Family Staycation Days 5 & 6

Well here I am, writing the last post in this little series of adventures. What a great week its been with our family! Yesterday (Day 5) has no pictures to show. We found out yesterday morning that we had a chance to catch up with some dear friends, so we spent the day tidying, shopping, and cooking for that sweet reunion! A lovely time for all, but not something quite bloggy!

Today, however, we made up for it. Like, a lot.

Let me put it to you this way: Do you remember that list we were working through, courtesy Wanderlust Chloe? There were six desserts to try. And if you've kept close track of our progress so far, we've had... two. So while the original plan for today had two stops, it turned into four. Four massive desserts in one day! My blood is now syrup.

First on our list: Yolkin. Yes, its a weird name. The founder made macarons regularly, which uses egg  whites, and realised she could make ice cream with the remaining yolks. Throw the two together and you have a macaron ice cream sandwich! You can't see from the picture, but they are massive! As big as my fist! We shared a honeycomb flavoured sandwich, and weren't disappointed!

Then on to Milk Train Cafe, specialising the the Ice Cream Cloud! Soft serve ice cream, covered in any combination of sauces and toppings, surrounded by a cloud of cotton candy, or candy floss, as the Brits call it! If this isn't Instagram worthy, I don't know what is!

Our little Fishy was a bit hesitant to try it, but warmed up pretty quickly!

Then since those two were such successes, we decided to head back to Chinatown to Bubblewrap Waffle to brave that queue. It still looked pretty long, but we were already sugared up, the sun was starting to peek out, and the girls were in top form! We ended up waiting about 45 minutes to get our tasty treat!

***BTW- I need to give a shout out to the hubs! Halfway into our wait, little Fishy declared she had to go potty (she's been potty trained for a week now). With no bathrooms at any of the teeny shops nearby, I stayed in the queue and sent the hubby down a couple streets to look for a place with a toilet. First attempted cafe disappointed, so he rushed over a couple more blocks to McDonalds, where the signs pointed him to the bathroom... three flights downstairs. So he picked up our double stroller with both girls in it and CARRIED it down, rushing into the bathroom and getting her to a toilet before she burst! A kind hearted stranger took pity on him as he began lifting it for the trek back up the steps. But I'm seriously impressed with his daddy-ness!

And... all our efforts produced this beauty! A bubble waffle cone with dark chocolate gelato, whipped cream, strawberries, and nutella drizzle! Pretty good, if Mila's reaction is anything to judge by!

Seriously buzzed at this point, we headed back through the West End to catch a bus back up to Holloway, our own stomping grounds. We had said if we could, we'd head to our final stop on the list, and with Little Fish calling from her stroller "mo keek" (more treats), what were we to do?

So, we hit Miki's Paradise just 10 minutes away from our house for one of their famous freakshakes! The freakshake revolution isn't new, but we'd yet to try one. I think the idea was a hit! A milkshake, with extra ice cream, whipped cream, a cookie/brownie/cake, pretzels, caramel drizzle... and whatever else they could fit on top! Fishy's eyes lit up as it arrived at our table, and we had to fight to get a sip of it for ourselves!

She's actually pretty good at sharing, and her daddy loved sharing sips with her!

Finally, on the edge of a sugar coma, we stopped at the Hub's favourite cheap chinese shop just down from Miki's, as there was no way I'd have the wherewithal to actually cook supper, and headed home. Everyone was happy, everyone was on a sugar high, everyone had fun. Even our tiny Squidge!

Chloe Gunning, you're my new favourite person for providing the inspiration for this week! When you said "6 London Desserts You Have to Try",  I'm not sure you meant to try them all in one week, but we loved it! I just may be cursing your name when my daughter is detoxing tomorrow!
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Family Staycation Day 4

Well, we took a day off. At least from big events. I'm posting midday even, because we have no plans to go anywhere this evening. The girls slept in (thank you very much!), and are down for a late nap (thanks again!)

We popped out this morning for a gift for a friend and I snapped a quick pic of our nice shopping centre at The Angel. If you ever feel like looking at a map of London, look for Angel, Islington. It's just a 15 min walk from our place!

