I’ve heard quite a bit about how the British keep to themselves, and I’ve definitely felt at times like making friends has me up against an impenetrable wall.  But thankfully, having kids at the same school/church/bus stop has been a natural ice breaker and this is how I’ve met people. 

I’ve been invited for tea or into the homes of five of my London friends and I’ve been reflecting about it because I’ve realized a few things about myself.

This is another one of those posts that I find really difficult to write authentically without sounding and feeling like a snob, so…there’s that.

I’ve begun to challenge my beliefs a bit. (And by beliefs I am not referring to the ideals I aspire to, but the actual ideas in my head that are the place from which I make decisions and are the biggest influence on my behavior.)

I’m not going to place any blame or make any speculations about where these beliefs come from and why, be it American culture or religious culture, middle-class privilege, or family and social influences.  I’ll let that be. But I am going to share some of the beliefs that I’ve discovered have taken root in my head, for better or worse, right or wrong, true or false.

– My home is a representation of my sense of style, financial merit, priorities, interests and artistry (or lack thereof.) And therefore, is a reflection of my talents, my effort and my skills. Which must also mean that my worth is directly related to how well I decorate and keep house.

– As such, visitors to my home will either be more or less likely to value me as a person, want to pursue our friendship, or enjoy their experience depending on the size, cleanliness and esthetics of my rooms. 

– The state of my home and my possessions has significant influence over my friend’s opinions of me, therefore it is extremely important that I do everything I can to make said influence a positive one. 

– (In other words, I use my home as a tool to try control other people’s perceptions of who I am, what I am good at, what I believe, what I care about.)

– In conclusion, it is not safe for me to invite people over when I can’t carefully prepare, so as to avoid the greatest risk to defects of character that might be exposed if my house were messy and I didn’t have something deliciously prepared for my guests.  

I know that sounds really dramatic, but well, that’s what it’s like inside my head.

After my experiences in the homes of my friends, it seems they don’t share these beliefs.

A bus stop friend of mine invited me up to her flat for tea one morning after we dropped off our kids at school.  It was spontaneous (which I could never do because of my aforementioned need for adequate preparation, even though I consider myself to be a spontaneous person.)  Her flat was messy and I had to brush aside Legos and crayons to make a seat on the couch.  It was also quite small, one bedroom and her two boys sleep in the front room.  But we chatted and laughed and watched an episode of a British cooking show.  I remember feeling shocked that she had invited me up when her place was in such a state of disarray.  But I also felt tremendous relief in realizing that it didn’t affect the quality of our visit together and really hasn’t influenced my opinion of her or my desire to be her friend in any negative ways.  Mostly I just felt really grateful she had invited me.

Another friend of my mine invited me and my four kids over to her place for tea. (Which, it turns out is more like a late afternoon meal and not just a hot cuppa.)  Perhaps because of my insecurities about having a lot of kids, and perhaps because I’m accustomed to larger spaces, I always have a little anxiety about taking all four of my kids into anyone’s home.  But she seemed totally unconcerned, and the kids all had a great time.

My experience in my other friends’ homes has been similar.  Equally enjoyable, often spontaneous, and also in homes that are the opposite of the suburban sprawls that flood my Pinterest feed, filling my subconscious with ideas about what a kitchen should look like.   

I don’t mean to imply that my friends here are slobs.  None are.  But their homes are small spaces, lived in spaces, spaces occupied by children.  There are photos on the walls of their travels, sometimes in frames, sometimes not.  There are puzzles on the dining table, or under it.  And of course, there is always, in any British home, laundry drying somewhere or everywhere.

Keeping in mind also that nearly all of my friends work, at least part time, there isn’t much in the way of DIY custom cabinets or cute holiday crafted décor.  I never feel like any of my friends are ever using their home or their possessions to impress me, in any way.

I’m not trying to criticize any of these things.  No matter what my beliefs, a well-kept home will always be important to me.  But I’m just realizing that the things I do in my home, are about me and for me.  They don’t really influence my friendships the way I imagine they do.  My home might manifest my creativity, but it doesn’t manifest my worth.  I can be a warm and loving friend, in a messy and small house.  I can offer my guests whatever is in my cupboards without fear of disapproval.  Even though I am still terrified of inviting people over, I feel the beginning of a new kind of women’s liberation.  And chances are, all my friends, wherever they live, care less about my house than I ever imagined.  My feelings of inadequacy are more likely perceived and assumed rather than reality.

