Stuff Happening

Monday, we had a lazy holiday. We did make our way into Kennsington Park to get to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground that we had to miss a couple of weekends back because of the long line. Monday wasn't that nice of a day. It kept threatening to rain and did sprinkle on and off, so that kept the crowds down.

The design of the playground was inspired by the Peter Pan stories and it is also designed to accommodate children with different physical abilities. There is a great message to parents as you enter the park. It basically says that studies have shown that it is good for children to learn to take risks, so this playground was designed to encourage a certain amount of risk and parents should keep this in mind as they supervise and encourage their children on this playground. It is a neat playground, but I'm glad we went back when there wasn't a line, because it isn't a wait for an hour in line kind of playground. Living in Germany pretty much ruins you for other playgrounds. They do great ones there.

I do have to say I like our house here so much more than the one in Germany, and I didn't even realize how much until we started showing it for prospective renters. It is easier for me to keep this house picked up and "showable" because I like being in this house. It's so much more cozy. I tried to be gone most days from our house in Germany because it just didn't feel very good to be in. It was all angles and tile and the kitchen was shut off from everything else. This house has worn out carpet and baseboards that are coming loose and questionable plumbing. Clearly the other house was the better house, but this one just feels better. Nothing, however, beats our house in LR. Am looking forward to enjoying it.

Last night in our tiny bathroom here, I was getting Maddie the toothpaste down from the medicine cabinet and when I did a can of hairspray toppled off the top of the cabinet. I reached out to catch it with reflexes that surprised both Maddie and me. I'm always tossing things to Maddie for her to catch and it annoys her, so I used this as a teaching opportunity. "See," I said. "That's why I throw things to you. So if something falls, you can catch it before it knocks you in the head." Didn't work with Maddie. "Or," she said, without missing a beat. "You could just move out of the way."

I had a lovely lunch with Jeannie Alley (who is a friend of my mom's from college) and her sister and Fortnum and Mason yesterday. We had a lot of fun. Jeannie has traveled all over the world. As London is known for it's great Indian food, I asked the ladies if they were going to have Indian while they were here. Jeannie said, "Well, I've been to India twice and when you have Indian food three times a day for a couple of weeks at a time, you kind of get your fill." I think the list of countries she hasn't been to is shorter than the list of ones she has.

Today my house cleaner comes. I am so happy. Not only do I not enjoy cleaning, I'm not very good at it. So it will be nice for someone to make the mirrors and windows streak-free and actually remove all those hard water spots. I'm going to take the extra time to clean out some closets and work on treat bags for Maddie's birthday party. I'm making fabric bags for each of the girls (only four) with fabric that Maddie picked out for each individual. She was really thoughtful about the colors and patterns she chose for each friend.