Welsand's in London

Additional House Progress!

The foundation on our house is now complete and framing has begun! Things are moving fast. We are so thrilled! Here are some of the latest photos.

posted by Chris @ 4:09 PM

Progress on our house!

posted by Chris @ 11:15 PM 0 comments

Final and Fourth Set of Guests Arrive!

Jeremy's mom (Patty) and aunt (Karen) arrived in London on Thursday, March 29 for a two week visit. Thankfully Patty, Jeremy's mom got here without incident having got the flu at 2 am the night before she left. She looked a little pale and sick when Sophie and I met them at the Victoria station after they took the Gatwick Express train into the city, but on day three now is feeling back to full health. Thus, the first day was spent resting, attending Sophie's ballet class, and being very mellow.

On Friday, we spent some time in Hampstead on the high street, enjoying lunch, exchanging money, shopping a bit, trying to stay dry in a typical rainy, grey London day. Jeremy worked at home in the afternoon so we brought Sophie back to the flat for a nap. Of course she feel asleep on the way and when we took her out of the buggy and put her in her bed she woke up and said, "Oh, warm and cozy!" Patty, Karen and I then made our way to Camden Town where we started with the charity shops and then made our way through the high street to the stable markets. It was fun but very wet. I found some great books on Hampstead which I was thrilled to add to my collection of local history books. We enjoyed dinner at the flat and all got to bed at a good time.

Jeremy took Patty and Karen to the Portobello Market on Saturday which they enjoyed. Unfortunately Karen stubbed her big toe badly, we think it might be broken, it looks terrible and her foot is really bruised. Not good news so early in the trip. Hopefully it will heal quickly.

On Sunday, we head to Paris again via the Eurostar. We will spend Sunday afternoon and Monday morning in Paris before we get a rental car and head to Chateauroux to meet up with Karen's son Joel, who lives in Italy. We will spend 2 days in Chateauroux and then make our way up to Orlean, France to spend a day and night. Then back to Paris to drop off the rental car and catch our train back to London. Karen will head to Italy and return to London on Wednesday the following week. They will leave for the US on Thursday morning. I will update the blog when we get back from our 5 day trip in France. Au revoir!

posted by Chris @ 9:17 PM 0 comments

Sophie's First Easter Egg Hunt

The Hampstead Women's Club had an Easter Egg Hunt event at Keat's House in Hampstead. It was fun and thankfully it didn't rain, but it could have been a bit warmer. There were face painters, poet readings, easter bag decorating, lots of snacks and drinks, and of course the egg hunt. It was really a popular event so each child only got to find 6 eggs. Sophie was in the 3-4 year old category and being such a mellow child, she found all the leftover eggs that other kids looked over, but she still got her 6 eggs. Looking for the treats inside the eggs was more fun for her than actually finding the eggs. She is really excited for the Easter bunny to come in a few weeks! Happy early Easter! For more photos see our Shutterfly account.

posted by Chris @ 9:13 PM 0 comments

Starting to Promote my Photography Business

The Hampstead Women's Club hosted a Members Marketplace on Wednesday so I decided what better place to start promoting my photography business (Kids by Christine Photography) and continue to build my portfolio. To date I have done all pro bono work, but I love it! This is really what I want to do! At the Market I had some interest and hopefully will get some work. I plan to take a course in London this summer through the London School of Photography as well to improve my skills even more. I will keep you posted!

posted by Chris @ 8:33 PM 0 comments

A Tour of the Houses of Parliament

I have to say that the tour of the Houses of Parliament today was one of the best visits I have done in London! It was really spectacular and the tour guide we had I have to believe is one of the best they have!

The Women's Club organized the tour, as they are not open to the general public. We were given the tour the way of the Royal Processional Route that the Queen follows when she visits one day a year, the opening day of Parliament.

The building was amazing, so rich in history, a key in English politics of course. I learned a lot more about the history of kings and queens and about the political process. So interesting and different than America. A lot of pomp and circumstance to the traditions, but you have to love it!

