peanut birthday

so the peanuts celebrated their 4th birthday here in bristol.

i made thomas the tank engine and fifi and the flowertots cupcakes for diggy and gemma to hand out to their friends at school. there are cupcake mixes here that have EVERYTHING in them: cupcake cases, icing & decorations. making me look like the most awesome cupcake decorator ever. their class made big birthday cards for each of them and sang happy birthday.

we had a birthday dinner out at a restaurant called giraffe in cabot circus, where they got a slice of chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream as well as a pink and a blue birthday candle. we were joined by gram-gram, pumpa, miss bonnie and mr. tim who all helped ring in the double birthday.

after balloons and many plastic giraffes later, we also popped into hotel chocolate - purveyor of fancy british chocolate where each of us was offered a dark chocolate angel from the advent calendar collection. delish. specialty chocolates abound at this establishment. delish. delish. delish. got a giant skull that is the size of a sheet of paper for 5# (about $9). gemma was beyond to get a heart shaped strawberry chocolate lolly that she was jumping up & down. this amused the hotel chocolate staff so much that the manager went and filled 2 cups with milk chocolate angels, snowmen & mistletoe and gave one to each child. gemma almost screamed.

what an awesome birthday indeed!

bristol

has the dumbest. flies. ever.
and damn, they are big.
big and dumb, an awesome combination in traits for a fly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

today is gemma and dignan's 4th birthday!

they are celebrating with a homemade thomas the tank engine and fifi and the flowertot cupcakes to share with their fellow classmates at woodland nursery which will be served at tea today at 4pm.

later, we'll call nana and poppa in rhode island. gram-gram and pumpa came to visit last week. then a dinner out in their honor at cabot circus, which is not really a circus at all.

will post pics from the birthday revelry soon.

happy birthday dignan!

happpy birthday gemma!

we love you both so much!

fall back

england also follows the tradition of turning the clocks back in october which has lead to the days seeming like they are really short. like over by 1pm.

i pick up the peanuts from school around 4pm-ish and by 4:30, it's dusk. by 5pm, it's dark outside. and by 5:30pm, night is completely here.

on the upside, i always say when it's dark, that means bedtime. good for mama & daddy!

cheeky monkey

so i may just come home with 2 kids with british accents. or at least an infusion of britishisms peppered throughout their vocabulary.

since their enrollment at woodland house nursery, there has been an increased usage of the very british term "cheeky monkey" around our flat. as in "you're a cheeky monkey." "no, you're the cheeky monkey." then cue peals of preachooler laughter.

i am just happy that we have been able to expunge both "poop" and "poopy" from daily conversation. we had already infected room 3 back home with these catchphrase witticisms and was worried that was going to be the impression we were going to leave behind here in bristol.

sadly, now EVERYTHING is cheeky. that is cheeky. she is cheeky. he is cheeky. you are cheeky. that was SO cheeky. too cheeky. upon uttering such a phrase, dignan and gemma fall on the floor in such laughter that they roll around, just repeating over and over, cheeky, cheeky, cheeky. which just starts the laughing anew.

and keeps them from throttling each other as i make dinner.

now that's a real dilemma

not sure if i have mentioned that we are within spitting distance of bristol university. not that i condone spitting.

a few uni students came by woodland house nursery and asked if they could do a little study on the preschoolers. a parental agreement form went out and the "experiment" was detailed as such:
each child would be shown a puppet show featuring puppet A and puppet B. puppet A has the intention of giving puppet B a gift but some type of three's company misunderstanding ensues whereas the gift intended for puppet B actually goes to puppet C.

after watching the puppet show, each child would be asked a series of questions to determine their understanding of the situation, the emotions for each character as the gift is handed to the wrong person, etc.

gemma's summation of the whole thing? "well, that's a real dilemma". my girl is succinct if nothing.

apparently, the uni students and woodland house nursery school teachers were laughing so hard there was not a dry eye in the house because of her nonchalant yet straight to the point comment. nor did they get through their roster of questions with gemma.

despite the inconclusive findings, i was told they found her brilliant and very entertaining as she went on to tell them in very detailed description some other story. plus they could not get over her proper and appropriate use of very big words as therefore, nevermind, gargantuan and otherwise.

ziploc recant

so apparently, ziploc technology HAS made it over here; sainsbury's just doesn't always carry the zip top bags i've grown up with.

it still must be somewhat puzzling food storage technology as when i went to george to look for sandwich bags, the last 2 packages were opened, as if someone was like, well should i get these? it is new fangled food storage technology that is heralded to keep my food fresher longer. let's open 'em up and have ourselves a look see. nah! nevermind. i'll just go back to stale sammies.

