Lactaid

The other day, I attempted to get some more Lactaid (over the counter easy peasy, right?). Wrong. I went to the drug store who sent me to the pharmacy (who appeared to be out with no indication of getting any more in) who sent me to Boots Drugs. Boots said you needed a prescription to get it and that they get a lot of Americans looking for it. Well, then. So I saved my last three pills for our Normandy trip (I knew a lot of cheese would be involved) and had Chris' boss bring a box over with him from the U.S. Who knew? :)

Beaulieu National Motor Museum

The Admission to this place was £24 each for Chris and I! Gulp! (I was expecting like half that!) Thank goodness the kids' admission was free. I must say it was extensive and had some really unique things that were were cool to see (but I'm not sure if it was worth that much). 

They had a neat Top Gear (British car show where they have different challenges and make cool things out of cars) exhibit and 10min. movie. 

Here is the homemade limo car made from regular cars:

Bowling alley limo car:

Railroad car:

Double decker cars:

Elderly comfort car (with recliners):

VW camper van/boat:

Rocket car (this was Ethan's favorite):

Taking the monorail around the grounds:

Wow, look at that!

1900 Italian car:

First Cadillac to come to the UK:

Ethan and I going for a ride:

Who is this crazy driver?

Interesting about how black was the only color with quick drying paint. I love the pic of the little girl with the gun and the little kangaroo in front of the Model T:

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car:

This Rolls Royce was SO wide (no way that would fit in our current garage!):

Old race cars:

Wait, I know that driver:

I want this motorcycle with the bullet side car:

Or I'd settle for a Vespa: 

This old Harley looks more like a bike:

Haha, tiny BMW:

Soda car:

Orange car:

The double decker busses just never lose their appeal:

Steam car (goes up to 160mph!):

So shiny!

Bond Car from "Tomorrow Never Dies":

The manor onsite:

Ethan got to ride (hallelujah, they didn't charge extra for this) this little car with the foot pedal. Ha, it took him a little while to get the hang of steering:

Having a good time. He told me "Mom, I won the race!" (Because he was the first one they stopped because their time was up). :)

Sliding out of the double decker bus. Hailey looks as tall as Ethan here!

I bought Ethan some cheap black shoes at ASDA, (Walmart affiliated) thinking that he only needed them for school for 3 months so they would be fine. Plus, at least they were Spiderman shoes (that were all black and would still meet the uniform requirements). I didn't want to pay £38 ($60) for a pair of Clarks. There really isn't much selection--it's either expensive Clarks or cheapies (no middle range). Anyways here is what happened to the cheapies after just two weeks!

So we had to buy some expensive shoes (Hush Puppies but same price) anyways. And I tried to order some on Amazon but they didn't fit so I had to return them (and pay shipping both ways). Lesson learned. These better hold up!

Baby Ballet

Hailey had her Baby Ballet debut today. I learned of this class from another mom at Ethan's swim lessons. I also signed her up for a mom and me swim class. She always feels envious of Ethan when we sit and watch his lessons each week. It's kind of fun to have a chance to do these little classes (like I got to do with Ethan) and spend some one-on-one time with Hailey while Ethan is in school. Classes start as young as 12mos! It is really relaxed, kids and their parent can wear whatever and don't have to sport tutus, buns or ballet shoes. They do little songs too and get out the scarves and tambourines and "twinkle" bears. After each song, she would clap and say "yah!". Love her enthusiasm!

Anyways, Hailey really enjoyed herself and seemed to be a natural!

She never wants to wear things in her hair but had a brief kick where she put this in her hair today:

The class is in Lilliput so we take the 52bus there. We met Margie at the Rockets and Rascals coffee shop nearby afterwards. It was a bike/coffee shop and had a total Ballard Seattle feel to it! It was good to catch up with her after almost a month of travels! Hailey said "Margie" on her own and was pretty proud of herself. 

Next, I tried to bus to Westbourne which involved walking a ways to a bus stop and then transferring to another bus. After some deliberation about where to catch bus two and which side of the road, I waited and waited... Finally 25min. after the scheduled time I gave up thinking I must have missed it in my confusion as to where it was. And of course, when we were half-way between stops, it buzzed by. Then we ditched Westbourne completely and just hung out for a bit in Canford Heights. Got a cupcake, perused some stores and found a cool pirate park nearby. Hailey was in good spirits and we had a really fun day together.

Ethan had some kid that seemed to like him a lot at school today. He kept saying hi/bye to him and told him that he missed him. Ethan told me that it was his best friend Cayden and that he is nice to him. So cute!

Marmite crisps?!

I will try most things, but these I have no desire to try. The description on the bag cracks me up!

Hailey is trying on hats for Ethan:

Playing together nicely (for now, can change in an instant):

It's been feeling like fall with the crisp mornings and I was able to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks-yah!

Sunday night was the Packers-Seahawks game (which Chris was pleased that the Packers won). Since it aired at like 1:30am our time, we watched it with his coworker Jared and his wife Katie at our house on Monday night. Chris was trying hard to keep the outcome a surprise until they watched the game but he received a few IM's and comments that gave it away. It was a really close game. They are big Seahawks fans and weren't too happy about the outcome (Katie found out but didn't tell Jared) but it was fun to hang out with them and talk to Katie during the game.