we have been working with gemma and dignan on various famous landmarks around the world - target had this package of flash cards for a $1 and i just couldn't resist.
joe decided a great thing would be to photograph the kids in front of each and every famous landmark in that 36 card pack (actually 37 - we got 2 macchu pichu cards) and we started with the golden gate bridge in san fran when we visited my sister in august.
now it was stonehenge. or the 'henge as we have affectionately come to know it.
we had heard rumors about stonehenge - that it's behind chain link fence, that you can't get close to the stones, that tickets are supa dupa expensive, that the stones are no bigger than a coffee table. so we went thinking that the possibility existed that we would not get even close enough to the strange, sacred rocks.
we're here to dispel the hype, people.
yes, the 'henge is behind a chain link fence. a chain link fence that separates it from the main road. tickets cost #6.60 (around $10 or $11) for adults and this includes use of a cellphone like device that gives an account of some of the mysteries long surrounding stonehenge. under 5's are free. with the purchase of a ticket, you can get about 50 or so feet away from the stones. they are HUGE. granted, we did not see the 'henge stones from the road until we were literally "up on it" but they are still pretty massive. much bigger than the ones depicted in "spinal tap" i must add.
so what did we learn about stonehenge? well, no one really knows a damn thing about those gargantuan stones. lots of theories but nothing solid, just lots of possibilities and unanswered questions to this day.
were the peanuts impressed? yes, if you count the chocolate stonehenge we bought in the gift shop to keep them quiet on the ride home. that, in gemma's opinion was the BEST part of our visit to stonehenge.
pics coming soon. i swear.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
buggy board
i think i have mentioned that both my kids are now claiming "lameness" since we've entered the country. and by lameness i mean they are claiming the appendages called legs are no longer in functioning order. or as gemma simply put it "i just forgot how to walk, ok mom?"
in order to keep these kids distracted to a point where they won't kill each other on sight, i have been lugging their cute bottoms all over the city. and usually, each outing is peppered with a fight about who will sit in the stroller TO our destination. usually diggy wants dibs which i think is good because gemma poops out on the way home. always.
after dragging these kids around so much i lost my muffin top, i decided something had to be done.
i harrassed a nice looking mom in at the sainsbury's who was pushing a bob & ted double jogging stroller. she directed me to mothercare, which incidentally is located near IKEA.
mothercare has infant, kid & martnity clothes as well as toys, strollers & all things baby.
we happen upon the buggy board maxi - a contraption that hooks on the back of our mcclaren quest stroller and creates a board on which one child can ride in a standing position. clips on and off in a jiffer.
#59.99 well spent in my opinion.
Monday, October 26, 2009
bangers-n-mash @ the flat
i have been longing to revisit the whole bangers and mash dinner that was made the first week we were here. satisfying it was not.
although the cumberland sausages were just as delish as remembered, the sainsbury's mashed potatoes and gravy left alot to be desired in the way of taste. actually, both were interestingly lacking in any and all taste.
an afternoon grocery store run is on my docket today as i want to make my own mashed taters and try a different gravy. full success with the cumberland sausages, so those will stay in the equation.
lucky for us, bonnie needs to do some shopping too! and she's going to be escorting us home as dignan is looking a tad tired but he still has generously offered to help "carry" some of miss bonnie's grocery bags anyways. my little gentlemen.
bonnie's visit extends into the evening and now the boys are home. since bonnie also bought cumberland sausages, i suggest pooling all the sausages together so we can have one giant bangers and mash fest.
it turns out to be an awesome idea. everyone full up on sausage, mashed tater, chimichurri & bread goodness, the night comes to an end as the boys have work tomorrow and i have another day full of peanuts, as in gemma and diggy.
and we have officially hosted our first dinner party at the new flat!
although the cumberland sausages were just as delish as remembered, the sainsbury's mashed potatoes and gravy left alot to be desired in the way of taste. actually, both were interestingly lacking in any and all taste.
an afternoon grocery store run is on my docket today as i want to make my own mashed taters and try a different gravy. full success with the cumberland sausages, so those will stay in the equation.
lucky for us, bonnie needs to do some shopping too! and she's going to be escorting us home as dignan is looking a tad tired but he still has generously offered to help "carry" some of miss bonnie's grocery bags anyways. my little gentlemen.
bonnie's visit extends into the evening and now the boys are home. since bonnie also bought cumberland sausages, i suggest pooling all the sausages together so we can have one giant bangers and mash fest.
it turns out to be an awesome idea. everyone full up on sausage, mashed tater, chimichurri & bread goodness, the night comes to an end as the boys have work tomorrow and i have another day full of peanuts, as in gemma and diggy.
and we have officially hosted our first dinner party at the new flat!
miss bonnie
not sure if i mentioned that some of the other sony-ites also brought their spouses over to bristol as well.
we have been a little cut off from the uprooted sony community being in the harbour while most of them are in the clifton area. not far but far enough.
tim brandt's wife, bonnie came out with him in july so she has already enjoyed 3 months of being in bristol. plus she lives on the other side of whiteladies.
i now have someone to get into trouble with.
bonus: bonnie is a special needs teacher back home so hangin' with my outta control brood should pose no problem for bonnie.
we meet up with bonnie at a predetermined location just above the clifton triangle. not sure what we will do for the afternoon, although it will most likely involve something that will keep the peanuts entertained.
turns out that bonnie needs to bring her hubster some lunchy-lunch so the idea for all of us to head over to aardman and meet the boys for some grub soon becomes our plan.
grab the menfolk, we decided to eat a a place called the river cafe.
we could not have made a worse choice.
first of all, it is nice and looks newly remodeled. there are only a few patrons today. we peruse the menu and come up with a few peanut friendly choices - salsa, guacamole and chips plus a margherita pizza. we order up only to be told that the food will take a bit to come out; they've a new chef and since we've ordered such an array of different things, our order will probably confound the chef and give him/her a heart attack, only adding to the delay of our lunch items.
in the meantime, the kids have discovered that the small ottomans in the bar can be pushed around, leaving wonderful scratches on the new wood floor. they just go insane. they used to be such amazing kids in a restaurant, often prompting proprietors to ask us to come back, the kids had such wonderful restaurant demeanor.
not since we've arrived in bristol though. despite best efforts to tell them that the same rules apply in bristol as california, they have eschewed all previous learned good behavior.
we manage to get through lunch, and the only incident is one kid knocks over someone's beer but now everyone is fed and the mens have to get back to the grind.
in short, bonnie AKA miss bonnie rocks. she totally jumped in and CARRIED one of my now "lame" (as in no longer having functioning legs) children. dignan even got a shoulder ride.
hopefully, this particular outing hasn't put bonnie off from hanging with us in the future.
we have been a little cut off from the uprooted sony community being in the harbour while most of them are in the clifton area. not far but far enough.
tim brandt's wife, bonnie came out with him in july so she has already enjoyed 3 months of being in bristol. plus she lives on the other side of whiteladies.
i now have someone to get into trouble with.
bonus: bonnie is a special needs teacher back home so hangin' with my outta control brood should pose no problem for bonnie.
we meet up with bonnie at a predetermined location just above the clifton triangle. not sure what we will do for the afternoon, although it will most likely involve something that will keep the peanuts entertained.
turns out that bonnie needs to bring her hubster some lunchy-lunch so the idea for all of us to head over to aardman and meet the boys for some grub soon becomes our plan.
grab the menfolk, we decided to eat a a place called the river cafe.
we could not have made a worse choice.
first of all, it is nice and looks newly remodeled. there are only a few patrons today. we peruse the menu and come up with a few peanut friendly choices - salsa, guacamole and chips plus a margherita pizza. we order up only to be told that the food will take a bit to come out; they've a new chef and since we've ordered such an array of different things, our order will probably confound the chef and give him/her a heart attack, only adding to the delay of our lunch items.
in the meantime, the kids have discovered that the small ottomans in the bar can be pushed around, leaving wonderful scratches on the new wood floor. they just go insane. they used to be such amazing kids in a restaurant, often prompting proprietors to ask us to come back, the kids had such wonderful restaurant demeanor.
not since we've arrived in bristol though. despite best efforts to tell them that the same rules apply in bristol as california, they have eschewed all previous learned good behavior.
we manage to get through lunch, and the only incident is one kid knocks over someone's beer but now everyone is fed and the mens have to get back to the grind.
in short, bonnie AKA miss bonnie rocks. she totally jumped in and CARRIED one of my now "lame" (as in no longer having functioning legs) children. dignan even got a shoulder ride.
hopefully, this particular outing hasn't put bonnie off from hanging with us in the future.
settling in @ woodland house nursery
having decided on 2 days a week of school for the peanuts, they now needed to go through what is known here (and i'm sure everywhere else) as "settling in".
settling in consists of the parent leaving the child or in my case, children for a short window of a few hours. they hang out in their classroom, with the other students and the teachers for that room doing whatever has been planned for the day.
for me this meant i got 3 whole hours of freedom. without the peanuts! grocery shopping, here i come.
upon return, you get a report of how your child/children responded to the school - did they cry? vomit at the sight of lunch? spin their head a la the exorsist? that kind of thing.
so how did it go, you ask?
my children barely recoginized that i had left the building and we're more than a bit irritated that i had now arrived at an what they considered to be an inconvenient time to take them home. so much for the feeling of love and need from one's children.
they played well with the other kids. they played outside. they played inside. they had tea, which gemma called "grey water" and although teacher sam thought the possibility of cakes with the afternoon tea was in the cards, the tea snack selection was actually raisins and bread, leaving gemma quite disappointed with her first "tea" service experience as she kept asking what had happened to the cakes.
