Family Fun in London!

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[caption id="attachment_1720" align="aligncenter" width="454" caption="In front of Parliament and Big Ben along the Thames River"][/caption]

An hour and a half car ride. Then two hours scurrying through security and waiting in a never ending line for the plane to board and take off. An hour and a half on a teeny tiny, uncomfortable airplane (cheap, budget airline means sacrificing comfort). Another 45min at Stansted airport trying to get through passport checks..  A 45min (thankfully air conditioned) train ride on the Stansted Express to Liverpool Station where we were supposed to then take the tube to our final destination.

Another twenty minutes wandering the Tube station to figure out a new route because the route we needed was down. Thankfully, a lovely employee at the tube station directed us another route.

[caption id="attachment_1714" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Mr. Wright at the Liverpool Tube Station"][/caption]

An hour and a half later than expected, we arrive at our apartment. Sweaty. Filthy. And exhausted.

Traveling is hard. Especially in a different country and in a big city where everything is unknown and foreign. And even more especially with two kids under five in tow.

It’s intense to be in a place swarming with people, signs pointing to every which direction and not being entirely sure where to go or how; all the while with two little ones whining and crying because they too are tired and hungry. The difficulty of this trip is actually one of the reasons we love London more than any other city we have been to thus far.

It was a breath of much needed fresh air to have people stop and ask if we needed help getting somewhere.  And to have people offer to help us when they saw us wobblying up the stairs carrying a stroller loaded with kids and luggage. It is so comforting to have your fears eased and to allow a little bit of trust in strangers.

I’m not sure why, but most people I’ve talked to have said people in London aren’t sweet. Or helpful. Maybe we are some rare case, but our conclusion is London is the most kid friendly city we have traveled to in Europe. Not just in the sense that people are friendly to our kids, which they were a lot. But in the sense that for kids there was something to do everywhere we went.

Here were our Top Five favorite things we did as a family in London:

The Tower of London
The crown jewels. Beauchamp Tower. Bloody Tower. The White Tower. Grassy castle grounds. With so many things to see and explore, we spent a little over 2 hours here. For once, I was happy to see my freakish controlling ways have a positive side because I took the advice of Rick Steves and rushed my family to get the Tower of London first thing in the morning. (As in, everyone be up at 6:30 am, so we can leave at 7:30 am, have breakfast and tube it to Tower Hill). It was so peaceful and intimate to experience the castle grounds before the droves of tourist groups arrived. You know that feeling when you are up before the entire family? When it’s quiet and fresh and peaceful? That’s how it felt being early at the Tower of London. Oh, and it made for better pictures.

Here’s a picture of my sweet little family with the Tower Bridge in the background.

A lovely older man saw me taking this picture and asked if we would like a family picture together.

We climbed Beauchamp Tower and imagined what life was like as a prisoner.

[caption id="attachment_1684" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Prisoners in Beauchamp Tower"][/caption]

We toured through the White Tower and saw the armor of several different Kings.

[caption id="attachment_1685" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Apparently Henry VIII had some balls *ahem* or wanted to appear to have them anyway."][/caption]

The kids had a lot of fun on the third floor of White Tower touching the different types of weapons used by knights.

Then it was time for lunch. We were pleasantly surprised at the restaurant (across from the White Tower). The food was semi-gourmet (and had several healthy options).

Kids could make their own lunch box, which offered no sugar added juices, raisins, fruit and sandwiches.

Tower of London is absolutely a must see sight with or without kids!

Natural History and Science Museums
Many great things about these museums which are right next to each other. For one, they are both FREE. They are educational and they both offer hands on activities for kids.

 

Isn't the architecture of this museum just gorgeous??

This giant sequoia was 1132 years old when it died. It started to seed in the year 530. Amazing!

The creepy crawly section of the museum was my LEAST favorite part.

The earth science section however was pretty cool.

[caption id="attachment_1695" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Escalator ascending into "Mars" to the earth science area of the museum."][/caption]

There were so many other things to do at this museum and it was a fun way to start our morning.

