Happy Fourth of July (yesterday)

So in honor of the Fourth yesterday, I hosted a national anthem sing-off in my office.  It happened throughout the day and commenced when my co-worker Peter came in and said,

"Is it the land of the free and the home of the brave, or the land of the brave and the home of the free?"

I just rolled my eyes.  So he said, "Can you sing 'God Save the Queen'?" 

So I did, you know I did.  By the end he was uncomfortable, that's how well I sang it. (Ha.)

Anyway, so then I fired off an email to Rebecca, the Kiwi who sits next door (I know, but I love email) and asked her for her afternoon availability so that she could perform "God Defend New Zealand" for me.  Her performance was remarkable because she did it like she was singing at a sporting event.  She said that makes sense because really that's all people do in New Zealand:  participate in and attend sporting events.  They are a tall people, which I think has something to do with this.  (An aside is that she was really confused when I said I feel that I am the same height as she is -- she's 5'9", but, I explained about how I've had a tall best friend for more than 20 years (!!!) and then she seemed, well, still confused.)

So then, the sweet French trainee with whom I work came into my office with a legitimate work question and was cajoled into performing the French National Anthem for me.  She did a nice job but when she got back to her office she sent me a link to her favorite version on youtube.

Finally, I sang "The Star Spangled Banner" for Peter and Rebecca who were amazed at its length.

Then we all attended the Firm "JULY 4th INDEPENDENCE DAY BBQ" which featured grilled food and American beer and wine.  It was not authentic in any way, but I appreciated the gesture.

Lizzie wore a red shirt with white bows on the shoulders (that is either from Molly or Maddy, thank you!) and navy leggings; Tommy wore his normal uniform with RED socks and as he shook his head teacher's hand in the morning, said, "Happy Fourth of July!"  I wore red, white and blue as well, but Eli refused.

I hope you all enjoyed fireworks for us!

Fish

Tommy loves fish.  When asked what he wants for dinner -- if he's in the mood to think about it and come up with an idea which is not all the time, not even close -- he will suggest fish.  And Sunday night, when he smelled it cooking, he said, "oh, great!  We're having fish!  I love fish!"  And then during dinner, he raved about it.

I was a child who refused fish, always.  Even when my dad went out and caught salmon, I wouldn't eat it.  I can't remember when I realized that grilled salmon with pesto on it was one of my favorite foods rather than one I detested.  Optimistically, I want to pinpoint that time as being in high school but it was more likely college.

Now, I have a five-year-old who gobbles up fish.  It's all I can do not to stare at him while he eats.  It's all I can do not to say to him, "whose kid are you, anyway?"   

(Lulu only eats fish in exchange for a cupcake.)

The fish:

 Salad for Eli and me:

 My ragamuffin daughter (and in the bowl are the kids' sweet potatoes -- if your kids eat salad please could you email me? I need tips):

Please god make it stop raining

It is the first day of July and the weather has been positively nutty today.  In equal parts it has been sunny, windy, and pouring rain.  As Eli said to me, "I don't care what you say; I won't miss this weather."  This was after we'd stopped underneath an awning to put the kids' coats on them because Tommy was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g.  (Yes, still constantly spelling.)

Now that it's July, it starts to feel like a legitimate grievance, you know.  It's summer.  But, it's summer in London.  Sigh.

We went to St. James's Park today to look at the birds (impressive to see huge pelicans, but less impressive to see that many pigeons in one place) and to walk around and just sort of appreciate London.  We went into the National Gallery to look at Claude Monet's waterlilies (if I knew how to link to my old posts, I would direct you to the one about how Tommy learned about Monet in school) and on the way we went through the Van Gogh room and really, he's just amazing.  Anyway, it was empty for some strange reason so felt like a 15 minutes well spent even though Lulu kept calling to 'get down, get down!' from the buggy.  Then she figured out that the space had nice acoustics and we had to get out of there as not everybody thinks her happy birthday loop is as cute as we do.

If you happen to see her, make her say umbrella.  It's really cute:  'umbralala.'

