Let it Snow!!!

Are we back in Minnesota??? From these pictures, one might think that we are....this is the biggest snow they have had in London in 18 years! And they don't really know how to handle it since it "never" snows in London! The top right picture is taken out of our front window, and the bottom right picture is taken from our kitchen/back window. The other is taken on our street.

So far we have seen snow removed with pot holders, dust pans, large spoons, cardboard, brooms - no shovels though because they don't have them! The sidewalks and streets won't be cleared of snow - it will have to melt off. The whole city is practically shut down - no buses or overground trains running, and the underground trains are severely delayed because most of them at some point are above ground. Many kids don't have school and are out playing in the snow having a ball, even though most don't have snowpants, etc. Sean does have school because his teachers all walk to school, but most kids are not there. Sean wanted to go to school and play outside with his friends - and his teachers said they would do that if only a few kids are there. We'll play outside this afternoon even though we don't have winter gear. It isn't as cold as yesterday, and it is fluffy snow that is perfect for snowballs and snowmen. I would say we have 5-6 inches of snow, with more predicted throughout today and maybe this week. Most kids haven't ever seen snow, so it is a real "party" type atmosphere outside. Fun!

Yesterday we canceled our plans to attend the Chinese New Year celebration in Trafalgar Square and went to an indoor playpark with my cousin and her daughter. Sean and Madeley had a blast and we'll go back when the weather isn't nice enough to be outside. Mike went to the National Gallery, but didn't stay longer than an hour because it was so packed with people. He walked around a bit, but it was pretty cold.

On Friday I went to Kensington Palace because I wanted to see the Princess Diana exhibit. I was very disappointed - they only had 8-10 of her dresses and that was it! You could see some of the palace itself, but most of the artifacts were replicas of what used to be there and it was pretty lame. It wasn't anything I'd see again or recommend to others, so I am glad Mike and Sean didn't go with me. I did do some shopping that afternoon (TK Maxx - like our TJ Maxx) because Mike needed new gloves and we need some workout gear since we joined the local gym. Both of us had our "induction" yesterday to the gym, so we know how to use the equipment. It felt SO good to work out again and we'll try and get there several times a week so we don't gain too much weight or lose too much muscle tone while we are here! It seems like we eat lots of carbs, so we've got to keep on top of that! But we eat alot of prepared/frozen meals, so that helps with portion control. We also get alot of take out...the kitchen isn't well suited to cook very much, and I don't really feel like getting all the spices, ingredients, etc that I would need (OK, I do admit that it is a nice break from cooking too!)