Cambridge Time

Posted on | August 4, 2010 | 4 Comments

The girls and I went to Cambridge today. I drove in to the outskirt of the city and then took the Park and Ride bus. The cost was excellent: £2.30/rt for the three of us. One adult ticket can include six children under 11. This is a great deal if there’s no huge shopping involved AND it’s more than an hour. Parking garages are expensive in Cambridge. For a whole day of browsing for example it can cost £22! The two big things for me besides the cost are the amount of bikes roaming around the streets and I can’t park backwards. The parking garages are small in comparison to the US ones. It’s best if you can back in instead of driving in which I am terrible at doing. So there are a lot of savings on my part!

Anyhoot, I just want to share some pics today of our little adventure…

That’s the type of bus we were on (sorry for the bad picture… dirty windshield). We were on top, front row, M’s choice. The girls LOVED it. Jovie held on to the pole before the windshield and looked out throughout the 15 minute ride. She was not happy when I told her the ride was all done. I had to pry her fingers from the bar.

The first thing we did after we got to the city center was grab some ice cream and watched people punting. There are all sorts of boat types and punting types. You can have somebody do it or do it yourself. Besides punting one can also hire just a boat/canoe. Check out the first photo, the boat at the very back had a punting + picnic deal. They had real dinnerware, glassware, and silverware on the boat! I want to do a romantic punt for two in the evening with the hubster. That’ll probably have to wait though until cling-on is older. I think most of the people working these companies are college students. Some do the actual punting while others man the ticket booth or hold signs on the streets trying to entice tourists to go on these rides. I should have taken a picture but some of the girls punting had dresses/skirts on. You’d think they’d all be wearing pants/shorts!!

Here’s the self-catered one. That dude was so ready for me to take his photo!!! He saw me with a camera and smiled.

After the river we walked around. It was a perfect day for walking in Cambridge. The city was quieter than usual and it might be because it’s August. The locals holidaying elsewhere and students away on summer holiday. The weather was perfect too and we went into various shops and galleries. There are many nice galleries in the downtown area and Miss M had to visit each one we passed by. This kid LOVES art. She can look at different pieces for hours. It’s me who’d be dragging her away. Weird, huh? She said she wants to be a doctor and artist when she grows up. Artist in the morning and doctor in the afternoon {::SMILES}. The below is King’s college. I can’t imagine being a full-time student in any of the old colleges/universities in Cambridge (there are tons of them, many part a part of the big University of Cambridge but there are many other colleges and universities in Cambridge), must be so glorious. I told M that if she ever wants to go to school in Cambridge I’d let her.

Then we went into this church. It’s the Great St. Mary’s church across from King’s College. It was open and we heard music so we walked in. You can’t see the person but there’s somebody playing that old pipe organ on the right (there are two of them in this church). That’s what the people were sitting down for. BEAUTIFUL music! Wish I had something to record it with!!

It was past noon by the time we got to Cambridge and at this time it was probably close to 2 p.m. and I told M that she needed to decide on lunch. We did have a late breakfast (I mean we didn’t get up until 10 a.m. — yes the kids sleep in!) and so 2 p.m. wasn’t super late but I was getting hungry. She wanted fish and chips so we walked around trying to locate one. On the way we passed by this pub. Hubby’s been wanting to go to it. It’s called The Eagles and this was where the first discovery of the DNA structure was announced. This pub has fish and chips but I was looking for something less crowded, less of a pub and less expensive. We ended up eating at Tatties. It’s suppose to be the place to get jacket potatoes but M ended up getting a pizza instead of fish and chips. Since it’s a big fat 12″ one we shared. For £7.50 it was a deal! The pizza was delicious too!! We also found out that Jovie LOVES pizza. My itty bitty eater ate almost half a piece — a good size piece!

Just one of the streets in downtown Cambridge. Shops, shops, shops and more shops… oh galleries and restaurants here and there. There are a couple of malls within walking distance of each other. Two are even attached to one another. There were a couple very cute shops that we went in to.

Just a little street view. More shops in very old and magnificent buildings. If you ever the chance to visit England I think it’ll be worth your time to visit this big town. There are many neat and beautiful places to see jammed packed into a very walkable area.

Last but not least, my M eating her second ice cream. I scoop in the downtown Cambridge area, from ice cream carts, run £1.30-£1.60. Her ice cream is more expensive the cost of our park and ride! Oh well, it’s her day {::SMILE}.

