THE QUEEN OF QUIRK

shy guy

Let's spice it up a bit around here! Father's Day is right around the corner for a lot of us and I thought it would be fun to have a little contest on the old blog about the guys in our life and how much we love 'em! This can be any guy....your husband, son, boyfriend, father, uncle, your puppy. Run with it! :)

All you have to do is create a layout showcasing a special guy in your life, and leave a layout link in the comments section above along with your email or username at Oscraps.com so I can contact you.

Everyone who enters will win this brand new template!

One lucky winner will win Shy Guy and one lucky winner will win a $10 gift certificate to my store! But, hurry, because the contest ends on June 5th at midnight!

And to make it easier, I'm offering my layout here as a freebie. Yeah, that's right. :) So, you don't even have to stress about doing a layout. :) Click here to download: SHY GY QP

And check out some rockin' pages from some of my CT members!

This one is by the fabulous Christine (supertwinkle).

This one is by Liz of Paislee Press. I just adore these photos!

And this sweet layout is by Nina. She also used my heart swirls. Love those!

So let's get scrappin'! I can't wait to see all of your layouts! :)

the sickies

Well, we'd planned on going to Legoland, but Noodle came down with a seriously icky infection. She actually fell asleep on the couch (on top of my huge and embarrassing pile of laundry). The funny thing is that just to the right of her, Colin is jamming out on the drums, playing RockBand. Guess she's really tired. :)

So, we've put that trip on hold til she's better. I'm glad we didn't actually tell Lara that we were going there...we just told her it was a surprise...so she wasn't too bummed. But we'll get there eventually, hopefully we'll all be well with no goop or ickies. :)

For Lara's birthday we opened up her gifts from the family and we made her a special birthday breakfast. it was very low key, but she got to hang out and play with all her new stuff, so she had a blast. :)

As for me, I've got some fun stuff coming up in the next few days...

Only 3 more days to grab the May kit at Songbird Avenue! We have raised an insane amount of money! Can't wait to get the final total!

Then we get to release the June kit! It's amazing! You don't wanna miss it!

June 1st also marks the beginning of a 3 month guest designer spot I've been blessed with at Digital Artist Magazine. So excited about it! Can't wait to see the June issue!

And tomorrow I've got a contest on the blog that I'll be hosting. Should be lots of fun! A new product and whatnot...

So, that's about it. I'm going to try to stay away from the blog for a few days while the contest runs. I'm hoping that my designing drought has finally come to an end. I got some serious cheering up from a wonderful friend yesterday and I think it did the trick!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. It's partly sunny and mild today so I think we're grillin' for dinner. :)

wicked

Had a lovely, racing time last night.

We left for London early, after dropping off the kiddos at a friend's for a much anticipated sleepover. Man, I love friends. :) We decided to see the Institute of Contemporary Art before we headed to Bentley's Oyster Bar and finally to the Apollo Victoria Theatre in the West End to see Wicked. Talk about a jam-packed evening.

The ICA wasn't very impressive to me. I'm sure that there are some people who would have found the artwork thrilling, but it just didn't speak to me. There were only 3 exhibits and I just didn't think they had much to them. I dunno....maybe I'm being too picky? However, the gift shop was really fun. (I also thought it was kind of sad that the gift shop was more entertaining than the museum...) But anyway, lots of cool stuff in the museum book shop. These all appealed to me: NO LOGO, The Shock Doctrine, and Is Britain Great? The Caravan Gallery. Of course, there were a ton of other books that I can't remember. Lots of snarky, irreverent greeting cards and things like that. Love shops like that. :)

After the ICA, we walked around Piccadilly Circus and checked out a bunch of shops. We found a Japanese confectionery, Kamakura Minamoto Kitchoan, and we stayed in there about 20 minutes, warming up from the rain and drooling over all the yummies. We snagged some treats with names like SUBISHIGIMATORIMAMOTOMAMA.... not really....I really can't remember the names, but they all sound like that to me. :) I hope I didn't just cuss or say something lewd in Japanese.... Anyway, we picked up some red bean paste mochi for the girls (they love them). We also got some white bean paste cakes and another one that had chestnut in it. :) We're excited to try them. And an almond sponge cake, too, I think.

