Goodbye London!

Tonight is our last night in London!  We successfully moved out of our flat today after a long two days. I felt so bad for the movers.  The staircase leading up to our flat is narrow and winding and up 3 flights.  They were really working hard both days, and now that I'm 6 months pregnant I was especially thankful to not have to do any lifting.  Tyler was great through the move.  It was hard to keep him entertained while we were stuck in the house and feeling in the way.  But he made friends with the movers and tried to help sometimes.  He did have a hard time watching them pack up his beloved toys but he seemed to accept my explanation that they were taking a little boat ride and that they would have a great story to tell him when they saw him in Chicago.  And he liked our "picnic" meals on the floor or sitting on boxes.  It's such a relief to be out and have everything buttoned up on this end.  Now we just need to make it through the flight which should be a piece of cake and then get settled in the US.  We are really excited to jump back into life in Chicago.  Tyler keeps asking if we are in our new home yet :)

Here is the recap from our last week here in London!

We went for one last London lunch with Daddy near his work.  Tyler had to go check out this row of fast motorcycles.

We had one last trip to Tyler's favorite lunch spot by JJ's work, Byrons.  It's a burger place.  He loves the cheeseburger and fries and of course the milkshake at the end!  Not sure why he insisted on drinking out of this tiny bowl, but he was happy!

We had a great photographer follow us around London on Saturday to take some shots of us near Big Ben and then in Hampstead to commemorate our time here.  She sent along this one as a teaser.  I can't wait to see the rest!

Here is another at Trafalgar Square

The crepe stand by our flat is only open Thursday - Sunday so Sunday night we had to get one last crepe!  Big T was pretty excited!

But however, Big T does not like to be messy and was VERY upset when chocolate squirted onto his favorite Superman shirt.  

He recovered well and kept on eating though!

For our last day together in London before the movers came I wanted to go to Leicester Square to pick up some London souvenirs for his new room in Chicago (going to have a transportation/London theme).  I asked Tyler what he wanted to do in addition to that and he said,  "Ride a double decker bus!"  I thought that sounded like a great idea so we took the tube down to Leicester Square and then got the best seat at the top front of bus on the way home.  We both had a blast! 

We had dinner with the playgroup boys one more time to say goodbye.

For the last night in the flat we also had a lot of bubbles to use up so we had a big, giant foam party!   

Surrounded by boxes!!!

Moving is exhausting!  Tyler couldn't keep his eyes open on the ride from the flat to the hotel.  He also never let go of my old blackberry that he found while we were packing and claimed as his own!

Reflecting on Life Abroad

The movers are here now packing up our life here in London. It's a bit surreal that our nearly 2 years here is already up. After 6 months of living here in London, I blogged about the highs and lows of the experience so far. I wanted to update and close out that list as we prepare to depart. We are so excited to come home but there are some real things that I'm also going to miss about living here and will try to take back home with me.  If you talk to JJ he will tell you that he will miss nothing about this place but maybe my musings will make him a bit more nostalgic someday!

Things I Love:

I love living in a global, cosmopolitan city. I love that I have three types of currency in my wallet at any given moment. I love that we can take the train to Paris in 2 hours or get on a flight to take us to a completely new cultural destination.  I love that while swinging Tyler at the playground I hear other parents speaking to their children in Italian, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin - you name it!

I love that I can get fresh organic fruits and veggies dropped at my door every Wednesday from Abel & Cole.  I love that Ocado brings the rest of the groceries we need to our doorstep as well.  I love walking to the farmers market at parliament hill on Saturdays or catching it at Belsize park on Wednesdays. I love going to the local French bread store for fresh bread for French toast or whatever else we want. I love that I learned how to cook using real ingredients and that my cooking knowledge and recipe collection has improved by a thousand times since moving here. 

I love our tourist mentality. Although it is exhausting at times, we have really tried to soak up every opportunity to live this time to the fullest and go out and see everything we can.  I love that Tyler is starting to pick up the travel books that we bought during our travels and we can talk to him about all the cool places that he's been.  I hope to take some of that get up and go spirit back to Chicago. 

I love blogging. It has been so fun for me to document our time here and keep our friends and family updated. I'm blown away and touched by how many people are actually reading it. Even through we will not be abroad anymore, I think I'm still going to write in it periodically as an online journal of our family's activities. Feel free to unsubscribe to the emails or RSS feed at any time :)

I love the extra family time this experience has given us.  Although it was a huge transition for me to stay at home instead of work full time, it has given me so much precious time with Tyler.  Even though he's a daddy's boy, we still have a lot of fun together and I feel like he's my trusty sidekick.  And now that he's talking, the kid cracks me up daily. Now we try to have dinners as a family when JJ's work schedule allows and we have been going to JJ's work for lunch every couple weeks.  Those things may not be as possible when I am back to work again.