As I do not have a British passport, unfortunately I cannot be a Lady in the House of Lords or a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. One thing that really surprised me was the size of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, there are not overly large and they do not seem comfortable, just leather bench seats. I was disappointed that I didn't see anyone wearing wigs while there, but it is a common happening I understand. And Tony Blair was a bit too busy to stop and talk to us while we were there. I bought a visitors guide if anyone wants to view it when visiting or when we get back home. I would highly recommend this tour if anyone has the opportunity! Fantastic!

posted by Chris @ 5:15 PM

Paris in the Springtime

Well it felt like spring for a few hours on our first day in Paris on Friday March 16. We arrived in Paris via the Eurostar going through the Chunnel (under the English Channel) without incident before noon. It felt a bit early leaving the flat at 5:30 am, but it was a good thing we left as early as we did. We found out that night that there was a fire near the English coast which affected the Eurostar for the remainder of Friday and all day Saturday. Luckily our weekend in Paris with Jeremy's sister Michelle and her husband Brad still happened.

So on Friday after we arrived at the train terminal and sorted out finding the toilets, having to pay 1 Euro to use it and someone trying to scam Brad during this process, we purchased our metro tickets and headed to our hotel. The Hotel Westminster was a nice 4-star, but as it was Paris our rooms were quite small, so small that when we got our room assigned and Brad and Michelle's was not quite ready the staff told them that their luggage would not fit in our room with ours (and we all packed light!).

The sun was out and there was a park nearby so we decided to purchase some sandwiches for lunch and enjoy lunch in the park (Jardin des Tuileries). As we got to the park it was interesting as it didn't have any grass, it was all gravel. There was a play area for kids which Sophie took full advantage of after we ate, but have to say I haven't seen a park yet without grass. There were some green shrubs and gorgeous statues at one end just no grass. Next we made our way down the Avenue des Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triompe. Commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon, shortly after his victory at Austerlitz, it was not finished until 1836. Beneath the Arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and eternal flame commemorating the dead of the two world wars. Michelle, Brad, and I braved the 284 steps to the viewing platform which has a fantastic view over Paris. Jeremy was kind and stayed with Sophie who was napping in her buggy. There are no elevator options at the Arc. Gorgeous views! The city is huge! For some reason I didn't think the city was as spread out as it is. There are also true gardens on the tops of some of the roofs which surprised me as well.

After the Arc we decided to get even higher views of the city by heading to the Eiffel Tower. By this time in the day the sun had gone hiding, the wind picked up and spring was gone like that. And when we saw the queues (line) for the Eiffel Tower we were not sure we should brave it, but we did. An hour and a half later we were finally making our way up the lift (going slightly sideways), bypassing the first level at 187 feet, heading to the second level at 377 feet (115 m) high. Here there are gift shops, food, and of course great views of the city! I have to admit I was having a small issue with the height and taking photos, plus I was freezing! Sophie is without fear looking straight down at all the cars and stating that she can see the mermaids in the Seine River. We made our way onto the 1889 hydraulic lift straight up to the top viewing gallery at 906 feet looking over Paris! Amazing! On this floor there is an indoor and outdoor viewing area which was nice and it was actually warmer up here as they pumped heat out on the platform. Since we were close to the non-existence sun setting, we decided to stay a bit and see the city in the evening. Again gorgeous! Paris is a beautiful city with amazing architecture. We enjoyed the night view as much as the day view. As it was Friday evening and starting to get very busy we took our pictures and heading back to second level to change lifts and then onto the sturdy ground. What a great experience, but what a relief to be back down. We were so exhausted on the way back to the hotel that we stopped at a SuperMarche (supermarket) for some snacks and light dinner which we ate at the hotel and fell asleep shortly thereafter.