The Birthday Party

Tommy's birthday party was at an indoor play area called Gambado.  It's the kind of place that kids love and that gives adults headaches.  Bad ones.  But, it's really really easy to have a birthday party there.  Gambado even does the goodie bags ('party bags').  So when Tommy's classmate's Mom and I talked about where to have the party, Gambado was an obvious choice due to the fact that we could do minimal planning.

It was a huge success.  The only glitch is that I forgot a tray for Tommy's cupcakes and ended up using the tray that our coffees were served on, which sort of grossed me out.  (But, I used a new recipe that was really very awesome.  I guess another glitch is that the frosting didn't turn out that well because we can't get semi-sweet chocolate here and I can't figure out how to approximate it.)

Here are a few photos (they weren't very good mostly due to the lighting in Gambado):

Eli is such a good sport:

 Standing on a chair, cramming a cupcake into her mouth:

The Red Dragonfly

He stood next to Sophia during the program.  This is post-program when he had already removed his headgear.  He still looks sort of like a dragonfly, though, right?

This costume caused us to violate a very serious rule:  no red pants.  I figure he can have everything else red and not go too astray, but this here outfit is a bit much for his mom (yes, I know that's a comment on my own ego but there it is, I care about my kids' outfits).  

Anyway, the whole show was really great and we took some movies but they were pretty far away and frankly, aren't blog material.  So, I offer you this picture.  (It's enough, really, and I understand that.)

I was the classroom helper today and had a great time.  I got to play outside (we love the outdoor area at Tommy's school; it was a huge factor in choosing the school), read stories and help with handwriting.  (Tommy's least favorite subject.)  The kids all do workbooks and write the same sentence each day, and I noted while flipping through the book that recently the sentence was 'Tommy likes Sophia.'  Miss Anna explained that she got the idea because they were working on capital T and capital S.  

Tommy's teacher Miss Jo is pregnant and has been put on bedrest for the rest of the term.  So that's sad!

And I'll be back tomorrow with a report of Tommy's birthday party, which is this afternoon at Gambado!!  Also, with some comments on Chief Justice Roberts (you didn't think I could resist, did you?).  Happy Friday!

The Best Dad EVER

So on Tuesday, I received an email from the room mother.  It was an email only to me.  (Usually, she emails all the other mothers, but not this time.  She knows, perhaps, that I am in a bit over my head lately?)

This is what it said:

Just a quick reminder to bring Tommy's costume in for the assembly on friday by tomorrow!

So I quickly forwarded it to Eli, with this message:  shit, shit, shit.  If you focus on the wings, I'll look for red pants?

Now I know you're wondering so I'll tell you that he's going to be a red dragonfly.

Anyway, I had a very busy week again so this whole thing tipped our household over the edge.  And then, when Eli got home and began work on the very complicated set of dragonfly wings, Tommy came down the stairs and vomited.  The good news about that is that he couldn't go to school so we got an extra day to finish the wings.

A(nother) random one...

I have three topics to cover today:  Ascot, Gabon, and a cute Lulu story.

Ascot

As I went to work on Wednesday morning (or was it Thursday? the days all blend into one), I noticed a lot of ladies in hats.  You know, the pretty kind that look like a little bit of pretty material that happens to be shaped like a bird or a flower just happened to land on a lady's head, in the perfect spot to compliment her updo.  I do not spend enough time watching the news each day, and so I wondered to myself what in the world could be going on?  Were we wearing hats in honor of the first day of summer perhaps?  But then I luckily ran into one of the IT guys at my firm and walked into the office with me.  He explained that these ladies were all Ascot-bound and that how one gets to Ascot is to take a big bus.  There are many locations at which people wait for these buses, and now you all know that Temple Tube station is one of them.  After John explained the situation to me, I was sorry I hadn't just asked if I could take a photo of them (for this here blog).  Anyway, they all looked lovely and glamorous and it made me wish I were going with them and wearing something pretty and a well-placed bird on my head (not a real one OBVIOUSLY).

