English Coffee Shops

Today the kids and I headed to the Lil' Red Rooster coffee shop. (Chris had to work for half the day this Sunday.) It had a cozy little atmosphere. 

Such cute decor:

This older man that was there with his wife I'm guessing was full-on staring at the kids and I. And talking with his companion about us. The coffee shop had some toys for kids to play with so Ethan was playing with a few on the floor and Hailey would occasionally wander off and I'd have to retrieve her. Ethan may have been in the way slightly when someone wanted to walk by but I thought he was being pretty well-behaved, just playing. So I'm sitting there wondering "Is he staring at us endearingly because the kids are cute and it is Mother's Day here today or is he judging us and thinks we are out of line?" No idea but I tried to convince myself it was the first one. Having someone stare at you for a really long period of time is a little un-nerving. It reminded me of when I was studying in Vienna though, and how the Austrians would just full out stare at you on public transport etc. Maybe it was just a cultural thing. Ah, well...

We also went to the park, grocery store and swung by the library. I forgot how almost everything in Europe is closed on Sunday. Hailey was not happy because she was cold. That sunny Seattle weather before we left made me think that spring was here and I could put away the hat and gloves. But alas, it is time to get them out again. Kind of a cold little wind blowing through here.

Check out these cool topiaries:

Balance beam at the park:

Trying hard to push the marble ball before she got chilled:

I think it is starting to hit Ethan that we are far away from his friends etc. This morning he said, "Let's meet up with some of our friends. Maybe we can go to Jimmy's house?" And I explained that we were far away, in another country. He replied, "Maybe we can call them?"