K.I.T

{Dan} There are a number of ways to keep in touch with us while we're away.

1. Facebook
2. Facetime (remember we're 5 hours ahead of EST)
3. WhatsApp
4. Google Hangouts
5. A million other ways to stay in touch.

We've ported our cell phone numbers to Google Voice (the Great AT&T Battle is drawing to a close.)  While we're on wifi we can take calls, texts, etc. using either WhatsApp or Google Hangouts.  It should work just like regular cell phones....fingers crossed.

Also, I'm going a little old school while I'm here.  While I was at the Eastport Post Office shipping stuff to my APO and permanently changing out address (anything longer than 6 mo is a permanent change), a nice guy named Donny helped me out.  After our business was concluded, he slipped me a paper with the address of the post office on it.  He told me that he collects post cards and asked if I would send him post cards once in a while while I'm away.  I've sent two and I intend to send more.  (I leave it blank though if I were more artistic I would doodle something on it.)  If you would like us to occasionally send you a post card during our adventures, let us know.  I would ask you to leave your mailing address in the comments section but that would be horrendously irresponsible of me.  If you're interested, get us a mailing address using another method (perhaps one of the ones outlined above.)  Meanwhile, if you wouldn't mind, please send Donny a postcard if you find yourself in an interesting place.  Or a boring place.  Just send Donny a postcard.  The man's hobby is postcards.  Imagine that.  On the surface it seems like a fairly mundane hobby but what an opportunity to connect with unreachable places and with completely unknown people.  It's actually pretty cool.  I'll bet his house is wallpapered in postcards.  Thats what I would do if I had a postcard thing.  Though actually I don't know that I could reconcile which side of the postcard should face out.  Here is the address:

Attn: Donny

Eastport Station

821 Chesapeake Ave

Annapolis, MD 21403-3249

Victoria tries driving in England for the first time...

Poor Martin...

Weekly Recap, August 12-19

(Victoria)
Dan scored a vehicle.  His name Martin.  He is a 1999 Mazda 323. He is a Silver Fox and just the right size.  He is an automatic.  For now, he is our sole vehicle.
Martin, the Beast, as I call him.

Dan is the only family member who has been driving Martin.  I did pass my (written-only) drivers exam and that awarded me a license.  (insert hyena laugh here)  I am scared.  Terrified.  Intimidated.
WHEN I drag my bum into the right-hand driver's seat, I will take charge like I am owning the S Curve on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, because really, that is the ONLY way I see fit to drive "this" way.

Saturday we lunched with another American family.  Kids older than ours, sadly not old enough to babysit, but they were sweet and inclusive of Lincoln and Dempsey as the food was being prepared.
After lunch, we strolled around and checked out a spot called The Beehive.  Super quaint and welcoming.

Then we stumbled upon some graffiti which read, "Beastie."  The boys went nuts.  For, we united as a family, LOVE the Beastie Boys.  (it is music if ANYONE reading this does not know...)

Hit the park for playtime, ordered in Indian food and chilled on the couch.

Sunday we were invited by another very sweet, welcoming family to go swimming at the public indoor pool.  Pools were heated and VERY fun!  Dempsey swam with NO FLOATY, because he is a big boy about to start full-day school!  We crushed the pool for 2 solid hours, (no Adult Swim here!) and then dipped out to go get a late lunch.  Italian was dialed up as we dined in the sunny spacioud spot near our flat.  It was fresh and super yummy.

Monday the boys started morning multi-active sports camp.  They were excited to go and although we walked the long-way-round to get there in the rain with no umbrellas, (Mommy FAIL) no tears flowed as I registered them and dipped out.

My new friend Laura graciously gave me a ride as her kids were attending camp as well.  We hit the grocery here then went to an American Coffee Morning, which is held once a month for Americans who live here in Cheltenham.

Super inviting and a bunch of mums and their lads hanging out.
Scooped the boys from camp and came to find that Lincoln was crying for the first hour of camp.  He exclaimed that he was NOT going back to camp.  He was done.  He had missed me so much and was mad to have been trapped inside the gym due to the rain.  The afternoon was greased over with french fries (chips) and a banana milkshake to try and steer him back to camp.

