Family Funk

Parent Hack

Family Funk, Kid Talk, Memories, Toys & Games /

A couple of months ago, something reminded me of a toy my kids had. It was a barn, not a Fisher Price barn, but sort of like that. With little animals. When you put them into their “spaces” they would make animal sounds. I went looking for a picture of one online and of course I couldn’t find one. Then I searched my photo albums looking for a picture of this barn. Nada. How could that be? I took a LOT of pictures of my kids when they were little. I can’t imagine how this farm, which was shuttled all over the world, could not have made its way into at least one photo. But it didn’t.

Then today, I went looking for a picture of the Waterbabies that were popular in the early ’90s. I couldn’t find a good photo of one. So, I went looking through my family photo albums again. I cannot believe I do not have a photo of Michelle with “Chocolate Opal”. There is one photo of her with the “other Opal” but none of “Chocolate Opal”. Insane. That doll was carried with us EVERYWHERE. No pictures.

Learn from me! Take photos of the toys your children loved (and hated). 20 years from now, you’ll want those photos. Or your children will call you up and say “Remember that plane I used to love to ride at grandma’s house?” And you’ll be able to proudly present the child with a photo. (Thank goodness I do have photos of that fabulous toy!)

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Harrods and Flamingos with Koan

5 Comments / Family Funk, Friends & Family, Kid Talk, Travel Log /

Heh.  I met Koan, I met Koan! In person! Heh.

Koan met us outside of Harrods and graciously wandered around with the amazed Americans and helped us “herd the cats” that are our children.  She also made the children’s day by purchasing truffles for them.

After Harrods we went back to the Hotel Chocolat for a couple of gift items we had decided to purchase and bring home for friends and family.  And then, we found the Kensington Roof Gardens and THE FLAMINGOS!  It was sort of cool to take Koan somewhere that she didn’t know existed in her homeland.  😉

It was a fun little half-day and now we’re working on packing things up and restoring the flat to its former condition.

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Books, Books and Surrealism

1 Comment / Bookstores, cookbooks, Family Funk, Kid Talk, Travel Log /

First stop, after Cafe Nero for breakfast, was Foyles on Charing Cross.  OMG – better than the Tattered Cover in Denver because it’s well lit and modern and the books are new – except of course for the antiquities which I missed but TW saw – and bought… We spent a very long time there and could have spent a full day if we had left Master J at home.  E asked to go back at 5:30pm – even after a full day out.  It was that good.

Then we went back across town and walked down Portobello Road, without getting pickpocketed though someone else did while we were there, and got to Books for Cooks just in time to get a table for lunch.  I enjoyed the shop, and the lunch, so much that I PURCHASED COOKBOOKS.  TW also purchased cookbooks.  And, I bought one for RJ too but I don’t think she knows that I did.

We went home and dropped off our books and took a 15 minute breather and then headed across town in the other direction for a walk past Big Ben and a visit to Dali Universe.  Not enough paintings, a lot of sketches and watercolors but the sculptures… fabulous.  If we could combine Dali Universe in London with the Dali Museum in St Pete… now that would be a Dali museum! The kids enjoyed the trip more than I thought they would.  Surrealism is always interesting and at the end of the musuem they have a gallery with Dalis (and Picassos and Chagalls) for sale.  We all picked out one or six that we would like to buy.  Ah to own a Dali.

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Harry Potter Day

4 Comments / Family Funk, Harry Potter, Kid Talk, Travel Log /

The little children are huge Harry Potter fans so we had to visit Kings Cross aka Saint Pancras to see Platform 9 3/4 both the plaque and the platform where the scenes were filmed. Not only did we see these and take pictures there, the children insisted on acting out some of the scenes. And STICK TO YOUR TICKET became the phrase of the day.

From there, we went to Diagon Alley aka Leadenhall Market which was gorgeous. We arrived early and there were very few people there, which was nice. In London it can be hard to find tourist stops that are not crowded, heh. We had some very good hot chocolate and some really excellent orangy gingery biscuits there.

Then hours and hours at the British Museum. The Reading Room was a hit. The girls would have stayed there all day, Prince J was not as enthralled by it. We didn’t manage to see it all but we did see everything on the ground floor and about 1/3 of the upper level, maybe still a good bit. Unfortunately two of the rooms we really wanted to see were closed. Pout.

Another good, full, day – and an incredibly crowded subway ride home, which was good because we all should experience the madness of a London rush hour home.

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Tubes, Tea and Shakespeare

1 Comment / Coffee & Tea, Family Funk, Kid Talk, Travel Log /

The tubes at the Tate Modern were excellent.  If you are in London and thinking about ignoring the “get there early to get tickets” advice – don’t.  Underground slowness this morning put us about 45 minutes late and we got there just in the nick of time.  Our tickets were for 11:30 and by 11:30 they were sold out til 3pm.  They are well worth the wait.  I only did Tube 3 and it was a smooth and easy ride, not nearly as bumpy as I was afraid it would be.  I was going to do Tube 5 but decided not to push my luck and instead stayed with E while the others did Tube 5.  The kids, they had a blast.

The modern art, also a hit but not a huge hit.  They were most interested in the light board in one of the last rooms we visited.  Prince J was interested in Guerrilla Girl art, which was cool.  They all liked Dali’s lobster phone.  E was thrilled to see the Pollacks and explain all sorts of things about his work.  She also spent a lot of time plotting out future art projects of her own.  Mixed media seems to be her primary interest.  Nobody but me really enjoyed “The Kiss”, hmph.

