My Christmas Tree!!

We put up our Christmas tree today! The tree stand came in the mail today, three days before Amazon said it was going to come (by the way, I don't know who this Amazon is, but he sure sends some amazing stuff! Mummy gets a delivery almost every week from Amazon, and it's always really exciting. Thanks Amazon!).

Daddy used his Leatherman to cut the bottom of the tree off. Mummy said she was glad we had a small tree--if it had been as big as she wanted (20 feet I think she said), then it would have taken Daddy much longer.

While I was sleeping, Mummy and Daddy brought it inside and cut the net off. Isn't it beautiful! Mummy thought it was so beautiful that she gave it a hug. Right after I woke up, she let me touch it. I wasn't so sure, but I think that was more because I was SO tired!

 That night, Daddy put the lights on it, and then we got to hang up all the pretty decorations! Mummy found beautiful red beads to hang on it, and Daddy picked out a set of gold baubles (that's what they call ornaments here, at least the ball ones. I love that word! Bauble...bauble...bauble bauble bauble!) and a beautiful gold star! Mummy also wanted some glittery red snowflakes--Daddy lets her get whatever she wants, so we have nine of them.

We have a couple of special ornaments on the tree, too. Mummy says the most important one is mine. It looks just like the baby rattles they had a long time ago. It's silver, and on one side it says "Baby's First Christmas 2013." On the other side, it says "Get ready to have your world rattled." What do you think that means?

The other special ornaments are the one I made (it has my hand print on it), a little hedgehog made out of sticks that Mummy got at the Botanic Gardens, a Postbox with an English Robin on top, and then a really cool Owl Bauble. That's Daddy's favorite.




To be honest, my favorite part was definitely helping Daddy put the tree topper on. I'm so glad he let me help!

It is definitely my favorite part of Christmas so far! Every day I come downstairs and get to see my beautiful Christmas tree. Thanks Mummy and Daddy for getting it for me!

Picking Out Our Christmas Tree!

While we were at Scottsdale's, we picked out our Christmas Tree!!

We looked, and looked, and looked for the best tree. Mummy found it right away, but she wanted to make sure, so we looked at a few other trees before deciding on that one. I helped Daddy look at them all! After a while, I think all the trees started to look the same to Daddy--good thing Mummy was there to help us pick one out!

 Our Christmas tree is BEAUTIFUL! Mummy said it's pretty small, but it looks big to me! It's green and smells really nice. Daddy said we'd get to take it home and put beautiful, sparkly things on it. The nice man at Scottsdale's put it in a bag for us to take home. Mummy was going to have them deliver it to our house, but Daddy and I decided we didn't want to wait a week for it to come--we could take it on the bus! What a great idea!!

This is our tree!!!

At the bus stop. It was really dark outside!

We paid £29.99 for our tree. Mummy was worried that was kind of a lot, but Daddy said "Hey, it's Henry's first tree." That's right! It is!! After we paid, we walked down to the bus stop. I was relieved, because on the sign, it said just 6 more minutes till the bus came. 

But if didn't come. 

Then the next bus didn't come, which was 20 minutes after that. Mummy sat down on the grass with me and I got a bottle. I was so tired that I fell asleep! I got to take a 25 minute nap on her lap out there before the bus came. I was glad that it took a while, because that meant I got a nap and I still got to be awake for the bus ride home!

I'm so excited to take it home and get it all covered in pretty lights and the sparkly things Daddy called ornaments!

Here we are on our way to the bus stop and then on the bus. 

Father Christmas, Santa Claus--Same Guy.

This is me and Mummy in the winter wonderland!

Today, Mummy and Daddy took me to meet Father Christmas! We took a bus for a long time to get to a place called Scottsdales. They sell plants and flowers there. Daddy called it a nursery (thought that was where babies slept, but he says baby plants sleep in nurseries, too. Thank makes sense). When we got there, we got to walk through a winter wonderland! There were other kids with us, and they were really excited to see the polar bears and the penguins that were in the snow. Then, we took a fun sleigh ride, pulled by Rudolph, to go see Santa Claus! (oh, Mummy says here in England they usually call him Father Christmas. She likes Santa Claus better--so do I). We sat on a little bench for the sleigh ride and sang "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" while we traveled to the North Pole.*

When we got to the North Pole, we went in Santa's house! He was there, waiting to see us!

This is my new truck!

I really liked watching all the kids go up and meet Santa. He also had a bunch of benches just my size that I enjoyed playing with while I waited for my turn.

When I met Santa, I wasn't really sure about him. But, I figured I'd be a good boy and let Mummy take a picture or two. I didn't even cry! Santa said I was so good, that I could choose a toy from his cupboard to take home! Mummy and Daddy helped me pick out a really awesome monster truck! When you push down on it, it goes all by itself!

I had such a fun time visiting Santa Claus. I cant' wait for him to come to my house!

