Stephenson Family

is definitely not how we have been through our blog lately.  We’ve been preoccupied with getting settled into our new home.  When we feel a little more settled and less embarrassed about boxes and just ’stuff’ laying around, we may give you a tour.

When we first found out we would be moving to London, Emma gave us a list of her requirements:

• Must be new
• Nice neighborhood
• Kids on block my age
• Near school
• Near church
• Near gymnastics (for Caleb)

Let’s take those one by one and see how we did.

Must be new:  This request must stem from our previous home in New Jersey that was so poorly insulated that in the winter we had to wear gloves and jackets just to empty the dishwasher (until we fixed that problem ourselves).  No, we don’t live in a new house now and it is quite cold inside still, but maybe we’re just used to it as we haven’t heard any complaints yet.

Nice neighborhood:  We live in a nice town outside of London.  Colin Firth lives here for goodness sakes!  Granted, we have been in this house for 3 weeks and only one neighbor has introduced themselves to us.  But, it’s a short walk to the doctor’s office, the dentist, the train, and the bus to get to the tube.  It is also close to a major road so we can get places quickly if we HAVE to drive (remember, we are steering on the opposite side of the car and on the opposite side of the road).

Kids on block my age:  We have heard a number of kids coming and going.  Although, from what we’ve been told, all of them go to different schools so not many know each other.  Perhaps more friends on the block will be made as the weather warms up and we venture out more.  There is a large park between our house and the Thames River that will be enjoyed in the warmer seasons, I’m sure.

Near school:  There is a school down the block and around the corner from us, but, much to Emma’s dismay, we decided we want to continue homeschooling.  She is holding out for private school next year.  We’ll see what happens - but it wouldn’t be close to our house.

Near church:  Well, we didn’t even come close with this one.  We are on the edge of the ward’s boundaries (again).  It’s a 20 minute drive into the city for church (if we could ever find parking) or, as we have been doing, 40/45 minute ride in by walking/bus/tube/walking.  With 9:00 a.m. church, we definitely feel we leave the house while the rest of the town is sleeping.

Near gymnastics:  Compared to our New Jersey gym route, I think we are closer.  We can make it to the gym without any traffic in 15 minutes.  With traffic, give it a good half an hour.  Give us some more time to get familiar with the route, with all it’s roundabouts, and we may shave some more minutes off.

So, let’s see - I don’t think we did a great job meeting all the requirements but Emma hasn’t complained about anything other than not meeting our neighbors.  She is our social butterfly of the family.  Apparently she spent the first few days anxiously awaiting knocks on the door from neighbors who wanted to welcome us to the neighborhood with open arms.  The one time that happened, she didn’t hear the door, but still got one of the cupcakes they brought over.  Days on end, while the rest of us were unpacking boxes, where was Emma?  Sitting on the window seat in her room trying to catch our neighbors outside to wave to them.  I’m surprised none of them knocked on the door just to see if we were keeping someone locked upstairs in the attic.

Today we had a knock on the door.  It was the postman making a package delivery to our next door neighbors who weren’t home.  Would we mind holding on to the package for them until they arrived home?  We’d be happy to.  As soon as the postman left, Emma jumped up and down, “It’s fate!!  Now, they HAVE to come knock on our door!”  It looks like we will be social with our neighbors after all . . . .

as well as being more social through our blog.

You know . . . ‘that’ family - the one that sticks out like a sore thumb because:

• their winter coats are so bright when everyone else’s are so dark (because the tube creates a thin layer of black on everything)
• they have more kids than the average person walking down the city street
• one of their children always decides to take off their shoes and coat in transit, whether on the tube or the bus
• this same child complains her ‘bum’ hurts and pulls her drawers down to her ankles, while waiting for the tube, to ask you if you see anything
• their children cough and cough while everyone around them covers up their mouths and noses to ensure they aren’t infected
• one of their children doesn’t feel good and demands to get off the train at an earlier stop so she can throw up, but the mother just pulls out a plastic bag from her bag and insists she discreetly throw up in it . . . not realizing there is a small hole in the bottom of the bag
• two of their children have their audio books going non-stop and do not realize they yell each time they try to talk to someone while they have their headphones in

Yes, we are ‘that’ family . . . and that is all just from our tube trip out to see our new rental home.  We’re getting better at ‘blending’ into city-life, but so happy to be moving a little bit further out in just 2 more days!

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Thank you for all the comments on our blog headers.  Ultimately, majority rules.  As for our family votes - I was pulled three ways as I liked them all, Chris liked #2, and Emma liked #3.

I guess with the beginning of a new year in a new country and soon a new home, it’s time to change out our old blog header.  You were probably so bored of the other one anyway, as nothing more exciting was created in the last two years.

But, for old times sake, here is one last look at our old stomping ground and header:

Yesterday, I sat down with some pictures we’ve taken since being here and ‘played’ in Photoshop.  These are three options Chris had to choose from when he got home from work:

(1)

(2)

(3)

We were all split on which one we liked best.  I’m very curious to know - which one do you vote for?

