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 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!

The Birthday Girl!

Little Fishy turned one yesterday! I wish I could say the whole day was spent in celebration, but in truth, she was pretty grumpy, which made me pretty grumpy, and when I had to go out in the afternoon, it poured down rain, making for a happy daddy but not a happy mummy. Oh well.

We had a bit of sunshine in Fishy's smiles though. She perked right up in pretty beads and a tiara (courtesy of Grandma Walton)! However... she was a bit more delicate in her cake smash than I'd anticipated, only picking at the frosting, and eating a bite that I carved out for her.

Who's daughter is she anyway?!

Happy Birthday, Little Girl! You light up the lives of all who know you, and we wouldn't trade you for the world!

Love,
Mummy & Daddy

St George's Day

April 23rd was St George's Day! Huzzah!

Well, not quite. Apparently, each country in the UK has a patron saint to whom they look to for help in times of distress... or something like that. But poor St. George has been all but forgotten. Though the holiday is the 23rd (supposedly the day he died), there's no day off work. So this week, the few people who did celebrate did so on Monday, since they had the day off for Easter anyway. :-P Kind of tragic.

Anyhoo, the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is trying to get the holiday back up off the ground, and hosted a Feast of St. George in Trafalgar Square. It guaranteed to have entertainment, lots of food stalls, and a tent with cooking workshops- right up our alley! Well, the result was underwhelming. Amidst the rain and around the fountain stood about 10 food stalls and one paper mache dragon breathing fake smoke. But it was a nice walk, and a good afternoon out. I do love going into the city! 

At least we got some good food from Heck Sausages!

Oh, and the food workshops expected were one per hour, no latecomers- line up for the next one. We didn't feel like standing in line to learn how to make Kentish Pudding with pickled walnuts and a side of cumin carrots. (Even after a pretty thorough Google search, I can't find a decision on what Kentish Pudding actually consists of!)

*Oh! And since I'm on the subject of kinda snobby food..... I love food. A lot. But I'm kind of over restaurant menus describing in agonising detail every ingredient of the dish. We no longer get a hamburger and fries. We get a patty of grass-fed, mature, Angus, 95% lean steak mince patty topped with pan-fried golden onions and wild mushrooms, optional heirloom tomatoes and lettuce, with a stone ground english mustard, served with parmesan-crusted maris piper potato wedges. Don't get me wrong, dear chefs- I love eating your food-- I just get grumpy with hunger as I try to read through your menu!

Speaking of.... can you tell our dinner is a little later than usual tonight? In someone on Pinterest's words:

Look How Far We've Come (After!!!)

Happy Monday! Since most of my friends reading this are Stateside, here's a bit of fun to liven up what I hear is yet another snowy weekend!

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You've waited for the FINAL REVEAL of all the work done in our flat, and HERE IT IS!

We've been up here for a few months now, and things are settling down. Routines are gelling, habits are forming, and most things have a proper place (a place for everything....). I love the process of getting in a home and watching it arrange and rearrange till the space finally fits your needs. (That sounds passive, like the house rearranges itself. Really, it's me rearranging things during the day which confuses and boggles the spouse when he comes home!)

So, let me take you on a little tour of our home, at least as it is now. Though, as my dear husband knows, it's never really done. It's always a work in progress. (You can blame my mom for that one!)

To make it to our flat, you have to climb to the third floor (called the second floor here, as they count it ground, first, then second floors). You start in our entryway, which is generally a good place to enter. Apparently, the little steps to the doorway make a great kids corner, especially when filled with pillows and blankets.

From this entryway, you are facing the doorways to the guest room, the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen. Yes- it's a lot of doorways. Yes, they each have a door. English homes have every room separated to save on heating (or so I've heard). Open concept living is admired, but considered energy inefficient.

At the top of the stairs, you first look into our living room. I love the sunshine that pours through our massive windows each mornings! My reading spot moves throughout the day, following the suns rays across our home. Yes- I'm like a cat.

(Do you remember the blue carpet that was there before? What a change laminate floors make!)

To the side of the living room (behind the fireplace) is our bedroom. Look at the massive chest of drawers that is my bedside table! I found it on Freecycle, and couldn't believe my luck! It's not in perfect condition, but I think that kind of lends to its charm!

Going back out to our entryway, to one side is our guest room, which was previous the kids room- remember the blue carpet and yellow walls? It also serves as a kids play room when friends come over. The pallet futon is pretty kid-sized, though my hubby has been known to nap on it occasionally.

Next to the living room is the dining room: arguably the most important room in our house! (Remember the built-ins that they added during the remodel?!) I never thought I'd like a formal dining room, but as we love having company, the ability to seat ten people and not spill into the rest of house is such a wonderful blessing! And I love our mdf tabletop. We took a (used) Ikea table/base and added a sheet of mdf on top. In answer to your DIY questions: No, we didn't seal it, though we put a few coats of mineral oil on to deepen the tone. Yes, it gets water stains, hot pad marks, and dents and scratches. We like to think of it as a 'patina'. Besides, at £20, it's not too hard to replace if it wears out.

Since we don't often use the dining room when it's just the two of us, we make it do double-duty by adding a writing desk and piano to the other side of the room.

And to the other side of the dining room is our kitchen! I am SOOO happy with the kitchen! Lots of storage and counter space, gas hob (stove), and my pot rack! It's a good thing too, since we do a lot of cooking! Isn't the space so light and airy?!

Yay for reusing jam jars and coffee tins (covered in burlap, of course)! And featuring our stovetop kettle... which my husband insists on keeping, rather than an electric kettle. He thinks its cooler. Though its quaint boiling whistle quickly escalates to an ear-splitting scream if left to boil 12 seconds longer than it should.

Ok,  so here is my best kitchen trick: get a magnetic knife rack. I know- profound right? But seriously- you don't have to dig dangerously in a drawer, knives stay sharper than in a block (since they aren't laying on their edge), you keep your counter space, it's still out of kids reach, and you can see them all at once- instead of randomly pulling handles from a knife block.

*Bonus tip*- don't go to Williams Sonoma (or Amazon) and pay $30 for a fancy magnetic knife rack. Just go to your local home improvement shop and get a magnetic tool bar. If it's sturdy enough to hold a hammer, it can hold a knife. (We got ours at Lowes, and brought it to the UK.) Mount it in the wall if you can. If you have tile, like we do- use a couple Command heavy-duty picture strips. Works great!

Oh- and always have a stash of cute aprons. It makes you feel domestic

And... to finish our house tour... here's a little guy I drew for our Brazil party. The hubs liked him and asked to keep him around.

It reminds him of this guy. :-)

We're so grateful for all the work that was put into this flat to make it what it is today. We realise how blessed we are, and we don't take it for granted! God is always good, but he's been abundantly gracious with where he has us now!