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This is getting obnoxious, but we are Anglophiles, and we needed a good vacation. So, we went to the UK again! For almost 2 weeks! With a bunch of my college friends and their families! The whole trip went smashingly well, we had a fantastic time.
Here's the play-by-play, will try to add pics and/or links later:
( Days 1- 2: Dorchester & Exeter )
Here's the play-by-play, will try to add pics and/or links later:
( Days 1- 2: Dorchester & Exeter )
This is getting ridiculous...
Sep. 7th, 2018 09:02 pmWe went to England again! At the end of August, again! It feels obnoxious to have gone to England two years in a row, but it was amazing, and as usual, I'm going to memorialize it here. ( More after the cut! )
Last vacation entry!
Sep. 4th, 2017 09:24 pmDay 9- August 30 (Drew's b-day!). This was the only rainy day of our entire vacation. It started out just gray, got misty, then became a full-on downpour.
We started the day at the Tower of London. It was not crowded at all when we got there, so we basically walked right into the Crown Jewels exhibit, where West became obsessed with a sweet jeweled sword, then we walked all around the place and explored almost every nook and cranny. The biggest hit by far was the White Tower, with the armor exhibits. At the very top room of the tower, there's an enormous dragon made out of armor and weapons, and West lost his mind over how amazing it was. The dragon's name is "Keeper," and West could have stayed there all day looking at it.
After the Tower, we took a boat ride up the Thames to Westminster. Probably not a great call, since it was about noon, but I saw there was no line at Westminster Abbey and figured we could bang that sight out pretty quickly. So we went to the Abbey, but I'd forgotten how much it bottlenecks all over the place because so many people stop randomly to listen to their audio guide, so you get stuck in a slow moving line for the entire circuit around, so even if you want to glide through, it takes a while. Saw a pretty amazing tomb with an elaborate carving of a skeleton reaching up to grab a carving of a woman, saw all the royal tombs, and revisited Poet's Corner to quietly commemorate our engagement. West was super patient through the whole thing, even though I'm sure a tour of an old church filled with tombs isn't the most exciting thing for a kid.
Left the Abbey in search of lunch and had to wander in the rain until we stumbled on a pub. After lunch we wandered to the theater district so I could grab our will-call tickets for that night, and Drew went to a bookstore. We later reconvened at the hotel, fed West a peanut butter sandwich, then dived back out into the night for dinner and a show. We randomly went to a hot pot restaurant in Chinatown that was amazing, and I'm still obsessing over how good the food was. The broth was so spicy and good, and there was a conveyor belt with all the stuff you could get to put in the broth. Amazing!
Then West and I went to the theater to see Aladdin the musical. It was such a spectacle, really great sets and costumes. The music was a little meh, because there are basically 3 outstanding songs in the movie, and I think they had to make up a few original songs for the play to make it a true musical. West loved it, there's a part when Aladdin is in the cave getting the lamp where he touches some jewels that he's not supposed to touch, and the whole theater goes dark for a minute. There's another part where they set off confetti over the audience, and for A Whole New World the two leads get on a carpet that's rigged up to look like it's flying around. Totally worth it. Took a taxi back to the hotel at the end, and that's that.
Day 10- August 31. This was a tough day to plan because we had hit so many of the must-sees, and we were getting tired from so much non-stop action. We started the day with a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour, since we wanted to get down to the old part of the city and could get on the bus using our London Pass. We got down to the Monument area in time for a two hour walking tour done by London Walks. There were a lot of people on the tour, and while some parts of it were cool (like going through secret passageways through churches and secret gardens), it was a little too big of a group to really get into it, and so it wasn't as great as I'd hoped it would be. The tour guide also wasn't the most personable person, but eh, what can you do. West was really good for such a long walking tour. At the end of the tour it was lunch time, so we headed in the direction of a restaurant we'd looked up online that looked promising, only to arrive at it to find that it doesn't exist yet! It opens in a few months. So we wandered and found a Mexican restaurant that turned out to be good, and wonder of wonders, West agreed to eat a quesadilla.
After lunch we went to the Natural History Museum, which was bananas busy and crowded. It also wasn't air conditioned, and with all those people crowded in, it was hot. We saw the dinosaurs, which is what West really cared about, and he spent a while staring at an animatronic t-rex. Walked through their outdoor garden, which was quite nice and very tranquil (and had a surprise sheep!), then went back in, did a quick breeze through the mammals exhibit, then escaped.
Our last stop was the Princess Diana Memorial Playground near Kensington Palace. Aka, the best playground in the world. It was incredible, I only wish we had been able to squeeze in one more trip to it because it was so much fun for West. It has a huge pirate ship, a water play area, an adventure playground, an area with Native American tents, a secret tunnel to a music exploration area, a sensory garden, and a hidden little nook with a pirate treasure chest. Also has a kiosk selling kid-friendly food, so that was West's dinner sorted. Drew and I got Indian food take out and ate in our hotel room that night, and we watched some British tv while we packed and relaxed before the big trip home.
Day 11- September 1. Not much to report, went to Heathrow, in the plane we ended up sitting a few rows in front of an attorney from my work who was traveling with his family, got to Logan, got in our car service, and had a very loooong traffic-slow trip back to Salem.
That's the story of our vacation. It was perfect and amazing, I don't know how we can ever top it! West wants to go back to Warwick Castle, but man, that's chasing lightning, I don't know that a second trip could live up to the memory. But I'm already hoping we can do another trip to the UK sooner than ten years from now (Cornwall! Non-creepy Wales!).