And they came in the yummiest little packages....and you should have seen the gift wrap. The cakes and jellies were on display like jewelry...or like a fancy truffle shop... It was heaven. :)

After a few more shops, we headed to Bentley's for dinner. We sat down at the bar and I noticed they had Oyster Stout on tap from an amazing pub in Dublin, The Porterhouse Brewery. That's when I got really excited. I'm not a big stout fan...and I have no real love for Guinness, but this stuff is sooo good. It tastes SO. MUCH. BETTER. than Guinness. Ok, so we sat down down at the bar and had a pint while we waited for our table. And let me just say that this restaurant has top notch service. I was thoroughly impressed by all the people who worked there. So, a woman took us to our table and we sat down and she handed us a menu that had about 12 things on it and a wine list the size of Texas. I was a bit cornfused. I mean, the menu on the site has such an amazing array of dishes and the waitress mentioned something about the menu being limited due to the bank holiday (everything's closed.) Anyway, I asked her if this was all we could order and it turns out there was a mix up with our reservation. Somehow we got put on the 25 pound dinner list which is just one of those special dinner offers for a reduced price. So, after we cleared it all up, we were given the real menu which was much more packed. :)

I am a huge seafood fan. I'm not a big fan of the really stinky, slimy, rubbery kind of seafood, but the light, flaky, delicate stuff? I'm all over it. So, I got a prawn and egg salad and then I had lobster linguine for dinner. Colin, on the other hand, had the oyster selection and fish in a pot, which is a ton of different pieces, like sea bass, salmon, trout, mussels, sole, scallops, etc. in a light tomato sauce. He'd never had oysters before, so we were asking the waitress all kinds of questions about the flavor and how to eat them properly. We have no shame. At one point I think I told the waitress that Colin was an oyster "virgin"...at which point I realized I was on my third pint of stout and should probably slow down. :) You just can't take me anywhere. :)

All of the food was amazing and I can see why this placed reigns supreme as London's finest seafood restaurant. Our show started at 7:30, and we got our check around 7:15. YIKES! So, we decided we would haul butt to Green Park station and just take one train to Victoria. The original plan was to take the Piccadilly line from Piccadilly Circus to Green Park, switch to the Victoria line and go one more stop. We simply didn't have that much time. So, we were literally running and jay walking the 7 or 8 blocks to Green Park. Whew! Have I totally confused some of you? :)

So, we got off at Victoria station right at 7:28 and at first we were worried that we wouldn't be able to find the theatre. But let me just tell you that you cannot miss it. You come out from the tube station and it literally slaps you in the face.

Hello, there. :)

So, we run in and show our tickets and we're shown right in, but the show had already started. I was so bummed. We totally missed the first song. I guess when the ticket says the show starts at 7:30, you better have your tuckus parked in that freakin' chair by 7:25. I don't think I've ever been to a show that started on time, but I guess we should be earlier next time. 1.5 hours is NOT enough time to eat dinner. :)

So, after the first song, we were shown to our seat and we tripped and stepped on everyone in our row till we got to our seats. Man, I was so ashamed. I hate being late and we disturbed all those people. :(

Ok, so the show? Freakin' WICKED. It was so funny and the costumes and sets were absolutely stunning. I tried taking a picture, but it just wasn't happening. Way too dark in there.

My favorite, by far, was Glinda. Her character was a riot. And even though I liked it, I didn't find it all that emotionally charged. it's funny, and fun, and a visual feast, but the story just didn't move me like most other musicals I've seen. And I'm a total wuss...I'll cry and bawl at those old long distance phone commercials and at PetsMart when they bring in the puppies for adoption.... So I would classify this musical as a "good time", not a "drama" or 'tear jerker". Still. Oz-ilicious. :) And I got a T-shirt, so I'm good.

After the show, we headed straight for the tube and headed home. We had a 40 minute tube ride and then an hour and a half drive home after that. We got home around 1 a.m. this morning and just fell into bed. Talk about a long night!

This morning at 9, I picked up all the chubkins. We missed them sooo much. We were told by our friends that they were really good and had lots of fun and minded and played nicely...you know...all those things that parents hope to hear. :)

So, we came home, had breakfast, and now we're hanging out...we don't have a lot planned today, except for resting. The kiddos were up til almost 11 last night, so they'll head to bed early. Tomorrow, we are planning on taking Lara to Legoland in Windsor for her birthday. I really hope it's not raining. I hate promising things to my kids and then having to scramble at the last minute when things don't work out.

