Meeting Up with Friends Week 7/5-7/11

We had a very busy week meeting up with friends.  Some we haven't seen in 10 years, and some we have only seen a few months back. 

The week started with meeting a couple (Sameer and Pranoti) we haven't seen from business school days.  The last time we saw each other was during our carefree days, before anyone of us had kids.  It's always interesting to me when I meet up with friends I haven't seen in a long time, seeing how they are living a new phase in their life.  I love watching how that person has grown though so many new experiences.   It was lovely to finally meet the couple and their two beautiful daughters.  The best part of it all was, we start off where we had left off from 10 years ago.  It was also a pleasant surprise to see that all of our boys and their daughters got along very well. 

Few days later, we met up with Aayush's friend from his class in Raleigh, William.  He and his parents, who used to live in London for a few years, came for a visit.  We met up at the London Transport Museum.  This was the same day as the Underground Tube strike.  Normally, I wouldn't have made the trip into the city on a strike day but this wasn't an ordinary day.  We took a two hour journey on a bus with no AC to meet up with our friends.  The boys were bored, tired, and hot.  If I had known it was going to take this long,  I would have packed a few items to keep them busy. Next bus strike.   The roads were jammed packed with buses and cars since the train were not operating. Lets just say, it was an experience the boys and I will not be forgetting for a while.   On our way to the museum, we passes and stopped at Trafalgar Square. The boys climbed onto the famous lions and enjoyed the scenery. Even with the tube strike, there were people everywhere.  After spending some time at Trafalgar Square, we headed toward the museum.  Aayush was so happy to meet up with his buddy.  They ran around the museum and had so much fun.  There is something very special about hanging out with old friends.  All the boys had so much fun since the museum is designed with kids in mind.  They can go see and sit on the insides of old buses and trains and they can drive and navigate a simulation underground train.  (Currently, all my boys are really into the underground tube map.  They pick up a new map every time we ride the train.  They have memorized almost every station and what train line stops at which station.  All three of them quiz each other all the time.  It has become a game in our household these days.)  This museum offers the history and facts about all the tube stations.  The boys immersed themselves with all the museum has to offer.  I think its a museum we'll be going back to soon. 

Trafalgar Square

Old bus at the Transport Museum

Tube Strike!  Station Closed! 

Later in the week, we met up with friends (Aman and Vandana) who were visiting London from the States.  They are also our friends from business school. So, we had a little GO BLUE family reunion with Sameer, Pranoti, Aman, Vandana, and us at Imli restaurant.  It was so wonderful to catch up and see the kids again.

Speaking of friends, we made some new friends.  Pigeons, yes pigeons named Polly and Patrick.  They come visit us every everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  They are very timely and arrive at each meal around the same time. Then, they'll walk around the area and stare at us until food is given to them.  Very smart birds! Guess, you never know what kind of friends one makes ;)

Polly and Patrick

Aarav's Birthday Week!!! 6/28-7/4

We had a very busy week!  We took many trips into the city this week. The boys and I were exhausted by the time the week was done. 

Gitesh and I took the boys to the Sea Life Aquarium which is near the London Eye. It is said to be the largest aquarium in London.  It has a glass bottom where you can see sharks and other species.  It also had a clear tunnel where you can see all the sea life above you.  We saw lots of sharks, massive turtles, sting rays, and other large species.  All in all, it was a lot smaller than I had anticipated, but we had fun.  After the aquarium, the boys wanted to go to the London Eye, again.  So, off we went to ride the 30min rotation wheel. It worked out well since it was raining that day so, we got a great view of London on a rainy day.  Even with the rain, the town was busy.  The rain doesn't stop anyone in the town. 

During the week, I took the boys to see the Tower Bridge.  I always thought it was called the "London Bridge" but I was corrected very quickly by Aarav that it's called the Tower Bridge and that the London Bridge is the next bridge upstream.  Who knew!  The bridge opened on June 30th, 1894, the same date I had taken the boys to see the bridge, only 121 years later.  How cool is that! The walkways that connect the two towers has glass flooring and Aarav and Aayush just loved lying down and watching the cars, people and boats pass by.  We also got to witness the bridge opening and it only happens 3 times a day.  The best part about the trip to the Tower Bridge was when Aayush told me for the first time how much he loves being in London and how happy he is that we moved here.  The trip to the tower was worth it! 