Because there's no such thing as too much fun in a day we went to the Science Museum, which was right next door. THIS place was cool.

[caption id="attachment_1693" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Area about space exploration"][/caption]

The area dedicated to space exploration is really neat. Not just for kids, but for adults too!

We also got to learn about the steam engine.

But the kids FAVORITE place in the museum and possibly the entire world was The Basement. An area purely for kids to play with no rules.

They could run around like crazy people. Touch and yank on different things. Jump and climb. Get their hands wet and dirty. It was really wonderful to see their faces light up and see how happy this place made them.

For a moment I wondered how much more fun this place could be for parents. Like if there was a bar stocked with mini wine bottles. Conflict of interest? Yeah, probably.

My little guy ran through this over and over and over again. Every time he ran through he cracked up. It was so funny.

We left. Pooped and entirely exhausted.

SeaLife Aquarium

We decided on the last day whether this aquarium would be worth the cost (about 58 pounds, or $87USD). I’m really glad we went. The kids had a lot of fun and I think my husband had even more fun than them.

When you first get into the aquarium you get to WALK across this glass aquarium and look down on the sharks. How cool is that?

Both kids loved petting the starfish.

The penguin area was so cool. Literally. It was cold! They did a great job replicating Antartica.

Seeing sharks this close was really neat. I definitely love seeing them behind glass. That's as close as I ever care to get to them. I could see their sharp teeth just fine :)

Parks (Hyde and St. James)

[caption id="attachment_1707" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="St. James's Park"][/caption]

It was the epitome of summer fun in the sun at the parks in London. People riding bikes, playing Frisbee, having picnics, boating on the river. The vibe was so chill, yet energetic too. Simply put, it just felt happy

[caption id="attachment_1708" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="My sweeties at St. James's Park"][/caption]

We weren't the only ones who enjoyed the park. Everyone and their brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles were at Hyde Park.

Eating

This may seem mundane, but for us eating was a major highlight in London. You see, where we are from, in the countryside in Bavaria, the only option for fast food for lunch(or dinner) is McDonalds. There is no such thing as Panera Bread. Or Chipotle. Many places we have traveled to in Europe have funky hours (by American standards anyway). Lunch is served from 11 until 2 or 3pm and then places are closed until dinner time. It was so wonderful to have places to eat at that were not only open from 6am until 9pm, but that also served healthy, organic fast food. I was in culinary heaven.

[caption id="attachment_1710" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Yummy Italian Salad"][/caption]

Our most favorite place was this little eatery called Ravello. Oh, Ravello how I miss you so. I swear, I’m not exaggerating, this place had THE best latte I’ve ever had. Ever. For real.

[caption id="attachment_1711" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Picture of the best latte ever"][/caption]

We went there every single day for breakfast and most days for either lunch or dinner. They had eggs and bacon and toast and real fruit smoothies for breakfast. And for lunch, salads and curry dishes and sandwiches and pasta dishes. Meals cost us no more than 20 pounds. For us, this kind of eating was a vacation and was perfect. Not everyone has a maniac two year old with them. We do. So when said maniac two year old decides to have a maniac moment, it was a peace of heaven to know we can just up and leave at a moment’s notice, coffee in hand.

Of course we did the typical tourist stuff too, but these places were where we had the most fun as a family. I learned a lesson. Never have an assumption without knowing. I didn't think London was somewhere I ever wanted to go. Not in my top ten anyway. It ended up being my favorite vacation so far. I'm still on a high from how much fun it was. I can't wait to go back to London to experience the version without kids :)

xoxo

B

Tapas and Sangria Bash

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Winter in Germany can be depressing.

Cold.

Dreary.

Gray.

Dark.

Ick!

There was a need for some cheering up and celebrating. Spring and summer are such busy months, so I thought it would be fun to get some girlfriends together and have some yummy food, some drinks and catch up on the fun things we had planned for the summer.