Ok, that’s it. Have a great one and more later!!

Favorite Number: 7

Posted on | July 28, 2010 | 8 Comments

Seven has always been my favorite number. I don’t know if it’s because I was born on the seventh but whatever it is I have a thing for this number. Today’s our seventh wedding anniversary. Two kids and two countries later we’re still silly over each other. It’s a great feeling and whether you’re married or not, I want to let you know that it really is worth it to be with somebody you’re heads over heels with. If it wasn’t for the military I wouldn’t care less if we’re married or not. It’s not the piece of paper that’s important to me but the quality of the relationship. It’s important that I’m with somebody who not only makes me happy but also help me grow as a person. I need somebody who can feed my soul, the always needing to learn soul. I believe it’s why I’m here in this world, to learn. As different as we are he completes me and it’s a great feeling!

As for my little project… Miss M saw this cute keychain when we were browsing Saddle Market in Camden Town over the weekend. It wasn’t a kitty chain but it was a fabric chain with button eyes and other accessories… I forgot. I told her that I have a lot of fabric and I could just make her one. So I did and here it is. I did some hand stitching. Been wanting to stitch in a while and so glad I did cause I just love the kitty face as a result of the stitching. Super easy too and actually kind of relaxing! Now, if you’re wondering why the cat’s only half stitched on the side… well, I sewed the kitty face and left a hole on the side to flip it over and then stuff it. Well, came to find out the hole I made was too small for the face to flip so I had to cut the thread out some. I couldn’t sew it nice after so I just stitched it closed. M doesn’t mind it because her clever momma told her that the kitty is now like her. M’s got stitches on her right forehead, got them when she was three. I personally think the side stitching made this more attractive but hey, it’s just me.

If you’re interested in making this, here’s the face template. I tried to hand draw it but it just never came out right and so I did it on the computer. M’s keychain was about 2.5″ tall.

Here’s the girl admiring her momma’s present and this is the reason I love making her stuff. She LOVES whatever I make her!

Ok, that’s all folks! I’ll share most stuff later!!

Beautiful (Busy) London

Posted on | July 26, 2010 | 7 Comments

We went to London over the weekend and had the best time!! Not only was the sight-seeing great the company and food, to me at least, was just awesome. Not only did I get to see a dear friend from eight years ago, we used to work at Micron in Boise, ID, but I also got to meet up with my number one best friend.

We left Sunday early in the morning. At first we thought of catching a train from Cambridge to King Cross for £40 (family price) but then we found that we could drive to a tube station outside of London, pay £1/day for parking, and not be tied to a schedule. Granted the train has open end tickets they are more expensive. With our U.S. gas (we buy gas on base so it’s a lot cheaper than buying on the economy), £1/day parking, and £2.40/ea tube price (children’s free) it was a sweet deal. Just FYI on ground transport in the UK… before you board you want to get what they call an oyster card and/or a travelcard. If you’re visiting London or coming to the area to live I recommend visiting the links I shared to learn about the two cards! Driving is possible to London but it can be very expensive and nerve wreaking if you’re clueless and new. One of hubby’s coworker drove to London and came back with £400-ish of fines. It was between parking, driving on a bus lane, and not paying the congestion zone fee (there’s no fee though on weekends/bank holidays).

Here are some pictures…

First stop: Camden Town! I read about a great dim sum place here, Yum Cha, and wanted to try it out. My friend lives near this area too so it wasn’t too inconvenient I thought for him to meet us here. Food: tasted good, price reasonable, service ok. If I weren’t American I’d probably service is average but I’m still used to the friendly waiter/waitresses working for tips who’d always smile no matter what and refill your water without asking. Anyhow… the dim sum was nice but if you’re a huge fan of pork buns Chinatown was better and cheaper! Camden Town itself was PACKED!! There was no parade passing by, this was just the street that day. There are many different market places on this road and good gosh, you’ll never go hungry when roaming this road. There are food EVERYWHERE!! Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Indian, you name it!!

There are a few different markets in Camden Town and we decided to check one out: Stables Market. It was just conveniently located in front of the dim sum restaurant and wow, this place was very well decorated. There are horses everywhere! If you really want to see what this place has to offer you can spend a good few hours just roaming through the maze of shops. I loved a lot of the clothing stores and one day I want to stop by here again just to try some out and maybe get one or two. M was also interested in a lot of little trinkets and hubby… he bought the hat he’s wearing.

