Girls Day in London!

Train ride from Ely to King's Cross and back: £16
All day tube use: £7
Best crepes on Earth: £10
More food and shopping:  Probably too many pounds.
Time with fun friends in fun places: Priceless.

Went to London with two of my favorite people in England last week!  Linda and Stacy.  My camera battery was flashing and low when I left the house, so I didn't get many pictures, but we got in a full day of eating, shopping, and chatting.  I forget how fun shopping is without kids! 

Stacy and Linda :)

Some of the girls in the ward rave about Cafe Crêperie.  Now I know why.  It's so good!  Good thing I live far enough away that I can't go all the time.  I'd be a blimp.  I'll take you if you come visit Ü  The consensus around here is that the Tartiflette Galette Crêpe is the best, so we shared two of those along with a Stawberry Cream one.  Hoping I can take Jake soon to try them!

We got a kick out of this guy's Euro-Mullet.  Awesome.  Stacy caught that gem on camera. 

Got to browse at Harrods and tried some more treats there.  They have the coolest selection of candy and pastry.   My favorite were the chocolate high heels.  So cute!  Pretty awesome metallic looking candy too. 

Some cool treats at Harrods...  They have so many!  Here are just a few.  

Check out the price of water.  29 pounds!  That's roughly $47.  No thanks!  Must say the bottle is pretty cool to look at though!

The last thing on our 'to do' list for the day was the German Christmas market at Hyde Park.  It was crazy busy with people... like rubbing shoulders the whole time... but it was fun looking at all the stuff.  We got home around 11 that night and I was pooped.  Fun day.

Whoops-a-Daisy Angel

Luke's class and one other at the school put on a Christmas play called Whoops-a-Daisy Angel.  It was pretty cute.  Luke had been practicing his songs for a while, so it was fun to watch him actually do it!  He was one of the kings.

Here's my little king.  Luke had just returned to school this day from being home with pink eye and his eyes were still kind of swollen looking.  Poor kid! 

A few short clips from some of his favorite songs... (excuse the bad filming... Ella was climbing on me and my hand wasn't holding still! You get a pretty good view of the lady in front of me's hair too.) 

Ely

Ely is a 15 to 20 min. drive from our house.  It's a little town with an amazing cathedral and Oliver Cromwell's house.  We didn't go check out Oliver's house this visit.  But, we walked around the cathedral and got a few pictures.  It was FREEZING cold so we weren't exactly in the mood to sight see!  Here are some pictures we took.  Well, some that Logan and Stacy took of us too!  We are using one family picture from this little outing for Christmas cards this year.  I ordered some cards that Luke designed in his class at school and they still haven't come yet.  Booo!  Sooo, family, sorry but you'll be getting late cards this year.  Luke's awesome cards will make it worth the wait though!  Ü

So, here's the cathedral from the front.  Ella says it's a pwincess tastle.  Cutie. 

One from inside...  They give tours that go up to the top of the tower outside, but you have to be over 6.  We'll have to do that one day without the kids.

From the other side...

Just thought this sign was cute.

I can't get over how narrow some of the roads are here, and how many people are always out walking around.  In rain, snow, whatever.  People walk.  I like it.  

Walking around the town... 

Cutie Things I Want to Remember...

We've been busy and the days go by way too fast lately!  The days literally go by fast when you live this far North!  By 3:30 the sun is way over west (and usually covered by clouds) and then by 4:30 it is completely dark.  Anyway, blogging is one of the things that I can't seem to fit into my day. I'm going to blog about our Thanksgiving and Jake's fabulous turkey another time.  Hopefully I'll catch up more on some other things going on around here soon too!  But for now, I've been taking mental notes over the last few months of things the kids have been saying and doing.   I want to remember them!  So, here we go before I forget! 

*I had just picked up Luke from school one day and we were on our way to the commissary.  The radio was on and I don't remember what song it was, but it was some ghett0 rap stuff.  Usually the radio stations around here play lots of techie dance beats.  Anyway, Luke shouted from the back seat,  Mom, what is this!?  This music is BIDICULOUS!  The song was indeed ridiculous and his comment made me laugh inside!  Just to see what he'd say, I switched stations to a classical one thinking he'd think that was silly and want something else, but as soon as it came on he said, Ahhh... that's much better. 

*Luke asks a lot lately why Heavenly Father makes certain things.  Then before I have a chance to say anything he says, we don't need that/those/them.  Sometimes his little statements are pretty funny.  For example, the other day he asked, mom, why did Heavenly Father make stinging nettle??  We DON"T need it.   Others that have come up....
Why did Heavenly Father make tornados?  We don't need them. 
Why did Heavenly Father make poisonous berries?  We don't need them.  He's said the same for lots of other things.  He cracks me up! 

*Along similar lines, lately he's been asking things like who takes care of our toys when we aren't on Earth anymore?  and Do we have to buy all new toys after we die?

