European Vacation - England

We got back from our vacation in England and Italy over the weekend. I must say it was a fun and memorable vacation but very exhausting and expensive too.

We left at dawn on Friday the 13th bound for UK, and we arrived in Heathrow at past 10pm. It was raining and a bit cold. Good thing I packed light jackets in my carry-on, it was a last minute decision as I literally grabbed the jackets on my way out to get on the car to the airport. I was ready for summer escapade in Italy as I packed all summer outfits - shorts, leggings, sleeveless tops and t-shirts for me and my boys.

My hb insisted on renting a car and drive from London to Liverpool to visit my father-in-law and some relatives. I was very reluctant on this decision because it has been a long time since he drove last in UK, say in the early 90's. It was late at night, raining and we're driving on the opposite side of the road [left side rather than the usual right in US] with lots of round abouts. Twice we almost got into the right side of the road and then realized we had to go on the left. I must have called all the angels and saints in heaven praying to protect us on the road. It took a while to find Marriott Hotel in Windsor, we arrived there at way past midnight. We were tired and very hungry and had dinner in the hotel's cafe.

The following day we checked out at mid-morning and were ready for our long drive to Liverpool with our ever reliable GPS. Hb finally got the hang of the car and the road, and we got to Liverpool without any problem around 5pm.

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Feeling Better and Taking Vacation

Thank God I feel much better now. No more annoying coughs and nasal congestion. Tomorrow is the 10th day of my antibiotic intake so I am really hoping to be on clean bill of health by then. Especially so that we're going on a trip to UK to visit my father-in-law (FIL). It wouldn't be convenient to travel with a cold and with a little guy in tow too.

I'm excited for this trip, one reason being -it would be a 'real vacation' where we could have hb all to ourselves. Well you see, on our last so-called vacation, hb took us on his business trip so it was a working vacation. And worse, we all ended up getting cold so we didn't really go anywhere as much as we'd love to. I sort of just went to NJ to see a doctor and take medicine to get better. But this time, hb won't work [I won't let him peek in his laptop promise] and we are all feeling better, so this is really a nice summer get-away.

Please pray for our safe trip. Enjoy the rest of the summer friends.

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Thank God It's Friday!

It's Friday once again and I got up early as usual even if the little guy has no summer camp today. My two boys are still sleeping upstairs while I'm trying to catch up with what's going on in my friends' lives on FB and of course reading and replying to emails. Ahh it's just a good feeling not having to rush and watch the clock.

What to make for breakfast? I'm thinking of making oatmeal with crumbled walnut for a change rather than the usual eggs and toasts and pancakes. Hb's usual breakfast includes fresh fruits like blueberries and strawberries topped with plain yogurt. My usual breakfast is cereal with 2% reduced fat milk. And the little guy's fave breakfast is egg, usually done over-easy.

Though it's a slow day, it's not without any plans. Later today we're going to head out to the little guy's pre-school buddy, his namesake, for a swimming playdate. This playdate has been a long time coming. It's always hard to get a date available for all of us.

I hope everyone will have a great TGIF!

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I Love Fridays

Ahh, it's good to wake up this morning without getting stressed with looking at the clock all the time. It was a very relaxed and easy-going morning, but nevertheless an early one. No matter how late or early I retire to bed the previous night, I seem to still get up early as usual. Anyway, Fridays are off days for the little guy, there's no summer camp today.

So I didn't have to worry about what snack to pack. I didn't have to cook breakfast right away. I didn't have to remind the little guy constantly to hurry up and we might get late. I didn't have to rush leaving the house so I won't drive at the time when all the big trucks are also out on the road. Nothing of all the stressful stuffs. We had pancakes with syrup and chocolate milk. Then I was able to clean up the kitchen really good, the counters are all clutter-free and the stove top is sparkling clean.

But we need to get ready soon though. We're going to see our old friends from Gymboree again. It's playdate day today at our Korean's friend's place this time. We both can't wait. Happy Friday everyone!

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Extreme Sports Summer Camp

This is the second week of summer camp but the first week of my son at the Mass Premier Court doing sports and other fun and physical activities. I enrolled him in the full day session which starts at 8:45am and ends at 3:00pm. When I enrolled him online, the program says that it is open to children aged 4 to 12, but didn't mention anything about which age should be enrolled in the half or full day sessions.

I enrolled my son in May while he was still attending the regular classes on T-ball and Soccer and I mentioned about it to the Director of the Day Programs. The director said that my son might be too young for the full day session but they will see how he will keep up with the activities. Hopefully he'll be focused and participate in all the events and will endure the 6-hour session.

When I left him in the class I was a bit teary-eyed. I'm not used to leaving him in school or a camp for more than 3 hours in a day. But I would love for him to enjoy summer, learn discipline in sports, and have interaction with other kids his age. I'm also on stand-by, I couldn't do much in the house because I'm also anticipating a call from the director whether my son will stay till 3pm or he will just stay for half day session. We'll see.

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Fun with Water

Every afternoon the little guy and I water the lawn and plants and then play with the sprinklers. It is really fun to be a kid again pretending to play in the rain and get excited to see rainbows form behind the reflection of water mist. Rainbows really give both the little guy and I a kick. Each watering time, we end up soaking wet but we still enjoy every minute of it.

But yesterday we got some rain so we didn't get to water the plants anymore. But the little insisted that we could still go out even if it was raining, that we just have to use umbrella so we won't get wet, that was really funny. My thirsty lawn and plants got some badly needed rain after those consecutive scorching hot days.

Today seems to be another hot day, I guess I'm hoping to have a hot half of the day only so that all the kitchen and bathroom rugs that I hanged on the deck furniture yesterday would dry up. And then maybe let it rain around afternoon so it would be nice and cool at night.

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