Ok, so I guess that was a pretty darn long-winded post, huh?

And I debated on sharing this or not....but I had a secret smile all night last night thinking about pickpockets. Most people have all kinds of things in their pockets...I had just one...and it was of the female persuasion...I'll let your imagination do the rest. I just giggled on and on to myself that if I got pick pocketed, the person would probably freak out. And then I was going to look at them and say, "You enjoy that, ok? Tampax is the best brand out there."

Anyway...just had to share that. Hopefully I haven't scared anyone away. Happy Tuesday. :) Ciao

living museums

They're my favorite. We're big museum-goers, but it's not always the best thing to do with 3 small kids. So, when we find living museums, we're all over it. We love that the kids can run around and explore and touch and learn without a lot of boundaries.

The Black Country Living Museum

So, on Saturday, we had a gorgeous day and we decided to visit the Black Country, named so for all the coal, soot, and iron that covered approximately 4 counties during the Industrial Revolution. Before you enter the museum, there is a short video you can watch explaining what the Black Country really is. At first two scholars are arguing over boundaries, counties, specific industries and whatnot and then this bloke comes on and shuts them both up by saying, "Thu Black Countrrrry is wherrrre a Black Countrrrymun sez 'tis!!" Man, he was hard to understand. :) Then he proceeds to explain how dirty and sooty and grimy and poor these places were and how short the life expectancy was of someone who worked in the coal mines and such.

So, let's start the tour, shall we? First, you're taken through a short indoor exhibit. Then you get to explore outside. K, everyone tinkled? :) Good.

I just thought this scale was neat.

Safes, gates, and shovel molds.

Lara loved this bright, sunshiny car. :)

Then she insisted she snap a shot of me in front of the fire engine.

K, now let's check out the open air exhibits. I'm posting a map so you can see just how big this place really is. Also, I'll reference the photos with their numbers from the map so you can follow our trail while we walk along. :)

(5) On the outside, these homes were made of iron sheets. This was an attempt to introduce pre-fabricated homes into the market to try and resuscitate the iron industry. There were only 3 homes ever built like this. Turns out, iron sheets was more expensive than brick.

I love how they have the newspaper hanging up there.

just behind (7) the Rock & Fossil Shop. We stopped here for our picnic lunch that Colin always packs for us. Yum.

Me, getting a little bit closer. In the background you can see (7) Rock & Fossil Shop and (8) Newcomen Engine (the world's first steam engine.)

I love how old and worn everything is.

This is the outhouse just next to (14) the Pitt's cottage. The guy inside was talking to Lara about their chamber pot. He called it a "guzzunder" because it guzz under the bed. :) HSe got a kick out of that.

The outhouse. It's the Pitt's.

We didn't find any pigs across the street from (11) the Toll House, so we improvised.

Inside (11) the toll House. Room 1.

Room 2. I love the stockings hanging there. The exhibits really were complete. You could literally walk in and start living there.

Walking towards (18) the fairground. The kids were sooo excited.

Lara and Mia about to go on Helter Skelter.

They got up to the top so fast that I didn't realize they were coming down yet. So, I totally missed Lara's ride. Mia came down second and she'd lost her hat during the ride and she was bawling like a loon. Then a couple of seconds later her hat came down the slide and we all started laughing at her. :)

They had an arcade room and it was so neat to see so many old games and penny arcade machines. The glare was really bad, though, so I didn't get good shots. :(

A better look at the Helter Skelter.

Then Lara, Mia, and I rode on another ride together. This thing was so bumpy that I thought my teeth were going to fall out. Norah was nervous and stiff as a board the entire time. And after we got off, Mia showed me the blister she got from the ride. It was seriously that rocky.

Next up, (17) the school. Lara had a Victorian School Day at her school a few months ago, so she was well acquainted with the routine. She settled in and showed Mia how it was done.

I thought this chart was neat...seriously, how did the British do this? Their money was sooo complicated. Farthings and shillings....ack!

Noodle tried her hand with a pencil and slate.

I love how Mia is covering her "schoolwork". LOL :)

Lara was so sweet. And I love the soot around her eyes. She really looks like she belongs here. haahaha. Talk about an in-depth museum experience! Real soot!