The next day the temperature hit in the 90's.  Now I know, in some parts of the U.S. that's not much, but when you living in a home with no fans or no AC, it make a BIG difference in how horrible it feels.  So, off we went to cool off the boys to a nearby park that had a splash pool. The boys really loved being in the water on a hot summer day.  It's really rare to have temps in the 90's.  The last time London had hit in the 90's was over 10 years ago. 

 

Happy Birthday Aarav!!!  I can't believe you already turned 8.  Aarav had a wonderful day since his best friend, Preston, from Raleigh just happened to be visiting London the same time. So, we planned on having him and his mom stay with us on his birthday.  It was so wonderful to have them over, it felt as if we never left Raleigh.  For his birthday, we went mini golfing and had dinner at a place Aarav had chosen.  The other great thing that happened on his birthday was Aarav got to talk to his other friend, Hayden over the phone.  It's so great to see them connect.   The next day we all went to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone that Aarav and Preston have been talking about for the last 6 months.  They had learned about the stone in class and were eager to see it for themselves, it was something Aarav wanted to do with his buddy.  They were in awe when they saw it.  The Rosetta Stone is granodiorite that was inscribed  in 196 BC into three different scripts:  the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle is Demotic script, and the lowest is Ancient Greek.  All three scripts are saying the same thing and therefore, it was key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphs.  It came to the British Museum in 1802 and has remained there ever since.  After the museum, we took the boys to the oldest toy store in the world, Hamleys.  It was like walking into a kid's dream, 5 full storeys of it.  There are over 50,000 toys that can be found in the store, some that are well known and some I have never seen before.  The boys did pretty well despite the fact there was toys everywhere.

 

 

My Minions 6/21-6/27

Our week started out slow for a change.  Ever since we have moved, it has been go, go, go.  And, I think, we all kind of enjoy living our life that way.  But, sooner or later, it catches up with you and rest is needed.  So, I decided to take this week a little easy.  There will be no field trips to London this week.  Sorry boys! It was hard not to make one, but sometimes you just need a break.  So, instead, the boys played in the front of our house instead the back of the house, even though they do not have a lot of space to play.  They will have to share the sidewalk with pedestrians, strollers, kids scooters, and bikes.  They can't play on the road either since lots of cars are passing by.  I, also, have  to keep an eye on them at all times from all the stuff from above. All in all, they had a good time.  I have noticed in the past few weeks, how they have become closer with each other, using imaginative play, creating new ways to play with the few things they do have, and reading lots, and lots of books that we get from the library.  Ayan also finished up his 500 piece puzzle that he had started just a week ago.  He was so excited that he was done with it!  Now, it looks like he's may be ready for the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.  

Brothers bonding!

 

I just have to tell you that we finally received our air shipment!!! It only took over 3 weeks to get here instead of the 1 week they had told us before we had moved.  It was nice to see some of our familiar stuff. It was so great to have more kitchenware and things related to the kitchen.  It has been a little difficult to cook with just limited items.  The boys got more of their toys and clothes also.  When we move back to the states or anywhere else that's far, I now have a better understanding of what to pack for our next journey.

My stuff is finally here!

We have a really nice historic garden that is walking distance from our house.  It called the Chiswick House and Gardens.  It was built by the third Earl of Burlington in 1729 not to live in the house but to showcase his art collection and to enthrall his guests.  The house is a neo-Palladian design and is inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome and the 16th Century Italy.  It is currently used for showcasing the Earl's art collection and a venue for entertaining and it's open to the public.   And the gardens at this place are the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement and have inspired countless gardens including New York's Central Park.  It's a nice place to go to enjoy a little piece of history.  The boys like going to the playgrounds that have been set up for young kids.  They have a nice huge pond with waterfalls where we like to go for a walk on a nice day.