Up until bedtime, Lincoln was committed to not returning to camp.  Tuesday morning at 3:00am, Lincoln woke me up to remind me of his decision.  Tuesday's 7:00am alarm brought the same threat from Lincoln.  I pleaded with him to just get dressed and we would walk Dempsey to camp.  I promised nothing else.  As we walked in the sunshine to camp, early drop-off's were running outside on the turf playing football (soccer) and throwing up parachutes.  Laughter and bubbly smiles, not rain, welcomed the boys.  Lincoln looked at me and said, "you can go, Mom," and I kissed those boys swiftly and ducked out.  Did a 2 hour power walk and explored the town.  Made it home and started searching for some more homes to hopefully consider.

Wednesday Dan did not have to work as we had 3 more showings lined up for possible lodging.
A supposedly haunted farm home that was about 25 minutes outside of Cheltenham was first up.
It was amazing, but the garden would require MUCH maintenance, the commute to and from school and Dan's office would stink, and being out there solo sometimes with ghosts, no thank you.   It was hard to say no to the details in the home, the club-footed tubs, the nostalgic mini doors, the hardware, the exposed wooden beams, the ladder up to a secret play spot the boys would have gone ga-ga over...but it was not our house. 

 We saw 2 more homes about 2 blocks of each other and the last one we saw was IT.
SO much light, fully renovated and an attached apartment with full kitchen, full bath and separate entry to the home.  Perfect for guests! (HINT HINT!)
The intersection does not stink either:

Old school vintage door bell that you pull a lever down and fruit trees in the garden.  SOLD.

We scooped the boys together after camp and immediately took them to see the house.  They approved and sealed the deal.  We move in mid September!

Thursday I took myself for a capuccino and avocado toast with poached eggs then did my walk.  Boys had a great day again at camp then we got a lift to a playdate of Lincoln's grade.  There are 2 classes and Rachel, the host, put out the red carpet for the gathering.. Bouncy castle, hot dogs, (sausages) lemonades, and ice cream sundaes.  Met many sweet mums again and so many British-accent-clad, rosy-cheeked kids.  I hung with the hostess' mum mostly.  Hanging with a local Grandma was enlightening and informative.  She filled me in on what lays ahead for me being new to Cheltenham.  Superbly sweet and made me feel cozy to be among an extra generation of women.

Friday was the last day of camp and to celebrate, I walked the boys to a steak and chips lunch followed by milkshakes, vanilla for Lincoln and strawberry for Dempsey.

I got invited out for pints with the Georgia blonde who leads a group of women who work out in the park across from our flat.  We walked together to an amazing spot that was filled with all sorts of beers and it is not far from our new digs.  I walked home in the rain, as it was my goal to make it home before the kids went to bed.  Dan had taken the boys out for dinner and grabbed us Take Away so we settled in to the flick A Fish Called Wanda and dinner.

Saturday we woke up, fixed breakfast then drove to Sudeley Castle.  It was crisp out and we wandered around and took it all in.  I am now fascinated with Katherine Parr, King Henry VIII's 6th wife.  They had a superb play area that the boys dominated until the ole rain came down to gently send us on our way.

My U.K. life does not suck.

Mon. Aug 7-week recap

(Victoria)
Dan started his new position here on Monday, bright eyed-and-bushy-tailed.  Josh, our sponsor picked him up and he was on his merry way.  The boys and I had a lazy morning, clouds overtook the sky.  I gave the boys full reign on the cupboard for breakfast, had a long hot shower, still trying to overcome jet lag, then let them pick the lunch spot to dine out.  They chose the same brunch spot we had been to for Lincoln's birthday, and this time, with drizzling occurring, the overhead sliding roof was closed.  Whah-Whah....

We crushed our lunch, Lincoln and I had tea, Dempsey had water.  The sunlight peaked through the clouds and our attitudes about the day, like the retractable ceiling to the dining room, shown lively with smiles.

Boys and I walked downtown, got pictures inside bold red old phone booths, (which are mainly now stocked with defibrillators instead of working phones,) bronzed statues of naked animal genitals, and anything that said the word, " Suffolk."  An entire little neighborhood is Suffolk Village, Suffolk being the street my Dad, Bill, and his 10 siblings grew up on in Westchester, IL.

