Bank Accounts, Lollipops and Playgrounds

Oh my.

 

It is official, ‘lazy days’ are more exhausting that ‘busy’ ones.

 

The kids get stir crazy so easily, so we decided to venture out for lunch at 12:00 then find a local playground to let them burn off energy.

 

While so doing, Jo got an email from the lovely Gigi (the previously mentioned DSC) that she could meet us at the local mall at 16:00 at Bank of America to sort out a joint bank account (I can’t get my own yet).

 

So in the quest for financial independence (well not really, but it’s how the hus-creature framed it to get me out of the house for a second time in one day when I’m feeling rough as a bear’s behind) off we went again.

 

The bank staff were lovely, and gave both children a sucker (lollipop).  It’s not something we’ve let the Tiny Tyrant have before, but she saw her brother get one and her eyes lit up and went ‘ahhhhh Ammy, MINE’ so given we were there to supervise we chose to let her have it.  She got the sour apple one, so I fully expected her to throw it on the floor in disgust.

 

 

Much delighting ‘nyum nyum nyum’-ing

 

Yes, she tangled it in her hair, and then dropped it on the floor, but she had a whale of a time with it before I was forced to dispose of the floor food.

 

So we are now the proud owners of a USA checking and separate savings account.  I would be lying if I said that relying purely on the hus-creature for finances makes me comfortable, but I am still making a vital contribution to the family unit, and I get to watch the kidlets grow up , at least for the next few months.

 

I still want to earn my own money somehow, but I have time to think about what I want to do, rather than simply leaping blindly at the first office job that comes along.

 

As it took a while to finish the banking process, we decided to take the kids out for dinner.  We thought we’d try The Cheesecake Factory again – but in a two-for-two, neither child ate properly.

 

BUT #1 Son ate an entire slice of pepperoni pizza, even though he didn’t like it, because that was the deal to earn dessert.

 

We grownups did not eat, but ordered a cocktail apiece and a slice of cheesecake when the kids had pudding.  I spent most of the meal stopping the Tiny Tyrant from harassing people in the booth behind us, and telling her to stop throwing pizza at me… the joys of parenting.

 

It was yet another day where she waved, cooed and ‘hiya’d’ at every person she could.  I am going to need to have a serious ‘Stranger Danger’ talk with this child before too long… and she is going to be trouble when she’s a teenager…

 

On the way home I heard her shout a random babble-word that I know means ‘hey, adults with me, I have seen a dog‘  so I looked around and saw a very pretty, heavily brindled, heavy set dog on a walking muzzle (important).

 

I went into my usual spiel about how we don’t approach or pet a dog without asking their mummy/daddy.  The owner then commented that in his particular experience, it’s adults that tend to come running up and petting the dog.  I asked about the muzzle not being a hint, and that’s when he told me the dog was half dingo.

 

Which very much explained why it looked somewhat odd.  I mean, it was gorgeous, but yeah, not to be messed with.  However when we walked past the close-by local dog park there were a couple of very yappy Pomeranian things that were clearly spoiling for a fight, and all the half-dingo pupper did was start gnawing and yanking on their lead very close to their owner.

 

Tiny Tyrant was much more bothered by the yapping – seems her dog fear is triggered more by noise than proximity!

Smoothie Success!!!!

One of the issues #1 Son faces as a result of Aspergers is food aversions. 
His diet is so basic it makes me want to cry, but we’ve learned not to force it (and gummy multivitamins make me feel less of a failure). 
But since we moved he’s seen something on PBS Sprout that made him ask to try smoothies. 
So tonight we made:
Banana Smoothie


 


He made it himself. He even chopped the bananas himself (with supervision from daddy). 
He likes it!!!!*
The possibilities this opens for us are amazing!!!! 
*So does Tiny Tyrant, but she likes most things – including her brother’s previously rejected chocolate and cinnamon pudding!

Stroller shopping – we caved

The Tiny Tyrant’s cough was so bad last night that she was sick. In our bed. A lot. 
So I spent most of this morning trying to wash a duvet that ought to fit in the damn washing machine  but doesn’t. 
The cover is dry but the duvet itself is hanging over the shower to drip-dry. And Housekeeping came today so no fresh duvet cover for us darn it. But I have gotten it clean so it could be worse. 
By 2pm the kids had major cabin fever so we thought we’d brave another trip to the mall…

Within ten minutes we decided that we cannot work without a stroller anymore. 

Β£21 later and we have the world’s most awful yet functional stroller.  The Tiny Tyrant was, surprisingly, very, keen to use it – guess she’s fed up of walking everywhere!

