Getting Ready to Go

Doing laundry.

Shoes!

Getting There
We flew to NYC, then to London Heathrow.

On the plane.

The kids were really pretty good on all of our flights, all trip long, and people complimented us for their goodness. To which we smiled and said thanks, even though we were thinking, “Really?”

The flight overseas to London was six hours but felt like twelve. It was because the kids only slept three of those hours, and we slept one. We landed in London around 8 am, which was like 1 am to our bodies. It was strange to fly east and watch the sun rise even when my watch said it was the middle of the night.

Approaching London.

We Got There: LONDON, ENGLAND

Waiting for our pushchair (translated: stroller) at the gate. It was funny to suddenly hear everyone talking in British accents. The kids were happy to be off the plane. It felt good to be in England.

The line through Border Control. L-O-N-G. Heathrow is notorious for this. Thankfully, we were standing near another family whose baby was screaming, and the officials let all of us cut straight to the front after just 20 minutes of waiting. Yay for tired kids.

And, people, THIS is why you go to England. Cadbury chocolate: mmmmmmm.

Our hotel. We looked extensively before picking this Hilton. London is one of the priciest places to visit in all of western Europe. It wasn’t the most convenient location (we had to take the bus plus the underground trains everywhere–nothing within walking distance), but it was affordable. If we had more money to throw around I would definitely have stayed closer to city center.

Our luggage. Our attempt to pack light with two adults + two kids = success. We traveled with John’s mother and stepfather, and we had less luggage between the four of us than they did the two of them. (And they didn’t have to lug around diapers, toys, bottles, and sippy cups.)

The day we arrived we were pretty tired, so all we did was take the free ferry the hotel offered across the Thames River to the other side, which is the area known as Canary Wharf. It’s mostly high-end businesses in big, tall buildings, but it has restaurants and shopping areas as well. We set out to find something to eat and a grocery store to buy milk and snacks for the kids.

We went to Waitrose.

Oh, how I love British grocery stores. We stocked up on a few essentials like thick, creamy, so-not-low-fat yogurt.

Also, Cadbury chocolate, several liters of semi-skimmed milk, and croissants. I think I ate croissants, either plain or with chocolate, nearly every day in Europe. If you ignore their lack of good nutrition, they make a perfect breakfast.

Did I mention we were tired?

We ate dinner here, at Zizzi’s Italian Restaurant, which is a decent chain we saw in every British city we visited.

John and I split the Fiorentina pizza, which I’ve always wanted to try since reading about it in a British novel. (It’s “spinach, buffalo ricotta and cheese. Finished with a little garlic, nutmeg and a free range egg.”) Yeah. It was good.

I actually nodded off during dinner, and it wasn’t even 5 o’clock yet. So we went back to the hotel and went to bed early, around 6:30 pm.

And that was the end of our first two days–almost. Read on to the next post.

Last night I was DYING for some Chinese food and John sweetly took us out to eat. I loved it.

Wesley’s fortune said, “You are capable, competent, creative, careful.” So true. Except for the “careful” part.

The other day I found both kids snuggled up behind the chair, reading books. So, so quietly.

Our kids love their dad, and they love it when he plays with them. They get so excited when he walks in the room.

Too bad this didn’t focus. They love to ride around on dad. I call it a “dinosaur ride.”

Wesley’s favorite game: Ring Around the Rosy

At BYU with Grandpa and Grandma.

Carissa is a little 19-month-old Diva, demanding everything she wants, when and how she wants it. She loves her blanket (which she calls “Bah”), she loves her bottle, and she loves her big-girl sippy cup. She often eats Cheerios first thing in the morning, if she’s not stealing toast from Wesley’s plate.

Wes and Carissa both like to play with water. They enjoy transferring the water from one cup to another. It gets all over the floor, but at least it’s just water.

The other day Carissa wouldn’t go down for a nap. Finally I just sent her into the living room to watch TV with Wes. She didn’t last long.

Waiting for Wesley’s bus.

Lately I’ve been changing my diet to include better food, and less of it. Here are some things I’ve been eating regularly.

I cycle through a couple different breakfast options. They all involve a carbohydrate, fruit, and protein. This is Kodiak Cakes whole wheat pancake mix with bananas, blueberries, and egg whites.

Chicken wrap for lunch, with an 80-calorie whole wheat tortilla and lots of lettuce, tomato, and cucumber.

Which Wes also likes. I got tired of him trying to eat mine, so I made him his own. The front of his hair is all sticky from drinking a bowl of peach juice.

For dinner, shredded pork with a measured amount of cheddar cheese and steamed broccoli. Or I’ll have chicken instead of pork.

Or I’ll eat the pork with feta cheese instead of cheddar, which is super yummy and salty. I’m becoming a big fan of steamed broccoli sprinkled with salt and pepper.

My snacks usually involve Greek yogurt mixed with fruit, or protein powder mixed with peanut butter. Greek yogurt is a fantastic source of protein (Fage 0% Plain has 23 grams per cup). However, I think Greek yogurt tastes bitter, so I always add ample amounts of Truvia, which is a calorie-free, natural sweetener you can find at your grocery store. It tastes GREAT.

This is Greek yogurt mixed with water, strawberries, ice, and Truvia. Maybe some cinnamon, too.

I also use unsweetened almond milk instead of cow’s milk. It’s only about 40 calories per cup. I like to add sugar-free flavored syrup (usually in the hot chocolate and coffee aisle) and Truvia, which makes it taste like a super sweet treat.

This is one of my snacks made with Gaspari Milk Chocolate protein powder and Adam’s Natural Peanut Butter. It is a gooey, yummy, healthier version of the peanut butter cup (which if you know me, I really like). It’s just protein powder mixed with a couple tablespoons water. I put half in a muffin cup and freeze it for 3o minutes. Then I spread on my measured peanut butter and top it off with the rest of the chocolate mixture. This milk chocolate protein powder is the best I’ve tasted. I sometimes eat it with a cup of my almond milk sweetened with sugar-free caramel syrup. So good.

Today, the start of a new year, our church’s start time moved back two hours. Three congregations share the same building so, to keep everyone feeling equal, every year we rotate our meeting times.

All last year our Sunday mornings were somewhat of a groggy haze of getting kids bathed, dressed, fed, hair combed, socks and shoes found and put on, diaper bag packed, etc., while getting myself dressed and presentable and getting John–the Not Morning Person–out of bed and on his way. Breakfast was frequently unbuttered toast, eaten standing over the sink at home, then a gulp of water from the drinking fountain once we got to church. We were not the award winners for being on time each week.

Today we had TWO MORE HOURS! What did we do?

First, Carissa walked down the stairs by herself for the first time, and Wes cheered her on.

Then the kids ate toast and drank milk on the couch under the same blanket.

I had time to make French baguettes–my new favorite bread to make because 1) I have new baguette pans that shape them so nicely and 2) they take only about an hour to make from start to finish.

Carissa wanted to use the trash can. She knows we put stuff inside it, and she really wants to put stuff in it, too. She is also learning how to blow her nose.

I didn’t bother to take pictures of it, but while I was upstairs putting Carissa’s dress on, Wes was downstairs at the sink filling a measuring cup with water and dumping it on the floor over and over again. So then I got to clean it up and start a load of laundry of the armful of towels I used.

But we got everyone dressed, fed, and out the door on time. And, I even curled my hair.

It’s looking to be a good year.