therefore, i recant my ziploc post admonishing england for it's lack of ziploc bag options.

fancy schmancy ziploc technology

apparently, the makers of ziploc technology have withheld releasing such incredible food storage knowledge across the pond. at least not for the popular sandwich size bags.

no blue and yellow make green. uh-uh. no way, jose.

instead there is this 2 sided stickety stick scientific mumbo jumbo standing in for the revered ziploc bag closure system. which means, whatever you put in said bag always gets stuck on the sticky part of the bag or the sticky part folds over itself and upon separating the two conjoined pieces, the stick no longer sticks.

sigh.

ladybugs

and i'm not referring to the comic masterpiece of the same name starring the late great comedian rodney dangerfield.

what is up with all the ladybugs in bristol?

every time i open our bathroom window, they slowly creep in until there are 8 or 10 laybugs throughout the room. they are also supa dupa wary of people. i tried to get one to crawl onto my hand so i could show the kids. nope. this ladybug avoided me at every turn.

denied. by a ladybug.

like driving on the other side of the road, these ladybugs are black with red-orange spots and they are so abundant it makes me wonder if perhaps the ladybug is the official bug of bristol.

the peanuts do london

LONDON!!!

london calling!!!

although we have been here just about a month, we have yet to take any weekend getaways. we decided to shoot for london because it's only about 2 hours away via car or a little over an hour by train.

we had been advised by several of joe's co-workers that the best way to london from bristol was to make the drive in, park the car at the train station just outside of london and take the train in. parking is 1# a day at the train station as opposed to 25#s at one's hotel.

worst. idea. EVER.

first of all, these people don't have 2 almost-4 year olds and they take a half day off from work so they aren't arriving in london at 1am or missing the train INTO london, the last of which is 11pm.

that being said, we made it into london and found our hotel after MUCH fumbling with the garmin, which at the most inopportune times, has this feature which auto-completes what you are typing. unfortunately, it never actually auto-completes with any place or street that you need or want at that particular moment. i must say joe did an excellent job driving while i did an excellent job at being tired and cranky. the peanuts did an excellent job of sleeping through the entire car ride into london. which is awesome until you have to wake them to get them into the hotel. oops.

all in all a good trip. we rode a double decker bus throughout the city. for my thin california blood, london was freezing and luckily, i packed everyone's down jackets, hats, scarves & gloves for this weekend jaunt.

we took the kids on the london eye, which is a giant ferris wheel with these glass encased pods that allow you get a 360 degree view of london from about 414 feet above ground. an entire rotation takes about 30 minutes, which just seems to fly by. tickets are expensive but so worth it. luckily, the kids are at an age where they are FREE. unfortunately, we are not so when dignan asked to go on it again, we sadly had to say no, the london was closing for repairs.

hitting all modes of travel on this getaway: we did air (london eye), land (double decker bus) and tackled sea by taking a ferry ride around the harbour.

we also took in some exceptional london theatre. what did we see you ask - les miz or phantom? more like scooby, as in scooby doo and the ghost pirate. yes, people when you have kids a night of london theatre means going to the hammersmith apollo and watching a british interpretation of an american cartoon from the late 60's. jinkies.

we tried out the london bus system, rode in a london taxi, and took the tube. we also discovered that dignan may be claustrophobic, a matter i will have to explore further with our pediatrician when we return home.

the kids ran around trafalgar square, which seemed empty since they shooed all the pigeons off in 1999. the last time we were here was the last hurrah for the famous trafalgar pigeons, one who thought my little toe looked like a delicious piece of corn. at least no dirty pigeon was going to nibble on my little toe this time.

the sherlock holmes pub, which has the yummiest bangers and mash EVER is even bigger and fancier than it was 10 years ago. bangers and mash being sausages, mashed taters and gravy and so good in fact, we came back the next day to have exactly the same meal.

amazingly, the texas embassy restaurant is still in business with their little tecate umbrella'd outdoor seating area. just in case you didn't know this little tidbit, the brits go crazy over armadillos, which makes me wonder if any 'dillos reside at the texas embassy.

and the london dungeon, which 10 years ago was this little attraction off the beaten path that featured a lame little 1 minute water flume ride is currently doing a brisk business and looks to have taken up the entire block with it's macabre reenactments of terrible events throughout history plus the london dungeon now boasts several rides. AND the line stretched around the friggin' block. what can i say? joe and i have have an eye for what is going to be the next big thing.

all the elevators AKA lifts in england

seem to always be broken or in some state of repair.