*Mummy's Note: Just FYI, the "sleigh ride" was actually us sitting in a wooden box, with a fake reindeer at the front. On either side off the box, were large canvases with beautiful snow scenes hand painted on it. And don't worry--the canvases they scrolled through as we went. Seriously. Derek says they "tredmilled".  I was rather disappointed, as the advert we saw promised a real sleigh ride with Rudolph. Oh well---the little kids we were with, and Henry had a good time. A good story, right? :)

**Mother's Note 2: In England, you must pay to meet Santa. Scottsdale's was the cheapest we could find--we paid £8  for the 3 of us to see Santa. 

Locked in the Tower

We went to London again yesterday! We took the train again, which is so much fun. Daddy fed me my breakfast while Mommy held me--I love doing that. And I got to look out the window and see England go by really fast.

This time, we went to a place called The Tower of London. Daddy has been wanting to go there for a while, and since the weather was perfect for being outside yesterday, Mummy decided it was time she and I took him to see the Tower!

The Tower of London is actually a whole bunch of towers, 21 actually. The oldest tower, the White Tower, was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror. At first, it was actually a castle, where William lived. Then it became a prison. The English held prisoners there until 1952--not that long ago!

A man called a "Beefeater" gave us a tour. Beefeaters used to be the body guards of the kings and queens. Now, they guard the Tower and tell everybody that comes to see it all different funny stories. Our Beefeater, Dickey, told us about people who had their heads cut off just outside the tower, and then a couple Queens who were killed inside! It sounded pretty gross to me.

Mummy and Daddy told me about the Ravens that live in the Tower. They are really big black birds that make kind of a croaky squawk. Mummy said that there are always six ravens at the Tower. British people are really superstitious (Daddy says that means they believe in things that might not be logical, but are important to them. Huh.), and that they believe if there aren't six ravens at the Tower at all times, then the Crown will fall!! I'm not sure if he meant the Crown with the big diamonds we saw or what, but it sounds pretty scary.

Mummy carried me in the tummy pack for most of the time we were in the Tower. There are lots of stairs, and I was pretty tired. Plus, I'm just a lot happier when I can be up high to see things. I did get really tired after our Beefeater tour though, and so I got a bottle and took a nap while Mummy carried me. Ah! That's the life!!

In one of the towers we went in, we read about a few prisoners that were kept there. Usually, prisoners that were kept in the Tower were really important people. Mummy said they must have been really important because they were still allowed to get Amazon deliveries (oh Mum...).

When we go out and see new things, I always want to touch whatever I can. The Tower had lots of really cool brick walls, railings on the twisty staircases, and funny iron soldiers. Mummy and Daddy let me touch as much as I could reach! I almost got to touch some of the graffiti prisoners made in the walls. They must have been really bored, because some of the things carved into the walls were amazing!

The soldiers that protected the Tower a long time ago were pretty amazing. But, we did read about one time when the poor people got really mad at the King, and actually invaded the Tower! If Daddy had been a soldier back then, I bet they wouldn't have gotten in. He's way too tough. 

Just outside the Tower is the Tower Bridge, one of the most recognizable bridges in the world! Lots of people call it the London Bridge, but Mummy said THEY ARE WRONG!

We had a really fun day at the Tower of London. There were lots of things to see, lots of things to learn about, and we even got to see the crown jewels (lots of sparkly things that I think Mummy would like to wear). When we left the Tower at 4:30, it was already starting to get dark. But, we did get to see the sunset over the Thames and look at some of the really cool buildings in London. 

This is the Tower of London

Just outside the Tower, is a statue of the Roman Emperor Trajan. He built a huge wall around the city of Londinium when he was Emperor (well, he made other people build it). Mummy said lots of people get confused and think it's Hadrian's Wall, but Emperor Hadrian built his wall on the border between Scotland and England. I can see how that would be confusing, but you just need to have a really smart Mummy with you to tell you those kind of things when you're traveling.

After we grabbed some dinner at Subway, we went shopping on Oxford Street. They have all their Christmas Lights up--it was beautiful.

 On the way home, Mummy let me have a piece of a Ben's Cookie on the Train. WOW--those are delicious! Mummy told Daddy we can't go in to London without having Ben's Cookies--good thing there's one near Oxford Street!

Always Remember

Mummy and Daddy took me to a very special place today: the American Cemetery at Maddingley. We took the number 4 bus to the outskirts of Cambridge, and I fell asleep. Which was probably good, because then Mummy and Daddy had to walk another half a mile uphill in the rain to get there. I was safe, snug, and asleep in my buggy: just how I like it!