We started the day at the Tower of London. It was not crowded at all when we got there, so we basically walked right into the Crown Jewels exhibit, where West became obsessed with a sweet jeweled sword, then we walked all around the place and explored almost every nook and cranny. The biggest hit by far was the White Tower, with the armor exhibits. At the very top room of the tower, there's an enormous dragon made out of armor and weapons, and West lost his mind over how amazing it was. The dragon's name is "Keeper," and West could have stayed there all day looking at it.
After the Tower, we took a boat ride up the Thames to Westminster. Probably not a great call, since it was about noon, but I saw there was no line at Westminster Abbey and figured we could bang that sight out pretty quickly. So we went to the Abbey, but I'd forgotten how much it bottlenecks all over the place because so many people stop randomly to listen to their audio guide, so you get stuck in a slow moving line for the entire circuit around, so even if you want to glide through, it takes a while. Saw a pretty amazing tomb with an elaborate carving of a skeleton reaching up to grab a carving of a woman, saw all the royal tombs, and revisited Poet's Corner to quietly commemorate our engagement. West was super patient through the whole thing, even though I'm sure a tour of an old church filled with tombs isn't the most exciting thing for a kid.
Left the Abbey in search of lunch and had to wander in the rain until we stumbled on a pub. After lunch we wandered to the theater district so I could grab our will-call tickets for that night, and Drew went to a bookstore. We later reconvened at the hotel, fed West a peanut butter sandwich, then dived back out into the night for dinner and a show. We randomly went to a hot pot restaurant in Chinatown that was amazing, and I'm still obsessing over how good the food was. The broth was so spicy and good, and there was a conveyor belt with all the stuff you could get to put in the broth. Amazing!
Then West and I went to the theater to see Aladdin the musical. It was such a spectacle, really great sets and costumes. The music was a little meh, because there are basically 3 outstanding songs in the movie, and I think they had to make up a few original songs for the play to make it a true musical. West loved it, there's a part when Aladdin is in the cave getting the lamp where he touches some jewels that he's not supposed to touch, and the whole theater goes dark for a minute. There's another part where they set off confetti over the audience, and for A Whole New World the two leads get on a carpet that's rigged up to look like it's flying around. Totally worth it. Took a taxi back to the hotel at the end, and that's that.
Day 10- August 31. This was a tough day to plan because we had hit so many of the must-sees, and we were getting tired from so much non-stop action. We started the day with a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour, since we wanted to get down to the old part of the city and could get on the bus using our London Pass. We got down to the Monument area in time for a two hour walking tour done by London Walks. There were a lot of people on the tour, and while some parts of it were cool (like going through secret passageways through churches and secret gardens), it was a little too big of a group to really get into it, and so it wasn't as great as I'd hoped it would be. The tour guide also wasn't the most personable person, but eh, what can you do. West was really good for such a long walking tour. At the end of the tour it was lunch time, so we headed in the direction of a restaurant we'd looked up online that looked promising, only to arrive at it to find that it doesn't exist yet! It opens in a few months. So we wandered and found a Mexican restaurant that turned out to be good, and wonder of wonders, West agreed to eat a quesadilla.
After lunch we went to the Natural History Museum, which was bananas busy and crowded. It also wasn't air conditioned, and with all those people crowded in, it was hot. We saw the dinosaurs, which is what West really cared about, and he spent a while staring at an animatronic t-rex. Walked through their outdoor garden, which was quite nice and very tranquil (and had a surprise sheep!), then went back in, did a quick breeze through the mammals exhibit, then escaped.
Our last stop was the Princess Diana Memorial Playground near Kensington Palace. Aka, the best playground in the world. It was incredible, I only wish we had been able to squeeze in one more trip to it because it was so much fun for West. It has a huge pirate ship, a water play area, an adventure playground, an area with Native American tents, a secret tunnel to a music exploration area, a sensory garden, and a hidden little nook with a pirate treasure chest. Also has a kiosk selling kid-friendly food, so that was West's dinner sorted. Drew and I got Indian food take out and ate in our hotel room that night, and we watched some British tv while we packed and relaxed before the big trip home.
Day 11- September 1. Not much to report, went to Heathrow, in the plane we ended up sitting a few rows in front of an attorney from my work who was traveling with his family, got to Logan, got in our car service, and had a very loooong traffic-slow trip back to Salem.
That's the story of our vacation. It was perfect and amazing, I don't know how we can ever top it! West wants to go back to Warwick Castle, but man, that's chasing lightning, I don't know that a second trip could live up to the memory. But I'm already hoping we can do another trip to the UK sooner than ten years from now (Cornwall! Non-creepy Wales!).
Still. More. Vacay.
Sep. 4th, 2017 09:02 pmBut wait, there's more!
Day 6- August 27. Up with the literal dawn. We didn't even wait for breakfast, and the reception area was dark and unstaffed when we left. Left the key on the front desk and left town so fast there were probably cartoon speed marks in our wake.
This was Drew's Liverpool soccer game day, so we drove to Crewe, which is a nondescript post-industrial city that happens to have a big rail hub. We breakfasted at a sketchy McDonald's because there were no other options, and then dropped Drew at the train station. Then West and I went off for our day of adventure.
First stop- The Trentham Monkey Forest. It's a preserve for one species of monkey, and the monkeys wander free through the forest area. We saw some monkeys having a spat, and a few monkeys walked across the path in front of us, much to West's delight. Saw a talk by one of the staff at feeding time, West played on the playground for a few minutes, I paid a couple of pounds for him to get a few minutes in a bouncy house, then we headed out.