Friday, October 23, 2009
technology
recently ,i opened my palm organizer, which i have been keeping a daily diary of things we've done, places we've gone, funny things the kids said - kind of a corwel-strasser history of our time here in bristol.
well damn technology. as aforementioned, i opened my palm organizer on my computer only to discover that it has completely erased any & all entries EVER noted. no birthdays. no anniversaries. no "pay gas bill". completely empty, like it's brand new.
sigh.
this had happened with my address book too, so i made sure to "save" my organizer often and yet somehow, the information is puff, gone, into the ether, just like that.
so be patient while i try to reconstruct the activities of the last 2 weeks - everything is kind of a blur at the moment.
well damn technology. as aforementioned, i opened my palm organizer on my computer only to discover that it has completely erased any & all entries EVER noted. no birthdays. no anniversaries. no "pay gas bill". completely empty, like it's brand new.
sigh.
this had happened with my address book too, so i made sure to "save" my organizer often and yet somehow, the information is puff, gone, into the ether, just like that.
so be patient while i try to reconstruct the activities of the last 2 weeks - everything is kind of a blur at the moment.
time out, some things i like about bristol
so we've been here coming up on a month now. everyone is settling in and we've got kind of a routine going. i rather like living in bristol. or like it here so far. the cold hasn't kicked in yet & we've only experienced a few rainy days in the entire month we've been here. i did buy a knee length down jacket on the predication that it could be worn with short sleeves or a tank top only plus i recently acquired a pair of armwarmers from primark, so we'll see how winter goes.
there are some things that i am lovin' about our new town:
- proximity to things (sights, towns, stores, etc)
- walking or busing it around town - you can go from one end of bristol to the other entirely by bus. not having grown up as a bus person, this is awesome
- everyone we've met is unfailingly polite & friendly
- bristolians are a pretty chatty people overall
- fresh fruit & veggies - the fruit here is amazing delicious & fresh. it goes bad quickly as preservatives aren't used but everything we've had is soooooooooooooo good & fresh
- most magazines come with a monthly "gift" - be it lip balm, a bar of chocolate or lotion, a goodie is always tacked on
- kids magazines - there are a plethora of kids' magazines here with a bi-monthly release, specifically thomas the tank engine & disney princesses magazines that also come with a little gifty-gift.
- under 5's are free to a great many attractions & services in the area
- the shopping - introductions to primark, marks & spencer, next, topshop & uniglo have yielded some fantastic buys
- abundance of restaurants in our area - especially the yummy nando's chain
- the kids packs we've collected from the restaurants here - specifically nando's & fridays
- the thrift shops here are fantastic for picking up kids books & the turnover & selection is amazing. on cotham alone (the street one up from tyndalls) has 8 thrift shops that we frequent weekly, again for books. never thought i'd be one to check in to thrift shops on a weekly basis, but here i am, in every week, sometimes twice
- sainsbury's - our local grocery has got some great ready to cook fare & at fairly good prices that rival trader joe's
- ASDA/George store gives target a run for it's money - we recently bought a new bigger comforter for #9.85 ($15-ish) & king size duvet for #5 ($8-ish) that is totally coming home with us as it's better than the guest bedding we have now
- roundabouts - although initially confusing, if you keep to the outside lane, make traffic move a little faster for everyone
- hot water - the boilers here don't have a safety temp of 120 degrees so you can run bathwater to almost the boiling point which me & gemma love
- washer/dryer combo - again, although this took some figuring out, being able to wash AND dry in the same machine is awesome
- elderberry presses - my new replacement for green tea made from water, cordial, lemon juice, sugar & occasionally mint. simply delish
- fish & chips
- my allergies are torturing me at every turn!
well, that's all that comes to mind at the moment. sure there will be more to come.
there are some things that i am lovin' about our new town:
- proximity to things (sights, towns, stores, etc)
- walking or busing it around town - you can go from one end of bristol to the other entirely by bus. not having grown up as a bus person, this is awesome
- everyone we've met is unfailingly polite & friendly
- bristolians are a pretty chatty people overall
- fresh fruit & veggies - the fruit here is amazing delicious & fresh. it goes bad quickly as preservatives aren't used but everything we've had is soooooooooooooo good & fresh
- most magazines come with a monthly "gift" - be it lip balm, a bar of chocolate or lotion, a goodie is always tacked on
- kids magazines - there are a plethora of kids' magazines here with a bi-monthly release, specifically thomas the tank engine & disney princesses magazines that also come with a little gifty-gift.
- under 5's are free to a great many attractions & services in the area
- the shopping - introductions to primark, marks & spencer, next, topshop & uniglo have yielded some fantastic buys
- abundance of restaurants in our area - especially the yummy nando's chain
- the kids packs we've collected from the restaurants here - specifically nando's & fridays
- the thrift shops here are fantastic for picking up kids books & the turnover & selection is amazing. on cotham alone (the street one up from tyndalls) has 8 thrift shops that we frequent weekly, again for books. never thought i'd be one to check in to thrift shops on a weekly basis, but here i am, in every week, sometimes twice
- sainsbury's - our local grocery has got some great ready to cook fare & at fairly good prices that rival trader joe's
- ASDA/George store gives target a run for it's money - we recently bought a new bigger comforter for #9.85 ($15-ish) & king size duvet for #5 ($8-ish) that is totally coming home with us as it's better than the guest bedding we have now
- roundabouts - although initially confusing, if you keep to the outside lane, make traffic move a little faster for everyone
- hot water - the boilers here don't have a safety temp of 120 degrees so you can run bathwater to almost the boiling point which me & gemma love
- washer/dryer combo - again, although this took some figuring out, being able to wash AND dry in the same machine is awesome
- elderberry presses - my new replacement for green tea made from water, cordial, lemon juice, sugar & occasionally mint. simply delish
- fish & chips
- my allergies are torturing me at every turn!
well, that's all that comes to mind at the moment. sure there will be more to come.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
iPod gemma
gemma, enjoying some "downtime" in the flat with the iPod and an episode of dora the explorer.
how cute is my girl?
woodland house nursery, here we come!
it has been brought to my attention that after 2 weeks of constant in-house fighting between dignan & gemma, that my children probably need to play with kids other than each other.
stat.
before leaving los angeles, i had ventured to contact a few preschools & nursery schools on this end of the pond. sadly, poor timing on my part, as the schools here were breaking for summer holiday, meaning most schools were shut fpr the july-august months and that most headmistresses would most likely NOT read my emails until after the school year had started.
we had heard back from a few schools whose rosters for the fall term were already full or whose district we were not in.
last week before we moved, we happened to be in the area, checking out the burger joint (see posting "workin' for the weekend" for burger write-up) and happened to pass woodland house nursery.
so here it is monday morning & i have gotten the kids all "cuted up" in hopes of the two of them being just so adorable that woodland house nursery will just have to take them. because my kids need to play with some other kids and frankly, people, i need a little alone time sans kiddies. because while i am a supermom, 2 preschoolers + 4 bags of groceries + 4 flights of stairs + a stroller = one tired mama. you get the picture, right?
we meander our way over & i must mention that woodland house nursery is literally around the corner from us. in fact, when we go through their gate, gemma points out, "isn't that our flat?" indeed it is, peanut, indeed it is.
we are greeted by rebecca, the nursery director, who is so warm & friendly from the get, that the kids feel right at home & jump in to play with the other kids while rebecca gives me the tour. woodland house nursery just opened 4 weeks earlier & is an offshoot to archfield school up the road some, whose roster is already full AND they have a waiting list to boot. woodland was opened to help offset some of the archfield overflow as well as be support to the nearby hospitals (we live within walking distance to 2 hospitals).
and we have come just in time, as they have space available for both kids. all in all, we spend about 2 hours at woodland - both dignan & gemma seem to like both the kids and teachers. their schedule can accomodate 2 more kids on tuesdays & thursdays. plus the kids might be eligible for an education grant from the city of bristol. it seems like a perfect fit.
hopefully joe agrees!
stat.
before leaving los angeles, i had ventured to contact a few preschools & nursery schools on this end of the pond. sadly, poor timing on my part, as the schools here were breaking for summer holiday, meaning most schools were shut fpr the july-august months and that most headmistresses would most likely NOT read my emails until after the school year had started.
we had heard back from a few schools whose rosters for the fall term were already full or whose district we were not in.
last week before we moved, we happened to be in the area, checking out the burger joint (see posting "workin' for the weekend" for burger write-up) and happened to pass woodland house nursery.
so here it is monday morning & i have gotten the kids all "cuted up" in hopes of the two of them being just so adorable that woodland house nursery will just have to take them. because my kids need to play with some other kids and frankly, people, i need a little alone time sans kiddies. because while i am a supermom, 2 preschoolers + 4 bags of groceries + 4 flights of stairs + a stroller = one tired mama. you get the picture, right?
we meander our way over & i must mention that woodland house nursery is literally around the corner from us. in fact, when we go through their gate, gemma points out, "isn't that our flat?" indeed it is, peanut, indeed it is.
we are greeted by rebecca, the nursery director, who is so warm & friendly from the get, that the kids feel right at home & jump in to play with the other kids while rebecca gives me the tour. woodland house nursery just opened 4 weeks earlier & is an offshoot to archfield school up the road some, whose roster is already full AND they have a waiting list to boot. woodland was opened to help offset some of the archfield overflow as well as be support to the nearby hospitals (we live within walking distance to 2 hospitals).
and we have come just in time, as they have space available for both kids. all in all, we spend about 2 hours at woodland - both dignan & gemma seem to like both the kids and teachers. their schedule can accomodate 2 more kids on tuesdays & thursdays. plus the kids might be eligible for an education grant from the city of bristol. it seems like a perfect fit.
hopefully joe agrees!
thomas the tank engine!
right here, right now! at the sainsbury's on whiteladies!
thank goodness, the good folk at the clifton downs shopping centre (notice how i switched the "e" & the "r" - that's how they do it here) had the common sense to place this thomas the tank engine ride at the exit of the sainsbury's rather than at the entrance.
otherwise, we'd never get in to do our gorcery shopping.
