Never a dull moment!

Man, oh man! Finally today I feel like my old self again! The girl who can get anything done! HA!

The girls and I set out this morning to find the grocery store that is close by yet well hidden from Canadian eyes! WE FIND IT AND IT IS FANTASTIC! It has familiar things like packages of El Paso taco mix, pulp free OJ, and microwave popcorn! I tell Bruce all the time, I don't need much but what I need I have to have!!!! We now have a place to stock up on comfort food before we head back to Germany. It's all good right?
One more stop and we're off to the park. As you may have guessed, or perhaps forseen, Olivia is really struggling. This morning I asked her to give some thought to what could make her journey easier. She decided a sketch pad would really help her enjoy her stay here. I can do that, right?! Ha, you didn't think I could but I did it! Then we innocently decide to take the escatlator down to pick up some lunch for a picnic in the park...

I honestly don't know what happened but all of the sudden the escatlator came to screeching halt and a man ran up to Olivia. She was fine, he was freaking out. Never good in a strange language! Poor Olivia thought she was in trouble so she was apologizing all over the place. The man was all over her foot so I looked down at and that's when I saw what was left of her Croc!!

After a while, and allot of gestering, they give us 15 Euro to buy us new shoes... We go home, (well back to the hotel) and I really just want to tell Bruce what happened.
Can I do that?
Nope.
The girl who breezes through the near dismemberment of her child can't make a freakin' phone call! I can't figure out how to use the phone, and the damn hotel clerk doesn't speak a word of English and something is going on with my email! Of course I now ask the question that leads to my undoing WHAT IF SHE HAD REALLY BEEN HURT?! I know I shouldn't go there but I went there anyways. Sometimes you're gone before you realize that you left!
It's 2:18pm or rather 14:18(I hate the 24 hour clock, it's stupid) and there is a minibar, what do ya' think?!

Here's a picture of the girls.

Reims July 9th, 2009

When we were in Europe when Shannie was a baby we took a picture of her on this very ferris wheel. Last night we feed the girls early, a brilliant idea I might add. Then while we ate a relaxing dinner beginning with Champagne the girls played on the walking street outside of the restaurant. They discovered the ferris wheel and had a blast on it.

London part 2

The girls and I arrived a Victoria Station on a mission. First some lunch then we were going to be hopping on and off a double decker bus. The girls were thrilled to find a MacDonald's around the corner. I feel like I'm making a confession when I say that! Anyways, after a fantastic lunch we stumbled across the ticket sellers for the buses. They made it very easy for us to pay them, after that things got a little complicated. Finally we found the bus route, and then the correct bus, who knew it could be complicated even in our native tongue! I must say they do a great job we saw it all. We only hopped off once and that was at the National Gallery, it was fantastic. Shannon did an audio tour and Olivia picked a few different paintings that really spoke to her and sketched. I had dreams of this when we toured the art galleries in France when Shannie was a baby!

Pause... Olivia just barfed on the bed. Seriously, she ate lunch, then lay on the bed with her head hanging over the edge and then sat up to barf on the bed!!!! I sometimes think that I am being tested. THEN she used her only clean sweatshirt to clean her foot up!!!So I've just yelled at a kid who was just barfing. Very nice! I'm sure there's a mothering award for that! Can you sponsor me for Mother with the least patience 2009?

Back to London... I don't know if this has got any press over there but there is this human art exhibit going on just outside the National Gallery, every hour on the hour for an hour a person is lifted onto a pilth(their word not mine) and they do whatever for an hour. It is going on for 100 days. We say 3 different people, none of them doing anything interesting but still kinda cool to be there to witness it.

While we were on the tour the skies opened up over London and the heavens drained! It was so bad that both the underground and the railway stations flooded. Needless to say my plan to catch a cab was dashed and we ended walking a fair distance getting back to the hotel about 2 hours late.

We had dinner at the hotel because the girls were shattered, all three girls! As luck would have it there was some great deal and the kids ate for free and Bruce and I each scored a free glass of wine. If I speak of the price of things alot in London it's because it has got to be the most expensive city in the history of the world.

The next day, yesterday was pretty much spent in transit, first the subway, then the train, then the car.

Reims is a really nice little town we spent yesterday afternoon and today discovering it and taking lots of pics. Bruce is working today and out for a dinner! Yikes, can you say long day with the girls?!?!!

Thursday July 9th

I had no idea how much I would miss having access to the Internet! My vision blurred, my palms were sweaty... Now at last, a hit of my drug of choice, the Internet and access to my friends and family!

Last Saturday morning we set out for Lille, France from there we took the train to London for the weekend! We can now check off Germany, Belgium (a quick drive through but Olivia can now say she has been there)France and England. For awhile we thought we might have gone through Luxembourg but a closer look at a map proved us wrong. All Olivia has to do is get to the Netherlands and she has caught up with Shannon. That will be a big day in her little life! Nobody likes a sister who's been to more places than they have!!!

We stayed at the Hilton at Paddington Square! Really nice hotel. We had a room with an adjoining suite. I did not appreciate how nice it was until we arrived at the Holiday Inn in Reims with out two double beds side by side. It's going to be a tight 4 days let me tell ya'
Back to London... We were tourists extraordinaire, our first stop was a pub for fish & chips for the girls and beer for Bruce and I. I think all the girls ate the whole time we were in London was fish & chips. The highest compliment they hand out to a chef is "these taste like regular..." Sad, but true!

