Fingerpainting and Farm

Sam and I did a little experiment and I must say it was an all afternoon success! I made finger paints out of flour, water and food coloring, put plastic on the ground and let Sam go for it. We started out with just a little, but that soon changed.

 

He took matters into his own hands as soon as I gave him free reign over the Tupperware that was housing the paints.

I added more "tools" as time went on so he could move the paints around in interesting ways.

He is thanking the heavens for finger paint!

This morning we went to the Underwood Family Farms with some friends. It was really neat. They had a big animal farm section. They also have fields where you can pick your fruit and veggies. I need to go back to do that. Today was just an animal day, which was packed with fun.

Emus...Sam is ecstatic.

Sam's favorite part was the big wooden train. There was lots to climb, which is what he is into right now. What a cute kid.

Easter and more England stuff...

We had an English Easter. On Saturday we went to this cute outdoor museum called the Black Country Museum. It was all about the black country area and what life has been like for people in that area. For the Easter holiday they had some traditional English activities; included was egg rolling which Oliver, Katya and even baby Sam participated in. Easter here is a little different. They don't have Easter baskets, instead everyone gets a huge chocolate egg and eats lots and lots of chocolate. It's right up my alley!

Leah made a pork roast and we ate English roast potatoes, brussel sprouts and green beans for our Easter dinner. It was so yummy! Leah inspires me with her cooking. We celebrated Katya's birthday that evening by decorating cupcakes and opening presents. During dinner Katya turned to me and said "Leah, this is all for me".

 Curries are a really big deal here. Leah and Martin along with Martin's brother and girlfirend, Matt and Trudy took us to a Bangladeshi resturant. Hank and I ordered a "banquet" dinner for two thinking it was an easy way to order and get a little of everything. Little did we know the insane amount of food that would be brought out.  So after stuffing ourselves with declious curry we took the rest home and enjoyed the magic the next night. I am now so imspired to learn how to make curries.

Here we are in Stratford-upon-Avon at Shakespeare's birth place. That was a fun and interesting day. I am suddenly in mood to watch Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet.

This was fun and exhausting day...Warwick castle. It's like a theme park as well as a historic sight, so there was  alot to do for the adults and the kids. Look how cute Sam's smile is.

 Sam basically worships Oliver. He gets so excited when Oliver is playing with him and wants to follow him around everywhere. I know someday they are going to be troublemakers together.

 Just yesterday we went to the Preston Temple. Hank and I switched off watching Sam so we could both do a session. It was really nice. We are having a lot of fun and are going to be sad to leave. We have just a few more days left and it has been such a neat experience.

London!

 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week was our London trip. We did so much in a small amount of time and felt exhausted by the end. Sam did so well considering we walked everywhere and he couldn't get out of the carrier to crawl around and it was basicly pouring rain the whole time. It was an adventure to say the least! Here we are at Westminster Cathedral.

The first day we wondered around aimlessly trying to find bathrooms and a map. We ran into Buckingham Palace along the way. There was no changing of the guards that day...oh well. It's a pretty impressive building all on it's own.

We eventually got a map and did a LOT of walking. We went through Hyde park which was pretty beautiful and then found ourselves at Portbello road. The rest of the day was filled with walking, talking and looking. It was quite magical and wet.

The next day we took it slightly easier. We saw Parliament and Big Ben first and then,

Westminster Abbey (I am in that picture, see if you can spot me!) and then...

...the National Gallery! Poor Sam had to endure four hours of gallery looking because I wanted to see everything. Hank is really nice and took him out for the last leg of it. That took up the majority of the day and it was well worth it. I don't know why I wanted to see so much artwork, I am not even a art historian or anything; I just liked it.

The last day was jammed packed! We started early and went to the Tower of London and London Bridge. Fascinating history lesson here. Notice how I am in every picture...that's Hank's doing. Also Sam is starting to smile when the camera comes out. It's so cute.

St. Paul's Cathedral. That was pretty impressive and mind boggling. I don't know what else to say about that.

After the cathdral we went to Shakespeare's new globe and took a tour. This is our tour guide, Tony. Have you ever seen anyone more English? We had such a fun time on that tour, it was really interesting and right up our alley.

 Fortunately we had time after the Globe and popped into the Tate Modern and saw even more artwork. It was awesome and very different from the National Gallery. In the Tate we actucally had to be carefully not to see every exhibit in case there was something unbelievebale offensive. We also spotted Willem Dafoe in a taxi on our way out.

The last event of London was going to a pub called The Albert. I guess people from Parliament go there and whenever Parliament is in session they ring a bell. They are famous for their carvery which is very English. We had Roast Beef, Turkey and Pork...so yummy in our tummies. Look at how cute Sam is! He's in his own seat.We have done a lot since then but my own my I don't have the energy to blog about it all. Anyway, we are having fun!