/s2048/IMG_4323.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAUvnh5ESXxx2ES7tFuLkYJJCVkY4Ji2woivEUj_zp829ShICDzWzAdTzQ8t8wadai34VPicB3AhZu9I4Hxmxk7B9ateZdWwIaib4KZkxHXYHbDszzUDD6X6rc6DGTtLyiMh-V2MiF4s/w400-h300/IMG_4323.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">lights display downtown</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Day 2: Waffles and Wandering</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So the next morning, we set out to see the town. Brussels is known for its waffles, so that was our first stop. We went to the Galleries St-Hubert- a very cool indoor shopping area that has excellent waffle spots- beautiful, crispy waffles smothered in chocolate. Then, as if that wasn't enough sugar for everyone, we stopped by Neuhaus for some amazing Belgian chocolate truffles. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-zAS3o-t5LUNl-VOQmO_ynnb77QCxGW7UJsVBQkcRwV17yexnTEqHtmHYMF3Me2LfoMF3ntBzDHgAeD3shLFOMuK3Ri_5Pxzui3NW9vR7ZVF_LI1uTlCzfzh1kPAnmSvBnTMi28jFgA/s2048/IMG_E4324.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-zAS3o-t5LUNl-VOQmO_ynnb77QCxGW7UJsVBQkcRwV17yexnTEqHtmHYMF3Me2LfoMF3ntBzDHgAeD3shLFOMuK3Ri_5Pxzui3NW9vR7ZVF_LI1uTlCzfzh1kPAnmSvBnTMi28jFgA/w300-h400/IMG_E4324.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">beautiful waffles</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ACrMHhhSTVecEaNixgH22HW4JKdGOnHizJDLTnrrK1jhVXujJNxBui_JvkHUwLvI8GeuZQw4abG64_gPfQaXUP0eX9VydAQFqxeWlC7HbsWeBcA0nocBnvbFzYVdzhs5cyK2EBRgHOE/s2048/IMG_E4332.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ACrMHhhSTVecEaNixgH22HW4JKdGOnHizJDLTnrrK1jhVXujJNxBui_JvkHUwLvI8GeuZQw4abG64_gPfQaXUP0eX9VydAQFqxeWlC7HbsWeBcA0nocBnvbFzYVdzhs5cyK2EBRgHOE/w300-h400/IMG_E4332.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">chocolate-covered children</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xB1YkTHf5wN9ONs6IyWzvhSsefx8hPPgy2TWKcmAlX0p6pBI94bXRNLEcES-s-krAilO_IykvK-KehTC8iWue-mR8OcTYVsez2IswP11KSjgLisnU8sCayoLVlAYqUW1mNSDxqpCOjE/s2048/IMG_E8592.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xB1YkTHf5wN9ONs6IyWzvhSsefx8hPPgy2TWKcmAlX0p6pBI94bXRNLEcES-s-krAilO_IykvK-KehTC8iWue-mR8OcTYVsez2IswP11KSjgLisnU8sCayoLVlAYqUW1mNSDxqpCOjE/w281-h400/IMG_E8592.JPG" width="281" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">babies like sugar too!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OEjwAeDPAFCD_cZbi2g0QSLxRwlRuha8z8whTflu_eXrCOfT1BkO97AEKSXTHT0dNmrX1sWreTl-gjE-JCnRLk3XezWgS1X8jaHBA3xyLfKiGlg-yOE2z8R9hMnL0porOC_n8Ie-rdQ/s2048/IMG_E4336.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OEjwAeDPAFCD_cZbi2g0QSLxRwlRuha8z8whTflu_eXrCOfT1BkO97AEKSXTHT0dNmrX1sWreTl-gjE-JCnRLk3XezWgS1X8jaHBA3xyLfKiGlg-yOE2z8R9hMnL0porOC_n8Ie-rdQ/w300-h400/IMG_E4336.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">more chocolate!</div></div><div><br /></div>Now that we were all hyped up, it was time to walk around the city. We headed back to the Grand Place, the old city square, which is beautiful. We swung by the Mannekin Pis, a small water fountain of a little boy peeing. It is a huge attraction for some reason. Then up to the Royal Quarter where the Palais Royale and Palais de Justice are located - both beautiful, ornate buildings to see. I believe we stopped in the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts to use the bathrooms, so that kind of counts. <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFsky48Vt_8dvNfQnis4cD6ffjZVfdMimwndQGKq11Ag11JHCsGPSlyYcQunp703R9NtmnY0olZwDAUWbJuhHAdOM4617Fb9oX8PiBqH-epFbigHBYYIausZXN8Ot7AK52Srom684DiY/s2048/IMG_E4343.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFsky48Vt_8dvNfQnis4cD6ffjZVfdMimwndQGKq11Ag11JHCsGPSlyYcQunp703R9NtmnY0olZwDAUWbJuhHAdOM4617Fb9oX8PiBqH-epFbigHBYYIausZXN8Ot7AK52Srom684DiY/w400-h300/IMG_E4343.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Grand Place</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9HOF5vxt3YITfehWnjKMEHZEWdcGrF0HxQecQxDzFIR_igj65_5O0OeDX6l6QGxO3leIGzseuI0Wdo7AJ4f4o3PG-JfM_IIxJEFwBlUOrEhLbJW2Ojql9NFJAxYI1q6VGP0pCIv5OLU/s2048/IMG_E4342.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9HOF5vxt3YITfehWnjKMEHZEWdcGrF0HxQecQxDzFIR_igj65_5O0OeDX6l6QGxO3leIGzseuI0Wdo7AJ4f4o3PG-JfM_IIxJEFwBlUOrEhLbJW2Ojql9NFJAxYI1q6VGP0pCIv5OLU/w300-h400/IMG_E4342.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">not smiling in the Grand Place</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxkm2rOsqxD6wS9unzNVmGJQhA0uDtxkm7OvVsdmGJ91zpckGFqLS6rkpERoep9IqsQT2V0ybKofLr3Ke0xTD7xrcbrcmYpQmz0xyLGNvm-FBbXCg7Ef0qcWoq5ypTCwF24y6l-3hNDc/s2048/IMG_8599.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxkm2rOsqxD6wS9unzNVmGJQhA0uDtxkm7OvVsdmGJ91zpckGFqLS6rkpERoep9IqsQT2V0ybKofLr3Ke0xTD7xrcbrcmYpQmz0xyLGNvm-FBbXCg7Ef0qcWoq5ypTCwF24y6l-3hNDc/w300-h400/IMG_8599.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">cranky babies in the Grand Place</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3YFc09BUWeejOz7JDG1aJWzkXvnmA_-QDVXuXNIQbBqGxCJHb0bglhzIVxnWFu7yTTvqC3xjCQwVncmoUsJPXUUSvJ7N_7r2V-oTTJA4urEPMJI_dvAwJT25MH2gPd3luWAnkuQM3HQ/s1977/IMG_E4344.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1977" data-original-width="1391" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3YFc09BUWeejOz7JDG1aJWzkXvnmA_-QDVXuXNIQbBqGxCJHb0bglhzIVxnWFu7yTTvqC3xjCQwVncmoUsJPXUUSvJ7N_7r2V-oTTJA4urEPMJI_dvAwJT25MH2gPd3luWAnkuQM3HQ/w281-h400/IMG_E4344.JPG" width="281" /></a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">infamous pissing boy</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcmREbpddQOWnlm7J7n4Iq-B44y5_2piYG54dx-FjE7pfQMLpQWJ-oMfOo2AR9v0NUHUbIWNbK4gnkQHLhBm4l4HiUk6jhU3Y6GO3ZTY_7rmMxESURdbFKHjLgILiURnFfxaP1NV1lA8/s2048/IMG_E8603.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcmREbpddQOWnlm7J7n4Iq-B44y5_2piYG54dx-FjE7pfQMLpQWJ-oMfOo2AR9v0NUHUbIWNbK4gnkQHLhBm4l4HiUk6jhU3Y6GO3ZTY_7rmMxESURdbFKHjLgILiURnFfxaP1NV1lA8/w300-h400/IMG_E8603.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I am shocked. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTmkC1ZUS8PoVLZ6z0Gj4c7UDPJV3_WNsyG7xjH8dwbg2XWSDUE0JCkaN_w2b5UlC3KR9wLbHwOwdO6vHeuca6QyULWNy54aeJwa21ZJ4Ut0hIdg-wNqBjHazpp_Ad7bSGysXosF2ZoAU/s2048/IMG_8605.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTmkC1ZUS8PoVLZ6z0Gj4c7UDPJV3_WNsyG7xjH8dwbg2XWSDUE0JCkaN_w2b5UlC3KR9wLbHwOwdO6vHeuca6QyULWNy54aeJwa21ZJ4Ut0hIdg-wNqBjHazpp_Ad7bSGysXosF2ZoAU/w300-h400/IMG_8605.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Palace Royal</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RotQ6IL_z9mWtPKlPz8rxaB11HrBKIJNJKe_K3WtTHd4kQJNUXNJE4OqKmypFrk2E5eDTH6ZBvPOaEM-awKQ2q0AuDAKJ9qj6rfsf7xwN_m7VJgDLYshxtusj6dYdYyD32vCT9b5Ghw/s2048/IMG_E4349.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RotQ6IL_z9mWtPKlPz8rxaB11HrBKIJNJKe_K3WtTHd4kQJNUXNJE4OqKmypFrk2E5eDTH6ZBvPOaEM-awKQ2q0AuDAKJ9qj6rfsf7xwN_m7VJgDLYshxtusj6dYdYyD32vCT9b5Ghw/w300-h400/IMG_E4349.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Palace de Justice</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">At this point everyone was cold and tired and getting hungry for lunch. We skipped the palace grounds, which are supposed to be really nice, and instead headed to the MIM for lunch. The MIM, or Musee des Instruments de Music (Music Museum) is supposed to be pretty awesome. We had a great experience in Vienna's music museum, and thought it would also be a great option for kids and a way to warm up. Plus, we had read that the rooftop cafe had great food and amazing views of the city below. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a huge flop. The elevator wasn't working, so we had to carry everything up like 10 flights of stairs to the top. Then, we got there and it was so crowded, we waited in line for over an hour (while holding a napping baby) to get in. The food turned out to be nothing spectacular and we didn't get a table with a view. We ended up skipping the actual museum and just headed back to the room. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZjluDwnjOv0W-yNu320xmXLd4tXm6p1L0D0UMNjAmExzrxfukD3O-TP3e61ug36oe3awlE1ocZ1VIlxyc7cd-oMYuQk-JJePcRDTdvSiUPO2JWyOHXyCVMsL7C1SmjYPMOZYkbIUiuo/s2048/IMG_8608.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZjluDwnjOv0W-yNu320xmXLd4tXm6p1L0D0UMNjAmExzrxfukD3O-TP3e61ug36oe3awlE1ocZ1VIlxyc7cd-oMYuQk-JJePcRDTdvSiUPO2JWyOHXyCVMsL7C1SmjYPMOZYkbIUiuo/w300-h400/IMG_8608.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">disappointed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;">By the end, we were all just tired and cranky, so we went back to our room to rest up. It was raining and cold, so I just swung by the local shop to pick up some premade food before putting everyone in bed. It was a disappointment for sure- I had been really looking forward to the mussels and thought the fries would be an easy win for the boys - but it wasn't in the cards. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Day 3: One last waffle and time to go! </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The next morning, we went out in search of the other kind of belgian waffle (because there are 2!), and were able to get a few right off of the Grand Place, to eat with a view one last time. Then it was time to pack up and head back to the train station and back home. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbWPfoLK71ymItTe7t9Wj-3a5ZBlF-uk6yTh8ExxIGiM7DACXSNQuw4r5WHzggbxwfZ67BDBoFHh8ttAKptxjmQP2M5Ox4nnFVoTS851PWf-55OhgGEmnyU0Kg75OSAHx3YYRUgusTUo/s2048/IMG_4354.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbWPfoLK71ymItTe7t9Wj-3a5ZBlF-uk6yTh8ExxIGiM7DACXSNQuw4r5WHzggbxwfZ67BDBoFHh8ttAKptxjmQP2M5Ox4nnFVoTS851PWf-55OhgGEmnyU0Kg75OSAHx3YYRUgusTUo/w300-h400/IMG_4354.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwTysJ1K2URFbG-l8UNQAASXLTYpoXyB216nOw1CFfEliMckQPHIiyBO25l972eLLrM6rKPu2XoV3Yij9CrcDqnoK2CFIBRb6cPrbw5aYDnWBolzc46kFzDogOy9jZ7Hc2m0PqL7I4wk/s2048/IMG_4356.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwTysJ1K2URFbG-l8UNQAASXLTYpoXyB216nOw1CFfEliMckQPHIiyBO25l972eLLrM6rKPu2XoV3Yij9CrcDqnoK2CFIBRb6cPrbw5aYDnWBolzc46kFzDogOy9jZ7Hc2m0PqL7I4wk/w400-h300/IMG_4356.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBGdaPAHvx6xkTRmFDeIn-zU1RD3KLKqcWkzwBt6EBxU3_RRs6UmaKUMTvKzscoX-wl0hyphenhyphenvjzheJRYhZOO-3BBpsm1pQNDPKMgJzPnLweUwn3KX7RkOoTVc1bT7xtk3-zP_2sek6qaXM/s2048/IMG_4361.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBGdaPAHvx6xkTRmFDeIn-zU1RD3KLKqcWkzwBt6EBxU3_RRs6UmaKUMTvKzscoX-wl0hyphenhyphenvjzheJRYhZOO-3BBpsm1pQNDPKMgJzPnLweUwn3KX7RkOoTVc1bT7xtk3-zP_2sek6qaXM/w300-h400/IMG_4361.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGeJSVxNFG5hVBDnvq8UQgYfxmOjtU8fSCS4y6_nDGptVd7sdct56hyphenhyphen7oUmLw0r0R87NCTFasIOd6NJ6IJkLFXoVGVu-BiSl_ML4wqiQfijAdwGcp0rjYynQ2l9iAZ_fOG_kmgBBoT8g/s2048/IMG_8611.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGeJSVxNFG5hVBDnvq8UQgYfxmOjtU8fSCS4y6_nDGptVd7sdct56hyphenhyphen7oUmLw0r0R87NCTFasIOd6NJ6IJkLFXoVGVu-BiSl_ML4wqiQfijAdwGcp0rjYynQ2l9iAZ_fOG_kmgBBoT8g/w300-h400/IMG_8611.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5k-wd6-n43K79W0NwcLyq92a6DnN8OrBrayfx6RFzQg4lAvxfvn3dXdrAAvhvgON0c587N7Ulce3B6oXUzmEXWSj8wfw95P4udfl_AkM-yuhXMO23ojGcFuUaPhLpniJbfmqc8GK9_I/s2048/IMG_4371.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5k-wd6-n43K79W0NwcLyq92a6DnN8OrBrayfx6RFzQg4lAvxfvn3dXdrAAvhvgON0c587N7Ulce3B6oXUzmEXWSj8wfw95P4udfl_AkM-yuhXMO23ojGcFuUaPhLpniJbfmqc8GK9_I/w400-h300/IMG_4371.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1ojTOUV3PK-fCjsa_3B6go190kvYMdmj_t4B3ij4lrMLwrxy0Z2x_2nmmpnfdsUmw-qlJXAKr4Wk9RGfLeBwly-Xka7f7M3Ny-wKGwAqD__aW9PX0I8J8RX6Wh30MurVrG3uiZnPUaY/s2048/IMG_4372.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1ojTOUV3PK-fCjsa_3B6go190kvYMdmj_t4B3ij4lrMLwrxy0Z2x_2nmmpnfdsUmw-qlJXAKr4Wk9RGfLeBwly-Xka7f7M3Ny-wKGwAqD__aW9PX0I8J8RX6Wh30MurVrG3uiZnPUaY/w300-h400/IMG_4372.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This definitely wasn’t our best trip because of a few unfortunate factors. First, the weather was just bad. It was cold and rainy, and we couldn’t escape it. There were a number of nice outdoor gardens that would’ve been great with kids, but for the weather. And if it had just been us, we could’ve escaped into the museums or restaurants, but really couldn’t with the kids. Second, everyone was sick, so it made everything more difficult, less fun. I feel like we didn’t give Brussels a fair chance, and if I had a chance to go back, I would. </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">One thing I find perplexing is why our trip to Amsterdam was so different. Both trips were with two small kids, in cold, rainy weather. Both were just city-trips, nothing super ambitious, with easy travel. Both are similar countries with similar food and culture. Yet somehow the Amsterdam trip was charming and Brussels just wasn’t.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">A few lessons learned - definitely don’t travel with kids to cities in crummy winter weather. I think we had already learned the similar lesson for trying to travel around cities in the heat of the summer. We were successful at a few baby travel things - we made sure the Airbnb had a crib so we didn’t have to bring ours - and knew we didn’t need a car for any of it, so we didn’t need the car seats. All we had was the collapsible stroller. We put everything else in one huge roller suitcase - which turned out to be a disaster when we needed to get it up several flights of narrow stairs to our room - 2 medium bags would be better than 1 huge one. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Anyway - overall - still nice to get away from home. Especially in hindsight - knowing that we were about to enter months of lockdown. More on that shortly. </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-55114062554578958402020-11-24T06:29:00.000-08:002020-11-24T06:29:11.723-08:00A Week in Malta with Family<p>After a nice, quiet Christmas at home by ourselves- we were very happy to head to the airport for one last trip to meet up with my brother and his family. All of the schools were closed, so we were all off for the holidays anyway and wanted to get out of town. We had traveled to see them earlier in the summer, but made the mistake of making it too quick of a trip, so this one needed to be long enough to really catch up. Vienna gets cold and snowy for the winter, so they wanted to go anywhere warm - and Malta just happened to have direct flights for both of us. It's a tiny island south of Sicily- quite close to Tunisia. I don't know that it was the top of anyone's must-see list - but it checked all the boxes, so we booked our flights, found an Airbnb that was big enough for all of us, and set off on our last and 5th trip for the year. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRziGPfYGYMrYKynV4UjssdjHr4B0Cby9owMIXmEqSUFWUX9aVZxLv_6L_i3DFfkGvY778hpqWhsQZAZUADnjsxvtc4bofPQYDneJ4zkJsugbO4zm3xleLokWPiJw15PtYqChsZkEU9U/s785/Screen+Shot+2020-10-16+at+1.48.49+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="785" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRziGPfYGYMrYKynV4UjssdjHr4B0Cby9owMIXmEqSUFWUX9aVZxLv_6L_i3DFfkGvY778hpqWhsQZAZUADnjsxvtc4bofPQYDneJ4zkJsugbO4zm3xleLokWPiJw15PtYqChsZkEU9U/w640-h480/Screen+Shot+2020-10-16+at+1.48.49+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tiny Malta- about as far south as you can get in Europe</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdf4ubDSLxmacW_JEbBIPR8nlRycqxwIFVEzveGlcHcXBMxx36PdQNVPEgV4BtnPnvAtgdtviLS-fJA139IW-ch9BzY67VVRBTQ6ETgLGf3XOyhLEh76Yhs6SXhLhR9pazJ8O-j7LPKk/s774/Screen+Shot+2020-10-16+at+2.09.01+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="774" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdf4ubDSLxmacW_JEbBIPR8nlRycqxwIFVEzveGlcHcXBMxx36PdQNVPEgV4BtnPnvAtgdtviLS-fJA139IW-ch9BzY67VVRBTQ6ETgLGf3XOyhLEh76Yhs6SXhLhR9pazJ8O-j7LPKk/w640-h530/Screen+Shot+2020-10-16+at+2.09.01+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">closeup of the sites of Malta</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm usually very excited about the planning of a trip - but I totally phoned it in on this one. I didn't even buy the Lonely Planet travel book, which is usually my first step. So we hardly knew anything about Malta before we arrived. It turns out to be a very interesting little island- it's changed hands a bunch of times; it has both Italian and North African influences. In fact, it was once part of the British Empire, so there were a number of weirdly British things there too. The landscape is very dry and rocky, so it was actually the film location in Game of Thrones for the dothraki stuff. It wasn't a whole lot warmer than London, but the sky was beautifully clear and blue- and that was a nice change. </div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivEm9ljivM9Y6h-SygA21xcz6zRw3rmWUp5B4bQ93ikMJoj1aDh4uXqSPPsHjT9bY3JK7rvMqVN6ng54fmJ7MSeBysPD6di96DZSCt7GN0KB9ZnUEZkj3XH95lQA5Tak9uT8KiiMbOLcU/s2048/IMG_8250.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivEm9ljivM9Y6h-SygA21xcz6zRw3rmWUp5B4bQ93ikMJoj1aDh4uXqSPPsHjT9bY3JK7rvMqVN6ng54fmJ7MSeBysPD6di96DZSCt7GN0KB9ZnUEZkj3XH95lQA5Tak9uT8KiiMbOLcU/w480-h640/IMG_8250.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">getting good at getting to the airport</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4QVMzYDwagLyFPSBNwdUFOfMrbz7jxVu9nwfXukDcnqrn3e66Pb4VJy82CoH73DmknfEuiLtkRzfVQI1w-PeG7RegJniBL7FECO6ikWyISqOVeuV4uz_ljzonqDAe8EM5SZcOVYl8ss/s2048/IMG_3984.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4QVMzYDwagLyFPSBNwdUFOfMrbz7jxVu9nwfXukDcnqrn3e66Pb4VJy82CoH73DmknfEuiLtkRzfVQI1w-PeG7RegJniBL7FECO6ikWyISqOVeuV4uz_ljzonqDAe8EM5SZcOVYl8ss/w480-h640/IMG_3984.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">chilling on the plane</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>Day 1: Valletta</b><div><b><br /></b><div>So the first day, everyone wanted to head into the old city of Valletta, but the baby was not cooperating. So they all ended up going while I stayed home with him to let him have a good long nap. They had a nice afternoon exploring the area while I chilled with him - until the power went out - I momentarily panicked- and then everything was fine. First lesson- Malta's power supply isn't super reliable. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJjW6VrUL0GJskB_ZgAZ0rdj0V0FNEEoXArjaoyGi-p4iB3itAzhQn3lmtsQD3K2uLTAZLXYALQ4tqVGW-I6IT7Z6K2VNP5gA1wZk070t-bQ7Jy4AnYVsDHVB_3sg93hMgCdPCKhu8jE/s2048/IMG_8266.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJjW6VrUL0GJskB_ZgAZ0rdj0V0FNEEoXArjaoyGi-p4iB3itAzhQn3lmtsQD3K2uLTAZLXYALQ4tqVGW-I6IT7Z6K2VNP5gA1wZk070t-bQ7Jy4AnYVsDHVB_3sg93hMgCdPCKhu8jE/w640-h480/IMG_8266.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34EcH4D1V9HchN3L07j9qfvVkiSruLIVtnqTR5Z5VFu6xhcFHbbgO1hmYK2NB7lOCAhLIcnSGMqbD8M175oJuP7bFizKixaP07Fjnqd406xyDiSFwmlYRMvEPLNUFbXAeVJsHZI3R2qk/s2048/IMG_8305.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34EcH4D1V9HchN3L07j9qfvVkiSruLIVtnqTR5Z5VFu6xhcFHbbgO1hmYK2NB7lOCAhLIcnSGMqbD8M175oJuP7bFizKixaP07Fjnqd406xyDiSFwmlYRMvEPLNUFbXAeVJsHZI3R2qk/w480-h640/IMG_8305.JPG" width="480" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHQUNrMwSqwpNL-71xwMEJdatETv9C0w3RES5p3SLZYsvSQn2AmTrZX3pmi92VzSmOg8S8uGJ38p4DvjB74kFaDrbVa3TuHJZNEhqWr8zD7k9pBNDQaHGdPt0nOdhNFP-CkfAC1PmikI/s1024/AMAS2775.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHQUNrMwSqwpNL-71xwMEJdatETv9C0w3RES5p3SLZYsvSQn2AmTrZX3pmi92VzSmOg8S8uGJ38p4DvjB74kFaDrbVa3TuHJZNEhqWr8zD7k9pBNDQaHGdPt0nOdhNFP-CkfAC1PmikI/w480-h640/AMAS2775.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_XRtlGWpTrBR6J671YhkpU7iS8hOSE7qlT5uwi08x7RhHZyJHU27pbPd6znImR4bIojRKYpqljuINZLRwiMcd3qvXXg4mAhyrCEQMouYshS523SRZcW2c8iaePY0qu2bbWtx3oWGbx0/s1024/IPHO1884.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_XRtlGWpTrBR6J671YhkpU7iS8hOSE7qlT5uwi08x7RhHZyJHU27pbPd6znImR4bIojRKYpqljuINZLRwiMcd3qvXXg4mAhyrCEQMouYshS523SRZcW2c8iaePY0qu2bbWtx3oWGbx0/w640-h480/IPHO1884.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">discussing important things at dinner</div><p><b>Day 2: The Aquarium</b></p><p>The next day we were planning to head to the aquarium, and again the baby wasn't cooperating. So this time I went with them and our big kid, and left Spouso with the baby in the hotel. We took a bus to the aquarium, grabbed lunch and hung out on a playground, and then they met up with us just a bit later. It wasn't huge- but had some really cool exhibits- like a huge walkway under the shark tank that was just amazing. Afterwards, we hung out in the cafe for a drink and snack break, hoping to let some bad weather pass over us - but instead we got hopelessly stuck in it. We went back outside to catch our bus just as it started raining- I think we waited out by the street for maybe 2 hours getting completely poured on while thunder started rolling in before a bus finally came by and we squished onto it. 2nd lesson: Malta's transport isn't super reliable. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinyTlI15OOi4xqaIyt68tozzbqnd1LKl3gDO04uFqIfhpQTU06Okz6e7m7GYBOIlu0Nht8hgtUHGwMjIdS8Xovwh7hcnwR5ih3opEe-tIO8oCIExbbErKMQoVvgvneuDrN86aOwbY-w9U/s2048/IMG_4007.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinyTlI15OOi4xqaIyt68tozzbqnd1LKl3gDO04uFqIfhpQTU06Okz6e7m7GYBOIlu0Nht8hgtUHGwMjIdS8Xovwh7hcnwR5ih3opEe-tIO8oCIExbbErKMQoVvgvneuDrN86aOwbY-w9U/w480-h640/IMG_4007.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgil4RxqKps6N0exgMFDmCojjP5976lL3_q3Z9GU60fVlNhtxDu_Li83qjZrDB5GJx4MzGFcDYi9DRKkOtrCZXiTYeZsBnaGRv05FfZ-AGmT0esmM3SpsUO7i86GLt5ty7WM47TBjl6MC4/s2048/IMG_4011.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgil4RxqKps6N0exgMFDmCojjP5976lL3_q3Z9GU60fVlNhtxDu_Li83qjZrDB5GJx4MzGFcDYi9DRKkOtrCZXiTYeZsBnaGRv05FfZ-AGmT0esmM3SpsUO7i86GLt5ty7WM47TBjl6MC4/w640-h480/IMG_4011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJKE9cFZeIlsO7WkH84PyzI-qCyy6HrbiHmpuW8R8i2a9hxJ6EexlVFX41VxoPs2ndVHF8B1WdMdzsv0H2O0thj9rvnHhwXY6vMyMLjSxGzkyIA5Fxvxjc5TSTEORbnn8dI48mTLeqU8/s2048/IMG_8322.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJKE9cFZeIlsO7WkH84PyzI-qCyy6HrbiHmpuW8R8i2a9hxJ6EexlVFX41VxoPs2ndVHF8B1WdMdzsv0H2O0thj9rvnHhwXY6vMyMLjSxGzkyIA5Fxvxjc5TSTEORbnn8dI48mTLeqU8/w640-h480/IMG_8322.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHb7T2eDFLKvmwtIaB4znczoCCijcqTEYoUgYaBfnMs22j8b3Yf5XYjnnUBXU5uxQPnJsAyGLa0PbuJqAFa8PDctguFKTR3aJoEEsUeZUpmIROVyBt4aYfgT95pnUnfZavUSU9PFU-xnY/s2048/IMG_8324.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHb7T2eDFLKvmwtIaB4znczoCCijcqTEYoUgYaBfnMs22j8b3Yf5XYjnnUBXU5uxQPnJsAyGLa0PbuJqAFa8PDctguFKTR3aJoEEsUeZUpmIROVyBt4aYfgT95pnUnfZavUSU9PFU-xnY/w480-h640/IMG_8324.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Nb_NJpZDx4mMQwJoco2I4E3Bc7Q8wWeraBNAwGVHWakM1WbYiBPFv4z5gqfZyLP-q5j3qwhv3osxMYnUGDhnQf26duRrwq-8lDikPHrUSkt142-R6wDs7ocytlB8U6YHgmba_pRi_2U/s2048/IMG_8329.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Nb_NJpZDx4mMQwJoco2I4E3Bc7Q8wWeraBNAwGVHWakM1WbYiBPFv4z5gqfZyLP-q5j3qwhv3osxMYnUGDhnQf26duRrwq-8lDikPHrUSkt142-R6wDs7ocytlB8U6YHgmba_pRi_2U/w640-h480/IMG_8329.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Day 3: Mdina</b></p><p>On the third day, we all took the bus to Mdina- a very old city in the middle of the island. We stopped quickly for the Maltese pastry - <i>pastizzi</i>- a pastry filled with cheese and mushy peas - and then explored the old, walled city. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_lFxdxpD5BbCFVxy5HyFXZF9cumg8XBQcpjXajRpE4y6IIIk9-QORNij86eBRhsjpoKIs3Ye3ZTqeGRLsCRPJ7pPXxUEZyYA52YoM5gBG3wcjl6SRH0p0cdopXL4r7fFFbyBoaEKsNw/s2048/IMG_8343.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_lFxdxpD5BbCFVxy5HyFXZF9cumg8XBQcpjXajRpE4y6IIIk9-QORNij86eBRhsjpoKIs3Ye3ZTqeGRLsCRPJ7pPXxUEZyYA52YoM5gBG3wcjl6SRH0p0cdopXL4r7fFFbyBoaEKsNw/w480-h640/IMG_8343.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">mmm mushy peas! </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtd3damf7mGigT_mcok7XXBDIg-iNMaaYG09CE3tIaxzR_9fV1ets6ESG1U3UqV5qwySF4iW1rD8dRmTayphDDbpLirR0WtBgtfDtIitxQhhBSUUeRolLK0nzRIhtNpD7WkV14fmRafbA/s2048/IMG_8352.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtd3damf7mGigT_mcok7XXBDIg-iNMaaYG09CE3tIaxzR_9fV1ets6ESG1U3UqV5qwySF4iW1rD8dRmTayphDDbpLirR0WtBgtfDtIitxQhhBSUUeRolLK0nzRIhtNpD7WkV14fmRafbA/w640-h480/IMG_8352.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">coming to the walls of Mdina</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQGs8Joj9qbGmFkwH9hvsyclw2Q9D5D0aJoR01scVb7aEjh_rOc_39BXTG_9_m9YAJICKDO6hLT41LwvTQRD8X3LisS_sLovCYe6sWsb4e-u27pcYwW-aOdEqIK-VkfUQlprDMvlVrak/s2048/IMG_8354.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQGs8Joj9qbGmFkwH9hvsyclw2Q9D5D0aJoR01scVb7aEjh_rOc_39BXTG_9_m9YAJICKDO6hLT41LwvTQRD8X3LisS_sLovCYe6sWsb4e-u27pcYwW-aOdEqIK-VkfUQlprDMvlVrak/w480-h640/IMG_8354.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7yeVpzCIiUuKOl5PJlOiuFL0JC5R8oaAvTu7va9mrURfLBcXLAI6ufQoZDEihIJerMNQsIXg1tFHMyVrRBmAJQ4jT-AGdRj7LwxIhx1dlKj8z_cavxJrhCh_sd1uCVTL-FmI2VLG62w/s2048/IMG_8358.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7yeVpzCIiUuKOl5PJlOiuFL0JC5R8oaAvTu7va9mrURfLBcXLAI6ufQoZDEihIJerMNQsIXg1tFHMyVrRBmAJQ4jT-AGdRj7LwxIhx1dlKj8z_cavxJrhCh_sd1uCVTL-FmI2VLG62w/w480-h640/IMG_8358.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgley_ht6kv1GweEslzlX-EpMFpMdVY45o0-_2Iz0rIpynlkCsGlTN2k7cEzfBEO5RY-2HLtppQac-yDBKG3TgwM6_mYHDUAmrtE35BbcqQEW0TKC92LZbftljcznDh2HX349CpE8GUrVI/s2048/IMG_8360.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgley_ht6kv1GweEslzlX-EpMFpMdVY45o0-_2Iz0rIpynlkCsGlTN2k7cEzfBEO5RY-2HLtppQac-yDBKG3TgwM6_mYHDUAmrtE35BbcqQEW0TKC92LZbftljcznDh2HX349CpE8GUrVI/w480-h640/IMG_8360.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7O2ICJiH9wCI3GXOy0uCZi2rGy3X4_xNpAboHGvPyPgM0UVaSn8wiw8-ZtgUwmjdN4lZTYNy3iNlQ8bNG2Az1khXi-hutDTUFnr6HuEnq7MeH-IxtZQYhy68gUTBCit1wpVNc_BUCA5E/s2048/IMG_8367.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7O2ICJiH9wCI3GXOy0uCZi2rGy3X4_xNpAboHGvPyPgM0UVaSn8wiw8-ZtgUwmjdN4lZTYNy3iNlQ8bNG2Az1khXi-hutDTUFnr6HuEnq7MeH-IxtZQYhy68gUTBCit1wpVNc_BUCA5E/w480-h640/IMG_8367.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">warming up with some cocoa</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5kNA_QmzVgol61r1gfG72TE919RZssXBsbbmAeW_JsyNvpTPIO0ry4vO_xxm5U3zpkrjyGmYNHFkq1Hq1vHd9ZYeF2AexwjDykJjvuzFDCd8tv4uJQ13GH-87T3iJYeF98rzA850BZU/s2048/IMG_8427.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5kNA_QmzVgol61r1gfG72TE919RZssXBsbbmAeW_JsyNvpTPIO0ry4vO_xxm5U3zpkrjyGmYNHFkq1Hq1vHd9ZYeF2AexwjDykJjvuzFDCd8tv4uJQ13GH-87T3iJYeF98rzA850BZU/w480-h640/IMG_8427.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh0B3nluOsEeD7N_OhGoxtaZp2Ig6yJyhk2C-ySv7Q7vdqunBT8NcRYobhxWFEbTymwCqtlbJu3TI_WjNLp2bOJvzt84Kaev6qSeivyZwRb6-8GgBmBVjhs5WKYbt37DWF3Mra2BgYIo/s2048/IMG_8372.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh0B3nluOsEeD7N_OhGoxtaZp2Ig6yJyhk2C-ySv7Q7vdqunBT8NcRYobhxWFEbTymwCqtlbJu3TI_WjNLp2bOJvzt84Kaev6qSeivyZwRb6-8GgBmBVjhs5WKYbt37DWF3Mra2BgYIo/w480-h640/IMG_8372.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtF627HuQuB-1J7qr43F48bme0ayrU6FPSTebfzYHTdfeC4O3ADi6Ooa1mRVaQYokneRhRh89nInsLmmmpwQ-Sc8pz2VK6FImuxeiej326V8V3GF03-9q8VS4iwArnujhPl7OxeTT6TZI/s2048/IMG_E4037.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1640" data-original-width="2048" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtF627HuQuB-1J7qr43F48bme0ayrU6FPSTebfzYHTdfeC4O3ADi6Ooa1mRVaQYokneRhRh89nInsLmmmpwQ-Sc8pz2VK6FImuxeiej326V8V3GF03-9q8VS4iwArnujhPl7OxeTT6TZI/w640-h512/IMG_E4037.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a rare photo of all of us that wasn't a selfie!</div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TkA4m_J2dxS3W4EftfYSS5qspVHowhmaoFP4e1cAzogFvR3zP-HX8rNe8nYRTz0AcV3_U-O_5lz9p7TffvwuJtivqEQKjsHK9wgFnYsPcIfTL4Jp6Q18JD4qp5Gz7xFYoWhXvxI-vNQ/s2048/IMG_8370.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TkA4m_J2dxS3W4EftfYSS5qspVHowhmaoFP4e1cAzogFvR3zP-HX8rNe8nYRTz0AcV3_U-O_5lz9p7TffvwuJtivqEQKjsHK9wgFnYsPcIfTL4Jp6Q18JD4qp5Gz7xFYoWhXvxI-vNQ/w480-h640/IMG_8370.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Day 4: Back to Valletta</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now New Year's Day - we decided to go back to Valletta. I still hadn't seen it, and they wanted to go back and catch a few things they'd missed. It was pretty close to our Airbnb, so we thought it would be the easiest to navigate, considering that some transport options were closed for the holiday. It turned out that the boat that usually ferried people to the city wasn't operating, but we found a shuttle and were able to get there after not much trouble. The city was still all decorated for the holidays - and just beautiful. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLk1OZbL7ryk3O0uui05gFd_lbRg5o5SUKrYinXsBKOPB1Az8BWZAS5OK3VWCaorxXRPmN5oRqAaeM6wlLY-6yGXOQowYNIygvwNrrkJg-9WPPlxQgHlkTZ2XGay5J3aesoVBELV5AbI/s2048/IMG_4067.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLk1OZbL7ryk3O0uui05gFd_lbRg5o5SUKrYinXsBKOPB1Az8BWZAS5OK3VWCaorxXRPmN5oRqAaeM6wlLY-6yGXOQowYNIygvwNrrkJg-9WPPlxQgHlkTZ2XGay5J3aesoVBELV5AbI/w480-h640/IMG_4067.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2oM8anTvzImmG7sxBG1RohJb4CiVBHwlHWT7hGbnICU-qG_xOG_Q9_nOqmYb0jYrdz2GXZ4jMFQ98zRLVnOwfACT8TkjYTnJUI9hEW8jrUAV8_H-pPTMAklUG_1vxYXFkQLrtLuZRns/s2048/IMG_4078.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2oM8anTvzImmG7sxBG1RohJb4CiVBHwlHWT7hGbnICU-qG_xOG_Q9_nOqmYb0jYrdz2GXZ4jMFQ98zRLVnOwfACT8TkjYTnJUI9hEW8jrUAV8_H-pPTMAklUG_1vxYXFkQLrtLuZRns/w480-h640/IMG_4078.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">cousin time!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3S9uouQ2LAMOfp_1gWkWuQiXMGBgdkfYuoYer1-oKzjoI2g9cC59oiJvkrZaUwdZ0UdB0veojfVjeOuhIxmNc3toy2VThzkmqzSkuUslYKwO0SjrqiX7d4T5aNknyhb09xBl3fZbXAg/s2048/IMG_4080.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3S9uouQ2LAMOfp_1gWkWuQiXMGBgdkfYuoYer1-oKzjoI2g9cC59oiJvkrZaUwdZ0UdB0veojfVjeOuhIxmNc3toy2VThzkmqzSkuUslYKwO0SjrqiX7d4T5aNknyhb09xBl3fZbXAg/w480-h640/IMG_4080.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">blue skies!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwGT-bCWeLTUcevpV4YzQiN8pS97FY_XtY2N_HNlUdDdAAZaoV4aEs439wfzAb-DVSbaR1wUhyphenhyphenCVKJrkALdoSCRkx68V3VLXs8pNZppsJ79qjmPZyf-EtrjekqyF1VSgEAVf_3F4_iTA/s2048/IMG_8413.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwGT-bCWeLTUcevpV4YzQiN8pS97FY_XtY2N_HNlUdDdAAZaoV4aEs439wfzAb-DVSbaR1wUhyphenhyphenCVKJrkALdoSCRkx68V3VLXs8pNZppsJ79qjmPZyf-EtrjekqyF1VSgEAVf_3F4_iTA/w640-h480/IMG_8413.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFdO-RakIbRWDrVYALDmjqA2zpZYc6k5M1Zq_EOvMzqGm76m7pyYCLMT0BMawEAALk-_dvNIEZpACgYSvOXNK7_tTtPI9uh6LU9QhfoSLiZZUPL42PirvjGz6pvJBMLS-qZG_O5BrzWU/s2048/IMG_E8416.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFdO-RakIbRWDrVYALDmjqA2zpZYc6k5M1Zq_EOvMzqGm76m7pyYCLMT0BMawEAALk-_dvNIEZpACgYSvOXNK7_tTtPI9uh6LU9QhfoSLiZZUPL42PirvjGz6pvJBMLS-qZG_O5BrzWU/w480-h640/IMG_E8416.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHoROV9G8jRbQleGPSNBf8G-lnKmTJ7gpcjOwZsz3usMarf43O_SmyPOljzsE8pdwmGv2ConHsqLuSBTT_w_iq-ZrN0liekzQszJUb3mxNg0Hab2LUffAz89DSBXbWOy_gTtShbD6zwik/s1024/FVWG3061.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHoROV9G8jRbQleGPSNBf8G-lnKmTJ7gpcjOwZsz3usMarf43O_SmyPOljzsE8pdwmGv2ConHsqLuSBTT_w_iq-ZrN0liekzQszJUb3mxNg0Hab2LUffAz89DSBXbWOy_gTtShbD6zwik/w480-h640/FVWG3061.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">not a stroller-friendly city.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVWO4tY_oIqGhTCPeQ8jPjq3uUt8rpvcjEFCKk1QrOtQ770Hff79heRkrPRW5oj-fN35TRgl1UcYtacWXxlvq_9D-SJgd0KEfcpyiZiQw0QEwqvQCvio2cqZdDjFTtH8dAT-D2B3soEk/s2048/IMG_4054.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVWO4tY_oIqGhTCPeQ8jPjq3uUt8rpvcjEFCKk1QrOtQ770Hff79heRkrPRW5oj-fN35TRgl1UcYtacWXxlvq_9D-SJgd0KEfcpyiZiQw0QEwqvQCvio2cqZdDjFTtH8dAT-D2B3soEk/w640-h480/IMG_4054.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">beautiful Valletta</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjdLb2GiWdNiTIgStfwthzkauRpXKKmIimrCxJZWI7q_DKH2UJ1JQmgHoKAyV7jCZech1aYcLZE9XR8EHIeFn5ptQ0bQ12s4Dhy0WhhyXc6Q9gCO5NSMI6H728Z0Zt0dO2thyphenhyphen_rdNsA2k/s2741/IMG_E4057.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1147" data-original-width="2741" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjdLb2GiWdNiTIgStfwthzkauRpXKKmIimrCxJZWI7q_DKH2UJ1JQmgHoKAyV7jCZech1aYcLZE9XR8EHIeFn5ptQ0bQ12s4Dhy0WhhyXc6Q9gCO5NSMI6H728Z0Zt0dO2thyphenhyphen_rdNsA2k/w640-h268/IMG_E4057.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>Day 5: Back to Valletta Again</b><p></p><p>So for the last day- we wanted to go to the south side of the island to see some very old monoliths. My brother's crew was able to get moving faster than us, so they packed up and got moving in the morning, with the intention that we would meet up with them after the baby's nap. But, the nap sort of dragged on, and we got a late start. We ended up stopping by a playground on the way to Valletta, and then stopped by Valletta one last time in order to see them fire off the canons (something they do every day but we had somehow mussed until now). We ended up meeting up with them in time for a quick carousel ride before heading on to dinner. So we never made it to the ancient ruins - but they sounded pretty cool. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNR_ZKdtrhsB-Wy1k-TER1WFSxRelO4FiVw0IL36jb37iK2MIFWwD897fzMYGTgoX8Y3PqDk8SaSukTOk5j2M7DOlnrhzqQl3O7gDYjwhjZUE00n4qwtbKAPKNgefV_6npWxeJEx7wy0/s2048/IMG_4116.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNR_ZKdtrhsB-Wy1k-TER1WFSxRelO4FiVw0IL36jb37iK2MIFWwD897fzMYGTgoX8Y3PqDk8SaSukTOk5j2M7DOlnrhzqQl3O7gDYjwhjZUE00n4qwtbKAPKNgefV_6npWxeJEx7wy0/w480-h640/IMG_4116.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0Ov70jbXkun6IwGxQcI5mSqoOGZu-qTNL9_Ln0oQFe3KXUENo1xBfA3PNydY0LCnOfabfcHIJnVkjL4TQckk08u0IMqMPzmp7gUwewB9tyjqqVXIN8AVmC1ccHC_UpkNCSUZ1xUXktA/s2048/IMG_4126.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0Ov70jbXkun6IwGxQcI5mSqoOGZu-qTNL9_Ln0oQFe3KXUENo1xBfA3PNydY0LCnOfabfcHIJnVkjL4TQckk08u0IMqMPzmp7gUwewB9tyjqqVXIN8AVmC1ccHC_UpkNCSUZ1xUXktA/w480-h640/IMG_4126.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEfV3uet2fV38f3Pn2kh278aqY16ahJp5XAbkqVyy-YOfZZ0P3DhNF0xcFiavaZd_OkGTVNlj80Y9YyVRSc_M1wAmjbTQwAiiGas-H-bnUnkheibs4y1lZzv57p0wUq2dk2yC1wl8j_0/s2048/IMG_E4136.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1439" data-original-width="2048" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEfV3uet2fV38f3Pn2kh278aqY16ahJp5XAbkqVyy-YOfZZ0P3DhNF0xcFiavaZd_OkGTVNlj80Y9YyVRSc_M1wAmjbTQwAiiGas-H-bnUnkheibs4y1lZzv57p0wUq2dk2yC1wl8j_0/w640-h450/IMG_E4136.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHcGvzurlEz1C4uKdo78YxsyAR_6lWTbE0m5A4uoYkYEDQUgrsWtFVvEEBcVxcSnZBE6uy129ZA3lxzRcH4xZ5FGDGAFyhn7kWuX4h49wzFbDXZ1lR0bNhvlRwrIJPFlzkvJV3kS2vrY/s2048/IMG_8485.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHcGvzurlEz1C4uKdo78YxsyAR_6lWTbE0m5A4uoYkYEDQUgrsWtFVvEEBcVxcSnZBE6uy129ZA3lxzRcH4xZ5FGDGAFyhn7kWuX4h49wzFbDXZ1lR0bNhvlRwrIJPFlzkvJV3kS2vrY/w640-h480/IMG_8485.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_cLJ4bbMTkERe1ak0p1bF9Ujlb3rzvgK1zf5QBZrvrcovKYYQmpAA6j8hvqYbLXExtpTc2xVQc1bbQ69MFGgTtduBmD-qTGC3aylzA-wnW2Gz3orL_JZxX1hGM3RyW3GebXeqUqsUU3M/s2048/IMG_E8495.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1597" data-original-width="2048" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_cLJ4bbMTkERe1ak0p1bF9Ujlb3rzvgK1zf5QBZrvrcovKYYQmpAA6j8hvqYbLXExtpTc2xVQc1bbQ69MFGgTtduBmD-qTGC3aylzA-wnW2Gz3orL_JZxX1hGM3RyW3GebXeqUqsUU3M/w640-h500/IMG_E8495.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAiSHAeGQTfcEsuvgWR11C62fpFoBTTSx30DPvgECEEAzeVXPPReQB2Tv_u4Bu2ii9ihVpAosRGactbN4xCNHPEdu-QgtEU24h5QGFR23IjQU6xJRJ91Jz94485vdC_6bYflbCc9WFNU/s2048/IMG_4161.