We all spent Saturday morning at the Musee du Louvre, one of the world's most impressive museums. It has more than 350,000 priceless objects and is unbelievable huge! It was build as a fortress by King Philippe-Auguste in 1190, Charles V (1364-80) was the first king to make it his home. In the 16th century Francois I replaced it with a Renaissance-style palace and founded the art collection with 12 paintings looted from Italy. Revolutionaries opened the collection to the public in 1793. Shortly after Napoleon renovated the Louvre as a museum. The entrace to the musuem is a glass pyramid. It is really cool, but we didn't realize this was the entrance there are no signs anywhere, I guess this is one of things you are supposed to know if you are going there. There are many famous pieces in this museum, one of the most famous, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinco. We made our way to that piece first. While there was a group surrounding this most famous painting we were able to get as close as you can to view it. Sophie loved the Mona Lisa. She has a book about a little girl named Katie having an adventure with her. Everytime we saw something with the Mona Lisa on it (which was often!) she yelled "Mona Lisa!" Very cute! As there is so much to see at the museum we had to pick and choose our priorities. We split up our visist from Brad and Michelle and enjoyed more Italian and French paintings, the Greek Antiquities, and Objets d'Art. There was great diversity in the musuem from paintings, to sculptures, to antiques, jewels, and rooms recreated from Napolean's time. The rooms of the musuem themselves were worth looking at. After 3 hours we felt overwhelmed and Sophie said "I am ready to go outside now". So we did. We ate lunch at a greek restaurant, all had decent meals but I was silly and ordered pizza bad choice.

Notre Dame was next on our list for Saturday sightseeing so we walked there. The Notre Dame is the heart of the country both geographically and spiritually. It has a glorious entrance with three elaborately carved portals. The stained glass inside is truly art, gorgeous! Jeremy and I paid an extra fee to go into the Treasury where it contained relics. (A relic is an object, especially a piece of the body (most were bones it seemed) or a personal item of someone of religous significance, carefully preserved as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some denominations of Christianity and other relations). We have seen them before and it always a little freaky to see small pieces of human bones in a container.

As we made our way back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner, we shopped. The shops do start to all look the same, but we bought a few gifts for family along the way, freezing as we went. Jeremy and I were tempted to buy a piece of art but we have so many city scenes we just couldn't do it, well during this trip anyway, we will be back in Paris in another two weeks.

Dinner that night was great, a nice size Italian restaurant close by the hotel, which was as far as any of could walk. The portion sizes were American style which was surprising, but all very good. An excellent meal. I guess we were all carb loading that night as we ate a ton after walking a ton! Another great night of sleep...

Sunday was a short day for us as we slept in a bit before we checked out of the hotel and we had to catch our train back to London in the late afternoon. Michelle and Brad did their own thing as they had to catch an earlier train than us heading to Amsterdam, the last leg of their European vacation. Jeremy, Sophie and I had a 20 Euro breakfast at Starbuck's (I know ridiculous) on the way to the Musee d'Orsay. We walked all the way there and found the queue to be extremely long, we guessed at least an hour or more, and it was raining. So we opted to make our way to the Musee Picasso. We enjoy Picasso and this smaller museum was worth the walk and metro ride for us. It is a favorite of Parisians and tourists. It holds an extensive collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings and other works. This was a real treat! After a terrible lunch at a local cafe, we made our way back to the hotel to collect our luggage. On the way we saw this huge antique mall near the Louvre, we simply strolled the first floor, there was also a lower and upper level, and it was incredible! No prices were listed on anything, so I'm sure we couldn't afford anything, but it was window shopping at its best! A great way to end the visit.

After we collected our luggage, we made our way to metro, then train station to catch our 5:45 pm train back to London where we arrived safe and sound. We made excellent time back to our flat by 8:00pm GMT. See you again in two weeks Paris. For all the photos from this trip, please see our Shutterfly account.

posted by Chris @ 4:08 PM 0 comments

The Welsand's are Officially Land Owners

As of Tuesday, March 13th, we officially own the lot at 6070 Oakwood Lane in Lino Lakes! Construction on a new home will begin immediately, the lot is being cleared of snow to melt. Next week the basement will be dug, footings poured and the basement shortly after!

