31.7.11

The End!

Sunday 31 July 2011

Had a great last weekend!
Started out Friday when I went out with my Australian friend Marnie and while the night was QUITE an adventure it was super fun- I love London.

Then Saturday went back up to Camden Market which is just amazing- though totally crowded. But the clothes are all so freaking cute and not uber expensive and while I didn't let myself buy anything, I wanted EVERYTHING- I love London.

Then today Marnie and I went to Buckingham Palace and got to walk through the State Rooms and see the wedding dress from the Royal Wedding which was spectacular! As were the rooms and the grounds- I love London.

Ultimately I can't believe I'm in the last 72 hours in London or in Europe for that matter!

And did I mention that I love London!
MM

29.7.11

Animal Week Goes Out With A Bang!

Friday 29 July 2011

Today to finish off Animal Week we went to the Battersea Children's Zoo!! The kids- hesitant to go had a great time and we spent nearly all afternoon with the animals! I think the most amazing part was that as far as I can remember I had never seen a live donkey before! Hard to believe, but that all changed today!

Of course the monkeys were by far our favorite animals to watch (the meerkats were a close second)!


And of course we had to spend quite a bit of time at the playground in the zoo because what day would be complete without playground play?! ;)

Animal Week is complete. I can't believe I have to say good bye to the kids tonight! :'( I'm going to miss them so much!!

MM

Animal Week? Not So Much

Wednesday & Thursday 27 & 28 July 2011

So Animal Week didn't really take off...
Instead we built a fort in the bedroom door- simulating a zoo cage perhaps??

Then we made water bombs- to simulate... jelly fish?? 

and then we found a new park... which I can't in any way make into something about animals

It's been a fun week, but not so much an animal week as we had planned!

MM



27.7.11

AW- Day Two

26 July 2011

So Animal Week (AW) is off to a very lazy start... today we got ready to go to the children's zoo and instead wound up hanging out around the house, chatting and playing and the like.

We did have a great time though! and we ate more of the "animal" cupcakes!



I can't believe I'm leaving in less than a week :( I'm not sure I'm going to be ready!
I love London!!
MM

26.7.11

Animal Week!- Day One

Monday 25 July 2011

Last week the kids and I decided that most of the activities we wanted to do this week were animal related (zoo, aquarium) so we deemed it "Animal Week." Today was the first day, so how did we spend it? At the park... :p but we caught TADPOLES and when we got home later we made ANIMAL decorated cupcakes.
A cat, a mouse, a bee, a pig, an elephant, a frog, a spider and two dogs :)

So even though it was another park day, we brought the "animal" to it.

 More pictures:



Lola's grass art on my back










Stay tuned for more animal adventures!
MM

24.7.11

This Weekend

Saturday and Sunday 23 & 24 July 2011

This weekend was mostly walking. Saturday I set out to find a couple stores I had read about online and ended up discovering the vast amazing-ness that is Hyde park. It was a beautiful day so there were tons of people out and about wandering the park which made for some great people watching in addition to great park viewing.


Then later I met up with a friend for drinks in Brixton which was a little sparse for night life.... but fun none the less. 

Then today (Sunday) I got up and went to Camden Market with a friend and walked through the elaborate stalls that often seemed never ending. The crowds were CRAZY but it was totally worth it. It was an awesome market, full of crazy colors and smells and tons and tons and tons and tons of stuff. The highlight: a couch sized beanbag chair that was probably the most comfortable thing ever. :)


Camden Market

Waiting for the Tube

Overall it was a great weekend and I can't believe I only have one more left!! 

MM

22.7.11

Easy Day at Elephant & Castle

Friday 22 July 2011

Today we went to a NEW park- imagine that... We really only went because we were waiting for the bowling alley to open at Elephant & Castle Market :)

 



After the park we went Bowling! Which was super fun! We were the only people in the whole place and the first ones to arrive! Lola even learned to bowl without the helper slide! 


Now just wine and a movie for me :)
Had a great day- I love this job, hard to believe its only one more week!!!
MM

Mellow

Thursday 21 July 2011

Very mellow day today, took the kids to the park for nearly 3 hours! They loved every minute of it, of course that just means more tadpoles and some football :p
So in an attempt to take a new shot of the same ol' same ol':


MM

21.7.11

I Love London

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Today was a really fun day with the kids. We decided to go to the Bank of England Museum (their choice, not mine!) which turned out to be really fun because they provide worksheets for the kids to fill out as they go through which gave them plenty to do and they may have learned a thing or too as well!

Then we had lunch outside on the side of the bank :p and caught the bus home where I made them Micky Mouse pancakes again for dinner :)




And finally for dessert we were able to finally try our chocolate covered bananas which were DELICIOUS! :) I totally suggest them! The frozen bananas tasted like ice cream and Lola even said the treats were better than ice cream!



MM

19.7.11

Just A Hangout Day

Tuesday 19 July 2011

A couple days ago I was searching the internet and fell upon this website: frozen banana bites. I decided this would not only be a fun activity to do with the kids but would be a "semi-healthy" snack for them to enjoy. Of course being in London meant we had to change the ingredients a little bit so they weren't AS healthy. Instead of peanut butter we used nutella :)
Of course we can't try them until tomorrow... but man are we all looking forward to it!


