Social Butterflies

It was an unparalleled week of social events! Every day, we had some sort of play date, dinner or meeting for tea. I feel like I finally know enough people to fill my schedule. We had 2 play dates with kids from Pascale's school, Uncle Matt was in the US and came over for dinner, a neighbor came over for coffee, and we went out for dinner with a colleague of Bernie's! So much excitement.

When Uncle Matt came over, he brought the girls' birthday gifts from Nonna. Here they are modeling their lovely new outfits.


Josephine put on all her new clothes at once:

Pascale made a beautiful squirrel at school:

We went to the Science Museum, where the girls played dress-up:


We made a tent for the kids to play under:

Spring Half Term

Kids here get lots of school vacation. There are 3 terms during the year. Every term has a week off at half term. There are 4 weeks off between fall and spring terms (Christmas), 4 weeks between spring and summer terms (Easter), and 8 weeks between summer and fall. Last week was spring half term, so Pascale had the week off. At the beginning of the week, the weather was pretty nice, but then it got cold on Thursday. We went around doing all those things we never seem to get to do when we have to get Pascale to school every day. Check out the photos.

Pascale practiced her building skills:


We went to the Violett Melchett Center a couple of times. They always set up tables with fun activities, like painting, sand play, and water play. Here, they set up a tray of paint and toy cars that you run through the paint, then run on your paper to paint a picture.


Josephine can drive and paint at the same time:



We went on a ride on an open-top tour bus. It was just warm enough to enjoy ourselves on it.


Here are the kids at the Tate Modern Museum. The building is really amazing. When you walk in, you're in this massive hall with a sloping concrete floor. At this point, there is an installation that consists of a crack in the floor going from one end of the hall to the other. It's fascinating.

I bought these cute dresses for the girls:

Bernie works near the Tate, so he met us for tea

Pascale is learning to pump to propel herself on the swing.

We had lunch in Chinatown yesterday.

Josephine the Acrobat

Spring

Well, after our one week of cold weather, it was much warmer and even sunny last week! Spring comes fairly gradually here. In the Northeast US, it seems like all of a sudden it gets warm and everything bursts into bloom on the same day. Here, things are blooming much more slowly. There's a forsythia that we walk by every day that has only a few dozen blooms and lots of buds. Back home, the forsythia bloom all at once.

We had a great time at the playground this week, although it was much more crowded than it's been lately. The girls got some new sidewalk chalk, which was a big hit.

The girls worked on their art skills:





We had a great time at the playground:







A kind friend sent us some Annie's Mac and Cheese, which you can't buy here:


Josephine dancing in funny headwear:



Josephine refused to take off her snowsuit, even indoors, for 2 full days:


Pascale tried on my boots:



Josephine keeps getting out of bed at night. She did not manage to get back in before falling asleep:



Relaxing on a Sunday:

School Insanity

All the independent schools (what we call private schools in the States) in London require that your child show up for an "assessment" where they interview the child to see if they will fit in at the school. Pascale had her first assessment today at Cameron House. I got a sitter for Josephine so I could take her there, naturally assuming that I was going to be a participant or at least an onlooker to this interview. When we arrived, they sent us upstairs to the room where they were doing the assessments. When we got there, there were maybe 6 kids already there and NO PARENTS. They have you drop off your 3-year-old for an hour of interviews and testing, and come back to pick her up!! Is that crazy or what? I could not believe it. Pascale actually handled it very well, though. I guess it's another thing that I'll have to get used to.

Cold, Cold, Cold

Yes, it finally got cold this week. Josephine was really confused as to why she's suddenly so uncomfortable at the playground. We did not stay long. We had to find indoor activities to engage in. Bernie took the kids to Gambado yesterday (bless him), and I took Pascale to the Victoria and Albert today. Josie still does not really get the V&A, but I'll try to bring her there again when she turns 2, and see if she is better there.

Pics from this week -- all indoor:

Making a train in the living room



Riding the trike in the storage hallway. We're probably not supposed to use this as a play area, but I'm planning on doing it until they stop us.



Playing on the stairs outside the flat. We're on the top floor, so they won't get in the way of people trying to go up or down.



Amusing themselves in a basket.