The Cofee & Tea Musuem was a nice and easy 3 aisle walk with a full tea afterwards.  Cucumber sandwiches, crumpets, tea cakes, scones and cake – and several pots of tea.  We actually did the tea thing after the tubes and went back to the Tate for the bulk of the art after the Globe.

Everyone we had talked to said the Globe was the best but I was skeptical.  They were right, it was excellent.  The kids had a great time in the exhibit area.  There are booths that allow you to read lines of various plays and then they’re played back.  You can practice or you can just launch into it.  RJ did Hamlet, E was Juliet, Prince J was Lady MacBeth.  It was fun and they’d have been happy to stay there and keep reading lines over and over again.

When we got off the tube at Earl’s Court, some big “to do” was happening with red carpets and papparazzi and celebrities and limos.  I have no idea what we walked into but we were there, lol.

A full, full day – and a pretty nice Valentine’s Day, too.

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The Toys of London

2 Comments / Family Funk, Kid Talk, Toys & Games, Travel Log /

If you ever find yourself in London, you should DEFINITELY visit Pollack’s Toy Museum.  It is apparently off the beaten path because there were almost no people there – like two other families and that’s it.

It’s a tiny little museum but full to overflowing with fantastic toys.  Really great stuff.  My “new step-father” would be in heaven there.  It was full of everything he loves.  If you go, look closely because every corner of the place has something to see and it’s easy to miss something behind you or above your head because you don’t expect there to be MORE or something hidden under a stairwell.

The gift shop, also fun.  Lots of tiny little toys and wooden toys and miniatures and just fun stuff.

After that, we headed to Piccadilly Circuse to the “biggest toy store in London” – Hamleys.  Huge.  Much better than FAO Schwartz in either NYC or San Francisco.  The kids were beside themselves.  The young folks who are paid to demonstrate the toys are very good at their jobs.  I was impressed with their enthusiasm.  So impressed that we bought a UFO and I’d have bought more of the goods they were hawking but these darn kids prefer their old stand by faves – Sylvanians and Game Boy games.  Boring!

Toy day was a hit.

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We need a wii!

5 Comments / Family Funk, Toys & Games, Travel Log /

Yep, we do.  We didn’t think we needed one until we visited the Game On exhibit at the London Science Museum today.  5 minutes of playing wii tennis and we were hooked.  All five of us have said “we need a wii”.

Game On was a huge hit.  Too many games, not enough time.  All of the old commodore and atari favorites we know and love.  Not to mention Activision and Pong!

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Rain or shine?

2 Comments / Family Funk, Kid Talk, Travel Log /

Our first full day in the UK – London to be specific. We’ve walked more in the last day than we have all year and we’ve done a good bit of that walking in the rain. Damn weather! It’s a little annoying to walk with an eight year old who loves the rain. She’s a nutcase, but we knew that before this rainy walking started.

We’ve explored a multitude of grocery stores – Tesco, Costcutters and Sainsbury – plus a good many mini grocery convenience stores. We’ve been to several pharmacies and a few hardware stores.

We’ve purchased our special oyster cards and explained, or attempted to explain, the phrase “the world is your oyster” but I’m not sure the children actually “get it”.

We’re playing some gameboy, surfing some internets and reading some books before we head out to Holland Park for an afternoon stroll before “tea time”. It will probably start raining just as we walk out the door. hmph.

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All Michelle, All the Time

2 Comments / Family Funk, Holidays, Kid Talk /

We woke up this morning to discover everyone celebrating Michelle’s 17th birthday.  How did she manage that?

First, we have the NY Times running a story about Tiffany’s.  Long time fans of Flamingo House folks will know why this is a Michelle thing.

Then, we find the folks at “I didn’t know that yesterday” sharing the secret behind the candles on birthday cake.  Huh? Why today?  Oh, because it is Michelle’s birthday – duh.

Then, several rules are broken and Michelle opened her gifts at 9am and has spent several hours making an awful lot of noise.

Dinner will be Farah’s on the Avenue – no hookah but lots of falafel.

And then, Survivor.  And then, a late night jaunt with “the boy”.

Thank goodness she’s the one who is 17 and not me. I’m exhausted.

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Lost to the Patriarchy

4 Comments / Friends & Family, Health and Wellness, News and Politics, Pet Peeves /

I thought for sure my mother was safe.  After almost 25 years of being divorced and a zillion years of living with K and no desire at all to bow to the patriarchy and re-marry, she went and did it.  She snuck off and married K yesterday.

I should have known this was going to happen.  For the last six months she’s been making noises about marriage.  And everytime she made those noises I reminded her of the patriarchy.  I reminded her that if her granddaughters called and said "We’re thinking about getting married for health insurance…" she’d have said "NO! Don’t do it! Bad reason!" 

Bah.

She says she called last week and told me they had decided to do it.  She most certainly did not call me last week and tell me they had decided to do it.  I’d have taken down the pink flamingo flag in front and hung a black mourning flag up instead.  She did call and discuss the pros and cons of marriage with me.  But she did not specifically say "We have decided to tie the knot."

HMPH.  She probably confused me with my damn sister – again.

She also did not tell my brother.  But that is because my damn sister told her that he was off on a cruise.  Not that Mikey would have cared, he is part of the patriarchy after all and he bowed to it himself a few years ago after swearing for all of his adult life that he wasn’t going to get married.

Grrr.  What is it with my siblings who swear they are never going to do this or that and then turn around and do it.  Oh wait, they are their mother’s children – since she always SWORE she would never get married again.

Damn patriarchy.  Damn American healthcare system that encourages marriage in order to solve health insurance coverage issues. 

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