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAiSHAeGQTfcEsuvgWR11C62fpFoBTTSx30DPvgECEEAzeVXPPReQB2Tv_u4Bu2ii9ihVpAosRGactbN4xCNHPEdu-QgtEU24h5QGFR23IjQU6xJRJ91Jz94485vdC_6bYflbCc9WFNU/w480-h640/IMG_4161.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSn2TjVKjiHHHAq2-UdPitwxwyiZY0UODTuVNPUsR4IgZ9Gz5trN1GxQa6qSVdtAZEmYg4QRoWqEdIcrqDVZXgTTdDXdRrqY-XZs-vVIET9NOXEh3heiESoSPTdo5wAJZcjscogTy4_H8/s2048/IMG_8508.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSn2TjVKjiHHHAq2-UdPitwxwyiZY0UODTuVNPUsR4IgZ9Gz5trN1GxQa6qSVdtAZEmYg4QRoWqEdIcrqDVZXgTTdDXdRrqY-XZs-vVIET9NOXEh3heiESoSPTdo5wAJZcjscogTy4_H8/w640-h480/IMG_8508.JPG" width="640" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Around the House</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So mostly we tried to stay out of the house as much as possible during the day, but still ended up spending a good bit of time there. We generally hung out all morning so that the baby could get a good morning nap in his crib. There was a nice little balcony with a view right on the water that was warm enough during the day to sit out and enjoy a cup of coffee. He napped on the go in the afternoons. We did dinner in the apartment a few nights- taking turns on cooking. We also were there every night - hanging out after the kids were asleep. We took turns going out every night in pairs to the local pub. It was nice getting out to the pub - but also just really nice to hang out each night and catch up with each other without the kids. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmRulb73J5ylUTFkNfUaAaaaaMa8oNX2-FJhNLzCttfngrSTzEdukvD_7DM4BX_OVBd0_HKrarv-DldMGW3RUCesVcr8Ce7icrPY5muvCNiPJz6BIBFwMw4uPb3FiopxRozuB8-jdsXB8/s2048/IMG_8393.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmRulb73J5ylUTFkNfUaAaaaaMa8oNX2-FJhNLzCttfngrSTzEdukvD_7DM4BX_OVBd0_HKrarv-DldMGW3RUCesVcr8Ce7icrPY5muvCNiPJz6BIBFwMw4uPb3FiopxRozuB8-jdsXB8/w640-h480/IMG_8393.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">balcony view</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Traveling with 2 Small Kids</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So- generally, by this point we'd gotten pretty confident about traveling with our two kids. We'd kind of mastered getting to the airport - baby on me, bags in stroller, Spouso takes the big suitcase, we all take the bus to the train together. We knew the airbnb would have a crib, so thankfully we didn't have to bring it. We have our own portable high chair, and knew we wouldn't be driving anywhere so we didn't need the car seat. We brought very few toys or books knowing they'd have a cousin to entertain them. We brought just enough baby supplies for a day or two, and swung by the grocery store for extras. So that was all great. Sometimes we knew it would be not be stroller-friendly, and just kept the baby in the carrier. Other times, we brought it with us, and were able to trade off between the boys to give the big kid's legs a rest. At one point though, I realized I'd had the baby in the carrier on me for close to 8 hours when my back started spasming - at which point it was clear he had become too big for that. So, I think this may have been our last trip with a baby, officially transitioning out of that phase. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFndydpxxd7E4tvmQ-wMEZtBv5SIIZmu7S6c1OosD_fkoC7F2Y4lyW5ZIL-4P5d_umu4aDwBCVQiBWEIeTALo1v6PjHu-c8JT7LhnLih7pLEkjiaa5URipam9p3N7LD5qmKgu5q97iOCA/s2048/IMG_8444.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFndydpxxd7E4tvmQ-wMEZtBv5SIIZmu7S6c1OosD_fkoC7F2Y4lyW5ZIL-4P5d_umu4aDwBCVQiBWEIeTALo1v6PjHu-c8JT7LhnLih7pLEkjiaa5URipam9p3N7LD5qmKgu5q97iOCA/w480-h640/IMG_8444.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">our very useful portable high chair</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Traveling with Family</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>So, to be fair, we haven't every really traveled with anyone, so I have nothing to compare this to - but we thought this trip worked great. Traveling with my brother's family was awesome. It was a way for us to each see and experience something new while having lots of time to spend with each other and catch up. In some ways it was much easier - we could divide up and leave the kids at home with 2 adults while the other 2 adults ran out to pick up groceries or run to the pub. <p></p><p>One thing I had been worried about was the fact that they are much more ambitious travelers than we are, and I didn't want to hold them back. The thing that turned out to be essential was learning to divide up and not try to do everything together. The kids were just on such different schedules there was no way to get everyone fed and moving at the same time - so some mornings we split up and left one of us at home with the baby while the rest went out, and sometimes all of us stayed home while they went out. A few times they went for dinner at a restaurant when we knew we just couldn't - so it was easier for us to cook something quick at home while they ran out. Generally - just being flexible was critical- and it helped that they're all so easygoing. </p><p>Anyway - Malta turned out to be lovely. Spending a week with them was fantastic. The timing was really nice - being able to have a relaxed Christmas in our own home, and then traveling and getting out of town for the rest of the long break was great. I would love for this to be a new tradition - but unfortunately this was their last holiday season before moving back to the US. Sad for us. And with that - it was back to the airport and back home for the next school term. </p><p></p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-11113173832039674362020-10-16T05:35:00.001-07:002020-10-16T05:35:33.698-07:00Christmas in London<p>So London is known for going all out for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Something about the cold, rainy weather all fall means that people really get decked out with decorations - and there are just a million things do to around town. Our first year here, we had a brand new baby and barely left the house for the holidays. But our second year, the baby was now a year old and we wanted to see everything. Both of our mothers came to town, so we hit the sights. </p><p><b>Carnaby Street</b></p><p>First- Carnaby Street is a smallish street in the middle of the downtown area that gets super decorated every year. This year's theme was the Oceans, so all of the decorations were made of reclaimed plastic. It was so cool that we took my mom, and then went back a few weeks later with my mother in law. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1GVqQq6Cqepohp1imB4-zwg_MvErKKNBJKCSiCrDXUcZ8LOdCWB_2Wexc5AGUomfH3Z80S1BLmAc_fM2lXWPgPWDNZA1FlVpwWMNVpBwoYKOudA9a2MeFhfJdnFGczcN4iSEIu5IWoU/s2048/IMG_0308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1GVqQq6Cqepohp1imB4-zwg_MvErKKNBJKCSiCrDXUcZ8LOdCWB_2Wexc5AGUomfH3Z80S1BLmAc_fM2lXWPgPWDNZA1FlVpwWMNVpBwoYKOudA9a2MeFhfJdnFGczcN4iSEIu5IWoU/w480-h640/IMG_0308.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-18Ao8oP09rSMc66lTtG0rvfWF3J3SkC74kJu1BI7znIpWdWtEJeiWPKfF7u-S7JJzs37UCpZVSeYRx8XrozXIadVkP_9bRoxHVQs7BIKOIF8HGEW2szzoBERaU0bl15BdwWcyejWqoU/s2048/IMG_3696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-18Ao8oP09rSMc66lTtG0rvfWF3J3SkC74kJu1BI7znIpWdWtEJeiWPKfF7u-S7JJzs37UCpZVSeYRx8XrozXIadVkP_9bRoxHVQs7BIKOIF8HGEW2szzoBERaU0bl15BdwWcyejWqoU/w640-h480/IMG_3696.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-JIhqB2x3SOrmfNuoK7xsGz04OQqlIUVOW1YESIE2RwfXDg7GrWWaFvjTW_x8DgB4NeEMDoVhICxnB_RrbyoU2Sg0H194F_bex5zyOxXspkH-jQ3dtIsLNtQbsn6SsTo0YEuMzTBCLk/s2048/IMG_3701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-JIhqB2x3SOrmfNuoK7xsGz04OQqlIUVOW1YESIE2RwfXDg7GrWWaFvjTW_x8DgB4NeEMDoVhICxnB_RrbyoU2Sg0H194F_bex5zyOxXspkH-jQ3dtIsLNtQbsn6SsTo0YEuMzTBCLk/w480-h640/IMG_3701.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQu8te4gjZMUhn8xPJXnbALBsKp8duZLDrKxPIbtyNb6dqmfKoNUOKDCBNLPOG5N_XgKS5xeJ5Ht_8z_-erzUny2erM3JDrgKUJlwGu-sTLhXCxE87KYN4DuePvrxdHLKNZFQnaJopvx4/s1600/WLKA8064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQu8te4gjZMUhn8xPJXnbALBsKp8duZLDrKxPIbtyNb6dqmfKoNUOKDCBNLPOG5N_XgKS5xeJ5Ht_8z_-erzUny2erM3JDrgKUJlwGu-sTLhXCxE87KYN4DuePvrxdHLKNZFQnaJopvx4/w480-h640/WLKA8064.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Birthday and Decorations</b></p><p>I guess this will forever be a problem with having a December birthday - but we celebrated the baby's first birthday and then decorated the tree. We will have to find ways to separate the events and avoid his birthday just being consumed by the ever-expanding holiday season. He didn't seem to notice this year though. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4X7ixaFeDI76KAPmPVL1id2yb9D-i4gAoqIXDs16Fts8kmGM-RAaSdUwq1stwNFSyMuG5uBn1YRISGRB-YkxbUb6mnmxwEjGKex14v7ltWRFxXGrNWpqdp9mUprhF7xavWRSPn5UW5yY/s2048/IMG_E3783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4X7ixaFeDI76KAPmPVL1id2yb9D-i4gAoqIXDs16Fts8kmGM-RAaSdUwq1stwNFSyMuG5uBn1YRISGRB-YkxbUb6mnmxwEjGKex14v7ltWRFxXGrNWpqdp9mUprhF7xavWRSPn5UW5yY/w480-h640/IMG_E3783.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Ak7SWSTnKBo8rrikrEnJrRQG8hUACcjx-pwuO4nEAyC68tviQENv57I6EmKaNcMsHGFsXTCjTcMihYfenP5KiUgE0iWdum1Mo-1yvFyVGD0pK6vzbc63OATHMIq_rT9ERvHvV3SicDo/s2048/IMG_7926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Ak7SWSTnKBo8rrikrEnJrRQG8hUACcjx-pwuO4nEAyC68tviQENv57I6EmKaNcMsHGFsXTCjTcMihYfenP5KiUgE0iWdum1Mo-1yvFyVGD0pK6vzbc63OATHMIq_rT9ERvHvV3SicDo/w480-h640/IMG_7926.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFn4JSdRm8E42z71lgDmdfs3UcyoVTm0JYJGoRM9QN7mNkiK0-CralvZLtosLm9I3AOmdCf8OtA4hjPrcsLzGkvoa1p3Y2r9Xnrg29U-V-MxlYe-UlwLPtPzJEqVB3jaC0v6_KZXIs9BQ/s2048/IMG_7933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFn4JSdRm8E42z71lgDmdfs3UcyoVTm0JYJGoRM9QN7mNkiK0-CralvZLtosLm9I3AOmdCf8OtA4hjPrcsLzGkvoa1p3Y2r9Xnrg29U-V-MxlYe-UlwLPtPzJEqVB3jaC0v6_KZXIs9BQ/w480-h640/IMG_7933.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxQZ8VOdqyl8HCe4FQtVP7AyBgn8dHW2ytRJfSGt_rAKPsdJAT52Pac7akvZoufIXJcuQCL4C__HmDLKFN6VmYiDUD7YwA9msbZneVE5QywduU-DGoYKIOHgaqt2Wxm-3ZJGPF2ORQCE/s2048/IMG_7946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxQZ8VOdqyl8HCe4FQtVP7AyBgn8dHW2ytRJfSGt_rAKPsdJAT52Pac7akvZoufIXJcuQCL4C__HmDLKFN6VmYiDUD7YwA9msbZneVE5QywduU-DGoYKIOHgaqt2Wxm-3ZJGPF2ORQCE/w480-h640/IMG_7946.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><b>School Stuff</b></p><p>So if you've seen <i>Love Actually</i>, you know that there is a British tradition of doing the nativity play at primary schools and everyone gets a part. We are constantly surprised by the amount of religion included in the public school system and must always remind ourselves that there is no separation of church and state here. We were hoping he would get the part of the 2nd lobster- and were surprised to find out he had chosen the part of the bad guy, Caesar. (Caesar is bad because he required the census- which we explained isn't actually a bad idea, but the point was lost on him.) Anyway- he did great - he had one of the few speaking roles but commanded stage with authority! Later, I got roped into helping out at the school's Christmas Fair. We've also come to learn that meeting Santa in advance of the holiday is a thing they do here - but you don't sit on his lap. No mall Santas here. Instead, he sits in something called a "Grotto", and the kids take turns awkwardly standing nearby to tell him what presents they want. It makes for weird pictures. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2trcEuO-5GibSr2g9AL-z970Q0HkRPH70h89RBv3b7lW9knb-iHl933u1DmCsf0LhsuRq8nWXt-ZREt-qyIkUvmwYONHwGdSPEz5Em80akwmg9k48xXY4bfIhs2Lex553ZXXjDeGvtoM/s851/IMG_E3852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="467" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2trcEuO-5GibSr2g9AL-z970Q0HkRPH70h89RBv3b7lW9knb-iHl933u1DmCsf0LhsuRq8nWXt-ZREt-qyIkUvmwYONHwGdSPEz5Em80akwmg9k48xXY4bfIhs2Lex553ZXXjDeGvtoM/w352-h640/IMG_E3852.JPG" width="352" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSDr2kAWeOoX9JamO483kmQES5kbXxWUWegO2Td0SDnM0XgbV7w7BlBUxjbRDqLmA_GwX-j-gH7X9ivV8QOcCMfC3aYSYdCkyT0PCK9Ah5Cch-Py_RRI0MllQLNTECeakxXhyKjyFFYM/s2048/IMG_3856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSDr2kAWeOoX9JamO483kmQES5kbXxWUWegO2Td0SDnM0XgbV7w7BlBUxjbRDqLmA_GwX-j-gH7X9ivV8QOcCMfC3aYSYdCkyT0PCK9Ah5Cch-Py_RRI0MllQLNTECeakxXhyKjyFFYM/w480-h640/IMG_3856.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcZg14qIVdo3mp4ZrUU3twutDhIRnrSw86ugONrzzVfTvKNsBDhzFBuTzUWgKCaKfYXCL5oVru7BmX-vdyhVypn5J6ZVFw99NosU-Fn_ViQTP5BFvvUjZx57cmzjM9DP4wk0bAF70pj0/s2048/IMG_8026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcZg14qIVdo3mp4ZrUU3twutDhIRnrSw86ugONrzzVfTvKNsBDhzFBuTzUWgKCaKfYXCL5oVru7BmX-vdyhVypn5J6ZVFw99NosU-Fn_ViQTP5BFvvUjZx57cmzjM9DP4wk0bAF70pj0/w480-h640/IMG_8026.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">selling toys and games at the fair - baby always on the hip.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSwnxRYkSUUFzCU2bJNdoTrdTSJFQ6AVZjLwTYJZvlsqp0CDvv815itjYucLLWtKyuusNSSDmxZXcgP2nfF8cljgvG-xnqUV9fczHrAhKXUwIqJQdSRC-S9NLE7AcjyYfNV2r_XQAXMY/s2048/IMG_8029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSwnxRYkSUUFzCU2bJNdoTrdTSJFQ6AVZjLwTYJZvlsqp0CDvv815itjYucLLWtKyuusNSSDmxZXcgP2nfF8cljgvG-xnqUV9fczHrAhKXUwIqJQdSRC-S9NLE7AcjyYfNV2r_XQAXMY/w480-h640/IMG_8029.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">chatting with Santa in the Grotto</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><b>Other Downtown Lights</b></p><p>The rest of the city downtown is also lit up - not nearly as cool as Carnaby, but still nice. We wandered around a bit- because it's more spread out, it isn't nearly as crowded as Carnaby - so I didn't have to carry the big kid around on my shoulders the whole time. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwLmumkRxq3kfIEN3RttmA6W0zXvwXtKVrxo7K0L2Vtfab9XhDcYs_e1lOONBSIcNvYLL5VhF78FBQQncv72PBx3Yu_CIBb6iWoSuDEZY-MIbzdETRVF0xnyB5sPr3GE_PcFZC9TKFa8/s2048/IMG_7953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwLmumkRxq3kfIEN3RttmA6W0zXvwXtKVrxo7K0L2Vtfab9XhDcYs_e1lOONBSIcNvYLL5VhF78FBQQncv72PBx3Yu_CIBb6iWoSuDEZY-MIbzdETRVF0xnyB5sPr3GE_PcFZC9TKFa8/w480-h640/IMG_7953.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzduJ_B16ceAEPOPr2qI8QdCsFK1lZHbam0q6niGqtZ92fv78bbF2H0YB3K8xgfAdslYkLk8NZ5W8Qxc6pdjQhALNcHGxVzwV3VMq5uDwP_TBB89xLDJLFRJNtv2Ix069zIyadSJWVHVc/s2048/IMG_7966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzduJ_B16ceAEPOPr2qI8QdCsFK1lZHbam0q6niGqtZ92fv78bbF2H0YB3K8xgfAdslYkLk8NZ5W8Qxc6pdjQhALNcHGxVzwV3VMq5uDwP_TBB89xLDJLFRJNtv2Ix069zIyadSJWVHVc/w480-h640/IMG_7966.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXifO2bxNbeJtr8w-Bd6XitWcLTcMB5GtWA9M4kksnCVwLOJQ1l-MdR1HAHjM_UJqOzhAx-TrOc8RU250JSyCG3kyw-1mXy3efTCZUqb_vFHJdCyK9FyjIrerfnaZKb6DcRN_-b2gUCRs/s2048/IMG_7970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXifO2bxNbeJtr8w-Bd6XitWcLTcMB5GtWA9M4kksnCVwLOJQ1l-MdR1HAHjM_UJqOzhAx-TrOc8RU250JSyCG3kyw-1mXy3efTCZUqb_vFHJdCyK9FyjIrerfnaZKb6DcRN_-b2gUCRs/w360-h640/IMG_7970.JPG" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzdw2oFOVfP0NFMKoCWUYJiHtFNq_9mOB8rby4V4mB0zRDaSFE-DcznqimNQjcppjGKhoLQrgti7GllkLGw8fWb9s-6osbn7whTat6fGasIvndEDp8aVOfl_j_9M_xFEoJXdrt4I4zCY/s2048/IMG_7974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzdw2oFOVfP0NFMKoCWUYJiHtFNq_9mOB8rby4V4mB0zRDaSFE-DcznqimNQjcppjGKhoLQrgti7GllkLGw8fWb9s-6osbn7whTat6fGasIvndEDp8aVOfl_j_9M_xFEoJXdrt4I4zCY/w480-h640/IMG_7974.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__xrfhdMU36nNWxMscZOQdwQAddZmW8-4nMWdKl-wn_6SF50uSTvOtjvGNyGTPdTKmEIcPs_OkpjxM4P6Ckroqu0_-HvZUs7c78CxA7pmNEUz90C6GRcxBXpPryRC1toi09fDFsTqp2g/s2048/IMG_7975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__xrfhdMU36nNWxMscZOQdwQAddZmW8-4nMWdKl-wn_6SF50uSTvOtjvGNyGTPdTKmEIcPs_OkpjxM4P6Ckroqu0_-HvZUs7c78CxA7pmNEUz90C6GRcxBXpPryRC1toi09fDFsTqp2g/w480-h640/IMG_7975.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><b>Drinks at Somerset House</b><p></p><p>After wandering town to see the lights - we stopped at Somerset House for a drink. This is one of the many old, historic, probably once a royal residence, grand homes in the London area. It had an outdoor skating rink and bar area that was decked out like a wintery lodge. It was a lovely place to just sit and watch the skaters - I believe both kids fell asleep. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAaH3GRk2V7MHiLjkpoYtNQlntjnR5TxGS_feKtUyWvnX6WlrcofjeR51ZSnD7DDfkjkqcWeRORZUA348NaF5RUtzW8Sp66X9VMcUq4Rk5GWFt-uYa0n5c5HAHbPZ0eNXWEs0B7oPcHy4/s2048/IMG_3829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAaH3GRk2V7MHiLjkpoYtNQlntjnR5TxGS_feKtUyWvnX6WlrcofjeR51ZSnD7DDfkjkqcWeRORZUA348NaF5RUtzW8Sp66X9VMcUq4Rk5GWFt-uYa0n5c5HAHbPZ0eNXWEs0B7oPcHy4/w480-h640/IMG_3829.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QcwbLO8VQA24RY7Qd4Ov7J9E5zKf59WMC0ToOvE5Sr3LtQCTUI8ZR_YbsYtyJZ45h8KA99z2711xLZuINOOwwg6g-AmLujDvMLykcUMmOipsGpRAmfpgS7Fx5UTfh0XxChPRw6Z1FGw/s2048/IMG_7977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QcwbLO8VQA24RY7Qd4Ov7J9E5zKf59WMC0ToOvE5Sr3LtQCTUI8ZR_YbsYtyJZ45h8KA99z2711xLZuINOOwwg6g-AmLujDvMLykcUMmOipsGpRAmfpgS7Fx5UTfh0XxChPRw6Z1FGw/w480-h640/IMG_7977.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnk2JgoFzNJ7H3KJ1TjMiaYl2_dFfAuQpObcFXdTNMj5wXbWEP71m5k3q-cMtSuArzjbaJLl8DFpo_pJPEh9_fCo7zbiuOe5ka8cLQw3rWn6oa9AUqOE4we0TGBiW7KqVa5WSYJcY5wE/s2048/IMG_7979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnk2JgoFzNJ7H3KJ1TjMiaYl2_dFfAuQpObcFXdTNMj5wXbWEP71m5k3q-cMtSuArzjbaJLl8DFpo_pJPEh9_fCo7zbiuOe5ka8cLQw3rWn6oa9AUqOE4we0TGBiW7KqVa5WSYJcY5wE/w640-h480/IMG_7979.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Gingerbread City</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">After drinks, we headed to a new event called the Gingerbread City. Someone ran a competition between architecture firms and students to create houses out of gingerbread - and then created a huge display of them inside. It was amazing - everything made out of sugar- some parts were mechanized to move. Trains were moving through the whole thing. We could've stayed for hours - but everyone was getting pretty tired and cranky at this point and ready to head home. </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVjF0oeVwLAG7QPQnTsX-L3Ua-_d2Mjfwfglp1FYNx7NXA8eSEiPtOp9S1ft0S9JxD5ujy2OHn-8TALqUR2l-xzU8vpRl6XPo6NNzvdoGjd9Z47XGfLMJ8KbMUIDUQNgSLR8rysL058o/s2048/IMG_7994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVjF0oeVwLAG7QPQnTsX-L3Ua-_d2Mjfwfglp1FYNx7NXA8eSEiPtOp9S1ft0S9JxD5ujy2OHn-8TALqUR2l-xzU8vpRl6XPo6NNzvdoGjd9Z47XGfLMJ8KbMUIDUQNgSLR8rysL058o/w480-h640/IMG_7994.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlwqopwG4PUkY7B51Gs4dMWq88lafdyn1hoiXkykRkXHDmxY5aGBwOUk7CpMx04nzWoyHAi5EH3ifgps91Cze4UByzq2hayegNec26jRP-imiN0TWeN9Y7Oxe6MZ-1XDkSZ5cjyuk1_o/s2048/IMG_7996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlwqopwG4PUkY7B51Gs4dMWq88lafdyn1hoiXkykRkXHDmxY5aGBwOUk7CpMx04nzWoyHAi5EH3ifgps91Cze4UByzq2hayegNec26jRP-imiN0TWeN9Y7Oxe6MZ-1XDkSZ5cjyuk1_o/w640-h480/IMG_7996.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CEMv7LRZ43q-FVOwXDVUwBROomHTHbA8FnWfrSis0CkEG3iKtKxlrpfav9OXNdPkUVsYua0xqSzG0z39uBrjN8DYa73U8pYv9y54z4nVFavG9F8u8Z02lKe3gTO3e88Yt2INmsWUyyE/s2048/IMG_7999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CEMv7LRZ43q-FVOwXDVUwBROomHTHbA8FnWfrSis0CkEG3iKtKxlrpfav9OXNdPkUVsYua0xqSzG0z39uBrjN8DYa73U8pYv9y54z4nVFavG9F8u8Z02lKe3gTO3e88Yt2INmsWUyyE/w640-h480/IMG_7999.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigokqOMIy6X4SwTCWoch_FHpU1_qWna6Hnl5OW0YuKO2HFQuFZ_fB7CHddpwajvSlp1Oal1C_95LMRhYaFfrt1MyEJgEWqNgUjn1DXzehMlm-h6aCmNPAj_-UwAFEcrMz_hbq9FeaX-Ks/s2048/IMG_8001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigokqOMIy6X4SwTCWoch_FHpU1_qWna6Hnl5OW0YuKO2HFQuFZ_fB7CHddpwajvSlp1Oal1C_95LMRhYaFfrt1MyEJgEWqNgUjn1DXzehMlm-h6aCmNPAj_-UwAFEcrMz_hbq9FeaX-Ks/w480-h640/IMG_8001.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuKBXE4E6rK1yuMjEyFGqs5eOGsRJZwYXmknlGVXYyRu6y14kptSBHOdXkxmrRiR1h-SC8JmTYspRctgxVjy5b5zPJh8eWeUOs0nRTBeZIuzWVRqbT3A8VEMxauLO5SEdrPUexod2Mi4/s2048/IMG_8005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuKBXE4E6rK1yuMjEyFGqs5eOGsRJZwYXmknlGVXYyRu6y14kptSBHOdXkxmrRiR1h-SC8JmTYspRctgxVjy5b5zPJh8eWeUOs0nRTBeZIuzWVRqbT3A8VEMxauLO5SEdrPUexod2Mi4/w480-h640/IMG_8005.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0LrIWhtr37TepBakxPuKXk9C52pYV7DKQ4uQITlFfyolzQ2t1sc5RHiucy5Dt_GR8K_tUVhBPE8pw_TnfNgwOlwn_-QQVLasK88yua_8zdO1hi_X1bpLdw_rL5MEhyphenhyphenDGYsCRx1WLk-8/s2048/IMG_8022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0LrIWhtr37TepBakxPuKXk9C52pYV7DKQ4uQITlFfyolzQ2t1sc5RHiucy5Dt_GR8K_tUVhBPE8pw_TnfNgwOlwn_-QQVLasK88yua_8zdO1hi_X1bpLdw_rL5MEhyphenhyphenDGYsCRx1WLk-8/w640-h480/IMG_8022.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2aoxjlJKvv98gY_sw7_aYatTPAies5Ybkhs96lvmdTY8Ux00JcLwun1gqph-kK8Msb594sCyxXFdDximRKA_LVN9iyqTJH_-dswM6lwCRvL4cuyg8kc3Ihf8MwX75DuTX6Xm-l088KsA/s1816/IMG_E3831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1712" data-original-width="1816" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2aoxjlJKvv98gY_sw7_aYatTPAies5Ybkhs96lvmdTY8Ux00JcLwun1gqph-kK8Msb594sCyxXFdDximRKA_LVN9iyqTJH_-dswM6lwCRvL4cuyg8kc3Ihf8MwX75DuTX6Xm-l088KsA/w640-h604/IMG_E3831.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NL1GToqUvw6bLmUEtT7d1YlU7XtDXPIUHCH54HlurMt-CK6jObpq0zRgQ0IyEueFCE4vZyc6B_blcZh7mPtVN6BU_FYTpzeJmi_80hIa1a7XUFRIdK_q3rly-3IZhPP6gkCaAQDxbmU/s2048/IMG_E3832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1269" data-original-width="2048" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NL1GToqUvw6bLmUEtT7d1YlU7XtDXPIUHCH54HlurMt-CK6jObpq0zRgQ0IyEueFCE4vZyc6B_blcZh7mPtVN6BU_FYTpzeJmi_80hIa1a7XUFRIdK_q3rly-3IZhPP6gkCaAQDxbmU/w640-h396/IMG_E3832.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Christmas Day</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After a pretty busy holiday season, it was nice to wrap it up with some quiet time at home just to ourselves- in our Christmas Jumpers - before heading out for our last trip of the year. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRLxKwf4q2FHUBjv5wbM1ljbqKVU7zgkFaijXzO_lwgTyIuK_AZqPIevfvVO30p_tmHjvAvHP3WYC4sDzCYJMU2cR20ofPg7x1X1xKUcT00-5Xuglxu965b334VcGEZKvw7hKXQ1Axgc/s2048/IMG_8081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRLxKwf4q2FHUBjv5wbM1ljbqKVU7zgkFaijXzO_lwgTyIuK_AZqPIevfvVO30p_tmHjvAvHP3WYC4sDzCYJMU2cR20ofPg7x1X1xKUcT00-5Xuglxu965b334VcGEZKvw7hKXQ1Axgc/w640-h480/IMG_8081.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQwzDkVQc-FrlVADLFzM7HPCrVov9_XmOQJh6ggbZFLwhKeFeyLli291KiqyJQri2JEf4f6-g_3ZvVtf6JpVOiuSV2K0Wm99HOARXOdQH9H4fuoOF2mByhul7IdPBkkIDnvLI3rJtHEg/s1866/IMG_E8094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1639" data-original-width="1866" height="562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQwzDkVQc-FrlVADLFzM7HPCrVov9_XmOQJh6ggbZFLwhKeFeyLli291KiqyJQri2JEf4f6-g_3ZvVtf6JpVOiuSV2K0Wm99HOARXOdQH9H4fuoOF2mByhul7IdPBkkIDnvLI3rJtHEg/w640-h562/IMG_E8094.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmjMP7RjBikAEURyMiJTE_WW241ulnkGnZ_aIPxUil5ddVptRBKtpA6uygDahX9B2KVVD4rWUKwH5_bjMXOiC5sULpiTRKbgWq5s67mBNp8Og6NAxlZfrYNR3QfRpyqgwCrlVfvHXy1M/s2048/IMG_8145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmjMP7RjBikAEURyMiJTE_WW241ulnkGnZ_aIPxUil5ddVptRBKtpA6uygDahX9B2KVVD4rWUKwH5_bjMXOiC5sULpiTRKbgWq5s67mBNp8Og6NAxlZfrYNR3QfRpyqgwCrlVfvHXy1M/w480-h640/IMG_8145.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqTht2jzFkgm-xR2QzbMA76ahET38jbi_fH7fa9aYwpdce1i0FCvouIyHey9I-YU-Z5slbiZRe_dWdUF4pW7pkYQjkgwi36kskApvpHfYaF8LObLxagZqL1jf-kXOe9j_t4_818Rsajs/s2048/IMG_E8156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1884" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqTht2jzFkgm-xR2QzbMA76ahET38jbi_fH7fa9aYwpdce1i0FCvouIyHey9I-YU-Z5slbiZRe_dWdUF4pW7pkYQjkgwi36kskApvpHfYaF8LObLxagZqL1jf-kXOe9j_t4_818Rsajs/w588-h640/IMG_E8156.JPG" width="588" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyogQ_Y1-f8pZQHJfuxwrz2FLMgIXwIpg46xvFY8Zh-i_2-BHjI1XGfODnAQ1IQzcL52GSh8_jmJUpO63yjWEtjjkJUNC1vu0EhKcGPd8p2vkKnKfqXKlyCdlX57tUR0MHg-NwcQaCFcw/s2048/IMG_8210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyogQ_Y1-f8pZQHJfuxwrz2FLMgIXwIpg46xvFY8Zh-i_2-BHjI1XGfODnAQ1IQzcL52GSh8_jmJUpO63yjWEtjjkJUNC1vu0EhKcGPd8p2vkKnKfqXKlyCdlX57tUR0MHg-NwcQaCFcw/w480-h640/IMG_8210.JPG" width="480" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-73470003757700897932020-10-08T03:05:00.001-07:002020-10-08T03:05:06.018-07:00A Long Weekend in Amsterdam<p>So, as I mentioned in my last post, our big kid started school. That meant a lot of changes for us, but one big one was that we could no longer travel whenever we wanted and instead had to stick to the school schedule. In fact, if we took him on vacation when school was in session, we could be fined. Schools are year-round here, so they go almost all the way through the summer and have long breaks between each term, and then a week off halfway through each term. Juggling childcare for all these breaks is hard, but that's a different issue. So - once he was through his first half term, it was time for a week off and well-earned vacation! It was now the end of October and super rainy. As usual, we waited a bit too late to decide, and the only affordable option was to do a few days in Amsterdam. It wasn't exactly our first choice - but it turned out to be a fantastic getaway.</p><p><b>Day 0: Travel Day</b></p><p>We would've loved to take the train - which is only 4 hours to get from London to Amsterdam, but it was like 10x the cost of the plane. So we caught a cheap plane (less than 30 minutes), and navigated to our Airbnb. Having learned this lesson before, they stayed in and unpacked while I went out in search of a grocery store for dinner. By the time I had come back, they had cleaned the house out of snacks and beers and were all passed out. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRevtSIjn9_is6EI95CYnJhQlCFWqxcyf7jL-Lfey2JcQWkmn0wCyeaOQDS4WRx3-q5nNpEGhYejnA328stH5cWryjUqmQw293m-P0jWzHEQJBkrvOSkTeiLl8n0QK8i2-wCjHYIWozq8/s2048/IMG_7489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRevtSIjn9_is6EI95CYnJhQlCFWqxcyf7jL-Lfey2JcQWkmn0wCyeaOQDS4WRx3-q5nNpEGhYejnA328stH5cWryjUqmQw293m-P0jWzHEQJBkrvOSkTeiLl8n0QK8i2-wCjHYIWozq8/w480-h640/IMG_7489.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">travel pros - ready to fly!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Day 1: Pancakes, Walking Tour, Museums</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">First stop was to get pancakes! I wouldn't say the Netherlands are known for great cuisine exactly, but we knew a few tasty tidbits we needed to try- and massive pancakes cooked with apples and bacon inside, covered with Stroop- which is like super condensed, extra sweet maple syrup, seemed like a good way to start the rainy day. </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrE2q1QRe3ut_v6Qi1paklnYloThNncKz7bplSKg97cAfq5XIjl2z2GbT8zCjb-EnaABAjK6lorw_o2bOdFOysBjvldvBkTCoIhCdpoAYKaDiIWWRlMsvjoot9StNGpOuTtwMBLg9UifE/s2048/IMG_3262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrE2q1QRe3ut_v6Qi1paklnYloThNncKz7bplSKg97cAfq5XIjl2z2GbT8zCjb-EnaABAjK6lorw_o2bOdFOysBjvldvBkTCoIhCdpoAYKaDiIWWRlMsvjoot9StNGpOuTtwMBLg9UifE/w480-h640/IMG_3262.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">coffee with a little stroopwaffle cookie</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg3RCSdF7LflIwTGJrEzty1I4Bnw9G1sJ4XiHb_X9F-Majn_xWsPZwDt1t_j8abTVNt6IvMAYc81t_DM7xWzUU9nINJgL0Dex9Cw0USPDaT_wo8NuvkxBB4ZtByXXybS7siOIrAQCa3A/s2048/IMG_3264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg3RCSdF7LflIwTGJrEzty1I4Bnw9G1sJ4XiHb_X9F-Majn_xWsPZwDt1t_j8abTVNt6IvMAYc81t_DM7xWzUU9nINJgL0Dex9Cw0USPDaT_wo8NuvkxBB4ZtByXXybS7siOIrAQCa3A/w480-h640/IMG_3264.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">that is the tub of stroop on the table</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu5gWHrnvOn2Y_5TD7z87G7ufxHl8fdPKW0ALM5Aztfc2pThKOR64TQWn0sOLG9AZD_ZfOnEImDldUzpDPaD-UW5CpcsPmBiCW5fi7FIw1a1n4-bCqPyXK1D3JNuetp0_ClCfRO14TaU/s2048/IMG_7501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu5gWHrnvOn2Y_5TD7z87G7ufxHl8fdPKW0ALM5Aztfc2pThKOR64TQWn0sOLG9AZD_ZfOnEImDldUzpDPaD-UW5CpcsPmBiCW5fi7FIw1a1n4-bCqPyXK1D3JNuetp0_ClCfRO14TaU/w640-h480/IMG_7501.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">this is a pancake.</div><p>Then we walked into the old part of the city - past the old square and royal palace and into Begijnhof - which is this super cool hidden courtyard that was sort of a hidden convent of sorts. Lots of breaks to pop into cheese stores and get snacks along the way.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildmorIn4TlCeMzcHFlSi_tTdtknlowG6D01Jy71mKsJw1NgKW8mzEbSayj7djfflIy0AEyLkhsDZrfUwM9lfs1sw-0br272uWAZMkm1glsA_SS7VNBlbYjilWDZ6sFQwRmCjWnjZLNZ4/s2048/IMG_3275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildmorIn4TlCeMzcHFlSi_tTdtknlowG6D01Jy71mKsJw1NgKW8mzEbSayj7djfflIy0AEyLkhsDZrfUwM9lfs1sw-0br272uWAZMkm1glsA_SS7VNBlbYjilWDZ6sFQwRmCjWnjZLNZ4/w480-h640/IMG_3275.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Royal Palace</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNxgrujmrxHBr3-SA65OId9R91QkBgRGnPKGFb57X1LssjoyieJWLp1Hn6f-3vRuWfRd3drDUJErUSN2ml83grCj6gds789b37pdhmzL-USXPzHaKJcNZ4BbzdLljLKQnvIJzLcxm8wA/s2048/IMG_3279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNxgrujmrxHBr3-SA65OId9R91QkBgRGnPKGFb57X1LssjoyieJWLp1Hn6f-3vRuWfRd3drDUJErUSN2ml83grCj6gds789b37pdhmzL-USXPzHaKJcNZ4BbzdLljLKQnvIJzLcxm8wA/w480-h640/IMG_3279.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I am truly shocked that we didn't return with one of these massive cheese wheels. These boys love their cheese.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieg_U3GB8qdPe48F1Mfsx1Io5OKvVN2SqxXy_bthI487p8MFZ9Wbe_yaIbNiHjNPP66tBG9fwqoNIGJ-CqHg-YcDaU-nB-IEt9bPvsjp2rocRiV2hAaPkTyRlYJBgnX2-kxYcG4HnbrkA/s2048/IMG_E3284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1355" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieg_U3GB8qdPe48F1Mfsx1Io5OKvVN2SqxXy_bthI487p8MFZ9Wbe_yaIbNiHjNPP66tBG9fwqoNIGJ-CqHg-YcDaU-nB-IEt9bPvsjp2rocRiV2hAaPkTyRlYJBgnX2-kxYcG4HnbrkA/w424-h640/IMG_E3284.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the Begijnhof - a truly charming oasis in the middle of the city</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Next, we hopped the streetcar to the museum district. We knew we could only pick one - so we opted for the Van Gogh Museum. The other big museum that would've been cool to see is the Rijksmuseum, which is just across the way from the Van Gogh, making a very cool museumy-parky-area to stroll around. I had the baby in the carrier on me for all this time, and we decided to put the big kid in a stroller in the museum. That made it easy for us to split up, kind of look at the art, and keep moving. Our big kid was not impressed, so being able to just push him along helped. We did discover that scavenger hunts in art museums kind of make it more interesting for him - but mostly we just have to move along quickly. <div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWlWQDINTOO5FR9HmEYjJQJJszaf4DyUvrYpMJCJ6atdj7gTQyRr0bCb7vVS9lIDxAdApCitDRtnumOUKNq5TstqTyQkz4yuvn14K-JeVSLvt51R_Xi7vbYhvl2-y3WOPujjtwMjVqvQ/s2048/IMG_7503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWlWQDINTOO5FR9HmEYjJQJJszaf4DyUvrYpMJCJ6atdj7gTQyRr0bCb7vVS9lIDxAdApCitDRtnumOUKNq5TstqTyQkz4yuvn14K-JeVSLvt51R_Xi7vbYhvl2-y3WOPujjtwMjVqvQ/w480-h640/IMG_7503.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">onwards to the museum district</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fEwTj3VvMlucVaj3kKDggu2teQai7P-yxJ3fZd9KdENzlRsZQjjGABxjfr2JAJaeN-Py2qvus_v-SvCBYVG4J5Gbbr1ETzBsu-9qZquh11QCjunYuWDfm_jnyT8JFAw9vKknoAOyHUg/s2048/IMG_3302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fEwTj3VvMlucVaj3kKDggu2teQai7P-yxJ3fZd9KdENzlRsZQjjGABxjfr2JAJaeN-Py2qvus_v-SvCBYVG4J5Gbbr1ETzBsu-9qZquh11QCjunYuWDfm_jnyT8JFAw9vKknoAOyHUg/w640-h480/IMG_3302.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">museums! (and non cooperative 4 year olds).</div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqlSMiFe34kwYZUsvKZ2tVGGaadPE26BnxTM7wm5Oz02acvDi7zdbspjss6kZDm0GuQQC6rPjv112PTTywfOV-8n6UQmD07rHvV5ULdsWKFVXE7CuVjkWCyj0kh3-AGMKoR8ZzAYNu58/s2048/IMG_3305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqlSMiFe34kwYZUsvKZ2tVGGaadPE26BnxTM7wm5Oz02acvDi7zdbspjss6kZDm0GuQQC6rPjv112PTTywfOV-8n6UQmD07rHvV5ULdsWKFVXE7CuVjkWCyj0kh3-AGMKoR8ZzAYNu58/w480-h640/IMG_3305.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">this was his favorite Van Gogh. Not sure why exactly, but he was into it.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIe8C4zNqSBXP88rpyrN4eUM0B_W-ay1tGTKX6aMl8OzrhdX2vfvaxLZiXveJ46tW5xLe_CP8rrlLW9VQfyrmhTrbV6Ql3EPnIFODksCXkoJadGNdyXYPVtf19hZCr346s2ZjHrZxdG4/s2048/IMG_7513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIe8C4zNqSBXP88rpyrN4eUM0B_W-ay1tGTKX6aMl8OzrhdX2vfvaxLZiXveJ46tW5xLe_CP8rrlLW9VQfyrmhTrbV6Ql3EPnIFODksCXkoJadGNdyXYPVtf19hZCr346s2ZjHrZxdG4/w640-h480/IMG_7513.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">this face is a combination of: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1) This place is so beautiful and, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2)We're almost back to the hotel and I can't wait to take this baby off!!!</div><p></p><p>Last stop was dinner - we went to an amazing little restaurant known for its traditional Dutch food, which basically is a lot like English or German food - super heavy stuff to keep you warm and sober you up after too much beer. Lots of mashed potatoes and sausages - but after a long, cold rainy day, it really was pretty perfect. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_m7-zvJ7lxSf0J3ZVY9sRRQIBXeppdo3HbbZtOEGtfpOWcz7U1U1OucRD1e0H6d0XuB8O7aEZVE8xXkXxwQ3p1BILChbJmGXbsjSvA20FmpZFf5f6pt_RQ0LS61MBzRTAdH39Nns1zQ/s2048/IMG_3311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_m7-zvJ7lxSf0J3ZVY9sRRQIBXeppdo3HbbZtOEGtfpOWcz7U1U1OucRD1e0H6d0XuB8O7aEZVE8xXkXxwQ3p1BILChbJmGXbsjSvA20FmpZFf5f6pt_RQ0LS61MBzRTAdH39Nns1zQ/w480-h640/IMG_3311.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdk_LYoFTlbA_olpmEkOdYZ8V4bt77GG5crUTSfhksH3TiGqUB4RT-3ux1DOCAuU1Ode7aRZNM6ctGJ0jlSRBWRlUNI18GSk2X74bqgmNwM57tLKhIVkn8un0xDN4Qk8SlUhov_jTC2g/s2048/IMG_3321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdk_LYoFTlbA_olpmEkOdYZ8V4bt77GG5crUTSfhksH3TiGqUB4RT-3ux1DOCAuU1Ode7aRZNM6ctGJ0jlSRBWRlUNI18GSk2X74bqgmNwM57tLKhIVkn8un0xDN4Qk8SlUhov_jTC2g/w480-h640/IMG_3321.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbn5OAKP9w84D7qlwaq6VA5MEyz40oEFaA_I1ZLjHGlWUhI0nhv7D6F9kZtOtZlO_SJhbF9HmFKwtJx0yFAWWoDuq47w3Gy1w75EiWFF3fBf_1iFnYZXT48LPzd_z87G8nniVnRQHOUs/s2048/IMG_3324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbn5OAKP9w84D7qlwaq6VA5MEyz40oEFaA_I1ZLjHGlWUhI0nhv7D6F9kZtOtZlO_SJhbF9HmFKwtJx0yFAWWoDuq47w3Gy1w75EiWFF3fBf_1iFnYZXT48LPzd_z87G8nniVnRQHOUs/w480-h640/IMG_3324.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">walking home along the canals at night</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGNlOyCCIsBTOPMS6Es56AHX-yCoUnLZ2wTKw4B7HwAtpJ8yBCVrIJGMwbJUnKmtLTcYntLnDTcZuBMkLIVm_aoWQN0Int_FVBGWH6Kzz1TKItnLfPNYPJBkMUO7cNj29zRsyu9MLUNw/s2048/IMG_7521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGNlOyCCIsBTOPMS6Es56AHX-yCoUnLZ2wTKw4B7HwAtpJ8yBCVrIJGMwbJUnKmtLTcYntLnDTcZuBMkLIVm_aoWQN0Int_FVBGWH6Kzz1TKItnLfPNYPJBkMUO7cNj29zRsyu9MLUNw/w640-h480/IMG_7521.