Merry Christmas!

One day to go until Christmas and we are all getting excited! Austin has no idea what is coming yet... but oh boy when he sees the stash of toys under the tree tomorrow he is going to shiz his pants. Well he does that already, but you know what I mean. 

Having a little kid definitely makes Christmas more exciting. I've put in way more effort this year. Ok, I've put in effort (full stop) which means I've already beaten my usual decoration of a christmas tree centre-piece dumped in the middle of the dining table.

First Christmas away from 'home' in Melbourne and we are so lucky to have hubby's family here to celebrate with us. But of course that also means I'm going to miss my family terribly too. Mixed emotions! Waah. 

Welp, I'm sure when 'Santa' brings Austin his awesome as HUGE train set it will be happy, happy days for all. Can't wait to see the smile on his little dial. Hopefully it's the cutie little smile and not the naught little devil smile he's started doing. (Ok, that's pretty cute too.)

It's Christmas Market time!

It's nearly Christmas - yippee! So we just had go down to Upper Street and check out the shops, especially the CHRISTMAS MARKET, and especially, especially when you are from Australia and have never been to one... but it really was not that exciting at all. Boooo. Unless you have about 20 granny's to buy for. We did manage to get a toy for Austin which was supposed to be for Christmas day but he was acting like he was going to die if he didn't get it right now, so instead of the drama we just caved and gave it to him (woo, parents of the year).

So our Christmas Market visit was a big fat flop. I'm pretty sure it's because the one we went to was teeny tiny, meeny miny, and maybe also, if we had some mulled wine I think it would have spiced up the visit nicely. Everything feels more festive with a glass of warm mulled wine in your tum. 

But hey, we gave it a shot, and we can tick it off the list. Now to just finish all of that shopping we didn't get done... eek!

A winter walk

What to do on a cold wintery Sunday? Head for a pub roast of course! Because we are the disorganised people we are, we didn’t book anywhere (which we now know is beyond essential if you want to get a table), so we spent the afternoon strolling around trying to find a pub that could fit us.

When we first got to England we were told the pubs here are basically childcare on Sundays and I can see why. Every pub we passed had kids sitting down to meals, high chairs galore and families getting ready to eat. Of course this is between all of your usual Sunday drinkers but it’s a thing.

So here’s (the quick) run down of our search process:
Pub 1 – only tables outside. Its cold. And awkward. And no thanks.
Pub 2 – looks super kid friendly and super full. Yep, no free tables. Damn!
Pub 3 – there is a table available for one hour until its actual booking arrives. Yippee! We only need one hour anyway (its not like we’re going to lounge around all afternoon with an active toddler – as much as it would be nice to).

Sitting in The Hunter while the sun set (at 330pm, yikes!) felt so English. We learnt what Yorkshire pudding is (essentially a piece of pastry – wow the name really is misleading). And after all of that walking our roast chicken couldn’t come quick enough. Delicious!

It's time to cut that hair!

Soft wispy baby hair. Sweet little baby mullet. The cutest softest curls falling on to the face. And into the eyes. All day long. We've put this off, over and over again... but it is time to get a haircut. 

We've seen other kids getting haircuts before, there was one that stood out. It was in a kids clothing store where they had a haircut section. And the kid was screaming. He was SO scared of the scissors, and there was nothing to distract him. It looked like an absolute nightmare. 

Our first haircut experience went pretty damn well. Mata Mata was amazing. It's a hairdresser built specifically for kids and they've thought of pretty much everything. Racing car seats. Check. Tv's with DVD's. Check. Books and toys galore. Check. Austin got a lovely big red balloon when he was finished as well as a packet of sultanas, and they also tied up some locks of his hair in blue ribbon so I can get all sentimental about it when he's 21 years old. They have just nailed the market so well, they even have toys and clips and all sorts of kids goodies for sale (and damn it, of course Austin wanted the trucks that had to be bought). 

No crying, no tears, no tantrums. Phew. And his hair looks pretty good too.  

Transport yourself

So I had wanted to go to the Natural History Museum. Next door is the Science Museum, both seem to have kid friendly displays, and there is also an ice skate rink out front at the moment. Sounds awesome, right? Right! That’s what we thought. Until we looked at how to get there, and the journey was going to take 1.02 hours in peak traffic. Yikes! Ok, time to rethink plans for our day.

After some searching online and umming and aaahing we decided on the London Museum of Transport.

Arriving we looked around unsure where to go and followed another group up a ramp, and jumped in the lift. Pretty ordinary looking lift but BOOM, this lift has been rigged with sound effects and OH MY GOODNESS where the lift shows what level we are going to it is showing that we are going back in time!!! All the way back to 1820. Ok, ok, I think this is all part of the museum but AWESOME, the mood has been set, this is not going to be some ho hum boring museum, this is going to be FUN.

The lift doors open. Did I mention that Austin is obsessed with cars and pretty much anything with wheels? Um, yep. This small guy just died and went to heavennnnnnn.