The school's cloakroom. I'd want a room like this in my dream house. sigh.... I love all the worn, painted brick.

Next up, the canal.

Taken from (49) Canalside cafe.

Lara on Browns bridge. (the top right bridge on the map)

(46) Anchor Forge

(47) Ironworks shop

A lady in costume..just outside the (34) Back to Back houses (which were the tiniest houses I have ever seen).

Main street sign for the cinema.

(36) The Limelight cinema. The brick building on the right is where everyone was sitting. The screen was about the size of an old school chalkboard and the building sat about 50 people. Colin and I waited outside while Lara and Mia watched the show.

Just outside the cinema entrance. You can see the (30) Bottle and Glass Inn which is the white building on the right.

Lara and Mia trying to master the iron hoops. They quickly abandoned the game, though, as it was rather tricky to pick up on.

I stopped in the (43) bakery and bought a couple of tarts.

Then we went next door and bought some pear drops and strawberry creams from the (42) Sweetshop.

We wanted to try (39) the chip shop (a.k.a. a chippy, a fishy, a fish & chip shop, etc.) but unfortunately it was closed. I was really ticked (so was Colin) because it smelled so good and there was simply no good reason to close it early. Look at that line out the front door! Come on!!

So we continued on down the street and checked out the shops with our tummies rumbling.

This is the General Store (21).

And the Milliner's.

At the other end of the street facing the pub/inn.

Another shot of the general store window.

We turned the corner and headed towards (20) the Lime Kilns. According to a sign, this part of the village had been used until the 70's I believe. After that, it had managed to get filled up entirely with sludge and slime and stagnant water. When it came time to build the museum, this was restored, drained, and opened back up the the public. Pretty cool, huh?

We headed back to the main street, still kinda ticked about the chippy, and decided we need a pint of sumpin' sumpin'.

One shot of the Chemist's window, though. Smelling salts...for some reason this is classic Victorian for me.

Ah, the pub. A parent's best friend sometimes. Colin got a pint of "mild" and I got a cider. We have no idea what it was. It was probably just Strongbow and Newcastle LOL, but it hit the spot. We also munched on our tarts. The top one is a Viennese tart and the bottom one is almond. The kids had water...not ale. :)

Me and Lara and Mia on the bridge by the (42) Sweetshop.

Actually looking over the bridge into the canal.

Lara took over the camera and snapped a shot of the tram as it went by.

She also got one of the horse. :)

Then, while Colin and the big girls went into the mine (9), I took Noodle into the (13) Tilted Cottage. It was quaint and sweet. Then I pushed her over to the (10) Racecourse Colliery. I think this is where the engine was and where they pumped out the fumes and bad air from the mine.

Noodle, thankfully, had fallen asleep. She was getting pretty dern crazy by this time and she needed a good catnap.

So, that was about it. After the colliery, I took Noodle over to a grassy spot across the street from (7) the Rock & Fossil shop and I lied down on my jacket. When she woke up, we sat in the grass and ate an apple together. Then she rolled down the hill a bit and when Colin and the big girls came out of the mine, we went to the gift shop and picked up a magnet. Then we got in the car and headed home, thoroughly exhausted and craving fish & chips. :)

The coolest thing about this museum is that every building, outside, and piece of machinery was brought here and reassembled. A town like this didn't actually exist. Each one of the shops represents an entire industry just from one town. Each building was taken down, brick by brick, and lovingly rebuilt here to preserve the essence of this era. Talk about a renovation project. And I loved how packed this place was. Most of the living museums we went to in Germany were deserted and kinda neglected. This one had so much life in it. Plus, every shop was run by a person thoroughly knowledgeable about the shop, it's origins, the person who owned it, and the industry and history of the area. If you're ever near Birmingham, England, I highly recommend this little gem. :)

Colin is taking a week off from work while the kids are on break from school. We've got a ton of stuff planned. Today we're taking a break and we're going to finish our spring cleaning and then tomorrow we've got a date planned. The kiddos are spending the night at a friend's house and me and the hubbs are heading down to London to watch Wicked and eat at Bentley's Oyster Bar.  I am sooo excited! Of course, there will be an update. :)

Happy Sunday, all! Ciao!