We are set to head back to Minnesota this fall, the exact date will be determined hopefully in early summer. We will keep you posted! Of course we will have a huge open house when we get in and settled, maybe for the holidays?

Below are some photos of the house we will have built for us in Lino Lakes. Really looking forward to both Jeremy and I being able to be in the kitchen and bathroom at the same time again without bumping into each other!

posted by Chris @ 4:05 PM

3rd Set of Guests Arrive in 3 Weeks!

Jeremy's sister Michelle and her husband Brad arrived on the morning of Tuesday, March 13, (Jeremy's 36th birthday)! They are our 3rd set of guests to arrive in 3 weeks! As is the theme with other guests, they got little to no sleep on the plane and were jet lagged but rallied for an introduction to London.

After settling in and getting the one minute tour at our flat, we walked around my neighborhood enjoying the gorgeous weather. It was so hot we all had to take our jackets off! Just beautiful. We headed back to the flat to give Sophie lunch and a nap. Brad just about fell asleep on the couch, so they decided to head to Camden Town via bus and explore and people watch. It seems they enjoyed themselves when they called from a Cuban pub to say they weren't making it back for dinner. Jeremy met up with them at a local pub called the White Horse in South End Green, very close to where we live. Long after I feel asleep I looked at the clock when they stumbled in to see 11:45 pm on the clock! Michelle and Brad have officially stayed out longer than any other guests on their first day! Well done. Okay, they may be hung over today, but they enjoyed the pub scene with Jeremy.

Today Brad and Michelle ventured on their own to the Tower of London, next to walk over the Tower Bridge, and then onto the London Dungeon. They loved the Tower, hated the London Dungeon, had a terrible experience there.

We all head to Paris for a 3-day weekend early on Friday. More blogging to follow that trip...

posted by Chris @ 3:54 PM 0 comments

Spring is Here?

Today is absolutely gorgeous in London, with sunny skies, temperatures over 65 degrees! Bloody fantastic if I must say so.

Our third set of guests arrive tomorrow (Jeremy's sister and brother-in-law) and hopefully will be in for a great week of sun and warmth, a break from cold and snow in Wisconsin. Michelle and Brad will be in tomorrow morning at 8 am, for a quick 3 day visit in London. We all head to Paris on the Eurostar Friday morning for a 3-day weekend. Jeremy, Sophie and I arrive back in London on Sunday afternoon, while Brad and Michelle head to Amsterdam, Netherlands for three days. They arrive back in London on Wednesday afternoon, and then back to Wisconsin on Thursday morning.
I will try to update my blog with photos as soon as I am able...have had a few complaints on my lack of blogging lately...been a bit busy but will make a better attempt. Cheers--Chris

posted by Chris @ 3:10 PM 0 comments

A Visit from my Sister and Niece, Guests #2

My sister Tracey and 6-year old niece Mackenzie arrived in London on Sunday, March 4, a day later than originally planned. Due to a massive storm in the Midwest, they were unable to make it out on March 2 for a March 3 arrival, but thankfully they were able to bump the trip back a day on both ends of the trip. They missed Sophie's birthday party, but we were glad they were here at all, minus Mackenzie's suitcase. Thankfully my friend Tracy has a daughter Meagan who is quite tall for her age and we were able to borrow some clothes and pjs from her until Mackenzie's suitcase arrived on Monday night.

On Sunday, Tracey and Mac's first day in London we were pretty low key. After lunch, Sophie and Mackenzie both took a nice nap. To keep Tracey awake, as I like to do with all my guests, we ventured to the markets in Camden. The weather was rainy and skies were grey, but we enjoyed ourselves with Starbuck's coffee, browsing the stalls at the market. Always great people watching. We both got a little shopping in as well. That evening we had a mini birthday celebration for Mackenzie's benefit since she missed Sophie's birthday bash the day before.