The first level was all old horse drawn carriages, and wow I was blown away by how HUGE they were. Austin loved looking at these but more so the small intricate models of them. Moving through to the next level there was a full train carriage placed on display from the 1800’s and then… we couldn’t wait any longer because Austin had spotted the next level down…. The mother load of train carriages and displays!

So we descend the stairs to this magical land of trains, and carts and carriages, and pass a mezzanine and continue descending…and before we have a chance to blink an eye at this wonderful display of history and how our ancestors travelled…. Austin, lets call him eagle eye Austin, has spotted the kids area, that’s right I said the KIDS AREAAAAAAAAA. And the piece da resistance of the kids area is the model train set. Now let me just clarify, yes this train set is great, even awesome but really it is just a large train set, you know like twice the size of a train set you might have at home. Directly next to this is a full scale play area, with life size buses and cars to play in, interactive toys, things to climb, things to look at, things to touch and pull and….. you get the idea.

Austin will not move from this train set. We point to the kids area. We try to get him to look at the fuuuuun. To be fair, to him this is the most ultimate train set in the whole entire world. I get it , I get it. I don’t want to spoil his fun. I just want him to realise there is soooo much more to see. It’s cool. We’re cool. Lets just chill here for a while. So we do. And for a bit longer. And different kids come and go. There are small scuffles over who is touching what train, who has something to push, where someone’s carriage went. There are mums with lunches and families tag teaming toilet trips. There are little boys picking their noses. And girls sitting grumpily. And still we stay.

There is literally about 25 full size trains, carts, buggies, buses and all sorts of modes of transport to explore on this level. But he will not budge. Hey, at least he is having fun, right?

We try a diversion tactic, lets just pick him up and run to the next exhibit and he’ll love it so much he’ll completely forget. We go covert styles, picking him up unawares and literally making a dash for it. He is kicking, he is screaming. He is so unimpressed with the full size train carriage in the next exhibit. He is trying to find his way back to the model train set.

We could go back again, but then we would have to do the break away another time and unlike before he is now getting tired, and overwhelmed and over stimulated. He is deteriorating. There has been waaaay too much fun and excitement in a short amount of time.

We are glad our tickets are for a full year (that's right, ticket prices are actually for year round entry). There will be plenty to see next time we come back. You know, like, the whole main level. We make a dash for the exit, it’s touch and go. There is a god damn shop on the way out. (Mind you full of fabulous toys, and amazing homewares – homewares, I know, who would’ve thunk it). We buy a James train and I tell pat to go, go, go. The woman behind the counter looks like this is all too familiar.

And we are out. Wow. Extreme highs, extreme lows. You know, normal life with a child. As much as things got a little out of hand at the end this was an awesome museum to visit. And really a lot of the drama was due to tiredness, so all we need to do is head back in the morning next time and you know, I’m sure it will go perfectly. Will let y’all know!

Easy as Airbnb

Airbnb had to be the best choice for holiday accom in Brussels. Staying with a toddler in a hotel room would have been a struggle to say the least. Seriously how do people do it? Austin is a fussy eater to begin with, so purchasing all of his meals out would not go down very well. Then there's the lack of space. And theeen when he goes to sleep at night, I guess we'd just have to hope he sleeps real heavily, or sit in silence? eek!

The airbnb we picked was right near the Grand Place where all of the beautiful old buildings are and walking distance to all the fun places (the comic book museum - hello Smurfs and Tin Tin, the Manneken Pis and beautiful views from Le Monts des Arts). And so perfect for o'ding on cheese and hams while tucked away in our apartment with Austin sleeping at night.

I think this will be the way to do the rest of Europe, more exploring here we come.  

Planes vs Trains

Planes vs trains? We say trains win! Obviously there is a limit on your travel distance for this… but when it is a reasonable distance, oh boy, the train wins HANDS DOWN!

We found the train to be so awesome because it is so less stressful than getting a plane. There is no 2 hour minimum check in time, no baggage restrictions, (what are you carrying on, what are you checking-in, how heavy are your bags… nope they don’t care!), security is efficient but not intense (they let Austin sleep through security and passport checks in the pram, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou) and then you just walk up to the train literally 10 minutes before it departs, jump on and voila off you go.

And that’s just the beginning of the benefits… On the train seats have more room, there are only 2 seats on each side so you can freely get up and down and walk down to the food cart, and you can fit baby on your lap with the tray table down, I know whhhaaaaat! Baby can sit there and watch the world whizz by and you avoid the trauma of take-off and landing (ears popping, ears popping, EARS POPPING WAAAAHHHHH).

And then when you get to your destination (generally) you’re pretty much smack bang in the middle of the city and just have to get to your accommodation. No hour taxi rides from airports and passport lines that go forever and ever and everrrrrrrr. Nope. Just stroll on out. Excellent.

So as you can probably tell, by the time we got to Brussells we were pretty damn chuffed with ourselves. And with the addition of a purchase of mini trucks from St Pancras station before we left the train ride was as smooth as a baby’s bottom (pun intended – dad joke, I know!)

