There's Nothing Quite Like Family...

As mentioned in my post about our trip to London, part of my family (we missed you, Lisa and Garrick!) was just recently here for a visit. We actually didn't see a whole lot of them, even though they were in the UK for about two and a half weeks. They spent the weeks out being tourists (first week Scotland and the Lake District, second week London, Bath, Stonehenge, etc.), and the weekends with us. But the first weekend, we were being tourists ourselves (London trip), so I only had two weekends with my family. Not that I'm complaining--it was great to see them at all, and I'm really glad that they had such a great time on their vacation. It was hard to say goodbye, though!




Madeline LOVED her Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Karen. It was really neat for me to get to see her enjoying time with her relatives, and obviously bonding with them. It's been seven months since she's seen any of them, so she's changed and grown a lot since the last time they were together. I think they enjoyed seeing her funny, outgoing, strong, sweet personality blooming.






We did make one day trip with my family the weekend we were all together. We drove over to Cambridge (about an hour from here), and did the traditional punt tour along the River Cam. We were glad we'd gotten there earlier in the day, as the river was still fairly uncrowded and quiet. It was very nice.






We also went to King's College Chapel,



wandered through a market, and walked (longer than we expected) to a really nice park to have a picnic lunch. It was a good day, and it wore out Madeline!




Other than that, we just kind of hung out at our house, and enjoyed the amazing weather we were having. My poor family packed for normal UK spring weather (highs in the 60s, rainy) and instead ended up being here for near record highs (mid to upper 70s and sunny). We had to go buy them some short-sleeved shirts and shorts at Tesco! (Kind of like Walmart)



Thanks, Mom, Dad, and Karen, for making the trip out to see us! I miss you already.

Angel Sighting at Toys R Us

I've been wanting to get Madeline some play equipment for the back yard for a month or so now. With the amazing weather we were having (that has now ended, of course), my motivation was increased. I mentioned this to Bill last week Tuesday, saying that I'd like to get her something within the next week or so, and he said "How about tonight? Toys R Us is open until 8." It was probably about 6:30 at that point, but we'd already been there to see what they had, and discussed generally what we were going to get, so we didn't think it would take all that long to pick something out.

We got to the store about 7, and had made our decisions by the time they announced they were about to close the store. We checked out, and waited for them to bring out our purchases. Evidently the stock people had already left, so a bunch of other employees went back to get our things, since they wanted to leave to!

I'd already asked Bill how we were going to fit our choices (a play house and a slide) into the car, and he said we'd manage. The moment I saw the size of the first box, I knew we were in trouble. The second box was even bigger.

As four or five employees carried our two purchases out to our car for us, even Bill realized we weren't going to be able to manage. Nostalgia for his truck back home in the US was mentioned...

That's when the amazing thing happened. One of the employees, a woman named Danni (if I remember her name badge correctly), asked where we lived. I, assuming she was going to tell us if we could get our stuff delivered, told her, and her reply was: "If you don't mind waiting a few minutes while we close the store, I'll follow you home with your stuff in my car." She had a mini van, or at least what passes for one here. We were floored that she would actually volunteer to do this, but didn't have much choice but to take her up (very gratefully) on her offer! We ended up having to put BOTH boxes in her car--we couldn't get either one of them in ours, let alone both of them.

Evidently she's done this several times before--poor naive first-time parents like us get to the store, pick things out with which to spoil their kids, then realize they haven't a clue how they're going to get them home.

We tried to pay her for her time and fuel (which is insanely expensive here) and she flat-out refused. In fact, it turned into a "who's more stubborn" match. Those of you who know me will be surprised, but I actually lost. I tried sneaking the money into her car through the open window. She found it, ran and put it in our house (the door was open), then locked her car so I couldn't get back in. Yes, grown women can act a little silly some times...!

To sum up the story in two points: Madeline is very happy with her new toys, and evidently Toys R Us hires angels. I sure hope they pay them well!!!

London's Calling!

