Saturday morning started bright and early for Eli and I! He woke up a little before 6:00 am and was ready to party! He is getting the last bit of his 2 year molars and he is major teething, so I think that might have woke him up. He is chewing on anything and everything, has become obsessed with pacis again even though he went 6 months without them, and he will randomly start crying when chewing food or chewing on something. He even takes to chewing on his daddy’s watch while standing in the snack drawer! Ha!
Once we ate breakfast, we headed to the gym! The pilates class I was going to attend was full, so I decided to take a boxing bootcamp class, and it was AWESOME! Not only did I sweat my booty off, it was so much fun! I was paired up with a girl who has been training with the personal trainer for over a year doing boxing, so I was a bit intimidated, but she was so helpful and supportive while I took my first swings! It was a fantastic workout, and I look forward to doing it again! (& just an added bonus that I got 53 minutes of exercise on my Apple Watch in 1 hour-y’all that’s a big deal!)
We then got ready and headed to tha bank to open a bank account… Unfortunately we were refused, so we will be trying again this upcoming week. Let me tell you that opening an account here is SOO much more difficult than in the US. They want us to have a utility bill as proof of address, but we are at an AirBNB and we don’t have one. And for our housing, they want proof of a bank account.. It’s a hot mess and a vicious circle, and we really don’t understand it. I mean we are giving them money, we aren’t asking for a credit card. All of this mess just to deposit and spend our own money here. Seems crazy, but very normal from what I have read.
After all the fuss at our second bank trip, we worked up an appetite. Eli went through all of his snacks and fell asleep before we made it to lunch, but Joe and I enjoyed eating Maggie Jones for lunch. It was yum, and we definitely recommend it! They serve family style sides, have daily specials, and it is a small quaint restaurant. I absolutely loved this table in the middle of the restaurant, and we took a picture so Joe could build it for me when we get back to Texas!
We then decided to walk north, take a stroll on some side streets, walk by all of the Embassy’s, Kensington Palace, and then headed to Hyde Park. Eli loved seeing all of the ducks, and there were a TON of them! We attempted to go to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, but we got there at 3:42 and learned it closed at 3:45! So it is still on our bucket list for another day!
We were freezing after our long stroll so took our first taxi ride back to the flat! We hung out, played, warmed up, then headed out to a local yummy Indian restaurant for dinner! Saturday was a great day exploring our new city!
Side Note: Eli is now obsessed with selfies and doing different faces! It’s hilarious!
Today we decided to check out Picadilly Circus! We have been here a few times when we travelled here before, but we wanted to explore the area as semi-locals now. We were starving when we got there and while looking for restaurants, we remembered that they have a Shake Shack somewhere in London now. So we looked it up and it was a 12 minute walk to Covenant Gardens, so we did it! And this was the best decision because we found such a cool area that we will definitely return to! We walked through local markets, stuffed our face at Shake Shack, and explored the area!
We got some coffee and decided to head to Whole Foods for dinner food! We took the tube back, did some grocery shopping, then headed home for a quiet evening of home cooking and a happy toddler!
Day 9 & 10 Thoughts:
- Why is it so dang hard to open a bank account here?
- How much longer will my toddler be teething? These back molars have been the worst yet
- Anybody have recommendations for weekend trips? We are considering Copenhagen or Prague as our first trip! Germany in March? Maybe Rome for Easter?
- I’m excited to show visitors around, so everyone come on!! 🙂
Seems like you need a weekend after that full weekend you had..great to see persons going out there and having fun
Looks like you had a really lovely day! Love Whole Foods for dinner! Their pizzas are incredible, I think! And the cookies…
You are having the time of your life! Keep up the fun times and letting us know about them… I am taking notes for when I can come over!
Teething is SO HARD!!! Your family is adorable! It sounds like you are all having a wonderful time and you make me want to do some traveling! (PS I have no idea why I can’t get any letters to capitalize in here!)
Wow! Boxing bootcamp sounds like a lot of fun and i love me some whole foods, their food is divine.
what a great weekend you had. I love your little ones bib. It is too cute.
It sounds like you had one eventful weekend! I hope you can get a bank account soon! I used to work for a bank so I know they can be picky about things when it comes to opening an account. Try opening one online! It might be easier 🙂
I moved from Canada to the US and had so much trouble opening a bank account and finding a place to live, for the exact same reason! It was incredible frustrating, so good luck!! I hope it works out for you!! I am so jealous that you got to go to Covenant Gardens! I hope to go there one day!
(FOR SOME REASON IT WILL NOT ACCEPT CAPITAL LETTERS)
haha pressing submit and now there’s capitals.. weird
Teething is hard for everyone involved, but my goodness is Eli a cutie! I love his bib. Sounds like you had a good weekend even if there were a some downsides. Side note: I love that table as well. 🙂
I hate situations like that were you need A to get b but a won’t give you anything without you already having b. hopefully something can be worked out for you with the bank.
What a cute weekend! This is my first time stumbling across your blog and I must say it’s so interesting so far! I’m also a Texas girl and could possibly be leaving the U.S. soon so it’s interesting to see the life of an “ex-pat”
Sounds like a packed weekend. Teething is a pain, no matter how you look at it. We recently had to get our 5mo an amber necklace as its the only thing that helped her siblings and it seems to really be helping!
Your blog looks awesome! Cant wait to keep up with your Adventures! Also, if I if I show this to my hubby he’s gonna want to move, too! 😉
It looks like you guys had a great time over the weekend! I love any time I get to spend with my kids like this. They would love feeding birds too!
Looks like you guys had a great time and that bib is seriously awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Sounds like you had a mostly fun time, apart from the bank account thing! hope you get that sorted. I love that bib, its so cool! Hope he finishes teething soon.
I Totally love and can relate to this post. I honestly feel like people should discuss this topic more often. Your baby looks so adorable. I hope he can go through the teething stage without any more trouble.
Sounds like a great weekend to me. Hopefully that teething stops soon. Apple Market looks fantastic!
I was just talking with a friend over the weekend about how lucky we are to not be teething as adults! Poor little punkin – teething is no fun at all!
Sounds like a wonderful day even with the banking challenge (I hope that gets worked out for you soon!). everyone in your family has such beautiful smiles!
Sounds like for the most part you had a great weekend. I hate when there are bank mishaps. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Looks like you had a wonderful weekend I bet this is so much fun, I get so guilty I don’t have a time to my kids and family I love a weekend like this.
Looks like you had a great weekend. It always seems as if the weekends just fly by!
I hate dealing with banks in general. it sounds like you guys are in a nightmare trying to open an account! And I hear you with the molars…and teething in general. very unhappy little one in my home right now!
Your son is so cute! I absolutely love visiting london, so it’s fun to see you discovering it! it is SO hard to open a bank account in the UK! good luck with that and the teething!
It’s such a great way to document what is happening in your life! I love how detailed this blog post is! your baby boy is so adorable!!