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p><b>Day 2: Markets, Pie & Boats</b></p><p>So we started Day 2 by heading to the market, the <i>Nieuwmarkt</i>. Again, it was a rainy day, so there weren't a lot of people there and the vendors were mostly covering up their goods. But, the big treat was to have a fresh stroopwaffle. So, stroop- as I said is thick syrup, and they put it between two thin waffles for a little cookie. We'd had a bunch already - but a fresh one turned out to be unbelievable.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkpuvS4BYJuOGEqXdPxhMZjndVaxReydfOxw_1SQacg_gN5vn0jHGO_PSlQFt-xbUGmO1GgCwD-lxCPoNzecICNqOpV4wyz6fNlTOgHgK3-BXHayBf6a5SRBjcBPxs_uABIFYPCo-eIE/s2048/IMG_7533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkpuvS4BYJuOGEqXdPxhMZjndVaxReydfOxw_1SQacg_gN5vn0jHGO_PSlQFt-xbUGmO1GgCwD-lxCPoNzecICNqOpV4wyz6fNlTOgHgK3-BXHayBf6a5SRBjcBPxs_uABIFYPCo-eIE/w640-h480/IMG_7533.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">trying the fresh stroopwaffle</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHjI2qyWStwRhQIeApOSH5s2mYvwtpPjmWdg2aBdilJPcgQCiBmjjhGMx0trYC_UlnREHw05JzyjWC6npYg3EJ4iwB-MOuIFtSg52oA0HO4VcffHknONKDtP91LKkYLyB97wlUy9GeVY/s2048/IMG_3348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHjI2qyWStwRhQIeApOSH5s2mYvwtpPjmWdg2aBdilJPcgQCiBmjjhGMx0trYC_UlnREHw05JzyjWC6npYg3EJ4iwB-MOuIFtSg52oA0HO4VcffHknONKDtP91LKkYLyB97wlUy9GeVY/w480-h640/IMG_3348.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">we're soon full of sugar!!!</div><p></p><p>Then, as if we hadn't already had enough sugar- we went in search of the best apple pie, as suggested by our hotel lady. It was a nice stroll along the canals until we found it- and yah, she was right, it was amazing. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkUyigP5EfIfBb48uEkR91odajg19rY5ya1scQ5k86Jcs9THrziLo5h-6eISVZ042SqMjN1t9jexPalbFThUXl22qqjw_u8wr_xStkpgxBG1QBSt4DhUxjVj6tbpUGxuJXm4ahZe5DKw/s2048/IMG_3360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkUyigP5EfIfBb48uEkR91odajg19rY5ya1scQ5k86Jcs9THrziLo5h-6eISVZ042SqMjN1t9jexPalbFThUXl22qqjw_u8wr_xStkpgxBG1QBSt4DhUxjVj6tbpUGxuJXm4ahZe5DKw/w480-h640/IMG_3360.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">yes, babies like pie. Who knew?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6ujxnbNkauu3BsZA0FCKkxkPSjud3Z33RHtpprvxvxLh50roIArBNsnQy2xBZg9tJoHTd1pL9QQ8O_0WM8gwCFMFsG9FRKoQn_q042rowiZjWcQW4546uWCeMXYfPZlHUvdgf1FOzOs/s2048/IMG_E7543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6ujxnbNkauu3BsZA0FCKkxkPSjud3Z33RHtpprvxvxLh50roIArBNsnQy2xBZg9tJoHTd1pL9QQ8O_0WM8gwCFMFsG9FRKoQn_q042rowiZjWcQW4546uWCeMXYfPZlHUvdgf1FOzOs/w480-h640/IMG_E7543.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">helping me by holding the umbrella. </div> <p></p><p>After another long morning of walking around town, the big guy was getting pretty red out - so it was a perfect time to hop on a boat tour. I'm a big fan of boat tours no matter what - it's just nice to see a city from a different perspective - but in particular when you have little people that need a rest. So, we had an hour or so driving around the canals, which was just lovely and a welcome break from the walking. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsDXvSvgL6kxQTRADr9E7gg8VY8xnPbdsGGN92Bj_X9RMQkFMMrhWVid2XJsh3_Lk1SaLxImd3iPVs5MkLFeEA6dE6JROymHUKaPydW3QCc48pWQp6G4uxAo7GKHq8n9GOl1LmMb0m8g/s2048/IMG_3383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsDXvSvgL6kxQTRADr9E7gg8VY8xnPbdsGGN92Bj_X9RMQkFMMrhWVid2XJsh3_Lk1SaLxImd3iPVs5MkLFeEA6dE6JROymHUKaPydW3QCc48pWQp6G4uxAo7GKHq8n9GOl1LmMb0m8g/w480-h640/IMG_3383.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">baby fell asleep just before getting on the boat! Awesome!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdICQDJwUe8iw9sUpi4spix6mnNZP931l_17y5m_WG74hxw0BRBrXKTtDr1iqc347P2HjzW9A3WwbsicCfR56AVXFODtOy1fON8G7VqRw0m0ChJf-xN-g1wvxSSR2ovIegX7se3_yLUc/s2048/IMG_7548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdICQDJwUe8iw9sUpi4spix6mnNZP931l_17y5m_WG74hxw0BRBrXKTtDr1iqc347P2HjzW9A3WwbsicCfR56AVXFODtOy1fON8G7VqRw0m0ChJf-xN-g1wvxSSR2ovIegX7se3_yLUc/w480-h640/IMG_7548.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">chilling on the boat</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKGvdpEZtfR-KL8ljKNJ6AsMezbMs8JuucOJOYuZowfPaeWUpYWIK2K-lxTgxSo69xj4k9vsNTIZayfGIigR4oKXO1lUPcJpMVPutQzwSINYym76lFcqQv5JBH1Qe3CH1pnlYx3t19FE/s2048/IMG_7562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKGvdpEZtfR-KL8ljKNJ6AsMezbMs8JuucOJOYuZowfPaeWUpYWIK2K-lxTgxSo69xj4k9vsNTIZayfGIigR4oKXO1lUPcJpMVPutQzwSINYym76lFcqQv5JBH1Qe3CH1pnlYx3t19FE/w640-h360/IMG_7562.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">charming city</div><p>The boat put us out right near the Anne Frank House, which is listed as one the top sights you must see in Amsterdam. We both wanted to see it, but definitely didn't want to take the kids - and didn't want to lose a lot of time by having one of us go and then switch - so we came to the conclusion that we'd see it the next time we were here. But still, we both felt bad and kind of regretted the choice. Instead, we wandered around a bit, and headed back to the hotel for a nap break. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejYhBzHEcFb0I_QR97oXDsthKeAwC_LtMYOcyyBnDddSPlCBc8R360jdRLTDwepmaQH62g1Ml9xcOoEI-EOz8lgBpZ1iHOU4l-zDluyatIQmz3S_85e01y5ETd-UU5PlFyuaNfhdC7J0/s2048/IMG_3385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejYhBzHEcFb0I_QR97oXDsthKeAwC_LtMYOcyyBnDddSPlCBc8R360jdRLTDwepmaQH62g1Ml9xcOoEI-EOz8lgBpZ1iHOU4l-zDluyatIQmz3S_85e01y5ETd-UU5PlFyuaNfhdC7J0/w640-h480/IMG_3385.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zYOnLvoLgIyHuar-tcOi5EleoY6Vb80MPDs7dPqVWnzBet5K6QwJ8XIArUTDnHWQ7PbJmPD5Q-gx_9hUFNAdOBiu-ADFX-Fyq4zKkTOHWqYp0v_WBVxUrPymmgkYAbGvNXwUmlgySlk/s2048/IMG_7546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zYOnLvoLgIyHuar-tcOi5EleoY6Vb80MPDs7dPqVWnzBet5K6QwJ8XIArUTDnHWQ7PbJmPD5Q-gx_9hUFNAdOBiu-ADFX-Fyq4zKkTOHWqYp0v_WBVxUrPymmgkYAbGvNXwUmlgySlk/w480-h640/IMG_7546.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">it is just so scenic here. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YYPgdFHABDB3W1COZjbMM9ptbu4wQOhvPabxbTJpPgQhZU3dltVXb-kO2LGKKqQpO38TiGOqSb2OeKZltWO0_P9Tslz5D1xEQ_nkSerfVqIGx9HP-9l9kzSDWTVX5hDI9XuIz-Q-mJ4/s2048/IMG_7583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YYPgdFHABDB3W1COZjbMM9ptbu4wQOhvPabxbTJpPgQhZU3dltVXb-kO2LGKKqQpO38TiGOqSb2OeKZltWO0_P9Tslz5D1xEQ_nkSerfVqIGx9HP-9l9kzSDWTVX5hDI9XuIz-Q-mJ4/w480-h640/IMG_7583.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>So the last stop was dinner. Indonesia was previously a dutch colony, so the Netherlands has a huge Indonesian food scene now. There's something called a <i>rijsttafel</i>, or "rice table' where you are given a central plate of rice and the like 20 other dishes. And we just had to check it out. Thankfully, I think at least one or two of those dishes were compatible with our picky eaters, and we were happy to wolf down the rest. Other than the fact that this was a huge amount of food, it was a nice break from all the traditional heavy dutch food we'd been having. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVfhj_2R4Zz_siM1TP6qK5TPvDb1n8ycsgCiNFCnNWD6e_dd-MQd2PaZQ2glt077tqKoaV-Q4AojsLZ0slHmx0puh9jz7Cgv9BI4V6HRj2hsg5M8eBH1WRwlg1RzOWVjuAp0XM5DYHDc/s2048/IMG_7594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVfhj_2R4Zz_siM1TP6qK5TPvDb1n8ycsgCiNFCnNWD6e_dd-MQd2PaZQ2glt077tqKoaV-Q4AojsLZ0slHmx0puh9jz7Cgv9BI4V6HRj2hsg5M8eBH1WRwlg1RzOWVjuAp0XM5DYHDc/w640-h480/IMG_7594.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">always playing cards while we wait</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3DHq0bOU9DbuKYPHoogiYzoqiMvKM52LcfrUZcAH4D8M2EIsONlQnb0W5ucyp2cJm06wGFn8NB0ALx3t6ogndGzAjt4SpgXKMBPaSljjnw-2hXlUqkdu66tNVoH9wAmxs2EjK9DIDjQ/s2048/IMG_3390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3DHq0bOU9DbuKYPHoogiYzoqiMvKM52LcfrUZcAH4D8M2EIsONlQnb0W5ucyp2cJm06wGFn8NB0ALx3t6ogndGzAjt4SpgXKMBPaSljjnw-2hXlUqkdu66tNVoH9wAmxs2EjK9DIDjQ/w480-h640/IMG_3390.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0ecp6njglZItNNlrDuiC-q4rn-e4EIMHjsjpGk-jxH-F9jMVjqz0R46fSKuqyaWKrriVvZCTE4JYc5PnYtMBYmEmYtRF-HwEIYwWwVU-H0tm6exBxY__FJ_k1kN7iq6hz0oUoYd_sHA/s2048/IMG_7595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0ecp6njglZItNNlrDuiC-q4rn-e4EIMHjsjpGk-jxH-F9jMVjqz0R46fSKuqyaWKrriVvZCTE4JYc5PnYtMBYmEmYtRF-HwEIYwWwVU-H0tm6exBxY__FJ_k1kN7iq6hz0oUoYd_sHA/w640-h480/IMG_7595.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">crazy excited about this!!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvrGNLgh78dzTEgWYyoEzoESlMWfVakwNsEmdYQ0PfBGYupAdNhtwaQtdCDKdBH9ClNUvMPC7E9ZvdAHj4WIH61NpjzXZ9ixFj4GO7YKglnQaDJkrlC4lRkAqvGWu72cWB4ZKXAr9INw/s2048/IMG_7596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvrGNLgh78dzTEgWYyoEzoESlMWfVakwNsEmdYQ0PfBGYupAdNhtwaQtdCDKdBH9ClNUvMPC7E9ZvdAHj4WIH61NpjzXZ9ixFj4GO7YKglnQaDJkrlC4lRkAqvGWu72cWB4ZKXAr9INw/w640-h480/IMG_7596.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Day 3: Travel</b></p><p>And that was it. Time to check out and get moving again. We hopped the train back to the airport and onwards back home. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DK_4MjfwhcZAfMZBBFq322ViJGIbAuCNGK8S4Anp9HW7tEGTjDBY7QPfGYNyf8W1LJFwz6Dv3do47uY-0IDQx4iWDAF1OulJLahCBCxvG8qi4aRCEFsMuoIF5hNiCOf1bHlkG__2xZo/s2048/IMG_3397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DK_4MjfwhcZAfMZBBFq322ViJGIbAuCNGK8S4Anp9HW7tEGTjDBY7QPfGYNyf8W1LJFwz6Dv3do47uY-0IDQx4iWDAF1OulJLahCBCxvG8qi4aRCEFsMuoIF5hNiCOf1bHlkG__2xZo/w480-h640/IMG_3397.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">baby food on the train</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_XbKdVq8f8g5K-b4N0gWDtaHqa6_AfOKNyES8rWz1boGmXuUIWH_cmwgR_hBIgtogWcugDsMfkbOlbvpmZsxCp_92TcJKd6YeyFIKITVwhzxSQwh0yLM0ZIW_QqkPD_eC9stNA8A5qY/s2048/IMG_7621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_XbKdVq8f8g5K-b4N0gWDtaHqa6_AfOKNyES8rWz1boGmXuUIWH_cmwgR_hBIgtogWcugDsMfkbOlbvpmZsxCp_92TcJKd6YeyFIKITVwhzxSQwh0yLM0ZIW_QqkPD_eC9stNA8A5qY/w480-h640/IMG_7621.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpSSFXkE77og_sqIMKHVBmcwrMgkUqcTKGBB7B4WRiYjgRH1yZWTbf_2DQ5UvcUVLKDpUekffTAy-RYhiyZ9FcrinkaPHolpeoiCXlXihvKN9PhDc_Qm0CIJlenSM07nGaeYC0MyUjaQ/s2048/IMG_7622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpSSFXkE77og_sqIMKHVBmcwrMgkUqcTKGBB7B4WRiYjgRH1yZWTbf_2DQ5UvcUVLKDpUekffTAy-RYhiyZ9FcrinkaPHolpeoiCXlXihvKN9PhDc_Qm0CIJlenSM07nGaeYC0MyUjaQ/w480-h640/IMG_7622.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p><b>Conclusions:</b></p><p>- In general, this was a really great trip. It felt pretty easy, nothing was hugely stressful. Maybe we're just getting better at the whole traveling with kids thing, or Amsterdam is just kind of the perfect size. But everything went really well. </p><p>- Thankfully we did not ever need a car on this trip, so we didn't have either the car seat or booster. We did make the mistake of bringing a pack and play with us, only to discover that the Airbnb did have one (always ask even if they don't list it!). So we had to haul it around going to and from the airport - thankfully we've learned to put the baby on me and the pack and play in the stroller - so no one actually has to carry it much. </p><p>- The first grocery stop was super useful not only to get us through that first night's dinner, but to put something healthy in everyone's stomach for breakfast. All this stroop is total crack - so making sure there was a good layer of yogurt and fruit in their bellies first helped keep them from going completely nuts. </p><p>- We had the stroller with us as well as the baby carrier which allowed us to swap around and let the big kid have a rest every now and then. Because it's pretty collapsible, we could take it into museums and onto boats - but it was also durable enough to handle cobblestones, so perfect!</p><p>- It would definitely have been nice to spend more time there. At least another day would've been great. This was actually the most expensive hotel we had ever had to pay for - this is not a cheap place - so we were a bit limited by that. Maybe getting to explore some of the other places in the Netherlands would've been nice- and obviously coming at a nicer time of year would've been easier. But mostly, we were absolutely charmed by the city and would really love to go back. </p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-58924444967305254302020-10-07T13:03:00.001-07:002020-10-07T13:03:04.117-07:00Figuring Out the English School System<p>So let's jump back a few years, if you don't mind. Before we moved, our son attended the daycare attached to my work, which we enrolled him in without much thought. When we arrived in London, he was now 2.5 years old, and we had only a month to find a place to live. We were frantically searching across the numerous neighborhoods in London- balancing commuting times with amenities, and not really thinking about schools at all. We quickly settled on our neighborhood because it's near a huge park and not too far from downtown, and then quickly just picked the daycare (nursery school) that was close by and had space available. Which is to say, not a lot of thought went into any of the schooling choices we had made by that point. </p><p>We were still in the fuzzy zone of having just arrived and getting settled, when I got pregnant again and was focused on that. Slowly, I became aware that we were supposed to be doing something about schools. In England, kids start school at age 4 in something called "Reception", which looks a lot like US Kindergarten, even though it's a year earlier. In fact, at our kiddo's third birthday, all the parents were abuzz about schools - who had the best test results, which ones they were checking out, and who had hired tutors for the upcoming entrance exams. I assumed they were talking about older siblings or something - and I guess blissfully ignored the hints. We were already behind. </p><p><b>The State School System</b></p><p>First thing's first: public schools are called "state schools" here. While every child is guaranteed a spot in a state school, there are no school zones like we have in the US. Instead, you apply for whichever schools you want, and will be accepted according to their priority rank system. For example, first priority might go to kids in foster care, 2nd to siblings of kids already enrolled, and 3rd to kids of staff, and then 4th would go to the general public. So, if the average class has 30 kids, maybe 1 is allocated to a kid in foster care, then 3 to siblings, and 1 to the kid of a staff- the remaining 25 spots are available to the general public. If way more than 25 kids applied for those spots, then they allocate them based on the distance from the school to the kid's house. Therefore, for really desirable schools, there are lots of kids applying for the available spots, and they are allocated only a really short distance from the school, known as the catchment area. In the best schools, the catchment area is literally only a block or two radius around the school, while the crummy schools have massive catchment areas maybe 1 mile radius. I first became aware of this problem when one our friends from nursery school mentioned they were moving so that they'd be closer to the school they wanted- and had literally measured the distance from the school to their door, and knew it was just a few hundred feet away. This still didn't ensure they would get in - so houses right next door to desirable schools are super expensive. </p><p><b>Private Schools</b></p><p>I don't have a lot to say about private schools because they were never even an option for us. Both my husband and I attended public schools as kids, so we just assumed that would be our kids' options too- at least for the first few years. We have slews of private schools around us - they tend to be small and all over the place. Most of the parents from our nursery school were sending their kids to private schools, so I wanted to at least look into it. It turns out, you have to get your kid on the waiting list with a hefty deposit ridiculously early- like when they're born- so we didn't even have a chance. With some tuitions around $30k per year, it just didn't seem realistic anyway. I will say it's really common here to go "State through 8" - switching to private schools before high school years. </p><p><b>School Visits & Ofsted Results</b></p><p>So- knowing that you don't have a guaranteed school that you are zoned to attend, means that absolutely everyone has to apply for a spot at a school, choosing between hundreds of schools to select their choices. To do this- there are two tools to get to know the different schools and figure out which ones are good. First, Ofsted is the government body that regulates schools. They use test results and other factors to rate the schools as being "Outstanding", "Good", or "Needs Improvement". There are very few "Outstandings" and the "Needs Improvements" are often forced to shutdown- so almost all schools are "Good". Turns out they also only update the ratings every 10 years or so- so not super helpful. </p><p>So the next option is to visit the school for one of the public viewing days. Some of our fellow parents were visiting 15-20 schools - including ones they knew they didn't have a chance to get into because they were so far out of the catchment area. I ended up attending 2 visits - one at the school directly across the street from us, and one at an "outstanding" school we didn't have a chance to get into, just for comparison. At this point I was 9 months pregnant, so definitely loved the extended walking tours up and down all the stairs and around to every single classroom. "Oh look it's a desk. That's great." What sealed the deal for me was that there was a natural playground on the school grounds with chicken, and our tour guide, who was maybe 8 years old, walked right up and picked one up, told us her name, and held her while he showed us around the forest area. When he put her down, she just continued on her way. Any school with relaxed chickens just seems pretty cool to me. So, we were decided- we would apply for the state school located literally across the street from us, where we were pretty confident we'd be able to get in. </p><p><b>Application Process</b></p><p>So just after the 2nd kid was born, we needed to get our application in. This turned out to be pretty difficult- as we needed a huge number of documents, like our lease, utility bills, letter from our nursery school, copy of our visas, and more - but at such a small data size that I was afraid nothing would be legible. And if any documents were missing or illegible, we would just be rejected from the system, with no schooling options. So I got all the documents, filled in our priorities, and then we just waited on pins and needles for months to hear if we'd gotten in. Thankfully, by April, we finally heard back and had gotten into our first choice. Also thankfully, one other boy from his nursery school had also gotten into our new school, so he would have a buddy. </p><p><b>Starting School</b></p><p>After one site visit to show him the room and meet his teacher, it was time for the first day of school. I think I hadn't really registered that this would be a big change - it seemed like he was already attending nursery school for full days in which they did a lot of learning in between playing - and school would be more of the same. In fact, his classroom was an entirely separate building on the campus of the bigger school with their own playground - it seemed a lot like more nursery school. But I was totally wrong - this was a huge change. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionrJPR54uislgU0_4pJXTiV5pRemC3Yk5wRYXT-Ynclw_LXyKxjX6SboIauiuWPcsoEZd6ufmT5oolDnN53TeZahkrWCkm0gnOjTew_EUcIX0Ife2804TH5mVnzVWJbo_EOvUgtwku78/s2048/IMG_E3024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1524" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionrJPR54uislgU0_4pJXTiV5pRemC3Yk5wRYXT-Ynclw_LXyKxjX6SboIauiuWPcsoEZd6ufmT5oolDnN53TeZahkrWCkm0gnOjTew_EUcIX0Ife2804TH5mVnzVWJbo_EOvUgtwku78/w476-h640/IMG_E3024.JPG" width="476" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">first day</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrC6eFxc6oFbzU2I0pw303k_5hJDezk5MULwep3FXWWa8XsTczUG1TueJuhhxyo4NCFwCs552ecx6gwMLkAf6S3WZauIJj4xzL99yjGPEk34woaw1cjNT4EDKuAtNURHmdkQn8bkdkxmc/s2048/IMG_7313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrC6eFxc6oFbzU2I0pw303k_5hJDezk5MULwep3FXWWa8XsTczUG1TueJuhhxyo4NCFwCs552ecx6gwMLkAf6S3WZauIJj4xzL99yjGPEk34woaw1cjNT4EDKuAtNURHmdkQn8bkdkxmc/w480-h640/IMG_7313.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">first day of school- sizing things up with his buddy</div><p>Firstly, the class size was much bigger so there was a lot less time for the teacher to spend one-on-one with him or me, for that matter. Instead of 12 kids with 2 teachers, we were now 60 kids with 3 teachers. So at the old nursery, his teacher would sit with him over lunch to encourage him to eat all his vegetables. On the first day of the new school, our teacher called me over and said "he takes too long to eat, you need to fix that". Clearly no hand holding or extended parent-teacher discussions about how to work together to address an issue. </p><p>Secondly, a lot of kids were way behind. English schools do not expect children to come in knowing anything at all - other than maybe their names - and the expectation is that everything will be taught. But our nursery school had been downright draconian- forcing him to copy words over and over and even sending him home with homework (at 3 years old), so we was way ahead. Because there are just so many kids - the ability to customize the curriculum is pretty limited. We understood that he was in the top reading groups and math groups, but other than that - had no idea what he was working on and whether or not he was being challenged. </p><p><b>Nursery School</b></p><p>At the same time our big kid was starting primary school, we decided it was time for our little guy to start nursery school. He had been home with me for 9 months, and I needed a break. We found a great nursery school that was nearby (not the super strict one our older kid had attended), and I loved it. The only problem was that they only had availability 3 days a week - so 2 days a week he was still home with me and the other 3 he was at school full time. He refused to nap there - so those three days he would come home absolutely exhausted and just yell at us through dinner until we put him to bed. On the days he was home with me, inevitably his afternoon nap would fall just at the time I needed to leave to pick up our eldest - so I'd have to wake him up and bring a sobbing baby to school with me- and then get yelled at until bed time. Not surprisingly, the combination of lack of sleep and being exposed to new kids meant he was just sick every other week. If he spiked a fever over 100, he then had to stay home for the next 2 days. So he was constantly home with me, and whenever her wasn't - I was afraid of getting the call to come pick him up. I remember one day I was going for a walk in the park and then had a panic attack because I thought I'd left the baby at home alone- I ran home frantically before I realized it was a daycare day and he was fine. </p><p><b>Failing to Adjust</b></p><p>Both of the boys settled into their new schools pretty quickly and were happy to be there. I, on the other hand, had a ridiculously hard time. He was usually in a uniform, but there seemed to be a million different reasons to not wear the uniform. Every Friday he needed PE clothes. There were a lot of dress up days for school fundraising- wear mismatched socks for bullying, or "funny sports" clothes for cancer somehow?. Then there were the class dress up days, like a pirate for the class theme, the Christmas play- often things we would find out the night before. Ever the environmentalist - I hated the idea of buying cheap polyester clothes from China to be worn once and then thrown out - so I would try to make his costumes out of things we had around the house - but that was pretty tricky when he had so few nonuniform clothes to work with. Eventually I learned to just tape things onto his pajamas.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5DxDlE0TC-X0Om3L8BOWodecO8YAbIRiGzCfPUBCwIBqDHzXWn90yLbqiaReJvsxUIqejW3awsw8UBDqFDkHjX12bJgWI3sVN4YJu0xVDs9aCk1gYY0UZHjs7ptdTDO4a9fJ_mWdmWc/s2048/IMG_3407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5DxDlE0TC-X0Om3L8BOWodecO8YAbIRiGzCfPUBCwIBqDHzXWn90yLbqiaReJvsxUIqejW3awsw8UBDqFDkHjX12bJgWI3sVN4YJu0xVDs9aCk1gYY0UZHjs7ptdTDO4a9fJ_mWdmWc/s320/IMG_3407.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">pirate costume</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDOruf9ZORQZr5pbVT-qz1zNklbioI2sjV4RkQ9I4O9BhkKWZBbJ2qboOotw67hXtQx3Nj27RC-PDDbfD9lpFscHi3gGi4Aix-tCjUbuamXfpOHURiN3LDg4OwOrwrCHz9GgoPU5OvBE/s2048/IMG_3856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDOruf9ZORQZr5pbVT-qz1zNklbioI2sjV4RkQ9I4O9BhkKWZBbJ2qboOotw67hXtQx3Nj27RC-PDDbfD9lpFscHi3gGi4Aix-tCjUbuamXfpOHURiN3LDg4OwOrwrCHz9GgoPU5OvBE/s320/IMG_3856.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Christmas play costume</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlw7TMOpm_Wx0srW1yEG9ksPdrIhceb_dGfmCHeMiGR6E7hAp1tg0RHvifiVgrg-gZjrWakXuR4ASwJmC1FnQKkSgTCd4Vaj0_X2BqQvCRi7lKF-xcTTqhVh_p5mp8VwLGJgdbaKY7jY/s2048/IMG_4407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlw7TMOpm_Wx0srW1yEG9ksPdrIhceb_dGfmCHeMiGR6E7hAp1tg0RHvifiVgrg-gZjrWakXuR4ASwJmC1FnQKkSgTCd4Vaj0_X2BqQvCRi7lKF-xcTTqhVh_p5mp8VwLGJgdbaKY7jY/s320/IMG_4407.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">dress up like a book costume (sticking paper onto things with tape). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Just knowing what was happening was tough enough. Some announcements came from school emails, others from texts, or flyers handed out in person. Often things that were scheduled would be rescheduled multiple times - so you never knew what was actually going on. The stress of making sure he had whatever he needed for school each morning was intense - plus the fact that he actually had to be there at a certain time and would be marked as late if not- meant that the effort to get them both fed, dressed, and out of the house each morning was overwhelming. Note: Spouso helpfully pointed out that some of these things were stupid, and I should just skip them. But, to skip them, I would argue, I needed to be organized enough to know which things I wanted to do and which I wanted to skip and when each was happening - and I was not organized enough to do that.<p></p><p>This got even worse in the winter when he was able to start after school clubs 3 days a week. So those three days I had to remember to pick him up an hour later. Meanwhile, we were also signed up for ballet one day a week, so I had to pick him up on time, and get them both to class and changed on time. Add to this the stress of having to juggle the baby being home with me a few days each week, and I was frazzled. One day I had managed to get all of us to ballet, with the clothes and the snacks, with all our coats and jackets - and I was feeling pretty good. Slowly, I realized I'd left my keys and the door had locked behind me, so I had no other option than to very embarrassedly call my husband at work and ask him to come home and let us in the house. I felt so awful. This all seemed like it should be easy- everyone else was doing it- but I just couldn't figure it out. In my defense, the baby still wasn't sleeping through the night, so I was trying to juggle this all with 9 months of built-up exhaustion. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpp5aVzoULvnpzs06j0BqdinTjHzZ0dBuMqxBMx-76xx7-05eVdUt_mLBugYGh93-Vx38HFtM0pWgJPimH3mmvVMR7BaUhV6bIoDPTDiBnJOpgaTN7rJhsyfHbpXnQy1splMkaW4qY4dQ/s2048/LKQX8633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpp5aVzoULvnpzs06j0BqdinTjHzZ0dBuMqxBMx-76xx7-05eVdUt_mLBugYGh93-Vx38HFtM0pWgJPimH3mmvVMR7BaUhV6bIoDPTDiBnJOpgaTN7rJhsyfHbpXnQy1splMkaW4qY4dQ/w480-h640/LKQX8633.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Winning Lola Bear for a good job in ballet class</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> (the closest picture I have to his ballet class)</div><p></p><br /><b>Parents Run this School</b><br /><p>So I joined our parent teacher association and was shocked to realize how much work is done by the parents. Our school, like most apparently, is financially underwater and can barely pay staff salaries, so everything else - from school improvements to safety equipment and field trips has to be covered by the PTA fundraising. I volunteered to host the first social event - Bingo- without having ever actually played the game. We were completely on our own - having no idea how to pull off the event because everyone in the previous PTA had quit - (not a good sign). But managed to pull it together and raised like $800! </p><p>The more time I spent at the school the more I noticed things in disrepair and realized there were no school resources to do anything. It became clear that I could do any project I wanted to make the school better, as long as I was willing to do it and pay for it myself. So I started working in the gardens just outside his classroom - weeding while I waited to pick him up each day. </p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh2al3-B3YFjd9nxLsPxs4YqZdm-qADHXhQ6fFjMZbpmv3LgVPEqx0V8Gt7iB8DVOEUDyGlx0WX0_Aa-jyJlbDwdjxt6-a5hEFA3OWtiG9mrQD1bpQai-DOdfbI36DaEs-mdQptOdYWF8/s2048/IMG_3208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh2al3-B3YFjd9nxLsPxs4YqZdm-qADHXhQ6fFjMZbpmv3LgVPEqx0V8Gt7iB8DVOEUDyGlx0WX0_Aa-jyJlbDwdjxt6-a5hEFA3OWtiG9mrQD1bpQai-DOdfbI36DaEs-mdQptOdYWF8/w480-h640/IMG_3208.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the overgrown planters I took over</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaeFOGRJedUre-0bEMcHjZGVH_t7YJM9LekHJvD4xgCRtP5wWnRpG1dF4eEiYKBI2Iypr2TBafTP9tnjnfn3bPd4LwudVjo6I-tz3yWeLL8wEo-4EkglCFvrnoPpndTXUxXUozPiflDA/s2048/IMG_E3216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1369" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaeFOGRJedUre-0bEMcHjZGVH_t7YJM9LekHJvD4xgCRtP5wWnRpG1dF4eEiYKBI2Iypr2TBafTP9tnjnfn3bPd4LwudVjo6I-tz3yWeLL8wEo-4EkglCFvrnoPpndTXUxXUozPiflDA/w428-h640/IMG_E3216.JPG" width="428" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">working in the gardens with me</div><br /><div>And with that - I was started to get a bit more organized, and things were getting a bit easier. That takes us to about March of this year when nothing particularly of note happened. Cut to the next blog...</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-40785941389427520932020-09-29T06:31:00.001-07:002020-09-29T06:31:27.397-07:00A Week in Istria, CroatiaSo- when we first started talking about a trip to Croatia, we were both very excited. There were a bunch of cool places to see - like the amazing waterfall park and Dubrovnik- that I was super excited about. Spouso was really excited about the idea of staying put, enjoying the beaches, and eating their food- which is an interesting mix of Italian influences plus truffles. Pretty quickly we realized we had problem: we were picturing two completely different trips. As the deadline ticked down and we still hadn't booked anything, we finally came to an agreement. The first part of the trip we would hop around to a different site every other day, and then for the second part of the trip, we would park in the same place and enjoy some relaxing. So after our hops from Ljubljana, to Lake Bled, and down to Plitvice National Park, it was time for the second phase of the trip: parking in a big house with a pool near the beach in Rovinj (ro-veen-ya), with a few short day trips in the area. Sadly, this meant that we could not get down to Dubrovnik, which is just way at the southern tip of the country. Hopefully, we will be able another time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtECT1lLjUDDi8BcO5SdFFhlku-9tHObhnWGGZDiiFWltsXUYMn0stifG-JadY-VH3sIkqgoABkDKT2mwMH4SizivkPHBJG45v8zjHIUxd8cC3Ahbj0jueyQC5P-KgoI0iOqMIAY7lF8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-07-14+at+1.35.37+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="598" height="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtECT1lLjUDDi8BcO5SdFFhlku-9tHObhnWGGZDiiFWltsXUYMn0stifG-JadY-VH3sIkqgoABkDKT2mwMH4SizivkPHBJG45v8zjHIUxd8cC3Ahbj0jueyQC5P-KgoI0iOqMIAY7lF8/s640/Screen+Shot+2020-07-14+at+1.35.37+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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heading to the west from the National Park to Rovinj </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(Note: Dubrovnik wayyyy down at the bottom)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>Around the House</b><div>So our house was great- we shared it with two other families who had older kids that were basically awake at completely different hours than us- so we always had the pool to ourselves. We had some lovely lazy days of swimming or walking down to the beach in between the baby's naps. We also started trying more card games with our bigger kiddo- so there was a lot of War and Go Fish when it was too hot to be outside. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloUywWr5GehYhVGJxCmCefrw_BC6l_P1cdQB_z0CBNeNbAB8kVxrVPvw-SxQHSo9tQEHR05jjDo8ofTkHRCVOC02PfTgkRsl3BSD1WF8a3MNLnIfXWK2bWv67pFxg0wd3TwdSQSFO-EQ/s2048/IMG_7147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloUywWr5GehYhVGJxCmCefrw_BC6l_P1cdQB_z0CBNeNbAB8kVxrVPvw-SxQHSo9tQEHR05jjDo8ofTkHRCVOC02PfTgkRsl3BSD1WF8a3MNLnIfXWK2bWv67pFxg0wd3TwdSQSFO-EQ/w640-h480/IMG_7147.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7aBzgHaWL5uILsKGDyoFyqtoHRw79MmnwyZMIu9bFdqBFQFWYRfiYJ53-BJ59mPcnolcNv_MHqh7pqokpRSfewoha4NR-wTz548vYnRZvwRyxih3ldH2SIcT-zYekY72-SZiAmqPDKw/s2048/IMG_7217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7aBzgHaWL5uILsKGDyoFyqtoHRw79MmnwyZMIu9bFdqBFQFWYRfiYJ53-BJ59mPcnolcNv_MHqh7pqokpRSfewoha4NR-wTz548vYnRZvwRyxih3ldH2SIcT-zYekY72-SZiAmqPDKw/w640-h480/IMG_7217.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_1v-9bmxr8rbipq0C156r6ClqMKASukPdDkSvttRsfYvP1mXrXm8mcAuCy0NXYRCds9ytCTQQfA-diaz9Cd8lBdi-1_7UABhbQvzbUr1Az-bokr2C0WVPOQumHzpXcvcYL4EMmZfA_M/s2048/IMG_7220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1328" data-original-width="2048" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_1v-9bmxr8rbipq0C156r6ClqMKASukPdDkSvttRsfYvP1mXrXm8mcAuCy0NXYRCds9ytCTQQfA-diaz9Cd8lBdi-1_7UABhbQvzbUr1Az-bokr2C0WVPOQumHzpXcvcYL4EMmZfA_M/w640-h416/IMG_7220.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxIuW06UAo5ImI38PLV8IDTj8FN8T6P7IH16KfGHBnk25O5L-Vc6vFw-b2MStFib25pZVPSCbkOtgjUhz9CMhBmyKJ0Jf_FjjU1jaLDq0idBlheV3DxGcCZq8IKiWbaK4OSgF3-bwG6js/s2048/IMG_7224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxIuW06UAo5ImI38PLV8IDTj8FN8T6P7IH16KfGHBnk25O5L-Vc6vFw-b2MStFib25pZVPSCbkOtgjUhz9CMhBmyKJ0Jf_FjjU1jaLDq0idBlheV3DxGcCZq8IKiWbaK4OSgF3-bwG6js/w640-h480/IMG_7224.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vbncie_rRNeRrLnJd9uXKqVgwzSGZz8mhAq41Y02VfQG71e71848nZCm7UWjpx6b8RGyoy5yOVcLcbhB-RZFfsJafIjEvW5A9me4m2GchpmEiKVlyof4Xmh0-YOkKT_pzhyphenhyphenaSXpiPbw/s2048/IMG_7232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vbncie_rRNeRrLnJd9uXKqVgwzSGZz8mhAq41Y02VfQG71e71848nZCm7UWjpx6b8RGyoy5yOVcLcbhB-RZFfsJafIjEvW5A9me4m2GchpmEiKVlyof4Xmh0-YOkKT_pzhyphenhyphenaSXpiPbw/w480-h640/IMG_7232.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<b>Rovinj</b><div>So- we picked the location of our house to be near Rovinj, because it is right on the coast and had a nice little beach nearby. It's also fairly centrally located on the peninsula of Istria, so it would make for some easy day trips. Our house was just outside of the the old city, so we had to take a quick boat ride into town. The town itself is super charming- it's just on the tip of a peninsula, basically surrounded on all sides by water with super hilly streets. On lazy days when we didn't leave the house, we took the boat into town for dinner.