Ever since this post about our temporary London flat, we know you have all been dying to know where all our appliances are hiding.

Probably not, but since our computer with Photoshop has arrived, we thought we’d give you a peek into our kitchen anyway.

I never thought I’d be a fan of ‘upside down fridges’ (with the freezer on bottom, not on top), but I love having everything I normally need without having to stoop down to look for it.

The only appliance that brings us frustration is the 2-in-1 washer/dryer combo.  It is really cool that the washer can switch into dryer mode without having to take the clothes out. But, really - 3 hours to do a load of laundry?!  I can only do a max of 2 apartment-sized (small) loads per day!  Needless to say, our laundry pile(s) never completely disappears.

So, did anyone spot the appliances before they were revealed?

We had high hopes of going to the Tower of London for the day, but it was so cold and we didn’t want to deal with whiny, cold kids in the long queues. So, instead we headed to the Science Museum.

The kids’ favorite part was the ‘World of Flight’ as we spent the most time meticulously looking at everything in that area. Then the attention span for all of us waned after that. This is a place that will take a couple different visits to see everything.

The fun thing is this is only one free museum in the area, which also happens to be right across from our church building.

I think this will be an area that competes with our home for how much time we spend there.

We only had one question upon leaving - why were most things hung from the ceiling? Upside down? We didn’t get it.

To finish up the New Year we ordered Papa John’s pizza, just like in the states. We watched a few movies, ate a few snacks, mourned that our ‘10 Day Air Shipment’ hadn’t arrived yet with more activities, and then watched the live fireworks show on the television.

Again this year, Hannah and Cami didn’t stay awake until midnight. They both tried so hard, but sleep is a powerful thing. Maybe next year . . .

We hope you have a great start to 2010!

It took us about 4 years in the NYC area to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. So, we decided to not wait that long and check out the Tower Bridge.

We walked across the bridge over the Thames and back again.

One thing for sure, it was a much shorter walk than it was over the Brooklyn Bridge. So, after we’d been across and back, the kids still wanted more. There just so happened to be an exposition going on up inside the bridge so we went for it. It was great to learn why and how the bridge was built. It took 8 years to build and during the construction only 10 people were killed. Amazing for such a feat, especially back then.

The view from up top was amazing as well.

As soon as the holidays are over and we have to get back to school work, we’ll be aching to get out and site-see. So glad we’ve had this chance to dive into London with Chris this last little while.

Sunday the tube was up and running again. Really, it’s the best and fastest way to travel in the city.

We decided to take an evening stroll downtown to see the Christmas lights at Oxford and Regent Streets.

They were really neat and big, but the crowds were just so thick, it wasn’t too much fun.

So, we hopped a bus down to Trafalgar Square to check out the big Christmas Tree.

I really like Trafalgar Square. It is pretty in and of itself and then with the National Gallery Museum right there and all the sites of London you can see, it’s amazing!

As we were leaving, we stopped to listen to this man playing the bagpipe. He did a great job but he made me cold just looking at him!

Then we all headed back home . . . underground of course.

Our Adventure #2? We walked over to Hyde Park to attend the Winter Wonderland Fair. The kids were in heaven.

We have never attended a fair like it before and they were thrilled to get to ride rides and just experience the excitement in the air. It was a little different having a fair in the winter but it was packed!

The kids chose a few rides to do on their own.

Then there were some that Chris and I felt our old age could still take.

We finished off the night with German sausages and marshmallow treats.

Needless to say, we were exhausted when we finally made it home . . . at only 6:30 p.m. It had been a full day, our date with the Queen and a fair.

The day after Christmas, the buses were running again so we ventured out to see the Queen in her palace. The kids were so excited to ride the double decker buses.

The girls insisted on sitting up-front on top so as not to miss anything.

We knocked on the gate to announce our arrival at Buckingham Palace, but to no avail.

This guard was not budging to let us in.

So, we posed in front of the palace with all the other tourists.

Never fear, we were able to get in a few other national monuments as well. I love seeing Big Ben peek over the tree line. There is something magnificent about it.

On our walk back to the bus station, we had a great open view leading up to the Arch.

This was only Adventure #1 for the day. Stay tuned for the rest of our adventurous day!

Santa found us . . . and left his signature!

We had a great day being ‘home’ as a family. The kids had a great time enjoying their gifts and then enjoying our traditional Christmas meal of roast beef, roasted potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding with Christmas crackers.

We were really surprised to find that London basically shuts down on Christmas with no tube or bus service. So, we decided to just stroll up and down our street to work off some of our meal. It was a little scary how empty everything was.

Back at home, we broke out Hannah’s new Twister game.

We quickly learned it’s not quite fair to play Twister with a gymnast.

Needless to say, Caleb won each game he played!

What a quiet and wonderful Christmas as a family!