We got there just as a bunch of soldiers and their families finished a ceremony. Mummy said they have the ceremony at 11 o'clock because that's when World War One officially ended in 1918. There were a whole bunch of soldiers wearing their uniforms: I really liked that. Most of them were wearing blue uniforms; Daddy says that's because they are in the Air Force and there is an American Air Force Base nearby. Mostly I liked their hats and the shiny medals some of them were wearing. 

I was very good and quiet the whole time we were in the Cemetery. Mummy told me that the nice, warm feeling I had was the Holy Ghost. She said the Holy Ghost is very strong in places that are sacred. 

Mummy brought some flowers with us. This morning at breakfast, she explained that we take flowers to cemeteries to show the people that are buried there that we love them and that we remember them. She said that they look down from heaven and see that we are thinking about them and it makes them happy. She also said that taking flowers is a sign of respect, that it shows that we understand that we wouldn't have the wonderful lives we have without their sacrifice. 

When we got to the Cemetery, Daddy suggested we put the flowers by one of the crosses. There were so many! Hundreds of white crosses and a few shaped like a star (Mummy said they are called the "Star of David" and that they are for people who were Jewish). They were all in perfectly straight lines. It was beautiful. The cross Daddy wanted to put the flowers by was for an Unknown Soldier. Daddy said it would be nice to give them flowers, since their families have no idea what happened to them and they probably don't get flowers left by their graves very often. When he said that, Mummy started crying. 

We found a cross that said "Here Rests In Honored Glory A Comrade In Arms Known But To God." Mummy helped me put the flowers down by it and then explained to me what it means to be an Unknown Soldier. That means they couldn't tell who the man was when he died. 

We also went in to a chapel that had a place for people to pray. On the wall, was a big map that showed where all the fighting happened during World War Two. Mummy pointed out the places where Great-Great-Grandpa Schofield fought and showed me where the Pacific was, where Great-Grandpa Bruton fought.

When we were leaving, Mummy told me that one of the reasons she likes to go to the Maddingley Cemetery is that it reminds her of the friendship America has with Great Britain. She said that during World War 1 and World War 2, American and England fought together, as allies. She said I should always be proud to be an American, but that I should remember that we need our friends, too. 

Remember, Remember...

Last night, Mummy and Daddy took me to see the fireworks! The 5th of November is Guy Fawkes Day, or Bonfire Night as most British people call it. Do you know who Guy Faweks is? Well, he tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. He and his friends got the gunpowder below the government buildings and everything, but they were discovered!

So to celebrate, people in Britain shoot off fireworks and have huge bonfires!

We went to Midsummer Commons, right by where Daddy rows on the river, to see the fireworks and watch them light the bonfire.

Mummy put me in the tummy pack so I would be warm. I got to go outside in my pajamas, which I hardly ever get to do! When the fireworks went off, I couldn't believe how pretty they were! I just stared up at them for twenty minutes while they exploded in the sky, sending ashes down on the river and the college boathouses that were on the other side from where we were. After a while, I started watching some of the other kids that were around us. There were so many! It was fun to see some other kids in their pajamas--one girl was sitting on her Daddy's shoulders in pink pajamas and red Wellies. She and her Dad laughed every time one of the fireworks made a really loud noise. I liked watching her the best.

When they lit the bonfire, I was getting pretty tired. We stayed to see all of the wood get covered in flames, and then we headed home.

By the time we got home, I had totally crashed. It's exhausting watching so many fireworks!

Finger Turkeys. Wait, What?!

Mummy ordered the coolest thing for me off Amazon: finger paints!!

She used a cheap toothbrush to put paint all over my hand and then I got to push it on the paper and made turkeys! Mummy said we're going to send them to Nana and Papa, Grandpa and Grandma, and then all of Mummy and Dad's Grandparents.

Anyway, I LOVED finger painting. The only thing I didn't like was we had to make so many different turkeys, so Daddy kept taking the paper away from me! Just when I finally got my hands on it, he whisked it away and put another one on my tray. Oh well--at the end Mummy gave me my very own piece of paper that I was allowed to play with!

 When Mummy wasn't looking, I put some war paint on my face. What do you think?

Finger painting is a serious business. War paint must be applied.

My high chair got pretty messy, but all the paint came right off so it's all white and clean again. Mummy gave me a bath right after. I wanted to keep playing in the paint all day!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was yesterday. Mummy said that it was kind of a lame first Halloween for me, but I thought it was pretty fun: I got to play with pumpkins! We bought them at a store on the corner of Lensfield Road where farmers can bring their food and sell it. We paid £3 for Mummy and Daddy's and £1 for mine. 


We took them home and Daddy destroyed them! He took all the insides out and cut them up. I was not very happy about that.

But then I saw what he and Mummy had in mind for them and them I got really excited! Oh, and Daddy let me play with part of the pumpkin--that helped, too.

Mummy carved mine to look like me! With two teeth and everything! Hers looked like Mike from Monsters, Inc. and Daddy's said Happy Halloween. It was pretty amazing!