Stopped for lunch at a rest area on the highway that had a nice outdoor patio next to a pond & water fountain, so that was nice. We eventually made it to Stratford-Upon-Avon, and went to Mary Arden's Farm.
The farm was Shakespeare's mom's childhood home, and it was way more interesting than I expected! West loved it! There are some people in old timey costumes doing various farming/crafting demonstrations, and you can wander around the grounds, which include some gardens and some sheep/cattle fields. There's also a nice old Tudor house that you can walk through. Of course, for a couple of pounds you can do have-a-go archery, so West got to shoot some arrows. There's also a nice playground, so we booked some time there. We spent a good couple of hours at the farm, and could have stayed longer, but it was getting on a bit in the afternoon by then and I wanted to get to our hotel before dinner time. Also, my phone battery was almost dead and I didn't want to be stranded without a phone.
Made our way to our hotel for the night, The Castle at Edgehill, which is just on the outskirts of the Cotswolds area, or maybe just within it. It's up on a hill in a pretty small town in a rural farm area, but even with the secluded area it felt so much less creepy than the Wales inn the night before. It's a genuine castle, built in the late 18th century, though it's more of a folly and I don't think it was built for fortification. It was near the site of a big battle in the English Civil War, though. So our room was super comfy and felt luxurious, which was nice after such a bummer before. West's bed was tucked in a little alcove off the main room, always a plus, and they left a big basket of continental breakfast food for us, with juices and local milk in the room's fridge, so our breakfast was ready to go. That was totally awesome.
I was thinking about driving back into Stratford-Upon-Avon for dinner with West, but we were pretty tired after a long day, and knowing I would have to drive again later that night, I took a chance on bringing West to the hotel's fancy restaurant. It turned out to be awesome, he ate a grown-up fancy burger and was generally a very pleasant little dude. He got really into pouring water for me from the table's water bottle, and he wanted to be fancy for fancy dinner.
After dinner West and I piled back into the car to drive to Rugby, another post-industrial city with a big train station, so we could pick up Drew after his day in Liverpool. The GPS in the car stopped working just for this car trip, which was aggravating. I got Google Maps working on my phone, but it still led me astray a few times when the car's GPS probably would have been better (but amazingly, when we mentioned this to the car rental place when we returned the car, they actually refunded us the cost of the GPS for the week!). Finally made it to Rugby after driving for an hour down a bunch of twisty tiny country roads in the dark, got Drew, drove for another hour down the country roads.
Day 7- August 28. Time to wrap up the countryside for London! We headed out bright and early, anticipating Monday morning traffic jams, but it was a bank holiday, so we were pleasantly surprised by the complete lack of traffic. Made it back to the car rental place at Heathrow in record time, then got on the Heathrow Express to get into the city. Dropped our luggage off at our hotel, the Nadler Kensington, which was in a great location near a big tube station, but enough out of the way to be quiet at night. Room was comfy and had a little bed for West, so it was just what we needed.
We spent most of this day walking around London, taking in the big sights. First things first, we got off the tube right in front of Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. West was duly impressed. Walked by 10 Downing Street and West got a picture of himself standing next to a guard on a horse. Went to Trafalgar Square, then got lunch in the crypt at St. Martin-in-the-Field, which is something I've always wanted to do. Walked around St. James Park, which had a surprise playground that was awesome, and West made a buddy for a little while. Continued on to the end of the park and arrived in front of Buckingham Palace, so we could check that off the list. Walked back through Trafalgar Square to get up to Regent Street, where we found Hamley's Toy Store, a completely bananas incredible toy store. It blew West's mind. Got dinner at Pizza Express, because it's not like we can visit England without going to Pizza Express. Then we decided on the spur of the moment to do a Ghost Bus tour, which was highly entertaining and totally worth the steep tourist-trap price.
Day 8- August 29. This was probably my second favorite day of vacation, it went off perfectly and was a total delight. We started the day by going to King's Cross Station to do the Platform 9 3/4 visit. The line for photos wasn't long, so we got some good photos of West there, got our Harry Potter memorabilia, and then set off on foot for the London Zoo.
We walked through parts of Camden I'd never seen before, and got to the zoo after a solid 20-30 minute walk. It was awesome, West saw the gorillas and was happy, and he spent the entire time we were in the Reptile House hissing at the snakes to try to communicate with them. We had a decent lunch at the zoo cafeteria, then it was time to move along.
Our next stop was the British Museum. I wasn't sure how it would go over with West, but he had a great time. They have backpacks you can rent that are full of various activities for kids. The backpacks are themed, so we took the ancient Greece themed on, which had the cutest little toga for West to wear while we ran around the Greek stuff doing the activities. One of the activities was to sit in a quiet corner and play a game of knucklebones, then look at the vases that show ancient Greeks playing the game. It was awesome, though the museum was not air conditioned, and that wing was particularly hot that day. Saw all the big stuff that you want to see at the museum, and by the end of the day, Drew wanted to go check out a bookstore that was nearby. West and I stayed at the museum for a cupcake snack and a leisurely shopping break in the gift shop, then we all regrouped and headed to a nearby pub for refreshment. Ended the day with dinner at a super touristy and embarrassing to set foot in American style restaurant in Trafalgar Square, but we wanted someplace easy with food West would eat, so that's what we were stuck with.
