London: Day One

The view coming in!I actually almost lost my camera the morning we arrived (29th), but fortunately the people at the airport found it. I was really thankful but I think the girl who had to go retrieve it was glad to see me go. Or maybe she didn't care. =) I don't know. So, because of the lost camera and a couple wrong trains (at one point I realized we were on the wrong train right as it reached it's next stop so I just said "get off, get off, get off! in an urgent manner and unfortunately we were too fast for our mom so she had to go to the next station and come back =P), we didn't get to our rented flat (which is about a 15 minute walk from the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge)until a little after noon. We took a nap then, and it was great! As we were leaving we met our neighbor and he was nice.
Then we went to Hampstead and visited Keat's House and walked around a charming neighborhood or two.We ate dinner there.And yummy bread.We also visited the Heath, which was beautiful, and just explored a little bit before going back. Before heading home we got some groceries at Waitrose. After that we were pretty exhausted. Now it's about 7 in the morning and we've got a long day ahead of us, so hopefully I'll be able to blog again tomorrow morning, we'll see!

more playing in the backyard

Rylie really wanted to take a picture, so with a little help, she took this one:

more outfits

Just a couple more outfits that Barb sent for Easter:

a cold day in April

Bothered

A couple of photos, taken by Nathan...I'm actually a little disturbed by this one:
We had fun in the backyard the other day... care to take a look?

more

Nathan took several pictures of Rylie today. Here are a couple.

raincarl?

Yesterday I was playing with Nathan and he was cooking with Rylie's food and dishes (those toys are both of theirs, really). I've noticed he imitates cooking shows by sometimes preparing the dessert first and then putting it in the fridge in Rylie's kitchen before moving on to a side dish and main course. It's pretty funny. Anyway, a couple times he's used words I'm not familiar with, and we had this conversation:

Nathan: Okay, eat this. This is beans and rice.
Me: I thought we already had beans and rice! (we had "eaten" some a few moments before)
Nathan (laughs): Oh, this isn't beans and rice. This is raincarl with apples.
Me: Raincarl? What's raincarl?
Nathan: It's really good with apples and it makes your body smooth. Lots of people eat it with apples.
Me: But what is it?
Nathan: It's really good for you and makes your body old. (we've been discussing how good food can help you grow big and strong but also that everyone grows old)
Me: Oh I see. I still don't know what it is.
Nathan: It's raincarl!
Me: Are there other kinds of raincarl?
Nathan: Yeah (he picks up a jar full of alphabet puzzle pieces), these are green. This is how you make it. You put it in with olive oil and tomatoes and cubes. And you mix it up with strawberries. And then it's good.
Me: I see. (I don't) Thank you. You're a very good cook.
Nathan: I know.
Me: You're supposed to say thank you.
Nathan (laughs): Oh, thank you.
Me: You're welcome.

Anyway. I told Jared about it and he thought it was really funny and bizarre. But today Nathan was mispronouncing a few words (I won't repeat them unless you're really curious, it had to do with body parts and the digestive system...) and I think a little light bulb went on over my head. So when Jared came downstairs after work, we all had this conversation (actually, Rylie didn't, but she was listening, presumably):

Jared: Nathan, what's raincarl?
Nathan: It's raincarl, with apples and green beans.
Jared and I stare at one another with confusion and amusement. I quickly tell him about Nathan's earlier mispronunciations.
Me: Is it caramel?
Nathan: Yeah, it tastes like popcorn.
Me: But caramel isn't good with green beans.
Nathan: It's in my egg (an Easter egg) and it tastes like popcorn.
Jared: You don't have anything in your egg that tastes like popcorn.
Me: So is raincarl caramel?
Nathan: Yes. And it tastes like popcorn.

Well, there you have it. I don't think we're any closer to figuring out what raincarl is, actually.

a package

Thanks again, Grandma Spees! Again, sorry the video has no sound. Just imagine the bunny singing with gusto and Rylie screaming in delight.