My parents are in town (more on that in a later post), and after much arm-twisting (yeah, right!) agreed to babysit Madeline for Bill and I so we could go on an adults-only trip to London for a couple of days. I had been looking forward to this for MONTHS! I love my daughter, I really do. But sometimes it's good to remember what it's like to be able to do whatever you want to without worrying first about whether or not it's "Madeline-friendly." And talking to someone who can talk back in full sentences is nice, too!

We left Thursday late morning and took the train into London. We stayed at a VERY nice hotel in Kensington, which was a great neighborhood to be in--easy access to the heart of things, but nice and quiet and residential for when you want a break from the hustle and bustle. We walked around the Natural History Museum for awhile in the afternoon (free is always good...)

Supper Thursday evening was at the Texas Embassy Cantina--Bill's choice. He's been dying for some Mexican food for the past 6 months! Thursday night we went to Les Miserables!!! I've wanted to see that for years, and it was well worth the wait. Our seats were amazing--dead center and only 4 rows back from the stage. What a show! I wish I'd brought my camera. I didn't know I could...

Friday we slept in (no automatic alarm clock courtesy of Madeline!) then went into London to do some of the typical touristy things. We took a boat ride on the Thames and toured the Tower of London courtesy of Bill's parents (tickets for those things were our Christmas present from them this year).

Did some just walking around, then took the bus tour of the city--a nice way to see a little of everything.




Walked around Buckingham palace and Green Park a bit, then headed back to Kensington for supper at a nice Italian place and a movie back at the hotel.



Saturday we slept in a little, then went back into London to catch a ride on the London Eye (great view!) before going to the train station to meet my sister at noon, at which point we headed back to Peterborough together.




It was a short weekend, and there are still loads of things I'd like to do and see in London yet, but it was a great trip and so relaxing to do it sans toddler! Thanks, Mom and Dad!!

20-something?

Not anymore!

Yes folks, it's true. I have (finally) left my 20s behind me. Not that they weren't good years; it's just that 30 somehow sounds more "sophisticated." The big day was the 19th of April (yes, I'm behind in posting...again!). We didn't do anything too exciting, but Bill did get me a cake. You'll notice Madeline has her fork poised and ready, and is focused and pointing right to the object of her desire. You can almost hear her little thoughts saying "CHOOOC-LATE!" Sigh. She has her mama's sweet-tooth.

Sheep go "ba ba"

Every other Wednesday, a bunch of the ISE wives here get together for what is technically a book club, but has lately been more of a play group for the kids, and a chat session for the women.

Oh, I should maybe explain "ISE" for those back home. I actually don't even know what it stands for, but it's what they call all of us Americans who are over here with Caterpillar on temporary overseas assignments. There's a pretty strong network within the group, and it is VERY nice to have some other Americans going through USA withdrawal along with me.

Anyway, last Wednesday, since all the older kids were off school on break, we took a field trip (pretty literally) to see the baby sheep behind Holli's house. It was a very pretty walk, but a bit longer than I'd expected. Not that it was actually all that long of a walk. It's just that I was attempting to accomplish it with an independent, strong-willed daughter who does NOT want to be carried anymore. She will walk by herself, thank you very much. (She doesn't even want to have to hold my hand anymore...) Which would mostly be just fine, except for two things:

One, she has a very unique sense of direction. If everyone else is going straight, she will go right. Then left. Then do a 180 degree turn quite abruptly. Then go right again. Another 180 degree turn. All within the first minute of being on her own two feet. Personally, I think she gets a kick out of making me dizzy as I try to keep up with her...

Two, even if she were walking in exactly the same path as everyone else the whole time, she has much shorter legs than everyone else, and hence moves significantly slower.

Anyway, we did eventually get to the sheep, and the baby lambs (there were a LOT of them) were very cute. Madeline did an excellent job of telling everybody what sheep say. She's definitely got "ba ba" down pat now! I guess first-hand experience really is the best teacher!


The little white specs behind us are the sheep--there were some much closer, although we didn't get super close, or Madeline would probably have chased them. Note the "Wellies" (a.k.a. rain boots): doesn't she look British?