Day 6- August 27. Up with the literal dawn. We didn't even wait for breakfast, and the reception area was dark and unstaffed when we left. Left the key on the front desk and left town so fast there were probably cartoon speed marks in our wake.
This was Drew's Liverpool soccer game day, so we drove to Crewe, which is a nondescript post-industrial city that happens to have a big rail hub. We breakfasted at a sketchy McDonald's because there were no other options, and then dropped Drew at the train station. Then West and I went off for our day of adventure.
First stop- The Trentham Monkey Forest. It's a preserve for one species of monkey, and the monkeys wander free through the forest area. We saw some monkeys having a spat, and a few monkeys walked across the path in front of us, much to West's delight. Saw a talk by one of the staff at feeding time, West played on the playground for a few minutes, I paid a couple of pounds for him to get a few minutes in a bouncy house, then we headed out.
Stopped for lunch at a rest area on the highway that had a nice outdoor patio next to a pond & water fountain, so that was nice. We eventually made it to Stratford-Upon-Avon, and went to Mary Arden's Farm.
The farm was Shakespeare's mom's childhood home, and it was way more interesting than I expected! West loved it! There are some people in old timey costumes doing various farming/crafting demonstrations, and you can wander around the grounds, which include some gardens and some sheep/cattle fields. There's also a nice old Tudor house that you can walk through. Of course, for a couple of pounds you can do have-a-go archery, so West got to shoot some arrows. There's also a nice playground, so we booked some time there. We spent a good couple of hours at the farm, and could have stayed longer, but it was getting on a bit in the afternoon by then and I wanted to get to our hotel before dinner time. Also, my phone battery was almost dead and I didn't want to be stranded without a phone.
Made our way to our hotel for the night, The Castle at Edgehill, which is just on the outskirts of the Cotswolds area, or maybe just within it. It's up on a hill in a pretty small town in a rural farm area, but even with the secluded area it felt so much less creepy than the Wales inn the night before. It's a genuine castle, built in the late 18th century, though it's more of a folly and I don't think it was built for fortification. It was near the site of a big battle in the English Civil War, though. So our room was super comfy and felt luxurious, which was nice after such a bummer before. West's bed was tucked in a little alcove off the main room, always a plus, and they left a big basket of continental breakfast food for us, with juices and local milk in the room's fridge, so our breakfast was ready to go. That was totally awesome.
I was thinking about driving back into Stratford-Upon-Avon for dinner with West, but we were pretty tired after a long day, and knowing I would have to drive again later that night, I took a chance on bringing West to the hotel's fancy restaurant. It turned out to be awesome, he ate a grown-up fancy burger and was generally a very pleasant little dude. He got really into pouring water for me from the table's water bottle, and he wanted to be fancy for fancy dinner.
After dinner West and I piled back into the car to drive to Rugby, another post-industrial city with a big train station, so we could pick up Drew after his day in Liverpool. The GPS in the car stopped working just for this car trip, which was aggravating. I got Google Maps working on my phone, but it still led me astray a few times when the car's GPS probably would have been better (but amazingly, when we mentioned this to the car rental place when we returned the car, they actually refunded us the cost of the GPS for the week!). Finally made it to Rugby after driving for an hour down a bunch of twisty tiny country roads in the dark, got Drew, drove for another hour down the country roads.
Day 7- August 28. Time to wrap up the countryside for London! We headed out bright and early, anticipating Monday morning traffic jams, but it was a bank holiday, so we were pleasantly surprised by the complete lack of traffic. Made it back to the car rental place at Heathrow in record time, then got on the Heathrow Express to get into the city. Dropped our luggage off at our hotel, the Nadler Kensington, which was in a great location near a big tube station, but enough out of the way to be quiet at night. Room was comfy and had a little bed for West, so it was just what we needed.
We spent most of this day walking around London, taking in the big sights. First things first, we got off the tube right in front of Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. West was duly impressed. Walked by 10 Downing Street and West got a picture of himself standing next to a guard on a horse. Went to Trafalgar Square, then got lunch in the crypt at St. Martin-in-the-Field, which is something I've always wanted to do. Walked around St. James Park, which had a surprise playground that was awesome, and West made a buddy for a little while. Continued on to the end of the park and arrived in front of Buckingham Palace, so we could check that off the list. Walked back through Trafalgar Square to get up to Regent Street, where we found Hamley's Toy Store, a completely bananas incredible toy store. It blew West's mind. Got dinner at Pizza Express, because it's not like we can visit England without going to Pizza Express. Then we decided on the spur of the moment to do a Ghost Bus tour, which was highly entertaining and totally worth the steep tourist-trap price.
Day 8- August 29. This was probably my second favorite day of vacation, it went off perfectly and was a total delight. We started the day by going to King's Cross Station to do the Platform 9 3/4 visit. The line for photos wasn't long, so we got some good photos of West there, got our Harry Potter memorabilia, and then set off on foot for the London Zoo.
We walked through parts of Camden I'd never seen before, and got to the zoo after a solid 20-30 minute walk. It was awesome, West saw the gorillas and was happy, and he spent the entire time we were in the Reptile House hissing at the snakes to try to communicate with them. We had a decent lunch at the zoo cafeteria, then it was time to move along.