What an amazing gift they have given me.  What an amazing gift to give someone else.  To say “I don’t feel pressure to impress you by having/displaying/owning certain things, because I accept you as you are, whether or not you have/display/own those things.”

Come as you are. To my home. As it is. 

My dad loves to walk.  I remember on a gorgeous autumn day back in Boise I was at work and a patient cancelled, leaving me with a long lunch.  I knew my dad had the day off so I called him and we met up for an afternoon walk, and then lunch at Fresh Off the Hook.  As we walked he described to me neighborhoods all over the city that he had seen on walks.  He will walk for miles and for hours. 

My dad especially loves to walk in new places, new cities, new neighborhoods.  When he came to visit us in London this summer he walked and walked.  It inspires me, and has instilled a love for walking in my own heart.  Walking in London has been a great way for me to see the city, release some of the stress of motherhood, and enjoy alone time.  When I had a few hours in Basel to myself, and all the museums were closed, walking was an exciting prospect.  

I was lucky to come across a large map posted on a sign in the main plaza, that listed a few city walks.  I chose one that best suited my time frame and the places I wanted to see, and then I followed the signs and walked through the city.  I stopped for hot chocolate when I got really cold and I stopped in a shop to buy a Christmas ornament.  Other than that, I just walked. 

The Munsterplatz is the open plaza surrounding the Basel Cathedral.  The Cathedral was so pretty, particularly because the sun was shining on it directly, making it have that bright amber color.  

Erasmus was buried in the Cathedral and there is a monument inside for him.  I didn’t know who he was until I came home and researched, and found him to be a person I relate to quite well.  I’d love to read some of his writing. 

After I finished the city walk, I crossed back over the river and watched the most lovely pink sunset from the opposite bank, with the Cathedral in the skyline.  

(After we got home I saw on Facebook that there had been a beautiful sunset in Boise on New Year’s Eve too, and a friend of mine who lives in Michigan shared a pic on Facebook of her sunset as well.  It felt kind of sentimental to me, all around the world the Earth was saying good-bye to 2014 with a magenta sky.)  

I went back to the hotel and met up with the gang for dinner.  We thought about getting take-away to bring back to the hotel and eat there, but we made a few phone calls and nothing was open.  I was still holding out hope for a good Swiss restaurant because I still hadn’t tried raclette, so we went back into the city, but there wasn’t much open in the city either.  At last we settled on, wait for it… McDonald’s.  There you have it folks.  Sometimes romantic holiday ideals get trampled by the simple practicality of cheap and quick.  

When the subject of the fireworks came up, Richard and I could not for the life of us think of why it would be a good idea to take four kids, under 10 to a fireworks show at MIDNIGHT when we had to catch a 6:00AM flight, and that doesn’t even touch on the fact that it was SO cold outside.  So after dinner we went home and went to bed early.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR WORLD! 

We woke up early, dressed most of the kids, (we let Simon stay in his jammies) and took a taxi to the airport.  Mim slept the entire flight home, and I was lucky enough to be sitting in a row with her and Cameron.  Cameron entertained himself with the iPad or a book or something I can’t recall because I think I slept most of the flight home as well.  

When we arrived in the airport back in London I noticed an American family with four small kids.  We were in line with them at customs and I asked where they were from.  They were from Florida, and they had just come in on the red-eye on their way to Scotland to begin their adventure there.  It reminded me so much of me, and us and I tried to offer her some quick encouragement but I think she was too exhausted and stressed to pay much notice.  It brought back so many memories, and made me feel so grateful all over again for this opportunity we have.  

We got back to our house around 9:00AM.  (There was virtually NO traffic on New Years Day in London at 8:00AM- bonus!)  We changed into our BSU comfies, and sat down with some snacks and Christmas chocolate, and watched the Fiesta Bowl.  GO Broncos! 

Then we took baths and naps and put our pajamas on and were completely lazy the rest of the afternoon. 

We decided to spend our last night in Basel because our flight was so early in the morning on Thursday.  Someone had also told us about fireworks in Basel on New Year’s Eve, and it saved us some money to return the rental car a day early.  Wednesday morning we cleaned up, packed up, loaded up and headed out.  It was sad to say good-bye to our dear chalet.  