Monday, October 19, 2009
it's beginning to look alot like halloween!
it's that time of year & we strassers LOVE halloween like no other holiday on the calendar.
just because we are in bristol for halloween 2009, does not mean that halloween will go uncelebrated.
in fact, we found these masks at the local sainsbury's who have an embarrassingly small halloween display to mark this momentous celebration of candy, ghouls & frights. very meager halloween presentation indeed: halloween decorations on the park street sainsbury's was relegated to a single endcap. for those of you unfamiliar with store lingo, an endcap is the very end of an aisle, usually piled with sale merchandise or stuff nobody really wants.
and so this was where we found these awesome halloween masks.
boo!
happy early halloween everyone!
double decker bus!
or so went the refrain after said double decker bus tour.
dignan is a very skeptical young fellow & often does not want to go in for any of the stuff we suggest. although we have not steered him wrong yet, he still remains aloof when we plan an outing that involves some sort of new experience. usually his response is "NO! NO! NO! no thanks!"
dignan's response to the suggestion of the double decker bus ride was the usual, "NO! NO! NO!" but this time with crossed arms. i even bought him a book at the arnolfini called "naughty bus" about a very mischevious red double decker london bus.
nope. still not convinced. typical dignan.
so we told him we weren't going. then we went and just didn't tell him.
well, by the end of the day he loved the double decker bus, made a song about it & was asking throughout the next day for another ride on the double decker bus.
one tired tourist
the day after moving in to the tyndalls park road flat, we decided to go on an open top double decker bus tour around all of bristol.
while an awesome way to check out a new city & get a bearing where things are in relation to where one lives, some people would prefer to sleep.
and sleep cutely at that.
mama's got a brand new, er, drink
for those of you who know me well, you know i am ga-ga for green tea, specifically a vente green tea sweetened from starbucks.
as you may remember from one of my earlier posts, the starbucks here disappoints, as in no green tea. and england as a country, is so not feeling the whole iced tea thing.
so this has left me in a dilemma or pickle, if you will.
i have been "making" my own green tea with demerera sugar as i brought a whole load of green tea bags from trader joe's. good but not really as satisfying as stopping by a starbucks and downing all 20 ounces slowly throughout the day.
luckily, i have discovered elderflower presses. a refreshing concoction made of water, elderflower cordial (no, this is not an alcoholic beverage), a squeeze of lemon, maybe some mint & some sugar.
refreshing indeed. bottoms up, yo!
as you may remember from one of my earlier posts, the starbucks here disappoints, as in no green tea. and england as a country, is so not feeling the whole iced tea thing.
so this has left me in a dilemma or pickle, if you will.
i have been "making" my own green tea with demerera sugar as i brought a whole load of green tea bags from trader joe's. good but not really as satisfying as stopping by a starbucks and downing all 20 ounces slowly throughout the day.
luckily, i have discovered elderflower presses. a refreshing concoction made of water, elderflower cordial (no, this is not an alcoholic beverage), a squeeze of lemon, maybe some mint & some sugar.
refreshing indeed. bottoms up, yo!
tyndalls park road flat
as i have already mentioned, the tyndalls park road flat will/is so much more awesome than the canons way place.
bigger overall, better furniture, bigger appliances, closer to grocery stores (plural, as in having several shopping options to choose from) & hopefully soon, our own car. on the 3rd-really-4th floor, providing a perfect zombie lookout, should things turn ugly, zombiewise that is, here in bristol.
we are in clifton, near the clifton downs. we are also very very close to bristol university. the 'hood is overrun with students during the morning, lunch time & late afternoon. the clifton area is much, much tonier and so less, less country than i had been lead to believe.
for example, the cars in the parking area of tyndalls park road are as follows:
2 mercedes (1 convertible, 1 crossover)
2 porsches (1 roadster, one 911 - both belonging to families in the building. or at least a divorced, weekends-only dad)
3 BMWs (a 5 series, a 3 series & an M4)
2 mini coopers
2 volkswagens
1 audi station wagon
1 jaguar (pronounced JAG-U-ARE)
1 nissan note (this would be the strasser's "ride")
our nissan note, despite it's status as being pretty damn near brand-new, is the crappiest car in the parklands parking area. plus it has a thrifty car rental sticker screaming from the back window.
moving day!
the day has finally come for us to bid adieu to our canons way AKA temporary flat. smell ya later waverly house!
since we brought with us quite a few pieces of luggage and now having accumulated a small refrigerator's worth of food, a taxi cab is not going to cut it for moving day. anticipating this, grae @ aardman has arranged for one their PAs to do our bidding & move us with the aardman van.
yay!
we get everything set by the door friday night & pack up as much non-perishable foodstuffs as possible as nick is coming by at half 9 (that's 9:30am. fancy huh?) to pack up the van & make the drive over to tyndalls.
joe & nick get everything into the van just as it starts to rain. real rain. the weather here has been completely uncharacteristic - that being sunny & warm. we have had like 2 days of rain since we arrived on the 22nd & one of those days was really just drizzly all day. we had heard stories about just downpours all summer, so we have been pleasantly surprised.
but today of all days, it is raining real, honest-to-goodness rain. and i have 2 kids who are in clear need of running off some energy after playing nicely together while the van was loaded to capacity.
with joe gone & the portland apartments rental agent coming earlier than anticipted to set up the flat for the next round of guests, we are temporarily homeless.
awesome sauce.
and of course, the rain totally picks up just as the kids & I make our exit from the building. the kids, as usual, are totally WANTING to play in the rain. me, being the sensible one in our threesome, suggest we duck into the costa coffee around the corner. costa is the british starbucks although they aren't on EVERY corner. much to my husband's surprise, i have not tried the costa yet but there's no time like the present & it will provide temporary shelter from the rain as well as a cup of hot chocolate & some yummy eats.
van unpacked, joe makes his way to back to the harbourside, we meet up at explore and take a taxi over to our new digs.
tyndalls road, here we come!
since we brought with us quite a few pieces of luggage and now having accumulated a small refrigerator's worth of food, a taxi cab is not going to cut it for moving day. anticipating this, grae @ aardman has arranged for one their PAs to do our bidding & move us with the aardman van.
yay!
we get everything set by the door friday night & pack up as much non-perishable foodstuffs as possible as nick is coming by at half 9 (that's 9:30am. fancy huh?) to pack up the van & make the drive over to tyndalls.
joe & nick get everything into the van just as it starts to rain. real rain. the weather here has been completely uncharacteristic - that being sunny & warm. we have had like 2 days of rain since we arrived on the 22nd & one of those days was really just drizzly all day. we had heard stories about just downpours all summer, so we have been pleasantly surprised.
but today of all days, it is raining real, honest-to-goodness rain. and i have 2 kids who are in clear need of running off some energy after playing nicely together while the van was loaded to capacity.
with joe gone & the portland apartments rental agent coming earlier than anticipted to set up the flat for the next round of guests, we are temporarily homeless.
awesome sauce.
and of course, the rain totally picks up just as the kids & I make our exit from the building. the kids, as usual, are totally WANTING to play in the rain. me, being the sensible one in our threesome, suggest we duck into the costa coffee around the corner. costa is the british starbucks although they aren't on EVERY corner. much to my husband's surprise, i have not tried the costa yet but there's no time like the present & it will provide temporary shelter from the rain as well as a cup of hot chocolate & some yummy eats.
van unpacked, joe makes his way to back to the harbourside, we meet up at explore and take a taxi over to our new digs.
tyndalls road, here we come!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
castle park
we wind our way over to castle park & manage to locate the elusive play area. at least what i think/hope is the play area.
several twists and turns later, we arrive. surveying the landscape before me, i am not sure if we have stumbled upon an abandoned mini town made out of driftwood or if this is indeed said children's play area. it looks long neglected - now i know the weathers here are rough people, so i am not expecting this play area to be in pristine condition.
it looks like the play area has become a late night teenage refuge rife with empty water bottles, straws, caps, & assorted papers. plus it's absolutely deserted, not a single kid or parent, for that matter, in sight. i almost expect a tumbleweed to blow by.
we tenatively enter the play area & i can swear i hear the theme song from good, the bad & the ugly playing as we enter. the wooden gate slams shut behind us.
the kids, while i think really wanting to run around, are asking where the swings & slides are, since i have been talking up this castle park play area all day. all the play areas they are accustomed to have swings & slides as well as climbing things & sand, and sometimes if we're lucky, a water fountain or even ducks.
no such luck here.
both dignan and gemma hone in a little building that resembles a gothic church & gemma's all over it being in an ariel/little mermaid state of mind. this one is surprisingly litter free & luckily 2 other families come to join us.
phew. because the "looks" i was getting from the park police guy on the horse was not making me "feel" this play area any.