Sometimes having a secure house is not a good thing...

Well, I'm extremely behind in posting, but this is one story I really need to document.
On Wednesday, March 26th, I was doing my usual weekly cleaning. I was nearly done, and just needed to empty the vacuum cleaner one last time (side note: I usually have to empty the dust container on my vacuum cleaner here about 3 times just to get my whole house vacuumed. This really annoys me). I've found it's best to do this outside. I've also found I need to latch the door behind me when I go, or Madeline gets the door open to come join me. I should probably explain--our door here, if you just shut it, isn't latched. You have to turn the handle to latch it. And you have to use a key to lock it--either from the inside or from the outside. Anyway, I finished emptying, took the dirt to the garbage can, and tried to get back in the house. Key word being "tried."
My darling 18 month old daughter had evidently indeed attempted to come join me. She'd turned the key (which I'd left in the lock inside) just far enough to lock me out, and her in. I had no coat (it was about 45 degrees), no cell phone, and most importantly, no keys. Oh yeah, and it was almost nap time. Madeline tends to get increasingly cranky when it's her nap time, even if she hasn't been locked alone in the house.
So there I was, in stunned disbelief. I must have tried the door 5 or 6 times before I really believed I was truly locked out. Then I tried pushing my shoulder against the door a few times. Yeah, right!! This was followed by quite a bit of attempting to get Madeline to get the key out of the door and pass it to me through the mail slot (you know, the mail slot, a very British thing, was actually quite useful in this whole ordeal). "Come on, baby, get the key. Get the key for Mommy. You can do it, honey; get the key! Come on, Madeline, get the key." Despite the fruitlessness of this, I kept going back to it.
Anyway, eventually a woman and her son walked by. I ran up and explained what had happened. She called her husband, who was home painting, to bring his tools and come take a look. Once he got there, all he could really see to do was to break off the mail slot to see if that gave us enough room to get to the key. I'd already tried shoving my hand in as far as I could, which wasn't far enough. We'd tried all other doors, and windows, all of which were shut and locked quite securely. I was still talking to Madeline through the mail slot, trying to get her to get the key. She did actually go and get me one of her books, and passed that to me through the mail slot. Maybe she thought I needed some light reading to pass the time?
The woman asked if my husband could come home from work to let me in. I didn't have Bill's number memorized--it was in the computer and in my cell phone, both of which were inside my Fort Knox of a home. So she called the main desk at Perkins. I explained the whole situation to them. They transferred me to Human Resources. I explained the whole situation to them. They looked up Bill's schedule and found he was in an all-day meeting. They contacted his boss, and explained the whole situation to him. He went and pulled Bill out of his meeting, and, finally, relayed the whole situation to the one who needed to know! I wonder if I've become an office anecdote yet?
By the time Bill got home and let me in (thankfully, he had a key to one of the back doors, as well--with the key still in the lock, we couldn't get in the front at all), I'd been stuck outside for almost an hour.
Thankfully, other than being tired and confused, Madeline was fine. She hadn't gotten into any of the serious trouble an 18 month old left alone in the house could have gotten into. And, other than the damage I'd done to my hands trying to shove them into the mail slot and being a bit chilled, I was fine too! Bill, bless his heart, didn't give me the really hard time he very easily could have. And needless to say, we're no longer leaving the key in the lock (even if it is better for fire safety that way) and I am now ALWAYS taking keys with me when I leave the house--even if it's only to empty the vacuum cleaner!

Spring Snow

So, lest my friends and family back in the Midwestern US think they're the only ones facing blizzard-like conditions this year, I'm posting this picture of the "snow" we got today. It may be the first snow we've seen since we got here, but hey--it may still be record-breaking, at least by Peterborough's standards! I wonder if we should try to find a sled for Madeline...?

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So, as an update, it snowed the next day, too (on Easter), and even if it was all melted by the afternoon, it did look like "real" snow for awhile--I know some people even made snowmen!