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23 May 2014

Luckiest Soccer Ball in the World!

Well, okay, maybe the soccer ball isn't all that lucky. But we are to still own it!  As I have mentioned before, we have the tiniest backyard. I mean tiny. And they don't call them yards here, they call them gardens. Even if there isn't actually much growing there, as in our case.  Despite the fact that our garden is tiny, our girls love to play in it. They ride their bikes (yes, they really do!) in tiny little circles, they jump on their pogo stick… Although, I raced downstairs in my bathrobe when they decided to pogo on the back deck at 7am. It sounded like a jackhammer! I thought, "our neighbors are going to kill us!".  And, they play soccer. They kick the ball around, and then it goes over the back wall… somewhere over the back wall.  We live in the city. We don't know our back neighbors, as a matter of fact, we back up to a small block of flats, and some other houses that are a block back.  And our garden walls are high enough that you cannot see over and we couldn't determine where the soccer ball went.  So, I faced some sad little girls and told them they probably had seen the last of that ball, and hadn't I told them to be careful for pete's sake??!!
They were especially sad because girls don't play soccer here… or football as the rest of the world calls it.  They just don't, I don't really know why. There are other sports that are primarily for girls, I guess.  Anyhow, since girls don't play here, big companies like Nike don't market equipment to girls. So, we weren't going to be able to replace a pink soccer ball.  A week went by, and we bought a boring black and grey soccer ball. And then one afternoon, lo and behold, we came home and there was our pink soccer ball, sitting right on our doorstep!
So, I immediately went inside and used a sharpie to write our address on the ball, just in case it were to go over the wall again. Maybe that would help increase the odds it would be returned.
And, then, the girls immediately went out back to play with their newly recovered ball. And, it promptly went over the wall again.
And a few days later, it was back on our doorstep!  The girls have been much more careful since then and the ball hasn't had any more adventures.  I think maybe I need to draw a cool face on it like that Tom Hanks movie… what do you think? ;)

22 May 2014

Glass Noodles

Have you discovered glass noodles yet? Chris had been ordering them when we went out to eat at one of our favorite Asian places, Wagamama. So, I thought I would give them a try at home.

Since we adopted a primal type of diet, the things we find we miss the most are pasta and pizza. We have found a few gluten free crusts, and have made some really great cauliflower crust for pizza. But, gluten free pasta always leaves us feeling kind of blah. It is okay in a pinch, but the texture never seems quite right. Glass noodles are gluten free, but not strictly paleo, so keep that in mind. They are made with peas, green beans and water. However, I believe the green beans are mung beans, and as far as I can tell by researching, they aren't approved paleo.  But, I figure cheating with a vegetable isn't all that bad.

So, I checked the regular grocery store here and didn't find glass noodles, so I checked Amazon. And I ordered what I thought was three packages. Only, I made a mistake and ordered twelve packages instead. Oops.
I just hoped we actually  liked cooking with them and I wasn't going to be stuck trying to foist my grocery ordering error on my family for some time to come. 
Well, what I discovered was that I am in LOVE with glass noodles. They don't require boiling, so you just boil water, and throw them in and turn the burner off. They absorb the water for a few minutes and they are all ready!  The texture is perfect and the flavor is awesome for Asian cooking.  I have made a Coconut Curry, a Pad Thai, and the stir-fry you see below.  


Yummo!  I highly recommend you pick some up. If you can't find them at your local grocery, try an Asian food store, or Amazon!

20 May 2014

Doors

I loved the poster series you used to see from different cities… Doors of whatever city.  So, here are a few of the doors that I have seen around that I thought were worthy of a poster!







19 May 2014

A Reindeer? Yep, a Reindeer!

It's not everyday you see a reindeer in person, but that is exactly what we saw a few weeks ago in our local park, Wandsworth Common.





It turns out they were filming a movie. We even got to pet him!

16 May 2014

A visit from Flat Julia...

At the girls' old school in California, the first graders do a project with the book "Flat Stanley". Each student makes a flat version of themselves and sends it through the mail to visit a friend.
We were the recipients of "Flat Julia", Sophia's very best friend.  We had fun taking Flat Julia along with us on our adventures.
Sophia was so excited to receive Flat Julia!


Julia goes for a bike ride.

Julia gets a new shirt to cheer on her team for the Cambridge and Oxford boat race (the only college sporting event televised in the UK).





Julia visits Harrods and Liberty department store.

Another new shirt!

St.Paul's Cathedral

Trafalgar Square

14 May 2014

The Divergent Movie Premiere

So, since Georgia won tickets and passes for us to see the London movie premiere of Divergent, this is how we spent Mothering Sunday (also known as Mother's Day).  Chris took Olivia and Sophia to see the Lego Movie, and Georgia and I hopped on the tube and went back to Liecester Square.


I have to admit that we were both hoping to get a glimpse (okay maybe up close and personal) of this guy…


The cool movie posters that the girls got to make the day before










Our pass that went with bracelets that allowed us entry!

First we went to get a snack at a restaurant next to the theatre.


It's not every day that you see a young adult author walking the red carpet with the whole celebrity treatment! Yay Veronica Roth!
Georgia was so excited to be walking the same red carpet that the stars were!!

 Shailene Woodley



Theo James

Kate Winslet






 Director - Neil Burger

The stars came into the theater where we were waiting with our movie t-shirt swag!














It was a truly awesome experience!