Halloween!

So - our London Halloween experience was different, but OK I guess? They definitely don't make as big a deal of it here as in the states. We did go trick-or-treating and learned quickly that you only go to houses that are very obviously decorated. We started by knocking on doors with lights on...NOT the way it works here! One poor guy went searching for money to give the kids because he didn't have candy! Anyway, once we got the hang of it and realized it's a little bit of a treasure hunt (maybe 1 in 10 houses max were ready for trick-or-treaters), the kids had a great time going up and down the streets looking for doors to knock on. Luckily for us parents, the kids were cold after about 30 minutes and ready to go home and dig into their loot(it really was cold!). So here's some pics of our first British Halloween....

Noah tanking up before we head out...

Drew and Addie showing off their expertly carved pumpkins...

Out little farm boy (AKA costume made of things we could find around the house)...

Let the hunt begin! The extra kid is Joseph (or Jofez as Addie calls him) from across the street...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Lost and found...

I just found about 25 priceless pictures that I thought had been lost when our computer crashed a while back. I'm ecstatic! So to celebrate, I'm going to post a few that were in there from Halloween '06. Yea!!

Bocketts Farm...

One of things we miss about the states, is the pumkin patch. It's kind of our "here come the holidays" tradition. They don't really do them here - or so I thought. Our friend called yesterday and invited us out to this farm just 40 minutes out of London. OK - so it wasn't an actual pumpkin patch, but they had a ton of fall/Halloween activities and we came home with pumkins! The kids are on term break this week, so it was a great day OUT of the city for everyone!

Mom's visit...

My mom made it out here for a couple weeks this month. One of the best things about her coming is that she makes these...

My favorite orange rolls! Noah decided he liked them too...
One of the other great things about mom coming to visit is that I get someone to go exploring with. What made it even better is that the kids were in school! Which meant we had the days to go play. We went to Harrod's, where we looked at a million things we'll never be able to afford (and probably wouldn't buy if we could) and had lunch...

...The British Museum where we explored all the ancient treasures the British Empire has stolen from the rest of the world over the last 2000 years (somehow we didn't take any pictures)...Westminster Abbey, neat place - lots of dead important people...

...and Covent Garden Market where we heard some beautiful music from the street performers, saw some great craft stalls and had our first English pasties, which were very tasty. We did decide to include the rest of the family a little. One Saturday we wanted to get out of the city and went to Canterbury. The Cathedral there is gorgeous! I honestly liked it better than Westminster Abbey.
We also explored the town a little, ate lunch at the park and played in the ruins of a Norman castle.
We still had a few hours of daylight left, so we drove out to the coast to see Reculver Towers. This was my favorite stop of the trip. Not really that much there...but it was breathtaking.

There was one mishap as a result of mom's visit. She brought Drew a Spiderman pen which she didn't realize included an attached ink stamp. Guess who found it? And guess what happens when a 1 year old sucks on a blue Spiderman stamp for who knows how long before his mom realizes he has it..."Baby Smurf"! He was only blue for a couple of days and somehow managed to keep the mess to his little person. Grandma forgiven. So, Mom, you're invited back any time (for the price of at least one batch of orange rolls)! You can even bring Dad next time - if you want.

Time for a new toothbrush...

I know, this bidets never actually been used as a bidet (we're not that European yet), but I'm not sticking that thing in my mouth just the same (insert gagging noises here). Thanks, Noah.

3 weeks...

...and this is all that remains of Addison's school shoes.

Hair by boogar...

I had nothing to do with this one, folks...just Noah and his boogs.

What is it about kiddos in the tub?!

My little escapee...

Dang, I love this kid! He's about 15 months now and just the best little guy. He just goes with the flow. Whatever we're doing, wherever we are, he just goes with it. His favorite thing these days is to be outside. He'll do anything to get there. We had a little incident a while back...kids left the door open...Noah got out...found him crawling down the middle of the road...awesome. So I wanted to see how fast the little bugger can really escape. First I just let him out the front door - let him mess with the gate - just to make sure he can't open it. Then I opened the gate to see what he'd do. From the moment I opened the gate...it took him about 15 seconds to be down at the next corner. The kid is lightening! Anyway - here's a few pics - I couldn't resist getting a few shots of the whole thing.