What a difference two weeks makes!

Well...I've decided that jumping in from here is the way to go.  If I wait until I have time to catch up on back posts, I may never get around to blogging anything.  I keep thinking of the really nice Creative Memories scrapbook that I bought for Camden (TEN YEARS AGO!!) that still doesn't have anything in it.  Surely I shouldn't start unless I can start at the beginning?  :)

So, I'm trying to shake the scrapbook syndrome and go from here.

We had a very "London" day today.  We traipsed out into the cold (35 degree) rain, walked to the bus stop, rode to church, got back on the bus after church, rode to the grocery store and then walked (again in the cold rain) with our groceries back to our house.  This may not sound like the exciting blog post you've been waiting for, but it was big on several fronts.  We've come a long way in 13 days.

We're all unpacked and very settled in to our dorm room accommodations in the house.  Sometime during this past week, things started feeling a lot less like vacation and a lot more like home.  It feels "normal" to wake up here, have breakfast and get ready for the day.

Getting 4 kids dressed for this weather is no small feat and it felt like a HUGE deal during the first few days.  But, we've kind of found our groove there.  We know how many jackets and what kinds of gloves and which shoes we need for a given outing.  We know that we need an additional 15-20 minutes of "getting ready" time over what were accustomed to in Birmingham.  We've also learned that umbrellas aren't terribly helpful because the gusty wind just turns them inside out.

While we haven't mastered the transit system by any stretch, we have developed quite a comfort level with it.  It was major for us to know that we could take a bus to church (to avoid a one-mile walk in the rain) and that it was the 74 bus that would get us there.

And the grocery store.  I'll do a whole post on the grocery store at some point, but that was probably the epicenter of my culture shock in the first week.  The learning curve was steep, but it was something we had to get comfortable with in a hurry.  6 people need a lot of food.  We have probably averaged a trip every 1-2 days, so we've had ample exposure at this point.  But, even so, it felt good today to walk in there with a list, find what we needed and understand (mostly anyway) what it was all going to cost us. And, while we would probably prefer to do it on a warmer and drier day, the walk has become very normal. In fact, we really enjoy it.

We have been so impressed with the kids' ability to adapt to this new situation.  Once we got past the initial jet lag and exhaustion, they really haven't skipped a beat.  All of the details of their world are different.  They are sharing bedrooms with siblings, a single bathroom with the whole family and a kitchen/house with 18 other people.  School is different, schedules are different, transportation is different, food is different, TV (or lack thereof) is different.  And yet they are rolling along as if nothing has changed.

So...the big news today is that there was no big news.  We were just "doing life" in London.  And making it very well.

Traveling across the pond

As we prepared for the trip, I will admit that I had a great deal of anxiety about the travel piece.  I wondered how on earth we'd manage all the luggage (6 people going away for four months to a cold, wet climate isn't exactly space efficient!), how the kids would tolerate the overnight flight, how we'd handle potentially long lines at immigration, etc.  But, I have to say that it all went extremely well.  We didn't have any logistical glitches at all--everything ran on time.  We were able to board our flights early because of the whole "traveling-with-small-children" thing.  Our long flight wasn't full so we were able to spread out and have more space for sleeping.  The kids rested in varying degrees between Atlanta and London; Owen slept all night, Harper slept almost none and the other girls fell somewhere in between.  Thankfully, the kids' excitement and adrenaline seemed to do good things for their patience and coping skills.  In spite of the exhausting circumstances, they were great. When we got to immigration in London, we were astounded to see that there were literally no other people in line.  And we might have gotten the country's most friendly immigration official.  Our transport (by courier bus) to the Daniel House in Kensington was also very smooth and easy.   Thanks to all of you who were praying for us that day!

Langley and Camden hanging out in the Atlanta airport.

Owen is in the midst of a huge origami phase.  He has spent his down time (not just during travel but since we've been here) folding paper.  He is doing some pretty neat things. 

The kids were very excited to ride the train in the Atlanta airport.   Something that was a huge novelty just four days ago is now old hat since it is our main mode of transportation in London.

Here's Langley right before take off in Atlanta.

And Harper.

And Camden and Owen. 

Off we go!

Hard to believe that our London adventure has begun!!  In many ways, we've been preparing for this for two years.  And now we're settling into our new "home" in South Kensington.  This picture was taken before we left Birmingham.  The last 72 hours have been a flurry of unpacking, orientation meetings and shaking off jet lag.  Everyone seems to be adjusting very well.  We have managed to get out and about a little bit...especially in our neighborhood.  I'll do my best to catch y'all up on the happenings of the first few days as I have time!