Monday was Tracey and Mac's first day in the city. We started with a ride on the London Eye as it was a clear morning. The girls loved this! It was Sophie's second time on the Eye and she just loves it! The two of them were lying on the floor of the capsule looking down, pointing out all the double decker buses they could see! I always feel much better when I am back on solid ground. I don't feel that I am afraid of heights, but I do feel a little unsettled up that high.

Next, we made our way to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards. Some extremely nice people let Mackenzie stand right in front of the gates for a good view of the ceremony. Later Sophie got in for a better view as well. Before it was even over, both girls were ready to go. As we were leaving we got front row views of the guards leaving the palace, a thrill for all to see them so close. We then marched along side the guards, they were on the road of the Mall, we were on the sidewalk until they turned off after the Clarence House (Prince Charles and Camilla's residency). Very exciting! Next we made our way through the park where Mackenzie petted the pelican's, and the girls feed the geese and pigeons bits of chocolate chip cookie, not sure if this is a great treat for them or not? Flowers are starting to bloom, the grass is a nice green, and spring feels just around the corner...how nice!

After Buckingham, we explored Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, China Town, and Piccadilly Circus. Then it was time for lunch. We had settled on eating at the Hard Rock Cafe since my sister has never been to one and it was right near Piccadilly Circus, so I thought...The Hard Rock Casino is there, not the Cafe, but they gave me directions on how to get there, a short tube ride and walk, easy peasy. Well, the short tube ride was okay, but when we got out of the tube, I had no idea which way to go to the Cafe, and of course it started to rain. Once I saw someone who looked local and could ask directions it was just a matter of figuring out how to get through the underground walkway aka subway. So about 20 minutes of mishap and then we finally made our starving way into the restaurant where we enjoyed a nice meal while Sophie napped. Back to the flat for some down time and dinner and then Tracey, Jeremy and I went to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London.

The Ceremony of the Keys is free, you just have to request tickets in advance which I learned when my friend Jackie visited...I have attended this ceremony before, Jeremy has not. The weather was less than desirable, windy, cold, and very wet! But the show goes on! The Yeoman Warder gave us an overview of the ceremony, its history and allowed for Q&A at the end. The Tower looks amazing at night as does the Tower Bridge. So despite the bad weather, we still enjoyed the ceremony and views of London, nothing compares to it!

On Tuesday Sophie has movement class which Tracey and Mackenzie attended with us. Then we headed to the Natural History Museum to view a special exhibit on dinosaurs. Mackenzie loved this! Sophie enjoyed it, but it took her some time to warm up to the dinosaurs. She said, "Don't get too close to them mommy, they are dangerous!" The dinosaurs moved and made noise which was a bit scary for her. But after seeing her cousin be brave she also became a bit more brave. The Natural History Museum is huge, this was our second visit and we still did not make it through all the various exhibits. That evening Tracey and I went to dinner with my British friend Tracy and her monthly crew at a well known local pub. We had a great time, great meals, great conversation, overall a great day and night.

Sophie got a cold and was not feeling very well on Wednesday. We went to the playground for some play and poor Sophie just sat with me and ate rice cakes while Mackenzie ran around the playground checking out all the stuff. After lunch Tracey and Mackenzie ventured out on their own to the Tower of London. Tracey did fantastic, having to only ask for directions once! Way to go Tracey! They enjoyed the visit, Mackenzie said her favorite thing to see at the Tower was "the jewels!" They are incredible.

