The Latest

So, yeah, well, you know, it's been several months already that we've been in the UK and Phil's work has redone some of their initial estimates and it looks like we haven't spent the budget allocated to us, so... We're staying here a few more months. Our feelings on it is that we'll stay through the spring term at the children's school and then come back before the lottery at our old school. That puts us here through March 20th, but home before April's Fool Day. Which means instead of three months and we're home, we're back to five months and we're home. A few weeks short of a year.

On another note, my arch nemesis, the washer/dryer, has decided that not only does it not want to dry, it doesn't want to rinse or stay moving for very long either. Repairman comes on Thursday. If it had a neck, I'd wring it. I long for my Duets at home. Sigh. Hopefully they fix it, otherwise it will cost about 40 pounds a week to clean clothes and towels for the family at a laundrette. Equivalent to $80-90/week for self-cleaning my clothes. I don't know if Phil's work covers this, but we might have to have a talk. For now, fingers crossed that Thursday they'll be able to tell me something.

Exhausted!

We left Saturday morning and got back last night from LegoLand. The first day we got there around noon decked out in winter coats and remained in our winter coats. We went through the Magic Theatre and Explorer's Institute exhibits after eating at the Big Restaurant. Then we waited in line for the Digger Challenge. First line for the kids Little Man almost gave up. But we made it and operated a digger for a few minutes. We also went on Pirate Falls (Log flume) and yes, we got wet. The British are brilliant though and had family dryers outside the wet rides. You pop in two pounds and stand in a small box like thing while hot air blasts at you and heat lamps warm you. Stopped for the puppet show Jack and the Beanstalk. We also went through Miniland. Small versions of cities and monuments done in Lego. It's amazing what they've done with Lego throughout the whole park. We went on the Space Tower where you use a rope to hoist yourself up a tower and slowly drop. Okay, so Lady Jane and I slowly dropped, but you should have seen how fast Phil and Little Man were going. Damn gravity. Then we went on the Spinning Spider (similar to the Octopus and the Tilt a Whirl combined) before they shut everything down for the Fireworks display. They turned off every light in the park and put on a remarkable firework display. It was simply stunning. Then we attempted to leave the park and got lost (they closed off most the pathways) and got caught in the human traffic jam. Then we got lost trying to find lot E, the last possible lot to park in. Then we got caught in the auto traffic jam to get out of the park (think Riverport after a concert). Then we had to drive 50 minutes to the hotel. Ugh! We ordered room service and crashed for the night.

Time change. Yup England has fallen back an hour. So we're a five hour difference now. We all got up way too early, ate our breakfast and then left the hotel way too early. We arrived at the park at 9:30. It's not supposed to open until ten. But people were going in, so a few rides were already open and starting. Our children, who are not so brilliant, decided that the first ride we should do is the Vikings' River Splash. Did I mention that it was a drizzly day as well? So we get soaked and spend time in the human dryer again which did absolutely nothing for our soaked pants and trousers. Yes, even our knickers were wet. Lady Jane didn't like the ride at all. Did I mention no lines this early in the morning? Yeah! So we ride the Dragon coaster. The kids loved it. We went on the Ferris Wheel, Chairoplane, and rode on the Orient Express. Little Man and Phil went on the Jungle Coaster. Lady Jane was too little. Lady Jane and Phil went on the Adventurers' Wave surfer while Little Man and I pressed the button to make the water surge. We caught the live action show at the Harbor before going into the Circus tent to make our own wizard hats, caps and wands. All this before lunch. Pizza at Pasta Patch, in case you're wondering. Then through a shop or two up to Spellbreaker 4D movie. They use polarized lens and it was awesome. We went to the Lego Workshops and Little Man put together a Gyrocopter and Lady Jane made Duplo gears. We walked through the Lego Creation Centre where they make all the Lego sculptures for the park. Finally we got to the Big Shop and the kids pick out a few things for souvenirs. Phil takes Lady Jane down for Driving School while Little Man and I wander about waiting for them. We pack up the car and head to the Motorway. We were stopped by traffic three times causing out 3 hour drive to turn into 6 hours including stopping for food and gas. The kids slept most of the way. We took my Peugot so I could drive. Phil was coming down with a cold and it settled in last night. The kids have this week off school. My washer/dryer is acting up and now it doesn't want to continue a cycle. Sigh. It was a fabulous weekend. The kids enjoyed the break, but now it's back to reality.