 I finally got to spend a little time in Bath & Body Works (too easy to spend money in there!) and Teavana. 
I have officially joined the ranks of pretentious herbal infusion drinkers:

Amusingly however so has the Tiny Tyrant πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚
She nommed up all the samples in the shop. Sadly #1 Son was not so keen, so can’t sneak extra fluids into him this way!
The PiΓ±a Colada flavour is not my scene, but the hus-creature likes it, so we will drink it first then try the others (2 out of the 4 were tried and liked in the shop so it’s not so bad). 
The Tiny Tyrant also does not approve of this flavour – she’s more of a Strawberry Daiquiri girl πŸ‘πŸ»
Also:

I got a picture with both kids!!! 


 

On the duck boatΒ 

It was a lot of fun. 

Got the Tiny Tyrant Duck Boat ready:

She then slept for most of it πŸ™„πŸ™„πŸ™„πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

I have a lovely drool stain on my leg πŸ™„πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

Tour was great, but thanks to the sleeping toddler I didn’t get many photos:

#1 Son stayed relatively engaged until he wasn’t selected to drive it in the water then we lost his attention sadly. 
Our duck boat either clipped or got clipped by a silver thing. Took 10 minutes to exchange details, but fortunately that was the only excitement. 
After the tour we headed to lunch. 

We got the kids cheesy pasta (#1 Son) and sliders (Tiny Tyrant) and her eyes lit up when she saw it:

As we were at The Cheesecake Factory we had to get pudding no?
Jo was full, so he ordered the healthy option of strawberries:
 
πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚
Whereas I went straight for the white chocolate macadamia nut cheesecake:

 

So. Good. 


We also had to do some boring life admin which did include confirming we can get the Tesla – without losing our place in the queue!!!!!
Cue ecstatic wiggly dancing from me. 
And lastly, #1 Son being so darn cute as Big Brother my heart just melted:

Today we duck boat

Our plan is now to make the most of daddy’s remaining time off before he starts his new job (in between life change related admin, which never ends – or at least that’s how it seems!)
So we are going to do the bus tour of Boston today which includes a duck boat – only Jo has been on one of those so it’s going to be interesting. 
The Tiny Tyrant is still croupy but we’re hoping that fresh air will help her feel better. 

 

In more mundane news I have worked out how to make the tea tolerable (doubling up the teabags works) and Jo has cooked his first ever meal stateside – we’ve been so exhausted it’s been takeaway all the way so far:

Might not look much but it was tasty. 

Lazy day

The Tiny Tyrant was a bit croupy last night, and a Comcast man is coming around noon to (hopefully) fix the damn wifi so we’ve decided to take it easy today. 
So I thought the curious amongst the audience might like to see our temporary housing. 

The master bedroom and ensuite (avec Tiny Tyrant):


The wonder that is a fully walk-in closet:

(It also contains the cat’s water fountain)
Our main room:

The view from the main room:
 
The kid’s room – yes #1 Son does indeed have his own double bed – he’s been thrilled with that:

The kitchen area:

There is also a bathroom.  American baths are low down. I think it will not be long before I am chasing a buck nekkid Tiny Tyrant around because she’s climbed out πŸ™„πŸ˜³
This post has been brought to you by the power of WIFI!!!
Oh Internet how I have missed thee.  

House hunting

Is not fun. At all. Even a little bit. 
I do not understand the Massachusetts way of doing property. Realtors are a strange concept, and you have to use them. Santa Clarita Diet it is not. 
The rental price also fluctuates dependent on time of year, and as this is peak season (thank you student city) we will be tied in to the raised rents until we decide to buy or leave the USA.  
We have seen a number of properties today. Several were okay (one would have been perfect but no garden – can’t do that again). 
Another was stunning but nothing included in the rent, which was top of our budget. 
One was, frankly, grotty. Which is a new word that we taught both our realtor and the Destination Services Consultant. Honestly it needed a handyman badly
There are two in contention. Both are, sadly three bed, but they have 1.5 bathrooms, which we have determined is the thing we can compromise on the least. 
The one I’ve fallen for has a balcony, a stunning kitchen, and the kids rooms are separated in a really cute way.  However the layout means that #1 Son will need to have the slightly smaller room, else he would have to walk through that of the Tiny Tyrant to get to bed – so the child who goes to bed sooner gets the bigger room. There are ways to make it fairer. 
So no, not ideal, but we were always planning on getting a good quality sofa bed or the kids can bunk up when we have guests.  
We also met the landlords who were lovely (offering to install new fences and put bars on relevant windows to protect the kids lovely) and the Tiny Tyrant totally charmed them. 
Actually she charmed everyone she met today. The realtor called her a princess (he thinks she has a very regal wave πŸ€£πŸ˜‚)
And the DSC told me #1 Son was a wonderful and unique young man and she was full of praises for both children (and us as parents actually) and it was lovely to hear. 
We were finished by 15:30 and as we were all cranky and exhausted we decided to stop for a treat. So, may I present:
The children’s first Dunkin’ Donuts
 
I had a blackberry-strawberry iced tea and it was lush. (The chocolate-strawberry croissant donut was gorgeous too)

The first day

We were all pretty darned jet lagged after the journey and as we had arrived so late and in all the worry over the cat, we hadn’t gotten food in. 
So we decided to go to a local diner for breakfast. 
As we’d all been up since 05:30 but nothing opened before 08:00, I was pretty ravenous. 