Tuesday while Dan was at work, we did the park, played on the rock wall, watched skateboarders at the skate park, had a late lunch and then hung out at the flat.  Dined out for dinner, but the silly waitress never fired our order so we sat for an hour waiting and waiting and waiting.  Luckily, the one time I packed the iPads and the headphones for the kids was that night.  #survival  #discountedcheck

Wednesday it rained. It rained. And rained some more.  Lazy day at the flat, as Dempsey had the beginning of a cold and passed out on the couch for a monstrous 3 hour nap.  Lincoln and I made tea-time of our own in the petite kitchen and sipped away.  
Thursday, Dan went off to work, and Smalls and I walked to and from the boys' new school to meet the Headmistress and get a formal tour of the classrooms and playground that lie ahead for Lincoln and Dempsey.  They were stoked mainly to see their names already on jacket hooks, cubbies, and teachers' lists.  

Friday brought a trip to the Pound Store to explore the foreign stuff and
gather proper snacks for the boys' upcoming week of camp and also preliminary house-hunting where we saw 3 properties, totally in Goldilocks fashion.  One that was a No-Way, one that was Just-Right, and one (in my opinion) that was Desirable.

We made no formal moves, shelved the 3 properties, and waited for wine at dinner hour to discuss the addresses.  I had one word for the showings: Vanilla.

 Dinner was conveyor belt sushi and the boys were never happier to be in front of all-you-can-drink tap water, flat and bubbly.  Think of a diner where the table-side jukebox would be...this spot was equipped with table-side water spouts.  Genius.  Each Lincoln and Dempsey only ate edamame and fruit bowls, but still, the thrill lay in plucking assorted colored bowls with plastic domes atop to procure nourishment for their parents.  It was awesome.

Bring on the weekend.  Cheers!

Day 3 (Aug 6)

(Victoria)
The most sincere boy I know.  How I was chosen to be his Mum is a blessing to me, daily.
This wondrous flower garden park is steps away from our flat and the first time we took Lincoln there, this is what he did...
Knelt down and had a private prayer.

Love him. The end.

What a way to turn !7! years old other than being moved to another country!?  The goals of the celebration were laid out in Annapolis, so as to not ruffle any feathers of our sweet First Born.  On the menu of events was bowling, gifts, and something sweet.  Our generous host family tracked down a Batman cake (AMAZING! POW! WOW!) in true super hero fashion and accepted our invitation to join us at the (only) bowling alley in town.

With those plans laid out for the afternoon, it left us with the morning to explore Lincoln's desires, of course within range of the British offerings.  We brunched at a lovely spot called No. 131 where we were seated in a basement dining hall with handsome velvet chairs, directly next to the exposed fireplace (which was not in use) and it had a sliding greenhouse ceiling that was open to expose the crisp blue sky, a handful of marshmallow clouds, and for our boy, plenty of sunshine.

Lincoln helped himself to a cup of Dan's tea, mesmerized by the ritual of the pour, dropping a sugar cube, giving a stir, and gently tipping a cloud of milk to erupt the perfect cup of tea.  He legit drank said cup of tea, Dempsey only along for the chemistry, not the sipping.

A plate of, "chips" (french fries) and grilled chicken and steamed peas more than sufficed our brand new 7-year-old tea connoisseur.

We made our way on foot after our brunch to the park across from our "flat" and the boys played.  Popped in to the flat and changed for bowling, (must have socks!)  Walked downtown deeper into the plaza and rode a steep escalator up to Hollywood Bowl.  No rental shoes needed, the alley was about half the size of an American bowling alley, and they had slushies on tap!  We connected with our birthday guests, 2 older boys of the family, Santi and Izzy, being exact ages as Dempsey and Lincoln, and their delicious younger brother, almost 2 years, Javi.  We bowled, we slushied, we sang Happy Birthday, we played arcade games.

On the walk out, Demps fell on the escalator and shredded his shin.  Tears and some blood steered his puffy eye to the McDonalds on the walk home, so we caved, and 2 Happy Meals came home with us.

Lincoln reported that he had a wonderful birthday and heavy hearts of Dan and I could not be prouder of our sweet Nugget, Lincoln, for being such an amazing boy.

So much promise and adventure lie ahead!

Day 2 (Aug 5, 2017)

[Dan] Worry not, gentle reader, I'm not going to write about every day that we're here in excruciating detail.

Everyone slept pretty well that first night, mostly just from the exhaustion of the previous days and weeks.  We were staying at the Loews hotel in Annapolis for the six days prior to our departure.  We slept OK but not great.  Generally speaking for a while before leaving, once Victoria or myself woke up in the middle of the night, we were just awake for hours.  The list of things to be done, what am I forgetting, what do I still need to do before we leave, the wheels turning....sleep was elusive for a while.  Once we got here, it was a bit of a relief.  What had been done was what would be done.  It was over, we had arrived.  There was a lull between what needed doing before we arrived and what needs doing now that we're here.  We really rested easy that first weekend and just recuperated.