I saw a really pretty party on Pottery Barn for a Tapas and Sangria themed party. I couldn't really define what a tapa was, but any mention of Sangria and I'm sold. Thanks to pinterest I was able to gather some lovely ideas to put everything together.



The decor was really simple and summery. I just wanted to vibe to be bright, fresh and summery. I made up some signs in photoshop to add some personalization to the party.



For the menu I made a few tapas myself and then the girls brought some dishes to share.

The girls brought:
-Potatas Bravas ( a traditional Spanish tapa)
-Salmon Bruschetta


-Sopapilla Cheesecake
-Honey Mustard Chicken
-Macaroons
-Blueberry cupcakes with a lemony frosting

I blame the Sangria for not allowing me to take pictures of ALL the food.

I made:
Bruschetta
Made this the night before. The flavor was bursting the next day. I used this recipe from allrecipes.com


Veggie Quesadillas by the Pioneer Woman

These were incredibly delicious!! I sauteed the veggies the night before and also shredded the cheese the night before for easy prep before the party.

Pineapple and BBQ Chicken Quesadillas also by Pioneer Woman
Also incredible!! I cut up the pineapple and had the cheese shredded for this, but I grilled my husband grilled the chicken right before the party. Could have definitely grilled the chicken the previous day. Would have stilled tasted delicious (the leftover were great).

Pasta Salad
I used a recipe for homemade dressing from allrecipes.com Served in individual cups. Just a little detail for entertaining to keep things simple and cute.

Pico de Gallo
I kinda just eyeballed the ingredients and threw this together, sorry no recipe to share.

Sangria
Whoa! Was this stuff STUH-rong or what. The fruit was soaked in rum overnight. Delicious. After one drink we were all feeling happy and lovey.

Besides food and decor a party needs music! I downloaded some spanishy and fun songs on itunes.

Drinks. Music. Laughing. Games. And even karaoke! It was such a fun night. I also downloaded some free printable photo props and those turned out to be quite fun.

[caption id="attachment_1658" align="aligncenter" width="457" caption="I could rock a stache."][/caption]

They added a little glow when the sun went down.

It was a great night. I love girls nights. Can't wait to do it again.

And I leave with what I consider the best picture of the night:
 Sorry fellas. This spicy lady is spoken for :)

Until next time my sweet friends.

xoxoxo

B

London, the Homeschool Way

Pin It Now! I'm so excited for our trip to London coming up. London was never on my top places to visit in Europe, but after a friend went and raved about it's awesomeness, I was curious to check it out. I found airfare for all four of us for $390 USD on Easyjet.com.  How do you NOT go when airfare is that cheap?? (Well...what I didn't realize was how INSANELY expensive lodging is in London. Like crazy. The exchange rate is crap. Basically it costs us double in U.S dollars. I found a great apartment though and I'll share that later.)

I've been researching a little bit on the web of where to go and what to do. We will be there for 3 1/2 days and at first I was thinking that might be too much time. After buying the Rick Steves London guide I think that's not enough time at all! There is SOOO SOO much to do. I'm working our itinerary out and hoping we can do all of the things we really want to. One thing that will help us survive this trip is keeping the kids busy and entertained. My little guy will be happy with food and just being able to run around. But Little Wright is at the age where she can really understand a lot, so I want her to be just as excited about the sites and history as we are.

I made a little "I Spy London" card. This week we are going to talk about all the different sights shown on this card. Her job will be to find these sites and then take a picture.



BTW, I plan to make this available for people to download. However these images are not mine. I'll insert my own photos when we get back and make it a pdf if anyone would like the file to use :)

I found this London Tower Unit on Lucy Learns. Aside from the facts and pictures of London Tower, there is a little cartoon about it too. Little Wright will love that.

Of course the Olympics are in London this summer. Though we won't be there for the actual Olympics, there will be all kinds of signage and things going on to prepare for the events. I think some brief information about the Olympics would be fun for her to learn about too. At Get Set London they have activities and games specifically for 3-5 year olds (and older age groups).

Project Britian has all kinds of information and facts on London's main sights and attractions.