several twists and turns later, we arrive. surveying the landscape before me, i am not sure if we have stumbled upon an abandoned mini town made out of driftwood or if this is indeed said children's play area. it looks long neglected - now i know the weathers here are rough people, so i am not expecting this play area to be in pristine condition.
it looks like the play area has become a late night teenage refuge rife with empty water bottles, straws, caps, & assorted papers. plus it's absolutely deserted, not a single kid or parent, for that matter, in sight. i almost expect a tumbleweed to blow by.
we tenatively enter the play area & i can swear i hear the theme song from good, the bad & the ugly playing as we enter. the wooden gate slams shut behind us.
the kids, while i think really wanting to run around, are asking where the swings & slides are, since i have been talking up this castle park play area all day. all the play areas they are accustomed to have swings & slides as well as climbing things & sand, and sometimes if we're lucky, a water fountain or even ducks.
no such luck here.
both dignan and gemma hone in a little building that resembles a gothic church & gemma's all over it being in an ariel/little mermaid state of mind. this one is surprisingly litter free & luckily 2 other families come to join us.
phew. because the "looks" i was getting from the park police guy on the horse was not making me "feel" this play area any.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
cabot circus
after doing an incredible job packing on thursday, i can relax a little bit & we can resume checking out bristol.
late yesterday afternoon, we popped by explore@bristol & discovered there is a bristol information desk. perfect. i have some burning questions about the local bus service & so far, everyone we have talked to (that is, sony-ites) deem the bus system too difficult to figure out & therefore should be avoided at all costs. i am undeterred as i have 2 bored kids, no car & a small flat to go home to.
the friendly bristol information desk attendant is able to give me some solid bus pointers - price, schedule, stroller compatibility, kids free, bus stops as well as a very helpful map outlining the various routes available to those vehicularly handicapped.
pulling out my #1.60, we wait for the 500 to take us away to cabot circus, which isn't a circus in the clown & eleplant sense but really more a collection of stores, both inside & out kinda like a mashup of the grove & the bev cen featuring both upscale & pedestrian stores. something for everyone. this is going to be awesome.
so a 500 bus approaches & i get the kids ready (the stroller has already been folded up) to board.
and the 500 zooms right by us.
damn. apparently, i need to "signal" the driver that we ACTUALLY want to GET ON the 500 bus that despite the fact that we are SITTING at the 500 bus stop waiting for said bus.
so we must wait another 20 minutes. thankfully i am able to entertain & distract 2 3yr olds like a ninja until another 500 bus comes along.
i hand over my #1.60 & in return get an all day return pass for the same bus. so #1.60 for a round trip & 2 kids. not too shabby.
the 500 loops around the harbour before heading over to the temple meads/broadmead part of town, so i figure we are in for a little sight seeing before reaching our final destination.
what i don't realize, is that you have to give the driver a heads up as to where you are headed. because otherwise, the driver will come to the last requested stop, bust out a paper & start reading. without a word.
now we aren't the only people on the bus. there is also an elderly woman behind us who i perhaps think just rides the bus around all day.
i approach the driver & ask if this 500 indeed goes to cabot circus. maybe it's his break & he's awaiting a relief driver? another bus? haley's comet? either way, if i was the bus driver & there were 4 people just sitting on my non-moving bus, i'd probably say something. like "hey, where did you want to go? because if there are no requests, i am going to check voicemail, text a few friends & update my status on facebook. so speak up now if you want a destination other than where we are sitting precisely at this moment."
as soon as the driver is alerted to our final destination wishes, he promptly puts the bus in gear & says we'll be there in 15 minutes.
and 15 minutes later, we are dropped off at cabot circus.
it's a tad chilly today & thankfully everyone, including me, is dressed for it. the wind has picked up a bit making it colder than it really is. especially between buildings.
lucky for us, there is an indoor mall so we immediately make tracks for the bristol mall.
the bristol mall is a little on the sad side. not as sad as the fox hills mall near culver city that has been left behind in time but still sad nonetheless.
on the upside, there are bathrooms & i have 2 people who i have to potty patrol today.
we find a toy store that has a thomas the tank engine setup & manage to spend almost an hour inside the toy store just playing with the display. i feel badly because we have probably worn out our welcome that i compelled to buy a beach ball on clearance & a hanging display for the kids artwork.
i want to hit castle park as the kids need some open space to run around but lunch is in order. we head to the food court where there is a pirate themed area including an "eat in" pirate ship near the burger king. perfect.
the kids get BK kids meals complete with a cloudy with a chance of meatballs jello mold toy. sony hosted a screening before we left & amazingly, gemma remembers all the character's names & proceeds to quiz me to see if i remember, which i don't.
we finish lunch & go to yet another toy store. a mechanical remote control crane interests dignan so i revisit the poop/potty issue & promise that if poops on the potty this evening, we will come back tomorrow and buy him that crane.
it has his interest piqued but he seems skeptical.
an afternoon treat is in order as my energy level is draggin' like illegal hot rods on a saturday night so we hit up miss millie's cookies for the 2nd time today as they were actually "out" of cookies on our first try about an hour ago.
kids fueled up on sugar, we are ready to take on castle park which supposedly has this amazing play area for kids. as mentioned, it's a tad windy out so hopefully it won't be too windy for the kids to enjoy some outside time.
thursday already? really?
we are moving to the permanent flat this weekend & i just realize that i am going to have to repack everything i have unpacked thus far. joe is working AND i have 2 children who i believe you well versed in the knowledge that they are at each other like white on rice. so the question becomes - how long can they be inside the flat before punches are thrown, teeth are biting & arms are swingin?
well, amazingly, the kids WANT to play inside today. the packing gods are smiling upon me so i quickly get into position & deftly pack like a ninja. starting in their room & replacing each kid's clothes in the appropriate suitcase as well as pulling out pajammies & clothes for the next 2 days, i am able to make quick work & move on to the tech suitcase - the piece of luggage that holds all our tech stuff - camera, laptop, my new kindle, iPod accessories, dvd player, various chargers & assorted cords.
3 suitcases packed & the peanuts are still playing nicely. they have also been good about potty visits - as i have been submerged to my neck in packing for 4 people, i have forgotten to be on potty patrol today. luckily, my hourly nagging has become imbedded in their little potty pysches because they go on their on volition today & i am only summoned to dispense after-potty treats or wipe the oocasional bottom.
i move onto our bedroom & start packing up my stuff then decide that joe can pack his own things. he's not dealing with 2 volcanoes named dignan & gemma that could blow at any moment. anyways, he'll probably just throw everything haphazzardly into his suitcase as we are moving only miles away, not a continent mind you so careful packing is not of great importance.
packing done in record time, the peanuts are still playing nicely together & the clock is ringing half past lunchtime - gotta run!
well, amazingly, the kids WANT to play inside today. the packing gods are smiling upon me so i quickly get into position & deftly pack like a ninja. starting in their room & replacing each kid's clothes in the appropriate suitcase as well as pulling out pajammies & clothes for the next 2 days, i am able to make quick work & move on to the tech suitcase - the piece of luggage that holds all our tech stuff - camera, laptop, my new kindle, iPod accessories, dvd player, various chargers & assorted cords.
3 suitcases packed & the peanuts are still playing nicely. they have also been good about potty visits - as i have been submerged to my neck in packing for 4 people, i have forgotten to be on potty patrol today. luckily, my hourly nagging has become imbedded in their little potty pysches because they go on their on volition today & i am only summoned to dispense after-potty treats or wipe the oocasional bottom.
i move onto our bedroom & start packing up my stuff then decide that joe can pack his own things. he's not dealing with 2 volcanoes named dignan & gemma that could blow at any moment. anyways, he'll probably just throw everything haphazzardly into his suitcase as we are moving only miles away, not a continent mind you so careful packing is not of great importance.
packing done in record time, the peanuts are still playing nicely together & the clock is ringing half past lunchtime - gotta run!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
bristol library & castle
now it's wednesday & i am getting short on ideas on what to do to keep these kids entertained and from annihilating each other at every turn.
then i remember passing a library on our very first day out & about.
despite much crying, meltdowns & various trips to the bathroom as well as a fight as to who will ride in the stroller on the way to the library, we finally make it to bristol library.
and, lucky for us, wednesday 11.15am is story time. yay! the kids will be entertained by someone else for a short period so my brain can shut down & maybe even reboot.
i have mentioned that my kids have some sort of short attention span thing, right? not like ADD or anything, they just will not sit and listen/watch/pay attention to anything unless buttered popcorn is somehow involved. and despite hoping and praying, it becomes quite evident that liz the librarian does not have a stash of popcorn hidden somewhere in the depths of the kids section. so diggy & gemma are so outta there.
the bristol library does have a beautiful "ship" reading area in the kids' section. there are books & pillows so it's a cozy little nook for catching up on your oh no david stories or angelina ballerina.
after the library, we passed the bristol cathedral. or castle as dignan & gemma refer to it. diggy actually calls it a cafedral, so he perhaps thinks it's a church AND a cafe in one. that would be a good marketing ploy and in fact, the bristol cathedral does have a cafe with coffee, tea & biscuits as well as some light lunch fare.
anyways, they are always, always, always correcting me as they think it's a castle. today, we were actually invited inside by a very nice docent who despite my worries that my children would yap it up once we were inside, still welcomed us.
