Because I don't want to forget

Our lives are so busy and the kids are growing so fast. I need to keep record of all our adventures, our struggles and our successes so I can remember this amazing life we are living. This is my commitment to do better. I can't possibly write about the last year and a half we have missed. I'll have to rely on Facebook for those memories. We've traveled and we've had company and we've moved. We've had kids struggle with school and social interactions and I've cried over how to help them. We're finding that the US schools and IB school are so different it creates issues with their academia that I stress over daily. Benjamin struggles with flexibility and we fight more than we get along. Zachary is as strong willed as ever and that creates it's own set of struggles in preschool. Fortunately they both have amazing loving teachers that are willing to work with them and us to help them understand the importance of boundaries and opening doors to new ideas. Kyle's job is full of long days and weekends and we live in an apartment he hates. It's caused discord in our lives as well. Alexander struggles with self motivation, but is also responsible enough to babysit a few hours at a time. Isaac fights for attention he needs while I deal with Zachary and Benjamin, but he loves soccer and is an amazing goalie. There are so many great things as well. Alexander is such a compassionate kid. And he stands up for his friends. Benjamin is passionate about things he loves and is learning to apologize. Isaac is smart and funny and friends with everyone. As much as Zachary wants to do his own thing, he loves hard. He knows the entire school and hugs most of them. Kyle enjoys playing floorball. I have found a group of friends in the PTO that help me navigate this international world. I hope when all is said and done our adventures abroad will help us keep a world view, realize our way isn't the only way and most importantly teach us that no matter where we are in the world we are there for each other through it all.

London

We were able to spend Fall Break in London and it was amazing. As hard as it is travelling with kids, I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do so. I loved everything about London except the tube which held more people than seemed possible. The history and the buildings in the city are amazing. Helsinki is comparatively young and has much more modern architecture. We spent the trip hitting as many tourist attractions as possible. Day one we saw Buckingham Palace and St. James park. We walked through Westminster Abby. The courtyard was beautiful. We saw Big Ben and rode the London Eye. We shockingly ran into Isaac's teacher who we had repeatedly told him there was very little chance we would see.

Day 2 we rode the Hop On Hop Off bus that was a bit of a let down. Our bus seemed to park more than drive. We did walk through Kennsington Gardens though which was beautiful. Then we saw Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Trafalgar Square, ate fish and chips then saw London Tower. We also went into Hamley's toy store which was crazy. It was 5 floors with employees demonstrating toys, blowing bubbles and doing magic tricks. It was very impressive. We averaged 8 miles of walking each day.

Day 3 was the highlight for the boys and still a sore spot for Kyle. We got tickets to the Lion King at Kyle's suggestion then he instantly remembered that Zachary is our child and regretted it. He agreed that if Zachary was too loud he would leave with him. They made it through the first act. It was amazing though. The costumes and stage set up. It is still what the other 3 are talking about.

Day 4 we went for brunch and got on the wrong bus so we ended up walking and wandered through China Town. I love to eat when I travel and this was Kyle humoring me. After brunch we went to the British Museum. It was amazing and overwhelming. All the historic things you hear about are there to see. Benjamin held a 5000 year old ax and they wrote on Roman wax tablet replicas. We saw mummies and the sculptures from the Parthenon. It was really cool. After we got done there we went to Harrods department store. Once got through the $500 kids clothing section and had ice cream at the Toy Story restaurant we happened upon the toy department and it was impressive but not quite as amazing as Hamley's.