Our next stop was the British Museum. I wasn't sure how it would go over with West, but he had a great time. They have backpacks you can rent that are full of various activities for kids. The backpacks are themed, so we took the ancient Greece themed on, which had the cutest little toga for West to wear while we ran around the Greek stuff doing the activities. One of the activities was to sit in a quiet corner and play a game of knucklebones, then look at the vases that show ancient Greeks playing the game. It was awesome, though the museum was not air conditioned, and that wing was particularly hot that day. Saw all the big stuff that you want to see at the museum, and by the end of the day, Drew wanted to go check out a bookstore that was nearby. West and I stayed at the museum for a cupcake snack and a leisurely shopping break in the gift shop, then we all regrouped and headed to a nearby pub for refreshment. Ended the day with dinner at a super touristy and embarrassing to set foot in American style restaurant in Trafalgar Square, but we wanted someplace easy with food West would eat, so that's what we were stuck with.
OMG We Went to England
Sep. 2nd, 2017 09:00 pmAhem. *Tap Tap Tap* Time to dust off this old thing. Putting up a skeleton of a post now while things are still somewhat fresh in my jet lagged brain, will try to add pics later. But OMG, we went to England! We brought West! It was a magical delight! Seriously, A++ vacation, it'll be hard to top it ever.
( Click for details! )
( Click for details! )
(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2016 08:46 pmTonight when I picked West up we went for our now-traditional Wednesday evening ice cream (Drew works late Wednesday nights, and it's a bad habit I got us into over the summer, luckily the ice cream store is closing for the winter season this weekend). While we were sitting there eating our ice cream, West leaned over and whispered in my ear "the people who work here are so nice giving us our ice creams all the time, can we give them something to say thank you?" It was the sweetest, most touching thing I've heard in a long time. I had tipped extra when I paid, but I gave West a dollar to put in the tip jar on the way out.
Guys, whenever I tip too far into election despair, I try to remember, so many of the kids are alright. So many of them are so kind and compassionate. I hope we can keep the present from fucking up their future too much, because the kids get it, and a lot of them are going to grow up to be better adults than the crop we've got now.
Guys, whenever I tip too far into election despair, I try to remember, so many of the kids are alright. So many of them are so kind and compassionate. I hope we can keep the present from fucking up their future too much, because the kids get it, and a lot of them are going to grow up to be better adults than the crop we've got now.
(no subject)
Oct. 25th, 2016 08:39 pmI took West to a Hillary Clinton rally (and Elizabeth Warren was there, too! Their first joint appearance since June!) on Monday. I figured I'd give the run-down of the day here for posterity's sake.
We got there around 8:30, "doors" were at 10:30 ("doors" being security check started then, because it was outside), and it was supposed to start at 12:30. It didn't start until 1:00 (if not after that, I didn't check the actual time, but it started super late).
It was a gorgeous day, and the couple of hours of waiting before we went through security were not bad at all. The guy in front of us in line eventually had his daughter join him, she was four, so she and West goofed around and played together in line. They ended up standing next to us at the actual rally, too, and West and the girl drew pictures together during that long wait, too.
We were so close to the stage! We were right up at the barrier, and were in front of where everyone walked up onto the stage. I'm going to append a couple of pictures I found online of the rally that show us!
It ended around 2:15. I didn't want us to have to pee during the rally, so we ended up being completely parched and hungry by the end. I gave West a peanut butter sandwich at 10:15, because I wasn't sure if they'd let any food in (turned out they did, but we were so squished in that there wasn't enough room to attempt to eat anything), and we shared a bottle of water before going through security, because they didn't let any liquids in. It was surprisingly hot in the sun, so by the end we were so hot and thirsty, and West was losing it. He was great for so much of the day, but he became a total bummer exactly when the event actually started, and he was pouting and flopping all over me and trying to sleep through the speeches. He perked up after it was done and I got some food and water into his face, and he said it was awesome.
Anyway, it was pretty exciting. There was such a happy excited air about the whole event, and everyone was so psyched to be there, it was awesome. Totally worth it, totally worth pulling him out of school. How many times are you going to be that up close to the next President of the United States?
Pictures if you click 'em. I drew crazy conspiracy theorist arrows on them to point out where we are- West wore my hoodie on his head to block the sun.
We got there around 8:30, "doors" were at 10:30 ("doors" being security check started then, because it was outside), and it was supposed to start at 12:30. It didn't start until 1:00 (if not after that, I didn't check the actual time, but it started super late).
It was a gorgeous day, and the couple of hours of waiting before we went through security were not bad at all. The guy in front of us in line eventually had his daughter join him, she was four, so she and West goofed around and played together in line. They ended up standing next to us at the actual rally, too, and West and the girl drew pictures together during that long wait, too.
We were so close to the stage! We were right up at the barrier, and were in front of where everyone walked up onto the stage. I'm going to append a couple of pictures I found online of the rally that show us!
It ended around 2:15. I didn't want us to have to pee during the rally, so we ended up being completely parched and hungry by the end. I gave West a peanut butter sandwich at 10:15, because I wasn't sure if they'd let any food in (turned out they did, but we were so squished in that there wasn't enough room to attempt to eat anything), and we shared a bottle of water before going through security, because they didn't let any liquids in. It was surprisingly hot in the sun, so by the end we were so hot and thirsty, and West was losing it. He was great for so much of the day, but he became a total bummer exactly when the event actually started, and he was pouting and flopping all over me and trying to sleep through the speeches. He perked up after it was done and I got some food and water into his face, and he said it was awesome.
Anyway, it was pretty exciting. There was such a happy excited air about the whole event, and everyone was so psyched to be there, it was awesome. Totally worth it, totally worth pulling him out of school. How many times are you going to be that up close to the next President of the United States?
Pictures if you click 'em. I drew crazy conspiracy theorist arrows on them to point out where we are- West wore my hoodie on his head to block the sun.