it is truly a beautiful cathedral, filled with history and has been around since 1140 A.D., when it was known as St. Augustine's Abbey. (p.s. - i was smart this time & grabbed a guide on our way out). the bristol cathedral is a major example of the hall church & apparently, one of the finest examples in it's class. it's been demolished & rebuilt several times with the last additions being completed sometime in 1905 - after almost 40 years of construction.
it's getting late, so that's all the history you're getting this evening people.
cheers!
a word from our sponsor
today's blog is being brought to you by the letter S, the number 4 & cadbury's flake dipped bar.
flaky milk chocolately goodness brought to me by my husband who in doing research for his own blog about all the beers he's been sampling, picked it up at the sainsbury's grocery on whiteladies & cotham, a 3 minute (sans kids) walk from our flat.
flaky milk chocolately goodness brought to me by my husband who in doing research for his own blog about all the beers he's been sampling, picked it up at the sainsbury's grocery on whiteladies & cotham, a 3 minute (sans kids) walk from our flat.
ss Great Britain
sadly, when you have children and are visiting great works of significant historical importance, you miss alot of details. alot. ALOT.
so was the case with Brunel's ss Great Britain. a passenger liner on par with the Titanic that we visited on tuesday.
we met up with the bredow girls - mama krista, melissa & baby brooke, who by the way, really isn't a baby anymore but my kids STILL refer to her as "baby brooke". some things just stick. our friends back home, the goldware-brownriggs have a son who my kids will probably call "baby nick" until he's about to retire. and he's like 2 1/2. the bredows are prepping for baby #3, so not sure how we're going to handle that baby business. perhaps baby bredow mach II?
apparently, the ss Great Britain has won all sorts of travel awards. it is really interactive and you can touch/play with just about anything on this restored ship. you can climb all over everything, ring the bell to your heart's content, go up & down the ladder, turn stuff, push things, open/close doors, whatever. none of it is off limit to kids. or adults.
there is not a single person in sight to wag a finger & tell you "don't touch that". which when you're a kid & go anywhere with your 'rents, that is pretty much the MO at most places.
not the ss Great Britain. you can do anything on that ship. except probably start a fire on deck. they probably wouldn't go for that. or tagging. also probably verboten.
besides being an amazing homage to sea worthy engineering, it's current docking situation includes an underwater feature: the ship itself is parked in thick plate glass or plexiglass surrounding the entirety of it's hull. perhaps an inch or so of actual water sits atop this glass or plexiglass to give the impression & movement of water. BUT you can go below deck & out of the boat & see what it would be like underwater. only you're not really underwater.
there are gears, pulleys & artifacts from the ship to touch, feel, manipulate or in my kid's minds to move to some other part of the ship. there are vignettes with wax people dressed in period clothing. there is also an audio tour available on a little device that looks like a cell phone & i believe the use of one is included with the price of admission.
plus your admission is good for ONE YEAR. yes, pay ONCE, come back with your "passenger ticket" & visit as much as you want over the course of the following 12 months. damn, another E ticket attraction right in our own backyard.
no wonder this thing has won awards.
as i mentioned, all historical information is lost when one is intent on not having one or both children fall overboard & end up in the harbour. all i can tell you is that is was built by some guy Brunel. he probably has a first name but i couldn't even guess what it might be. the ss Great Britain was a passenger ship that traveled from the UK to New York. when you ask? a long time ago for the looks of the pictures posted. there was an accident somewhere in there then the ship only went to Australia after that. it was then (perhaps) purchased by the Dutch who used it for who knows what purpose & then the ss Great Britain was abandoned. it languished for years and finally, the ss Great Britain was discovered then hauled back to Bristol with great fanfare for revamping & here stands today, welcoming visitors from around the globe.
or in our case, across the harbour.
Friday, October 9, 2009
anniversary at the avon gorge hotel
as mentioned in the previous post, it is our 7th wedding anniversary AND friends have offered to watch the peanuts so we can enjoy a night out without peanuts.
awesome sauce.
since we are new in town & haven't really looked into any nice non-kid friendly restaurants, we are excited to head out but not a clue where to go. plus my going out wardrobe is severely limited since having children. and we will be walking so heels are out of the question this evening. lucky i brought my red prada driving shoes which can pass for flats in a pinch. phew!
friends suggest the avon gorge hotel, near the clifton suspension bridge, a feat of engineering which we have not yet seen. after a round of confusing directions through a park, an alley & several streets, joe & i head off. gemma & dignan are having such fun with the bredow girls, they could not care less when or even if we'll be back to get them. this is a good sign.
we manage to find the restaurant despite a walk thru a park & many twists & turns. the restaurant menu looks promising. we go in & since it's sunday night, hope that the fact that we have no reservation will not pose a problem.
luckily for us, the restaurant is near empty & they do indeed have a table for those lacking a reservation for the evening. we are seated near a large window that perfectly frames the clifton suspension bridge.
as aforementioned, the menu offers some tasty sounding entrees, so we order up. an italian pinot for me & a south african pinot for joe plus a pint of what they've got on tap. we order a rocket salad but apparently they are out of rocket. rocket, for those of you not familiar, is just a different name for various lettuces thrown together. so we opt for our second choice, crab cakes - which was always my first choice. interestingly enough, the crab cakes arrive on a bed of rocket. they are delicious but we are suspect that a salad could not be had from just rocket but that rocket is in abundance for a nest for crab cakes to sit upon. i ordered the chicken with gnocchi & bacon. joe gets a fish. we will be swapping halfway but it soon becomes clear to both of us that i made the better entree selection. oh, well, more room for dessert!
our dessert course consists of 2 choice - sticky toffee english pudding & a chocolate ganache cake. the pudding is not what i consider pudding but more of a cake on the order of fruitcake hardness. it comes with creme fraiche for dipping & some melted toffee. good but not supa dupa impressive. the chocolate ganache cake, of course, always satisfies & i finish it all.
while the avon gorge restaurant proved to be a good anniversary dinner choice . . . there are a few things i have neglected to mention thus far ; this restaurant is connected to the avon gorge hotel. it also has a pub next door that has an outdoor patio. the pub patio area was open the night of our dinner. meanwhile over at the avon gorge restaurant, although also having an outdoor patio area, was not serving on the patio that evening. the restaurant's crowd that night was, ahem lacking in, er, style? hipness? youth? je ne sais quoi. i will tell you the main clientele that evening were folks that were probably around during the civil war and tourists. and by tourists, i mean the guy who wore shorts. to a nice dinner at a restaurant with cloth napkins & his wife. perhaps they'd meant to hit up the pub next door but the abundance of doors was confusing & they found themselves in the nicer, pricier restaurant instead. either way, dude, put on some pants. it's dinner. i know you brought them, so up to your room & try again. and don't return until you're sportin' some pants. even them khakis from dockers will suffice.
geesh.
you just can't take some people anywhere. maybe i should refrain that comment: maybe you just can't take german shorts-wearin' tourists anywhere.
happy anniversary to us!
awesome sauce.
since we are new in town & haven't really looked into any nice non-kid friendly restaurants, we are excited to head out but not a clue where to go. plus my going out wardrobe is severely limited since having children. and we will be walking so heels are out of the question this evening. lucky i brought my red prada driving shoes which can pass for flats in a pinch. phew!
friends suggest the avon gorge hotel, near the clifton suspension bridge, a feat of engineering which we have not yet seen. after a round of confusing directions through a park, an alley & several streets, joe & i head off. gemma & dignan are having such fun with the bredow girls, they could not care less when or even if we'll be back to get them. this is a good sign.
we manage to find the restaurant despite a walk thru a park & many twists & turns. the restaurant menu looks promising. we go in & since it's sunday night, hope that the fact that we have no reservation will not pose a problem.
luckily for us, the restaurant is near empty & they do indeed have a table for those lacking a reservation for the evening. we are seated near a large window that perfectly frames the clifton suspension bridge.
as aforementioned, the menu offers some tasty sounding entrees, so we order up. an italian pinot for me & a south african pinot for joe plus a pint of what they've got on tap. we order a rocket salad but apparently they are out of rocket. rocket, for those of you not familiar, is just a different name for various lettuces thrown together. so we opt for our second choice, crab cakes - which was always my first choice. interestingly enough, the crab cakes arrive on a bed of rocket. they are delicious but we are suspect that a salad could not be had from just rocket but that rocket is in abundance for a nest for crab cakes to sit upon. i ordered the chicken with gnocchi & bacon. joe gets a fish. we will be swapping halfway but it soon becomes clear to both of us that i made the better entree selection. oh, well, more room for dessert!
our dessert course consists of 2 choice - sticky toffee english pudding & a chocolate ganache cake. the pudding is not what i consider pudding but more of a cake on the order of fruitcake hardness. it comes with creme fraiche for dipping & some melted toffee. good but not supa dupa impressive. the chocolate ganache cake, of course, always satisfies & i finish it all.
while the avon gorge restaurant proved to be a good anniversary dinner choice . . . there are a few things i have neglected to mention thus far ; this restaurant is connected to the avon gorge hotel. it also has a pub next door that has an outdoor patio. the pub patio area was open the night of our dinner. meanwhile over at the avon gorge restaurant, although also having an outdoor patio area, was not serving on the patio that evening. the restaurant's crowd that night was, ahem lacking in, er, style? hipness? youth? je ne sais quoi. i will tell you the main clientele that evening were folks that were probably around during the civil war and tourists. and by tourists, i mean the guy who wore shorts. to a nice dinner at a restaurant with cloth napkins & his wife. perhaps they'd meant to hit up the pub next door but the abundance of doors was confusing & they found themselves in the nicer, pricier restaurant instead. either way, dude, put on some pants. it's dinner. i know you brought them, so up to your room & try again. and don't return until you're sportin' some pants. even them khakis from dockers will suffice.
