Wow! We have had a nice and busy week. Getting back to routine is so comforting.
William went to preschool every day this past week to get settled in with the new kids and new school. Friday was the first full day (9-11:30) and he loved it. Playing in the garden, story time, guinea pigs, who wouldn't? We also have him set up for school next year. He will attend a private school call Willington 4 1/2 days a week from 8:20 to 3:20.
Yep, you read that right - all day! Here, children start kindergarten (or reception) from the year that they will turn 5. So even though he won't be 5 until June, he gets to start. It's all boys and they wear cute little uniforms. Oh, and the school year goes from September to July, with three term breaks. So I don't even have to look at summer camps or how to keep him occupied in June and July! It's more like year round school and I like that idea.
British words are already sneaking into his vocabulary. The other day, he told me, "That's a brilliant idea, mom!" Of course he knows the word "lolly" and chickens are gone, to be replaced by "hens".
We move into our house on Thursday and are anxiously awaiting the space for the boys to roam free. I'm not sure, but I think our apartment shrunk! That would explain the bouncing off the walls that seems to happen when we are home.
Patrick continues on as a smiley, happy joker. He loves to follow William around and torment him by hanging onto his clothes, pawing him, or pulling his hair. We try to moderate when it gets bad, but hey, they have to learn, right?
This past weekend took us to York - Mark will post photos later. It's north of London about 2 hours by train. We spent almost 3 hours at the British National Rail Museum and William says his favorite part of the trip was "pushing the elevator buttons"! (He also liked the Japanese bullet train and a train ride we went on.) We walked around a little but the museums were closing and the rain was pouring down, so the trip back was a bit earlier that expected. It was crazy on the trains for space. As if the entire student population of England had to get to London at that exact moment! After much searching for seats, to no avail, we headed to first class(smile) for upgraded tickets and a nice quiet ride back to the city.
For those of you that have asked about the healthcare system and such, stay tuned. I go tomorrow to meet my OB/Gyn and should have more answers for you. Looks to be somewhat similar to the US in some regard, in others, not so much.
Until next post...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Visiting Brighton
Brighton is situated between the South Downs & the sea on the Southern coast of England.
While we are told that the summer offers slightly better beach weather, the boys had a great time playing on the beach, visiting the toy museum and seeing the sights.
Monday, March 15, 2010
At the park
It finally hit double digits this past weekend!
William was able to get some time on the football field while Patrick played at the playground.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The last three weeks...
Week 1
Okay, no way to sugar coat this one - it was a rough week! Before we left, William came down with some type of respiratory virus that gave him a horrendous cough and fever. I do not think we were the favorite family on the plane with our sick preschooler and crabby toddler that decided not to sleep. On the 7 hour trip the boys slept little and Mark a little as well. On arrival at 7am Sunday morning, all we could do was stumble into beds and sleep for a few hours. William's cough only got worse and the crabbies really set in round about 4pm. Jet lag is a tough thing and we struggled with it for the first week. William would be up until about 2am and then Mark would be out the door for work at 6:30am. I have wished that William would go back to napping in the afternoon, so you can imagine how hard it was to wake him when ever he fell asleep in the afternoon that week!
William was also kind enough to share his virus with the rest of us, so Patrick came down with it and then I did as well.
Did I mention that it rained all week and was only about 34 degrees?
All that was finished up the following weekend with a wonderful day trip to Brighton on the south coast! The sun was shining and the wind was blowing and the whole world was starting to look a little happier!
Week 2
A better week by far, we spent the week going to the grocery store each day and finding lots of local parks to visit and play. The weather was still a little cold, but the sun held out and I felt very fortunate not to be slogging through the snow. It feels a little decadent to be able to walk outside everyday without the snow and cold holding us back. We capped off the week with a trip to the new Westfield Mall in London and then William went to the Transportation Museum with Daddy on Sunday.
Week 3
Time to get moving. We are now on a great regular schedule. The morning is for playing at the park or walking about and after quiet time in the afternoon, we try to make it out to another park or another nice walk.
This week was also spent looking at schools for William. Children here can attend a year called Reception at 4 years old. The schools fill up fast and we are a bit behind the normal time to get in for the fall. Thank goodness it looks as if we have found a school for next year. He will restart preschool tomorrow at a wonderful local nursery/preschool.
Yesterday, we went to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. A pirate ship sand pit, music garden, and numerous play structures and more trips on the train.
Today is British Mother's Day and Mark took the boys to the park for the morning. We are having a lovely roast for dinner - though I still have to figure out how to cook it! Don't worry - I haven't stopped cooking. If anything, I have cooked more here than I did the whole time that Mark was gone!
We look forward to a wonderful week with a new school and new friends and a fun trip out of town. Now to figure out where to go...
Settling in...
So here we are! Wimbledon is great and we are very happy with the move so far. It's certainly taken some time to get settled in, and there is more to do when we move to our house in about 2 weeks.
For those of you that may not have heard the story before we moved, well here goes...
In November of 2009, Mark was offered a position with Barclays bank in London. We have always talked about international experience as a potential for him and how much great experience he would get. We decided that this was it and we would take the plunge! That set off a mad dash to get the house ready for sale in Lincolnshire, IL (north of Chicago) and take care of anything that would need to be done before Mark went to work Jan 5th. Keep in mind, we still had no master bath and were expecting a full house for the holidays. Mark and I spent a few days in London at the beginning of December to decide where we would settle. Wimbledon seemed the perfect blend of city and suburb so we decided that would be the best place for the family and not too far for his commute to work.
After a race to make it all happen and a wonderful holiday with both of our families, we sent Mark off to the UK with tears in our eyes and the promise to see him in February when the boys and I would join him. Mark would work on finding a house for us to rent and thus cut down on the time the four of us would spend in the 2 bedroom corporate apartment. He hit the ground running and was happy to bury himself in work and get the hang of things while we continued our normal life. Well, semi-normal, we found out much to our delight and surprise that we would need a little bigger house. That's right, our family of four will be a family of five come this September!
Mark came home in mid February and we had a week to finish storing, giving away, getting ready for the pack and flying to the UK.
And that should get everyone up to speed!
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