We returned the rental car at the airport, took a bus from the airport to the train station, and then took a tram to our hotel.  Things got a little crazy at the train station because we had all our luggage, plus the car seats and Richard was trying to find out what kind of tickets we needed to take the tram. (Turns out we didn’t need tickets at all.  Chalk that one up to the language barrier and 30 francs later…) 

The kids were a little restless and at one point one of them said to me “Mom. Why is everyone staring at us?” 
Bird Family Circus.  

After we checked in at the hotel we took the tram back into the old part of town to eat some lunch and explore.  We settled on another pizza place – it was tasty but not as good as the one in Zurich.  We ran into the same problem on this day as we did on our first day- National Holiday.  So none of the museums were open, which was disappointing because there was a paper mill museum that gets rave reviews.  We took the kids to see some frozen fountains, and they pretended to ice skate on the snow.

While watching the ice skating performances Richard and I discussed our options for entertaining the kids in a cold, mostly shut-down city.   Eventually we concluded that the kids were done with Switzerland.  Richard took the them back to the hotel where it was warm and they watched movies. Richard took a hot shower and had a nice nap and I hit the town.  Just me and my camera and a few Swiss francs. 

Since I was totally alone, I took a lot of pictures.  I like them all though, so I’ll divide this into two posts.  That also means I can go to bed now.  

I loved this day.  It was the stuff snowy, Swiss dreams are made of.  

We decided to take the drive to Bern, about an hour and a half away.  Bern is so beautiful.  The city center sits inside the u-shape of the Aare river, and there are now 18 bridges that cross the river.  Bern is listed in the top 10 cities for the best quality of life, and has a similar population to that of Boise, but only if you included the surrounding municipalities.  The city itself has only 138,000 people.  

We drove around for a bit, and then found a place to park and ate a lite pre-packed lunch in the car.  We didn’t eat much because I was determined to eat fondue that day, and if we found a fondue restaurant in an hour or two, I wanted to have an appetite by golly.  Richard joked that Switzerland was leaving a lot of money on the table by making fondue so elusive…

Classic example of Mim’s mood swings…

So, that is Bern.  My favorite European city thus far.  We found two fondue restaurants but of course they weren’t actually serving fondue until the evening, so we called it a day in Bern and decided to drive to Baden, which was closer to home and hopefully by then we could find a restaurant that would give us what we were looking for.  

With some help from some friendly Swiss citizens, we did at last find a fondue restaurant.  

Apparently we were naive Americans when it came to fondue.  It was expensive, we discovered that soon enough as we searched for fondue restaurants.  So we had high expectations.  At home when we make fondue, we have bread and chicken, potatoes, apples, other types of bread, broccoli, other veg, a whole table of foods to dip in the cheese.  The fondue we had in Swizterland was just bread and cheese.  We were all a little disappointed when we realized this. 

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way; the fondue was amazing.  It was so good.  It was a perfect texture and consistency and the cheesy flavor was a party for my tongue.  We loved it.  

And Simon had schnitzel and fries.  Poor kid.  But he didn’t care.  

The restaurant was in a quaint little part of town in Baden and we soaked up some Swiss ambiance as we walked back to the car, satisfied and exhausted. 

And because in addition to wooden shutters, snow-capped mountains and delicious cheese and chocolate, Switzerland has more graffiti than any other place we’ve been.  What up with that yo?!   (Not so much in my lovely Bern. Mostly Zurich and other cities/towns.) 

We asked Monica, the woman who owned the chalet where we were staying in, for some suggestions about places to take the kids sledding. (Or sledging. Or tobogganing. Or rodelbahn.) We had originally thought we were going to have to drive a long distance, closer to the Alps to find some good snow and hills.  But she told us that just across the border, in Germany in the Black Forest (that sounds so foreboding!) there were places that would suit us just fine.  And BONUS- she had sleds and toboggans for us.  

Monday morning we dressed warm because Monica warned us it would be really cold, and jam-packed the kids and the sleds in the car and crossed the river into Germany.  

It was so beautiful driving up there.  I didn’t take any pictures, I’m not sure why, I suppose I thought I’d take them on the way home.  It was snowing giant, fluffy flakes and about 20 minutes into our drive the roads were snow packed.  For a minute Richard and I wondered if it was smart to keep going, but there were plenty of others headed where we were, so we kept on.  We stopped at a small grocery store to buy some snacks for lunch and there were so many delicious looking cookies and biscuits, I wanted to buy them all.  But I’ll tell you exactly what there wasn’t. Not a bag of potato chips/crisps to be seen in the entire store.  So I just bought more cookies.  