Got a relaxed cup of coffee with some of my favourite people!

And then some chill time with the Squidge, who is getting more and more expressive all the time! (She's 10 weeks old now!)

I'm loving this week with my family! I'll keep you posted where we head next!

Family Staycation Day 3

Well, day three is in the books! We started the morning heading to our favourite out-of-town spot, Trent Park. The hubs scoped out the park on Google maps before we even moved, knowing I'd need some breathing space from the city every so often. It's a massive park with tons of walking trails, a tree adventure course, and lots of space to have a picnic! The bluebells were in season, the clouds scattering the sky and littering the hills with shadows. Just lovely!

We've had some people ask how we get around with both girls- so here's how: our stroller (called a pushchair) stacks the seats. You can see Fishy sitting in the top seat, and Squidgy is in a carrier that lays down below. But once Squidgy gets older and wants to sit, that seat folds up to be a normal sitting position, and the top seat reconnects down by the back wheels so they sit one above another. It's pretty clever actually. If you want to look it up, the brand is called Phil & Teds. Ours is an older model, but you can get the feeling for it!

Then after popping home for a quick nap time, we headed out again for the city, Soho, to be exact.  Continuing on Wanderlust Chloe's recommended list, we first headed to Bubblewrap Waffle in Chinatown!

Facebook said it had a long queue, and sadly, we found it too long for our impatient family. What you see here was just under a two hour wait! Considering Bubblewrap also had a sign posting they were out of two of their three ice cream fillers, we decided to put it off for another day and head to another on the list!

So on to Cutter & Squidge (so aptly named for our crew!) to try one of their famous Biskies-- a sandwich of two cake/cookie pieces filled with a special cream filling! We picked Smore and Pistachio Rosebery and neither disappointed! (Hubby preferred the Smore, while I liked the Pistachio.)

Fishy wasn't too fussy!

A potty training accident left this little girl shoeless on this chilly evening, but it didn't get her down too badly!

Oh, and in case anyone is interested, we sat for a while with Ralph Fiennes standing on the other side of the grass for a while. Still can't get over this city living thing!

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Family Stacation Day 2

Woo hoo! Staycation is officially in full swing! London goes in swings weather wise, so we got out to enjoy the sunshine while it's here.

The first stop was our favourite greasy burger joint-- the kind of place where everything comes in styrofoam boxes and you don't ask too​ many questions, but get a sloppy burger dripping with garlic sauce that only costs £3.90. Its pretty goid, especially when it sits on a main street right next to a posh burger joint where a simple meal costs £15!

Takeaway burgers and chips (fries) in hand, we made our way down to Regents Canal, where we walked the towpath, watching the narrowboats and dodging cyclists.

Our destination: a doughnutterie in Shoredirch. Recently, my mom sent me an article highlighting 6 London Desserts You Have to Try, and since I have a pretty serious sweet tooth, and hadn't tried any of the treats on the list, we decided to make it a crazy week and see how many we can get to.

So we headed to Dum Dum Doughnuts, for a sample of their famous cronuts- a baked blend between a croissant and a doughnut. I chose a Zebra-- a mix of chocolate and vanilla pastry filled with chocolate creme and topped with ganache, while the hubs picked Salted Caramel & Lotus (Biscoff), and Fishy nabbed a White Chocolate filled mini doughnut. It was denser than I expected but a yummy treat! And don't worry about the calories- the walk the was about four miles, so I think we balanced out!

Stay tuned for where we are headed next! More deliciousness is on the way!

Back in the Saddle Again...

Hello! It has officially been ages since I last posted. I kinda miss writing, so here's an attempt to start up again.

But I have good reason for being absent, as most of you know:

Meet Fishy! (Nicknamed so from in utero, when hubby would tap on my belly and wonder if she heard it echo like fish do in an aquarium). We're kinda growing fond of this little thing, though she does take up some of that free time I used to have. Though if I can find time to blog, I'm obviously not suffering too greatly!

So, for my first post back from maternity leave, I thought I'd share some of the gems of wisdom I've learned in the vast 9 months of my experience.