Winter Jackets, Stardust and Birthday Cake

Chill is in the air here in England. So it's time to put away fall jackets and get out the winter coats. We went to the cinema to see a film this weekend. Stardust is all that and a slice of cheese. Phil says it's comparable to the Princess Bride. The whole family had a good time going to the cinema and enjoyed the film. Lady Jane had a birthday party at a pottery shop on Friday and afterwards we did our usual Friday evening jaunt down to the library to pick up DVDs. Next weekend is the exciting one though. We're going to Legoland. Should be an interesting time. Oh, the kids had their parent/teacher nights at school on Wednesday. Lady Jane is wonderful in class and they'd like to keep her. Little Man is doing awesome as well and always has something to tell his teacher. He did get a yellow card for using his ruler as a catapult for a rubber (eraser). That's one of those words I still crack up on. Erasers are rubbers over here. While I praised Little Man for his ingeniuity I told him that the classroom is not the place he should be doing that. I'd rather him get yellow cards for that than for hitting someone or throwing a fit. Kids are good and so is life.

Ewww!!!!!

Always pleasant to be awaken at 4 am by a child saying they've been sick in his bed. And by sick, I mean really sick. I woke Phil up to help and then realized Mr. Gags on Lint probably wouldn't fare well with the task at hand. Little Man was in the bathroom waiting to see if he had anything left. Judging my the bed I'd say no. Meanwhile, moved Lady Jane to my spot next to Dad who went back to sleep. I'm not mad at him. I told him to. He has to work.

Fortunately the kids have separate beds. Unfortunately, Little Man's doesn't have a mattress pad. Fortunately of all the mattresses in the apartment, that is the one we bought. So I go downstairs to get papertowels and a trash bag. I thought briefly of a towel, but ewww. I proceed to mop up the mess and then undress his bed. Back downstairs to throw the sheets and duvet cover in the washer. Back upstairs, get Little Man his robe. Tell Lady Jane to go back to sleep. Brought upstairs with me upholstrey cleaner and air freshener. Spray room and mattress thoroughly. Ask Lady Jane why she's not asleep. Take a Tums for my now slightly queasy tummy. Escort Little Man downstairs to living room. Frantically try to think of something to use as bucket. We don't have one. I have one hard floor in the kitchen and carpet everywhere else. I have a set of plastic bowls and have never and probably will never use the extra large one. It will have to do. Set it down next to Little Man and hear commotion upstairs. Go back upstairs and find Lady Jane back in her bed crying. Fiddle with lights to her satisfaction, leave her to go back down to boy.

Turn on TV for a bit knowing there's always a curtain call and sure enough fifteen minutes later, his stomach is completely empty. Sip some water. Lay back down on couch and me in chair. Fall asleep. Wake up around 6:30 for further fun praising the porcelein god. Sip some water and lay back down with TV. Phil needs to leave for work and can't help take Lady Jane to school, so I drag my sorry a** upstairs and wake up the usually sullen Lady Jane, but this morning she's bright and chipper. We get dressed without the usual antics and head downstairs. Phil makes Lady Jane her breakfast and heads to work. I throw on clothes from the floor because damnit I'm tired and really could give a crap about what I look like. I cleaned up yak earlier. So, I make sure Little Man is fine and drive Lady Jane the block to school. I drop her off and run into the main building to let his teachers and the office know Little Man is sick. I come back home to Little Man whose feeling hungry. Make him drink lots of water and pee before giving him two pieces of toast, half of one is still on the plate. He fell asleep about 45 minutes ago. Doesn't appear to have a fever or anything, so maybe this will be it.