So planes and trains aside… when we were in Brussels we stayed in the old part of town, which was right near the Grand Place, perfection. Before we left if we told people we were going to Brussels they would ask ‘oh and are you going to Bruge? Bruge is so pretty!’. So we weren’t expecting well, anything much exciting in Brussels but it was soo pretty. (Who needs Bruge, right?)

Brussels seems to be a city built on their passion for food, and not just any foods, pretty much the best foods in the world. Chocolate. Fries. Waffles. Crepes. Yes, yes and yes. So we dived in to local culture ie. food, as any respectful tourist would, and had a ball of a holiday. 

A day fit for a prince

I LOVE doing all of the big touristy stuff, something about it just feels SO holiday-sy. And everyone loves holidays. Everything is exciting and new on holidays. On holidays you get to eat out ALL THE TIME, you have nice soft pillows and fresh sheets every day. SO GOOD! So even though pretty much none of those things apply to us (the eating out all the time, the soft pillows and fresh sheets, nawwww) when we go and do the tourist route it feels as exciting as if we ARE on holidays.

So on this fine sunny day (18 in London, A-MAH-ZING) Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park were on our must do list. First stop was Buckingham Palace and Austin was dying to get out of the pram. And once he was out he was smiling, and laughing and having SO much fun…. and this had NOTHING to do with the palace, the guards or the beautiful grand gates. There was a street cleaner going past. A STREET CLEANER! How FREAKING EXCITING! It really is hilarious the things kids find exciting. 

It was great to see the palace in all of its grand glory. I wouldn't say it's the best tourist spot in London but it is easy enough to go by, get a tourist snap and just keep on going. A changing of the guard would have added a bit more of a thrill to the situation, but in the winter months the changing of the guard is every second day… and we were there on the first day. Damn.  

So to Hyde park next and to let Austin have his run around. To get there from the palace it’s a short stroll through Green park.  And wow there were yellow leaves everywhere. London is SO pretty in Autumn - green and gold and red dripping from the trees and pools of colour floating over the grass. So we just had to stop and have a play around, it was too damn tempting not to.

And we couldn’t really just walk past the Lodge Café in Hydpe Park corner without a pit stop either. I cannot recommend this place more. The coffee was great, the chocolate croissant was to DIE FOR and they have so many other delicious treats and pastries (a high level of restraint was used to not go NUTS on the macaroons).

So FINALLY after all of our stopping and starting we made it to Hyde Park. Which was really just more park. VERY pretty, but more park. And we already ‘parked’ at Green Park. So after the long journey to get there and with a pooped toddler, we had a bit of look around and then headed off home. 

My little pumpkin

So it seems England gets quite in to the ol Halloween spirit and the spirit was in full force at the Eastern Curve Garden. We missed the pumpkin carving and lighting ceremony (WOWSERS), but we did make it down to check it all out a few days later.

And oh boy, there were HEAPS of spooky Halloween pumpkins pretty much sprinkled all over the garden - it seems the kids did a mighty fine job of their Halloween carving. Luckily for us Austin wasn’t spooked by the pumpkins during the day (though I did see some photos of them lit up at night – eerie) but he was super interested, pointing and trying to pull the lids off all of them (gentle, gentle, GENTLE).

It's been a while since we visited the Eastern Curve Garden and going in again reminded us of how much we really loved our stay in Dalston. There was always something happening, and I'm not going to lie a large part of the attraction is the coffee. My new favourite is Reilly Rocket, which I wasn't surprised when I found out the guys are Aussie (of course the good coffee is made by Aussies). We've moved off the skinny caps and lattes, and are now on the skinny flat whites (the only coffee I've found that doesn't taste like watered down milk).

So Halloween is just a few days away, and I’ve no idea if the hype we’ve seen in the shops is a true indication of how England does Halloween, but either way I’ve got a cute as little jumper for A-dawg to get in the spirit. 

A visit to Fenton House (how lovely)

What's living in London if you haven't visited a manor house? Yep, it's not living, well anyway, that's what I thought. We almost didn't make it as we were dog tired from being up all night with a teething toddler but it was either sitting at home being tired and miserable and annoying each other or getting up and making the most of the day (tired or not). So off we went to Fenton House, the one beautiful manor house I found that wasn't forever away (located in North London), that looked nice and grand with some beautiful gardens.

The website says that the garden is big 'by London standards', well that is quite the understatement. It's definitely not a grand estate with fields and fields, but for central London I would call this BIG GARDENS. They were super pretty, with little pockets and different areas, manicured lawns and an apple orchard. Lots of fun for Austin to run up and around. 

The inside of the house has been kept as it would've been about 100 years ago, with lots of breakables and antiques (hands off baby!) so we put Austin in the baby bjorn, just to be safe. The inside of the house is probably not super interesting for a kid, more so for mum and dad, but what the hell we were there so we were going to have a look anyways. We had really, really wanted to see the supposed fantastic view of the city from the roof...but alas... it wasn't open when we went. Well, guess we will just have to find some more places to go and check out the views, damn.