Shopping, Eating Out, and Playtime...

We filled our weekend with as much activity as we could squeeze into it by starting off Saturday with a shopping trip. We needed school supplies, and birthday present (Olivia had been invited to a birthday party!) and some groceries.  So, in a word, we needed Walmart or Target. So, I googled and discovered that a Tesco Extra store would be a close substitute.  Since then, I learned that Walmart actually purchased a retail chain here in England, called Asda. Next time,  I will try that store.
As we walked to the parking garage, we passed by Lassco, an architectural salvage and antique store that I wrote about last week, so we popped in there. Wow - beautiful and interesting things, but I didn't see much that I could afford!

Doesn't everyone need an 8 foot tall likeness of Tony Curtis in their home?

Then, to Tesco Extra. It was insanely busy on a Saturday. So busy, that it was difficult to get around in, and challenging when I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for, like in the case of corn starch (called corn flour here).  One of the things that I needed was chicken, and as I was near the butcher counter, I purchased a kilo of chicken thighs. For the record, a kilo is a lot of chicken thighs. Like, twice what I needed. And afterwards I realized that I was at the Halal butcher counter.  Oh well. My chicken was killed in the name of Allah, I guess. Lots of things here are confusing.

yummy breakfast I made - smoked salmon, cream cheese, boiled egg diced, red onion diced, fish eggs 

I didn't locate any Italian Sausage or Kielbasa, but there was huge selection of other types of sausage available.

While Olivia was at her birthday party, the rest of us went to a nearby pub for lunch. The girls really enjoyed their first pub fish and chips!

Sunday morning we woke up to see window washers across the street. The girls were pretty interested in that.

And since the sun was shining, we decided to try to get outdoors for a little while.  We would take our very first double decker bus ride and go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens.

The girls are getting quite an education here - Sophia and Olivia noticed this bus and said "Look, Mommy!"

Olivia got tired of waiting for the bus!

The Shard

Olivia climbing in the Pirate Ship

Thai food for lunch at a place called Tuk Tuk, near Kensington Gardens.

Pad Thai

We are really enjoying that it hasn't rained as much in the past week. We have even seen the sun shine!  

Also, our air shipment arrived at last. So, we have some more clothes, all the toiletry items we stocked up on before we moved, and one very important item for a Southern girl…