geesh.
you just can't take some people anywhere. maybe i should refrain that comment: maybe you just can't take german shorts-wearin' tourists anywhere.
happy anniversary to us!
sunday part 2
a ferry ride is in order.
not the rinky dink 60p ferry but a real seaworthy vessel that will take us around the harbour in style.
under 7's are free most places & the ferry is no exception. love this.
the weather has been uncommonly warm & we are all sporting short sleeve tees & hoodies. we must have brought this warm weather with us from cali.
not the rinky dink 60p ferry but a real seaworthy vessel that will take us around the harbour in style.
under 7's are free most places & the ferry is no exception. love this.
the weather has been uncommonly warm & we are all sporting short sleeve tees & hoodies. we must have brought this warm weather with us from cali.
the ferry ride is about 40 minutes in length & will take us around the hot wells part of the harbour then finishes up at city centre, near the fountains shown in the above pics. there is a second leg of the ferry harbour tour too that goes further down the harbour but it's date night tonight & the bredows have offered to babysit so we can celebrate our 7th anniversary sans kiddies.
there is a rowing competition today & the kids are excited to see 4 different boats competing. we see Brunel's the ss Great Britain (the black boat in the pics) that we will visit next week & another boat called the Matthew (the fancy Disney-esque ship), which Gemma says looks like Prince Eric's boat from the Little Mermaid.
nothing supa dupa exciting but nice to check out the area. plus it's a fantastic day out!
hi-ya! as in karate
we decide that sunday will be a fun day for everyone in the family.
yesterday, on our way to the mobile store, we passed a karate studio which has kids classes on sunday mornings @ 10:30am. we make a mental note to be back tomorrow as these kids need to meet some other kids. stat.
somehow we are able to actually wake up early on a sunday & get going. the peanuts are dressed in what diggy dubs "comfy clothes", we all set off for karate class.
we get arrive at the dojo a few minutes before class starts & ask the instructor/sensai if they are old enough to join the class. for their first class, newbies usually just watch from the sidelines & then determine if they want to come to class on a regular basis.
i don't know if anyone knows this but my children really have an attention issue. not on the order of ADD or anything but they can be wiggly. they can sit through a movie in a theatre or a meal at a restaurant but they really get wiggly when presented with an opportunity to sit & watch a show (magic, dance, puppet or otherwise) - they will be the kids wandering a birthday party while the other b-day party guests enjoy a magician or clown performance.
so karate is kinda a wash. they want to do it but then they really goof off. i think they will do better if neither joe nor i are in eyesight.
one note: during karate class, a giant & i do mean GIANT spider made an appearance on one of the mats. i am nearsighted, which means that objects/people at a distance totally elude me so i i can see this spider across the room WITHOUT glasses, you know we're talking about a really ginormous, huge, giant spider. i hadn't seen any spiders in bristol until this point, so i was figuring, wow, we've come to a part of the world where spiders are just not in abundance. awesome. unlike our home which seems to attract every single strange breed spider within a 2 mile radius.
i was wrong.
the harbour area harbors some of the biggest spiders i have ever had the misopportunity to see & they seem to congregate in groups of 4 or more.
yuck.
yesterday, on our way to the mobile store, we passed a karate studio which has kids classes on sunday mornings @ 10:30am. we make a mental note to be back tomorrow as these kids need to meet some other kids. stat.
somehow we are able to actually wake up early on a sunday & get going. the peanuts are dressed in what diggy dubs "comfy clothes", we all set off for karate class.
we get arrive at the dojo a few minutes before class starts & ask the instructor/sensai if they are old enough to join the class. for their first class, newbies usually just watch from the sidelines & then determine if they want to come to class on a regular basis.
i don't know if anyone knows this but my children really have an attention issue. not on the order of ADD or anything but they can be wiggly. they can sit through a movie in a theatre or a meal at a restaurant but they really get wiggly when presented with an opportunity to sit & watch a show (magic, dance, puppet or otherwise) - they will be the kids wandering a birthday party while the other b-day party guests enjoy a magician or clown performance.
so karate is kinda a wash. they want to do it but then they really goof off. i think they will do better if neither joe nor i are in eyesight.
one note: during karate class, a giant & i do mean GIANT spider made an appearance on one of the mats. i am nearsighted, which means that objects/people at a distance totally elude me so i i can see this spider across the room WITHOUT glasses, you know we're talking about a really ginormous, huge, giant spider. i hadn't seen any spiders in bristol until this point, so i was figuring, wow, we've come to a part of the world where spiders are just not in abundance. awesome. unlike our home which seems to attract every single strange breed spider within a 2 mile radius.
i was wrong.
the harbour area harbors some of the biggest spiders i have ever had the misopportunity to see & they seem to congregate in groups of 4 or more.
yuck.
permanent digs
after lunch at the burger joint, we catch up with the bredows, whose flat we will be inheriting upon their return to cali.
it's literally a jump from the burger joint (a plus for future burger visits) & they have just returned home from a jaunt over to cabot circus, which isn't a circus in the sense of tigers, elephants & clowns but a collection of stores, a mall & more stores.
after seeing the new, permanent apartment, we realize that our temporary flat sucks. big time.
the new permanent flat is much, much larger. and much, much nicer. the bedrooms are tiny but the living area has a large sofa AND loveseat plus enough room for the kids to spread out. the kitchen is more streamlined & less crowded with more storage, a bigger fridge, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, & a view overlooking some of bristol university's less attractive buildings. there are 2 balconies with french doors & modern furniture. we are now 3 min away from a large grocery store as well as a street with lots of shops & restaurants.
there are a few bad points to this place too:
- on 4th floor (but good if there should be a zombie outbreak & again, i will have those buns of steel)
- no lift AKA elevator
- will need to walk farther to bus stops, attractions, etc. not bad for me but my children are claiming they are now crippled and can no longer walk without whining or a complete meltdown
- no longer near the harbour, so the e-ticket 60p ferry ride is no longer a distraction option.
- no nearby parks to run my chidren ragged
we move in next week, october 3rd. we'll also hopefully have a car so we can start terrorizing the good citizens of bristol with our terrible driving skillz. that should be awesome, not to mention the talk of the town.
it's literally a jump from the burger joint (a plus for future burger visits) & they have just returned home from a jaunt over to cabot circus, which isn't a circus in the sense of tigers, elephants & clowns but a collection of stores, a mall & more stores.
after seeing the new, permanent apartment, we realize that our temporary flat sucks. big time.
the new permanent flat is much, much larger. and much, much nicer. the bedrooms are tiny but the living area has a large sofa AND loveseat plus enough room for the kids to spread out. the kitchen is more streamlined & less crowded with more storage, a bigger fridge, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, & a view overlooking some of bristol university's less attractive buildings. there are 2 balconies with french doors & modern furniture. we are now 3 min away from a large grocery store as well as a street with lots of shops & restaurants.
there are a few bad points to this place too:
- on 4th floor (but good if there should be a zombie outbreak & again, i will have those buns of steel)
- no lift AKA elevator
- will need to walk farther to bus stops, attractions, etc. not bad for me but my children are claiming they are now crippled and can no longer walk without whining or a complete meltdown
- no longer near the harbour, so the e-ticket 60p ferry ride is no longer a distraction option.
- no nearby parks to run my chidren ragged
we move in next week, october 3rd. we'll also hopefully have a car so we can start terrorizing the good citizens of bristol with our terrible driving skillz. that should be awesome, not to mention the talk of the town.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
tied shoes
dignan got a new pair of heavy boots that will hopefully stand up to the torrential downpours we have heard pummeled the city this summer.
he was so proud because he tied them all by himself. way to go diggy!
sing us a song, diggy's the pianoman
have discovered these old pianos left around the city in various public places by a company called bristol pianos. not sure if bristol pianos sells new/old pianos or if they do piano repairs and tuning, but the kids find the opportunity to bang out an opus to their heart's content just the most awesome thing ever.
old tyme train by dignan, future bristol tour guide
so with the kids really driving me & each other crazy, i often opted for walks around the harbor. which would seem like fun to most kids, elicited groans of despair as they dutifully put shoes on.
walking around what is known as the floating wharf here in the bristol harbor (it doesn't actually float but was called the floating wharf due to all the ships/ferries/waterfaring vehicles it attracted during it's heyday). dignan spied some old time trains & gave me some interesting background on the trains which he must have been channeling from some long dead tour guide because he told me things like:
"so the trains came in from over there. this is an old one that someone left here. a long time ago. it doesn't work. i don't know. it's just here."
"this was where the train station was a long time ago. people could catch the train from this platform & stairs. there's an old car. someone left it here a long time ago. it doesn't go anymore."