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjboB-IwzJkyTWVLiFAALOSVMJnRlPbJmrSi0jD2wOckjxw_FYaW_7hO1gMzIPfuOXnSr5GIHRNDnuw5ej_nzld8upgdtV_BWv3vAHGrtrwq8GqwMEUe9-7pwJPJksUKC-VGFsI4ahWw0/s2048/IMG_E7061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjboB-IwzJkyTWVLiFAALOSVMJnRlPbJmrSi0jD2wOckjxw_FYaW_7hO1gMzIPfuOXnSr5GIHRNDnuw5ej_nzld8upgdtV_BWv3vAHGrtrwq8GqwMEUe9-7pwJPJksUKC-VGFsI4ahWw0/w480-h640/IMG_E7061.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5x7W-MubyWmZAhitqlVFzZSzOlHyJcF3ydVqgGRuXOLHooNTld777fJCD-BPlxRyUhen5lCA-292hi1CawlD4-ZLY2n2c_RtRUlVKNIDo_BPI7TMS9pLbGLHD3nQj8YFmPLZx2loDXE/s2048/IMG_7279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5x7W-MubyWmZAhitqlVFzZSzOlHyJcF3ydVqgGRuXOLHooNTld777fJCD-BPlxRyUhen5lCA-292hi1CawlD4-ZLY2n2c_RtRUlVKNIDo_BPI7TMS9pLbGLHD3nQj8YFmPLZx2loDXE/w640-h480/IMG_7279.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIG5djMpes9lrjDt4YPoFf63gCL-whYrB0yq6wwzQsKTv6nJOQRhK8zRmXUg1wzuCmLAtrI8fsTjDSWjv842T3iy4w9te_l3isaxzL5M5wrWBeTlN_O28uA6X87zt8BCCpP3SSTGHLAuU/s2048/IMG_7255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIG5djMpes9lrjDt4YPoFf63gCL-whYrB0yq6wwzQsKTv6nJOQRhK8zRmXUg1wzuCmLAtrI8fsTjDSWjv842T3iy4w9te_l3isaxzL5M5wrWBeTlN_O28uA6X87zt8BCCpP3SSTGHLAuU/w640-h480/IMG_7255.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2_frNoJLPBXIM_H1ko9X4IRZ5xxsSHtZjSyqQrunpd9KcJOZviuxT4_PMoLGeUThEK2sUu79Aj5i20qT71Nixg_i1-KtrTKDOwd4-tH_MOmC6msT7iYqQhruurNbEG07jdLdFpJYEi8/s2048/IMG_7038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2_frNoJLPBXIM_H1ko9X4IRZ5xxsSHtZjSyqQrunpd9KcJOZviuxT4_PMoLGeUThEK2sUu79Aj5i20qT71Nixg_i1-KtrTKDOwd4-tH_MOmC6msT7iYqQhruurNbEG07jdLdFpJYEi8/w640-h480/IMG_7038.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div><b>Groznjan</b></div><div>After a good lazy day or two, it was time to hop back in the car for our first day trip. We wanted to go to Motovun, but everyone we'd met told us to go to nearby Groznjan, so we decided to stop there first. It's a tiny medieval hilltop town that has become an artist enclave, so we wanted to check it out. It was raining, but still very charming. Lots of twisty, tiny streets, and general loveliness. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ysdduMBxvXJ2BSAxLxUyzSgJw_nnjYogGl75euhI3vmc-7ZTPVzcRzNpZxWEhLKYBz9WzKG8OkfTUZHfMC4f_RIU6xLD23dh4KqcVZi3X37ERVVfxiTMDzlf7J88oPs26A1qUbyXiCc/s592/Screen+Shot+2020-09-29+at+2.12.52+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="447" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ysdduMBxvXJ2BSAxLxUyzSgJw_nnjYogGl75euhI3vmc-7ZTPVzcRzNpZxWEhLKYBz9WzKG8OkfTUZHfMC4f_RIU6xLD23dh4KqcVZi3X37ERVVfxiTMDzlf7J88oPs26A1qUbyXiCc/w484-h640/Screen+Shot+2020-09-29+at+2.12.52+PM.png" width="484" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Day Trips from Rovinj: Groznjan, Motovun & Piran</div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpvnNAi0tkmBOw6VZzLKTjChoH4C03WOt2HhTXsdzvoPCbSThPmnrSMuduOnLE8xgQxtKMD6V04rYf1vq5pWkmO78Eq91cQoks2IwpLzuq2SsiAZqcZSLEYiGstxsfaNxVj7x6Qtf1dw/s2048/IMG_2851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpvnNAi0tkmBOw6VZzLKTjChoH4C03WOt2HhTXsdzvoPCbSThPmnrSMuduOnLE8xgQxtKMD6V04rYf1vq5pWkmO78Eq91cQoks2IwpLzuq2SsiAZqcZSLEYiGstxsfaNxVj7x6Qtf1dw/w480-h640/IMG_2851.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwDZqF6zsojrOw-4zQOv7N16J3sloEaxvpwjEql7Rk3F4YPHHMTrvHUe8fKbtfK_uC1OikDdmCkPetwCtHCXklRA3YF5k2Q-cE8nEF5wxASkIDnkNOMUIDfHi8Ly-dw4DeYDg-PuuWRs/s2048/IMG_7085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwDZqF6zsojrOw-4zQOv7N16J3sloEaxvpwjEql7Rk3F4YPHHMTrvHUe8fKbtfK_uC1OikDdmCkPetwCtHCXklRA3YF5k2Q-cE8nEF5wxASkIDnkNOMUIDfHi8Ly-dw4DeYDg-PuuWRs/w640-h480/IMG_7085.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSlj_YhzKZehmxHzFdY3iV1PkY0Alb3DXQu_DpMC4lvuECZGRYGXnhd3dBxdesCinUQMkfmXENXf1kHApjGoIZs9JxW2BuSfLrGFtU0-uxZc2zeParU1cCirArVJkfgqFgha_C0L2B3U/s2048/IMG_7081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSlj_YhzKZehmxHzFdY3iV1PkY0Alb3DXQu_DpMC4lvuECZGRYGXnhd3dBxdesCinUQMkfmXENXf1kHApjGoIZs9JxW2BuSfLrGFtU0-uxZc2zeParU1cCirArVJkfgqFgha_C0L2B3U/w480-h640/IMG_7081.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">cheeky baby</div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Motovun</b></div><div>After Groznjan, we hopped back in the car for a quick drive so the little guy could have a quick afternoon nap. We stopped at a vineyard for a quick wine tasting, and then headed on to Motovun. This is another medieval hilltop town, particularly known for its food. In general, the whole region of Istria is known for its food because it was previously part of Italy, and also a place where truffles grow, and Motovun is kind of the center of it. We did a quick walk around the town walls but mostly we were there to eat! Dinner did not disappoint- the truffles were sprinkled on everything (even the kids' food) abundantly. (Fun fact, the restaurant we picked is the same one that Anthony Bourdain visited when he traveled to Croatia). </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcEFWqwn8AVl-MB-CntFzbU9ksk8ROg6oSVsfsg6dkplWJBnRwi4ReLQOELbau7SXMg5IJrIxlUBPRgK1ubFgc39hPLPH19r5WTbuayPFpAxQdC2Qy9kRwc0n81x4idhR5oTiCsKQU6Q/s2048/IMG_7138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcEFWqwn8AVl-MB-CntFzbU9ksk8ROg6oSVsfsg6dkplWJBnRwi4ReLQOELbau7SXMg5IJrIxlUBPRgK1ubFgc39hPLPH19r5WTbuayPFpAxQdC2Qy9kRwc0n81x4idhR5oTiCsKQU6Q/w480-h640/IMG_7138.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">wine tasting stop!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0LixUUQ9Zt0SKOG-CDy5Mw9OzmKrTQprxLD1I4MvsrBIAboYglQP5Tp8DXIEzucZaCNB1AU9mzN3Kq8jaZYh3pfZMYkKDm5uq2MjyimMV9lOAKuLoo5I2axuUYC4dkqDYS6OEjYtorhI/s2048/IMG_2877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMm-QhIVmqLfgxbESZNO3udgpbfzRiQYJPhnTT9VmrcfiTUJBNN64w2V24HhehoFHU9dKMLdwTLZTw8hNvJwsUN8C7yYM_uFoaLq9XfccVF1ybaGkxaQ9hguaNjR-ESLWHfa4yd1tY50/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMm-QhIVmqLfgxbESZNO3udgpbfzRiQYJPhnTT9VmrcfiTUJBNN64w2V24HhehoFHU9dKMLdwTLZTw8hNvJwsUN8C7yYM_uFoaLq9XfccVF1ybaGkxaQ9hguaNjR-ESLWHfa4yd1tY50/w480-h640/image.png" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">climbing up to the town</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheopUMgFBE9QustGy-jHoa9Kzp0ypsoIlH2giug_7B2MKAslRkfO9-NCdeFaON6kKXXQZScv5dG-l3ZSzgzMaWcjyMhabePlrYIp7GGlQbP1b1MifJNVG6G0GBORs7v9mXxFB3g5fQ-HY/s2048/IMG_7107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZqp9VZr2f-6OO5aP-m9pkWXe3IiQH8n6tLps7v8lmCCFGkrmJ5Al4FSUm8oAdT7vmQD7ZiZuhVtPrj4MPJdF5LBKK5-cCCEvxG2sOhCvFqBI-SBeO8pwrkQGYq7yVrVKQnOriVnvVW0/s2048/IMG_E2872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1827" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZqp9VZr2f-6OO5aP-m9pkWXe3IiQH8n6tLps7v8lmCCFGkrmJ5Al4FSUm8oAdT7vmQD7ZiZuhVtPrj4MPJdF5LBKK5-cCCEvxG2sOhCvFqBI-SBeO8pwrkQGYq7yVrVKQnOriVnvVW0/w570-h640/IMG_E2872.JPG" width="570" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">view of one hilltop town from another</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqKNo9seEh8RphUFXf8w_ZGjYaMPXOrowyecc-IodN9GOiLjrFq4MioXtOodLBaaA3yCHVHTgInWQVYmRCWMv5G-06F153Z2IhzmFIim2m6P4jop28JSWDYyIMnc5KK0DSowkykwTzDc/" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqKNo9seEh8RphUFXf8w_ZGjYaMPXOrowyecc-IodN9GOiLjrFq4MioXtOodLBaaA3yCHVHTgInWQVYmRCWMv5G-06F153Z2IhzmFIim2m6P4jop28JSWDYyIMnc5KK0DSowkykwTzDc/" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEkRIagfarMN4o2KUfK0rhXdSYFkS1ZJtIMGcXwdDh4Bf9Q1AxsfNRle3r50k6mDHdSrrZVaas3_4-lV8krcD_4BXrveHT4k7Iwz-QomNb35GXOf5fzQjkQjP9MLgNmlvZprm-cvdiOM/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEkRIagfarMN4o2KUfK0rhXdSYFkS1ZJtIMGcXwdDh4Bf9Q1AxsfNRle3r50k6mDHdSrrZVaas3_4-lV8krcD_4BXrveHT4k7Iwz-QomNb35GXOf5fzQjkQjP9MLgNmlvZprm-cvdiOM/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTDXO1QjovMVB79cs7z-Ed4tuttgzH86blJ1e5xZ4dB2x5mhrCsCHzqvzn3LZo96iCbIgOZLXzXsTX27UG8ZinLc9EFyMwseD4m8AUvSkiBd73je9Akqpq5_eKodZOCmn8mMov2g7DQk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5rkJ-8gJnLbWBlEMHEpvuMtv7Jje-TUnQreB8_W0C5tHG3ywkfAppeSbk4cIg6ztHagpvNk7MlPG6VQtv1DWMAr7HYOcQY_Lty5pTOl1YkwOFYOrfxfP-bPEbDZXgybvV1C8MJKGfew/s2048/IMG_7112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5rkJ-8gJnLbWBlEMHEpvuMtv7Jje-TUnQreB8_W0C5tHG3ywkfAppeSbk4cIg6ztHagpvNk7MlPG6VQtv1DWMAr7HYOcQY_Lty5pTOl1YkwOFYOrfxfP-bPEbDZXgybvV1C8MJKGfew/w640-h480/IMG_7112.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline !important;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeh5iBi30sxQTBC2YlqwwyQZ4YhM1oazEl53jg-CSSQCavgWdKwFctpqVZq4vIaq5q3AGuazQqPn-yZQM9ZO7FO53sNkv0wLoH7Q-Z_Iz0KsIgu733pr24Fafoy0wMqMe-JvHTcOqBuY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="150" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeh5iBi30sxQTBC2YlqwwyQZ4YhM1oazEl53jg-CSSQCavgWdKwFctpqVZq4vIaq5q3AGuazQqPn-yZQM9ZO7FO53sNkv0wLoH7Q-Z_Iz0KsIgu733pr24Fafoy0wMqMe-JvHTcOqBuY/w240-h320/image.png" width="240" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LOJ4z1P6DEE2HITxHmC_5P2wQa50ASWPFzdAfphtVRNXRxQUkNnRCCi2rdoVISFHAjmQBqMD3BoIonpUsIyG-tIPPr_59tK4a6Tfd-eWVLqOzryQmDzpBrNI2cbtPJPTIhVjTnM6ank/" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LOJ4z1P6DEE2HITxHmC_5P2wQa50ASWPFzdAfphtVRNXRxQUkNnRCCi2rdoVISFHAjmQBqMD3BoIonpUsIyG-tIPPr_59tK4a6Tfd-eWVLqOzryQmDzpBrNI2cbtPJPTIhVjTnM6ank/w240-h320/image.png" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>soo many truffles</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Piran</b></div><div>Our last day trip was to Piran, just across the border into Slovenia. On the way, we stopped by a crab shack on the water that turned out to be pretty awesome. (Also somewhere Anthony Bourdain stopped, not sure how we managed that). Then, we headed north. I read that Piran was known as "Little Venice", so of course I pictured canals and general loveliness. It turns out that they call it that because it has the same architectural style as Venice, so we were a bit disappointed when we got there and found zero canals. It was blazingly hot, so we basically had a drink and some ice cream and got back out of there asap. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66kR1w-GVkN6alxCeiAeLUb3URMuYThGJdxAKQGL4e5sIaY9COiVAAjF1hCvvRUkvslrtZ1iJIVsYaVLkKrODztp3zk9z1JxN74PSBCwPXCubXMSYtrBHWDfQVowGhiAiORoVD0xnApI/s2048/IMG_7165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66kR1w-GVkN6alxCeiAeLUb3URMuYThGJdxAKQGL4e5sIaY9COiVAAjF1hCvvRUkvslrtZ1iJIVsYaVLkKrODztp3zk9z1JxN74PSBCwPXCubXMSYtrBHWDfQVowGhiAiORoVD0xnApI/w480-h640/IMG_7165.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">baby on vacation</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-YbyWex6A5NY19gUf46hWbS1d27fZPgdSRWbrDKqrTSEXDtBFZMg8pTg5OYIHsUSJEwaPHhCeaxkc1sV3Dd4fKvm-p3v803w86tSxWG8fhifb5b22nQTxIkH2V-NI1Sx6LtitL1rCPw/s2048/IMG_7170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-YbyWex6A5NY19gUf46hWbS1d27fZPgdSRWbrDKqrTSEXDtBFZMg8pTg5OYIHsUSJEwaPHhCeaxkc1sV3Dd4fKvm-p3v803w86tSxWG8fhifb5b22nQTxIkH2V-NI1Sx6LtitL1rCPw/w480-h640/IMG_7170.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">kids love oysters!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodFFhCAwqR06DgS164XrZbnTdubwqniWdc4fBr736JY2FaXtG0o9N5FW7hXnJAxD-_jD6DfMPjBIaOpY2T0Rl9zfeWyh81a-zPxDFIbJKJ43DMxxM3t9vvKjgKYFF7sx9XRAgOZzGGuc/s2048/IMG_E2923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodFFhCAwqR06DgS164XrZbnTdubwqniWdc4fBr736JY2FaXtG0o9N5FW7hXnJAxD-_jD6DfMPjBIaOpY2T0Rl9zfeWyh81a-zPxDFIbJKJ43DMxxM3t9vvKjgKYFF7sx9XRAgOZzGGuc/w480-h640/IMG_E2923.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Welcome to Little Venice!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBN19RMjpYcNlfBBuQiIvnK4NYsT7XEamQfWVarvZgIKMJsvotAYEml3GUjdVP3xM2iCWkleM32NL1UBtOR5pXUaKUTq9Z5AYd7Wsb2ex6vEbdpsacXktKjJKV4-QQva2TjFPuMPItvyQ/s2048/IMG_7192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBN19RMjpYcNlfBBuQiIvnK4NYsT7XEamQfWVarvZgIKMJsvotAYEml3GUjdVP3xM2iCWkleM32NL1UBtOR5pXUaKUTq9Z5AYd7Wsb2ex6vEbdpsacXktKjJKV4-QQva2TjFPuMPItvyQ/w640-h480/IMG_7192.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Aperitif time</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIUqiEtjCwm7w5cubmulX4HOBjCDyD-b5CUl8aex_foRyArBgS1HMHw7b7WFnRlQNzcsuuVGfvlQu9Xr4kFJeM2dWY6kENyDYY6_kPCzAedqZMjU-hhHAHuHhijWea3SUSwMHlc19yGo/s2048/IMG_7214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIUqiEtjCwm7w5cubmulX4HOBjCDyD-b5CUl8aex_foRyArBgS1HMHw7b7WFnRlQNzcsuuVGfvlQu9Xr4kFJeM2dWY6kENyDYY6_kPCzAedqZMjU-hhHAHuHhijWea3SUSwMHlc19yGo/w300-h400/IMG_7214.JPG" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnunvGlj4DlG_feUpeYfyKekOtdimSdrCzgGM_BBE9EIT_P_GEmkkqbz3CnKSk7LKfExAUcqYLxJtO07LsDmXH5lG6MQE90irBCnzgkPEsm_qNSUEbQj36bpW5X9Hvs5QXthdYnuL2uA/s2048/IMG_2937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnunvGlj4DlG_feUpeYfyKekOtdimSdrCzgGM_BBE9EIT_P_GEmkkqbz3CnKSk7LKfExAUcqYLxJtO07LsDmXH5lG6MQE90irBCnzgkPEsm_qNSUEbQj36bpW5X9Hvs5QXthdYnuL2uA/w300-h400/IMG_2937.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>ice cream for everyone<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh197nX9EF8880fcTINbvo-xapL0MiXmSWrx0ZKr_ScmMiZPGS5cfZIrGCit70DWptw4E0RamViCOywGdk84vNEI0IqTb24kKtZW_6JTI6v_nU_1Gkna41-3jUqZFKo-aEDpfUrX94jZNk/s2048/IMG_7209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh197nX9EF8880fcTINbvo-xapL0MiXmSWrx0ZKr_ScmMiZPGS5cfZIrGCit70DWptw4E0RamViCOywGdk84vNEI0IqTb24kKtZW_6JTI6v_nU_1Gkna41-3jUqZFKo-aEDpfUrX94jZNk/w640-h480/IMG_7209.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">time to go</div><br /><br /><b>Thoughts on this trip:</b></div><div>I think this model worked really well for us. Every other day was lazy: we stayed at the house, swam and relaxed and made sure the baby had two good naps. We generally went into town for an easy dinner or just cooked at home and kept things really easy. But then the other days we were a bit more adventurous and got to see a few things in the area. We definitely worked around the nap schedule- he was having 2 naps a day at this point, so on our travel days we generally left after his morning nap, had a first stop, and then let him sleep in the car on the way to the second stop. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because we stayed put for a week, we were able to stock up on groceries, so it was easy to whip up breakfasts, lunches, and impromptu dinners as needed. On days when the boys were clearly just too tired to mess with a restaurant, it was nice to be able to fix something quickly. But generally the food was pretty amazing, so whenever we did get to a restaurant, it was well worth it. By the end, we were all sick of truffles, which is not something I've ever experienced before. <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsy-zpVbF_c_jjCUZEIo7pIKlAlMDXfkpz9jozj4-X1NuD8mn0t96Ggmh8-yicAC3rn5k2NZHNrfCgisc8hiPmld7OielFBdd-Pn5kThqvO1HyHU5-RuKiiVwP7NX48LJ090VEWmJwAk/s2048/IMG_2996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsy-zpVbF_c_jjCUZEIo7pIKlAlMDXfkpz9jozj4-X1NuD8mn0t96Ggmh8-yicAC3rn5k2NZHNrfCgisc8hiPmld7OielFBdd-Pn5kThqvO1HyHU5-RuKiiVwP7NX48LJ090VEWmJwAk/w480-h640/IMG_2996.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And with that - it was time to go home and start school. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-13318690610193998252020-07-14T05:26:00.003-07:002020-07-14T05:26:26.737-07:00Plitvice National Park, CroatiaIn planning our big trip to Croatia, the part I was most excited about was Plitvice National Park. If you see a list of the most beautiful places in the world - this place is usually on it. It's a series of lakes at different altitudes, with waterfalls flowing between them and an eerie blue-greenish water. It's just amazing. So, after our stop in Lake Bled - it was time to head south into Croatia.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3QnBG6ED5FuDsNcb_TAyLaXJU9tGl7-og03CCU3yFG7PChOPtpa8OioEtgCjA7IqRfgqIutfGMEs_LS_dbVtRTBPU8d_AkKY8NGoSK2SUjvM6uO7X5z3XRNcwcV4_TPWgWB8jaJt9VE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-07-08+at+1.27.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="563" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3QnBG6ED5FuDsNcb_TAyLaXJU9tGl7-og03CCU3yFG7PChOPtpa8OioEtgCjA7IqRfgqIutfGMEs_LS_dbVtRTBPU8d_AkKY8NGoSK2SUjvM6uO7X5z3XRNcwcV4_TPWgWB8jaJt9VE/s640/Screen+Shot+2020-07-08+at+1.27.42+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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2nd leg of the trip: driving from Lake Bled, back through Ljubljana and Zagreb to Plitvica</div>
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<b>Driving with a Quick Stop in Zagreb</b><br />
The drive was supposed to be about 4-5 hours, so we needed to break it up. Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, was about halfway, so we decided to stop there for lunch. We knew the park would be in the middle of nowhere without reliable grocery stores, so we needed to come into a big city and stock up on baby food, diapers, and other snacks to keep us going. I don't have much to say about it - it was just miserably hot. As we trudged on to find the grocery store, we ended up passing a bunch of the major landmarks for the city. Can't say this is one I would go back to - but maybe if it weren't the middle of the summer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnPTaBsRUT5eT1qfXRuA0_d7g2RfEH2tzAripMM-c7L7KfxhAI0-8rJaT9YwlNZT29iEOAUHFfIrfRTzC6v0KL2kx99eDvI3svtWhydoLuNmEWak_x9AJxTskgg4Gsu47KbddEJjV9yU/s1600/IMG_2780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnPTaBsRUT5eT1qfXRuA0_d7g2RfEH2tzAripMM-c7L7KfxhAI0-8rJaT9YwlNZT29iEOAUHFfIrfRTzC6v0KL2kx99eDvI3svtWhydoLuNmEWak_x9AJxTskgg4Gsu47KbddEJjV9yU/s640/IMG_2780.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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more water please.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavtBaGuip5A0Y3DoGuGhDpBnxk4FCYxDq4L9MA38CqpLHh2rp8InDKEnuoHYM6dAZW04B-p9jNo_EZTi2g_JvZLzzzw3tRm4lLH-lWHS-iaL2P_surmgrTJvIM2EmXgRyBBQ5thCeD_g/s1600/IMG_6959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavtBaGuip5A0Y3DoGuGhDpBnxk4FCYxDq4L9MA38CqpLHh2rp8InDKEnuoHYM6dAZW04B-p9jNo_EZTi2g_JvZLzzzw3tRm4lLH-lWHS-iaL2P_surmgrTJvIM2EmXgRyBBQ5thCeD_g/s640/IMG_6959.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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church thing</div>
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the Zagreb market</div>
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One critical error we made was on the drive - it was all toll roads along the way. At one point we were entering a toll booth and the guy sort of waved us through - we thought we were getting a free pass and happily sped along. We got like 5 minutes down the road and came into another toll booth, where they asked for our ticket. Realizing that we were supposed to get one at the first booth but didn't - we tried to explain in absolutely nonexistent Croatian what had happened. They didn't buy it - so instead of paying like $5, we had to pay the maximum fare which was over $200. So-- yah, major lesson learned there. Eventually we made it to our hotel- grabbed dinner and crashed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFr3Z0yiOqpWLTPsFtK1N3U9zljCJmI0gjTcWTD3ub3SD_BtyMcqeyHvTjm8HVXYxNWbcNYEHXYOI3vHfDa8WOzK7zRdCb_pEfRGdF9zmfhjpeWwdGs8noPQML51-8MIeqRQkgUzpZa6c/s1600/IMG_6964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFr3Z0yiOqpWLTPsFtK1N3U9zljCJmI0gjTcWTD3ub3SD_BtyMcqeyHvTjm8HVXYxNWbcNYEHXYOI3vHfDa8WOzK7zRdCb_pEfRGdF9zmfhjpeWwdGs8noPQML51-8MIeqRQkgUzpZa6c/s640/IMG_6964.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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this is how we eat most of our meals- someone has a baby in one hand (and huge glass of wine in the other!)</div>
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<b>Plitvice!</b><br />
We had bought our park tickets in advance with the earliest start time possible, but it wasn't enough to avoid the crowds. This place was just packed. There were huge tour buses that dropped off thousands of tourists - so we had to literally wait in line to begin the park trail. Fortunately, most of those tourists disappeared after the first waterfall and things quieted down. (Note: I have not done anything to these pictures - the water really is this color).<br />
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a more-crowded spot near the start</div>
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So we knew that there would be lots of waterfalls to see, but didn't full realize how close we would be to them. All of the trails are on wooden walkways that are either just above the water or literally climbing up the waterfalls. It was amazing to feel so close to the water. ON the other hand - there were very few handrails - so I was terrified most of the time that the big kid would go in at any point. I think the water isn't actually that deep- but still. I was happy the baby was secured.<br />
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hold that kid's hand!!</div>
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seems like a nice place for a handrail, no?</div>
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There were a couple spots where you had to take a boat to cross a lake and pick up the trail. This ended up being a huge delay as there were so many tourists and not that many boats. So we stopped for a long lunch break, and the baby fell asleep. It probably was helpful to give everyone a break.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">on the boat - baby naps, boy gets a rest</span></div>
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We were so excited to see this beautiful park, but knew that actually hiking with two small kids was going to be hard. I had the baby on me in the carrier, and Spouso was ready to pick up the big guy as soon as he got tired. Instead, he was a total trooper and made it the whole way himself. We just took a break about every 15 minutes with lots of little snacks and water, and he was fine. We were only planning to take the shortest loop trail along the lower lakes, but since things were going well, we debated adding on a longer loop up to see the upper lakes. Sure enough, as soon as we stepped foot on the additional trail, he absolutely melted down-- clearly he'd had enough. So back to the car we went. I would've loved to see more, but just getting to see any of it was amazing.<br />
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the one time he got picked up- just to take a photo</div>
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view from above</div>
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so tired. must be exhausting to get carried around all day. </div>
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After a long day, we headed back to our hotel. We knew we were in no position to sit through a multi-course meal, and instead just wanted to pick up a pizza and eat it in our room. We seriously debated hopping across the border into Bosnia to a pizza place that would've only been like 30 minutes out of our way - but instead just ran to the closest town to get something, then back to our room for pizza and time to crash!<br />
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we made it!</div>
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So- one other thing that was bizarre and surprising was the difference between Slovenia and Croatia. Not knowing much about either country, I had assumed they'd be pretty similar. Instead, Slovenia was clearly upscale - things were clean and well-maintained. It was all a bit resorty, actually. But as soon as we crossed the border into Croatia, things were clearly different. This is obviously a much poorer country that has not fully rebuilt from the war. As we drove through small towns, we saw houses just riddled with bullet holes. It was a constant reminder that there was a war here not long ago, and it's still really fresh. And with that - it was time to pack up again, and head to our next spot.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-50096341945064165682020-07-08T05:26:00.000-07:002020-07-08T05:26:22.173-07:00One Day in Lake Bled, SloveniaSo, as I mentioned in my last post, for our big summer trip we decided to go to Croatia. As we started looking into it, we kept seeing pictures of this really beautiful island, just across the border in Slovenia. So, after a day in Ljubljana, our next stop was to Lake Bled.<br />
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first leg of the trip: Ljubljana to Lake Bled</div>
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<b>Travel Day and A Surprise:</b><br />
After the baby finished his morning nap, we jumped in the car for a quick ride from Ljubljana to Lake Bled. It should've only taken about an hour (we had a few wrong turns), so we would arrive in time for lunch. Meanwhile, my brother and his family who live in nearby Vienna, had also wanted to see Lake Bled and thought it would be fun to meet us up for the weekend. I had the brilliant idea to make it a surprise, and not tell my husband or kid. (ominous music begins). We were arriving on a Sunday just as they would be finishing up and heading home - so the plan was to meet up for lunch. I thought it would be really easy to have them pick a restaurant that I would casually suggest we go to, and then walk in and Surprise! What are the chances of bumping into our family so far from home?! I really thought it would be fun.<br />
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view of the island with the little church</div>
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castle up on the hill above the lake</div>
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Well, first off, they were staying on the other side of the lake than we were, and it turns out to be a bigger lake than it looks. Secondly - it turns out to be really crowded and trafficky. So - as we're trying to navigate through these middle-of-nowhere mountain roads to get there, I'm trying to text with them to figure out where to meet up, constantly losing service. We finally get to the area where they were staying and eventually find parking, and start looking for a restaurant. Then I find out they've walked all the way to the other side of the lake to where we are going to be staying. It's a disaster. Trying to keep the secret, I have to tell everyone to turn around and walk the other way for no reason, while they rush back to meet us. I finally pick a restaurant and they plan to join- and the surprise falls when I have to ask for a table for 7. At this point, husband, who has been doing all the driving and fighting with the traffic and getting yanked around - is not happy with me. We have a nice lunch with them: the kiddos are thrilled to see each other, and it was nice to catch up with them. Eventually, we head on to our AirBnb, a charming little cottage in the mountains. Lesson learned: maybe making it a surprise for the kids would've been a better idea.<br />
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so excited to see his cousin</div>
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yay!</div>
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After we checked in, we walked along the lake path for a bit, and then came back. It was clear that the restaurants were packed and we had no reservations - so we found a grocery store and pulled together a quick pasta and put everyone in bed.<br />
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<b>Morning Trip: To the Island!</b><br />
So the lake would be pretty on its own - but what makes it really famous is that there is a little island in the middle with a charming church. You can rent boats to go out to the island and visit the church - so we got up early to beat the crowds. It's a beautiful little trip, and then we walked around the island for just a bit. It was already getting quite hot, so we turned back after not long, and headed back to the cabin for nap time.<br />
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traditional boats parked at the island</div>
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yup- baby in the carrier - huge lifejacket around us both. Totally safe.</div>
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family pic - getting hot and silly - ready to head back for a break</div>
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<b>Afternoon: Pastries & Swimming </b><br />
After nap time, we decided to head out in search of a snack. We had heard about the Lake Bled cream cake, a pastry specific to the lake, and cannot pass up a local pastry. On a previous walk, we had seen a sign for a cafe up on the hill, so we wanted to check it out. Turns out to have been the party house for Tito, communist dictator and President of Yugoslavia. Apparently he loved to vacation at the lake and used this room as a place to host big parties for the communist big-wigs in this amazing spot overlooking the lake. It's a ball room, covered in communist mosaic propaganda, with a lovely balcony outside. So we sat on the balcony, overlooking the beautiful island and lake below, while sipping champagne, eating the official pastry of Lake Bled, feeling really awkward.<br />
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that's really decadent!!</div>
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what a view</div>
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Once we'd had enough, we tromped back down the hill and found a good spot for a quick swim. The water was warmer than we expected, but still chilly - so we took turns watching the little guy on the shore while someone took the big kid in the water. It was just beautiful and so idyllic. Eventually, people were getting tired and cold, and we headed back home.<br />
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swimming in amazing surroundings</div>
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<b>Evening: A Failed Dinner and Some Stargazing</b><br />
We again tried to get into a couple of restaurants, but it was clear the kids were just too tired to wait. While they went back to the room, I ran to the grocery store to grab something. Obviously, everything's in Slovenian, so I'm doing my best. I didn't want a huge bottle of olive oil, so I grabbed a tiny bottle without paying enough attention. When I get back to the cabin - I quickly discover that I've bought pumpkin oil, not olive oil, which I think tastes pretty awful. They apparently use it to drizzle over ice cream, definitely not for cooking. So we have a pretty awful meal of boiled chicken and plain pasta - not my best.<br />
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We put the little guy to sleep and decided to let our big kid stay up late to watch the stars. In London, not only is it a big city that is always covered in clouds - but the sun also doesn't set until 9 - 10ish in the summer, so we absolutely cannot see stars here. But in Lake Bled - the mountain air is clear and cloudless - so the stars are amazing! We let him sit with us outside for an hour maybe - it was just awesome. Then, eventually, off to bed - and the next morning we pack up for our next stop- the Plitvice National Park in Croatia!<br />
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<b>Lessons Learned:</b><br />
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<ol>
<li>Obviously, the surprise idea was a terrible one. Not that he wasn't happy to see my family - but I should've known that he's not a big fan of surprises and obviously having his help on the logistics of meeting up would've been better. </li>
<li>The big lesson I think from this part of the trip was to cook dinner ourselves. AirBnbs all have kitchens, though they are not stocked equally, and it just makes sense to use them sometimes. We enjoy eating out, and obviously food is an important part of traveling and experiencing another culture, but sometimes with kids it's just easier to make something quick and easy. So - I think from this point on, we ended up cooking like every other night (always checking to make sure we had the right oil). </li>
<li>This trip also gave us our first reminder that this part of the world has been in conflict not long ago. None of our other trips have been anywhere recently war-torn, so it helped prepare us to head south of the border into Croatia and near the border with Bosnia.</li>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-13072228416619659402020-07-03T07:50:00.000-07:002020-07-03T07:50:42.941-07:00A Day in Ljubljana, SloveniaFor our big trip of the summer, we decided to go to Croatia. We wanted to add a stop in Lake Bled just across the border in Slovenia. We didn't really know anything else about Slovenia, other than it's the homeland of Melania Trump, clearly a strong selling point. The most convenient airport with the best tickets turned out to be Ljubljana (loo-blee-on-ah), the capital of Slovenia. We would land at night, and knew better than trying to get straight into a car to drive to the next stop, so we decided to add a day in Ljubljana before moving on. Even though it was a total add-on, it turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the whole trip - so I'm dedicating a whole post just to the one day we had there.<br />
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Slovenia/Croatia border</div>
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closeup of the old city - very walkable with lots of sites in a small, charming area</div>
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<b>Morning: Local Pastries and a Castle with a View</b><br />
While I got to sleep in, Spouso took the boys to find local pastries, known as <span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Štruklji (</span>we pronounced it "sh-troo-klee" which might be close to correct). <span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> </span>It's like if you made a bunch of crepes and squished them together with some nice fillings or toppings in between. Then we headed off into town. We walked through the market and took the train to the top of the hill in the center of town where the old castle is located. The train did the hard work of getting us up the hill, and then we just climbed up the top of the castle walls. The castle doesn't have a lot going on really - just an amazing view of the city below. So we stayed up at the top, took lots of pictures, and then opted to hike back down the hill. Lesson quickly learned: hikes and strollers don't go together!<br />
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looking for pastries- castle on the hill in the background</div>
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pastries found!</div>
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market with classic Slovenian tower in the background</div>
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top of the castle wall</div>
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yay squinty selfie!!</div>
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<b>Afternoon: Lunch and A Quick Walk Through Town</b><br />
We grabbed a quick traditional lunch of sausage and bread - tasty but not light. We passed through town, across the Triple Bridge which is Ljubljana's center and most photographed spot. Then, everyone was hot and tired, so we headed back the hotel for a break. The little guy needed a decent nap, the big guy needed to cool down, and I needed to get my homework done (unfortunate timing to be doing a certificate program).<br />