I love our neighborhood.  Hampstead is one of the cutest villages on earth in my opinion.  We are walking distance to the Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill, and Regents Park - all beautiful, expansive parks.  It has been here that Tyler has developed a love for nature, finding a good stick, throwing pebbles and climbing trees.  We have over 10-15 playgrounds within walking distance too and 2 zoos.  Also in Hampstead are lovely shops, restaurants, and a million activities for a mom to do with her baby/toddler.  I know that Chicago has a lot to offer too, but Hampstead has set the bar pretty high for a great neighborhood.

Things I Won't Miss
I will be so happy to return to a place where....
.... pants are not trousers
.... a bathing suit is not a swimming costume
.... a stroller is not a buggy, pram, or pushchair
.... a diaper is not a nappy
.... chips are not crisps
.... fries are not chips
.... a cookie is not a biscuit
.... an elevator is not a lift
.... a ladybug is not a ladybird (thank goodness Tyler has not picked up on this one)
.... sneakers are not trainers
.... a bathroom is not just "toilet"
.... the trunk of your car isn't your boot
.... a big truck isn't a lorry
.... I get weighed in pounds and not kg or stones
.... football is not soccer
.... football is not "American" football
.... lemonade is not sprite
.... gas is not petrol
.... "take out" food isn't for "take away"
.... a Band Aid is not a plaster
.... we wait in line and not the queue
.... a torch is something on fire and not a flashlight
.... I am greeted with "How are you?" not "Are you alright?" which immediately makes me think that I look like I am feeling bad about something
.... Tyler is my son's name and not Taylor or Tyla (the people here seriously can't figure out this American name)

The English compactness of everything.  I can't wait to have a kitchen you can fit more than 1.5 people in, I can't wait to be able to wash a casserole dish in a normal sized sink so I don't spill water everywhere, I can't wait to have a normal sized refrigerator and oven, and I can't wait to be able to buy a normal sized portion of crackers/chips and not a miniature one.   And I absolutely cannot wait to get a normal washer and dryer - I am so tired of hanging things on the line and doing 4-5 loads a week.  I know this smallness is driving JJ crazy and we will both be glad to get back to the big things that we know and love :)

I am excited to be able to drive again.  The tube is great and has been a lifesaver for me, who will not ever drive here.  But still it will be nice to run a quick errand with a car instead of making it our morning activity journey on the tube.

I am excited to get back to American TV.  We don't watch a lot of TV as it is, but it will be nice to have the option :)

I am also excited to get back to Target.  There isn't a good multi-purpose shop here.  Maybe if we were here longer I'd find the best places to get things, but there isn't a one-stop shop like Target.

Finally and most important, I won't miss the ocean separating us from close friends and family.  The time here has flown by but we are really excited to be closer to the ones we love again. 

Alison & Tyler's Photo Shoot

I wanted to take some photos of Alison with Tyler when she finished up our last week as Tyler's babysitter.  We headed over to the Fenton House Gardens but found out that they were closed on Tuesdays.  So we improvised and just took some photos on the street and in their favorite bookstore, Waterstones.  They broke into a little dance routine to Taylor Swift that was adorable.  I only have one Taylor Swift song in my library, but now that Tyler can't listen to her on Alison's phone, I think we need to download some of her stuff.  We have been so lucky to have her watch Tyler.  They have such a cute little dynamic and I think how much he adores her came through in the pictures.  She is his best friend here and we will all miss her so much.  She is due a few weeks before me with their 1st child and will make an amazing mom!

London Dates With My Two Main Men

So JJ and I came to the realization that we are REALLY prepared for this move back to the US.  I mean on the US end of the move we have a car picked out and deposit on, we have movers set to move all storage items in for the day after we fly in, we have all utilities set to go on, cell phones in route to JJ's office, and even a new big boy bedroom furniture set to be delivered to Tyler the day after we fly in.  On this end, we have nearly everything sold that needs to go (just waiting on someone to buy our couch!), things organized for the move, and we are eating through the last of our food which make for some interesting dinner ideas!  In fact, it seems that we got so prepared so early that now we are kind of just sitting around waiting to leave.... And I'm starting to bum Tyler out by talking about all the lasts (last classes, last playgroup, etc).  Today when we went to our garden he got really upset and asked if it was the last time in the garden.  That's when I realized that I need to just keep the fun going for the next week and not get all sentimental!  We've had a great week - the recap is below!

JJ and I met for a lovely date near Westminster.  He had a great idea of just wandering around and enjoying the city instead of trying to pack in too many things like we always do.  It was a beautiful evening and really nice to just enjoy the city and our date :)

Westminster selfie!

JJ made reservations at a steak house in the Marriott hotel right on the river with views of Big Ben and the Eye.  The entrance was tucked away and so peaceful amidst the busy touristy areas.