After Camden we all, my friend included, took the tube down to Leicester Square station. I wanted to check out Chinatown and then walk to Trafalgar Square. I have no photo of Chinatown but this was basically what it was: restaurant, restaurant, restaurant, and more restaurants. There were a few shops here and there, groceries, massages, Chinese remedies, etc. but for the most part it was Chinese restaurants all in a pretty row. How can one choose? The next stop is Leicester Square itself. If you’re interested in going to the movies/show, this square is the place to be. From new movies to £1.5o theatre you can find here.

A few steps away was Trafalgar Square. The below is a photo from Trafalgar Square, it’s the front of the National Gallery of London. It was a glorious day to visit London… great blue skies that day!!

From the square we walked towards the river and passed the Minister’s house with guards on horses. It looked like something was going to happen but we didn’t hang around to find out. We walked passed the Prime Minister’s house on Downing Street and the London Eye and then this big guy: Ben.

We moved on and just across the road was the river, the famous Thames River. My other friend lives on a house boat on the other side, by London Bridge, so we hopped on to a boat and rode over to the other side. On the boat we passed Cleopatra’s Needle, the Aquarium, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the so intimidating Tower of London and got off at Tower Bridge.

While we were eating, we had dinner with my friend and her family at Brown’s, a boat needed to pass and the bridge was raised. Isn’t that neat? Besides seeing the bridge raise it was just great to be sitting there with friends I haven’t seen in ages. My girl friend from Micron is such a wonderful person. The last time I saw her little girl she was 3 or 4 and now she’s such the young lady. Then there’s the little one, just a year younger than M, and she’s adorable. What a great family she now has and I am so happy for her. We plan on meeting again and maybe a museum visit next time!

Oh, at Brown’s I ordered the dish of the day: Tilapia and they gave me a whole fish! The last time I was served a fish with the head on it still was in Indonesia. I loved it!!! My dish was really good too. The portions were small for the price I thought but it was right next to the river. The best part though was: all the kid’s meals and dessert were free!! Man, if we knew we’d all have gotten kids’ meals, HA!! We had four adults and three kids so it was a nice surprise!!

Here’s a few of the bridge after dark:

I took these shots on our way to the London Bridge tube. Another FYI… if you want to park and tube it figure out where you’re going that day and park on the line that you’ll be entering and hopefully returning from. I planned my trip so that we’d only be on the Central Line. The whole day we didn’t do any switching and at the end of the day we just sat in the Tube until we got to our stop. Traveling with children this was very convenient.

It was a FABULOUS day. The weather got chilly in the evening but we all had light sweaters and it was enough. We’re light travelers in general. For this trip we just had a MacLaren stroller (super light umbrella stroller), a few diapers, a small container of wipes, a set of clothes for Jovie, a London guidebook, a smart phone, a GPS, a bottle and bottle cleaner, a bottle of water and that’s it. If you look at the photo below you’ll see my diaper bag hanging on Jovie’s stroller. I got it from Pottery Barn Kids for $10!! I really don’t think you need to bring your whole kids’ closets on day trips. Also, if you’re traveling with a baby, places that sell coffee are great places to get a cup of warm milk. On me I had my small camera, Crumpler Four Million, bag with my Nikon D300 and two lenses. I hope hubby’s reading this… but for next time, I’d like to be hauling a Ketti handbag camera bag {::SMILES}.

That’s that. The above photo is my past and present. I am one lucky gal!! I know from a previous post about my ex-husband that I’m not the only person who has this type of relationship but I also know that what I have is not very common, especially since we don’t have kids together. I’m not selfish in this department though. Hubby and I decided that his best friend who married hubby’s ex-girlfriend (he was dating her before he met me) are the folks who will be caring for our kids if we both pass away. His ex and I are friends. See, just cause they’re the exes it doesn’t mean you can’t get along. It was all in the past and what happened happened for a reason. The best part… we learned and grew from the experiences!! Cheers!!

FINALLY Summer!

Posted on | July 3, 2010 | 7 Comments

The weather here has been quite interesting but it’s FINALLY summer in the UK! It’s been in the mid to high 70s here (23-25C), just GORGEOUS!! It was a bit odd when a few weekends ago I had the heater turned on!! The last few days the girls have been having a great time playing outside in their new swimming pool (I think it was the last in store from around 20 miles!) — or paddle pool M said.