just thought you'd like to know. because if you were hoping to get on one, there's a 50-50 chance that is non-operational.

there is NO target in england

but they do have walmart but here it is called george or ASDA. we did see a super walmart this weekend, near cribbs causeway.

there is also a costco right here in bristol and i was told that american brands were in abundance at costco. not so. some brands, yes, skippy peanut butter and peanut m & m's but just as many british brands. and the hot dogs suck.

there is an IKEA a mile from the flat, which has more goodies than our IKEA including shower gel, shampoo, lotion and conditioner. an IKEA lifestyle if you will. plus an automated soft serve ice cream cone machine.

no sephora in bristol but an abundance of boots and superdrug stores, which give access to all those boots items that target is importing these days plus a whole lot more.

starbuck's are here and i have already written my rant on the lack of green and iced tea offerings so i'll spare you that subject again. there just isn't one on every corner thank goodness. mcdonald's, burger king, pizza hut, domino's, KFC & subway but no baja fresh, taco bell or chipotle, so forget running for the border.

bristol, england prices

a few of you have been asking, "shellaine, what are the prices like in england? we hear it's terribly terribly expensive"

well, some of that is true and some of that is not.

you just have to adjust your thinking of course and embrace the # as the new dollar. and try not to think that $1 american is equal to about #1.65 british pound sterling.

sometimes this is easy to do and sometimes it is not.

at the grocery store, for example, this is easier to do. especially since i shop at sainsbury's (or insanesbury's as joe has affectionately dubbed it) and price compare like i have got all day to shop. which i could, because grocery shopping days are tuesdays and thursdays - days the peanuts are in school but really who wants to spend all day in the grocery store? not i. grocery shopping for 4 bags of groceries takes me about an hour 15 min - this includes going to the sainsbury's there and back on foot.

here's some idea of the dough we are spending on foodstuffs: bread is 99p, about $1.60 a loaf. same with marshmallows. a small milk is 68p (maybe 1/4 gallon), so $1.20-ish. 8 fairtrade bananas are 95p and the red grapes from spain that we are all addicted to are #1.09 for a bunch - $2. a small basket of plums - 99p. a bag of 8 granny smith apples, #2.49 - $4.50. mini carrots 99p. rocket salad #1.17 and a bag of baby spinach, #1.57, just under $3. pizza express (a pizza chain like CPK) pizzas, on sale, natch, 2 for #5 or $7.50. jar of honey 62p = $1.10. a chocolate roll 17p, .30 cents american. a dark chocolate bar, 27p = .45 cents.

i have encountered some interesting price "hikes" - ugg boots at costco, #118 and strangely, $118 in the states. a jacket at guess at cabot circus #169 and again, $169 at home and online (this from bonnie, my online shopping source). seems like some companies leave a either the #, euro or dollar sign off a price ticket and when the item is sold in stores, you just add the appropriate monetary sign before the numbers.

primark still remains my favorite. alot of their items are made in ireland of all places and so many of their items go for #1 or when they ring you at the till (cash register), 96p. love this. most of my halloween costume was made up of #1 items from primark, which i will have to photograph for you to believe.

i haven't done any luxury shopping yet but am curious if the price will be the same number in pounds as it is in dollars. we have yet to take advantage of the tax-free shopping available to those not living here, which entitles us to avoid paying the VAT (value added tax) on an item.

the strasser twins get special treatment at the henge

as everyone the world over knows, dignan and gemma are just so cute.

so cute, in fact that the stonehenge docents let the peanuts get up close and personal with the rocks at stonehenge. i mean, they lifted the rope barrier and let the kids roam, climb, and in gemma's case, kiss the stones. the rain stopped, the clouds parted and everyone was in shock, because i think the last person they let do this was the pope and he was IN the popemobile.

just kidding people. these are rocks near the entrance that everyone can touch.

STONEHENGE!

bristol zoo pics

bristol zoo and botanical gardens

it is considered an small zoo and the zoo itself doesn't cover much acreage. there is a very good sampling of animals but some favs are missing, mainly elephants and giraffes.

bristol zoo does have:
lion and lioness

seals

penguins

fruit bats

spider monkeys

armadillos (which seem to be a bristol crowd pleaser for some odd reason)

meerkats

loorakeets

prairie dogs

flamingos

ducks

various birds

various fish

various snakes

plus bristol zoo boasts a fantastic butterfly pavillion where the peanuts got alot of personal attention from gill, i think because they had just really cute accents according to the zoo staff.