We had trouble finding what exactly it was that Monica told us we were looking for, but we did find a ski hill, with a sledding hill next to it so we thought we’d give it a shot.  The car was telling us it was -8 Celcius, which is about 17 degrees Fahrenheit.  BRRRR! 

We put all our snow clothes on and hit the hill.  The kids were having fun, but we learned an important (and probably obvious, really) lesson quickly.  Wellies are fabulous for keeping water/moisture out.  But they are not adequate for keeping COLD out.  Our poor toes were frozen in about 20 minutes.  So we went back to the car to warm up and look for other sledding options.  We had heard of a tube hill so we decided to try and find it.  

We drove around the little town near the ski hill and then up and around the mountain.  At one point we saw a tourist office so I went in to ask for help.  The woman behind the counter didn’t speak English so we sat down at her computer and typed back and forth to each other using Google Translate.  

This is a good place to mention that the Swiss people were so kind.  They always gave their best effort when speaking English, rarely gave themselves enough credit for how well they spoke it, and if they didn’t speak it at all, would bend over backwards to find someone who did or to help us in any way they could think.  (Case in point, above.) 

To make a long story short, we decided to go back to our original spot and give it another try.  By now the temperature had warmed up to -4° (26° F) and the snow had packed down better and for some reason our feet stayed warmer the second time around.   

Once Cameron and Eli got the hang of it they were unstoppable.  They would race, they would hike higher and higher up the hill, and they would have contests to see who could slide the farthest at the end.  Mim and Si took a few turns but they were mostly content to play in the snow and watch and run around.  

Cameron and Eli wanted to sled for a while longer after Miriam and Simon had maxed out so I stayed with them until I was sufficiently frozen as well.  The snow continued to fall while we made the drive back into Switzerland but I couldn’t take any pictures because my camera lens fogged up really badly when we got back into the warm car.  

When we told the kids about our holiday in Switzerland in the weeks and days leading up to it, we really talked up the snow.  I think the sledding day lived up to their expectations and it’s the thing they still talk about when the subject of Switzerland comes up.  It’s a bit hard for me to not be frustrated that they don’t mention all the other neat things they got to see, but Richard reminds me that they are kids after all.  And I’m glad that I have him to make sure we do things besides cathedrals and museums.  

Photo credit. 

Sunday morning we drove up to a town near Zurich to attend church.  I’ve never been to a Sacrament meeting that was all done in another language, and that was a fun experience in and of itself.  They did have a translator, so we all wore headphones so we could hear the English translation.  But it was also fun to just listen to the German.  

There was so much snow in Zurich, and it snowed all day.  We found a restaurant on Yelp that was nearby, and served fondue!  So we drove up into the hills outside Zurich and found this total gem of a restaurant.  Totally off the beaten path, it was glowing with Swiss charm.  

We arrived around 1:00pm, and were told that they didn’t serve fondue or raclette until 3:00. We were really hungry and cold, and we knew the food would be good no matter what, so we took a table.  It was a really nice restaurant, and it was definitely our most expensive meal.  The menu was in English which was nice, so Richard and I both tried something new but of course now I can’t remember the names of our dishes.  It was a really warm and cozy place, with fun little coloring packets and activities for the kids, and it was a nice Sunday afternoon meal.  

And as a fun side note- there were a lot people in the restaurant with their dogs. And the server would bring out a bowl of water for the dog too, as if it happens all the time.  The dogs were all well-behaved.  It was this sort of understanding that pets were welcome and owners were responsible and only brought pets who wouldn’t be a fuss.   There was a golden retriever at the table next to ours and it made me miss Misha.  

After we ate we drove into Zurich to explore a bit.  We parked the car and all got out but only walked about two blocks before Simon started crying about being cold.  It was really cold, so Richard took Simon back to the car and the older three kids and I took a walk along Lake Zurich.  

Richard drove by and picked up the kids and I kept walking for a bit.  Despite being really cold, it was really peaceful along the lake.  And snowflakes falling makes everything feel more serene.  

I walked across the bridge and then Richard picked me up and we drove to the Grossmunster (Great Minster. Munster=cathedral or church.)  Richard and the kids stayed in the car again and I just walked around to see the oldest part of the city and the cathedral.  

I hopped back in the car and we drove back to Rekingen for a warm and relaxing evening of cards, books and puzzles.  

We woke up Saturday morning to Miriam’s shrieks of delight over the snow.  She was so excited- Richard says it was a highlight of the vacation for him, hearing her run around in gleeful delight.  