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traditional lunch of meat and bread</div>
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on the famous triple bridge - ready for a break</div>
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someone needs a break</div>
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<b>Evening: Dragons & Drinks</b><br />
After our break, we headed back into town. First stop - the famous Dragon Bridge. Ljubljana is the City of Dragons, so they are all over the place. They guard both sides of the Dragon Bridge, and it's said that they wag their tails if a virgin crosses the bridge. Cheeky Slovenians!! Then we walked along the river, stopped for a quick drink, and headed to dinner.<br />
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dragon bridge</div>
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lemonade by the river</div>
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walking along the river </div>
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so lovely</div>
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more of this awesome architecture</div>
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<b>Dinner & Dessert</b></div>
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When we arrived the previous night, we walked from restaurant to restaurant, unable to get in to any of them because we didn't have a reservation. We didn't eat well that night, but were able to make a reservation for the next day at what was considered one of the best spots in the city. It turned out to be one of the best meals of the year for us. Like Croatia, Slovenia has a lot of truffles as well as Italian influences in their cuisine. Meanwhile, little guy was like 8 months old at this point and just starting to explore eating real food. So, we sat in a beautiful garden, passing him back and forth while he gleefully tried fresh pastas, lots of truffles and other tasty things. Then, of course, gelato was had by all. </div>
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best meal of the year: scrambled eggs with truffles</div>
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a well-earned gelato</div>
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<b>Next day: A quick walk and then off we go</b><br />
The next morning was my turn to wake up early with the little guy, so we went for a walk while the others slept in. We had the whole city to ourselves. Balloons were in the air - it was just beautiful.<br />
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balloons over the castle</div>
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smiling selfies</div>
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city to ourselves</div>
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Then, while he took his morning nap, we got everyone packed up and ready to move on to the next stop: Lake Bled. In the end, Ljubljana turned out to be just charming. It's smallish, and definitely walkable with small kids, so we were able to see the major sites in a day. The lazy river the flows through the city is lovely, while the castle on the hill makes every picture scenic. The architecture is unique, the food is tasty. It was just lovely all around.<br />
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The biggest travel lesson we did learn from this trip is the importance of having dinner reservations every night. Trying to drag the family through the city when everyone's hungry and tired and being turned away multiple times is just awful. Instead, this experience taught us to always make reservations - even just calling in the afternoon a few hours before you plan to eat. Knowing you have a reserved table somewhere is just huge. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-58601371685056520722020-07-02T06:39:00.000-07:002020-07-02T06:39:35.831-07:00A Long Weekend in Vienna, Austria*I haven't posted in about a year - which is shocking to me. So much has happened since then- and now that I have a bit of free time, I'm anxious to get caught up. So here are a few posts from the last year that I am finally getting out.<br />
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When I last posted, we were just getting started traveling as a new family of 4. After a lot of bureaucratic delays, our little guy finally had his passport, and we were anxious to get moving. We tried a quick and easy beach trip to Mallorca, where we never even left the resort, as well as a few short day trips near London to get the hang of getting moving again. For our next trip, we wanted something a little more ambitious but less intimidating than a whole sightseeing tour- so we decided to take a long weekend to visit family in Vienna. The goal was to do just a bit of sightseeing and see if it worked, while knowing that we had family to rely on to get us around and even lend us critical baby gear. So - we found dates that worked for everyone and excitedly booked a long weekend to Vienna in July.<br />
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<b>Day One: Travel</b><br />
To get to the airport from our house, you have to take either a bus or a cab to the train station, and then a train to the airport. To avoid bringing a car seat for the baby, we had to avoid putting him in a cab - so it meant he needed to take the bus. But we didn't want to have all of us and the luggage walk to the bus stop (a good 15 minute walk), so we split up. I had the baby in the carrier on me, while Spouso and our big kid took the luggage in an Uber, and we all met up at the train station. Once at the airport, things worked out reasonably well and the baby fell asleep just as we were going through security, and stayed asleep through most of the flight. Awesome.<br />
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sleeping babies are the best!</div>
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Once we arrived, my brother met us at the airport to help navigate the train into the city and pick up baby gear from their house. Everything was going pretty smoothly until we reached our AirBnb, when I discovered that my phone with the check-in info was completely dead. So we stood in the dark waiting for my phone battery to charge enough to figure out what the door code was and finally went in - all around midnight - with 2 exhausted children.<br />
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<b>Day Two: Sightseeing!</b><br />
So the whole plan had been that we would arrive on a Thursday night so that we had Friday to try to do some exploring on our own, knowing they would all be at work. After a lovely Viennese breakfast, we walked to the Belvedere Art Museum. It turned out to be a further walk than we expected and it was already hot in the July heat. The stroller was helpful for switching between the two boys: either the little guy could ride while big kid walked and I got a break, or I put the little guy in the carrier (not pleasant in the heat), and let the big kid have a rest.<br />
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excited to have a sitting break</div>
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We finally got there and were really blown away by the Gustav Klimpts. Even though I had a huge poster of The Kiss in my freshman dorm - I was shocked to see it in person. It's so different because of all the metallic paint he used which really bounces light around. (Note: 'The Woman in Gold' is not in the Belvedere as was made very clear in the movie about it - though she is all over the museum pamphlets and posters). </div>
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museum maps are so much fun</div>
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beautiful museum-- but getting hot.</div>
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so shiny!! (not me- the art!!)</div>
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yup- getting too hot and tired to care </div>
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After quickly moving through the rest of the museum, which was not air conditioned, we ran to the nearest beer garden for some cooling off with lots of beers and Viennese food which is mostly meat, but very tasty! <br />
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yes.</div>
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Then, our last stop was at the Music Museum. Vienna, the City of Music, has had many very famous composers and musicians, so the Music Museum seemed like an obvious choice. There were a few features meant for kids -like the stairs that play notes as you walk up - but a lot was over our big kid's head. Plus, again, lack of air conditioning is killer - so we zipped through it and ran back to our AirBnb where everyone fell asleep.<br />
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piano stairs</div>
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After a short nap, we met up with my brother and his family for a lovely dinner on the river. Vienna has a long beach along the Danube, complete with burger joints and beer huts, and these awesome trampolines that float on the water - so the kids were thrilled to bounce while we enjoyed the breeze. After we got everyone back to their place and tried to put the kids to sleep, my brother and I ran down to one of the barges that float on the river for a quick glass of wine (amazing backdrop!).<br />
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relaxing by the water</div>
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bouncing kiddos</div>
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<b>Day Three: Catching up with Family & Exploring Vienna</b><br />
Saturday was to be our only full day with our hosts - so we tried to pack in as much as possible. Not only did we want to just catch up with them, but we wanted to tour the city and at least walk by a few of the sites. So after a slow brunch waiting for the little guy to finish his morning nap, we all set off for a short walking tour of the downtown. It was only supposed to be a short detour, but I think we ended up walking in the heat of the afternoon for several hours. Again - it was just hot - so the kids all started melting down. At one point both of the big kids were fighting over the stroller while I melted with the baby strapped to me. At several other points the baby just flipped out from the heat. We kept forgetting that he couldn't just take a drink of water and had no real way to cool down- so I had to stop to breastfeed in the middle of busy parks (not my favorite!!).<br />
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touring around the old city</div>
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lovely buildings</div>
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starting to melt...</div>
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park break!</div>
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so pretty</div>
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getting hotter </div>
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spotting people in traditional clothes</div>
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just melting - hiding in the shade</div>
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Eventually, we made our way to a part of the river where you can swim and relax on the beach - just in time for the baby to have another nap while the big kids splashed around.<br />
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splashing with his cousin</div>
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really not sure what this is a picture of. I think I told him to stand in the sun to dry off.</div>
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baby crash</div>
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Then, (slowly) we got everyone back to their house for a late dinner. At this point, our big kid was fully melting down after too much heat and not enough sleep - so we returned to our AirBnB to crash for the night.<br />
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<b>Day Four: Time to Go Home</b><br />
For our last day, we had enough time for a leisurely brunch before we needed to get to the airport. Unfortunately, it was just a bit too leisurely, and we suddenly realized we were really really late. We literally ran through the city and subway to get to the train to the airport. My sister-in-law grabbed my bag while I carried the baby as we ran. We jumped on the train as the doors were closing - doing a quick check to see if we had both the kids - as we all slowly realized she still had my bag. We tried to pry the train door open to no avail, as we slowly pulled away - realizing that the bag not only had my keys and wallet, but the passports and boarding passes too. There would be no way to get on our flight without it. So over text she agreed to catch the next train (not for like a half hour) and meet us at the airport. We were thankfully able to check our big bag and get back to meet her just in time to grab my bag and run to the gate. A super stressful goodbye after a very lovely weekend.<br />
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feeling sheepish on the train</div>
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time to go home</div>
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<b>A Few Lessons Learned:</b><br />
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<ol>
<li>It is really helpful to not have to carry a crib when traveling. Pack N Play portable cribs are portable only in-as-much-as they can collapse, but they are still heavy and bulky and not easy to carry. So, borrowing theirs was a lifesaver!</li>
<li>Similarly - borrowing their stroller was really helpful. Even though the baby was still small enough to go in a carrier - he got heavy and super hot - so having an option to put him down was nice - as was it nice to give our big kid the ability to rest every now and then. Our stroller at home was for infants only - and was also huge and not really collapsible- so having one stroller that could work for both of them was very helpful. As soon as we got home we got rid of the massive infant one and pulled out our much smaller, collapsible City Mini instead. </li>
<li>Make sure your phone never dies and that both travelers have the necessary logistics information like hotel check-in details and copies of boarding passes!</li>
<li>Summer is hot. I forget this now because London doesn't really get very hot in the summer, but it's important to remember. No one wants to sightsee when they're melting. Avoiding travel during the peak summer months would have been a better idea. </li>
<li>Diaper bags are important. I was trying to use a big tote bag to carry everything, and at some point lost the train return tickets into it. I felt awful having to buy more tickets (even though it was only a few euros), so as soon as I got home I bought the diaper bag i'd been ogling for years. It has 6 pockets - and then I also got smaller pouches to hold different smaller items. It is critical to be organized when you carry as much stuff as I do. </li>
<li>Most important-- protect the sleep schedules at all costs! I always seem to forget this rule and then relearn it every time. At this point, the baby was about 7 months old and still liked to have 2 2-3 hour naps per day. Because we didn't want to be stuck inside waiting on him to nap, we tried to make him nap on the go in the carrier - something he doesn't really like to do. This meant that he was exhausted and cranky. Similarly, because we were out and about - we were getting back home much later than usual for us, so our big kid's bedtime was pushed back several hours. Instead of that meaning that we got to have more fun - it meant that he was a mess and falling apart - which is no fun for anyone. So - protect those sleep schedules!</li>
</ol>
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<b>Conclusion- traveling with family is good!</b><br />
This was not only our first time really traveling as a family of 4 - but definitely our first time trying to travel with our extended family. One huge mistake we made was not leaving enough time to see them - I wish we'd added another day so that we could've had more time with them and not felt like we had to squeeze everything into that one day. I think the other really important lesson we learned was how hard it is to manage three kids on different schedules. Not only did we have a baby who needed 2 naps and lots of snacks throughout the day, but our big kid had a bedtime a good hour or two earlier than his cousin - so there was just no way to synchronize them all or get everyone moving at the same time. But it was really nice to see them while also seeing other things and not just being stuck in someone's living room the whole time - it really planted the seed that traveling with family could be fun. All in all, it was a good practice trip to give us some experience with sightseeing with two kids, while getting to see a bit of their beautiful city and catching up with them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-19978375569258049582019-06-12T12:41:00.000-07:002019-06-12T12:41:13.775-07:00Sightseeing in West London: Hampton Court and Kew Gardens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We were starting to feel more comfortable getting around with all four of us and wanted to do some sightseeing. Before going for a real day trip, we decided to hit two spots that are just on the edge of London. Both happened to have events going on that turned into a bit of a scavenger hunt - which was great for keeping the kiddo interested when the subject matter really wouldn't do it. </div>
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Hampton Court and Kew Gardens</div>
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<b>Hampton Court</b><br />
So Hampton Court Palace was basically stolen by Henry VIII from Cardinal Woolsey to become a royal palace. From what I gather, it was then sort of the main palace for the royalty from the 1500s-1700s when William and Mary decided to move closer into the city and bought Kensington Palace. This had been on our list to see for a while, and it turned out there was a special Easter event going on- so we decided to go for it. The event was really perfect actually - there were like a dozen bunnies hidden all over the palace and grounds that each had the answer to a question about the history of the Palace written on it - and if you got all the answers, then you could get a chocolate bunny as a prize. The only problem was that the last bunny was really hard to find, but we were totally entrenched at that point, so we schlepped all over the place in search of it. Turns out, they hid it behind an ice cream truck (cheeky bastards), but then we had them all and could proudly go get our chocolate bunny and head back home. On the one hand, we were so distracted by the bunny search and baby wrangling that I feel like I missed seeing everything else - on the other hand, it did force us to visit all of the key rooms and spots and learn just a few tidbits about the history that we probably otherwise would not have heard. I guess this place (like pretty much everywhere else we've visited in the last few years) will stay on my list, in hopes we can go back again and spend more time actually learning about it.<br />
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Hampton Court Palace</div>
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I gather this is an important clock</div>
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nice ceiling</div>
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searching for bunnies</div>
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hedge mazes are just the coolest</div>
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one of the interior courtyards</div>
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feels like Versailles</div>
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well-earned chocolate bunnies</div>
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time to go home</div>
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<b>Kew Gardens</b><br />
So - Kew Gardens is the big botanic gardens in the London area (royal, of course). We had actually been here before and wanted to come back. I read that there was a Dale Chihuly (the guy who does really cool glass sculptures) exhibit in place for the summer, my mother in law was in town, so we waited for day with nice weather and made the day of it. We had a quick picnic (a standard thing for us now), and then wandered the grounds looking for flowers and trying to find all of the sculptures, which were scattered around. After everyone was thoroughly exhausted, we hopped the boat for a leisurely ride back to town.<br />
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we never leave home without a picnic these days</div>
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quick stop in the children's garden</div>
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azaleas in full bloom</div>
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roses were awesome</div>
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little boy for scale - these things are huge</div>
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these were everyone's favorite</div>
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i really liked this one</div>
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massive thing hanging down from the ceiling</div>
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time for the boat ride home</div>
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boats are better with beers</div>
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boats. beers. baby.</div>
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So both trips were a success. One lesson we quickly learned was to bring our big stroller, and fill it to the brim. We had our picnic blanket, which gives the baby a place to roll around and everyone else a place to rest and refuel, obviously snacks, all the baby-changing equipment, and most importantly - a riding board that snaps onto the stroller so the kiddo can take a break when his legs get tired, as they inevitably do. Of course it's heavy as hell, and not easy getting it onto trains, buses, and boats, up and down stairs, and pushing through gravel and cobblestones - but the alternative - putting all the stuff on our backs, the baby in the carrier, and the tired kid on my shoulders - makes me want to cry (back pain is a real thing these days). So I think we kind of have this figured out and are ready to try some day trips a bit further from home. But I'm not sure what to do about international travel now, since we can't take this beast on an airplane. We'll have to figure that out soon though, since our next trip is coming up quickly! </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-78749759944376269822019-06-10T05:53:00.000-07:002019-06-10T05:53:39.768-07:003 Days in Mallorca<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Just after our big France trip last summer, I hit my third trimester, which meant I was no longer allowed to fly. I also quickly became huge and uncomfortable, so other than our short weekend getaway, train travel wasn't appealing either - so we were done traveling for a bit. Since the whole reason we moved abroad was to travel, I was desperately anxious to get moving again as soon as possible. It took much longer than expected to get the baby's documents together - we had to apply for a birth certificate, and then use that to apply for a passport, and then use that to apply for a resident visa - which just finally arrived when he was about 5 months old. So then we were finally ready to book our first trip with him. We just wanted to take it easy, so we started with a beach getaway to Majorca. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0DUXfnFG_s0Y8WMEiCE9t71ZeHpmRAMtBcXWiF_GVo4h5UzsBEzKVu0CqAEt8UV2lfHpRlZaA073Ou2MTj8-XJehurC3P02_ofE57fRDMnJUntfiAaSLSZ4JrWX0LWYz_C23i3bQwgg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-10+at+1.16.02+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="833" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0DUXfnFG_s0Y8WMEiCE9t71ZeHpmRAMtBcXWiF_GVo4h5UzsBEzKVu0CqAEt8UV2lfHpRlZaA073Ou2MTj8-XJehurC3P02_ofE57fRDMnJUntfiAaSLSZ4JrWX0LWYz_C23i3bQwgg/s640/Screen+Shot+2019-06-10+at+1.16.02+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Spanish island of Majorca</div>
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<b>Getting There</b></div>
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The part I was most worried about was the travel, of course, but it turned out to be pretty easy. We wanted to avoid carrying a huge baby carseat with us, so we planned it to ensure that he would never need to get in a car. We split up, so that I took him in the carrier to the bus stop, which took us to the train station, while Spouso and the kiddo took an uber with all the bags. Once at the train station, it's a quick ride to the airport. He was happy as can be in the carrier and fell asleep through all of the airport security chaos. They were both fine on the plane- the baby mostly stayed asleep or happily watching the window, while the kiddo has become an expert, and knew that if he waited until the plane reached cruising altitude, he could watch a show on the iPad. Then, once we landed, we had arranged a car to pick us up with two carseats, and take us to the resort. Easy peasy. </div>
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at the train station - ready to go!</div>
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happy baby on a train</div>
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happy baby on a plane</div>
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this looks worse than it was.</div>
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<b>Sunny Days at the Resort</b></div>
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The first day was lovely. We were able to switch between spending some time at the massive pool and playing on the beach. It was chilly to be in the water, but the kiddo jumped right into the pool, and even took his first attempt at swimming in the sea - riding a few waves and splashing around. The baby put his feet in the sand for the first time and the kiddo made some sand castles (we made sure there would be a sandy beach not a pebbly one). All in all- just lovely and what we were hoping for. </div>
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view from our room</div>
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too cold for me - but you go right ahead</div>
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exploring the sand for the first time</div>
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so much better with sand than pebbles</div>
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almost quiet and relaxing</div>
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sand castles!</div>
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<b>Rainy Days at the Resort</b></div>
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Well - that part ended quickly. The next day we woke up to cold, rainy weather, that stayed with us till it was time to go home. We did our best to make use of the indoor facilities at the hotel- we found an indoor pool and had it almost to our selves until everyone else had the same idea. Then we explored the kids' room, which turned out to be for younger kids, but was fun for a few minutes. Mostly, we just killed time from one meal to the next, and were glad we'd brought some games along with us. </div>
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children's play room - not sure which age group this was meant for</div>
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a quick break in the rain - but stormy clouds ahead</div>
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a quick walk while the rain stopped</div>
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playing games in the hotel bar</div>
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<b>The Food</b><br />
So, when we travelled to Spain a few years ago (pre-kids), we were blown away by the food. The tapas, the seafood, it was all just lovely. So part of planning our trip to Majorca was assuming that we would get nice Spanish food. Not so. It turns out we sort of accidentally booked an all-inclusive family friendly resort, which meant there was just this massive cafeteria that had a huge buffet of pasta, french fries, and lots and lots of ice cream. It was as loud as an elementary school lunch room and felt about as sophisticated. We learned how to find the better options, but basically the food was just disappointing at every meal. Except of course, for our preschooler, who was just as happy as can be.<br />
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ice cream</div>
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ice cream</div>
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and more ice cream</div>
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<b>Splitting it Up</b><br />
It turned out to be really hard to get anything done around the baby's schedule - mostly because he likes to eat every 2 hours and take a nap every 2 hours - and wouldn't nap anywhere but in the room. Fairly quickly it became easier to just split up - one of us would stay with the baby in the room while the other took the kiddo to get food or go to the pool. Unfortunately, there wasn't any room service, so sometimes the room-parent would miss out and have to scrounge for snacks. Of course, the alcohol was also all inclusive, so that ended up being a saving grace.<br />
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double fisting while wearing a baby. </div>
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<b>Conclusions/ Lessons Learned</b></div>
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So the part I was most worried about - the travel bits - turned out to be fine. Instead, I should've worried a little more about what we were going to do during the day. It didn't occur to me that there could be rainy weather and we'd be stuck in the room. I'm so glad I threw in a few small games (dominoes and memory), and will definitely bring more the next time. As far as the food thing goes, I think we've learned our lesson not to stay at an all inclusive again. I wish instead we had stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few small things for breakfast and lunch that we could eat in the room together. For dinner, these guys are fine at a restaurant, so that would have been much nicer for us. I think the whole goal of this trip (other than to relax, which clearly never gets to happen) was to get confident with traveling all together - and I think that part was a success. So, we have some short day trips lined up and our next international trip already booked. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-85991643308680299672019-06-07T03:50:00.000-07:002019-06-07T03:50:57.875-07:00Birth Story and the First 6 MonthsSo I posted about halfway through the pregnancy on the difference between the US and UK healthcare systems. It seemed like it was impossible not to constantly compare between our experience the first time and this time around. Generally, my thoughts then were that the UK system, which is a single-payer government-run system was driven by the need to keep costs down wherever possible, resulting in minimal care - while the US system was driven by the need to avoid lawsuits, resulting in excessive care. The further along in the pregnancy I got- the more convinced I became that this was the case.<br />
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<b>Third Trimester</b><br />
Once I reached my third trimester, my appointments started happening more often, though still much less often than the US. I also had to start visiting my general practitioner, in addition to the midwives that had handled all the appointments up until then. Every appointment was about the same though - I just had to leave a urine sample and get my blood pressure taken. They started measuring the size of my bump with a measuring tape (a seriously inaccurate measurement since every woman has a different abdomen and starting size), and then they would squish on my stomach to figure out which way he was facing. They would listen to his heart rate, but there weren't any more sonograms or anything to tell us how big he might be. No one ever weighed me.<br />
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I also had one more brief consultation with an ObGyn, which was one of only 2 appointments I ever had with one. It was actually the most helpful appointment I had - I explained that I was really concerned that I'd have another really rapid birth and wouldn't have a chance to get an epidural. She made a note in my book that I was to be admitted early and told me that if the hospital tried to turn me away I should be obstinate - or not go far in case the baby did come early - which just made me more worried that I'd have to argue my way into the hospital. She also ordered "membrane sweeps" for me starting a week before my due date - which basically means someone would squish my cervix to try to release some hormones that would help get labor started, in order to avoid another full induction like my first time around. The first sweep was painful but didn't work. The second one did.<br />
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just days to go</div>
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<b>Early Labor</b><br />
So just after the sweep, I started feeling what I thought might be contractions. About 24 hours later, I was sure they were definitely contractions and started timing them. First-time moms are told to go to the hospital when contractions are 5 minutes apart, but I was told to go when mine were 7-10 minutes apart, knowing that it could happen really rapidly after that. I wasn't super convinced anything was happening because it wasn't as painful as I expected - but when I got to 4 minutes apart, we decided it was time to go. Thankfully, it was around noon on a weekday, so we had no trouble getting an uber and getting to the hospital easily. We went to the maternity unit to check in, and found out I was only 1 cm dilated, not the 3 cm needed to be admitted. So we left to find some lunch and walk around a bit, when contractions really got more intense. We went back to the unit, but were told we couldn't be checked again for 4 hours - and would have to wait. Thankfully, after I made a bit of a scene in the waiting room, they found a spare room that seemed to be some sort of storage closet with a chair that we were allowed to wait in.<br />
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trying to go for a walk around the hospital grounds during contractions (not happy) </div>