(no subject)
Oct. 11th, 2016 06:46 pmFrom the kids are unintentionally hilarious file:
Yesterday West asked me "How did sakes die?" After puzzling through WTF he could possibly be talking about, I lighted on "Do you mean "for heaven's sakes?" He did. I don't... even know how to explain that.
The other day one of his spelling words was dam. When I said it out loud for him to spell it his eyes got huge and he said "that's a spelling word?" Not damn, I had to explain, but a thing that holds water back.
Yesterday West asked me "How did sakes die?" After puzzling through WTF he could possibly be talking about, I lighted on "Do you mean "for heaven's sakes?" He did. I don't... even know how to explain that.
The other day one of his spelling words was dam. When I said it out loud for him to spell it his eyes got huge and he said "that's a spelling word?" Not damn, I had to explain, but a thing that holds water back.
(no subject)
Aug. 17th, 2016 06:49 pmWow, kids losing skills over the summer is no joke. West is currently struggling to copy the thank you card notes I pre-wrote out for him. Like, all he has to do is look at what I wrote and literally just copy every letter, and it's like pulling teeth over here. I am feeling super guilty for letting the school work practice slide this summer, he's going to have a tough time going back to school in a few weeks. But jeez, man, how hard is it to copy a salutation, two sentences, and the closing signature? OMG. Someone's gonna be doing worksheets next summer.
We're back from Summer Vacation #3 (#1 was a week in Maryland in July, #2 was a couple of nights in a cabin in Maine last weekend). The drive home from New York always leaves me feeling so much more drained than the drive there. But Drew pointed out that we also walked 6 miles this morning before leaving the city, so there's that.
We drove down Friday morning, it was a surprisingly smooth ride, not as much traffic as there normally would be in the morning, and we triple-protected against West's motion sickness- half a chewable Dramamine, those sea sickness wrist bands, and lollipops made for morning sick pregnant ladies. It worked! And the Dramamine did not dope him up too much, so we were ready to hit the ground running on arrival. We parked at the Met and started our visit there. We walked in via the Greek/Roman statues wing, so West immediately saw statue butts and thought that was the height of hilarity. Got some comically overpriced lunch at the museum cafeteria. Saw the armor exhibit, the medieval exhibit, the Egypt exhibit, more ancient stuff, and European paintings. All while playing Pokemon Go, because the entire museum was covered in lures the whole time and there Pokemon everywhere. Talked to someone from Miami who was happy to see how into the game everyone is up here. After the museum we went to our hotel, which was in a great location, was pretty comfy, and had a super sketchy scary elevator. So I took the stairs a lot. Anyway, after freshening up, we walked down to the area where we knew we were having dinner, stopping in stores along the way because it was a thousand degrees and like 200% humidity, it was seriously epically uncomfortable the entire weekend. We went to The Strand, Forbidden Planet, Dylan's Candy Bar, and a Lego store (NYC business establishments got a lot of our money this weekend). Once we got down to The Village we stopped in a bar for a quick beer before dinner, then headed into Jekyll & Hyde for dinner. I had a groupon for dinner, which is the only way that place is remotely affordable, and even with that I ended up feeling like it was waaaay too expensive for what it was. We thought it would delight West, but he was kind of terrified the whole time. He did laugh at some things, and I think the rose colored glasses of time will make it a fun memory.. eventually. The food was beyond meh. Luckily we were right across the street from Big Gay Ice Cream, so we got delicious ice cream after dinner, and actually walked all the way back to our hotel from there. It was a lot of walking and West was a trooper for it all. It's not a Meger vacation until we have walked a punishing number of miles every day!
Saturday we got breakfast at a super New York corner diner that was super tasty. Then we walked up to the Nintendo store to drop some cash on Pokemon products. We played Pokemon Go the whole way, then went up to Central Park for more Pokemon action. We walked back to our hotel and got lunch at a bar with soccer on tv and a good beer selection, then I made a quick shopping detour to the row of awesome Korean beauty product stores (our hotel was in Koreatown). West and I attempted to nap at the hotel for a bit, completely unsuccessfully. We'd intended to do a ghost walk in the evening, but by the time I went to buy tickets that day they were all sold out, which was a bummer. So, change of plans, we took a bus way down to Bowery and Banyard, and then walked around Chinatown and Little Italy. Got some gelato because it was a thousand degrees and we lived off ice cream all weekend. And the gelato was delicious. We walked all the way to Avenue B to an HP Lovecraft themed bar that turned out to be underwhelming in its devotion to the theme. After that we found a bar specializing in hot dogs, so West could have a hot dog for dinner. A mouse totally ran across the floor in the place, but what can you expect from a restaurant below street level in New York.... We went back up to the area around our hotel (by cab this time, we aren't total gluttons for punishment, that would have been a crazy walk), Drew and I got some dinner, and that was the end of the day.
This morning we walked through Times Square to get to Ellen's Stardust Diner for breakfast. Ok, it's a total tourist trap, and in keeping with our food theme of the weekend, it was super expensive for meh food, but the waitstaff sing while you eat (I thought it would be like all the waitstaff singing to tables individually, but it's one person at a time singing with a microphone, so it's not as chaotic as it sounds). West was totally delighted with it, so it was worth the price tag and mediocre food, and looking like total tourists. We walked up to Central Park again, did more Pokemon Go-ing, then walked back to our hotel to check out. And that's that!