We ate breakfast and watched German cartoons for a bit but the kids were really anxious to go out and play. So we suited up and spent the rest of the morning outside.  

We built a snowman, and then Mim and I were cold so we went inside while the boys had a snowball fight.  

After the kids all came inside they watched more German t.v. while we waited for their coats to dry.  My kids are such couch potatoes. They don’t even care if they can’t understand what’s going on. 

Once we were all sufficiently dry and hungry we drove into a town called Wettingen, where we did a little shopping. (Boots for Richard, a new puzzle, a phone charger/adapter and some gloves for me.)  

I was still jonesin’ big time for some fondue so we asked a few people but either their English wasn’t great, or their directions weren’t great, or both, and we ended up at a hamburger restaurant.  We ordered crepes for the kids, because that was easy.  But the menu was in German and so Richard and I spent at least 20 minutes using Google translate to try to figure out what we were ordering.  The hamburger was different than any hamburger I’ve ever had, it wasn’t round for one thing, but it was really yummy.  And of course I ordered it with cheese- but not like any cheese I’ve ever had on a hamburger before.  Even though fondue was irritatingly elusive, I was never disappointed with the food.  

After that we stopped at a Migros – the Swiss grocery chain- and I did some legitimate grocery shopping, we drove back home.  

(That is the short version.  The long version includes a story about me going to the store, Richard taking the kids back to the car in the parking garage, Richard getting to the parking garage exit and realizing he didn’t have the right money, abandoning the kids in the car at the parking garage exit to run to a cash machine, the kids smiling at concerned onlookers from inside the locked car, and Richard getting some ridiculous amount of francs in coins.)  

We spent the rest of the day/evening inside, playing cards, watching Swiss t.v., reading books and working on the new puzzle. 

Well I can say now, that laundry literally keeps me up at night. 

Christmas Day turned into Christmas night and I stayed up changing loads, hanging laundry, packing suitcases and chatting on the phone with Lori.  I didn’t sleep a wink. We got a really great deal on airfare but the airline is really strict about baggage so we had to fit all our things into six items.  Six items period.  No personal bag/purse/backpacks allowed above and beyond your one allotted piece of luggage.  So packing required strategy. We brought three small suitcases, two bags and one backpack. (And one suitcase was just our snow gear.)  It was actually quite satisfying.  

 At about 4:15am I woke up Richard and we dressed ourselves, packed the car, and then dressed and loaded our zombie children.  I was so sleepy that I slept nearly the entire one hour drive to the airport.  But then my adrenaline started pumping when we left Richard at the check-in with the car-seats and the kids and I ran to our gate just in time.  

I was so sleepy on the plane, and the kids were really good, and the flight went really fast. (Just over an hour I think.) We landed in Switzerland around 11:00am, because of the time change, and sat around waiting until our rental car was ready.  We flew into the Basel – Mulhouse – Freiburg airport, which is on the border of Switzerland-France-Germany and it is a small airport.  There was one small cafe where we ate some lunch while we waited.  

One thing we did not realize when planning our trip was that the 26th of December is Boxing Day (we realized that) and everything, except major shopping centres, is closed (we didn’t realize that). 

At last our car was ready and we drove the 1.5 hours to our chalet, where we were staying.  I slept most of this drive, but woke up intermittently and looked out the window and the beautiful greenery.  I think the kids were all a little confused because everything was so green and we were all expecting snow.  I didn’t take any pictures of the beautiful green scenery because I was so out of it- much to my later regret.  Because it snowed that night, and every day after that, and Switzerland became white.  Which was what we came for- but I was still sad that I didn’t capture the pre-snow views. 

The “chalet” we rented for the week was so cozy and charming.  It was in a really small town named Rekingen, right on the Rhine, and you could see Germany across the river. It was so nice to have space for the kids to spread out and to have a kitchen, because we soon discovered that one meal for a family of six in Switerland will cost a small fortune.  Restaurants were so expensive!  

We relaxed for a bit in the chalet, settled in, and then decided to drive to Zurich (about 40 minutes away) to buy some groceries and get dinner.  The drive to Zurich was also more beautiful green countryside.  We drove around the city of Zurich, casually at first, and then began an earnest search for a place to eat.  Since it was Boxing Day we had the hardest time – and I had my heart set on fondue and raclette. But no such luck- and we finally found an Italian Pizzeria which turned out to be really fantastic. The kids devoured their pizza and we had to order more.  It was really good.  We ended up buying some breakfast foods at a petrol station and then making the drive back to Rekingen. 

