The snow started right around dusk. About an hour after the boys went to bed, this is what it looked like on our street.

In the morning, this was the view from our front porch. The boys were excited to eat breakfast and head outside.

The first stop was our back garden. Ryan still isn’t quite sure he like the white stuff. He wasn’t feeling well either and after about 5 minutes outside, he was ready to go in to the warm flat.  Kevin however was ready to stay outside and make a snowman. Above is the result, bagels for ears, oranges for eyes, and apple wedge for a nose, and a blue painted piece of paper for a mouth.

After a little warming up inside, we headed back out before lunch to play in the front of the house. Ryan refused to wear gloves!  Kevin had a great time climbing on a mountain of snow and having Dad lob snow bombs at him.

After a while, it was time to come in for lunch…and some hot chocolate!!

He hides all of these creations behind Dad’s coffee pot on the corner of the kitchen counter. It’s an out of the way spot he hope Ryan won’t find.  He hides them there because he is worried (rightfully so) that Ryan is going to break them.

Today I pulled them all out. There’s no more room for my coffee pot!!

Pick up itself is chaos. The sidewalk is blocked, there is a narrow stairway where parents, children and  strollers are all crammed into the waiting area. I push my way through with Ryan. Sometimes he is super happy and ready to wave to all the teachers….other times I drag him kicking and screaming to pick up his brother.  One constant in all the school pickups; as soon as Kevin sees me he doesn’t say "Hi Dad, it’s great to see you!" or "Hi Dad, I had a great day at school".  Everyday, it’s the same thing; "Hi Dad…did you bring any snacks?" Evidently we don’t put enough food in his lunchbox.
So after we get back to the stroller  we set off on our after school adventures.  This summer we spent over an hour getting home. Now that the weather has turned cold and rainy, not to mention it’s almost dark by the time we pick Kevin up….we head straight home.

During the warmer months, here are some of our traditions.

Secret Technology of Life

After leaving school armed with snacks in the double jogger, we head up the hill from school to a park at the top of the hill above Hampstead. Early in the school year, Kevin announced that in this park you could find "The Secret Technology of Life".  Ever since then we have been going to the "Secret Technology of Life" park climbing trees and looking for all the secrets.

Admirals House

On the walk from the “Secret Technology of Life Park” to the Judges Walk we pass the Admirals House. Lieutenant Fountain North lived here in 1791 he used to fire a cannon from its roof to celebrate royal birthdays.  Later P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins lived in the house. The house served as the inspiration for the Mary Poppins character Admiral Boom.  I always tell the boys about how the Lieutenant who lived there use to fire his cannon from the roof and they try spotting the cannon.

Judges Walk

The cornerstone of our after school walk home is the Judges Walk. The name of this area comes from when the Judges of London escaped from central London during the plague and came to Hampstead to hold court for several years. Every morning they would walk through this field to a local pub to hold court.
I’m not sure how the tradition started, but everyday in the summer we start at the top of the Judges walk and Kevin commands "Dad, go down super-fast". Ryan chimes in "medium" …and I always compromise with "medium fast".  We countdown "3, 2, 1, blast-off!" and then set off down the single track trail in our double bob. The boys thought it was like a rollercoaster ride. Inevitably, after it was all over, Ryan would command; "Do it again!!"  Here is a little clip of the Judge’s walk rollercoaster ride:

The Fence Walk

After Dad has exerted himself by running down the Judges Walk we make our way past the zip line playground and then before we can go home we have to get out of the jogger and walk the fence line along a house on Reddington Gardens.

Collecting

All along our path home, we do a lot of collecting. Its always for Mom…."Let’s take this home to show Mom!"  Over the past year we have brought home sticks, rocks, wild flowers, weeds, dirt, chestnuts, and ladybugs (called ladybirds in England).  We have quite a collection at home, stop by sometime and check it out! Mom is always excited to see the dandelions and pile of dirt the boys have collected for her!!

We jumped off the tube at Waterloo, caught the Jubilee line to London Bridge, and walked just 15 minutes to Hay’s Galleria, a beautiful building with shops, restaurants, and an interesting looking boat/water feature. We had a hard time keeping Ryan from jumping into the clear blue water.

Children under 15 are free and tickets for adults weren’t so expensive (compared to other London attractions). We spent about 2 hours roaming the boat and everything exceeded our expectations – funny, since we were originally going to feed ducks and pet sheep at Hackney City Farms.

Kevin and Ryan were like playful puppies on the boat. Kevin turned every switch and pushed every button he could find. He had a serious look at all times, thinking he really was in charge of the boat. Some of the boat “crew” had him salute with a sailor hat on. Ryan just enjoyed climbing on everything. He also got a kick out of the fake crew – they were realistic enough that a 2 and 4 year old took a second look, but fake enough to be creepy. The boat had lots of steep ladders to take you on multiple levels. Kevin did fine on those, but Ryan would get halfway down and sort of leap forward, yelping “hold me!” as he fell. It was touch and go there for a while.

Our entry fees included an audio tour, with numbered spots for information. We were sufficiently distracted by Kevin’s curious questions or Ryan jumping overboard, so, if you want to learn something, you’ll have to ask Ryan.

Not sure if we’ll ever get to Plans A and B, but Plan C was a winner. A usual site for the end of our outings…..

I think the highlights of the day for Kevin were trying on real armour and getting his own fake gladiator wound!!  If he doesn’t look happy below (left) it’s because the helmet was very heavy and I think he’s actually straining to keep his neck straight!

The actual games were very realistic and probably a bit too much for a 4 year old. He had LOTS and LOTS of questions. I just kept reminding him that it was all pretend.  He asked numerous times throughout the games; “Is that guy really hurt?” “Is he OK?”

Below are a few scenes from the actual games:

As I mentioned, the fake wound was the highlight of the day. We got a lot of looks on the Tube on the way back home.  Kevin kept saying “Don’t forget to tell Mom that it’s not real!” …. I wanted him to tell her “Don’t worry Mom, it’s just a flesh wound.”  Here he is getting his new sword wound.

Note the sign in the background “Wounds:  Fake Gladiatorial battle wounds  non-toxic  £1.00”

Heather took Kevin to the grocery store later in the day.  He fell asleep in the stroller (see I’m not tired, I don’t need a nap) with his wounded arm hanging over the side.  Heather got many looks, varying from shocked to concerned to pure ridicule (“You’re a terrible mother for taking your dying son to the grocery store!”).