Somewhere beyond the sea...

Weather conflict yet again, oh weather - why do you lie to me?

When planning this weekend I kept the weather in mind and with it saying there was 90% chance of rain on Saturday I decided to postpone my trip to Stratford-upon-Avon....it rained a bit in the morning and then for maybe four minutes in the afternoon and that was it! It was a tad cool so I think I'll wait until Summer weather arrives to enjoy Stratford.

Any who! I decided to go to the London Aquarium instead, and man was that place cool!

There was 5 levels of all different types of fish, sea life, turtles, frogs and penguins(my favourite)!
I spent a good two hours in there, it wasn't packed (thank goodness) so it was a very lovely time well spent.

At each place they had information about the creature and little facts that you may not have known. Like did you know that you are more likely to be attacked by a dog, vending machine or win the lottery than get attacked by a shark?

Did you also know that sharks have been around since before the dinosaurs?!?!

That place was crawling with sharks! There were about four different types I believe, sorry that I do not remember the names of them all, and in the shark tank they had sting rays and little fish too. They had this big area near the end of the aquarium with a big plated glass window and a ledge in front of it. I spent a good half-hour just sitting there and watching the Sharks swim by, it was very peaceful and relaxing.




After the aquarium I took a walk up to Piccadilly Circus and this is the first time I have ever seen it not as busy as it usually is, and this was in the afternoon as well. After the little rain shower I decided to take the tube to Regent Park and check it out. I hadn't been there yet and really wanted to see what all the fuss was about....the fuss was these amazing and beautiful gardens that were shattered all over the park. The London Zoo is also in Regent Park as well as the Open Air Theatre - both I plan on visiting before I leave.


It was a Saturday well spent.

As you can see I've added some countdowns to my blog, mostly to remind me on what's going on but to also let you know as well. Hope all are well and will see you in about four months Canada :)

Let's do some Math!

Shall we?

As of today, April 17th 2014, I have been in England as an Au Pair for exactly 8 months! That's about 243 days!
Now in 3 months and 14 days I go on my awesome tour across Eastern Europe.
In 3 months and 26 days my sister, Caitlin, will be coming to visit me for 8 days.
In 4 months exactly I will be making my way to Highclere Castle for my Downton Abbey trip
AND in 4 months and 15 days I will be on my way to Gatwick Airport to make my way back to Canada.

Now what does all of this equal up to?

Come on math genius I know you got this!

And the answer is .... one very lucky Canadian girl getting to cross many upon many items off of her bucket list :)

See, math can be fun sometimes.

Now as a short list I'll tell you what I have crossed off my list since being in England:

1) Go to England
2) Go to Paris
3) See Big Ben (The Queen's Tower but everyone knows it as Big Ben)
4) See a musical/play (I have way over done this one)
5) Take a bus (many times)
6) Take the tube (many times!)
7) Take a train
8) Go to Platform 9 & 3/4
9) Go to Stonehenge
10) Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower

There are lots more but as I said I'd keep it short for you.

These past two weeks the girls have been on their April Half-Term/Easter Break. It involved lots of park visits, a trip to Westfield Mall - just outside of London, LOTS of swimming and last Friday we had a movie afternoon with some treats and popcorn. Obviously it was different having the girls home from school but they do enjoy the break...for about three or four days and then they get bored and when they get bored fights happen - like with any trio of siblings of course.

Jane, Chris and I are for sure happy that school starts again soon and that they will be back to their regular activities but we also enjoyed the time with the girls. Jane and I took the girls shopping this past Wednesday for new spring/summer clothes and if you know me well enough you know that I love to shop/window shop so it was fun picking out different items for the girls to try on.

Now that Easter Weekend is tomorrow the family is going away for the weekend to visit family and have Easter dinner and such. While I get to finish up my laundry, go out for a friends Birthday dinner and talk to friends from back home as well (finally!).

Next weekend I am planning on going to Stratford-Upon-Avon for Shakespeare's birthday celebrations! I have planned to spend the whole day there so the weather better be good next weekend.

After that my Panic! At The Disco is shortly after and soon we are almost at the middle of May! Time is a funny thing isn't it?

Another half-term?!?!

Yes as the title gives away the girls are on yet another half-term from school, this one is until after Easter Monday so they get a nice two week break off of school.

I hope to post at the end of this coming week to tell about all the activities we will be getting ourselves up to but for now I guess it's more updates about myself.

This past week I have gone to the Cinema more times than I usually do in one month! I saw "Muppets Most Wanted" last Wednesday - hilarious movie! The soundtrack is amazing and the little cameos are awesome! - "Divergent" on Friday night - won't say anything about that right now as my little Sister is currently reading the book and doesn't want me to spoil it for her, so I'll be nice this time - and today I saw "Captain America: The Winter Solider" - so awesome! I love the Marvel franchise and Captain America is one of my favourites so this did not disappoint!

Also this past week I experienced something else new, one of my Au Pair friends named Lina has gone back home :( She lives in Germany, in a small town much smaller than Forest - she showed me pictures the one time and it looks so beautiful there. If I do get time, and the money I hope to visit her but she is hoping to visit me before I leave England so I have that to look forward too.

My Canadian friend Erin is going back Easter Weekend and then she's hoping to be back in England in September or so, which is when I'll be back home anyways so I may see her before she leaves Canada in the Fall.

I cannot believe it is April now! I know you all must be getting sick of me saying that but it's true! As of April 2nd I have five months left in England and on the 17th of April I will be here for eight months. Time is just going by way to fast!

Um...so if I don't mention this now I may get into trouble. I do have someone coming to visit me before I leave - and she chooses right before I leave to do so (only joking).

My older sister, Caitlin, will be visiting me in August!! From August 12th-21st she will be her and I will be her official tour guide to London :) We are starting to plan our days together and have ideas in motion but until she is done her exams we're not going to set anything in stone - so that she can enjoy the planning instead of getting stressed about it.

Hope all is well back in Canada and that Spring has finally arrived for you all :)