the lion and lioness are housed in what i consider a small enclosure but behind very thick wall of plexiglass or glass so you can get amazingly close to both without danger of either jumping out at you. probably the closest either peanut will ever get to a lion.

we got to see the lions fed as well as the seals. the peanuts spent alot of time at the seal encounter which had a new baby seal cub, 2 "teenage" seals, and 5 adult seals. the encounter also has an underwater tank to allow visitors to view the seals from under the water.

the fruit bats held their attention as they headed in to their enclosure for the night, one by one. one particular fruit bat waiting until the last possible moment to enter and call it a day.

there is also a fantastic play area for the kids to run, jump, climb, swing, slide at the bristol zoo as well as a activity center which strangely, charges for colouring pages and other activities.

we saw a brown rat, a tarantula (which dignan bravely stroked), a snake and a australian stick bug (which gemma touched). having seen alligator al and his brood of snakes, frogs and such at school, they were quite familiar with snakes but were unfortunately not allowed to touch.

the bristol zoo was amazingly easy to access via the bus, which dropped us off right in front and buses came and went every 5 minutes.

all in all, a good day was had by all.

things i don't like

i already did an entry about things i like/love about bristol, so to even things out, here is an entry about things i don't like about bristol:

-the limited recycling repetoire - joe calls me a recycling nazi back home because i recycle everything that can be recycled. i mean everything. despite bristol's top rating as "the" greenest city in england, they could expand their recycling trifecta to include cardboard, which is really just heavy paper in my opinion but not so in the bristol recycling pyramid which only currently allows for glass, paper and cans. no plastic either.

- elevators or lifts, as they are called here are almost always broken. i told joe if we want to stay here, the business he should be in is lift repair, because they are broken ALL over the city. and in london too.

- hot chocolate machine is always broken at places like miss millie's cookies or costa. more often miss millie's - i think because they just cleaned it and don't want to muck it up. i have gone to buy hot chocolate like 5 times and have been denied like 4 of those times. kinda reminds me of the cafe behind visionart: the menu offered milkshakes but gawd forbid if you asked the proprietress to make you one, she rolled her eyes like you asked her to raise your child from birth to adulthood. if you don't want to make it, then don't put it on the menu for gawdsakes.

- or alternately, "we are out of hot chocolate mix". how can a business be out of something? did you not "see" that the hot chocolate container was running out and think, hmmm, perhaps i should order another? cold weather is coming and it seems to be a popular drink. reminds me of honey's kettle in culver city - they offer mini apple pies but i have yet to go in on a day when they actually make any apple pies. honey's kettle always offers pecan or peach but i don't want either of those. i want the damn apple. please.

- restaurants stop serving early. too early in my opinion. but then what do i know, i'm just really hungry with no options.

- stores close too early on sundays. and damn the luck, i always discover i need something to complete dinner at the last minute. one sunday i ran to each of the grocery stores and got to the front doors just as each store was closing up for the night.

- it is expensive for a family of 4 to eat out. we went out for burgers the other day and the total bill came to 35#s, which roughly equals $60. for lunch. restaurants need to ask the store primark how they are able to have a business model that offers clothing for starting at 1#.

- bacon is not so good here. even streaky bacon which is supposed to be like american bacon. it's just weird and too thick.

- the lack of green tea at starbuck's or any cold tea options at any dining establishment. i have had to find a substitute in elderflower presses or "lemonade" which tastes suspiciously alot like sprite or 7-UP

settling in @ woodland house nursery, day 2

before the peanuts can go to school on their regular tuesdays and thursdays, dignan and gemma must complete at least 2 days of settling in.

and i am proud to report that the 2nd day of settling in went so very well! lunch was had this time around and i am told that my children eat all the fruits and vegetables, probably because they are not so in to meat pie.

dignan and gemma will be part of the fox cub room (named as we have fox cubs in our 'hood) along with xiao, hugo, otis, tissia, jenya, susie & a few others. teacher sam (the british version of teacher katie back home interestingly enough) finds the two of them HI-larious and completely brilliant. in the fox cub room, they also have teacher imogen and teacher becky to hang out with.

more woodland house nursery news to follow in upcoming blogs!

bristol museum part deux

bristol museum

we are supa dupa close to the bristol museum and they have an indoor play area that the kids just love - costumes for dress up, books, an audio cave to make your own story, make your own pottery, reconstruct a roman vase, etc.

and to sweeten the deal, it's F-R-E-E all the time.

there are other exhibits too, kinda like night at the museum; dinosaur bones, art, roman artifacts and mummies from egypt but the peanuts stick with the play area every time. talk about expanding one's mind.