We had our first of many guest over the weekend.  It was Gitesh's cousin, Aalok, from Chicago.  It was so wonderful to see him since we haven't seen him in such a long time.  When we were in Chicago over Memorial weekend, he was in NC.  What are the chances of that!  He came to visit us the same day "The Minions" movie was coming out so we all went to see it.  The boys were super excited watching the movie on the first day of the release.  So, when I went to pay for the tickets, the person asked me where I would like to sit in the theatre and showed me a screen with seats.  I have never been asked that before plus I had no idea they have assigned seating.  It took me a few seconds before I realized what he was asking me.  To my surprise, the movie theatre was 90% empty because all the kids who'd want to watch this movie were all in school.  The boys really liked the movie, but I had mixed reviews.  It was entertaining and at the end, that's what matters!

Routine 6/14-6/20

We are finally getting into a routine.  It's still a little hard since we still do not have our air shipment. It's week 3 and we are still living off of the 8 bags we brought with us.  It's becoming a bit hard on us since the boys are getting bored, Gitesh packed only a few clothes for work, and I packed only the most necessary items I would need to last us for a week or two.  We finally decided to ask our rental company to rent off a few kitchen items and some household items so we can continue living.  I purchased  few items for the boys to keep them busy until our shipment comes next week.  Fingers crossed!

We took the boys to the neighborhood fair that was held at the park.  There was food, drinks, crafts, and lots of kiddy rides.  We got there right before lunch so we started with the food, of course.  I had Indian food which to my surprise was just ok.  Not too much flavor, just bland.  Ayan had a rolled-up  pancake with nutella which he did not like so, his brother got to eat it.   Later that day,  he ate a pizza pocket filled with tomato and cheese.  He also didn't like it too much but we had him finish it this time. Gitesh, Aarav and Aayush had cheeseburgers. My carnivores!!!  After lunchtime,
we walked around and looked at few things, but the boys wanted to go on the rides.  Of all the rides, their most favorite one was the bouncy slide.  The slide was at least 3-4 stories high.  They had 10 minutes to play. So they climbed and slid over and over again.  That was quite a workout after a while. All the kids looked exhausted after 10 minutes was over.  The boys were really to leave after that. 

Monster Slide

The next few days were spent at home.  I had picked up some workbooks so the boys can work on math, writing, and reading.  I realized how much they were missing school. They were so eager to work in their workbook that it kept them focused for over an hour.  The other thing I had picked up was a jigsaw puzzle for Ayan.  At a very young age, we had found out how Ayan enjoys working on jigsaw puzzles.  Even his teacher had mentioned to me how he is able to work with complex puzzles he was given at school.  So, I got him a 500 piece puzzle.  He and I started to work on it together. It was interesting to see how the other two boys has zero interest in the puzzle.  While Ayan and I worked on the puzzle, the other two were reading their books or playing chess.

 

Midweek, I decided to take them to Natural History Museum using the underground.  This time, we decided go to Blue Zone wing.  The boys got to explore the Dinosaurs, Mammals, and human body.  I didn't realize just how massive this museum really is.  You can do the whole museum, but you would need a whole day.  I'm glad we can come very now and then and go explore wings of the museum.  One of the cool thing we got to see was a replica of a real size blue whale.  It took up the whole room.  The boys just could not believe it was so long and so big.  We also learned what the smallest mammal is:  the Etruscan shrew.  But the coolest part of the day was when we went to see the 7 storey cocoon known as the Darwin Centre.  It held items from Darwin's expeditions. 

On Friday, Gitesh took a day off and we finally decided to take the boys to LEGOLAND.  They were super thrilled once we told them.  It's amazing to see just how quickly they got ready for LEGOLAND.  The best part of this is just how close the park is from our place: only a 30 minute ride from the car.  I can take them daily if I wanted to, but I won't.  Of course, the boys had a blast.  Surprisingly, LEGOLAND CA and LEGOLAND Windsor are different in many ways.  They are not set up the same way, most of the rides are different, and is not as crowded as CA.  We also get a nice view of the Windsor Castle from LEGOLAND.  It was a nice place to spend a day with the family.