1. Babies like to take you to the edge of your sanity, and just leave you there, hovering, just for their own sadistic pleasure. Whether it's changing up a routine they just settled into, spitting food across the dress you just put on, or making a mess of the only thing you didn't put out of reach...

Stay strong. Don't give in. Never let 'em see ya weep! Roll up your sleeves, reheat that coffee again, grab a bar of chocolate and get back in there! Which bring me to...

2. They steal your food. For reals. Doesn't matter what they're eating, even nursing. If you eat it, they want it:

In this precise picture, I gave Fishy one cracker, and put one in my mouth while I carried her and my coffee cup to the sofa. She held onto her own and literally pulled up and bit mine out of my mouth. Cheeky little thing!

3. They don't care about toys. Really. They don't. You can set them on the floor with ten different toys scattered about, and they play with the strand of your hair caught in the carpet. (You know, that hair that is STILL shedding with post-pregnancy fervour, even though your doctor swore it would stop six months out!) 

4. They sleep however the heck they want to sleep. I tried so hard to be that good mum who did it right. Back is best. Toe to toe. Yeah... that's a nice thought.

5. They make liars out of you. I truly believe they listen to everything we say in public just so they can prove us wrong.

Me: Oh no, she's not mobile yet. She just loves sitting and watching.

Fishy: Let me throw myself off this chair, at church, in front of the people just asking Mummy if it was safe.

Me: Yeah, we're really lucky. She's started sleeping through the night finally.

Fishy: Mummy!! Howsabout we get up at 9:00, and 12:00, and 2:00, and 5:00? Yay, Mummy!! Mummy... why are you crying?

6. They eat weird. Okay, so to be fair, Fishy is a great eater. Check out my Instagram. She's a trooper! But then there's that time she decided to eat butter....

7. They'll teethe on anything. Buttons, keys, rocks, you name it- it goes in the mouth. Almost weekly, I am asked, "Does she have any teething toys?" Oh yes, you mean like Sophie the Giraffe, or my silicone teething necklace, or any number of those round plastic things you can put in the fridge?! Why yes, we do have those. Why do you ask?

8. They don't pose so well for photos. Apparently, Fishy's cousin poses a little too well for photos, cheesing it up anytime she sees a phone/camera. Fishy isn't quite there yet. She still mostly just wants to eat it (see number 7). But trust me, that time when you clear the living room, make a 'studio', get them all dressed up, and start posing.... that's the time they will decide to make absolutely no cute faces whatsoever. So instead of that sweet vintage shot by the rocking horse you imagined, you'll step out of the room for a second, and come back to this shot instead: Fishy having pulled said rocking horse on top of herself, pinned to the ground, whining, with Teddy taken down as an innocent bystander.

or this:

9. But they open up a world of humanity. I used to ride the tube and stare at the tops of people's heads as they glared into cell phones, or newspapers, or at best, a book. Eye contact was awkward, and conversation labelled you a foreigner almost immediately. But with Fishy, eyes are opened, smiles unfold, and glimpses of lives are shared. Grandma's and Grandpa's coo, mum's with teens in tow smile knowingly, middle aged clerks in suits reach down and tell me about their little girl at home, and that cool hipster in the leather jacket looks up from his iPhone to tell me its okay if Fishy wants to play with the fringe on the sleeve.

She opens up the people of this city in a way I never expected, and I love it all the more for her!

10. They'll steal your heart again, and again, and again. I wasn't one of those mums with the magical tingly love at the very beginning (obviously not enough skin-to-skin bonding at the hospital in the first three hours, eh?!) But the more I'm with her, the more I love her.

She's full of beans, as the English say, and I know, I know, we haven't even hit the toddler stage yet. But her morning smile makes my day start off right, and when she goes to bed, we find ourselves flipping through my phone looking at her pictures, just because we miss her. And on those nights (okay, most nights), where she's still up for a 3am feed, I linger just a bit before putting her back to bed, looking at those chubby fingers, that double chin, those long dark eyelashes, and I melt for her all over again, because I know these days won't last forever. And I love them while their mine.