Ordered the kids a chocolate chip pancake each, Jo ordered huevos rancheros, but I couldn’t decide. 

So I thought “oh, I’ll have an omelette (cheddar, ham, mushroom) and a chocolate chip pancake. 
Guess who forgot what country she was in?!??




Yes, that was my breakfast. No, I didn’t finish it. Yes, I am a moron. 
Was bloody tasty though!
Then we decided to try and buy a few essentials that we hadn’t been able to bring with us. 

Also a baby monitor and Jo’s Nespresso machine, the cost of which means that in a month or so I will be able to get my longed-for Kitchen Aid mixer and thus get my bake on!
If anyone wishes to buy me presents this Christmas I have my eye on SEVERAL Craftsy classes in the baking spectrum now!!! 

Particularly those where custard is involved πŸ€£πŸ˜‚
We then went to a local supermarket  (Market Basket, not WholePaycheck) and tried to stock up on groceries. 
Guess whose card was declined, despite him telling his bank that he was emigrating? Such fun times. 
Got that little issue fixed, but invested in Amazon Prime because it’s just stupid not to. 
(The new cat tree should be here by Friday-ish πŸ˜‚πŸ‘πŸ») 
Got the kids into bed (#1 Son had a bowl of Frosties with marshmallows as the pizza three-cheese was too strong for him)
Jo then spent over an hour on the phone to Comcast to try and sort out our wifi issues, which ended with “meh, we dunno mate, buy a new modem”
Except we can’t because it’s a managed condo and the company have to deal with it so god alone knows when that might be fixed. 
Oh and I got the cat stoned on catnip. I was worried she wasn’t eating, and as she had been starved for 24 hours before the flight that was concerning. So I plonked nip on the wet food. 
I think I might have put too much on, as she was very vocal and jumping all over the furniture – which included the bathroom sink!!!!
 

The great adventure began

Getting to the airport was fine, not a hitch. 
Had a wonderful send off breakfast with my family – which was lovely and I look forward to putting my send off picture on the wall in our new home. 

Jo got randomly selected for an extra TSA check (apparently that gets printed on boarding passes these days) so I had to wrangle two over-excited children plus baggage onto the flight – which was… fun
The flight was relatively uneventful.  #1 Son basically binged on movies/tv/games. 
It was however delayed by 40 minutes due to Canada having problems with air traffic control. 
My tv unit was busted until about halfway through so I didn’t get to watch Logan – pretty gutted actually. 
The Tiny Tyrant was surprisingly undemonic. She slept through take off and had an additional nap about halfway through. 

Neither child ate much but that’s to be expected. 

Then we landed at Boston Logan International Airport. 

Which was nice. Until we got stuck in Immigration Control for over three hours because their computers were down. 

Except that we only heard this by eavesdropping -there was no official announcement of any kind.  They did hand out water eventually. 
So then we went to pick up bags. Which were all there. So we’re the car seats. However, no stroller. Somehow it may not have made it onto the flight. 

While we were at Heathrow we had pre checked it in. The Delta employees then also checked it in and in barcode confusion it may not have followed us. 
So the poor Tiny Tyrant is  having to walk everywhere at the moment. 
Then we went to pick up the rental car… where the computers were also down. So we were there for a further hour plus. 
By the time we picked the damn car up (nice red Mazda for the interested) it was half four. We had landed at 12:30
Thing was, our poor cat had been sent over on the flight immediately after ours. Which meant, factoring in the Canada delays (though they also affected her flight so that wasn’t as bad) but with the additional delays, the poor bugger was stuck at the condo waiting for us. 

But we picked her up, some of Jo’s work mates brought emergency supplies, we paid a handsome tip and she was in her new home. 

She seems to be settling in well though now. 

Last night in England

The house is packed up. The men were done by 2pm. 
The keys have been handed to the estate agents (with significant complaints about their recommended conveyancers – watch this space for updates on that little problem). 
We are bidding farewell to Banbury. 
It’s so strange to finally say that. This time tomorrow, all being well, we will be in Massachusetts (which I really have to learn how to spell!)
We’ve had a lovely last supper with Jo’s parents. The kids had a wonderful time, and we will be seeing them for Thanksgiving. 
My parents are seeing us off at the airport tomorrow (mad people they are, but I’m grateful). 
The kidlets are tucked up in bed:

And yes the Tiny Tyrant is sprawled across ours, she will be moved to her cot. 

We have to be up at 04:30 for the plane so I bid you all goodnight.