I hope this is not a portent. I really want to say "of things to come" but according to the dictionary that would be redundant, so I'll hold myself back. Now if only I could sleep.

Swapping Kids

I negotiated the trade of Little Man for one of Lady Jane's "boyfriends" on Wednesday. As her teacher says "She's one for the boys." God, save me. Anyway, prince charming (hey, she says she's going to marry him and she always said she was marrying prince charming) came over to play while Little Man went to his brother's house. Inviting a boy over when Little Man is home is just not a good idea. Someone's going to get left out and it would probably be Lady Jane. So they snacked and colored and played and had tea (evening meal). Random comments heard from the toy room.

"We're getting married, right?" Lady Jane
"Yeah." Prince Charming

"Who's toy is this?" Prince Charming
"Little Man's." Lady Jane
(he was really obsessed about whose toy was whose, but when you have an older brother and a younger brother, I guess you'd have to be.)

The two got along famously and had a good time playing. When I took them down to exchange prisoners (prince charming for Little Man). Prince Charming invited Lady Jane to play in the garden for a while. So we stayed for a bit longer to play in the garden. Little Man had a good time playing with PC's older brother whose in LM's class. (I'm sorry but eventually initialization of nicknames was going to have to happen).

Of course, we ran to the grocery store after to grab a treat. By the time we got home, I glanced at my watch and saw that it was almost bedtime. So I put them to bed and then came down and turned on the telly and realized I put them to bed an hour early! Much chagrinned I went upstairs and said, "I'm sorry. It's not bedtime yet. Do you guys want to get up for a bit?"

There's This Glowing Thing in The Sky

It's huge and round and hurts my eyes. Today there's not a cloud in the sky which is unusual but welcome. You do tend to forget what the sun looks like around here. The kids are faring well in school. We're almost to midterm break. We're thinking about LegoLand and maybe a last ditch effort to get to the Highlands. I doubt there will be camping. It's getting quite cold at night now. Time to wash all the hand wash sweaters that just haven't been needed. We have a birthday this weekend, but not a lot is happening otherwise. We've all settled in to life here.

A few phrases/words you don't hear in the states. English to American translation:

Dodgy - Something that doesn't seem right
Cheeky monkey - affectionate term for a child that isn't doing what they were told but isn't getting hurt
Poppet - affectionate term for a baby girl
Diary - schedule of events (Yes, it's weird when someone says they have to check their diary)
Chips - French fries
Crisps - Potato chips and other chips
Pudding - all desserts
Pram - stroller
Knackered (guessing on the spelling) - sleepy
Lie in - sleeping late
Jumper - sweater
Pants - Underwear
Trousers - pants
Plimsolls - a type of shoe, I still don't get this one
p - pence
quid - pound
cap - baseball hat
gutted - extremely disappointed
film - movie
tea - dinner
dinner - formal dinner

Jane, Romans and Prehistoric Man

This weekend we went to Bath and Stonehenge. We camped in our tent with no problems even though it's gotten chilly here. We spent Saturday morning driving to Bath and the early afternoon stuck in traffic looking for parking. We finally parked and went to the Jane Austen Centre. The Jane Austen festival was happening, so more people dressed in Regency garb. Lady Jane decided to be a nasty little thing, so we skipped the Museum of Fashion in the afternoon. We ate at Pizza Express and went back to the campsite and tried to put Lady Jane to bed early as punishment. In the morning, we broke camp and drove into Bath. We went to the Roman Baths first thing. It was quite interesting. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Then we went to the Museum of Fashion where Phil watched the kids while I walked around it. I tried on a corset. I really think it would help my back and posture. That and it really nips in the waist. Wearing it, I might be able to squeeze into my wedding dress. Anyway, we left Bath and headed to Stonehenge a half hour away. We walked around Stonehenge and took a million photos from every angle. Then we repacked ourselves in the car and headed back to Sheffield a 4 hour drive. Overall a fun weekend even with Lady Jane being a pain in the . . . ummm . . . to conserve my G rating I'll let you use your imagination. Neck just is too nice.