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After 4 hours in the room with contractions increasing to every 2-3 minutes and getting more and more painful, she checked me again, but I was still only 1 cm. She told us then that we really weren't supposed to be there and we should be at home, but we insisted on staying. She explained that she would need to kick us out if they got busy, which sent me into a total panic about whether we could have the baby at home ourselves - because I was sure I wouldn't be able to come back again. Spouso started looking up hotel options nearby, though that wasn't appealing either. I could hardly walk, and couldn't imagine wandering the streets in search of a hotel. She also explained that I didn't sound like I was in enough pain, so then I felt like I had to crank up the drama, but I also felt the need to be quiet so that she might forget we were there and let us stay longer. We waited another 4 miserable hours with the contractions coming basically constantly and getting extremely painful. I was checked again and still a miserable 1 cm dilated. I remember pleading with the midwife - asking if there was anything we could do to move things along, to which she seemed rather shocked and said, "but that wouldn't be natural." Soon, the shifts changed and we got a new, much nicer woman who suggested that we take a break, go down and get dinner, and didn't say anything about kicking us out. So we did wander down to the cafeteria and found some sandwiches. I tried to eat between contractions, and we quickly got back upstairs to our little hideaway. Just as we were getting back to our room, my water broke.<br />
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<b>Things Get Serious</b><br />
Once my water broke - things got moving very quickly. Contractions started getting super intense, still occurring basically constantly. I lasted for just a few minutes before getting checked again and finding out we'd reached the magic 3 cm and were allowed to be admitted. A wheelchair arrived and quickly whisked me down to a room. I don't remember most of this part very well. The contractions just got more and more painful, and were basically constant. At some point an anesthesiologist came in but said that it was too late for an epidural, because I couldn't hold myself still enough. I remember being a bit angry about that, but not at all surprised. Instead of any pain relief drugs, they had a small tank of laughing gas that the midwife kept encouraging me to use - but it quickly made me really nauseous, so that was out too. After about an hour of really intense contractions, he finally popped out.<br />
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I remember with my first son that after came out, the nurse started squishing on my abdomen, which really hurt - and I begged her to stop. I don't think I realized that she was pushing the placenta out. The second time around, after the baby popped out, the contractions kept going, and I felt like I was going through labor again. It was awful - when I just wanted to be done, but my body just kept going. Eventually the placenta popped out, the baby got wiped off and dumped on my chest, I got stitched up, and eventually, after a quick shower, they dropped us in the recovery room to sleep.<br />
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here's a baby</div>
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and what do i do with you?</div>
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<b>Recovery</b><br />
In the US, with our first son, the recovery room was cozy, with just enough space for a couch for my husband to sleep on and barely enough room to have a couple visitors. We stayed there for 3 nights, which was long enough for me to be mostly recovered, while staff were constantly dropping in to check on him, check on me, help us with nursing, and talk through all of the next steps. Not so much here. I think we were moved into the recovery room around 3 am, and kicked back out by noon. A few people stopped by and mostly just gave me lots of paper to read when I got home, about what kinds of exercise I could do when, the schedule for doctor's appointments, etc. When it was clear that we needed to get out of the room, my husband asked for them to bring around the wheelchair - to which the midwife chortled, "If she needs a wheelchair, then she isn't ready to go home. But she needs to go home." So I very awkwardly navigated through the very busy hospital, leaning precariously on our wheeled suitcase, thinking that I hadn't even gotten out of bed by this time with my first. After a quick ride, we were back home in less than 24 hours since we'd left.<br />
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a room with a view</div>
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A few thoughts:<br />
- Throughout the whole childbirth, there was this constant push towards it being as "natural" as possible. I asked the ObGyn about it, to which she replied that it was because I was mostly seeing midwives, while doctors have a different perspective. I just don't understand it at all. Why would I want it to be as natural as possible? It's natural for women to die in childbirth, as they did in great numbers until we started having medical interventions.<br />
- This is my second childbirth now without drugs - it really pisses me off that I had specifically talked with my doctors about the possibility of not having time to get the epidural and discussed options to ensure I had the drugs I wanted - but those requests were ignored by a midwife who thought she knew better.<br />
-Ironically, they kept trying to talk us into having drug-free birth, with the benefit that we would be in the nicer recovery wing that had a great view of parliament. I thought it was ridiculous- who cares about the view? I want the best medical care I can get, so I was prepared for the bad wing. Well, because I didn't get any drugs, we earned the right to be in the nice wing, and I remember thinking, "Well, this is a nice view."<br />
- In order to keep costs down, the hospital provided next to nothing for us. I didn't even get a gown until after the baby was born, and we had to bring our own diapers, blankets, and clothes for him. We even brought our own OTC pain meds because they didn't want to give us any. In the US, you're supplied with a whole tray of diapers and blankets for the baby, and lots of supplies for the new mom- which is great because you really don't want to take a whole pile of disgusting laundry back home with you.<br />
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<b>The Next Few Weeks</b><br />
Because the baby was born in early December, and my husband had a few weeks of paternity leave and then our oldest son's school was closed for the holidays - we ended up having close to a month with all four of us at home together. In some ways this was great - it was more time for me to heal up and rest up while my husband was there to help. But in other ways, of course it was more difficult because we also had to watch and entertain a toddler in addition to trying to figure out this new baby. At one point, we boldly ventured into town to see Christmas lights and stop by a restaurant for our first dinner out.<br />
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baby's first tube ride</div>
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first family selfie</div>
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While I was not happy with my brief hospital stay and labor experience, the next few weeks were actually pretty great for healthcare. In order to keep costs down, they kick you out of the hospital very quickly- but then followup with home visits by local midwives. This turned out to be really convenient, since we weren't leaving the house anyway we didn't mind having huge appointment windows. The midwives would check him, ask about me, and then be on their way. It was so much easier than in the US when we would have to drive to the doctor's office, wait in a waiting room full of sick kids, and then have a really brief appointment that didn't seem worth the trouble. I think we had 4 or 5 of these home visits before we were officially transferred off of the midwives.<br />
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very excited big brother</div>
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<b>Maternity Leave/Being Home All Day with a Baby</b><br />
Once the holidays were over, the kiddo was back to school, spouso was back to work - and I settled into a new routine with the new guy. After dropping off our firstborn at nursery school, we would come home, clean something, start some of the endless laundry, have some tummy time, take a walk, and share a nap. In some ways it was much easier than the first time around - I made a concerted effort to leave the house every day, usually talking a walk in the park and always stopping by daycare - which got me out of the house, gave me a bit of exercise, and just a dab of social interaction. The biggest improvement was that my husband was teleworking 2 days per week, which gave me a lot more social interaction as well as the opportunity to leave the baby at home and escape for a quick break and time to myself. We even tried to squeeze a quick happy hour into the short break after he finished working and before we needed to get the big kid. In some ways, it was much harder - having to take care of our oldest son meant that I couldn't just sleep in in the mornings, and sometimes I had to take care of them both at the same time. I felt torn between needing to take care of the baby and wanting to spend time with him, when he was clearly feeling ditched.<br />
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tummy time</div>
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a typical happy half hour</div>
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our first of many walks in the park</div>
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<b>Health Visitors and GPs</b><br />
Children receive their shots and any medical treatment through the family's GP, but the regular checkups and measurements are taken by a team of nurses known as "health visitors". So once we were done with the prenatal midwife team, we were transferred to the health visitors for all of our regular weighing and checkups. Just like my pregnancy, I find this system really frustrating - you have to visit the nurses/midwives for regular measurements, but if you have any basic questions, then you need to go visit the doctors, which are completely separate and much harder to get in to see. Whereas in the US we would have a single appointment in which he was weighed, the doctor gave him a quick checkup, we asked whatever questions had come up, and then the nurse would administer whatever shots were needed -- here in the UK, that would be three separate appointments that all need to be scheduled separately. There are also plenty of questions that I would ask our pediatrician in the US that I would never bother to schedule a separate appointment for here - things like, "what sunscreen do you recommend?"Anyway - after a few rounds of shots and checkups with the GP, we finally finished all of the back to back appointments, and are just supposed to go to the health visitors periodically to weigh him - which I rarely do, because it takes all morning, and I can do it myself from home.<br />
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<b>Breastfeeding</b><br />
It's a bit odd that my first maternity leave ended with me having to travel by myself to attend the funeral of my grandparents, and then 2 months after this baby was born, my grandfather passed away, forcing me to again travel to a funeral by myself after just having a baby. The first time we decided not to travel with the baby because we were overly cautious new parents, but this time we didn't even have the option because his passport hadn't arrived yet. Both times were pretty awful because I had been breastfeeding - which meant it was physically very painful to be away from the baby, despite trying to pump constantly. After the first time, I returned home and immediately went back to work, which ended up resulting in the baby just refusing to breastfeed and us switching over to bottles. I was worried the same thing would happen this time, but it didn't, and we went back to exclusively breastfeeding. Now we're in a situation where the baby actually refuses to take a bottle, so I can't be away from him for more than 2 hours without problems.<br />
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<b>Sleeping</b><br />
Our first son was sleeping through the night at 2 months, which was critical since I needed to go back to work. This guy is still not sleeping through the night at 6 months and doesn't seem to be in any hurry to change that.<br />
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<b>Projects</b><br />
In addition to keeping the house clean and constantly fighting the laundry - I worked on a few projects to keep myself busy. I went room by room through the entire house, sorting through every drawer and closet to get rid of anything we didn't need anymore - generating 40 bags for charity. I completely overhauled the back and front yards, which is exciting because things I planted last year seem to be doing well now and are starting to flower. I finally bought a real sewing machine and made new curtains for the baby's room and some new baby blankets. But generally, I'm running out of projects and getting a bit bored.<br />
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my hydrangeas are blooming!</div>
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<b>Job Hunting</b><br />
One thing that definitely made this time around a lot harder was knowing that I didn't have a job to go back to. I somehow thought it would be easy to job-hunt while watching a baby, which of course, turns out to be impossible. I found a career development program that offered seminars to expats trying to find work in the UK, which I had hoped would help me explore other jobs that I've never even considered - but didn't quite live up to my expectations. It did however help me improve my CV and linked in profile, and got me thinking more about what I wanted in my next position. I applied for more things and had an interview, but still haven't found a new position. I'm hoping I'm getting closer and will be back to work soon.<br />
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Anyway- obviously that's a lot for a single post. Now that we've gotten past the hardest months, things are settling out - we're finally getting out again and beginning to travel. More on that shortly...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-54152620460770555002018-12-17T04:27:00.000-08:002018-12-17T04:27:52.239-08:00Prepping for 2nd KidOnce I hit my third trimester, we were done with travel and focused on prepping for the arrival of the new kid.<br />
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<b>Doing Laundry and Lots of Shopping</b><br />
We tried to keep everything from our first kiddo to use as a hand-me-down for the second, but like my maternity clothes - it turned out that I gave the best stuff away to friends, and what was left was all completely seasonally inappropriate. So after sorting through lots of boxes, I did loads and loads of laundry and then started shopping to fill in the gaps. I haven't found a kids' store here that I like, so I was fortunate to be able to order things to ship to my parents to bring over when they visited. (Thanks again Mom and Dad!). We also did quite a bit of Amazon shopping for the things that were worn out (like the baby chair he kept sitting in until he was twice the weight limit) or wouldn't work here (like the baby monitor). There were also a bunch of things that had to be researched again because they aren't available here, like the brands of diapers and formula that we used. Eventually, we pieced together a full wardrobe and have everything we'll need for the first few months. Our big find was a pram- which is a stroller just for newborn that lays all the way flat. They are much lighter than the carseat option we used on the kiddo, so we wanted to grab one, even though it only works for the first few months. We went to a baby store where they were literally $1000- and then asked around for 2nd-hand options until we found the London version of craigslist and picked up a nice one for $150!!<br />
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Wally tries out the new pram</div>
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<b>Fixing up the Room</b><br />
As I mentioned before, we shuffled rooms over the summer, sending our first born upstairs to the third floor to free up his old room on the 2nd floor for the baby. When he left, he took all the good wall art with him, leaving a pretty empty room behind. So, after deciding to embrace an ocean theme, I went nuts on Etsy and ordered lots of new wall art and mobiles. Then, I ended up taking on a bunch of unnecessary sewing projects for some reason, making new pillows and baby blankets. I wanted to make new curtains but lost steam, so maybe later.<br />
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ocean-themed baby blankets</div>
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ocean-themed baby room</div>
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<b>Babymoon</b><br />
We were very lucky to have my mom visit in October and offer to watch the 1st kid so that we could get out of town. Originally, we thought we'd take the train to Paris, but waited too long to buy tickets and had to stay local instead. It worked out for the best though - we found a fancy hotel/spa just outside of town that was a perfect relaxing getaway for a quick break. Just 24 hours really was enough to relax, reconnect, and do some very helpful planning and mental prep.<br />
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our pretty little getaway</div>
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<b>Filling the Freezer</b><br />
Last time, we were very lucky to have family and friends in town stop by with food and snacks for the first few weeks after the baby was born. My mother in law rolled in with a freezer the size of a couch, full of frozen meals that we ate for weeks. None of that will happen here - both because we don't have any local family and our freezer is tiny. So instead, I worked on it myself. Spending a week cleaning it out, and then another week filling it back up with the stuff that worked best. I focused on small, easily microwaveable things that can ideally be eaten with one hand, and that are moderately healthy. For breakfast: mini banana nut muffins, ham and broccoli mini quiches, mixed berry compote, and cranberry walnut breads. For lunch: calzones with sausage and kale, or black beans and squash, and black bean burritos. For dinner: a few store-bought pies and quiches as well as kid-sized pasta meals.<br />
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making pizza pockets</div>
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<b>Getting Ready for the Hospital</b><br />
We took a childbirth class at the hospital, which was very useful, even though we've already done this once, simply because everything is so different here. One helpful thing we learned is that the hospital will provide us with nearly nothing - so we need to bring everything with us (including diapers!). So we got to work picking up a few more things and packing our bags. It was also really helpful just to visit the hospital and figure out where we needed to go, which doors would be open, etc, since they didn't do hospital tours.<br />
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To get to the hospital, we debated two options. On the one hand, we could rent a car, have the car seat already installed, and know that it was available 24 hours. The downside would be that parking at the hospital was something ridiculous like $10 an hour - and the clincher was that we haven't yet driven here and didn't want our first experience navigating the city on the left side of the road while I'm screaming or freaking out. So we decided to go with uber or a taxi, even though we sometimes have to wait a long time to get one and risked none being available. <br />
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The biggest issue though that I stressed out for months over was what to do with the first-born while we're at the hospital. I literally woke up in the middle the night, sweaty and panicked with visions of either him coming with us to the hospital and strolling the halls by himself - seeing things that would scar him for years, or having to go to the hospital by myself so that Spouso could stay with him, and then having contractions by myself in the parking lot. My mom graciously offered to come stay with us, but even figuring out which dates for her to come was hard. I googled as many birth statistics as I could find (turns out 2nd kids on average arrive at 40 weeks and 5 days), and mapped out our highest probability days - and decided to put her on the last two weeks that were possible (39.5-41.5), knowing that he could come early. So then we also mapped out some Plan B options, with a local friend, my brother, and a babysitter.<br />
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<b>Christmas</b><br />
Last on my to-do list was Christmas. I knew that there was a good chance he would arrive as late as December 15th, leaving almost no time to get ready for Christmas, so I wanted to get as much done in advance as possible. Way back in November I started buying gifts and shipping them either straight to the recipients, or to us to get wrapped and shipped over. In fact, one shipped so early that the recipient didn't realize it was a Christmas gift, opened it, and started wearing it already! The day after Thanksgiving, I pulled out all the decorations, and the tree and house lights were up by December 1st - our earliest ever! This is the most on top of Christmas I've ever been.<br />
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ready to go! </div>
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<b>Mom Arrives - Last minute relaxing</b><br />
Once all the stressful things were sorted and we were packed and ready - I just spent some time relaxing. I generally napped every day, took a very slow walk in the park, and tried to have some quality time with the kiddo. My mom arrived with plenty of time to hang out, get lunch, and show her around so that she was comfortable finding her way around and managing his routine. We felt generally ready for the new guy to arrive.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-76379351576345905032018-11-13T09:56:00.000-08:002018-11-13T09:56:23.179-08:002 Weeks in FranceSo for our big summer vacation, we decided to visit France. We had only ever been to Paris on a long weekend a few years ago, and wanted to check out the rest of the country. We had to spend 2 weeks of vacation (a requirement of Spouso's work), so we decided to do a slow tour of the country, starting in the south and slowly working our way to the north. We wanted to visit the Riviera, Provence, and the Loire Valley, staying three nights in each spot. The distance between Provence and Loire was pretty big - so we decided to break it up with one night in Lyon. Our tickets were flying out of Paris, so we decided to end the trip at Versailles, which is just outside of Paris.<br />
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a slow tour from the south to the north</div>
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<b>Part 1: The Riviera</b></div>
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To kick off the trip, we started in Nice on the French Riviera. We found a fancy hotel that had a nice pool right near the beach and just had a few days of relaxing. Unfortunately, the beach is pebbly, not sandy, so hauling all of our sand castle toys was a bit of a waste - but apparently the water was really nice, and we played in the pool every day. While it was really hot during the day, it got quite cool and pleasant in the evening, so it was perfect to walk along the promenade that runs alongside the beach and into the old town. Our last night, we happened to stumble upon fireworks on the beach, (our kiddo's first fireworks, which he did not like at all) which were a fun send off. It wasn't the relaxing white sand beach I was hoping for, but still a nice few days of walking around and swimming. Then we hopped on a train to take us on to Provence, driving right along the coast. It was beautiful, and gave us a quick view of Cannes and some of the other little beach towns on the way. We left feeling like we wanted to come back and spend more time in the area- maybe in one of the other beach towns we saw along the train route. </div>
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playing with the rocks on the beach</div>
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exploring the old town</div>
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old town</div>
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lots of pool time</div>
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the beach</div>
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fireworks on the last night</div>
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<b>Part 2: Provence</b><br />
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After a few lovely hours on the train, we arrived in Aix-en-Provence (pronounced like the letter "x"), which is a small town just north of the sea and in the region of Provence. The plan was to do one day of driving through the hills to see the lavender fields and another day to explore a huge gorge and national park - but neither of those things happened. Unfortunately, the kiddo caught a stomach bug right before we left that he was getting over in Nice, but then passed on to us. So we each spent a day in Provence feeling miserable, while the other watched the kiddo, swam in the pool, and mostly stayed in our room. We were able to check out the big farmers' market that the region is famous for, and to explore the town briefly, which had great fountains - and then we had to get moving again. We started driving north with a brief stop in Avignon, a funny little town where the Pope briefly lived - building these huge cathedrals and buildings that now seem completely out of place in a tiny French town. By the time we left, everyone was healthy again - but disappointed that we had missed out on what I thought was going to be the best part of the trip. I think we will definitely try to come back, preferably a bit earlier in the summer when the lavender is really at its peak. </div>
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pooltime at our Airbnb</div>
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farmers market</div>
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flower market</div>
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fountains in Aix</div>
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Avignon</div>
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<b>Part 3: Travel and Lyon</b></div>
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So we knew it was going to be hard to get from Provence, which is all the way in the south, up to the Loire Valley, which is pretty far north. Google said it was about a 5 hour drive, so we tried to split it about halfway in Lyon- but this ended up being really off. We hit so much traffic and lost so much time to the toll roads that the first day was closer to 5 hours and the second was closer to 7. We only briefly were able to explore Lyon, which has a great cathedral, but didn't arrive in time to stop for dinner. Apparently Lyon has great food - so this was a pretty big disappointment. Plus, no one likes being stuck in traffic - and having to sit for so long was really hard on my back - so we all arrived a little annoyed and angry. In hindsight - we probably should have taken the train instead or added another night there to stretch it out. Oddly - the kiddo had a great time on this part of the trip, since he decided he really liked driving in the car. </div>
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cathedral in Lyon</div>
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amazing mosaics</div>
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<b>Part 4: The Loire Valley</b></div>
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So the Loire Valley is famous for castles - and deservedly so. Our hotel was an old chateau turned bed and breakfast (our first BandB experience), which was awfully pretty. We were able to visit a different castle each morning, and then go back to the hotel for a quick nap before playing in the pool and heading to dinner in a different little town each night. Each castle was really different: Villandry has amazing manicured gardens, Islette is tiny and charming, and Chambord is massive and elaborate - so it didn't feel too repetitive. Even though we had to drive absolutely everywhere - nothing was more than about a half hour away and there was absolutely no traffic - so it wasn't a big deal. </div>
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kitchen garden at Villandry</div>
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Villandry</div>
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me in the lavender at Villandry feeling huge</div>
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Islette </div>
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rowing in the moat at Islette</div>
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the row boat at Chateau Islette</div>
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running around in Chateau Chambord</div>
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looking for dragons</div>
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<b>Part 5: Versailles</b></div>
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The end of the trip was a bit of an add on - we had plane tickets out of Paris but didn't want to actually have to drive into the city - so we decided to visit Versailles, which is just outside. Having just spent the past few days in Loire - I was worried that we would be all castled out. Instead - it was just awesome and I think everyone enjoyed it. We got tickets in advance - hoping to skip the line - but discovered that there was still like a 2 hour wait, even first thing in the morning. So we ended up pulling the pregnancy card (cuz there's no way I could stand in line that long), and got to skip to the front. It was still so packed inside that we just moved through the state rooms as quickly as we could to escape outside to the massive gardens. We ended up renting a golf cart to explore the grounds because there was just no way we could've covered the distance on foot. It turns out that they only turn on the fountains for like an hour each week - which happened to be the next morning- so we came back and were able to quickly run around and see all the fountains on, some of which were choreographed to dance to the music. It was amazing. I was not hugely impressed by the palace, but the gardens and fountains were just completely amazing and totally worth it. And with that - it was time to head to the airport and get back to London. </div>
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the hall of the mirrors in the state rooms</div>
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golf carts are amazing. </div>
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one of many fountains</div>
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fountains dancing to the music</div>
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one of many fountains </div>
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running around to see all the fountains turned on </div>
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<b>The Food</b></div>
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So I have never been a huge fan of French food - I always think of it as being really heavy, lots of cream and beef - but this was totally different. There was certainly a lot of cheese and bread - but the main courses were usually really light, often a delicate white fish, and just lovely. Most restaurants had only set menus with two or three courses - but they were just amazing (though too much food). Provence is known for having amazing food, but I think Loire was the best. Breakfast was usually croissants, and lunch was often just sandwiches, so having big meals at night worked out ok. Dessert was amazing, and at some point I decided I should've just skipped the dinners and had more dessert instead. </div>
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one of many pastry breakfasts</div>
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a cheesy lunch break</div>
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a picnic lunch in Loire</div>
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macaron snack break at Versailles</div>
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something amazing for dinner in Lyon</div>
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always room for dessert</div>
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and another cheese course</div>
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soufflé!</div>
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<b>The Hotels</b></div>
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We had a variety of hotel types on this trip. To start in Nice, we were in a fancy hotel, sharing a room with the kiddo on a fold away cot. Thankfully, it had a balcony where we could hang out while he napped in the afternoon, but we still all had to go to sleep at the same time (less of an issue though since we kept him up really late). In Provence, we rented an AirBnB that was a one-bedroom guest house, where he had a fold away bed in the living room. It was handy to have a kitchen and another balcony to hang out on - but the kitchen was pretty minimally stocked (as usual for an airbnb), so when I tried to make dinner one night it was a bit of a flop. In Lyon - we only stayed one night in a very cool hotel that was an old convent. Loire was the BnB, which was great because the kiddo had his own bedroom right next to ours. We've never stayed in a BnB before and didn't quite know what to expect. On the one hand, the lady who ran it made an amazing breakfast each day that was just downstairs - on the other - it felt like she was always watching us, which kind of creeped me out. In Versailles, we were back in a fancy hotel sharing a room with the boy, but everyone was so exhausted that we all went to sleep at the same time anyway. </div>
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playing hide and seek in his separate bedroom in Loire</div>
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the fold-out couch works great when everyone's exhausted</div>
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<b>The Kiddo</b></div>
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The kiddo did really well on this trip. We didn't plan any kid-based activities really, but he had something to like at most locations. He loves water fountains, so we made sure to stop in Provence to check them out and to go back for the second day in Versailles. One of the castles had row boats in the moat, which he got very excited about. We made sure every hotel had a pool, so he was very happy to spend the afternoons swimming, which was also a great way to get him hungry for dinner. He actually really improved his swimming while we were there and was happily going under water by the end. Dinner was a little tricky - most restaurants had a children's plate with either chicken or fish and mashed potatoes that he reluctantly picked at, but it turned out he was happy to just try things off our plates. (He doesn't like chicken, but loves fois gras). We kept peanut butter and crackers in the room which worked well as snacks. Usually the hotels are a big problem because he still takes afternoon naps and goes to bed much earlier than us - but because the dinners were multi-course, long affairs - we were getting back to the room pretty late and accidentally keeping him up much later than his usual bedtime - so it wasn't a big problem. I was also happy to nap while he napped in the afternoons. </div>