We drove down Friday morning, it was a surprisingly smooth ride, not as much traffic as there normally would be in the morning, and we triple-protected against West's motion sickness- half a chewable Dramamine, those sea sickness wrist bands, and lollipops made for morning sick pregnant ladies. It worked! And the Dramamine did not dope him up too much, so we were ready to hit the ground running on arrival. We parked at the Met and started our visit there. We walked in via the Greek/Roman statues wing, so West immediately saw statue butts and thought that was the height of hilarity. Got some comically overpriced lunch at the museum cafeteria. Saw the armor exhibit, the medieval exhibit, the Egypt exhibit, more ancient stuff, and European paintings. All while playing Pokemon Go, because the entire museum was covered in lures the whole time and there Pokemon everywhere. Talked to someone from Miami who was happy to see how into the game everyone is up here. After the museum we went to our hotel, which was in a great location, was pretty comfy, and had a super sketchy scary elevator. So I took the stairs a lot. Anyway, after freshening up, we walked down to the area where we knew we were having dinner, stopping in stores along the way because it was a thousand degrees and like 200% humidity, it was seriously epically uncomfortable the entire weekend. We went to The Strand, Forbidden Planet, Dylan's Candy Bar, and a Lego store (NYC business establishments got a lot of our money this weekend). Once we got down to The Village we stopped in a bar for a quick beer before dinner, then headed into Jekyll & Hyde for dinner. I had a groupon for dinner, which is the only way that place is remotely affordable, and even with that I ended up feeling like it was waaaay too expensive for what it was. We thought it would delight West, but he was kind of terrified the whole time. He did laugh at some things, and I think the rose colored glasses of time will make it a fun memory.. eventually. The food was beyond meh. Luckily we were right across the street from Big Gay Ice Cream, so we got delicious ice cream after dinner, and actually walked all the way back to our hotel from there. It was a lot of walking and West was a trooper for it all. It's not a Meger vacation until we have walked a punishing number of miles every day!
Saturday we got breakfast at a super New York corner diner that was super tasty. Then we walked up to the Nintendo store to drop some cash on Pokemon products. We played Pokemon Go the whole way, then went up to Central Park for more Pokemon action. We walked back to our hotel and got lunch at a bar with soccer on tv and a good beer selection, then I made a quick shopping detour to the row of awesome Korean beauty product stores (our hotel was in Koreatown). West and I attempted to nap at the hotel for a bit, completely unsuccessfully. We'd intended to do a ghost walk in the evening, but by the time I went to buy tickets that day they were all sold out, which was a bummer. So, change of plans, we took a bus way down to Bowery and Banyard, and then walked around Chinatown and Little Italy. Got some gelato because it was a thousand degrees and we lived off ice cream all weekend. And the gelato was delicious. We walked all the way to Avenue B to an HP Lovecraft themed bar that turned out to be underwhelming in its devotion to the theme. After that we found a bar specializing in hot dogs, so West could have a hot dog for dinner. A mouse totally ran across the floor in the place, but what can you expect from a restaurant below street level in New York.... We went back up to the area around our hotel (by cab this time, we aren't total gluttons for punishment, that would have been a crazy walk), Drew and I got some dinner, and that was the end of the day.
This morning we walked through Times Square to get to Ellen's Stardust Diner for breakfast. Ok, it's a total tourist trap, and in keeping with our food theme of the weekend, it was super expensive for meh food, but the waitstaff sing while you eat (I thought it would be like all the waitstaff singing to tables individually, but it's one person at a time singing with a microphone, so it's not as chaotic as it sounds). West was totally delighted with it, so it was worth the price tag and mediocre food, and looking like total tourists. We walked up to Central Park again, did more Pokemon Go-ing, then walked back to our hotel to check out. And that's that!
(no subject)
Jul. 7th, 2016 04:39 pmWe just had a vacation, and it's been way too long since I've posted here. Our vacation was just going down the Maryland to visit the in-laws, but still, I haven't been at work for a week, so that feels pretty good to me.
Our trip started off with West throwing up all over me just as we landed at BWI last Friday. So that was fun. We were sitting close to the front of the plane, so everyone else on the plane got to walk by us as I tried to clean us up with a handful of paper towels and all of the wet wipes I carry in my purse (note to self: replenish purse wet wipe supply stat). All while calmly telling West it's no big deal, lots of people do it, that's why those little bags are there. Those little bags are great if you get some warning that your companion is going to blow chunks before said chunks are blown. So then we walked through the airport while my shorts were soaked through with vomit, and lurked in a corner at baggage claim until we could get clean clothes out of our suitcase. What a start!
We saw fireworks on the 4th at a minor league baseball game that 1) took foreeeeeevvverrrr for them to play, and 2) got rain-delayed halfway through when the heavens opened up on us. But by the time fireworks were on the rain had stopped, and we had great seats in which to view them.
On Tuesday we went into Baltimore for the children's museum, a stop at the Maryland Historic Society to see their mastodon skeleton, and finished the day with a trip to a remaindered book warehouse that was awesome. Children's illustrated abridged versions of Shakespeare, Greek myths, and the Canterbury Tales- yes, please!
Wednesday we went into DC so I could book a half day of work at my DC office (and get four blissful hours of peace and quiet and not having to hear "uh, mommy?" five bazillion times). West and the fam went to the natural history museum, saw a few dinosaur fossils and watched tarantuala feeding time.
