Walk into Town

Today was Boxing Day. No clue what that is, but we decided to get the kids out while we had a little sun and see if anything was going on in town. About 1/2 the stores were closed, so we just got some cocoa at Starbucks and wandered around.
Chris snapped a few shots on our walk home...

 Don't you dare make fun of Em's outfit. The trousers were on the top of the pile and I was in a hurry. It was cold out, ok.

 I'm not sure about this picture...I just saw it as I was going through the others. Em is asleep under the rug. This is what the poor kid resorts to when his Daddy is in charge.

House Tour

I realized we have been in our new pad for almost 2 months and I haven't given the grande tour. We are really just feeling at home now. I put away all the Christmas decor today and decided it is a good time to get some pics. Em was asleep, though, so there are no pics of his room. I'll get those tomorrow!
This is my favorite thing about this house...we have a huge entrance area. All of our shoes, stroller, coats, backpacks, etc get dumped here and don't have to make their way through the rest of the house. We have a little WC to the left.

Straight through to the kitchen, or upstairs.

Our kitchen is quite a bit bigger than our last pad. This is were I do my cooking magic. Hee hee. It really would be a trick if I cooked something good. We still haven't really figured out the oven, but we are working on it. Our refrigerator is massive.

 This is the breakfast room off the kitchen, and that messy business in the back is my "desk." We have a nice back garden with a patio.

 Now, hold your giggles. This was advertised as an office. It is what Chris calls home. It is also the laundry room. Sorry Chris. We really did try having him upstairs in the spare bedroom, but he actually has more space down here.

We have a nice sized living area, with space for the kids to read books and do art. If you look on the floor against the wall you will see Nooshy sleeping. She is right under the radiator and she is in heaven here.

 Connected to the living room is the dining room. Notice that each room is closed off. This is very typical for British houses. They like to close off rooms to manage the heat.

Adjacent to the dining room is our "conservatory", aka sunroom in American English! This makes the greatest playroom, although it is a bit cold right now.

Upstairs we have 4 bedrooms. Augi's room is really big...

 We have a great, fancy bathroom. The downside is that we have no bath. The kids like the shower, but they do miss playing in the bath. Em was just asking about our old house and the bath today.

 Our room is also a good size, and we have built-in closets, which are rare in British homes.

 This is the little tiny spare room. There is enough room for a single bed, a small desk and a shelf. That's it. Come visit us and you can call this home during your stay...

I will add Em's room and the outside on another post!

Augi wishes every day was Christmas. Don't we all? I have another day off work tomorrow. Woo-woo. We ran into a friend downtown today and he told us that they will be PCS'ing to the States in May. Their time here in England is up. They have twins Augi's age and we really like this family. It made me realize that we are in for a lot of goodbyes during our stay here. I like the idea of having friends all over the world, but saying goodbye is not easy for me.

Happy Christmas Eve 2010

What a lovely day! I woke up with the kids, Augi was eager to see what the elves had done, since they go home with Santa on his sleigh tonight. They left jammies! Then, I went back to sleep and slept until 11 am. That is the first time that has happened in years. The kids watched 3 hours of television, which is more than they typically get in a week. They were like little zombies. Once I creeped out of bed I loaded the kids up and we went to the Abbey Gardens park to feed the ducks. Augi has been asking me why we celebrate Christmas. I give her the Pagan, sort of solstice/bring back the light explanation. We talked about how everything is cold and the animals are hungry and eager for Spring. So, she was really excited to feed the hungry birds. BTW, I am loving my new camera. The colors seem so much better. It is bulky compared to my little point and shoot, but I love it.

Tonight we opened a present, watched Mr. Bean, and left out cookies for Santa. Em had a late nap, so he wasn't in bed until 10. Augi marched up to bed by 730 and complained about having to sit through a story. She wanted to get to sleep because she was so excited! Whenever we get the camera out, Em turns his head and Augi poses. We have to do acrobatics to get Em to look at the camera.

 Little Nooshy. She is old and grey, but still just as sweet. She has been a little more spunky the last few days. Maybe she is trying to be good before Santa gets here!

I hope you all have a nice Christmas!

Day Off

I took the day off work...just for fun. I used most of the day to finish up some nagging projects. This afternoon (yes, this is about 4pm and completely dark outside) we went downtown to see some of the shops lit up for Christmas. It was nice. We might go again tomorrow for the solstice. Maybe we will even get some hot cocoa!

321, 21, 21

Wild...I was just looking at my blog and I noticed the ticker on the right said we have been in England for 321 days, 21 hours, and 21 minutes.
Cool! Well, if I tell you how fast the year has gone by you would understand how stinking fast the last month has gone by. Can you believe Christmas is almost here?
The elves have arrived already. They have been much less mischevious this year. Maybe they are tired. I know I am. It has been a long, hard year. Their antics have included bringing the kids chocolates, stockings (empty, of course), hiding in various places, hanging from fixtures, bringing small toys, getting into a cotton-ball fight, and the annual hang-the-unders-on-the-tree. We have a few more things coming up before Christmas.

Augi's school put on their Christmas Program today. They were singing songs about Christmas around the world. I got off early and the three of us headed down to the school to watch her.

 Em was ready for the 10 minute walk to Augi's school. He had his adventure bag prepped and ready to go.

 We have to pass by the butcher...

 There she is! She was part of the "Spain" group.

 Singing like a pro!

OK. Caught up enough with pictures.

As for life, Augi still plans to be a veteranarian when she grows up, although she has told me recently that she will be an artist in her spare time. She would like to have a booth at the boot sales in the spring and sell her art. Cute kid.

Em is sweet and wild as ever. He likes to tell his dad, "Not look at me Daddy." but he will snuggle up to him as he says it.

I have sent my Christmas cards, so be on the lookout. I am all finished with Christmas sending and shopping. So, now I just get to relax, right? And catch up on the blog!

Terceira, Azores

Here is my final post from the Azores. Looking through these pictures makes me eager to go again. I want to go when it is warmer and we can enjoy the festivals a little more.
Have I told you how much I love being at the sea?

 Chris refers to this picture as "Creature from the Black Lagoon" Appropriate, eh?

 Now Daddy. I want a trained Squirrel!

 Augi is always up for a photo shoot. I would have loved for Tammy and Bruce to have been here snapping shots...

 This was our sweet little friend. We ran into him on more than one day. He was always friendly, running around the beach. He hung out with Emmett for quite a while. We offered him some lunch, but he was picky. I would have taken him home if I could.

 Bye-bye Terceira...I hope we meet again...