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don't love using the iPad - but man, does it help</div>
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<b>Being Pregnant</b></div>
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We didn't really want to do this trip in August, but didn't have a choice. We couldn't do it earlier in the summer because of house guests, and couldn't do it later in September because women aren't allowed to fly in their third trimester. So unfortunately, that meant I was going to be pretty huge, and it would be really hot. To mitigate - we tried to keep the tourism to just a couple hours in the mornings, with just naps and pool time in the afternoons. I'm at the point that I really can't carry the kiddo at all, so Spouso had to do a lot of carrying him around. But I also can't walk fast or for very long distances either - so we had to keep things on the easier side with lots of breaks. (The golf cart in Versailles was a dream for me). The car rides were pretty hard on my back, and by the end I was really missing my bed. I felt like I ended the trip much more pregnant than I started it, and was very desperate to get home and back to my couch. Obviously - a big sightseeing trip in the middle of the summer when you're massively pregnant isn't ideal - but I managed ok and still had fun. </div>
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shoulder rides are the only way this works now</div>
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I feel like this is a turning point or end of a travel era for us. I am now not allowed to fly until this kid comes out, and after that - I'm guessing we won't be anxious to fly anywhere for a while. A big multi-stop trip like this won't be high on our to-do list once we have two kids and all their stuff to haul around. Obviously I hope this isn't our last trip, but I'm guessing they'll be very different in the future. And for now - I'm happy to stay home and chill out for a while and get ready for this kid to come. </div>
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Last but not least - a short movie of the trip. </div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uamOo_dEMYE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uamOo_dEMYE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-86696564035049282292018-11-13T06:40:00.000-08:002018-11-13T06:40:29.393-08:00Sightseeing in London CityContinuing on with London tourism - my next neighborhood to tour is the oldest part of London, known as "The City of London". This is the part of the city just north of the river and to the east of the West End, where all the other major attractions are. It is the oldest part of the city, with borders set by the old roman wall that used to encircle the town. There were just three sights I really wanted to see in this part of town - the cathedral, the tower, and the London Museum.<br />
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downtown neighborhoods for reference</div>
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my three stops</div>
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<b>Museum of London</b></div>
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First stop in this part of town was a museum that's dedicated entirely to the history of London. It's sort of B-list attraction, not a major tourist destination, which meant I had it all to myself on a nice fall afternoon. It also means that it didn't have any huge attractions to see - (so no pictures) - but it was interesting and generally worth the couple of hours I stayed there. It starts with London's history as a Roman city, which interestingly - was abandoned, not sacked when the Romans left. Then it moves into medieval history, the plague, and the famous fire of 1666 that destroyed most of the city. Then as the city rebuilt as a major marketplace, there was a Victorian main street full of shops as well as the cell of a debtor's prison, the result of all the abundant shops and things to buy was that a massive portion of the city's inhabitants were broke and imprisoned. I don't think I would go back for a second trip, but it was generally worth one trip to help put some British history in context.</div>
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<b>St. Paul's</b><br />
Westminster Abbey is the church for the monarchs, but St. Paul's is the church for the English people. It is massive and towers above the city, even with some more modern buildings popping up recently around it. It's quite stately and lovely and the most iconic part of the skyline, so I wanted to pop inside. (It's also where the bird lady would feed the birds in Mary Poppins, fyi). So while my Dad was in town, we stopped in. I usually object to paying an entrance fee for a church, but this was totally worth it. The audio guide had just oodles of info, and we could've easily stayed a couple more hours. One thing I found interesting was that the inside is pretty sparse - which was apparently a political decision to ensure that it looked appropriately Anglican and not at all Catholic. Apparently even Victoria complained about it being so dreary and boring. So now I feel like I need to read up more on the Anglican church, which I don't know much about.<br />
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St Paul's - looking a lot like the US Capitol</div>
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center of the skyline from across the river</div>
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my only shot of the inside - pretty sparse</div>
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<b>Tower of London</b><br />
Lastly, the Tower is one of the biggest, most famous tourist destinations in the city - so we purposefully held off on visiting it until the summer and main tourist season were over. One cold and rainy fall weekend, we finally went for it. It was still pretty crowded, and we still ended up waiting in some long lines - but managed to see about half of the place before the kiddo crashed. This really is the oldest part of the city - going all the way back to William the Conqueror. It was an early medieval palace, a prison and execution sight, but also current home for the crown jewels. The center structure is now an exhibit on armor and weapons, which was both interesting and gorey - so I was happy to move right along.<br />
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the White Tower and part of the old Roman walls</div>
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the armor exhibit</div>
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Henry VIII's suit of armor</div>
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practicing our growls in front of a huge dragon</div>
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long lines, rainy day, generally good spirits. </div>
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So that's about the end of my London sightseeing, for now at least. There were a few more sights I wanted to hit before the winter is fully upon us, but I think they'll have to wait until the spring. I'm pretty pleased in general though, I think I've managed to hit all of the top 20 or so major attractions. I also got a great sense of the city and how to get around town. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-85235845070227886862018-09-26T05:41:00.001-07:002018-09-26T05:41:22.183-07:00Sightseeing in London's Kensington Neighborhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Even though I am definitely slowing down, my tourism goals continued over the summer. After tackling the West End and South Bank, I directed my attention to the neighborhood of Kensington, which is just to the west of the west end. In general, this part of town reminds me a lot of DC's Georgetown - it's posh, real estate is ridiculously expensive, and if you were Jackie O- this is definitely where you would live. It's also kind of hard to get to - requiring three transfers from our house, so it took quite a while to hit all the major attractions in this part of town. I did some of these by myself during the week, and others over the weekend with the family. </div>
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the downtown neighborhoods for reference</div>
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sights in Kensington</div>
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<b>Kensington Palace</b><br />
First up, Kensington Palace is best known as the childhood home of Queen Victoria, but is also the current home of both Prince William and his family, as well as newly-weds Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It's a smaller palace, so it wasn't super crowded and easy to tackle in an hour or so. The house was originally purchased by William and Mary, so part of it is quite old, while other parts are newer and have exhibits on Victoria and some of the more recent inhabitants.<br />
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Kensington Palace</div>
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Victoria's famous white wedding dress</div>
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nice ceilings</div>
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<b>Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park</b><br />
Kensington's front yard is basically a massive public park, that joins with Hyde Park to be a simply massive park in the middle of the city. We visited multiple times over the summer - for a few picnics to watch swans on the pond, and to check out two really fantastic playgrounds that are memorials to Princess Diana - one is a huge sand play ground and the other is a big water fountain you can walk through - which was just critical in the hottest part of the summer.<br />
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huge sand area at the Diana Memorial Playground</div>
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<b>Museums</b><br />
So just south of the park is a bunch of museums, which we worked our way through on rainy and cold weekends.<br />
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<ul>
<li>The Natural History Museum is an amazing building - but it's kind of lame on the inside. Packed to the gills with kids looking at animatronic dinosaurs, so not my favorite. Interestingly, the kiddo told us many, many times that he was not afraid of the huge, moving t-rex, but was too scared to go to the live butterfly exhibit. </li>
<li>The Science Museum was pretty cool and not at all crowded, with some neat airplanes that the kiddo enjoyed, a very cool Gaussian math exhibit, and some other random cool things. </li>
<li>The Victoria and Albert Museum I visited myself, not super kid-friendly, but a very interesting collection of decorative arts like musical instruments and historical fashion. Apparently it has a kids' section that I missed, so maybe we'll go back together this winter. </li>
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dinosaurs at the natural history museum (definitely not a scared face)</div>
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inside of natural history is awesome</div>
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lots of airplanes to see at the Science Museum</div>
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excited about math at the Science Museum</div>
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airplanes</div>
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<b>Harrod's</b><br />
Just to the east of the museums is Harrod's, a massive department store. While my dad was in town, we decided to stop in for lunch to take a break from walking between other stops. Most of the massive building is just a super expensive department store (not much to see), but the food levels are really cool. We had lunch in the tea rooms, which were gorgeous. I've decided tea is my new favorite meal - because it comes with amazing little desserts. Then we wandered down to the food shop level, where there were huge seafood markets and lots of cool things.<br />
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dessert display in the tea room</div>
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our lovely little desserts</div>
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part of the food market</div>
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<b>Buckingham Palace</b><br />
So Buckingham isn't really in Kensington - I'm stretching this a bit - it's really more the West End neighborhood. The reason I didn't visit back when I was touring the West End this spring is because the best parts of Buckingham don't open to the public until the Queen goes on summer vacation. Then they open up all the state rooms, which are simply amazing. Buckingham Palace, of course, is the Queen's residence and main home through the year. It was Victoria's home too, after she became queen and moved out of Kensington Palace, so there are a lot of portraits of her family. No photos allowed, so I borrowed these from the official website to give you an idea - it's just simply over the top.<br />
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Buckingham from above</div>
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<b>More on Victoria</b><br />
Between visiting Kensington Palace, the V&A Museum, and Buckingham - I got a bit of Victoria fever. I bought a small biography of her to get more info - and was kind of sucked in. Then I found the tv series "Victoria", and binged through the first two seasons (totally recommend). I also watched the recent movie "Victoria and Abdul", about a friendship she had later in life. She took the throne when she was only 18 - and was constantly fighting off uncles, her mom, and other advisors who wanted to either kill her or control her. She wasn't groomed at all for the job - in fact, no one even told her she was the heir to the throne, she figured it out herself while looking at a family tree. She married her cousin Albert and was almost immediately pregnant - which would've been terrifying at that time because maternal health was pretty awful - and then remained basically constantly pregnant, producing 9 children before Albert tragically died. She lived the rest of of her long reign in mourning for him, insisting that all her staff wear black for years. She reigned for 63 years - setting the record at the time, which was only recently surpassed by Queen Elisabeth II, Victoria's great-great-grandaughter. Anyway - I'm kind of smitten. [Sidenote: Victoria was queen during Dickens lifetime (in fact they even mention reading David Copperfield in the tv show), so this tied in well with my literature project].<br />
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So - for London tourism, I have a few more sights I want to see before I am completely immobile and the weather turns. I still need to tackle the City neighborhood, as well as a few things just out of town.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-87019581766240246042018-09-25T08:00:00.001-07:002018-09-25T08:00:12.218-07:00A Big Boy Room, Part 2So earlier this summer I mentioned that our first kid was switching rooms so that the new kid could have his room, which is closer to ours. We bought the big stuff over the summer, just in time for some of our guests to use his new twin bed and trundle. After they had all gone and the house had settled back down, we started finishing things up so he could move in.<br />
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new bed and bedding ready to go</div>
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<b>Furniture</b><br />
The last of the furniture finally arrived. Once the bookcase arrived, we loaded it up with all his books, which meant that bedtime stories started happening up there. This was actually a nice way to slowly transition into using the room, before he was quite ready to sleep there. Then we moved in his old dresser and filled it up with his clothes, which forced him to start sleeping in there. Lastly, his new couch arrived. It has legs, but they were proving a little difficult to put on- so we just left them off for now. He loves it - and it's the perfect size and height for him to flop on - so perhaps the legs will remain off for a few years.<br />
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the new bookcase - tall enough for his tall books and a few toys</div>
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the new couch - no legs</div>
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just the right size</div>
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<b>Curtain</b><br />
Meanwhile, I started working on the curtain. I hated the original one, which was ugly and beige and boring, and way too big to squeeze behind the bed. I ordered some fabric from Amazon (incidentally, this is apparently the material used to make the scrubs for National Health Service midwives), and then found a really cheap sewing machine, since mine is in storage back in DC. I simply made a huge lined sheet, and then sewed a tape across the back that creates the pleats. It turned out to be much easier than I expected, and allowed me to use the hardware that was already installed. Then I ordered a fun elephant guy that can hold it open.<br />
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new curtain up</div>
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closeup of the elephant curtain holder thing</div>
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<b>Wall Art</b><br />
Once the furniture had all been moved in and the curtain was up, it was functional, but not homey. I asked him to pick anything from his old room that he wanted to bring with him - which ended up being almost everything. But there was still lots of blank wall space, so I turned to etsy, of course, and ordered some new stuff.<br />
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new wall art behind the couch</div>
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a new bunny to go with his owl and squirrel and a new nightlight</div>
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So, now he's sleeping up here every night and pretty much settled in. We still have a few things to work out, and maybe a few more things to pick up, but I'm calling this pretty much done.<br />
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couch area - feeling cozy for bedtime stories</div>
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pretty much done</div>
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<b>Another Big Transition</b><br />
We obviously wanted to get this process started long before the baby arrives so that he could feel settled and not squeezed out, and to help minimize transition and chaos when the baby arrives. However, moving him up to his new room ended up happening during a bunch of other transitions, just by coincidence. First, we ended up moving him in just after returning from a long summer vacation, which is always tricky just because it's hard to switch from full-time vacation mode to the normal work/school schedule. Because it was the end of summer though, he didn't go back to his usual class, he switched to a new class - which is also always difficult because it means new teachers, some new friends, new routines, etc. This transition was even more difficult because he switched from a typical daycare class that he's used to, to a much more intense one, known as "pre-reception" here. All the sudden there is an academic requirement (meaning that they're trying to get him to learn his letters), complete with homework, "intense learning periods", uniforms, and really rigid schedules. The biggest issue has been that they no longer have naps, which he still needs, so he comes home absolutely exhausted every night. We're trying to strike the right balance of advocating for his needs, while getting on board and helping him meet these new expectations.<br />
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<b>Parenting Books and Grains of Salt</b><br />
Meanwhile, I read a few chapters of "What to Expect While You're Expecting", a popular pregnancy book that I absolutely hate, but that has some useful info about what's happening at each stage of the pregnancy. It reminded me that a lot is going on right now, and that I should take it easy. It suggests letting husbands take over all the housework and chores, while you basically sit around and get a back massage all day (clearly written for first-time moms). So I made a conscious decision to step back a bit and let the spouso pick up some parenting slack, sleeping in a bit on weekends, and skipping out on bedtime routines to give my back a break. Almost immediately, the kiddo freaked out - having ridiculous tantrums over every little thing. With all this transition - it was hard to tell what the problem was - the new room? the new class?<br />
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So I picked up another parenting book, "Gentle Parenting", which turns out to be pretty far to the snuggle side of the attachment parenting spectrum. Like the other books I've read, it talked about the importance of building a strong connection with lots of quality time to help avoid the tantrums in the first place. So we made a new "no yelling" rule, and I re-upped my effort to spend more time with him. I'm trying harder to wake up early and spend time on the floor playing every morning, as well as snuggling on the couch after school while dinner finishes up. I'm also trying to take back more of the bedtime routine - bath time in particular, because I can just sit and let him soak himself clean. It seems to be helping a lot - the tantrums have almost completely stopped and the yelling has disappeared. I just have to find the right balance of taking it easy while spending as much quality time with him as I can.<br />
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[Sidenote: this book also covered pregnancy and encouraged drug-free childbirth. It went as far as saying that you don't need drugs because childbirth won't hurt if you do it right - meaning having a very calm and relaxing birth environment. Having done this once already without drugs - I can say there are not enough scented candles in the world to make it anything but the most painful thing I've ever experienced. For the moms who want to feel the pain of childbirth - I don't understand, but support your choice - but I find it downright wrong to suggest to anyone that it won't hurt. That's just setting women up for a horrible horrible surprise. I am very much looking forward to getting the drugs this time around.]<br />
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snuggling on the tube</div>
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Anyway - so the kiddo is settled in his new room. He's getting used to his new class and teachers. I'm doing my best to help him with his homework every weekend and spending as much quality time with him as I can. We've got a bit of a groove going, so I'm hoping we can spend the rest of the fall just settling into it before 2nd kid shows up. And with that - it's time to turn my attention to the baby's room and getting all the baby stuff.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-52757828456158406652018-07-31T10:07:00.000-07:002018-07-31T10:07:09.766-07:00Leed's Castle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So we had a bunch of guests over July and spent a lot of time in London, shuffling around some of the tourist sites in the miserable heat. After a while, we decided to get out of town and take a day trip to nearby Leed's castle. It was an easy getaway - we had a leisurely morning, then hopped on the tube to Victoria station where we grabbed lunch to eat on a quick 1 hour train south east to Bearsted, where we hopped in a shuttle to take us the 10-min drive to the castle. </div>
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relaxing on a train</div>
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<b>The Castle</b></div>
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So first up, we swung by the visitors' center for a quick video that explained the history of the castle going way back to the wives of Henry VIII. Then we went into the main castle building and explored. There were some very cool older rooms with awesome floors and ceilings, and then a few rooms that had been renovated in the 20's - not as cool, but still nice to see. </div>
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elaborate ceiling beams</div>
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butterfly joints in all the floor boards</div>
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someone already crashing</div>
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<b>The Grounds</b><br />
After the castle, we went to explore the grounds - which included some lovely gardens, an awesome hedge maze, and a grotto. The rest of the group continued on to the falconry, but I started back with the kiddo towards the front gate.<br />
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hedge maze</div>
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grotto</div>
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hiding in a tree</div>
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squishing the hedges</div>
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So - the grounds actually stayed open a few hours later, but we had to rush to catch the last shuttle back to the train station. We had pretty much seen everything, but it would've been nice to have another half hour or so and not feel rushed. Everyone was happy to sit for a while on the train, and then we were back home in time for an easy dinner. All in all, it was a little rushed but a really nice day trip. I'm glad we finally got there and didn't try to also stop by Canterbury, which is very nearby but would've been way too rushed. We'll save that for another weekend.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-14590445569174810562018-07-11T04:15:00.000-07:002018-07-11T04:15:11.253-07:00A Big Boy RoomSo with the new baby on its way, we started thinking about where it would go. In order to have new kid near our room on the 2nd floor, we needed to shuffle bedrooms with the first kiddo and move him up to the third floor. We decided to put him in the room that is currently being used as an office, and repurposing the 4th bedroom into an office/guest room. Because we want him to move into his new room before the baby arrives, in order to not feel pushed out, and because we have a lot of guests coming this summer and need extra beds - we decided to get started now.<br />
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<b>Emptying out the Office</b><br />
The office was one of the least furnished rooms in the house - so it didn't take much effort to empty it out. We moved the small desk, chair, and bookcase into the 4th bedroom, which had plenty of room to absorb the extra furniture.<br />
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the office</div>
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fireplace and closet</div>
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the other wall</div>
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<b>Planning and Shopping</b><br />
Then, after measuring the walls (and the door - which is the real limitation), we made some furniture decisions. For his bed, we opted for a twin-sized bed with a trundle bed underneath - something my brother had when we were kids that seemed useful. UK beds are slightly different sizes than US beds, so I'm hoping that sheets won't be an issue in the future. For bedtime stories, we picked a small 2-seater couch that will barely squeeze through the door but hopefully fit two people. We also picked a new bookcase that will hopefully be just tall enough to fit his taller books. My hope with all the furniture is that these are nicer things that will move back home with us and last for a few years. <br />
<br />
For softer stuff, the room sort of fell into a calm, blue and green color scheme. I tried to get his input on bedding, but he didn't have a lot of patience with me. We wanted something he would like but not outgrow too quickly, so we ended up with some cars and trucks, as well as just stripes. The rug was a neutral pick, just something big and soft, with lots of lines for driving cars on.<br />
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<br />
<ol>
<li>A single bed with a trundle</li>
<li>A solid bookcase</li>
<li>A 2-seater couch </li>
<li>A neutral rug</li>
<li>A very soft and furry pillow for the couch</li>
<li>Car sheets</li>
<li>Stripe sheets</li>
<li>A subtle car quilt</li>
</ol>
<b>Putting it All Together</b><br />
Thankfully, the rug arrived first, and was easy to put down in an empty room. Then the bed came in lots of boxes - that I slowly carried upstairs and put together with some help. The bedding also arrived quickly - which allowed us to get the bed completely made up - just in time for our first guest to try out. After that, I did some shuffling of end tables to move an existing table upstairs, but swapped out the boring handles with some great double-decker bus handles.<br />
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bed getting built</div>
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new bedding and side table</div>
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closeup of the handles</div>
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view of the window</div>
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So he is all excited, and likes to check on the new room every few days. Unfortunately, to fit all the furniture in there, the bed has to go on the wall with the window - so that the existing curtains (which are ugly anyway) don't really work. So, next up - I'm going to make some new ones. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-51230143315671778982018-07-10T06:02:00.002-07:002018-07-10T06:02:50.986-07:00British Literature -> The New Art ShelfSo - my first trimester was rather miserable. I was nauseous all day and exhausted - plus the weather was cold and rainy - so I spent a lot of time on the couch reading.<br />
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my British literature shelf </div>
<b><i><br /></i></b><b>The British Literature Project</b><br />
I posted a few months ago that I wanted to start a new project to read the British literature classics. I started with <i>The Remains of the Day</i>, but then decided I should go back and start chronologically. So far, I've made my way through a couple hundred years, with a lot of help from Netflix.<br />
<ul>
<li>Chaucer: <i>Canterbury Tales </i>is<i> </i>a collection of stories told by pilgrims on their way from London to the Canterbury cathedral. This was a painful exercise in reading middle English. I only got through a few before giving up and just reading the modern English summaries at the beginning of each tale, followed by some youtube videos. </li>
<li>Shakespeare: I find it difficult to read plays, so decided just to go the movie route on him. We rented <i>Macbeth</i> and <i>Midsummer Night's Dream</i>, and then finished with <i>Shakespeare in Love.</i> I know this is a total copout-- moving on. </li>
<li>Jane Austen: I started with<i> Emma</i>, until I realized it was remade into the 90's movie <i>Clueless</i>, which then was completely distracting so I quit. I rented the Gwyneth Paltrow <i>Emma</i> and then <i>Sense and Sensibility</i>, which was a lovely cast of Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, and Kate Winslet. I decided I'm not a huge Austen fan and moved on.</li>
<li>Brontes: Having previously read <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, I opted to just rent the movie. I unfortunately picked the 1970 version with Timothy Dalton - which was not so great. Finally, my project really turned around when I picked up <i>Jane Eyre</i>, the story of an orphan girl who gets passed from one horrible place to another and slowly makes her way through life. I loved it and read every word to the end. </li>
<li>Dickens: Next up was <i>David Copperfield</i>, another orphan story about a boy who bounces from one horrible situation to the next until he finally makes it. Very similar to <i>Jane Eyre</i>, but he turns out much better - clearly it is better to be an orphan boy than an orphan girl. I really liked this one, but gave up after about 500 pages and decided to watch the movie, which has a cameo by Laurence Olivier.</li>
</ul>
<b>Modern Lit</b><br />
<div>
At this point, I was getting tired of hauling around these huge texts, and decided to take a quick break with some current books on my kindle.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Manhattan Beach</i>: a WW2 story about a girl who is abandoned by her father and works in a navy yard outside New York. Not my favorite, but an interesting story about her searching for her father and diving with 1940's gear. </li>
<li><i>Less</i>: the story of an older gay writer on a trip around the world, trying to get over a breakup. Had some funny moments, but really not clear to me why this one won a Pulitzer. </li>
<li><i>Sing, Unburied, Sing</i>: a story about a boy in the Mississippi Delta who takes care of his younger sister because his parents are completely unfit (mom is a druggie, dad in jail), while dealing with serious racial discrimination and violence. This story was fascinating and really brutal at times - with a really interesting change back and forth in perspective between the boy and his mom. </li>
<li><i>Boat People: </i>the story of a father and son who are refugees from Sri Lanka, fleeing to Canada. The story bounces back and forth between the terrible life they've fled to the miserable process of seeking asylum. I loved this one and read the whole thing in a day. </li>
</ul>
<b>Parenting Books</b><br />
So at this point, I realized that everything I was reading seemed to have the same theme of children struggling to survive, due to unfit or absent parents. This made me want to be a better parent for my kiddo (and a half). Our biggest issue right now is tantrums, and I had read that timeouts are now considered passe - but had no idea what the alternative was supposed to be. So I decided to read up on parenting and discipline guidance for preschoolers.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Positive Discipline: </i>This one talks a lot about not punishing your child, but helping them work through their tough emotions. </li>
<li><i>Calm Parents, Happy Kids:</i> This one is very similar to the first and has three basic concepts: set a better example yourself by managing your own emotions, strengthen your connection with your kid so they want to behave better, and then coach them through managing their emotions. It got a little too attachment parenting for me - but had some good concepts. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Activity Books</b><br />