Thursday the weather looked gorgeous so we decided to head out for the day to Warwick Castle in Warwick (pronounced Warick, drop the W I am told). Sophie really rallied, and of course she got medicine every 4 hours which helped. The Castle was fantastic! They say it is Britain's Greatest Medieval Experience, and that it is. The grounds are gorgeous, with a Victorian rose garden and peacock garden and conservatory. Though flowers were justing starting to bloom, you can imagine how it will be when in full bloom. The state rooms were my favorite, which even included some Madame Tussuad's wax models. Of course, no castle is complete without torture chambers and devices. Tracey and I were brave and took the girls around the castle towers, 530 steps up and down, one way only, the heights only affecting us not the kids! We enjoyed a nice lunch. The day couldn't have been better with the weather. After 4 hours we headed back to catch a train into London.

On Friday, Sophie was again unwell. Tracey and Mackenzie made their way to the Science Museum this time, which is right next door to the Natural History Museum. They enjoyed this visit as well and then made their way to get in some shopping at Harrod's. Mackenzie bought a cool ring making kit and found her cousin Sophia a pet hamster just like the one she got at Christmas which Sophie just loved. She named him Jefferey after Mackenzie's late pet hamster named the same. On their last night in London we enjoyed a nice dinner, and the adults wine and a movie.

Sophie had a great visit with her cousin Mackenzie and Auntie Tracey, as did Jeremy and I. The visits always fly by too fast! We are so glad they were able to make it after minor issues with passports, travel changes, and lost luggage! For more photos on their visit please see our Shutterfly account. Cheers!

posted by Chris @ 1:51 PM 0 comments

Sophia's 3rd Birthday Party!

I can't believe that Sophia is almost 3 already! Since she had only mini celebrations last year with family and her friend Eva, we decided this year to have a proper birthday party in London for Sophia. My sister and niece were going to be in town in early March so we decided to hold the party on Saturday, March 3rd, just a bit earlier than Sophie's actual birth date of March 19, so they could attend as well.

I started planning the party in December so I could get the venue and entertainment I wanted, and also so I could purchase supplies while in the states over the holidays. We hired a hall, where she goes to Nursery school actually, to be able to invite more than one child to her party as our flat is really small.

I hired an entertainer for the party. Sophia loves going to shows, plays, puppets, etc. so we thought she would most enjoy a puppet show for her birthday. I hired Pekko's Puppets to put on an hour and 15 minute show. The gentleman has been in the business for 25+ years and sounded like he could handle about 15-20 three year old children. Sophie's most favorite stuffed animal is a frog prince she has named Tad given to her by her Auntie Jill a long time ago. So I went with that as the theme, pink and green colors, frogs on lily pads for name tags, frogs galore in the party bags, and of course the final puppet show was a version of the frog prince story.

Jeremy and I bought Sophie a special dress for her party, which one of her friends saw in her closet and said it was a dress that she could get married to a prince in, which at first upset Sophie, but then she liked the idea and after that has called it her "married" dress. When I ask her who she will marry of course the response, "a prince!" She has been begging to wear this dress every day since we brought it home, finally she got to wear the special party/married dress!

With some help from my friend Tracy and her fantastic nanny Vicki, I was able to get the hall set-up in under an hour. I think it turned out quite nicely. Tracy also found the cake for me from Costco for 10 pounds and it had a princess and frog on it--fantastic! Saved me from having to slave over making cupcakes for days on end, which was my original plan. The food for the party was simple, homemade. Just jelly sandwiches, grapes, carrots, raisins, organic biscuits, juice and water. The cake was a huge hit with the kids, especially Sophie! Chocolate, with a raspberry filling and nice sweet, sugary icing!

There were 15 children who attended the party. The show was interesting, amazingly it held the children's attention extremely well! And, over an hour at that! Overall, Sophie had a great time and it seemed like the children who attended did as well. When we got back to the flat she said to Jeremy and me, "I am very pleased with my birthday party. I had fun!" That says it all!

Thanks to all who attended and for the fabulous gifts, Sophie loved everything she received!

To view all the photos from Sophia's party please visit our photo site at Shutterfly.

posted by Chris @ 9:56 AM 0 comments