*Ella is quite the little scaredy-cat lately and is afraid of at least one thing in every movie we have.  She's terrified of the cat in the beginning of Tinkerbelle... the toys that Sid created (that baby with spider legs thing) in Toy Story... etc.  One day I was in the kitchen while they were watching a movie and I heard Ella talking about the scary part coming up and Luke said Don't worry Ella!  I will cover your eyes!  She loves it when he does.  Now she runs over to Luke yelling Cova my eyes Wuke!  Cova my eyes!!  Whenever a scary part comes on.  I love their little covering eyes thing.   

*Ella has a thing with saying eveything is 'happy.'  It bothers her to see any of us sad, so if she notices you're sad, she comes over and grabs your face and says You're happy!   In her world happy is the opposite of almost anything negative.  Ella, are tigers mean?  No, they're happy!  Are you stinky?  No, I happy! That character in the book is pretty naughty, huh.  No, he's happy! etc.  I love it.

*Ella loves dresses and dancing lately.  When we put dresses on she dances around as yells, Wook at me!  I dancing in my dwess!  She likes to compliment me on my dresses too.  Today I was wearing a green dress for church and she told me it was such a pwetty pwincess dwess.  My grandparents sent her a Snow White card for her birthday a couple of months ago.  (thanks grandma!)When you open the card it plays Just Whistle While you Work.  Well, it plays the first few lines anyway.  haha.  She loves it and is always carrying her pwincess card around and dancing to the music.  I didn't know those cards had a battery life long enough to last a couple of months and still go strong!   

*Ella loves singing lately and is at the age where she knows some songs.  It is the cutest thing ever.  Popcorn popping and ABCs and I am a Child of God are her favorites.  Luke is quite the little singer lately too, and I love it.  He has never liked singing until recently.  Actually when he was a tiny new baby and would scream and cry all the time due to who knows what, I'd sing him primary songs.  Wonder if that's why he doesn't like them!?  haha.  Bad memories of tummy aches or something associated with the tune maybe is all I can come up with.  haha. His teachers at school give the kids stickers for a good job at singing time, and every day when I go to pick him up at school he is beaming with pride when he shows me his sticker.  He sings the songs to me he is learning at school.  Kind of fun!  Mostly cute little British Christmas and winter songs.  Clap hands for Jesus and a snowflake song seem to be his favorites.  :) 

*Don't want to forget how Ella rips off her clothes at bath time and then runs around screaming "wook at me!  I'm da naked dirl!"   So modest.

*Another thing Luke has been doing that cracks me up is he'll ask for something starting with... You know what I would enjoy?  Or, I think I would enjoy ________.  It's hard to say no to a kid that sounds so polite and nice.  Sure Luke, if you'd enjoy a waffle for dinner then you can have it.  I guess.  

*Kids these days are little techies.  Every time I go to get my phone, Luke has downloaded a new app.  Games, puzzles, etc.  Ella likes to play our phones too.  She knows just what to push to get to her favorite games and thinks she's as big as Luke.  She says funny things like I need more firing missiles!!  You can definitely tell she has been listening to her older brother play games.

*On Saturday we went with some friends to Ely and on the way home we stopped with the kids at Mildenhall base for some pizza.  We were seated at our table and Luke looked down and told me he had put his wellies on the wrong feet.  I told him to switch them so they'd be more comfortable, but he said "NO.  that guy over there will see that I have girl socks.  (the one other person eating at the restaurant sitting on the other side of the room.)  In our rush to get out of the house, we just grabbed some of Ella's socks to put on Luke for the day.  I had to beg him to just put the things on earlier.  He wants nothing to do with anything girl. 

*Two and three year olds at gymnastics class is hilarious.  Ella has been going for a couple of months now and loves it.  She really doesn't get that she has to wait her turn to do stuff though.  I'm hoping she learns soon or I may be pulling her out.  haha.  I have to sit with her to wait for her turn or she just gets up and goes for it.  She's always asking her teacher, a my turn yet? 

*Ella loves all food.  Sometimes I forget that she's not picky like her brother, so when we go out to eat I'll just order her whatever he is getting.  One day I picked up some burgers... plain cheeseburgers with just meat and cheese on them for the kids.  For myself I got a regular cheeseburger.  Ella took one look at her burger and then at mine and asked in a sad little voice, Where's my matoes?  Where's my salad? (she calls all lettuce salad).  Anyway, I ended up switching burgers with her.  :)

I'll probably have to add on to this some more later.  Probably forgetting something I wanted to include, but for now this will do!  :)

Halloween Post 2010...

Another year of pumpkin painting and decorating, trunk-or-treating, and office Halloween parties.  It was fun!  Luke decided to be Buzz Lightyear again.  I was glad his costume fit him still!  He was Buzz 2 years ago.  Here's Buzz when we first arrived at the ward trunk-or-treat.  He was ready to get on with the candy action!