I'm hoping that by learning about London, it will make the trip come alive for Little Wright :) The thing I'm most worried about is the two hour flight. With my two year old. Who is a maniac. Wish me luck :)

xoxo

B

Ciao Bella! Rome Day 1

Pin It Now! I've been meaning to write a post on our trip to Rome for months now. We went over Thanksgiving weekend and came back in time for Christmas craziness. I've had writers block ever since :)

We were in Rome for 3 full days and I think November is a great time to go. Not only was it much less crowded, the weather was wonderful with temps in the upper 60's and we had sunshine everyday.

[caption id="attachment_1561" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Our apartment street, just 5 minutes from Spanish steps"][/caption]

We stayed in an adorable studio apartment just a few blocks from the Spanish steps. It was a great spot because we were within walking distance to all the major sights and had a place to crash or freshen up whenever it was needed. Which with two little ones in tow breaks were absolutely needed :)

When I first started planning our Rome trip I felt super overwhelmed. If you don't have a guide, then you do have to be prepared to get the most out of your trip to Rome.  We used Rick Steve's audio tour guide as well as his text tours for everything we saw. Can I just say Rick Steves rocks! His tips and tours are so easy to follow and just so wonderful for anyone who wants a DIY tour. Based off his book I created a daily itinerary that incorporated some play time and of course nap time.

Day 1
-Ancient Rome in the morning (Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, Arch of Constantine)
-Back to hotel for nap/break for kids (and us!)
-Exploring the city in the late afternoon/evening (Pantheon neighborhood, Piazza Navona)

We started out bright and early on Day 1 and after breakfast, headed to the Colosseum. The walk from our apartment to the Colosseum was everything you imagine Rome to be. Vespas zipping around corners, quaint little cobblestone laden alleys and cafes galore.   One of my favorite views on our walk to the Colosseum was of Piazza Venezia.

[caption id="attachment_1574" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Piazza Venezia"][/caption]

As we got closer to the Colosseum, these cheeky gladiator characters started to appear. Rick mentioned these guys in his book saying they could be frisky. Apparently some tourists have been known to pay 100 euro for having their picture taken with a gladiator! This guy cost us 5euro for a picture. Yes we fell for the silly tourist trap.

And then we fell for it again :)

We had booked our tickets for the Colosseum online as recommend by Rick. We went during off season, so there actually wasn't a line. During peak tourist season though, I would suggest buying the tickets online just in case to bypass any crowds. BTW I wouldn't recommend buying any snacks or drinks near the main sights unless you don't care to be charged an insane amount of money. We bought a bunch of bananas (only 4) and two coconut slices (trying to be healthy) and it cost 8 euro!

Once you get into the Colosseum it really is breathtaking. Even though the structure was built in 80 A.D, I thought the layout resembled our modern day football and soccer stadiums. I've heard people say the Colosseum is "ok" or it's overrated. We really tried to imagine what it looked and felt like thousands of years ago. Rick's book also helps you create an image of what it would have been like back then.

After existing the Colosseum, is the Arch of Constantine. If you're a Christian, this is a symbolic sight because it was Constantine who legalized Christianity in Rome.

[caption id="attachment_1565" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Arch of Constantine"][/caption]

The Roman Forum is located right next to the Colosseum. These tickets can also be purchased online and are usually included with the Colosseum price. The pathways in the forum were made mostly of stone and I was so grateful to have our Phil and Ted's stroller. Definitely need a stroller with air tires to get around in there. There were a few places with stairs, so we were able to incorporate a bit of a workout :)

[caption id="attachment_1566" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Inside the Roman Forum"][/caption]

It was so much fun to imagine what this city looked like thousands of years ago. Imagine what Denver will look like in thousands of years. Will it be a pile of rubble someday?

I loved this view of the Colosseum from inside the Roman Forum. After exploring Ancient Rome all morning it was about lunch time, so we headed back into town.

