It is still a little windy this morning.  Not quite the gusting wind that came through here yesterday.  It is interesting to be in an old house with a strong wind.  Lots of noise.  At least the sun is out today, even if it is just above freezing.

Today is a chore day.  I’ll be heading to the workshop shortly to finish the bookshelves.  My list for today includes a walk with Susanna and the dogs, painting the new door for the workshop, and moving stuff from the workshop to the garage in preparation for structural repairs on the workshop.

The boys have gone to their mother’s house for the next couple of days (as is almost always the routine on Sunday mornings).  Will helped me go over my plans for the kitchen island I’ll build next (after I fix the barn).  Will and Ben also started writing a blog.  It’s still new, so something fun to do – it will be seen if they stick with it for longer than a week.

I think the whole family is ready for spring and warm weather.

We had a slow Saturday morning.  Ben slept in until almost 7 and Will until nearly 8.  Of course Susanna and I are still getting adjusted to the time zone and we were up at 5am.

Yesterday the mailbox post fell over in the snow storm (no idea if it was just time, or if a plow/car bumped it).  This morning Will and I headed to Home Depot to get a new post.  $30 and 15 minutes of work later, we have a new post.

Not a very exciting house project.  Nor was it much work, but getting mail is nice.

This afternoon we are going to Mitchell College to visit the “Cat in the Hat” fair that the early childhood education department is putting on (and where Susanna is spending the morning).

I’m planning on taking Will to get new shoes after the fair while Ben goes to his piano lessons.  I know shoes aren’t that exciting, but he is complaining about blisters on his feet, so he wants to go shopping.

I think we will take a quiet day here – last night was “Bouncy Castle” night at the boys school.  Imagine 50 elementary school students running crazy around the gym filled with bounce houses.  Of course I think they should supply beer/wine/margaritas for the parents.  No point in the kids being the only ones having fun.

Of course, I’m posting this on Day 3 early in the morning from Caffe Nero

After coffee, the we all sat down for a late breakfast at the hotel. The we headed off to find a hop-on hop-off bus tour of the city. We didn’t have to walk far until we were accosted by a woman selling tickets for a bus company. But we did have to wait a while until the bus arrived. And, yes London is cold this time of year.

We took the bus to Notting Hill, and walked through the shopping district until Susanna, Rebecka and Karolina found what they believed was the blue door from the movie “Notting Hill.” Susanna kept trying to get me to ask for directions – I said I didn’t want to be the first guy in history to be looking for the blue door from that movie. I’m pretty sure Hugh Grant had someone to tell him where to go.

After that, back on the bus until we got to the Thames near Big Ben and the London Eye. We walked a bit, found lunch (after a try at a hotel, where the other patrons said they were waiting for over an hour for their food). Then to the London Eye for a trip up and down. Or rather around.

Then back to the hotel to warm up. We took the tube back from Westminster. We waited a while for the circus line to come, but then wound up having to take the green line (I can’t remember what it is called right now). Only after we got to the next station did I read the sign that said the circus line was shut down for the weekend due to engineering work. We would have waited a very long time for the train if we weren’t so impatient.

Dinner was at a local pub. I had a steak pie. The fine local cuisine. And beer. Tomorrow (or rather today, when I get to post this) will be to the British Museum and maybe some more walking around, with a show in the evening.