So both of the parenting books talked a lot about having quality time with your kid to strengthen the relationship. I realized that while I spend quite a lot of time with my kiddo, there isn't a lot of good quality time. So I'm trying to make an effort to play with him every morning before daycare for about 10-15 minutes, usually one of his board games or another toy. But I didn't have great ideas for the weekends, so I picked up a few more books:.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>The Tickle Fingers Toddler Cookbook: </i>Recipes that are meant to be made by a preschooler with just a little help from parents. I figure cooking together is not only an activity we can do together, but helps give him a useful life skill and maybe makes him more likely to eat dinner. We've already tried the nachos, and it seemed like a success all around. </li>
<li><i>The Big Book of 100 Little Activities: </i>A variety of activity ideas, from making bird feeders to splatter art. I'm hoping we'll have some fun together while getting a little fine-motor skill practice. </li>
</ul>
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the new art shelf on top</div>
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This, of course, led to another round of online shopping to pick up key ingredients and more art supplies. And now that those things are all organized in their new homes - I've come full circle back to my British Literature, picking back up with some more Dickens. I was hoping for some more uplifting stories - but the prospects are Bleak. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-64266817716642892992018-07-04T09:49:00.000-07:002018-07-04T09:49:05.339-07:00Comparing Healthcare Systems: US v UKSo - I'm officially pregnant again, which means that I am in the unique position of getting a lot of firsthand experience with two very different healthcare systems. When we left the US, we didn't just leave our doctors, we left an entire healthcare system that (despite its faults), we had learned to understand - and replaced it with a completely different system to figure out. I'm just about halfway done with this pregnancy, so here are my thoughts so far.<br />
<br />
<b>The Two Different Systems</b><br />
So, as we know - in the American healthcare system, doctors make care decisions, insurance companies pay for part of the cost of the care, and the patient also covers part of the cost through deductibles, copays, and other bills. Patients can choose between the doctors that are within their insurance plans, or the costs are even higher. To protect themselves from law suits and keep the practice profitable, doctors are incentivized toward excessive treatment and tests to cover themselves, as long as the insurance companies will cover the costs. By comparison, the UK system is a single-payer system that is run by the government entirely. You go to the general practitioner that is in your neighborhood and couldn't choose a doctor that's closer to work, for example, but don't have to worry if they are covered by your plan or not. To keep down costs, they minimize the time each patient spends with doctors, delegating as much as possible to midwives or nurses, and minimizing tests and visits wherever they can.<br />
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<b>Prenatal Visits</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Number and location of visits: </b>So in the US, I think I had over a dozen appointments. They started out every month, then went to every two weeks, and then every week by the end. All were in the same place, my ObGyn practice. Here, we have many fewer appointments, and they are split between 2 locations: my GP practice and my midwife group. I will have a total of 7 appointments, 5 with the midwives and 2 with the GP. Additionally, because I'm 35, I had one consult with an ObGyn, which was a total of 5 minutes long. </li>
<li><b>Lots of Different Doctors and Nurses:</b> In the US, I went to a practice with about a dozen ObGyns. I knew from the beginning that delivery would be by whoever happened to be on call that day - so we played Doctor Bingo to make sure we had met everyone in the practice before my due date (not that it would've mattered). I would occasionally test them by asking a question that I had asked at the previous appointment to see if I got the same answer, and always did. Here - I have the GP practice (which is several doctors and nurses), the midwife group (which is a team of several midwives), plus the ObGyn, but none of those people will be at the hospital for delivery - that's apparently a completely different team of people. My biggest complaint is that they don't coordinate together at all and give conflicting advice. For example - the midwife told me to go get a vaccine at 16 weeks from the GP, but the GP follows different guidance and wouldn't give me the shot until 20 weeks, so I had to waste time sitting in the waiting room for an hour and then reschedule the appointment. </li>
<li><b>Tests: </b>At each of the appointments in the US, they conducted a bunch of tests. They took a urine sample to test for protein and sugar, they weighed me, took my blood pressure, and then they palpitated my uterus (meaning awkwardly poked me in the belly). At every appointment they either listened to the heartbeat or used the ultrasound machine to check on the fetus. Here, it's just the urine sample and blood pressure - no one has weighed me yet, poked me in the belly, or listened to the baby's heartbeat. Additionally - in the US, I was giving blood samples left and right for various tests - but we only did two here. My least favorite appointment was the glucose test, which they don't do here in the UK unless there's some reason to order it. Similarly, I had at least 4 sonograms in the US, but will only get 2 here. There isn't even a machine in either the midwife or GP's office, so I have to make a special trip to the hospital for that. So in the US, I spent at least a half hour at each appointment getting all the tests and talking through all the symptoms, whereas here an appointment is 10 minutes max. </li>
<li><b>Medical Files: </b>In the US, even though I had a different doctor at every appointment, the care felt continuous and consistent because they would take a minute to read my medical file before each appointment. Here - they don't have a file on me. Instead, I have to carry a booklet to each appointment, where they write their notes for the next person to read. I feel like each appointment starts from scratch - I have told our birth story like 6 times already. I was extremely irritated when the first question the ObGyn asked was, "How old are you?", followed by "Is this your first baby?", two questions that seemed basic enough that he should've known the answer already. </li>
<li><b>Scheduling Appointments:</b> Maybe this is a small thing, but it still bothers me. In the US, after one appointment was over, you would walk to the desk and schedule the next, at a time that worked for you. Here, they just schedule my appointments for me based on what works for them, and I get either a letter or a text message telling me when my appointment is scheduled. Technically, there is a phone number to call if you want to reschedule, but no one seems to answer the phone, so the appointment basically cannot be moved. This has resulted in an appointment on a weekend with first kiddo in tow, an appointment for a test 3 weeks after it was supposed to be given, and then several appointments when I'm out of town or just otherwise busy. Clearly, the assumption is that my schedule doesn't matter. </li>
<li><b>Pregnancy Rules</b>: In the US, the sort of default assumption was that you probably shouldn't do something during pregnancy - whether that was eating soft cheeses or drinking herbal tea- if there was any reason to think something might be a bad idea or if it just hadn't been tested yet, doctors would advise you not to do it. All those rules, plus the constant testing and appointments led to a rather anxious pregnancy. I remember going to a reception and realizing I couldn't eat anything that was being served. Here - it would be an huge understatement to say that they have a more relaxed approach. There aren't any rules about what I'm supposed to be eating or not, and they just recommend avoiding alcohol during the first trimester. I am avoiding alcohol myself, but have decided not to follow the soft cheese and smoked meat rules. At my first appointment, I asked the midwife what number I should call when I have a question, and she said that she guessed I could email them. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Kid Visits</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Standard Well Child Visit: </b>In the US, there was a schedule for standard healthy kid checkups, that was every few weeks, then every few months, and then once a year. At each visit, a nurse would measure his weight and height and calculate the percentile. Then, the doctor would come in to review the results and discuss any other questions that had come up. This was a great time to ask random things that we had been worried about but that weren't enough to schedule a special trip for - like: "Do you recommend a sunscreen?" or "Should we worry that he won't eat anything green?". She would often give us an answer and refer us to a book or website for more info, and all in all in at both helpful and reassuring. Then, the nurse would come back in to give him the schedule vaccines. Here, you can get the measurements taken by the midwife, but they can't answer any questions - you have to make a special appointment with the GP for that. Only the nurse at the GP office can give shots, so that's a separate appointment too. Here the measurements stop at 2 years, so after that - you need would only go to the GP if there was a cause for concern - eliminating our chance to just check in and make sure we're on the right track. </li>
<li><b>The ASQ Test: </b>In the US, before each appointment, they would send us a link to an extensive test, which changed for each visit based on the recommended milestones for that age, i.e., "Can your child pick up a cheerio with just his index finger and thumb?" or, "Does your child speak in sentences with three or more words?". The doctor would review the test results before each appointment and discuss anything unusual - but it was also just a chance for us to learn his strengths and weaknesses. Here, they seem to have the same test (paper only), but will only give it if there's a reason for concern. The midwife asked if I was concerned that he might be behind in anything, but what do I know? </li>
<li><b>Vaccines: </b>In the US, there's a schedule for vaccines that follows the schedule for well child visits, so you just get the shots while you're already at the doctor anyway. Here, the schedule for shots doesn't match the schedule for measurements - so you need to track two different schedules for the two different offices. Also, the schedule is different than the US schedule, including both some different vaccines that we don't give in the US and some different timing. For example, they don't vaccinate for chicken pox here but do vaccinate for meningitis, and have a booster a 3 years, 4 months that we don't give in the US. I tried to ask the midwife about it - but of course she referred me back to the GP - who had already referred me to them in the first place - so it feels like it falls to me to figure out if he's going to get behind on anything. </li>
<li><b>Percentiles: </b>As any parent of a young child knows - everything hangs on a kid's weight and height percentiles. We have so much data on growing kids that we can easily calculate how a kid's height, weight, and head circumference compare to other kids of the same age - which is their percentile. You want to know both the percentile itself, and the trend from previous measurements. Our kiddo dropped to the low percentiles at his 2 year appointment, so it's something we're extra concerned about - so I found an app that allows you to easily calculate and track your percentiles over time. Here - the midwife used an old school paper graph to chart his measurements - determined that he was somewhere between 25% and 50%, and then said - "He looks fine to me". So - I flipped out, and started my own excel file tracking his percentiles using my app and regular measurements of my own. Again - I feel like the onus falls to me. </li>
</ul>
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<div>
<b>Dentist</b></div>
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Similar to the prenatal and health kid appointments, the dentist also delegates any lower level work to a nurse (the hygienist), which is scheduled separately, though thankfully in the same location. So, I went for a checkup which was a 5 minute appointment with the dentist just looking for cavities. He then recommended a cleaning, which I will have to schedule separately and go back for during another appointment. In the US, of course, it's all done in one appointment. </div>
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<b>Costs</b></div>
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It wouldn't be fair to compare these two different systems without talking about cost. In the US, we had very good insurance when I was pregnant, and then dropped down to minimal insurance afterwards. Thanks to Obamacare, all the prenatal visits and well child visits were free, but we would occasionally get a bill in the mail for various tests or appointments that weren't covered - and of course, a several thousand dollar bill for the delivery. Bills were always mysterious and unintelligible - it was never clear why something was covered or not, and certainly not clear during the appointment. Here - there's none of that. I haven't paid a pound out of pocket for any of this care - and won't. Our taxes are much higher of course, which is what covers this all. It's nice to know we won't be spending any miserable nights trying to compare plans and decide if a $20 copay is more or less than 15% of covered costs under a different plan. </div>
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<b>Conclusions </b></div>
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As a good Democrat, I really want to like the UK system, but I don't. I'm getting the distinct impression that they don't care about my time or what's convenient for me, and things could easily fall through the cracks. I'm trying to remind myself that the system I'm comfortable with was probably overdoing it - and that it wouldn't hurt to relax a bit on things. After all, they have plenty of healthy kids and routine deliveries here too. I'm also trying to remind myself that we moved here to have some different experiences and adventures - even though this is an area where safe and boring would've been fine. All in all, I'm sure everything will be fine - we are lucky to be very healthy - so I'm just going to try to go with the flow and google the hell out of everything. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-58616473463830422018-06-25T03:25:00.000-07:002018-06-25T03:25:07.665-07:00Beach WeekendSo we had planned to do a long weekend in Spain a few weeks ago to celebrate our 5th anniversary, but the plane was cancelled at the last minute. (We had actually gotten all the way to the airport, through security and everything before they told us -- which was awesome). So we decided to schedule another beach getaway, this time just at a local British beach instead. After some quick googling of local beaches, we found Bournemouth, which has a huge sandy beach, and is only a 2 hour train from London.<br />
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The beach turned out to be pretty great. It was really massive, so even with quite a few other people there, it didn't feel crowded. Even with jetties, you could walk a long distance in either direction. It also had a great soft sand - a welcome change from the rocky beaches we've seen recently. The only downside was that it was way too cold to get in the water - though that doesn't seem to stop the locals. We spent a few hours each day digging and flopping around.<br />
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We picked the hotel because it had an outdoor pool, as well as a balcony with an ocean view. For the kiddo - it had a foldout couch, which worked but wasn't ideal. He was very excited about the pool - even though it was only slightly warmer than the ocean- so we took turns taking him for a swim and then warming up in the sun. </div>
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view from the balcony</div>
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We also briefly explored the town - which turned out to be rather charming. There was a massive park, which was really packed with people and lots of lovely flowers. We found a few not-bad food options around the park, as well as some great snacks on the promenade near the beach.<br />
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checking out all the flowers</div>
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nutella sandwich for breakfast</div>
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yes - both ice cream and a chocolate crepe</div>
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All in all - a nice weekend getaway. Definitely not Spain - but certainly a lot easier than dealing with the airports and all that travel fuss. Would've been nice to have some Spanish food and warmer weather - but still nice to know that British beaches are an option for a quick weekend break.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-33080481246915753362018-05-29T05:04:00.000-07:002018-05-29T05:04:51.990-07:003rd birthday - Music and TrainsAs our kiddo's 3rd birthday approached, we began to discuss party ideas. The last two parties had been pretty easy - just local family coming over to the house for pizza and beers - with plenty of time for me to hang my streamers and decorations. This year would be very different - since we no longer have any local family, and the expectations here were that the entire daycare was invited to a party location - not a house.<br />
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<b>The Prep</b><br />
About a month out, I started looking into venues and panicked - most were completely booked and extremely expensive. Other parties we'd been to or been invited to didn't seem right either - lots of bouncy houses, mud parties, and trampolines that I knew he just wouldn't enjoy. Finally, I found the perfect thing - a company of musicians that did party entertainment, and a local church rec center that was available. We booked both, and then I made invites for the class based on his two current favorite things - music and trains.<br />
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the invite sets the theme - cute right?</div>
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he was very excited about this part of the invite</div>
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Once over one hurdle - the next began, as I panicked about the rsvp's. Unfortunately, we had accidentally scheduled the party on a three-day weekend (didn't realize they celebrated memorial day here), so we had a few immediate "No" responses because of travel. A handful of "Yeses" came in, and then there were a bunch of "No Replies". I was very concerned that we wouldn't have a critical mass and the whole thing would be a disaster.<br />
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I ordered a number of train-themed supplies, plates, napkins, decorations, and party favors, assuming about 8 kids would be there. The expectation here is that the kids get a full meal, but there's nearly nothing for the adults - so we planned lunch boxes for the kids but also wanted a few adult snacks. I ordered grocery delivery for the day before, and started working on the cake.<br />
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<b>The Cake</b><br />
In fitting with the train theme, I researched train cakes on pinterest and had a decent plan. I had two boxes of cake mix - one vanilla, one chocolate- and two bread loaf pans. The vanilla mix was spread evenly between the two pans and baked for train cars. The chocolate was poured first very thinly into one of the pans, baked briefly, and then rolled up into a small swiss roll cake for the front of the engine. The rest of the batter was baked into a really tall cake, that I then cut in half for the back of the engine and a caboose. Everything got a few layers of icing and Oreo wheels, and then I built little foil-covered boards out of a spare box to carry it. In the end, it was clear what it was meant to be- even if it didn't look exactly as I imagined it.<br />
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cakes getting ready for icing</div>
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the engine coming together</div>
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the whole cake (minus one train car that got left at the house)</div>
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<b>The Last Minute</b><br />
Late the night before the party, we got 3 more RSVPs, which put us up to 10 kids confirmed, with 2 more that had never replied. We panicked, since there weren't enough food boxes or treat bags. Spouso ran out to a local party store and bought a whole lot of crap - that we then frantically packed into the treat bags, while putting together the lunch boxes and snack trays. The kiddo at this point decided he wouldn't take a nap (clearly too much party build up), so we got behind schedule. We were allowed half an hour to set up - and arrived at the place 15 minutes late, with parents already waiting outside.<br />
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<b>The Party</b><br />
Thankfully - the parents turned out to be good sports. The few early arrivals helped us set up - blowing up balloons while we tried to pour a few drinks and put out snacks. The kids were fine just running around chasing the balloons for a while, until the entertainment showed up. I imagined that she would entertain the kids while the adults stood in the back, but it was clear that everyone had to be involved. Again- thankfully, everyone was a good sport - and all the parents joined the circle to sing and dance and generally be silly. Most of the kids had a great time, ours especially, but a few needed coaxing.<br />
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sitting right up front - eating all the oreos</div>
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all the parents and kids jumping around</div>
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parachute time</div>
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all the kids under the parachute - a big hit</div>
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After her hour was over - we moved to the table where the kids ate while the parents lumbered awkwardly behind. Everyone seemed to get enough to eat and drink. Then there was the cake - which is usually just for the kids, so the adults seemed to appreciate actually getting a slice. Everyone hung around for a bit longer, and then made their exits, taking a favor bag and a book (another thing we've seen at a lot of parties). We quickly cleaned up and got out of there.<br />
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lunch boxes getting eaten</div>
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the kids form a train with small chairs by themselves</div>
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the party wagon ready to go back home</div>
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<b>Thoughts:</b><br />
This was a very different party than his last two. It was nice to have so many kids, and really felt like a special event by being in a different location with entertainment. It was worth the fee to have people not in our house. Sadly though, with so little set up time - most of the decorations never even got hung - and the food was pretty half assed - just bags of chips opened up on a table. It was nice to just be 2 hours and done with.<br />
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In the future - as a guest, I will definitely be better about RSVPing well in advance (and let's be clear that means both yes and no responses!). As a host - I would definitely buy extras in expectation of late or non responses. It would be great to build in extra prep time if possible. Otherwise - it was a success!<br />
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We spent the rest of the weekend slowly opening the gifts, eating the massive cake and many leftovers, and relaxing.<br />
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ice cream shaped bubbles! </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3196922682818437003.post-32631797066363599352018-05-29T04:22:00.000-07:002018-05-29T04:22:42.311-07:00Edinburgh, Scotland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So we just got back from our Italy trip and were getting settled back into things - when Spouso needed to go on a work trip up to Scotland. Since he would be gone for a couple days, with free air fare and hotel - we decided to join. It was a bit of a last minute decision, but turned out to be a beautiful long weekend. </div>
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all the way up in Edinburgh</div>
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<b>Day 0: Travel</b></div>
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Because he had already flown up, I had to travel with the kiddo by myself for the first time. It wasn't easy - getting from our house, on the tube, then walking through town to get to the train station, to get the train to the airport, then through security and onto the flight - but I managed ok. I brought as little luggage as possible, and relied on paw patrol on the iPad for the flight, which was thankfully just an hour. Then we landed at the airport, where Spouso was waiting for us - and headed into town. We had just enough time to grab dinner and get back to the hotel before the kiddo and I both collapsed.<br />
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playing with the huge Edinburgh sign at the airport</div>
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a quick pic with a bagpiper</div>
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<b>Day 1: Kiddo and I Explore the Town</b></div>
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Since this was a working trip, he went off to the office, and the kid and I went exploring. First we went down to the Princes Street Gardens, which is a beautiful garden full of flowers and playgrounds to play. Then we walked through the New Town - which was built by the Georgians after the Old Town got too crowded. Like everything else from that era - it's super organized and lovely, filled with statues, and older than our entire country. We took a quick snack break in one of the many parks, swung by the Scott Monument (the largest memorial to a writer in the world), and then climbed the huge hill back up to the Old Town, where we stopped in the church and then went back to the hotel for a nap. After the nap, we went back down to the park to meet Spouso, who was finished for the day. We grabbed another amazing dinner, and everyone crashed. </div>
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Map of downtown Edinburgh (but it's not as flat as this appears)</div>
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Princes Street Garden</div>
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view of the castle above the garden</div>
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very excited about this bear statue</div>
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playground time</div>
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even the playground is gorgeous</div>
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a statue in New Town</div>
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another statue in New Town</div>
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snack picnic in a park</div>
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the Scott Monument</div>
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St Giles Cathedral</div>
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inside St Giles</div>
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St Giles from the other side</div>
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back to the park to feed the bear</div>
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Old Town up on the hill above the park</div>
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climbing the hill to Old Town</div>
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dinner - i think this was venison</div>
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night walk through old town (inspiration for Harry Potter's Diagon Alley)</div>
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<b>Day 2: Sightseeing Together</b><br />
Now that it was Saturday, we were all together to do some sightseeing. We started off with the city's main attraction - the castle- which is up on a hill looking down over the city. It's very old and beautiful, with a few exquisite rooms where Mary Queen of Scots lived briefly. After that, we wandered down the Royal Mile, which runs from the castle down to the palace (which we didn't quite get to), and passes through a lot of the old town. After the nap break, we tried to go to a pub famous for local folk music - but got thrown out. Apparently you're not supposed to bring kids into pubs - who knew? It's a real shame though, because it looked really charming, everyone wanted a break from walking, and the kiddo was very excited about the music. Instead, we walked on, and grabbed some street food, as we went back down the hill in search of dinner in New Town.<br />
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waiting to get into the castle</div>
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castle looking down over the city</div>
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not sure what this pose is</div>
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old castle</div>
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a rare family selfie</div>
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Mary Queen of Scots' bedroom...</div>
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...has great ceilings</div>
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walking down the royal mile in search of whisky</div>
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really winning the parents of the year award at a whisky shop</div>
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me and David Hume. (long story)</div>
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<b>Day 3: Flight Home</b></div>
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We had just enough time to grab breakfast before heading down the hill and back to the airport to fly home. </div>
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<b>Traveling with the Kiddo</b></div>
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So this was another difficult trip with him. After the last one, I vowed to make more of an effort to have a regular nap time, in a bed, at the right time - but it still didn't matter. He was just exhausted the whole time. Early the morning of the second day, our big sightseeing day, he was already crying to go back to the room because he didn't want to see any more stuff. I think it was a combination of a couple things:</div>
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<ol>
<li>Instead of having an apartment with a different room for him, we were all together in a hotel room. We used the blackout curtains to make a tent around his bed to separate him from us - but it didn't work great. </li>
<li>We were way north - so the sun didn't set until around 10pm and rose around 4am, so even with the blinds closed - no one got a lot of sleep- especially since our blackout curtains were being used for the tent.</li>
<li>We had just gotten back from the long trip to Italy and hadn't gotten turned around yet.</li>
<li>Because I was trying to pack as lightly as possible, I didn't bring any toys for him. So when he might've liked to just zone out with his trains for a bit, he wasn't able to. Instead, he got hauled around to see the sites. </li>
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sleeping in the tent bed</div>
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<b>Food</b></div>
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So Scottish food was kind of a weird mix of things. On the one hand - the city is very close to farms, so there's a great farm to table thing going on with really fresh ingredients prepped very lightly. Our first two nights were just delightful, and not at all what I expected. On the other - there is clearly a very long, cold winter here, and there is food to match. They drink a lot, so there is some heavy, fried street food to go with it. We tried to grab a small snack for the kiddo a couple times, and had a hard time finding anything. We ended up with a huge, deep fried steak pie and french fries smothered with curry sauce - all of which made everyone feel pretty gross. Unlike Italy where there are a lot of shops that sell snacks right onto the street - there isn't a lot of street traffic here (I'm guessing because it's too cold most of the year), so you have to go into a bar and get a seat. So no dessert breaks for us. One nice surprise is that there is a lot of good French food, something to do with old political alliances to overthrow the british monarch. This meant great croissants in the morning, and a nice bistro on our last night. The kiddo didn't enjoy most of the food, so that was a bit tricky. Thankfully, there was a big breakfast buffet included with our room, so he really filled up in the mornings and then grazed for the rest of the day.<br />
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Hotel Breakfast: nutella for me, blood pudding for him.</div>
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<b>Conclusions</b></div>
<div>
When we were trying to set up the move to London, and one point they offered us Edinburgh instead. We debated it, but ultimately turned it down in hopes that London would come through. After having finally visited - I still think it was the right choice. It is a really beautiful city and a great weekend trip, but I think we would not have been happy living there for long. It's definitely a lot smaller than London, with a lot fewer choices for restaurants and things to do. It was also quite cold - even in mid May we still all had our heavy jackets on, and it got down close to freezing each night. I would happily go back again though - especially if we could do without the kiddo - since this really seemed like a non-kid-friendly city.<br />
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Otherwise - we have one more trip coming up, and then nothing scheduled. This is going to be a really travel-intense month, mostly just by coincidence of this random trip getting scheduled. Then I think we would all like to slow down a bit. </div>
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