Thursday, 15 December 2011
Bluet has landed!
Hot off the press, the first photo of bluet in the UK taken in the heathrow baggage claim. We are now using the free train wi fi. Soon(ish) we'll be in Cambridge. Then we can rest our weary limbs
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
We're all going on a Christmas Holiday
Here we are all packed, ready to leave our apartment. In the next ~17 hours we will then walk to the subway, take the subway to the airport, wait hours at the airport (fingers crossed no delays), get on the plane; here Bluet will fall asleep as the plane lifts gently into the air around 19:30 tonight, allowing us several blissful hours of movie watching as we fly towards the Old Country. Then, we'll land around 7.50 in the UK, breeze through customs, get on the heathrow express to Padington, take the Underground from Paddington to King's Cross, get on the train at King's Cross to Cambridge (pausing briefly to purchase either a triangular sandwich or a cornish pasty and a Cafe Nero coffee I expect), meet my Mum at Cambridge station, and take the bus to her house. That is a lot of travelling. I'm betting Bluet will love every second of it.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
At the bus stop
Waiting for the bus. It is a little nippy. You'll no doubt be pleased to know we are now on the bus.
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Back Crawl
Well, you could say the preparations for Christmas are in full swing*. We have just 4 full days left before we leave for the Old Country, so our bags are well and truly packed**.
In the last week, Bluet has mainly been trying to crawl. Unfortunately she has not worked out how to go forwards, no matter how hard she tries, or how desirable the object in front of her. Instead, she can push herself backwards with her hands, often for several metres at a time. However, as this is in the wrong direction of travel, she ends up getting frustrated, especially when she winds up stuck under the sofa. This activity tends to wear her out, so she has been sleeping late into the morning***. It also doesn't make for the cutest video because of the frustration. Instead, here she is playing vigorously yesterday in a break from crawling backwards.
*But you'd be wrong. We've seen a tree being lit, that's it. For some reason Emily won't let me have my own tree this year.
**Or, more accurately, we know where our empty bags are
***i.e. 7AM. Unfortunately we still wake up at 6.15AM, in preparedness.
In the last week, Bluet has mainly been trying to crawl. Unfortunately she has not worked out how to go forwards, no matter how hard she tries, or how desirable the object in front of her. Instead, she can push herself backwards with her hands, often for several metres at a time. However, as this is in the wrong direction of travel, she ends up getting frustrated, especially when she winds up stuck under the sofa. This activity tends to wear her out, so she has been sleeping late into the morning***. It also doesn't make for the cutest video because of the frustration. Instead, here she is playing vigorously yesterday in a break from crawling backwards.
*But you'd be wrong. We've seen a tree being lit, that's it. For some reason Emily won't let me have my own tree this year.
**Or, more accurately, we know where our empty bags are
***i.e. 7AM. Unfortunately we still wake up at 6.15AM, in preparedness.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Thanksgiving Blog
So the second big family event for Bluet was Thanksgiving. As most of our British readers won't know all the ins and outs of thanksgiving, I thought I'd provide a handy, cut out and keep Q&A for future reference.
Q: What is Thanksgiving?
A: From what I have picked up (so possibly riddled with inaccuracies) this is the story of Thanksgiving:
In the olden days, brave pioneers from the Old Country arrived in America. During the summer months, the living was good, with food and drink plentiful. However, these brave pioneers didn't realise that winter was just around the corner, so rather than setting aside some supplies like squirrels, they gorged themselves like pigs. So winter came and they had nothing to eat. Fortunately, there were some very helpful native people already living in America who helped out these poor, starving pioneers. To say thanks for this generosity, Americans now meet up once a year to gorge themselves on food and watch sport.
Unfortunately, the native people contracted many diseases from the Europeans, or were shot by the Europeans. However, the native people who are left carry on this tradition of helping the descendants of the pioneers get through the long winter months by running casinos and selling cigarettes.
Q: When is Thanksgiving?
A: It is an annual event, the last Thursday of November. The pioneers travelled thousands of miles to get to America, so to celebrate this most Americans like to go home to be with their families, and take the Friday off too. This means that on Wednesday, all roads and airports are rammed with people (probably not the trains, though, as you can't really get anywhere on American trains). Airlines, realising this, charge an enormous amount to fly on that day. So we left New York early Thanksgiving day. It is a bit like travelling on Christmas day in the UK, except that public transport is functional. As you can see, Bluet loves the travelling:
(actually, she was extremely well behaved, and slept for an hour and a half on Emily's lap on the plane).
Q: What do you do on Thanksgiving?
A: When the pioneers arrived in America, the only bird available to eat was the wild turkey (bald eagles are a bit stringy). Therefore, for Thanksgiving, Americans traditionally eat Turkey. They accompany this with 'trimmings'; so it is basically the same as Christmas dinner, except for some reason many Americans like to eat sweet potato with marshmallows on top. (Although not the Corse family). Although she couldn't eat the Turkey, Bluet was able to eat her first mashed potato.
