Another day of walking all around. Havana loves to walk but we’re getting tired of walking and pushing a stroller around all day.
Read More »
When we had dinner with Mark and Lee earlier this week, they suggested dinner on Thursday and Lee arranged for his niece Aimee to babysit Havana and Hudson so we could go out for a nice dinner. Mark and Aimee arrived out our apartment at 6:30pm and we buzzed them in. Havana and Gay waited at the door while Havana asked “Where’s Uncle Mark?” and suddently Eric popped up the stairs!
The last we heard from Eric he was in India on his around the world trip, we hadn’t heard from him in many weeks and hadn’t seen him in over 10 months, so it was quite a surprise. Mark took some video of Gay’s face which I’m looking forward to seeing. When he heard through Mark that we were going to be in London, he decided to take a detour on his trip and come visit London and spend a few weeks in Europe.
Read More »
Last time we were in London in 2005 we walked by the London Eye and the line was crazy long so we decided not to wait. This time we planned ahead and bought tickets online where you can get “fast-track” tickets so you don’t have to wait in line (not to mention a 20% discount!).
Read More »
After getting a late start due to napping, we walked to Hyde Park and went to a playground there for Havana to play. Then we walked (too far) to have a beer and a snack for the kids at The Iron Duke. We walked home through a shopping district, down Piccadilly and back to our apartment.
Read More »
Mark and Lee came to our hotel, we had some wine and cheese and caught up since we saw them last May (in Vancouver and at our house for Lee’s birthday). We then went out to get Indian food to bring back and have dinner at our place.
We’re not quite as adjusted to London time as we expected we’d be. Havana and Hudson both woke up at 1am and had trouble getting back to sleep. So we all ended up sleeping in too long.
After Havana’s nap we went for a walk to Belgravia. Once again, Havana insisted on walking on her own rather than ride in the stroller. We were heading to The Star Tavern, a very old Fuller’s pub, where I could get Fuller’s ESB and we could get lunch. This place is famous because it is where The Great Train Robbery was planned and where celebrities frequented in the 1960s.
Read More »
I remembered that last time we landed in London July 7, 2005, we found ourselves in the middle of a terrorist attack just a couple hours after it happened. That was a surreal experience, but fortunately, nothing like that happened this time.
After checking into the hotel, we walked around the area a bit before going to a pub for dinner. The downstairs was full so we had to go upstairs for a table, which meant we had to take Havana out of the stroller even though she was fast asleep. I picked her up but she didn’t wake up. I heard a loud “pop” and realized she dropped her milk bottle and, this has never happened before, the top popped off and splattered milk all over.
Read More »
When we got to the airport we learned that the flight was delayed an hour because the plane was late due to weather leaving London. We checked-in, went to the British Airways lounge and waited with complimentary water, a beer and a glass of wine and really good mini sandwiches. During pre-boarding we went down to the gate to pack up the stroller, which will make you break a sweat. We thought we’d have to check the stroller into the cargo hold, but they let us take it on board and stash it in a closet.
Read More »
Seeing women use usernames of “so-and-so’s_mommy” online has always driven me crazy. Didn’t those women have a name and their own identities before kids? Why do they need to advertise that their ovaries work? Of course, I also don’t see a reason to adopt your husband’s name just because you got married either, but just taking a last name seems more feminist than losing your identity completely to your kid. BTW, what do these women do when the second kid is born? Katie Rophe skewers these same women, who put pictures of their kids instead of their own in their facebook profile.
“Facebook, of course, traffics in exhibitionism: it is a way of presenting your life, at least those sides of it you cherry pick for the outside world, for show. One’s children are of course an important achievement, and arguably one’s most important achievement, but that doesn’t mean that they are who you are. “
By the way, I believe that when you send the Christmas photo card, you should be in it too. I am/was friends with *you*, not your kids.
I’m training to run the Seattle RocknRoll Marathon June 27th with my friends Laura & Megan. It has been years since I ran a marathon, so it is like starting over. My first long run over 10 miles actually happened on our San Fransisco trip, when I ran along the waterfront and across the Golden Gate bridge and back. I was surprised to learn the bridge is two miles long. I love the bridge. It is gorgeous architecturally, and the orange color makes it stand out against the city on the south side and the green rolling hills on the north. It is dorky to say, but crossing the bridge on foot was exhilarating. One of the best running experiences of my life. Tomorrow I am aiming for 19 miles.
