Summer holiday, Part II

The leaves are turning colors and our fall clothes have replaced our summer ones in our closets. So that means I'm way behind on blogging about the rest of our summer. For the first part of our London summer, see here. We really had the best summer. The weather, for once, was pleasant for most of August. Lots of sun and warm temps. Here are the highlights:

Battersea Park and Zoo

The girls and I first went to the park last summer and loved it.  Even though it's only 6 miles from our house, it's not an easy destination to get to. Especially getting there by myself with three kids involved.  Two different trains on the underground followed by a bus followed by a walk to reach the park left me ready for a nap on our arrival. However, it was well worth the effort.  The girls just loved all the playground equipment and climbing devices, the swings, the huge sandpit and small animals to see. We spent nearly 5 hours there and even then, I had some unhappy girls when we left who wanted to stay longer!

London Zoo

Similar to the first part of our summer back in July, the zoo became a weekly destination for us.  Getting a membership was the best idea ever so that we could pop in whenever we wanted and see as little or as much of the animals depending on how we were feeling for the day. Our routine usually involved seeing 1-2 animals followed by the bulk of our visit being spent at the zoo playground.  I think by the end of the summer, we had finally seen all the animals at least once!

Regents Park

We fed ducks. We picnicked. We played for hours at the playground with some friends. The usual stuff.

Hampstead Parks

While it's fun to get out into the city and explore different parts, most our park visits were to local favorites around our neighborhood.  And somehow there always seemed to be a cold treats involved.   Perhaps the formula is shorter "commute" = happier mom = more likely to say yes to treats! 

#sisterselfie

Note to self: do not buy blue popsicles ever again.  Ashton's tongue and hands had a leftover blue tinge for two days! 

Natural History Museum

We went on a bank holiday weekend and so naturally, it was packed. Not really the way I enjoy seeing a museum when you have to fight the crowds to read any of the information.  However, the girls always enjoy seeing the dinosaur exhibit.  Although I think on this visit, the favorite stop was the butterfly tent.  So many beautiful butterflies up close and personal. 

Theatre

The day after we got back from the USA, we went to children's theatre in the West End to see The Gruffalo based on the book by Julia Donaldson.  The girls thought it was fun.  Quinn and I fell asleep. 

Richmond Park

On the August bank holiday Monday, we hopped on the train and went to Richmond Park, which is the largest of the Royal Parks. We ended up walking way more than we had intended on a fairly hot day so everyone was exhausted by the end. However, it was one of the last Royal Parks we had yet to visit, so I'm glad we were able to get there to enjoy the open space. 

Our Backyard

Although the weather was pleasant, it usually doesn't get too hot in London.  But on the days that it did, the girls begged to put on their swimming suits and play out back with the hose. I loved hearing all their  their giggles and squeals that ensued.

Back to school!

September 7 (please ignore the fact that this blog post is a month+ overdue) marked the return of the girls back to school after a great summer vacation.  They were both very eager and excited about getting back to school!  They had a daily count down and continually spoke about what they thought their new classes were going to be like and how they couldn't wait to see their friends. Olivia is in Year 1 with Mrs. Hughes. Ashton has moved up to Pre-reception with Miss Blackstone. Perhaps the most exciting part of pre-reception for her is that she now gets to wear a proper dress uniform and blazer every day like her big sister.

The girls' school is split between two separate buildings on two different streets around the corner from each other.  With her move into Year 1, Olivia has moved to the other building.  It makes her feel like such a big girl going to the new building, as she's only known that location as "where the bigger kids go" for the last three years. Now she's one of them! She is with all of her same classmates as least year with the exception of one new boy. She continues to excel in her reading and math and her teacher loves Olivia's enthusiasm when it comes to participating in class discussions and volunteering answers.  Even though she had two girls in her class that she considers her best friends, she is good friends with all the children.

Ashton's class is full-time: full days, five days a week.  However, this is the same schedule she was doing last year in nursery/preschool, so her transition has been seamless.  Her teachers give me glowing reports about her everyday.  They tell me she is eager to do her work and participate, often asking for more work after she's completed her task. She doesn't rush her work and works very hard to do it correctly. She is the first to volunteer to help out and tidy up and is a leader for her classmates. Or as much as you can be a leader amongst 3-4 year olds! During the first week of school, her teacher told me how one day at lunch, as the children received their trays of food, they all started immediately eating.  However, Ashton waited patiently until all the children had their food before she started eating hers  The teachers were in shock over her manners.  I'm was in shock too! 

The first day of school was extra special for Olivia as it was also her birthday.  She made and wore a special birthday crown and all her classmates sang her Happy Birthday.  

Since they are in separate buildings now, the girls don't see each other during the day.  They are so excited when they are reunited every afternoon when I pick them up.  It doesn't usually last very long, but it's cute to see them all lovey and huggy with each other.

After the second day of school, we got a special after school treat  There is a crepe stall in Hampstead but it's only open certain days the week and for limited hours.  It's also extremely popular and there are always long lines. We've lived here for four year and had yet to experience their crepes so we changed that.  

The consensus was that the crepes are delicious and definitely worth the long wait!