After one is full and slipping into a food coma, it is traditional to watch 'the big game'.
Q: Who won the big game?
A: I have no idea.
Q: Should we have Thanksgiving in the UK
A: well, it is fun, a good family occasion without the stress of buying presents or anything like that. But if you are still sitting on the fence, the best thing about Thanksgiving is that it marks the beginning of the festive season, so unlike the UK where shops start playing Christmas songs in August, there is no sign of Christmas until Thanksgiving is out the way. The campaign to bring Thanksgiving to the UK starts here.
Although we ate plenty of delicious food, we skipped the big game (and in fact celebrated Thanksgiving on the Friday). Instead we enjoyed Bluet's Grandparents marvellous new cabin on their cattle farm in the Ozark mountains in Missouri (as seen in the film 'Winter's Bone'). The cabin is ideally located for activities such as canoeing (our pre-thanksgiving feast excursion sans Bluet) and also for gathering around an open fire.
We also went on a brief hike at the Sam A. Baker State Park. This was not Bluet's favourite activity. Maybe she got cold or cramped in her carrier? Who knows.
We had a long journey back home - mainly because the bus ride from the airport to our house took AGES. Still, Bluet enjoyed it.
(Thanksgiving was documented by Bluet's American cousin Nate in pictorial form:
Q: What is Thanksgiving?
A: From what I have picked up (so possibly riddled with inaccuracies) this is the story of Thanksgiving:
In the olden days, brave pioneers from the Old Country arrived in America. During the summer months, the living was good, with food and drink plentiful. However, these brave pioneers didn't realise that winter was just around the corner, so rather than setting aside some supplies like squirrels, they gorged themselves like pigs. So winter came and they had nothing to eat. Fortunately, there were some very helpful native people already living in America who helped out these poor, starving pioneers. To say thanks for this generosity, Americans now meet up once a year to gorge themselves on food and watch sport.
Unfortunately, the native people contracted many diseases from the Europeans, or were shot by the Europeans. However, the native people who are left carry on this tradition of helping the descendants of the pioneers get through the long winter months by running casinos and selling cigarettes.
Q: When is Thanksgiving?
A: It is an annual event, the last Thursday of November. The pioneers travelled thousands of miles to get to America, so to celebrate this most Americans like to go home to be with their families, and take the Friday off too. This means that on Wednesday, all roads and airports are rammed with people (probably not the trains, though, as you can't really get anywhere on American trains). Airlines, realising this, charge an enormous amount to fly on that day. So we left New York early Thanksgiving day. It is a bit like travelling on Christmas day in the UK, except that public transport is functional. As you can see, Bluet loves the travelling:
(actually, she was extremely well behaved, and slept for an hour and a half on Emily's lap on the plane).
Q: What do you do on Thanksgiving?
A: When the pioneers arrived in America, the only bird available to eat was the wild turkey (bald eagles are a bit stringy). Therefore, for Thanksgiving, Americans traditionally eat Turkey. They accompany this with 'trimmings'; so it is basically the same as Christmas dinner, except for some reason many Americans like to eat sweet potato with marshmallows on top. (Although not the Corse family). Although she couldn't eat the Turkey, Bluet was able to eat her first mashed potato.
After one is full and slipping into a food coma, it is traditional to watch 'the big game'.
Q: Who won the big game?
A: I have no idea.
Q: Should we have Thanksgiving in the UK
A: well, it is fun, a good family occasion without the stress of buying presents or anything like that. But if you are still sitting on the fence, the best thing about Thanksgiving is that it marks the beginning of the festive season, so unlike the UK where shops start playing Christmas songs in August, there is no sign of Christmas until Thanksgiving is out the way. The campaign to bring Thanksgiving to the UK starts here.
Although we ate plenty of delicious food, we skipped the big game (and in fact celebrated Thanksgiving on the Friday). Instead we enjoyed Bluet's Grandparents marvellous new cabin on their cattle farm in the Ozark mountains in Missouri (as seen in the film 'Winter's Bone'). The cabin is ideally located for activities such as canoeing (our pre-thanksgiving feast excursion sans Bluet) and also for gathering around an open fire.
 |
| Wild Cows Roam Free |
We also went on a brief hike at the Sam A. Baker State Park. This was not Bluet's favourite activity. Maybe she got cold or cramped in her carrier? Who knows.
 |
| Briefly before Bluet's Patience wore out |
 |
| Much happier, back in the cabin |
We had a long journey back home - mainly because the bus ride from the airport to our house took AGES. Still, Bluet enjoyed it.
(Thanksgiving was documented by Bluet's American cousin Nate in pictorial form:
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