The next morning we headed off to Portobello Market through Kensington Gardens, the girls played in Diana's memorial playground for a bit, very cool place. Since Diana's birthday was July 1st there was allot of cards and flowers at the main gate. It is incredible after all this time. Amazingly enough it was hot and sunny in London, don't worry that didn't last though. We dragged the girls through the market, they had more fish & chips for lunch and then headed off to Temple Station for the Harry Potter walk. It was 2 hours long. Bruce, Shannon and I were despondent after the first hour, suicidal after an hour and a half but Olivia loved every minute and made a friend. Then we rushed off to meet Bill and Liam Tharpe!!!! Yes, Jocelyn's husband and son, how cool is that! I gotta say, I loved London, and that was the high point of the stay for me. We had pizza at their place and them bid them adieu.

Next stop Bracknell... A driver picked us up at an ungodly hour and we headed off to the British operating unit of Bruce's work. We arrived at 8:30am, well before our 3pm check in time. They gave us our room right away, I could have cried I was so happy. I had visions of me trying to amuse the girls in the hotel lobby for the day. The outskirts of London are beautiful, tons of bunnies were on the property and there was a pool that we made several visits to, a playground and more fish & chips rounded out the day. The people Bruce worked with invited us to join them for dinner which was great fun! Guess what the girls had. Shannon actually had pizza, the other European staple.

Back to London... Bruce went to work with all the luggage, and that's saying something and the girls and I headed off to London for the day. A heads up from the front desk had us take a bus to London rather than the train. The cab ride from the hotel in Bracknell to their train station cost 8 pounds and the bus tickets for the three of us to London cost 9 pounds, in total, how weird is that?!?! Did I mention that it started to rain off and on the afternoon before? It would go from sunny to torrential rain, to drizzly and everything in between... It pretty much rained the whole 2 hour bus ride to London, good time to be on a bus... We went past Windsor castle, Legoland... Finally we arrived in London.

The girls are getting a bit antsy so I'm going to sign off. I'll finish off the trip in my next post.
Remember emails save sanity!

Friday July 3rd

Yesterday was a really rough day!

Neither of the girls slept very well the night before, Olivia couldn't fall asleep and when she finally did Shannon woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. It was like the baby years all over again! Not good! Not good at all!

In the hopes of shortening the jet lag experience I woke them both up at 10am. Let's just say it wasn't very pretty. Nothing like 2 crabby kids and an overwhelmed, tired Mom.

Then when Olivia was getting dressed the top half of her dresser fell on top of her trapping her underneath. After we freed her and cleaned her up we realized she was okay. She is fine, bruised all over with a fat lip kinda' fine, but she's okay. It was one of those events that really magnified how alone and vulnerable we are here. I really didn't need that magnified at this point!!

It is scorchingly hot here! Not the norm in this neck of woods. Almost nowhere is air conditioned, certainly not our apartment or Bruce's office, and really where else is there? The unkown territory, absence of a car, language barrier topped off with the heat really make checking out the neighbourhood tough!

Once things cool down we'll be able to explore the neighbourhood but until then we are pretty much trapped inside the apartment. There are only so many games of UNO and crazy eights any one mother can play!!!!!

So, after one of the longest days of my life we decided that it was time to start my standard driving lessons. Really you say?!? Really!
After some yelling and crying, I did all of the crying and some of the yelling, we survived my first lesson. I'm hoping to have the hang of it and to be able to drive alone after a couple of more lessons. Gotta say I'm looking at hills completely differently right now!

I knew this part was going to be hard but come on, not this hard.
Last night I gave Olivia a gravol to help her get to sleep. I can't decide whether I'm starting her down the road to habitual use of narcotics, or if I'm really quite a crafty mother who has all the answers. I'm going with the 'great mother' option right now. I'm sure at 3am one morning soon I'll be going down the second guessing road, a road well travelled.

Today both girls woke up on their own before 8am! Hallelujah! Although we are still trapped in the apartment for the day once 6:30pmish rolls 'round it's the weekend!!!! Yeah!

We're off to London tomorrow, then a place just outside of London called Bracknell. There is a pool there, nothin' like water to amuse and exhaust kids, that's what I always say! Then we're off to somewhere in France. I'm a little worried about the kid amusement factor there but that's days away!

Feel free, or rather obligated to email me! Poor Bruce is the only adult I get to talk to, and he is exhausted after a long day of working in his 3rd language! Not that that stops me from talking mind you!

Auf Weidersehen!

Not sure what day it is, or what my name is for that matter!

Guten Tag!

We made it! The flight was delayed by 2 hours, something to do with the weather and having to use a smaller plane blah, blah, blah. After 8 excruiating hours in the air we arrived in Germany. It wasn't bad at all really. Olivia watched every movie available for about 2 minutes and that kept her busy and Shannon watched the Hanna Montana movie from start to finish, apparently it was excellent.

The three of us are still in a bit of a stupor, so there is not much to report. There is an excellent playground across the street, Thank you God!

Figuring out how to work everything here is really keeping me on my toes. The microwave is pretty much a crap shoot, I just press buttons randomly until I get a result. We had to get some of Bruce's friends to help us with the dryer, which is in the kitchen, and has a capacity of 2 pairs of jeans and a pair of socks. The water drains into a resevoir that you have to empty, imagine that?! Even flushing the toilet is an adventure...

It feels soooo good to finally be online again. Who do I was addicted to this?

I'll send something soon. Let me know how this is working for you, if private emails are better, I'm in.

Auf Wiedersehen