It had been a long day for all of us – so it was early bedtime, and it felt so good.  

At the beginning of December we sat down with the kids and told them that this Christmas was going to be more about experiences and less about gifts.  I think there was some disappointment, some acceptance, and then a general naivete for what exactly that meant come Christmas morning, but really, kids are not that hard to please. 

Each of the kids got one gift and stocking from Santa, one gift from Richard and me, and then a gift from each of their two sets of grandparents.  It was really nice to keep it simple.  We only had to wrap a few presents on Christmas Eve and we didn’t spend too much time unwrapping presents on Christmas morning.  This year it was mostly motivated by a desire to use our money on travel and outings, and to minimize the amount of STUFF that we accumulate while we live here because it will either have to be shipped or given away.  But it went so smoothly, and felt right, so maybe we will keep this system indefinitely, motivated by more noble things like a desire to be less consumer-ish.  Or something like that.  

After we sat around in our pajamas all morning and into the afternoon, assembled Playmobil, started new books, excavated a sarcophagus, ate chocolate, listened to harmonicas (both Cam & Eli got one), and were sufficiently lazy, we dressed ourselves and took the kids to Greenwich park so Cameron could play with his new football.  

I literally had no plans for a Christmas Dinner going into the day, so I just made some rolls, cooked some meat we had in the freezer (that I can’t recall) and roasted some veggies that would have gone bad before our return from Switzerland.  It was really quite a dull meal, but we had Christmas Crackers to spice it up!

But Christmas Crackers are not crackers (or what the Brits call biscuits)  at all.  They sort of resemble a firecracker, they make a big popping sound when you pull them apart, and they have fun toys or jokes or treats inside. (Or all of the above!)  I can’t believe this tradition hasn’t made it to the U.S.  They were so fun.  

It was a really wonderful Christmas that also included Facetime and chatting with family members back home. We are very blessed. 

I had some apprehension about Christmas Eve because I could already tell from the way I had been feeling about Christmas up to that point, that it wasn’t going to feel like Christmas Eve back home.  We have spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families every year of our lives. (With the exception of Richard’s years on his mission.)  I have never not seen my mom and dad on Christmas Day, and there are many traditions that we’ve done with our parents and siblings over the years.  I knew this year that it was going to feel different, and that was sad.  

But it was also exciting.  Richard and I were both excited to spend the holiday with our kids, un-obliged and uncommitted. So we made a simple plan for Christmas Eve and then decided to just let Christmas Day be what it may.  

Interestingly I found myself at a shopping centre on Christmas Eve morning, trying to buy snow pants for our trip to Switzerland.  (But I quickly learned that you don’t call them snow pants here.  Pants are underwear, and what in the world would snow undearwear be for?)

In the afternoon we took the kids to see the Paddington Movie.  It was much anticipated, we had been talking about it for awhile, and the kids loved it.  It was full of slap-stick comedy, which kids just eat up, but it also had clever lines and fun characters.  (Hugh Bonneville and Nicole Kidman…)  

I really wanted to have a nice dinner on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but it didn’t make much sense to do it on Christmas Day and leave a bunch of leftovers in the fridge while we were on holiday.  I also didn’t feel like slaving away in the kitchen all day on Christmas just for the six of us.  Nor did I want to spend Christmas Eve cooking.  So we went with the suggestion of a friend, and took the kids to a carvery, and it was fabulous.  All the comfort foods of a festive holiday meal, without the trouble.  We went early enough that it wasn’t busy and it was simple and not too expensive. 

A carvery is a restaurant that works buffet style, but with much better quality of meat and veg than you would find at a buffet in the states. The food was delicious and the dessert options were over the moon.  I was really disappointed to find out that the kid’s ice cream was included in their meal price, because I had wanted to order six different desserts for my own selfish benefit. 

We went home from the carvery and changed our clothes for a Christmas Carol service at our church that evening.  Cameron had a speaking part, and they had asked our family to sing Away in A Manger.  The service was less than an hour, and then we had mince pies and fizzy drinks afterward, exchanging Christmas greetings with our London family.  

We went home and did a couple family things, including pajamas, and then crashed in bed.  The kids were so tired I don’t think any of them had any trouble falling asleep.  

It was really the most chill Christmas Eve we’ve had in a long time, but just busy enough to not feel too painfully homesick. 

Merry Christmas!