Everyone slept around 14 hours and then we woke up to a beautiful day in Cheltenham just before lunch time.  We went to a nearby cafe for tea.  The boys have really been into the tea and it started here at this cafe.  I think they enjoy the ceremonial nature of the tea.  Letting it steep, the sugar cubes, stirring it, adding just enough milk to make it a little cloudy and stirring again, letting it cool a little and then drinking it.  Victoria and Lincoln have been enjoying tea often though only in the morning so far.  Haven't gotten to afternoon tea yet.  I enjoyed toast with avocado and poached eggs with a drizzle of olive oil and shelled pumpkin seeds.  Lincoln got a delicious blueberry cupcake but he didn't like it because they use granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar for the frosting (I guess) and the texture was off.  The struggle is real, people.  Dempsey didn't want anything.  We walked around the city center, getting our bearings.  I tried getting a cell phone working to no avail.  (I won't go into the Saga of the Cell Phones.)  We hung at the park a lot and walked to where the boys are going to be going to school this year.  Mostly we just existed, fed and watered ourselves.  Sunday was Lincoln's 7th birthday.  I'll leave that tale for Victoria to post.

Day 1

So we just finished up week 1.  We can't decide if it went fast or slow.  Just right I suppose.  We're going to try and blog about our adventures to help people keep tabs on us while we're gone.  Perhaps live vicariously.  We'll (hopefully) each take turns creating entries, the boys included.  Here are some highlights from our first week.

Day 1:
The travel day is a long one.  You leave the house on a Thursday afternoon, depart Thursday night and arrive in London about six hours later but 12 hours with the time change if that makes sense.  We decided to fly out of Dulles because the United flights are direct from there.  The car picked us, our 8 bags, 4 backpacks, and 2 carseats up at 4:00.  We were still frantically packing boxes that morning of things that somehow got missed by the packers to ship to my APO address.  After shipping the remaining seven boxes of stuff, we were ready to go.  It started to rain as we pulled out of the driveway, which we took as a sign that Annapolis was sad we were leaving.  The boys promptly fell asleep and the drive to Dulles was uneventful.

After checking in and getting through security, we had our last meal in the States for a while and got on the plane for our flight (10pm departure in the hope that everyone will sleep on the plane.)  I sat with Lincoln.  Victoria and Dempsey sat together and lucky for Dempsey, they had three seats between the two of them, which allowed him to lay down.  Sleep on the flight was sporadic and fitful, but we manage to get some sleep.  We arrived in London at around 10am on Friday morning.  Luckily for us, there was no line at passport control and while it took a little while longer at the border since we were coming in with visas for three years, necessitating some extra scrutiny, it was fast all things considered.  We gathered our bags, which were waiting for us.  I changed some money to pay for the car waiting for us on the other side of customs.  We loaded our stuff and got in for the two hour drive to Cheltenham.

Thankfully, Victoria and the boys (and even myself for a spell) slept on the car ride to our new home.  The key on the first day is staying awake all day and then crashing around 7 or 8 or 9 that night.  It sets you up for success getting over the jet lag.  We arrived in Cheltenham around 1:00 local time (8 am Eastern.)  We arrived at our new flat which is on the top floor of a townhouse across the street from a park with a play ground.  The boys love it.  Our sponsor family was at the apartment.  My work selects a sponsor family to help you with the transition.  Our sponsor family has 3 boys.  The older two are the same age as Lincoln and Dempsey (and as it turns out they are going to be in class together.)  They had stocked the apartment with some essentials, bought us sim cards for our phones, left us a bottle of wine, and their kids made cards and cookies for the boys.  Wonderful welcome!  We freshened up and then all went to lunch at a pizza place in an old church not far from our flat.  Then we went to the park across the street and the boys all played hard together for another few hours.   We took leave of our sponsor family and walked around town for a little while, mostly just to stay awake.  We had a pint and a wine in Imperial Park while the boys ran around some more.  We grabbed dinner and brought it back to the flat.  Victoria managed to stay awake until 7:00.  The boys, surprisingly, were pretty full of energy all day long and I had to cajole them into going down about 8:00.  Everyone then slept for about 15 hours.