Saturday, Maddie was invited to sleepover at her friend Ann's, so after Skip went to an early Fulham soccer game (as it was being televised), we headed into the city. My favorite alternative publication (Bust Magazine) holds holiday "craftaculars" in New York and LA, but for the first year ever they had one in London. Skip and I headed down to Euston Station and the St. Alysious Church Social Club for the event. It was crowded, but very entertaining.

Then we went into the heart of London to check out the holiday happenings. We'd heard about the lighting of the tree in Trafalgar Square, but were a little disappointed with it. Not quite as grand as the one in Rockefeller center. After searching for a restaurant that wasn't booked for the night or offering a two-hour wait, we ended up at this little Mediteranean place with fabulous food and great ceilings. We strolled the very crowded streets of London to check out the store fronts and the lights. Entertaining, but not up to par with NYC during the holidays.





A group of Santas gather around the statue at Piccadilly Circus. We have no idea why.



Santa hangs out in the window of Selfridges Department Store



Debenham's windows sports holiday sheep



Maddie is enjoying her Advent calendar that cousins Annelie and Joerg brought from Germany




Maddie and the Girl Scout Troups of ACS went caroling tonight at the London Epilepsy Society. It's quite a large complex with several group homes. Higher functioning residents live pretty much on their own, and then others have whatever level of care they require. Some residents were in wheelchairs, others wore helmets to protect their heads in case of seizures. In one of the houses, there was a cat who lived there as a pet. As we were leaving, Maddie asked her friend Megan if she saw the cat. Megan said yes and asked if Maddie had seen the cat's bent ear. Maddie said, "Of course. That's why he lives here."