Half Term 2

It's the last day of half term, and it's actually been a nice relaxing week. It can get a little crazy here in the morning trying to get Pascale packed off to preschool, so it was nice to not have to deal with that.

Yesterday we went to the Science Museum and it was bedlam. All the parents in the general London area brought their kids there on this rainy Thursday of half term. I was exhausted trying to keep an eye on both kids there. Pascale has a new book that has a kid making a model rocket, so she was really interested in the rockets at the Science Museum. I was glad she wanted to look at them, since we have always just walked right by them. We had a nice discussion about space exploration.

Here are some photos from the past few days:
Science Museum (the basement where they keep the little kids' activities)



The Violett Melchett Childrens Center:



The Playground:

Half Term

It's day 2 of half term. The weather forecast for today was the most favorable for this week, so we went to Coram's Fields, which is a big park for kids a little east of our place. It used to be part of the big London orphanage 100 years or so ago. It's pretty extensive, with 5 or 6 different jungle gyms for different ages, a kiddie pool (empty now, of course) and a little petting zoo with sheep and goats.

Yesterday, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where they have craft activities for half term. We made a Japanese warrior helmet. We walked around the museum afterward looking at the sculptures. Josephine says, "Nay, nay, nay" whenever she's naked. She ran around the museum pointing to all the nude sculptures and saying, "Nay, nay, nay." It was really cute. Pascale liked looking at the miniature paintings with a magnifying glass.

Here are the pics from Coram's Fields:








Here they are modeling the Japanese Warrior helmet that we made at the V&A:

Birthday parties, beginning of half term

We went to a birthday party for another classmate of Pascale's at the beginning of last week. At one point, all the kids were sitting in a circle and Josephine laid down in the middle. It was kind of cute. Birthday parties here are outrageous affairs. It never dawned on me that one of the hidden costs of sending your kid to a fancy preschool is having to hire birthday party entertainment that rivals a broadway show. And of course, since all her friends are having these outrageous parties, Pascale will have one, too.


Here's a pic of Pascale jumping on the sofa. I just love photos of her in midair.


This week is half-term, which means that there is no school this week. It was actually kind of a relief not having to get everyone out of the house by a certain time this morning.

Book Meme

I've been tagged for a book reading meme:
You have to open the book you're currently reading on page 161 and read the fifth sentence on the page, then think of 5 bloggers to tag with.

I'm on a classics kick, reading The Arabian Nights.
"He went in to his father-in-law and kissed his hand, and the vizier stood up to greet him, treated him with respect, and seated him beside him."
This is probably the most boring sentence in the entire book.

I can't think of 5 bloggers right now, so I must count on others to continue the chain.

Parties, Visits, Hyde Park

Pascale went to a fancy-dress birthday party for Nicholas, a boy in her class. It was at this country club maybe 2 miles from our Central London flat. It amazes me that there's open space so close in to the city. Pascale was a dragon, and she kept quite busy guarding all the princesses.

Pascale had fun scooting to school.

We went out for a Dim Sum lunch at a restaurant today. In New York, dim sum is always a loud, boisterous experience with lots of little kids raising hell in the restaurant. Not so here. It was very subdued, to say the least. The first thing Josephine did was pick up the sterling silver chopsticks and pound divots into the marble-topped table. Eeeek. After that, the meal actually got better, but it's not an experience I'm going to want to repeat soon. But anyway, the hotel was right off Hyde Park, so we walked through the park on the way home.



Uncle Matt was in London, so he came over for dinner. The kids had a great time with him.

We had some foggy nights, which made for a spooky view.

Pascale went to another party, with the Kensington and Chelsea Women's Club. They had face painting there. Pascale got some paint to match her costume.

Josephine is becoming quite the hostess, serving her play cupcakes with a flourish.

Fancy Dress

Pascale has been invited to a whopping THREE fancy-dress parties. She said she wanted a dragon costume, so I made her one. I was afraid that, when she saw it, she would not want to wear it, but luckily she loves it. Here it is:

Learning English

Pascale has started correcting my pronunciation. It is hilarious. She's learning at school how to speak proper English, and is determined that I will learn, too.

Josie is running around like a maniac. Her new obsession is Pascale's scooter, at which she is quite adept.

We had a visit from Uncle Vince last week! He's our first overnight visitor, and we were very happy to see him. The kids had a great time playing with him.

We had a cardboard box that provided hours of fun

Josephine is learning yoga:

We've had a few days of lovely weather, so we've been frequenting the playground