Friday, March 30, 2012

The Long Month of Goodbyes ~Part 2 by Henry

March 15 2012
 Hi everybody! This long month has finally come to an end. I will miss all you guys.
 I am going to tell you a few things that I am looking forward to.
 1. I would really like to go to Lego land.
2. I hope to go to Italy, France and Switzerland to snowboard.
 3. I would like to go to Switzerland and try the chocolate there.
 4, I really am looking forward to the Olympics we are going this year. We have tickets to beach volleyball, gymnastics (May, Kate and Mom) and just got tickets to Track and Field!
 5. I want to just get to London.  It feels like this month was a whole year it was so slow. I will miss all you guys - Calvin, Beck, Miles, Hal, Spencer, and Jack!  Thanks for being there for me.

March 29 2012

              We made it to London! Recently we got new scooters here! They are not ordinary Razor scooters! They are Rage and Madd brands. They have big burly wheels and meaty handle bars.  There is a skate park just across the street so when everybody is in school we ride over there and get it all to are self. It is really fun because we are alone and we have our scooters.
It is still hard to get over the fact the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car and they drive on the left side of the road. A few days ago I saw a kid in the front seat where the steering wheel is in America and I said “look mom that kid is driving. 
 Lastly we went to Legoland yesterday and it was very fun. There were 3 roller coasters, 3 wet rides, and 2 pirate ships. We went on all of them and it was very fun. We also went to an exhibit called Lego Star Wars. It was very cool and they had whole scenes from the movies made from Legos.


 In front of mini-NASA

 For Zoe-mini Holland!

 I love this pic! Henry hated roller coasters until yesterday!

 I think he LOVES them now!

Windsor Castle-we did a quick walk by but will definitely go back!
Scooting on the balcony!

Tailwhip in the kitchen!

Monday, March 26, 2012

We made it!

We made it! Uneventful flight and we left on time! My only beef with British Airways is that their planes are old. Some of you who saw Henry the night before we left, all he could talk about was the movies he was going to watch on the LONG flight...Tower Heist, Moneyball and In Time. Well guess who's in-flight entertainment system NEVER worked? Mine didn't either but I had my laptop with Friday Night Lights queued up...but he was a trooper. We chatted and then switched with May to watch Tower Heist. Kids got some sleep...me not so much.
Pete drove to the airport and met us! It was so AWESOME to be reunited after 6 weeks apart!  He is quite the driver!

Our flat is great. Small but great. Two bedrooms, two baths. Two double beds. Small. A cot for Henry. Luggage stored on top of the kitchen cabinets and really anywhere we can fit it--even in the boot of the car! It will be a long few weeks here and I have to remember to pace...easy to walk the kids and myself to exhaustion!

On Sunday after we arrived, we took a drive and showed the kids the house. The current tenants were outside and let us come in and show the kids. It was excellent! We met their kids and they are the nicest family. We also met the the family across the street - they have two girls 8 and 9! I think we will be super happy there-- it is Issaquah in England!



Will I ever get rid of the bags under my eyes completely??

Love this pic of the kids-we had so much stuff and I had to have the kids help me push all the trolleys! You can barely see May!

The folks currently renting our house recommended this cute PUB which was way hidden. We felt lucky to know about it and it was booked for Sunday lunch but we got in. Loads of hiking trails all around so folks hike and then come in for a pint!
Just happy to be here!



This is a lame picture but Pete decorated our entire flat with streamers and Welcome Home! He got us each little presents: Henry Lego books and lottery tickets, May a fedora, purse and lottery tickets and I got a map of London, a new cell phone and a granny grocery cart we named Maude!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Davis Farewell Tour 2012-Extended One Final Week!

You're still here? Haven't you left yet? I thought they left a while ago?
Those seem to be the FAQs lately! Yes we are still here. No we haven't left yet!
BUT we are close! We have ticked off all the things to do on Pete's very detailed Excel spreadsheet he created back in October and are ready to go. We have marched past all the MAJOR hurdles in the past month and we are ALL exhausted!

  1. Pete finally made it to London after his 4 day British Airway fiasco
  2. I packed up house and movers came for 2 days to pack and load it up
  3. Sold my car
  4. Sold our house
  5. Packed suitcases for the 3 of us for the next 6 weeks
  6. Attended many goodbye GNOs, one goodbye gymnastics party, one bowling party for Henry and his friends, a stay in a hotel with May and Henry's BFFs
  7. Packed up Pete's 1994 Land Cruiser with all luggage, ski stuff, bikes and a couple of rifles and DROVE THAT OLD GIRL to Sun Valley - drive from hell. Great weather but very uncomfortable car to drive



8. Spent a lovely week in SV skiing with the kids and hanging out with our family. Saw my folks, my brother and nephew, my mother in law, brother and sister in law and more cousins and nieces and nephews! It was excellent! The weather was gorgeous and we had some great spring skiing!




9. I flew to London from SV to meet Pete and house hunt. Spent a week looking at some real stinkers but we eventually found the one! We found a 5 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom house in the town of Twyford. It is situated between Henley on the Thames and Marlow. 5 minute walk to the train, schools and town. 30 minute train ride to London and an 8 minute train ride to Pete's office. Across the street are 5 lakes with trails all around them for mountain biking and walking. The schools are excellent!. Pete and I had a great time throughout the week. We had several great meals, we walked a ton, finished setting up our banking, toured the schools and DROVE his new car! It was delivered the week I was there and the first day we just sat in it and played with the navigation system. We drove it around the block one time each and then it sat in the garage for 4 days. On Sunday morning, early before anyone was out, we took it out for a spin. We drove it to our new town and on a semi busy road. Pete did great and then it was my turn. My stomach was in knots the entire time and my hands were sore from gripping the steering wheel so tight! But I did it and I know I can do it so watch out England! We also were able to take the train into London for night at a hotel, dinner with the fabulous Grimsteads and saw Wicked on Saturday!


 10. After the nerve racking driving morning, I flew back to Seattle (after a 5 hour delay and a plane change on British Air-not winning points for the Davis family).  My rock star MOM put the kids on their first solo plane trip from Boise to Seattle the next day! They did great. All sugared up at 10 AM as I think they ate all the candy they got at the candy store on the flight and Henry had a Coke too. Oh well. They made it safe and sound.

 So finally finishing up the week, seeing friends, tying up the last loose ends and saying goodbye.




 View from our flat in Maidenhead

 Super cute pub in Wargrave on the Thames - 10 minute drive from Twyford

View from the super cute pub. Apparently we can join the Wargrave Boating Club for the summer and have use of their canoes, kayaks, skiffs and punts (I don't know what that is?) Why didn't I bring my SUP ??


We leave on Friday. This is it. The Farewell Tour is over. See you in London.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Long Month of Goodbyes - by May

Well it's been a long month's wait, but I am ready to have tea with sugar cubes and teacakes! We have had to stay a lot places like Maya's house, the Porters, a hotel with my buds, Perry and Hadley's house and my Uncle Will's and Rye's house. We have said goodbye to a lot of people and are done with school! Yippie!

We made it to Sun Valley after a long drive!

When I get to London, I really want to go to Italy (Milan) and meet my Mom's friend J.J. who writes about fashion. Maybe she can take me to a fashion house where they makes dresses? I love to draw dresses! I also want to go to Paris and climb the Eiffel Tower and also wear my beret! One more thing I want to do is find a 4 leaf clover in Ireland. It was really hard saying goodbye to all my family and friends but I know my cousin Kate is going to go to the Olympics with us! I am so looking forward to that!