Here are a few things that we've been up to lately and some typical scenes around londontown.
A haunted palace once used for the Royal Naval Academy, a morgue during the blitz, and headquarters for the underground painting thiefs.
Ice Cream Truck
Windsor Castle: where the Queen lives when she's not at Buckingham Palace.
Businessman in a bowlers hat.
Our favorite French patisserie, which is where we get slices of Simon's favorite cake.
This was also his birthday cake. What a lucky boy.
London Eye. Originally it had a 5 year contract, but is now here to stay.
Over 3 million people ride it each year.
Totally necessary.
The newscasters out here are ridiculous.
This man always wears clown ties while he talks about murders and such.
Swans in the pond down the street from our flat.
We used to feed them on Sundays, but they were so ungrateful that we stopped. You could throw the bread at their faces and they wouldn't even move.
Kensington Gardens for tea.
There is art everywhere. This man's proud stance makes me laugh.
Clearly French.
This man's job is to stand here all day and pretend that he can't see or hear you. He has to know that he is just a tourist attraction. People are constantly taking pictures with him like he's a Disneyland character. I would not be surprised if one day he snapped and actually used that sword.
I should probably tell you the phone booth story. They are cute from a distance, until you get close enough to see that they are filled with pornographic cards for prostitution rings. There are a few like this on my street. I used to go out a few times a day and throw the cards away because there are also many schools on our street and I felt the kids didn't need to see those things every day. It was getting out of hand, so I mailed a giant stack of them to BT, who owns the phone booths, asking them to take control of their property. They forwarded my concern to the police, who contacted me and now I'm on the neighborhood panel and attend meetings. All in all, the police here could use a few lessons from the New York City cops. They stop patrolling at 10 PM! And they can't seem to figure out a solution to the card problem either.
A typical curvy London street. No grid system here.
And good luck finding the street signs.
Pubs like these are everywhere and are slammed with pubbers on the weekends.
The 24 hour clock at Greenwich, England. Time and navigation were perfected here for the famous British Armada. Also home to the prime meridian.
Our Flat.
I love this guy. He can't talk. He can't even see! What kind of guard is that? Maybe he's asleep. Maybe he's a wax sculpture. What do you think his job interview was like? Does he have a personal life? I bet he can give the cold shoulder better than anyone else. When he's on a date does he pretend to be passionate about his job? Or does he go more brain dead each day? The weight of that hat can't be healthy. Or maybe it's full of water like a camel hump. Do you think he heard that girls "love a man in a uniform" and took it to the extreme? I've only heard old grandmas say things like that anyway. Can you imagine his wife asking him, "How was work today, honey?" How could he possibly respond to that? "Um, it was overcast." And that would be it for human interaction because you can't have a meaningful conversation with someone who does nothing every day.
Love this country. Still bleed American, but enjoying England.
There really is a baby in there! And just one. Unless they show the same video to every woman who thinks she's pregnant, I'm starting to believe this might actually be happening.
We had our first ultrasound today and it was so exciting! Simon was able to get off work to come too. So far this is what we know about our baby: it has 2 arms, 2 legs, a beating heart, 2 brain hemispheres, and is 2 inches from crown to rump.