Today we flew back home. I set off the explosives detector with whatever explosive substance I had on my palms. Oh boy! I got the extra special go-into-a-tiny-room TSA pat down. That was... thorough. The lady doing it did say "nice shirt" about my Veronica Mars t-shirt. I was a little rattled by how non-communicative everyone involved in the process was, as I was led around by a guy who only spoke in grunts, and it was confusing what they wanted me to do pre-pat-down. But I ended up kinda feeling bad for the TSA lady who has to feel up strangers all day, because that must feel kind of lousy for her, too. ANYway. The flight was a little bumpy but otherwise uneventful, and West kept his breakfast in his stomach.
And tomorrow we have a final day of vacation!
Our trip started off with West throwing up all over me just as we landed at BWI last Friday. So that was fun. We were sitting close to the front of the plane, so everyone else on the plane got to walk by us as I tried to clean us up with a handful of paper towels and all of the wet wipes I carry in my purse (note to self: replenish purse wet wipe supply stat). All while calmly telling West it's no big deal, lots of people do it, that's why those little bags are there. Those little bags are great if you get some warning that your companion is going to blow chunks before said chunks are blown. So then we walked through the airport while my shorts were soaked through with vomit, and lurked in a corner at baggage claim until we could get clean clothes out of our suitcase. What a start!
We saw fireworks on the 4th at a minor league baseball game that 1) took foreeeeeevvverrrr for them to play, and 2) got rain-delayed halfway through when the heavens opened up on us. But by the time fireworks were on the rain had stopped, and we had great seats in which to view them.
On Tuesday we went into Baltimore for the children's museum, a stop at the Maryland Historic Society to see their mastodon skeleton, and finished the day with a trip to a remaindered book warehouse that was awesome. Children's illustrated abridged versions of Shakespeare, Greek myths, and the Canterbury Tales- yes, please!
Wednesday we went into DC so I could book a half day of work at my DC office (and get four blissful hours of peace and quiet and not having to hear "uh, mommy?" five bazillion times). West and the fam went to the natural history museum, saw a few dinosaur fossils and watched tarantuala feeding time.
Today we flew back home. I set off the explosives detector with whatever explosive substance I had on my palms. Oh boy! I got the extra special go-into-a-tiny-room TSA pat down. That was... thorough. The lady doing it did say "nice shirt" about my Veronica Mars t-shirt. I was a little rattled by how non-communicative everyone involved in the process was, as I was led around by a guy who only spoke in grunts, and it was confusing what they wanted me to do pre-pat-down. But I ended up kinda feeling bad for the TSA lady who has to feel up strangers all day, because that must feel kind of lousy for her, too. ANYway. The flight was a little bumpy but otherwise uneventful, and West kept his breakfast in his stomach.
And tomorrow we have a final day of vacation!
(no subject)
Apr. 18th, 2016 12:53 pmSo I guess we've reached the point in our car's life where it just falls apart? In the last 3 weeks we've had to get the mass air flow sensor replaced twice. Today, driving home from the mechanic that just replaced the sensor again, the car sounded weirdly loud. The muffler had detached from... whatever holds mufflers onto cars. Completely coincidentally and not related to the mechanic fixing the damn sensor. WTF, car. We still have a couple of years left on the loan, so I think we're stuck with it until something really catastrophic breaks, but I am now seeing some of the wisdom of possibly leasing in the future. Even though leasing seems like a scam and I'd prefer to own a car at the end of making payments for 5 years.
(no subject)
Apr. 6th, 2016 09:51 pmIn a rare parenting win, I may have stumbled on something that seems to work. Lately I've been asking West once he's all tucked in bed if he has any questions. Like, about life or his day or anything. And he's had a lot of questions about evolution and sciencey things, and a couple of questions about why I don't like guns. I wanted to do something to encourage us having a little chat after story reading time, and he never remembers much about his day, or doesn't have anything he wants to tell me about it, but he always has a million questions.
Of course, I temper that by sucking sometimes, and I got super annoyed with him tonight when he hurt his hand because he was fooling around with a stepstool while I was trying to wipe his butt tonight. OMG. I am so tired of butt wiping. When will it end?! He does a passably ok job of it when he has to, but we are not at 100% independence there yet. Anyway, I try to apologize to him after I've failed at being a reasonable adult, and I explain how I should have been more patient or whatever my failing du jour is, and that I'll try harder. I don't remember my parents ever apologizing for a parenting mistake, so I hope maybe it's ok to at least show him that hey, we're humans, we screw up, we try to do better next time. Maybe? I don't know what I'm doing here, who put me in charge of a human anyway?
Of course, I temper that by sucking sometimes, and I got super annoyed with him tonight when he hurt his hand because he was fooling around with a stepstool while I was trying to wipe his butt tonight. OMG. I am so tired of butt wiping. When will it end?! He does a passably ok job of it when he has to, but we are not at 100% independence there yet. Anyway, I try to apologize to him after I've failed at being a reasonable adult, and I explain how I should have been more patient or whatever my failing du jour is, and that I'll try harder. I don't remember my parents ever apologizing for a parenting mistake, so I hope maybe it's ok to at least show him that hey, we're humans, we screw up, we try to do better next time. Maybe? I don't know what I'm doing here, who put me in charge of a human anyway?
(no subject)
Feb. 15th, 2016 08:41 pmWatching West learn how to read is amazing. In September he couldn't read anything other than his name. Tonight he read me an entire Elephant & Piggie book, with help on the harder words, but still, he did it. He's kind of obsessed with learning facts about presidents now, and he's super obsessed with Pokemon and knows a lot of their names and powers. This little person blows my mind sometimes.