i am the tortoise

It seems like everything and everyone is speeding by me lately. I'm good if I can just stay afloat! :)

I wish I could say that I'm designing...but I'm not. I'm wrapping up the June kit for Songbird Avenue and I have a ton of layouts I need to do for my creative teams. Man, these girls put out some awesome stuff! And of course I'm always working on behind the scenes things that seem to continually creep ahead of my own stuff on the old priority list. Oh well. I guess that means business is good, right!??! So, I guess I should stop whining about it. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and say howdy. I gotta dash. But before I go, I thought I'd share some bento pics...haven't posted any of those in a while. :)

The first one is won tons with mushrooms, snap peas, and baby corn. There is rice in the shape of a bear's head and pancakes with fruit and powdered sugar. I've noticed that if I put powdered sugar on them, the kids don't ask for syrup. Good trade, I think. The second one is a Caprese salad with fresh rosemary, a rice star, fruit salad (pear, kiwi, blueberries, nectarines), and mini pancakes.

One of the things I do when we have pancakes during the weekend is I make about a dozen mini ones right at the end. You know, there's always that tiny bit of batter left over and you never know what to do with it and most people don't eat leftover pancakes...so I just make mini ones and toss them in the kids' lunches. they love them with fresh strawberries. And I don't waster perfectly good scratch batter.

Alright, I really have to go back to work now. :) Ciao, all. Happy Wednesday!

aloha oy

Despite the rain and the wind and the cold, Lara's birthday party was a big success. :) Yay.

We moved everything into our sun room and the girls still had a blast. Ya know what the kicker is, though? Today it's beautiful. The sun is shining and it's lovely out. Figures. :)

Anyway. I hold no grudge against Mother Nature. We still had a great time.

The calm before the storm:

I had issues with Lara's cake...the icing around the top kept sliding off because it had nothing to hold onto. Finally I had to scrape off some of the sand (crushed Nilla wafers) and re-apply it. It ended up staying on so I stopped being mad at the cake. :) Lara picked out all the cake toppers and then I put it together for her. In my head it looked way different and at first I was disappointed that it looked so plain. But then it grew on me and I started to like it.

Yes, we bought a 6 ft inflatable palm tree. And a parrot.

Noodle was being especially mischievous so we put her in her high chair in the kitchen to keep her away from the big girls. She still managed to be a little stinker. :)

Then we ate lunch and the girls cracked each other up the entire time.

Then I taught them a short hula dance. I mixed together the easiest steps and then made a little 3 part dance. I was happy that the girls were having fun and enjoying the dancing. They all looked so cute in their costumes. :)

Then we brought out the cake and sang to Lara. I made sure not to scorch Polly Pocket and her palm tree.

I love this one. :)

Then she opened her gifts with all her friends and they oohed and aahed over all the girly, pink, cutesy stuff she got.

Then we took one last photo of all the girls. I've ordered these already and I'm hoping they will get here in time to pass out to the girls before half-term.

So, that was about it. It was exhausting and exciting and we were dead tired afterwards. A friend came over and we played RockBand til midnight, though, So I guess we weren't too tired. This evening we've been invited to a friend's house for dinner, so we are trying to clean up the wreck that our house has turned into before we head out.

I hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend. :) Aloha!

kinda bummed :(

Today, after a week and a half of dry weather, it starts to rain. And there's an even greater chance of rain tomorrow.

This is not good for a luau.

So, I'm kinda bummed about it. Trying to brainstorm about having it inside...where we'll put everything...how we're gonna do our hula lesson....sigh...

Man, I was so excited. And we'd invited people over for an after party so we could grill and hang out and enjoy the day. Turns out, that probably won't be happening either.

Alright, I need to get out of my office and do some rearranging and cleaning in the sunroom. :(

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday! Ciao!

whoa, nelly!

Ok, I'm done updating. If you are wondering what the heck is going on, the last 6 posts are day trips that we've taken in the last month. And I just now finished posting them all. It took me almost 2 days!