Gabon

Nothing is sure in my life pretty much ever, but the likelihood of going to Gabon has increased now that Eli's boss has signed up to go.  (I suppose he is technically no longer Eli's boss, as he is going to Gabon and Eli is still on the Gatwick project.)  Anyway, I have an anonymous guest blogger who went to Gabon and reported back to me.  I thought that my readers (this is another topic but my page views have skyrocketed lately and so perhaps it's a nice time to thank you all for reading!?) may find her perspective interesting and so with her permission I include a bit of her description.

I have met some of the wives; all very nice ladies.  They have all seemed to find activities. Some are working and/or have joined gyms, beach club, take french lessons, horseback riding lessons, book clubs and golfing.  They get together for lunch, coffee and organize small dinner parties.  Some of the women offered to pass along email addresses and I will follow up on this.

The anonymous guest blogger intrigued me by mentioning a beach club, but mostly she makes me certain that I'll need to find a job in Gabon.  But perhaps during the six-month period I've reserved to settled in the kids and to learn a little French (I have started -- have I mentioned this? I am lucky enough to have a tutor already and she is tres dynamic and teaches me all sorts of funny phrases I'll never say) I shall join a beach club.  The funny thing I learned about the beach club after talking to my anonymous guest blogger is that the beach is across the street from the beach club.  

I am told that taxis are easy to flag down; however here, drivers will pick up other passengers who are travelling in the same direction unless you ask them not to.  They will expect you to pay a little more for this "private" service, but will generally accommodate your request if you negotiate it up front.  However, they are still cheap.

Do any of you think it would be sort of awesome to share a cab with strangers and stop along the way? I am intrigued, to say the least.  (I will not likely have the guts to do it.)  Anyway, we probably have to get a car as I would imagine I won't be able to stomach having my littles in cars in Gabon without car seats.  And the taxi drivers plus other patrons probably won't want to wait for me to install them as it takes a very long time and I usually end up swearing. 

There are very good restaurants - Chinese, Morocan, Pizza, French, Lebanese, Italian, etc.  They do not have home delivery of food, but you can go to any restaurant and get your order to take away.  Shockingly (or perhaps thankfully) they do not have any McDonald's, Burger King or Kentucky Fried Chicken!

This one makes me happy AND sad at the same time.  Obviously, if Tommy never eats (again) at McDonald's, I will be happy.  Also nice is a variety of good (even just decent would be okay) food.  BUT if you can't get restaurant food delivered, what is the chance would you guess at grocery delivery?  I am so in love with Ocado and I will miss it so so so much.

There are some big supermarkets similar to Tesco/Sainsbury (but French style - Carrefour) that sell food and household goods.  The selection is not huge, but has everything one would need.  There are other smaller food supermarkets that import more western style products, have a good selection of meat products, vegetables, fruits, etc., basically anything you would need.  Markets and Street Vendors sell lots of pineapple and coconut along with lots of other fruits and vegetables.  I am told these items are slightly cheaper if you buy from the vendors.  Some food items (especially those that are imported) are quite expensive (cucumber $9.00 US).

And to this I say only that it's a good thing our family isn't head-over-heels for cucumber.  I mean, we eat them, but can easily do with out.  (Also good - but secondarily - is the food allowance we will receive if we go.)

My anonymous guest blogger wrote more and so if I receive a positive response to this post, perhaps next time she will tell you about accommodations, schools and gyms!

LULU

When Lulu woke up from her nap on Friday, I brought her downstairs to finish my computer business.  By which I mean my internet shopping.

Since we arrived back from Florida, I have been unable to find the kids' crocs.  This is upsetting as I know I didn't lose or leave four crocs, but still, I can't find them.  And I waited for a while but since Lulu needs hers for school, I finally bought them some replacements last week.  Not crocs, a new kind of shoe that I read about on one of my favorite blogs (they're here).  I bought Tommy red and Lulu navy and they both love them.

Or did until Lulu came down from her nap and pink ones were open on the screen.

She screamed, "OH!  Pink ones!  Love 'em!  Buy 'em" and then climbed off the couch, went into the kitchen and returned with a euro.  To pay for them.