A Rainy Day, A Sunny Day

Fortunately, the past two days have been much easier than Monday. Yesterday I put my domestic skills to good use and rearranged the furniture in the flat, then scrubbed the whole place and reorganized the kitchen cabinets and linen closet. Ah. Much better. Jimmy had been chewing on his fingers (and us) so I felt around in his mouth and discovered two big molars coming in. A steady dose of Tylenol seems to be helping him, too. I made up a little bed on a futon mattress on the floor for the kiddos, so Bill and I slept just enough to make us feel human.

Yesterday, we were ready for the rain. I'd planned to take the boys across the city to the Museum of Childhood, but on the way out the door Charlie told me he desperately wanted to see dinosaur bones, so we turned around and headed for the Museum of Natural History. It was an amazing place and the three of us had a blast learning about volcanoes, pollution, extinct mammals, and finally, dinosaurs. As we approached one giant skeleton, I said "Oh! Look! The T.Rex!" Charlie shrugged and said "Actually, mom, that's an Alisaurus. See, it has three claws." Sure enough, he was right! That's my boy! A little later, we walked into a small, dark area with a path that wrapped around a life-sized model of a T.Rex. We were all startled when it suddenly started growling and moving, and looking like it wanted to eat us. Charlie took one look and sprinted for the door. When Jimmy and I caught up with him he looked sad. He was quiet for a while, but eventually said "Mom, don't tell Grandma what happened in there. She thinks I'm brave." Yes, I know I'm a terrible person for sharing his secret.

Today was sunny so we planned to walk through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace. Charlie was convinced we were going to see the queen, and I think he believed there was a reasonable chance that she'd invite us in for a spot of tea. We walked down the Princess of Wales Memorial Flower Walk, past the Serpentine Water, the Peter Pan statue (Jimmy loved the woodland creatures and fairies on it), to Buck Park, and finally to Picadilly St. By this time Jimmy had fallen asleep in the stroller and Charlie was exhausted, hungry, and in desperate need for the loo. We walked for almost an hour with absolutely no where to stop, despite the crowded street. Finally, we found a beautiful but intimidatingly fancy Italian restaurant. It looked empty, so I decided to risk humiliation and take the boys inside. Jimmy slept under the table while Charlie and I shared hot chocolate and Tiramisu. It was so delightfully elegant. After that we walked all the way home. I mapped out our walk when we got back and I couldn't believe it was 6.5 miles round trip. No wonder Charlie has been sleeping so soundly at night!

The only bad news is that the boys continue to act like hooligans in the flat. Our sweet little Jimmy has turned into a Honey Badger, snarling and hitting us without warning. Charlie is hyper and rude much of the time. I think their behavior is from a combination of the small space, change in routine, exhausting days,  and still some jet lag. But they've also had nice moments: Charlie loves drawing and writing words, and the boys have been playing with the dinosaurs we go at the museum yesterday.