 We ordered some lunch and lattes at a little cafe. And what happened next was a "pinch me moment".  An adorable little waiter, wearing artsy black-rimmed glasses and a black cafe style apron, brought this out to me and said, "preggo":

Thanksgiving afternoon, and there I was. At a cafe in a little alley. IN ROME.  Drinking this too-pretty-to-drink drink and all I could think was *pinch me*.

After soaking in my nostalgic Roman lunch, we did some shopping and strolling around the city and then went back to our apartment to freshen up. Then back out to the streets we went. We were just exploring and looking for somewhere to have dinner when we first saw The Pantheon.

[caption id="attachment_1580" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="The Pantheon at night"][/caption]

Gorgeous isn't it? Now imagine to the right of this picture a man standing near a fountain with a box at his feet for donations. He has a crowd surrounding him and he is singing opera, alfresco.  So quintessential Rome. So romantic. So perfect.

And that was our first day in Rome :)

Day 2...coming soon (hopefully).

-B

Homeschooling with the k12 curriculum

Pin It Now! Although I do want to write up a post about our decision process to decide to homeschool our daughter, right now I'm more excited to share the curriculum program we have decided to use. The program we have decided to use is from www.k12.com. I am so exited and happy to have found this program. I have spent many hours on their website going through every sample lesson, the catalog, FAQ's and all the videos they have available. The best way to describe it I think is that it's like online college classes, but for kids k-12. It's very customizable. You can purchase individual courses, semesters (part time) or enroll full-time. If you do enroll full-time you have access to individualized learning plans, a teacher and tutors.

Since we live overseas we have to pay for the tuition cost (thankfully my husband's job pays for it) which for full-time is about $5k/year. They do offer a military discount as well as payment plans. Though this price seems hefty, it includes all the materials required for the year except for common household items. But textbooks, science materials, art materials, manipulatives, etc are all included and shipped out. It is considered a private school and is fully accredited. I know one concern I had about homeschooling was whether our daughter could get a diploma versus a GED. Through this program she can get a diploma. They keep track of all her credits and transcripts as well.

If you are physically living in the U.S, then depending on your state, there is no tuition! For example Colorado and Hawaii (the only two states I looked up) are state funded. How cool is that? Not only that, but there are co-op groups that meet for all kinds of groups like a cooking group and an aspiring music artist/actress club. In the U.S kids are able to join extracurricular activities and sports at the schools in their community, so there's no missing out on that. Another neat thing is kids can do show and tell via skype.

Even though a teacher is assigned for full-time students, the parent is still heavily involved, so I would still consider it homeschool. I think that once kids get older, like middle school or high school, they can be more independent. But especially in elementary school the caregiver has to be willing to still teach their child. The classes themselves aren't done online. The lessons plans are provided online and some activities are done online, but most lessons are done like in a typical classroom. Here's a sample lesson for kindergarten science I took from their site:

This particular lesson is for Kindergarten science and the field of study is the human body. This is what a lesson for one day would be like. The lesson starts with a recap of the previous lesson, brief intro to the next lesson and a fun fact.

 I love how the lesson gives me clear objectives and also shows me what supplies will be needed.

I really like how they provide ideas to present the information in an interesting and fun way. I also like the structure of the lesson. Giving background knowledge and preparing the child for what will be taught.

The next part is to investigate. This provides an opportunity for the child to think about some of the facts they learned and to put the information to use. I also like the opportunity to incorporate a craft/project related to the topic. It makes it more fun for a 5 year old to learn about bones :)

Having the child reinforce the information is awesome! They get an opportunity to show they understood and processed what was being taught.

This is one of the interactive online lessons. I went through it and it's really fun! I like that it not only reinforces the lesson material, but your child is also learning computer skills. If you click here, you can go through this sample lesson online and see the Dr.Jones online activity.

This lesson provides an optional learning activity to help reinforce the information and also have a little fun.

After each lesson is an assessment to ensure the that the information taught was understood and retained.