My mocktail and JJ's beer with a view of the Eye in the background.  

A different date with my other main man.  He loves playing on the ramp outside one of the banks on the High Street.  We paused for pictures...

Our last trip to Golder's Hill Park - a really cool area of the Heath that has a great pond and children's zoo and playground.  

Tyler hosted a tea party with his friends under the dinosaur sculptures at Golder's Hill :)

Tyler and the neighbor cat, Mish Mish.  I remember posting in one of my earlier blogs that I had a feeling that they would become good friends and now it's funny that they have.  It took her a while to sort out if Tyler was going to torment her or not, but he's so gentle with her and just loves petting her that I think she really has began to like him.

Gentle pets for Mish!

The entrance to "our" garden at Fenton House

Tyler actually took this picture and I thought it was a great photo of our spot here in the garden.  It was lovely - we had a picnic and played and colored all afternoon in the shade here.

Tyler loves to stop and smell the flowers :)

Football and Fun: Less Than 2 Weeks Left!

We are soaking up every minute here in London!  We've been enjoying the local parks and gardens and we even got to see a preseason football (soccer) game. Along with enjoying our last couple weeks, we are also busy preparing for the move.  This week we sold most of the furniture and electrical things we need to and are getting things lined up for when we return to the states.  Along with all the busy activities, we are really enjoying laughing at what comes out of Tyler's mouth.  His speech has developed so much over the last couple months.  Here are the two hilarious things he said this weekend that had JJ and I rolling on the floor:
1) While playing catch in the living room with JJ and I, Tyler ran to grab one of his stuffed animals, a little dog called Darlin'.  He holds Darlin' tight and says in a sweet voice, "Want to play catch Darlin'?  Hmmmm do you have hands?  No, no hands.  Oh well." and tosses aside to continue to play catch with us.
2)  When Facetiming with Matt, Raji, and JJ's Grandma, they ask if Tyler has picked out any names for the baby and I reply that we haven't asked him yet.  So then I ask him and his name that he chose for the baby is..... Moon-buggy!  We will definitely put that one into consideration!

Here are some pictures from the week.

Tyler really loves this music class we go to on Thursday.  I think the leader likes him too - he gave Tyler the big tambourine to jam with while all the other kids got to choose from the toddler music toys.  Tyler was very proud, and as usual, took his tambourine playing very seriously.

One day I put way too many bubbles in the bath.  I decided to call it a "foam party" but it is a bit different than the foam parties circa late 90s spring breaks :)

One of our new traditions is going to meet JJ at the tube station after work and then watching the fast cars go by while we walk home.  If we have time before dinner, we sit on this bench and watch them all go by.  We live in a pretty nice area and the cars that drive by are ridiculous.  Every third car is a Porsche, Ferrari, or Jaguar.  Tyler is very interested in the names of all the cars.  It's crazy, he knows so many now and calls them by name, "That's a Porsche, that's a Jaguar, that's an Audi, that's a Mercedes, etc."  And he's usually never wrong.  Just today he learned Aston Martin and Range Rover.  It's hilarious and going to be a bit of a let-down when we get back to Chicago.  We definitely need to take him to an auto show in the future!

I love this little garden by us.  It is part of an old historical house called Fenton House and it has to be one of the most peaceful places in London.  We stumbled on this new part on Friday - an apple orchard!  Tyler loved counting all the apples and pointing to which ones were turning red.

It was a pretty tough morning...

Yep, this is the life!

Wow that's a big sunflower!!!

He loves to throw the pebbles in this water basin until I tell him it's time to stop

Snack break at the Fenton House Garden!

Saturday morning cuddles with Daddy.  His giraffe and teddy bear had to come too...

Football Saturday!  It was the first time at a professional soccer game for all three of us.  Arsenal is the closest team to us and the stadium was pretty impressive.  It was a preseason match against Benfica and Arsenal won by a landslide.  It was exciting to see all the goals.

It was the biggest sporting event that Tyler has ever been to and it took a while for him to figure out what was going on.  We got there late since we had to wait until his nap was done and as we sat down the stadium erupted in cheers for a goal.  Tyler didn't get upset but he had a look on his face like what the heck is going on?  Then in the second half he started to get into it.  He would point to the ball if there was a break in the action and ask why no one was kicking it.  

Father-son football fans!

We bought him a little jersey that he didn't want to put on before the game (the only shirts he ever wants to wear have Superman on them) but when we were leaving he was really excited about wearing it....

Sunday my girl friends from our playgroup took me out for massages and lunch to say goodbye.  We went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch (which is hard to come by in London) and they gave us free shots at the end.  The other two had tequila and Blue Curacao and mine was a virgin.  Moms go wild!

We took JJ back to the garden on Sunday for some relaxation and cake.  Tyler has such a sweet tooth!