"this is a really big anchor. it came from a really big boat. they left it here a long time ago. it was tied to the boat with a string. it's really big and made of iron."
so dignan has a bright future ahead of him as a bristol tour guide because everything he told me seemed feasible. plus he seemed to believe all his own hype, which made me want to believe in it too.
dashund alert!
so we found these cute little dashund doggies on friday, only they were barely keeping their little heads above water as they seemed to discovered a very deep puddle near explore@ bristol. interestingly enough, the peanuts seem to "float" over this same deep puddle. interesting.
the chocolate chronicles continued
so the chocolate quest continues people.
we have rediscovered the kinder egg, a previous fav from our wedding in italy some 7 years ago. the kinder egg is a german feat of chocolate engineering. a thin layer of milk chocolate covers a thin layer of white chocolate & nestled inside is a plastic egg shaped container that contains, tah-dah, a toy surprise! when we first saw these years ago, we were amazed at the intricacy of the kinder toy surprises not to mention the wee tiny pieces. i guess lawsuits against companies are not a huge thing out this way.
we have now passed the kinder egg torch to the peanuts & they love 'em. the chocolate AND the surprise - 2 things of goodness wrapped in one delicious package.
cadbury twirl - yet another cadbury bar made of milk chocolate intertwined with even more chocolatey-ness with some caramel thrown in for good measure. very good, especially since i was very very hungry.
sainsbury dark chocolate bar - a dark choco bar by the sainsbury grocery chain that is simply, exactly what it says it is. no frills. no surprises. and a very good compliment to peanut butter. and it's like 46p for a big bar. will definitely keep picking up one of these bad boys every time i go to the store.
which is like very other day.
gu part 2: microwaved the 2nd gu chocolate pud & really, it seemed to me that both cooking methods yielded about the same product. not really any discernable diff in oven cooking vs microwave cooking. except that microwaving was alot faster & provided instant choco gratification. so there's that.
chocolate twist pastry - available at costa coffee & recommended by a friend. delicious puff pastry with creamy filling twisted throughout as well as a hearty chocolate drizzling on top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. not really a pastry person am i but thought this was pretty damn good. and the peanuts liked it too.
that's the chocolate news for now.
i am going to keep on keeping on.
we have rediscovered the kinder egg, a previous fav from our wedding in italy some 7 years ago. the kinder egg is a german feat of chocolate engineering. a thin layer of milk chocolate covers a thin layer of white chocolate & nestled inside is a plastic egg shaped container that contains, tah-dah, a toy surprise! when we first saw these years ago, we were amazed at the intricacy of the kinder toy surprises not to mention the wee tiny pieces. i guess lawsuits against companies are not a huge thing out this way.
we have now passed the kinder egg torch to the peanuts & they love 'em. the chocolate AND the surprise - 2 things of goodness wrapped in one delicious package.
cadbury twirl - yet another cadbury bar made of milk chocolate intertwined with even more chocolatey-ness with some caramel thrown in for good measure. very good, especially since i was very very hungry.
sainsbury dark chocolate bar - a dark choco bar by the sainsbury grocery chain that is simply, exactly what it says it is. no frills. no surprises. and a very good compliment to peanut butter. and it's like 46p for a big bar. will definitely keep picking up one of these bad boys every time i go to the store.
which is like very other day.
gu part 2: microwaved the 2nd gu chocolate pud & really, it seemed to me that both cooking methods yielded about the same product. not really any discernable diff in oven cooking vs microwave cooking. except that microwaving was alot faster & provided instant choco gratification. so there's that.
chocolate twist pastry - available at costa coffee & recommended by a friend. delicious puff pastry with creamy filling twisted throughout as well as a hearty chocolate drizzling on top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. not really a pastry person am i but thought this was pretty damn good. and the peanuts liked it too.
that's the chocolate news for now.
i am going to keep on keeping on.
Monday, October 5, 2009
workin for the weekend
so after a tiring first week, it is finally the weekend!
we have some business up on park street to attend to - internet dongle & to figure out this mobile phone thing once & for all. a friend says there is a vodaphone store on park street, so that is our #1 destination today. plus we have heard rumblings of a burger place in clifton that recalls the counter, back home in santa monica.
we decide on a different route to park street today since i have been on foot all week & feeling a bit jaunty that i have the city all laid out. we pass a karate place that has a sunday class for kids at 10.30am. check. peanuts will be doing that tomorrow. we get to navigate on foot a roundabout (they are called gyra-something or other in bristol though) which takes 3 crosswalks to get across the street.
vodaphone store located, all 4 of us walk in & luckily there is someone available to help us immediately. within minutes of explaining my blackberry dilemma, alex is on the phone with vodaphone to crack the blackberry code.
sadly, his efforts are fruitless: what we suspected about the blackberry is true: it will NOT get internet, no matter what. the manufacturer of the bb does not make the settings available to the various mobile companies around the globe to unlock the inner bb workings of attaining internet.
so so sad.
joe saves the day & says we should get another UK internet friendly phone - especially important once we hear the very limited parameters of the dial-up dongle thingamahoosy. yay! i get this samsung tocca lite which is like an iPhone - it gets/sends texts, can get FM radio, take pics, has organizers & alarms galore as well as phone calls AND internet.
awesome sauce indeed.
the pay-as-you-go internet dongle has a supa dupa sloooooooooooooooooow connection & costs #15 for 1G which is equals about 3 hours of internet per day. this is going to be interesting as we had figured on being able to get online to watch HBO. so no entourage. no hung. no nothin' tv-wise.
but the kids are cryin' the hunger blues so we bid adieu to helpful alex & make our way to the burger joint. i am pleasantly surprised as i am able to take us directly there without getting us lost and the place actually exists AND is open. i am a human GPS, people.
we are seated immediately near the window which opens onto the sidewalk so we get to watch all of bristol stroll by when we enjoy our 'burgs.
the burger joint does satisfy: the meat is good, not as tasty as the counter but not the boney, piecey stuff we have heard horror stories about. they have got making american french fries down & they taste delicious. they also offer a thicker cut "chip" as well as some other british sides but next time, i am going to get the french fries! they have a little burger for small fries for #4.50 & a regular 'burg goes for #6.50 (around $10) which includes one side, 2 sauces, fixings & a choice of cheese. not bad plus they offer chicken, lamb, veggie & buffalo 'burgs too.
all full up with yummy burger goodness, we're off to meet the bredows & check out our permanent digs.
we have some business up on park street to attend to - internet dongle & to figure out this mobile phone thing once & for all. a friend says there is a vodaphone store on park street, so that is our #1 destination today. plus we have heard rumblings of a burger place in clifton that recalls the counter, back home in santa monica.
we decide on a different route to park street today since i have been on foot all week & feeling a bit jaunty that i have the city all laid out. we pass a karate place that has a sunday class for kids at 10.30am. check. peanuts will be doing that tomorrow. we get to navigate on foot a roundabout (they are called gyra-something or other in bristol though) which takes 3 crosswalks to get across the street.
vodaphone store located, all 4 of us walk in & luckily there is someone available to help us immediately. within minutes of explaining my blackberry dilemma, alex is on the phone with vodaphone to crack the blackberry code.
sadly, his efforts are fruitless: what we suspected about the blackberry is true: it will NOT get internet, no matter what. the manufacturer of the bb does not make the settings available to the various mobile companies around the globe to unlock the inner bb workings of attaining internet.
so so sad.
joe saves the day & says we should get another UK internet friendly phone - especially important once we hear the very limited parameters of the dial-up dongle thingamahoosy. yay! i get this samsung tocca lite which is like an iPhone - it gets/sends texts, can get FM radio, take pics, has organizers & alarms galore as well as phone calls AND internet.
awesome sauce indeed.
the pay-as-you-go internet dongle has a supa dupa sloooooooooooooooooow connection & costs #15 for 1G which is equals about 3 hours of internet per day. this is going to be interesting as we had figured on being able to get online to watch HBO. so no entourage. no hung. no nothin' tv-wise.
but the kids are cryin' the hunger blues so we bid adieu to helpful alex & make our way to the burger joint. i am pleasantly surprised as i am able to take us directly there without getting us lost and the place actually exists AND is open. i am a human GPS, people.
we are seated immediately near the window which opens onto the sidewalk so we get to watch all of bristol stroll by when we enjoy our 'burgs.
the burger joint does satisfy: the meat is good, not as tasty as the counter but not the boney, piecey stuff we have heard horror stories about. they have got making american french fries down & they taste delicious. they also offer a thicker cut "chip" as well as some other british sides but next time, i am going to get the french fries! they have a little burger for small fries for #4.50 & a regular 'burg goes for #6.50 (around $10) which includes one side, 2 sauces, fixings & a choice of cheese. not bad plus they offer chicken, lamb, veggie & buffalo 'burgs too.
all full up with yummy burger goodness, we're off to meet the bredows & check out our permanent digs.
sailing takes me away . . . .
despite the calendar, i am a bit behind on posting since we moved to our permanent flat & i was caught up in my own personal tetris game AKA packing up 4 people.
at the end of the first week here, jet lag was starting to set in & kids were beginning to turn on each other. did i mention i was tired too?
it's friday, typically a day of celebration for most but to us, signaled the end of what seemed to be a colossally long week. finally. dignan & gemma were tired too and just wanted to sit around the flat but the flat was so small that they were literally on top of each other so a fight would break out & need refereeing like every 30 seconds.
like donna summer so aptly put it, enough is enough.
we donned shoes & hoodies & headed to the harbor - which is like 500 feet from our flat. i prayed that the serenity of watching boats, ferries, & kayaks would have a calming effect on my 2 cranky children & allow me a few moments of silence &\as well as a well deserved break from playing ref.
walking in the fresh air & letting kids run amuck gave digs & gemma a chance to blow off some steam & get out of each faces. i get a call from joe on my phone, who has a little down time because of computer issues at work & he wants to know what we are doing.