Living the Life

So, usually our life here in London is pretty 'normal'. For reals. Yes, its London, but our average week looks a lot like it did when we lived in middle Indiana. We clean, cook, go grocery shopping, have church friends over, get Chinese take-away and a film for a special date night-- yep, we're pretty crazy people.

Then there are those seasons when life is anything but 'normal', and I almost have to slap myself silly! The last two months have been one of those seasons. Its no indication of any great achievement on our part, nor is it full of the things really most important in life, but the last 6-8 weeks have brought a whirlwind of 'slap me silly' events.

1. I was able to go with two girlfriends for a 'day out' in Paris. A one night stay in an Airbnb flat, amazing French cuisine, pastries and tarts at Angeline, window shopping through Le Marais ... it was such a fun frivolous adventure- and I loved it! I only came back with a vintage 'granny' sweater, and some sweets for the hubs, but it was still just incredible!

2. Aaron and I were given tickets to see Ian McDianmid play Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. I really only knew him as the emperor (Senator Palpatine) in Star Wars, and am ashamed to admit in a handful of lines, that's all I saw, and expected him to finish his lines with "my young apprentice." But it was really amazing to be able to see it at The Almeida Theatre.

3. Stellen Skarsgard (Avengers, Mama Mia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) filmed for several days just outside of our flat. Apparently (according to the notice we were given, explaining the hubbub and traffic disruptions), he'll play a conflicted detective in (yet another) crime drama miniseries called River. *Note: this is just the facts, not a public endorsement of any said dramas.*  (By the way, did you know that famous actors get their own 'coat valet', who stand just off camera with a parka in January, to cover him up in between takes?)

Like I said- nothing earth shaking, or of eternal consequence, but fun to think about in that silly, trivial sense. I look at where we are and think, "Really? That's happening, to me, right here?" It's so fun!

And then, to top it off, my hubby took me for a quick getaway/birthday gift/babymoon to Portugal! A friend's parents live in Cascais, about 40 min outside Lisbon, and were such amazing gracious hosts! A lovely couple who have lived in half a dozen countries over several decades, they were full of amazing stories and tales as they drove us around the countryside, sharing with us a peek of their life. It was amazing!

On the flight there, we flew over some amazing mountains! (Iberian, Pyrenees?)

Arriving in Lisbon, we landed in rain, but the clouds parted just in time for sunset! And we were able to spend another day just walking around, seeing a bit of the city. Lisbon is gorgeous-- reminding me so much of San Francisco. From it's bridge (looking just like the Golden Gate) to it's hilly streets lined with colourful homes... it was so charming and so fun to share with the hubs, who's never been to California!

We stopped in at the Livraria Bertrand.... arguably the oldest bookstore in the world!

We drove out to Cabo da Roca, the most western point in Continental Europe, which was really fun for the hubby, as he's been to the eastern edge of the continent in Romania and Moldova.

We saw the Boca da Inferno....

And we spent quite a bit of time just wandering the beaches and streets of Cascais. It's a tiny little town relying heavily on tourism, but it was just lovely and we enjoyed all of the time we could get there!

Friends recommended the Jeronimos Monastery... built right around 1500 AD. It was a lovely exhibit of Portuguese architecture.

We loved our time in Portugal, and hope we can return again someday. The people were charming, our hosts were wonderful, and we are longing for those sandy beaches already!

So I look at what 2015 has already held... art, theatre, culture, frivolity.... it's been an amazing couple months already. Maybe it's been especially fun as everyone keeps telling us "Enjoy it now, because once the baby comes, life will never be the same." And I think I get that. We are so blessed to be enjoying this phase of life, with its dull normal weeks, and it's weeks of crazy romantic travels and celebrity sightings. We are so blessed to be where we are today, and I don't want to miss a moment. 

But I am so looking forward to this summer, when we get to meet our little girl, to having family visit, and watching our parents turn into grandparents, to establishing new routines as a family, to growing with my husband as parents. Life's seasons are ever changing, and I'm loving the one we are in now, and excited about the next!

Thanks for joining us on our journey. I hope you're enjoying it as much as we are!