Let's get back to our regularly scheduled  programming...let's see...what's up with us lately? I'm busy working on the June Songbird kit, trying to squeeze in some of my own designing in (there seems to be a severe shortage of new designs coming from me, huh?), we're in the middle of spring cleaning. We're being ruthless and taking it slowly. Room by room, this house is being purged. We have a ginormous box of books, dvds, and magazines that we are donating to the library. Another box is set aside for all the clothes that are going to the thrift store. We've done the garage, the living room, the hallway and our bedroom. I think tonight we are tackling the sun room. The sun room used to be my office.

To add to the chaos of the last few weeks, I decided to move my office into the dining room. I love love loved the sunroom, but it was just too darn bright in there. It got to the point where I could barely see my screen and I had a serious twitch in my lower left eyelid that was insanely annoying and so not conducive to work. So, I decided to move my office out of direct sunlight and lo and behold...gradually my freak eye calmed down. And now it's completely gone. It was just so bizarre having a twitchy eye. I would press my fingers to my lower lid and hold it down so I wouldn't feel the movement. But every time I took my hand away, i could feel it again. UGH.

Anywho, problem is now solved. No more twitching. Jan is happy.

So the sun room is now the playroom. We're going to clean it out tonight and figure out just what kind of storage we'll need in there. We don't have a good mental inventory of their toys and games, so it's kinda hard to judge what we'll need til after we clean it all out... and sort it. *shudder*

So, wanna see my new office? :)

The dining room table is about 4 feet behind my chair. I just moved the table so you could see the whole thing. You see my ladybug? Noodle made that for me at the gym daycare yesterday. I love it. :) It's a happy little bug.

My office is much smaller now, but I think it's better. It's much more efficient. I still have some very large boxes of scrap stuff that I need to go through, but I have a place for that. The hallway cabinet is where we kept the girls' art junk. But since we're going to move that into the sun room tonight, I'll be able to use that cabinet for my scrap goodies. It's the perfect size, too.

Let's see...what else? Our van should be here in about 4 weeks. That seems like forever. What seems even stranger is that we have already been waiting 8 weeks. With all these trips we're taking in a cramped car with no A/C and more noise than a helicopter can muster, the van seems like a million miles away.

And...I've started my own site. I've actually owned the domain for a while now, but I haven't gotten the design the way I really wanted it. It's only halfway done right now, but you are welcome to check it out so far. It's not hidden or anything. :)

www.thequeenofquirk.com

It won't be anything fancy..just a portfolio sort of site where you can find everything I'm doing. The blog is already linked up there, so if you want to change your blog roll you can do that.

Let's see....anything else?

OH! How could I forget? Lara's birthday is next weekend, but since it falls during their school break we are having her party this Saturday. We're hosting a luau for her and 7 of her friends. I'm pretty excited. We got grass skirts, (I was bummed because in the description they were natural, but the ones I got are green. Oh well. Too late now.) leis, an 6 ft inflatable palm tree and tons of decorations. We are going to stage photos with all the girls so they can take them home. Oh! And we got a ukulele. :)

I'm trying to figure out what we're going to do for food, though. I have no clue. I'm going to make fruit kabobs, but after that I'm stuck. Anyone have any ideas? I'd be so grateful!

K, so I guess that's about it. I need to get a few things done before Noodle and I go pick up the big girls. And then I want to get started on the cleaning a bit before Colin gets home. Ciao, all! Happy Wednesday! :)

hampton court palace 11 may 08

For Mother's Day, Colin chose to take us to Hampton Court Palace just outside of London. This was the home of Henry VIII and it was sooo incredible being there. Tudor England is the time in history I am most familiar with. I know more about Ancient Roman social culture, but as far as history (time lines, lineage, wars, etc.) I know more about England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. So to be in a castle in which I recognize the paintings and can actually name the people in them and their historical significance is really quite unique. In all of our traveling, the places have inspired my research. Like, we'll visit St. Peter's Basilica and then I'll be inspired to read about it. Here, it was the other way around. Being in this palace was like finally getting to see what I've been reading about and studying for so long. It was just an amazing experience.

So, there are two parts to this castle. There is the Tudor part which is much more rustic and stripped down...large wooden beams, stuccoed walls, ornate painted wooden ceiling medallions. That sort of stuff. The castle retained its integrity for almost 200 years and very little changed. Then in the late 17th century when William III took the throne, significant changes were made but then halted due to the death of Mary II. William had made a ton of changes and the result is a part of the castle that is much more elaborate and baroque in its design.