at that moment, i spy a funny little boat that is going back & forth between the 2 sides of the river, piloted by a young lady my kids will later dub "pirate girl". this is the ferry, (if you can indeed call it that as it is sooooooooooooo small) that joe takes to aardman every morning. this tiny river worthy ferry it is captained by some salty characters whose job it is to carry passengers back & forth between the 2 sides of the harbor.
and it costs all of 60 pence.
that's right folks, just under a buck twenty.
we have a bona fide amusement park ride right here not 500 feet from our front door & it's a whole 60p. what took me so long to discover this little gem of distraction? i break out the 60p & usher the kids on board. diggy is supa skeptical about the safety of this craft & even now asks me about the bright orange life preservers that adorn the sides of the ferry. we make it across, no sweat where we meet up with joe who has come out to meet us for a quick hello.
as mentioned, this ferry is captained by some interesting sea folk. the gentleman who has taken us across several times since that initial trek, is one smooth sailor. the ferry has this little square hook that attaches to a pole at the end of the dock. said gentleman can tap & attach in one fell swoop. all net, every time. another ferry captain, this one a lovely young lady who g & d have dubbed "pirate girl", is one who gemma just cannot take her eyes off of. pirate girl is an interesting study in fashion and if i can somehow snap her pic inconspicuously, i will do so & post it here. she literally dresses like a pirate girl but not because her job requires it, but because i honestly think this is her preferred style of dress. she has a uniform, if you will that does not vary from day to day. here's a typical breakdown of her daily pirate uniform:
- skinny jeans (bless her, she is tiny-tiny & looks fabulous in these)
- long sleeve appropriately torn up shirt
- also appropriately ripped up short sleeve t-shirt, a tad bigger, over the long sleever.
- a natty, buttonless long sleeve cardie. usually worn askew, off one shoulder.
- a pair of oxblood doc martens that were probably around when i was in high school since the zipper function has long expired. pirate girl holds the shoes together using a yellow ribbon tied gladiator fashion up, around & over said doc martens.
she plays her little iPod whilst driving, listening to the likes of billy bragg & patsy cline on any given trip.
after this little refresher & some lunch back at the flat, i decide to head back out to park street, get the skinny on my blackberry & why it won't get internet, despite the salesguy's promise that it would.
the weather here has been unquestionably warm since our arrival & luckily, i packed us all some short sleeved tees. water, snacks, camera, & stroller & we are out the door some 45 minutes after i decided that this was going to be our afternoon.
the peanuts have decided to go on strike with the whole walking thing & again, we are lucky that we thought to bring one stroller. after convincing both children that they will each get a ride in the stroller - one there, one back, we set off for the carphone warehouse & if my luck holds, the sainsburys.
after walking about halfway there, gemma feigns tiredness so we stop at starbuck's for a rest & a little drink. plus they have free wi-fi, so i can check the status of my blackberry browser since i get no internet love back at the flat.
after discovering that the english don't offer any chilled teas in their version of our beloved starbucks, i decide on a mango passionfruit concoction that hopefully will suffice until i can get home & brew up some green tea myself. when i bring it back to the table & my waiting children, gemma promptly asks "what is that?". and rightly so. my girl knows me & knows that my drink of the day is always always, green tea sweetened. thank the heavens above i had the sense to get one before we boarded our plane.
not at all swayed by my argument that this new drink is even better than the usual green tea, gemma looks around and says "hmmm. that's strange. it looks like the starbucks back home. so why don't they have green tea? are they crazy?"
exactly, my girl. exactly.
she also points out that everyone has an english accent. that lady over there. that guy. the girls walking by. the lady who took our drink order. everyone. not much gets past this little girl, i tell you.
so drink, drank. brownie treat consumed, we hit the road again & set off for the carphone warehouse.
no love at the carphone warehouse. a different saleguy says that blackberrys are not very compatible with overseas internet & checks my settings anyways to see if there is anything he can do. nope. nada. zip. zero.
very disappointing indeed.
the kids are distracted, so we duck across the street to the sainsburys to get the fixins to make bangers & mash for that night's dinner. it turns out to be a disastrous - they touch everything in sight, hit each nonstop in the cart & yell. yes, shoppers, i have THOSE kids. i hurry them the heck out of there lest i am commited to memory by sainsbury staff & fellow shoppers & forbidden to shop there for the remainder of our stay here.
gemma falls asleep & dignan stomps his feet all the way home.
what time will joe be home again?
at the end of the first week here, jet lag was starting to set in & kids were beginning to turn on each other. did i mention i was tired too?
it's friday, typically a day of celebration for most but to us, signaled the end of what seemed to be a colossally long week. finally. dignan & gemma were tired too and just wanted to sit around the flat but the flat was so small that they were literally on top of each other so a fight would break out & need refereeing like every 30 seconds.
like donna summer so aptly put it, enough is enough.
we donned shoes & hoodies & headed to the harbor - which is like 500 feet from our flat. i prayed that the serenity of watching boats, ferries, & kayaks would have a calming effect on my 2 cranky children & allow me a few moments of silence &\as well as a well deserved break from playing ref.
walking in the fresh air & letting kids run amuck gave digs & gemma a chance to blow off some steam & get out of each faces. i get a call from joe on my phone, who has a little down time because of computer issues at work & he wants to know what we are doing.
at that moment, i spy a funny little boat that is going back & forth between the 2 sides of the river, piloted by a young lady my kids will later dub "pirate girl". this is the ferry, (if you can indeed call it that as it is sooooooooooooo small) that joe takes to aardman every morning. this tiny river worthy ferry it is captained by some salty characters whose job it is to carry passengers back & forth between the 2 sides of the harbor.
and it costs all of 60 pence.
that's right folks, just under a buck twenty.
we have a bona fide amusement park ride right here not 500 feet from our front door & it's a whole 60p. what took me so long to discover this little gem of distraction? i break out the 60p & usher the kids on board. diggy is supa skeptical about the safety of this craft & even now asks me about the bright orange life preservers that adorn the sides of the ferry. we make it across, no sweat where we meet up with joe who has come out to meet us for a quick hello.
as mentioned, this ferry is captained by some interesting sea folk. the gentleman who has taken us across several times since that initial trek, is one smooth sailor. the ferry has this little square hook that attaches to a pole at the end of the dock. said gentleman can tap & attach in one fell swoop. all net, every time. another ferry captain, this one a lovely young lady who g & d have dubbed "pirate girl", is one who gemma just cannot take her eyes off of. pirate girl is an interesting study in fashion and if i can somehow snap her pic inconspicuously, i will do so & post it here. she literally dresses like a pirate girl but not because her job requires it, but because i honestly think this is her preferred style of dress. she has a uniform, if you will that does not vary from day to day. here's a typical breakdown of her daily pirate uniform:
- skinny jeans (bless her, she is tiny-tiny & looks fabulous in these)
- long sleeve appropriately torn up shirt
- also appropriately ripped up short sleeve t-shirt, a tad bigger, over the long sleever.
- a natty, buttonless long sleeve cardie. usually worn askew, off one shoulder.
- a pair of oxblood doc martens that were probably around when i was in high school since the zipper function has long expired. pirate girl holds the shoes together using a yellow ribbon tied gladiator fashion up, around & over said doc martens.
she plays her little iPod whilst driving, listening to the likes of billy bragg & patsy cline on any given trip.
after this little refresher & some lunch back at the flat, i decide to head back out to park street, get the skinny on my blackberry & why it won't get internet, despite the salesguy's promise that it would.
the weather here has been unquestionably warm since our arrival & luckily, i packed us all some short sleeved tees. water, snacks, camera, & stroller & we are out the door some 45 minutes after i decided that this was going to be our afternoon.
the peanuts have decided to go on strike with the whole walking thing & again, we are lucky that we thought to bring one stroller. after convincing both children that they will each get a ride in the stroller - one there, one back, we set off for the carphone warehouse & if my luck holds, the sainsburys.
after walking about halfway there, gemma feigns tiredness so we stop at starbuck's for a rest & a little drink. plus they have free wi-fi, so i can check the status of my blackberry browser since i get no internet love back at the flat.
after discovering that the english don't offer any chilled teas in their version of our beloved starbucks, i decide on a mango passionfruit concoction that hopefully will suffice until i can get home & brew up some green tea myself. when i bring it back to the table & my waiting children, gemma promptly asks "what is that?". and rightly so. my girl knows me & knows that my drink of the day is always always, green tea sweetened. thank the heavens above i had the sense to get one before we boarded our plane.
not at all swayed by my argument that this new drink is even better than the usual green tea, gemma looks around and says "hmmm. that's strange. it looks like the starbucks back home. so why don't they have green tea? are they crazy?"
exactly, my girl. exactly.
she also points out that everyone has an english accent. that lady over there. that guy. the girls walking by. the lady who took our drink order. everyone. not much gets past this little girl, i tell you.
so drink, drank. brownie treat consumed, we hit the road again & set off for the carphone warehouse.
no love at the carphone warehouse. a different saleguy says that blackberrys are not very compatible with overseas internet & checks my settings anyways to see if there is anything he can do. nope. nada. zip. zero.
very disappointing indeed.
the kids are distracted, so we duck across the street to the sainsburys to get the fixins to make bangers & mash for that night's dinner. it turns out to be a disastrous - they touch everything in sight, hit each nonstop in the cart & yell. yes, shoppers, i have THOSE kids. i hurry them the heck out of there lest i am commited to memory by sainsbury staff & fellow shoppers & forbidden to shop there for the remainder of our stay here.
gemma falls asleep & dignan stomps his feet all the way home.
what time will joe be home again?
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