 Ella saw her butterfly costume when I was unpacking some boxes and wanted to wear it again.  Glad she was happy to be butterfly for a second time!  Made things easy for me. ( Click here to see first round of the butterfly.)  She loved dressing up and getting candy. 

                                   
                                        Caught her with a whole fun size candy bar in her mouth...

We painted pumpkins with the Smiths a couple of weeks before Halloween.  My mom and dad sent the kids some fun face pieces to decorate pumpkins with, so the kids had fun decorating with those too.  It was kind of like playing Mr. Potato head for days... they kept changing the faces until the pumpkins were too squishy and gross to keep any longer.  Saving the face pieces for next year! :)  Here are a couple of our creations.

                 The dental squadron held a Halloween party for the kids at the office.  Luke and Ella had
                           a good time trick-or-treating at all the operatories and hanging out with their buddies.  

Most of the dental gang that came to the kiddi party...

Most of our Halloween festivities were on Friday and Saturday night.  After the ward trunk-or-treat we made an attempt at trick-or-treating on base.  Whoa!!  I've never seen so many people trick-or-treating in all my life.  That place was CRAZY.  You would think you were walking around Disneyland on a crowded night or something with the swarms of people walking around those streets.  The trick-or-treating started at 5:30, and when we went at about 7 or 7:30 the porches with lights still on were few and far between.  Streets were still packed with people though.  I don't know how people on base buy enough candy to stay open for longer then 10 minutes.  Fun seeing all the costumes walking around.  Seriously crazy amount of people though. 
Sunday we had some friends over for dinner.  We just got a handful of neighborhood trick-or-treaters at our house.  People around here like to dress up and go party on Halloween.  They trick-or-treat, but it doesn't seem to be a big thing.  Soo, theres Halloween 2010 for ya.  :)

We like walks.

There are footpaths everywhere around here and they go through some fun places!  We have had fun exploring our new spot.  Yesterday morning it was raining, so when it cleared up we thought we should get out for a bit!  I brought the camera along since I wanted more pics of the area... and of the kids too!  Over the last few weeks, Luke and Ella have been little leaf collectors.  They don't get tired of finding more. 

Luke never tires of sticks either.

After walking for a few minutes, you get to this big park area along the river.  I love that everything stays so green here.  The leaves are falling off the trees, and the grass still looks like it's spring time. 

We usually bring bread along for the ducks.  There are some really greedy and mean swans though!  Luke likes to run up to them so they'll hiss at him. 



Found a fuzzy caterpillar.





We pass lots of cows and horses here in the countryside!



Luke wears his wellies on walks to jump in the puddles!  Ella didn't want to wear hers and ended up with soaked feet.  This part of the path was quite soggy yesterday.

I push the stroller behind them for a lot of the time.

Once you walk through that footpath, you end up here.  A neighboring village called Barton Mills.  It's super cute. 

There's some crazy park equipment here!

Running for the park!



On the giant swing together!  Yeah, I'm not so good at self portraits.



It's kind of cutie... a lot of the animals wear these things since it gets pretty cold this time of year!

This little girl usually falls asleep in the stroller on the way back home.   Makes pushing an empty stroller the first half of our walk worth it!

Luke decided to take advantage of a napping sister to do some tree climbing.  I chilled with Ella for a good thirty minutes while he sat in the "best place ever."

Love this kid.

Couldn't pass up the photo op with the cute tree monkey!  I did leave him alone after a minute so he could play up there though.  :)

When you get off the footpath back to Mildenhall, you can either turn right to our house or go straight to the shopping area of the village.

Sainsbury is the supermarket here.  Nice that it's a close walk from home, but quite a bit more money then shopping at the commissary!  It's really small compared to American grocery stores...  maybe a little bigger then a Fresh & Easy.  It's fun trying different European brands.  They are building a super Sainsburry next door to this building.  Those are like mini Super Target stores with home decor, clothes and food. 

Well, I feel a little like Dora the Explorer now.  Thanks for coming on a walk with us on this beautiful day!   Gracias!  J/k.  We watch a little too much Dora I guess.  Oh, and this post has taken forever to post because I ran out of storage for pictures in my google whatever picture/blog account?  huh?!  More storage is pretty cheap (like $5 per year) but I didn't know you could run out of picture space on here!   



Pumpkin Patch 2010

My cute friend Stacy invited us to go along with them to the pumpkin patch this weekend.  Good times.  It was in Beck Row, a village just next to this one.  It's fun to see how different patches do things.  This one had a stand with fresh homemade donuts and a pony for the kids to ride.  Luke and Liberty got balloons and had fun running around with them.  We'll have to do their corn maze another time.  It looked pretty good!  I'm a sucker for pumpkin patch pictures.  Here's some of this year's batch...





Ella found some cute baby pumpkins!

Luke was liking the horse!