Ok, class. :) Lecture's over. Let's begin the tour shall we?

We packed a picnic lunch (actually Colin packed it. I wasn't to lift a finger on Sunday) and we had a lovely little lunch in front of the palace. From here you can see the Tudor facade. It's quite different from the Baroque (I'm pretty sure it's baroque) facade you'll see later on. This is me and the girls just after we ate. Also, this is just after we realized Colin had forgotten to pack diapers for Noodle and he had to dash around downtown (we're facing it) to find some. :) The situation was made a little more urgent as Noodle's diaper strap had broken and she was literally hangin' by a thread. hahahaha. Good times. :)

This shot was Lara's idea. She insisted on getting one in front of the golden flowers. :)

We went all over the palace and saw the apartments of Henry VIII, William III, Queen Anne, and King George I. They were really spectacular...but my favorite part was Queen Anne's bathroom. I know that sounds silly, but it really was neat. We couldn't take photos inside the palace, but I'll sneak ya this one from the guide book.

It's not the best picture, but it shows the basics. Anyway, I just thought it was neat. Historical hygiene (or lack thereof) is one of my "mini fascinations". I love picking up little nuggets of information about the beauty routines and medical remedies that were popular in different times throughout history. Anywho. :)

In the kitchen, there were Beefeaters playing traditional instruments and talking about them. I didn't have a very good view, but I still managed to snag some photos.

That's not real meat, by the way. There were tons and tons of displays in the kitchen...sound effects as well. There was even a part where you could see a fake meat pie filling being prepared in a huge cauldron and they actually had the smell of it wafting through the air. That was really bizarre. :)

Next stop, the kitchen shop. We are huge suckers for gift shops. We don't necessarily buy a lot of stuff...we just love checking them out. But here, we snagged a bottle of mead, some lemon curd made from an Elizabethan recipe (for when I get this bad boy), and some bramble berry & honey jam. (We have some growing in the backyard and I'm curious as to how it tastes...I don't know what the American equivalent is.)

The girls got some lollipops and Noodle got a peppermint stick. The coolest find was, by far, Colin's leather & pitch tankard. Lemme go take a photo of it real quick.

Hang on...

Ok I'm back. Here it is.

Colin tried it out on Monday night and announced. "Mmmmm....pitchy." :)

He had a hard time deciding between this one and THIS ONE. :) Whew!!

Next we headed outside. Sunday was an incredibly dry day. It was scorching hot and we were on the last day of an 8 day streak with no rain. (A record for these parts? I dunno.) Anyway, we were baking alive, so Colin sat down on a bench to rest for a minute, rearrange the stroller, and re lather the kidlets in sunscreen.

I headed down to the fountain.

And then I walked around it and found a mama duck.

AWWWW!!! This makes me want to grow chickens just so I can hold baby chicks.

Then I walked back to towards the bench and I was spotted by the Noodle.

MOMMY!!!!

getting closer....

hahahha. Not really. Zoom out.

Ah, here she is...

We walked back towards the castle. See the two large pedestal lamps on the pillars? We're on our way there to see the Privy garden. Stopped to snap a pic of the train that goes around the grounds. (complete with tour)

And here we are in the garden. This is just the left side.

Walking down the central path, looking left.

At the end of the path, we turned around and Colin snapped a pic pf me and my girlies....ahhhh. :)

See the baroque facade?

Now, who put that in there!???!

On the right side of the garden there is a tunnel which you haven't seen yet. We headed towards that and the girls saw a rainbow and flipped out. So we had to take a photo of it.

Back towards the tunnel.

Ahhh....doesn't that feel nice and cool? I could have stayed in here all afternoon. That's me at the far end...that tiny coral dot. :)

Ok, now we're out of the tunnel and heading towards the pillars again. See the sundial? We just finished a loop of the garden. Try to keep up with Noodle.

Stopped at the pillars and took one last shot of the garden. You can see the tunnel in the top right corner.

Here comes the (t)rain again...

hahahahaha. Sorry,. I just had to.

We then turned away from the train and continued along the side of the house. (This is the more baroque part)

Next, we headed into what they call the "Wilderness". I had to laugh...cuz the "wilderness" was essentially a gorgeous field filled with thousands of daffodils and 4 hundred year old trees...and paths...and benches....and ice cream shops. :) Oh, and a cafe....and on and on. :)

At the far end of the "wilderness" is a hedge maze which dates from the 17th century. It's in amazing condition and we had a blast walking/running/making faces through it. The goal is to find the center and then there is a quick exit out the side.