This is our first year not celebrating the 4th of July like we usually do: BBQ and lots of fireworks. It’ll be quiet this time around with just working around the house and two birthday parties to go to for Miss M. Speaking of, she is sleeping in the living room with a little friend. It’s her FIRST sleepover!! Her friend has been here since after school and by evening time she still didn’t want to go home so hubby walked over to her house (next door really) and asked if the little friend can just stay the night. It’s not a new idea but it was just a night sooner {::SMILE}.

Here’s a little card for today. Pretty CAS. A bit of ribbon, brads, twine, button, and beads. I used fabric glue to adhere the beads. For the brads, first I placed the ribbon where I want it and marked the sides with a pencil, just lightly. Then I used a Crop-a-Dile to punch the holes. The lines were then erased. There’s no hole on the ribbon itself, I just worked the brad in between the thread.

Have a great one and if you’re celebrating the 4th with fireworks do be careful! I almost got hit by one. An accident of course but it’s still in my mind. I was preggo too with Miss M. Kind of scary!

Before I go I’ll share two pics of the girls…

Jovie was grunting and mumbling while I took this photo. I translated it to more less, “Seriously mom, can you JUST put that black box down? I REALLY want to go in the pool!!! If only I can get my knee over this thing I’d be in there with sister!!” Yes, I am a terrible mother when it comes to photos. Photos first kids’ wants second ha ha! I was too lazy to put Jovie’s swimming suit on. Plus it was the back porch and there’s a brick wall surrounding it. Who’s going to see? Plus, she’s a baby {::SMILE}. The pants she’s wearing are swimming underpants. Jovie wears cloth diapers so it’s only appropriate if she also wears cloth swimming under-roos too. If you’re interested this one she’s wearing is by Kushie. Keep in mind that swim diapers doesn’t hold pee. It holds poo. This thing fits Jovie very well. She hasn’t doo in it yet but I am 100% sure no doo will come out! If you’re also interested in her cloth diapers we use gDiapers with cloth inserts and Gro-Baby. I love them although hubby couldn’t care less although he’s probably more a tree hugger than I am, ha!

Here’s our beautiful girl. She gets more and more grown-up each time I see/talk to her. She also knows which photo of hers is good/bad. This is M’s blog sharing choice. A lot of things are baby-ish to her now too. Aaaah… I miss those tutus and tap-tap shoes (it’s what she calls fancy play shoes) days. I told her to quite growing up on me. But each time she always said no. I told Jovie the same thing. She seems to be more obedient in this department. It’s probably why she’s not walking, talking, or growing. I know one shouldn’t compare but M was such an early bird in all department. Oh, Jovie REFUSES to sign. She only does milk when she’s desperate and sleep sometimes. Here and there she’d do change but she’s no M for sure who signed like crazy. Oh well. Jovie does talk but to most they just sound like noises where M was clear.

Materials:

Cardstock: Stampin’ Up!
Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Accessories: SU brads, Rhonna Farrer buttons, Olive Manna twine, and Walmart beads
Ink: SU

Sweet News!

Posted on | June 28, 2010 | 5 Comments

We’re landlords!! Yes we did want to sell our house and we probably could since it was only aggressively for sale for a few months (and the summer is still young) but we didn’t want to wait. Although we’re not going into the poor house or digging into our savings it’s no fun to have two house payments! So at this point either get a buyer or a renter. Sometimes you got to do what you got to do, right?

A few days after it was put up for rent our property managers found us a family which seems wonderful. Our neighbor met them and he said we got really lucky. Let us hope so since they are on lease for three years! Their request. We’re quite happy about this and really do hope that they’re wonderful as our neighbor and property manager say they are.

I am a big believer in everything is meant to be for a reason. It’s probably not our time to sell and maybe there’s something to learn from all this. My only hope is that it doesn’t mean we have to go back to Missouri when all this traveling fun is done. We love our house, we built it and it’s what M remembers as our American home, and the people in our town was great but you all know I HATE the tornadoes!! My hubby HATES it when it’s just windy out and I’d go: “Is it tornadic, is it tornadic, is it tornadic?” I was so glad we moved when we did because we heard that the weather’s been terrible there! Plus, M said she doesn’t want to go back to America. She said she loves it here, ha! I think she’s a little traveler like me. I don’t think she’ll stay in one place for very long like her mama (although like M I really do love it here too). Maybe in a few years we can try selling it again but for now, we’ll see what it’s like to have people renting our home.

To our oh so colorful home (if you’re wondering, yes our living room’s bright. I had to wear sunglasses the first few days after I painted it. We loved it though after we adjusted!):