Everyone is Irish on March 17th!

Friendly, English Speaking London

We arrived last Monday in London while Chad works and Will and I travel the city.  Last week Will and I went shopping on Oxford & Regent Streets and did lots of walking around the city.  Our hotel is only about 100 meters from the Tower of London and in a great location.

One thing we have noticed while we are here is that the English are VERY friendly and helpful.  Will and I have been in the tube and almost every time I find stairs someone offers to help.  Will has also been very good and friendly. His smile is so cute and people keep telling me how cute and beautiful he is, I already know.  It is also nice to speak English and be able to ask for directions or about products.

We also realized that we are getting used to life in Germany.  The first night we arrived and went to a restaurant, I ordered a "Coke Light"  the waitress offered me a "Diet Coke."  I also bought a few bags of Doritos at the grocery store just because I could.  

The bummer of the week is that we got rejected from a restaurant because of Will. Restaurants that turn into bars don't allow children after 8:00pm. We have to be a bit more conscious of this now and learned our lesson.  We can always order in pizza.

Chad is a trooper!

Chad has been feeling pretty sick this past week. He's been busy with work and has been pretty kind about still finding time for Will and I in the evening. He has to take a 30 minute train ride to the client sight and then maybe a cab.  Let's just say I haven't seen him feeling this bad in a really long time.  And then we drag him for a weekend away to see Dublin.

Dublin, Ireland

Well, to start this entry I want to inform my father that they use the Euro in Ireland!  :)

We spent the weekend in Dublin and after the 60 minute tube ride to the airport, the 50 minute flight, and the 30 minute cab ride we arrived at our hotel. It was VERY nice and the people were incredibly friendly.  I even took the time to fill out a comment card because people were so kind.

When we arrived, I asked where we could buy some water for Will and they gave me a bottle for the next day.  They had a very nice baby cot for Will and when we ate at the hotel restaurant several of the staff came and talked to Will.  

We saw a lot of the city by foot.  It was a sunny day on Saturday and it rained Saturday evening and Sunday.  I will post pictures when return to our flat, but we were able to see Guinness, The Book of Kells at Trinity College, Christ Church, we toured a Viking exhibit, and even did a bit of shopping.  Dublin is a very old and we enjoyed just walking around.  

Funny Will Story

We went to dinner at a pub to avoid the rain.  Well, Will ate and our food arrived. Will has a little left in  his bottle and stopped eating.  He grunted a bit and his face turned red. I felt a warm sensation on my leg. Yes, the little guy filled his pants and the diaper didn't contain it.  His right pant leg was able to catch most of it.

I tend to travel with an extra onesie, but not an extra pair of pants!  I took him in the pub restroom and layed the mat down on the the floor of a stall. Most of the places we went that day had great changing rooms, but not this place.  So as tried to maneuver around to change him he managed to put his foot in the poo on the pants and rub it around everywhere.  Here I was in a pub in Dublin (while my fish and chips are getting cold) with a baby on the floor in a bathroom stall kicking in his poo giggling and smiling.  All I could do was laugh!  It took a bit but I managed to make some very cute pants out of the extra blanket and we walked back to the hotel.  This moment was priceless and smelly.

Cab driver

So a lesson I have learned is that you learn almost more from your cab drivers than you do on a tour bus.  We had a very friendly, 70 year old cab driver from the hotel to the airport.  He was very nice and of course asked us about our new US President.  I also took the opportunity to ask him about Dublin and Ireland. He has been to New York and had a few more questions as well.  It was nice to have a friendly driver with 5 grandkids and who spoke English!

Will is the best!

I know all parents probably say this but Will has been the best baby ever!  We've drug him into churches (he's been so quiet, it's freaky) and on tours, out to restaurants, and he doesn't ever seem to sleep more than a few nights in the same bed. :)   He's been so happy and friendly. He smiles at people on the plane and the cleaning staff at the hotel.  The hotel staff comes over to say hi to us every time we leave and return and Will smiles for them almost on cue.  

The best story was on our return to the hotel in London.  We were delayed about 45 minutes out of Dublin and there were strong winds at Heathrow so we had some turbulence and had to circle.  Will was good, but was scheduled to eat shortly.  We finally landed, got our luggage and found our way to the tube.  Well, we managed to make it back to the hotel 75 minutes later and got checked in.  We didn't have a room large enough for the baby cot (even though it was in the reservation and they knew).  It was after 10pm and Chad was feeling sick and we were waiting for our pizza.  Will ate and was full of smiles and giggles as we waited for our new room.  Here Chad and I are grumpy, tired, and hungry and we just looked at this baby who was totally off his schedule as happy as can be.  Our life really is good!  We finally got to our new room and Will went right to sleep as we got unpacked.  He could not have been any better!