My wonderful family who made my Mother's Day so so special. I <3 them!

Look! A piggy!

Ah...we finally found the center. At first Lara was leading us and every single choice she made led us to a dead end. We were really hot so after a while we told Lara to choose and then we'd head down the opposite path. Sorry, honey, but you're no navigator. :)

Don't really know what this dial was for...it was all whackadoo and spinning wildly. ???

After that we walked around the gardens some more...admired the climbing roses, the allium, and the grape vines.

Outside the palace there is a phone booth. I'm sure the British are like "What is up with the phone booth fascination!?!?" But like I've said before, everything in England is frickin' adorable. And red is a rockin' color, yo. So, yeah...that's it. It's just plain cute.

After we walked away from the palace, Colin had the brilliant idea that we should snag some Indian take out and have a picnic in the shade. So he went to the grocery store and then found a spot across the river from where we had our first picnic and I went to an Indian joint down the street and ordered some lamb Korma, naan, and pilau rice. We ate and put our toes in the cool grass and then the kiddos walked around for a bit. By this time it was after 7 pm and we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us.

Just after we packed up the picnic, Colin surprised me with a new necklace. :) It was seriously a sweet day. And then Lara said. "awwww...she hugs...and then she cries...."

Needless to say, Monday morning was a really hard morning. We were all dragging ourselves out of bed. But we had an amazing time and I am so happy we got to go.

If you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for coming along with me on all my countless little trips. I hope you enjoyed the tours! Ciao, all!

gibraltar point 27 april 08

Gibraltar Point was something we thought we'd love. Going to the coast and dipping our toes in the sea... All was fine til about a half hour before we got there. The rain and the wind set in and it really made for a crummy day. It was just uncomfortable enough to make us want to leave. We did get to see the nature preserve and lots of birds and some really neat landscape. It reminded me a lot of Carmel, CA. Both places has a rugged, sorta wild look to them, not the typical beachy look.

We had even brought along a picnic lunch and were bummed that we weren't going to be able to enjoy our tasty sandwiches on the beach. Oh well.

I tried to find the timer on my cam, but I totally forgot where it was. :)So we got two separate shots of the family.

From the shore, we walked back towards the information center.

And let's just stop here and talk about Mia for a second. I love my daughters. I love them all very much. They just all have a different way about them. Like, take this incident for example. Noodle has fallen. Where is Mia?

Mia is looking at me.

And Lara, the ever-helpful one, is picking Noodle off the ground from her recent splat.

Now Mia is making a pig nose.

It's contagious!!!

Ok, so we found a bench and Noodle had to try it out. This is her saying "cheese".

Then she ran up to me and pretended like she was going to kiss me and then darted out of range.

So, we keep on walking. And lo and behold, Noodle falls again. (This happens quite frequently, ya know.) I don't think I have ever caught a child "mid-fall" on camera before. So anyway, let's see what happens shall we?

Oh there's sweet little Lara being the best big sister a mommy could ask for.

Mia has not yet moved. Nor has she acknowledged the fact that the baby has fallen on her face.

Oh wait...she's on the move...

Wait Mia...you're walking past the accident.

Ah....she was just getting into another perspective.

Ah! Now she joins them.

Gosh, I love this photo. I just looooove it!

So, Colin and I get a little closer and we have a bit of a meeting in the path. Noodle is coming to greet me.

This is "CH"

and this is "EESE"

We went to the information center and they had a little gift shop. We bought some lemon drops and headed out behind the center to see the "river". It was lookin' a bit low. (Colin took these, by the way.)

We then strapped Noodle in to make our way back to the car. She hated it even with a homemade white chocolate & macadamia nut cookie. Hmph.

And that was it. That was our day at the sea. It wasn't quite as impressive as I had hoped....I think we just need to find some better shorelines. Dover sounds nice.

Besides, Gibraltar Point is mostly a bird watching place. We were, by far, the youngest people there and we didn't have binoculars the size of brooms, so we just didn't fit in. Long live bird watching! Cuckoo ca choo! :)