12 Years Later

It's been 12 years and 4 days since Greg and I met.  Hard to believe how much has changed in 12 years and 4 days.

Because we met on the 15th of February, we tend to celebrate Valentines Day on the 15th.  It usually works to our advantage.  This year, we went out to the OXO Tower for dinner and drinks.  Our pre-dinner drinks were awesome.  Greg had some smokey bourbon and rye drink.  And when I say smokey -- I really mean smokey.  It was crazy how much the drink smelled like you were sticking your nose inside a meat smoker.  I had this funky apple cinnamon brandy & bitters drink that was really good.  The starter drinks were way better than the actual starters.  I had queen scallops that were most definitely not queen sized.  They were tiny.  And not really all that inspiring.  Greg had some crab dish -- but it was sweet.  And stuffed inside a weird sweet potato fruit roll up thingy.  Odd.  We both ordered fillet... the cuts were beautiful but they were both overcooked.  Boo.  Boo.  Boo.  The waiter even tried to convince us that it was the blue lights in the restaurant that made the steaks 'look' overcooked -- but we both still know they WERE overdone.  Dessert was a four pieced chocolate delight.  Yum.... And of course, the ambiance and location were great.

We finished the night at Dandelyan.  That was another adventure.  Unique to say the least... my drink really did taste like it had flowers inside it.  Loved the bar.  Think I'll order wine next time!

Regardless -- here's to our next 12 years.  :)

Half Term

I swear, just as my kids were settling back into the routine of school -- it was time for half term.  For some reason, the schools here think that giving the kids a one week break after only a 4.5 weeks back in school is a good idea.  The teachers claim they're tired.  Really?  Really?

So - I signed the kids up for two days of a small local camp.  We met up with a handful of school friends for a crazy morning at Gambados yesterday and tomorrow we've got friends coming over for a morning/lunch play date.

In addition to all that - we've celebrated #PancakeDay at Breakfast Club and had a trip to see the GP because Wren decided to have a wheezy breathing issue and Atticus has broken out in a weird rash.  Oh, and we've built new LEGO.  There's always LEGO.

We're debating getting away this weekend -- but with G's schedule, we never know what will happen.
I've also started taking a few photos of a guy I see in Clapham Common on my way home from the gym.  The first time I saw him, he was having an intense conversation with a tree.  Today, he had headphones on and was just dancing while looking at a different tree.  He seems to be enjoying himself though...

Birthday Parties

Today kicked off our upcoming early spring birthday season.  Wren's current beau, Bear, had his birthday party this morning which was a ton of fun.  And - made even better by the fact that Bear has awesome parents and they allowed siblings to come along for the fun too!  Yay.  It's always a good day for me when both kids can have fun together!

There was magic.  There was dancing (a lot of dancing).  There were bubbles...

Bear's dad is, as Wren will tell you, a R-E-A-L artist.  This is very important you see as Wren hasn't wavered in at least 6 months in her career aspirations.  She wants to be an artist.  Her current wish is that Bear's dad will teach her how to draw a better lion.  Apparently she thinks her lion drawings need some work and only Mr. A can help... I offered, but she looked me squarely in the eye and told me that I am NOT an artist.  Sigh... But, apparently I am still a pretty good cook.  :)  So, there's still that!

Thankfully, today was also a glorious sunshiny day.  So, after jumping around at the party, we stopped at the park for a good 90 min romp before heading home.  And we ended up running into 3 other Expats.  Apparently all it takes is a little bit of sunshine to get us all outside!

Now, I'm off to figure out what birthday presents to get for the next 7 birthday gifts!!  Eeeek.

Snow!

Here's a look down our road as Atticus and I headed out....

Look - real snow in the Common

Our sight while headed to Running Club this Tuesday morning... Brrrrrr!  Atticus was quite excited to run in the snow.  Me... I would have been happier sleeping in another 30 minutes and staying inside!!

Hum Drum

So I tried posting some photos directly from my phone.  Seems that didn't quite work.  I'll have to consult with the tech support pages to find out what I've done.

It snowed on Tuesday morning.  Proper snow.  Enough so that when I was taking Atticus to running and again bringing Wren to school -- they were both so excited that we were almost late.  Twice.  Seems they've already forgotten walking around NYC in the snow.  I haven't.  Snow is beautiful.  On a mountain.  And I think only useful when I have two sticks strapped to my feet and I find myself sitting on a ski lift thinking - wow, today's going to be great.  I'm so happy it's snowing.  Otherwise - I'm kind of over it.  Terrible, I know...

Essentially, it's just been bloody cold and partly rainy/sleeting/snowing for the past couple days.  Not my favorite.  Definitely not my favorite when walking to and from school with backpacks, bookbags, boot bags, my bag, an umbrella, etc etc.

In other happy news - I'm going out tonight for a girl's night out.  Woot.  Sort of a belated birthday drinks with school friends.  I'm probably more excited than I should be -- but this is a true treat!  Of course, this has been in the books for a few weeks, but G is back to crazy crazy at work.  Our trusty babysitter, Harriet, to the rescue.  She's a lot of fun - and she should have it fairly easy tonight.  Wren should be exhausted by the time we get home (G had to go into work wicked early and his moving about the house woke Birdie up at about 5:25AM).  Ooooof.  Atticus should be fairly tired too - no running club today, but he does have swimming and dance club.  Have I mentioned how cool it is that so many of the activities my kids participate in are AT school!

But I'm going out.  No clue what to wear, or if I can convince my hair to look normal without a ski hat on -- but we'll give it a go.

First Sleepover!

With trepidation, we decided to allow Atticus to go on his first sleepover.  His friend, Edward, invited him for a sleepover after school on Friday.  While Greg and I were totally nervous that it would be a disaster - the fears were unfounded!  Yay!  All went smashingly well.  Granted, we know the parents fairly well -- and it's only down the street, but still!!!

After school, we came home and packed up his new backpack with everything he might need including Beetle and his little pillow.  We headed over to Edward's house and dropped him off... there were no tears, no long hugs - just a see you later Mummy.  I mean, geez -- he's not even 7!

This was a bit of a trial to see if we could go away for a weekend too and leave the kids with friends.  Apparently, Atticus did fiiiiiiine.  Not sure we're ready to try leaving Wren with someone else just yet!

Not that we're going away and leaving the kids with friends... but I suppose now it's possible.  Who knows where we'll end up living in the future.  Without family close by, we may need to rely on a sleepover of two in the future.

I guess the next step is to invite a friend over here!!