According to the course catalog each science lesson is about 45min and you could teach science just twice a week and get through the 32 week course on time. There are 70 science lesson plans. I'm working on our schedule for the fall and trying to decide which days we will do which subjects. We will most likely do a 4 day a week school week. That's the cool thing about homeschooling! And no homework either, woohoo!

I really, really love this curriculum and hope that by sharing this with other people they will see and understand the opportunities that  are available through education.

BTW I feel like I should mention I am in NO WAY affiliated with k12.com. I simply am a parent who is very excited about the product they offer.

Raw salad with hemp seeds

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It's amazing how flavorful and delicious a raw salad can be! I believe there are two key factors that make a salad, with just a few ingredients, burst with flavor:

1) The produce should be organic and preferably locally grown. The further away the produce travels, the older it is. Thus less flavor and less nutrition. I have also noticed that produce that isn't pre-packaged (lettuce or carrots for example) tastes much more fresh and flavorful. I always grab loose lettuce and spinach now for salads.

2) I know this is probably obvious, but well cleaned produce tastes better too. Proper washing and cleaning of produce is essential to help avoid food related illness. My mom gave me a great tip for washing lettuce and it really works well. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the lettuce to the water. With your hands, swirl the lettuce around in the water for about 30 seconds, then remove lettuce from the water and place in a colander and rinse with cold water. I always notice dirt in the water bowl! Repeat this process a second time to thoroughly clean the lettuce. For the rest of your produce definitely use a brush to scrub everything well. Even foods with peels I wash because I don't want cross contamination on the knife.

You can add whatever you want to a salad. I usually include mixed greens, sliced red bell peppers, celery and cucumbers.

I got so super excited because last week I found hemp seeds at my local biomarkt (organic supermarket), so I've been adding those to my salads too. They are an excellent source of plant based omega 3's and also are a great source of protein! They don't have a very strong flavor. I'd say they taste like very, very mild sunflower seeds. I love how crunchy they are! Amazon sells them in bulk for a decent price. Well a decent price compared to what I can buy them for in Germany.

Anyway I throw all these ingredients together and then I just make a simple dressing using olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Though the olive oil and balsamic vinegar aren't considered "raw" by most raw foodies, I don't mind because I'm not doing a 100% raw food diet.  I'm tellin' ya, eating like this really is delicious and satisfying!

 

Food Matters

Pin It Now! “The reason that one vitamin can cure so many illness is because a deficiency of one vitamin can cause so many illness.” Andrew Saul

We recently watched the documentary Food Matters.  What an incredibly fascinating and life changing film that has been for our family. I thought we were pretty healthy before, but after watching the documentary we have really made a full on lifestyle change. The best way to sum up the concept of the documentary is to share this paragraph from the film-maker’s website:

“With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat what's wrong with our malnourished bodies, it's no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide 'sickness industry' and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally.”

The film elaborates deeply into the philosophy of nourishing our bodies with vitamins and nutritious food as a method of preventing and treating disease and illness. Several leading experts in nutrition lend their knowledge of how exactly food can not only improve, but actually save your life.

Being a mother, I want to live as long as possible to see my kids grow up and to experience life to its fullest. Not only that, it is my responsibility to protect my children from harm. I refuse to feed them food that introduces toxins into their bodies and also provides little to no nutritional value. Aside from a tragic accident or natural disaster, the one thing I can control to ensure we do live a long life free of health complications is to feed our bodies with REAL food.

How many times have you gone to the doctor for some type of symptom and walked away with a prescription? I personally  haven't experienced many doctors who try to find the source of the symptom.  Instead medicine is prescribed to mask the symptoms. Then what? How does the actual cause of symptoms ever get solved?

These are questions people should really ask themselves. We have made a decision as a family that we want to change. It isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. Some people can go cold turkey, while it takes a slower transition for others. We have transitioned to this point.  We have made the decision to eat a 70% raw food diet. For us this means green smoothies for breakfast, raw fruits and veggies throughout the day and a salad for lunch and/or dinner. We still cook food. That’s the other 30%.

Whether you are sick or healthy I encourage everyone I know to watch Food Matters!