Day One: Central London

My Auntie and Uncle live in a "flat" across the street from Regent Park, so our location was ideal.  We mostly walked, took the (double decker!!) bus, and underground to get around. 

We spent most of the first day sightseeing around central London.  We walked and walked and walked some more... I've never done so much sight seeing in my life!  I absolutely loved the city.  It reminded me a lot of Washington DC.  I could definitely see myself living here. 

Our first stop was Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony.  We were happy to see that the flag was up during our visit, which meant the queen was in the palace. 

We walked through Green and Saint James Park to get to Horse guards Parade Square.  From there we went on to Trafalgar Square and saw Nelson's Column.

After lunch we headed past Donning Street apartment 10 and 11, which is where the Prime Minister and Chancellor live.  Westminster Abby and the Houses of Parliament (Big Ben) were our next stop. 

From there we crossed the river to ride London's Eye, walked along the riverbank and then walked across the Millennium Bridge.  We ended our day with dinner at a French Restaurant across the street from St. Paul's Cathedral. 

 

I promised the kids I'd get a picture with a double decker bus.  They were obsessed with them before I left.  This was our main mode of transportation during our trip.

Buckingham Palace

The famous balcony...

Changing of the Guard

The crowds were crazy!  This is the view behind me. Luckily, we got there early and got a good view of the Changing of the Guard.

Victoria Memorial

(across from Buckingham Palace)

 

"Humps for 1 mile"

 

Houses of Parliament

 

Big Ben!

Houses of Parliment

 

 

Westminster Abby

 

Horse Guard Parade Field

 

Horse Guard Parade Field

 

Horse Guard and my mom

 

A view of the London Eye

 

A view from the London Eye

 

Inside the London Eye Capsule

 

 

You can see the Tower Bridge (London Bridge) and the Shard in the distance

 

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar's Square

 

Trafalgar's Square

 

 

 

St Paul's Cathedral

 

London: My UK Family

We made it...

The Gadingan Girls

 



I had about 15 hours of traveling and it took me an additional two hours to get through the UK border agency.  Let's just say I had a little bit of trouble getting into the country and the border agent I worked with was not so nice, ugh.   Anyways...

Yes, there are Filipinos in the UK and apparently a lot of them! Most of my mom's side of the family immigrated to the UK.  My Auntie Aster (and host) has been living in London almost all her life.  Her better half, Uncle Bill, is a retired soldier of the British Army and a true Englishman.  I honestly feel that because our hosts were locals, it made our experience much more authentic.

My Auntie Aster and her family have visited us is the US several times, so it was time to return the favor! She has two sons about my age, Andrew and Richard, whom I haven't seen in about 20 years. It was fun because we talked about the last time we all saw each other, which was a trip to the Philippines.  We had a lot of good laughs and great memories.

I'll never forget the time Andrew asked me where Gotham City was when he visited us in the US.  Needless to say, he was a disappointed child when he found out there was no such city.  We were just kids back then and it's so crazy to think about.  Now, Andrew's kids are obsessed with Batman.  They also think I'm married to Spider Man because everyone calls me Mary Jane.  I played along with it the entire time, so now they think their Auntie Mary Jane is pretty cool ;0)

Just a handful of MANY Soliven family members who live in the UK. I didn't realize how much family we had here!

 

 

 

This is the building where my Auntie Aster's "flat" is located. It's absolutely beautiful. Regent Park is right across the street, so the location was perfect!  My Uncle Bill manages the property and the flats are worth 4-15 million dollars.  Apparently, in their neighborhood there are several BBC actors (whose names I didn't recognize) and several famous athletes.   

Au revoir!

I'm off to my European adventure... I'll be back in two weeks! I love you and miss you all!

4th of July

This year we had two Fourth of July celebrations!  We enjoyed a block party with our cul de sac neighbors on Wednesday and a BBQ with friends on Thursday.  Yummy food, fireworks, awesome friends, kids running everywhere... we had a blast!

 

Chalk Paint Flags

The Settlement Preschool

Before being a parent, I thought for sure I wouldn't end up being one of those parents that stresses out about things like getting my child into the right preschool.  But alas, things changed drastically when I actually became a parent.  I became "that parent" that was worried about preschool!  In my defense, I think it's pretty universal to think that most parents want the best for their children.

In an ideal situation, we would have loved for Amelia to be in a Montessori school.  However, our town is small and there is only one Montessori school in the area.  Even then, it would have been a 30+ minute drive for me (one way) and very pricey.  We looked at a lot of other options, asked other parents, did long, in depth Internet searches, and visited schools. 

We found an amazing school called The Settlement.  It's been in Clarksville for many years and we loved it as soon as we walked through the doors.  The campus serves children from 6 weeks all the way up to Kindergarten.

What I like best about The Settlement is that there is only one class for each age group.  This means there is only one 3-4 year old class in the entire school.  Amelia's class consists of a total of nine students and has two teachers.  I like that it's so personal and they can really focus on the children.

Getting admission wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be.  Coming from DC and hearing horror stories from my mom friends out there had me prepared for the worst.  However, since we started the process so early (last February) we were able to get one of the coveted nine slots in the 3-4 year old class.  When Alex turns three, his admission will be much easier.  He will be considered a "legacy" and will automatically get a spot since he is a sibling.

Amelia's first day of school will actually be on her 3rd birthday, August 20th.  Because of this, she will be the youngest student in her class.  She only made the age cut off by 10 days! Those 10 days were the difference of her starting this year rather than next year.

This worries me a little bit because she is such a sensitive, emotional child.  However, she is very intelligent, gregarious, and focused. I think she will be able to keep up with the older children just fine.  In addition, in preparation for preschool, I've been taking her to an hourly care program on Fort Campbell once a week.  She has been going for almost a year and has been thriving in her class.

Her schedule will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:45am-12:15pm.  In the grand scheme of things it's not a very long time, but I feel it's just the beginning of the long process letting her go.  As silly as it may seem, I will truly miss her.  I've spent almost every waking hour with her since she was born.  Giving her up for those hours regularly will be an adjustment.  I fully plan on being an emotional wreck on her first day of school.

I am excited about spending more quality time with Alex.  I plan on taking him to a gymnastics class while Amelia is in school.  We will keep up our regular busy schedule of play dates and activities.   I know Alex will enjoy all the extra attention ;0)  It will also be so much easier to have just once child.  I won't be running around like a crazy person trying to keep track of the kids.  Hopefully, this will bring a little more sanity in my life.

Randoms...

Amelia insisted that Martha come with us to run errands

 

Turtle soup?

Cutest. Shopper. Ever.