I still haven't gotten used to the weather here. Only minutes after I took this photo it began to rain... and here I was worried the kids were going to splash water on the cars in their attempts to soak one another!

Moving inside and on to rainy day activity numero uno- Puzzles :)

MM

18.7.11

Time Flys

Monday 18 July 2011

Today was just me and Zack because Lola was at a friends house. We played football, ping pong, and went ice skating- talk about action packed!

__________________________________________________

I've also been reading the book, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett and I seriously can't put it down. 



MM

Sundays in Town

Sunday 17 July 2011:

Didn't actually get a chance to post yesterday because I ended up having a lot to do :).

Started my day by meeting up with another nanny (who just got here from Australia) and together we took the tube into town to find yet another market! (I just love that London has so many amazing markets, they're just so fun and you can make such great finds!)



It was also really amusing to me that the market had different symbols in the ground for the different vendors (though they usually weren't relevant to what was actually being sold). I took photos of the shirt, the hat and the shoe symbols. This is the only one that didn't look oddly out of proportion though:

After the market where it just happened to POUR down rain on us (gotta love London) we headed back to our respective homes but before I could sit and write a post I was headed out again. This time to meet up with a friend of a friend who lives in London and who I happened to bail on on Friday night (see "The Night I Didn't See Harry Potter"). So despite being tired and wet I made out to Clapham Common to find a friend of a friend and a bar. Turns out you need to bring your passport around in order to get beers (pshh stuffy bartender more like it) so we just bought alcohol from a shop (which I kept calling a market- incorrect) and of course had no issues buying without a passport.... and then just went to the park and hung out and talked and kept running back to McDonalds to use the toilet :p 

Overall it was a super fun day and I got to see a lot of London which was nice! :) Now to just see Harry Potter......

MM

16.7.11

The Day I Didn't See Harry Potter

Saturday 16 July 2011

Went exploring around the neighborhood I live in today, of course my first stop was coffee, and from there a quick detour of getting lost ;) but before I knew it I was on my way to Brixton where I had looked up a Cinema that was playing Harry Potter. Of course once I had found I was in the right place I realized the 3pm show had already started and the next show wasn't for hours so I decided to explore the area- and the grocery stores ;). My conclusion: I love M&S (a grocery), most of the food is their own brand and from the few things I have tried by them: I love it all- the Belgian chocolate milk and the Triple Chocolate crunch granola cereal are the top ranking for now.

In Brixton I also found the Brixton Market which was an indoor funky market with stores selling pretty much everything you can imagine from wigs to convenience goods to antique dresses to flowers. Then scattered among all these shops were restaurants and pubs with food that looked and smelled AMAZING. The smells were enough that I would just stand and soak them in, never wanting to leave.

a shot from the market:


While in the end I didn't end up making it to Harry Potter because I completely forgot I had agreed to babysit :o! I'm sure I'll go tomorrow or sometime next week and ultimately I had a great day of exploring :)

MM

15.7.11

Two Weeks In

Friday 15 July 2011:
Puzzles, Parks, Ping Pong, Play Dates- Happy Day

On our walk to the park today I realized how happy I was to be where I am. So often I tend to focus more on what little I have figured out for when I get back to New York, what I really need to do is focus on what I do have while I'm here.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be"
-Douglas Adams

MM

14.7.11

Thursday: The Day Before Friday

Thursday 14 July 2011
More tadpoles at the park

and Mickey Mouse pancakes for lunch :) :) (turns out my ability to do this makes me "REEEALLLY cool"- at least for the hour, unfortunately later when I was too busy cleaning up the pancake mess I lost this title)

MM

12.7.11

Fun Day!

Full day with the kids! Tues 12 Jul 2011
First adventure: The bus! On our way to the [indoor] pool (Where I wasn't allowed to take photos- though that was probably for the best to avoid my [new] camera getting wet)

Then later: Baking cookies!! Though they didn't turn out as good as my home-made ones they were decent and the kids enjoyed the process :)

Today: A SUCCESS :) I even went out tonight and walked through the streets of London- took in the sights and drank some hard cider :D!

MM

A Day at the Park

From Yesterday, Mon 11 July 2011
Fishing for Tadpoles with the kids turned out very..... fruitful
MM

10.7.11

The Beginning.

In the infinite wisdom that only a 20 year old can have I decided during my sophomore year of college that I was going to graduate a year early. So now at 21 I have a bachelor of arts degree in Business Management, no apartment, no job and no internship experience. On the upside- I'm saving a butt-load on tuition costs: you tell me if that evens it out.

As a graduation gift I was beyond lucky to get the chance to go to Europe for two months! One month of travel with my friend Danni and one month as an Au pair in London.

So here I am. A Sunday in London with no work, no friends and having already read three books in one week, no interest in reading.

I could be apartment searching, I could be job searching but all this seems daunting, especially from out of the country. How much of my future can I actually set in place from a laptop in London?

Regardless, as the title of this blog insinuates I plan to keep my posts simple and quick whether it be a photo, a quote, or a simple evaluation or observation of my life. So enjoy!

MM