Category Archives: Mom Camp International– Great Britain

June 30, 2014 · 4:39 pm

Winnie The Pooh Day: Mom Camp Day 14

Today was all about leaving London and exploring the 100 Acre Woods. Throughout the whole trip The Princess had a constant refrain:

When is it going to be Winnie the Pooh Day?

She loves the stories and the all characters. She has seen many of the Disney movies, as well. However, I am pretty sure she likes the stories better. And, really who doesn’t like A. A. Milne better?

Before we hit the 100 Acre Woods we had to say goodbye to Queen Gram. She snuck out of the flat and left for Las Vegas before any of us were awake. The Captain got our rental car, we loaded up and drove out of town to start the second leg of our amazing journey.

Per my crazy planning, I printed out door-to-door directions for all our destinations. However, 90% of the time The Captain preferred to use good old Google Maps on his iphone. That was all well and good, until it wasn’t and then my pages and pages of print outs came in handy… However, we made it out of London driving on the opposite side of the road and using those crazy round abouts.

We stuck mainly to small side roads once we escaped London…slow, small and snakey.

Leaving London we encountered some weather.  The Captain faced a down pour as he went to get the rental car.  This was not good as Pooh Day was all about being in the great outdoors!

Pooh CornerThe first stop was a little placed called Pooh Corner which a small tea room attached to a shop.  The Princess was dying to go the tea room because it was called Piglet’s Tea Room.  We went in and lucky for us the rain had stopped and turned to sunshine.  So, we were able to sit in the small garden at the back of the building. The kids ordered Winnie the Pooh shaped honey toast and I had a scone and coffee.

Then it was off to the Pooh Sticks Bridge. For those you who have read the stories, you know exactly what I am talking about. For those of you who haven’t, I’ll explain. In the books, they play Pooh Sticks.  Everyone gets a twig or small stick and at the same time drops it off a bridge.  The person who’s stick pops out on the other side of bridge first wins!  The Pooh Sticks Bridge is the original bridge from the stories.

Pooh Bridge

To get to the bridge you walk along a rather short wooded path which provides ample opportunity to find good Pooh Sticks.  We, of course, played several rounds of Pooh Sticks.  (Although we had to explain the rules to The Captain.)

Eore's house

Eore’s House

Walking back on the path we noticed Eore’s house!  (Okay, it’s not really Eore’s house– but I looked just as you would imagine and the kids we thrilled!)

Our third stop was the 100 Acre Woods, it’s real name is the 500 Acre Woods, but Milne changed it for the book. I found a specific walking tour that featured different places from the map at the start of the book. We walked by the Heffalump Trap and Roo’s sandy pit. The kids also thought they found Pooh’s House and The Six Pine Trees (Although by my count there were seven. But lets not let that get in the way of imagination and excitement!)

All in all the kids had a blast!

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June 28, 2014 · 3:05 pm

The Captain Arrives! Mom Camp Day 13

Today was the day the Captain joined us in London! Of course, his flight didn’t arrive until the afternoon so there was the opportunity for some quick touring before his arrival.

2014 06 06_England 2014_0758_edited-1 It was off to see Westminster Abbey! Yet again, The Princess was digging the Abbey and Cinco was ready to had to pretty quick.

The Abbey provided a children’s scavenger hunt which lead the kids around the place and kept them engaged. However, a few of questions could only be answered by listening to the audio guide. That was something of a challenge as the kids were going through the Abbey pretty quickly.

I did get the opportunity to see a few of the royal from the Plantagenets. But, the tomb of Edward the Confessor was closed because it is so old and delicate.

The Princess was dead set on seeing the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scotts! She also loved The Chapter House.

The Abbey offered a prize when the scavenger hunt was over– a chocolate gold coin. Both Queen Gram and I figured it would be a small coin. Oh no! They received a giant chocolate coin and promptly ate all of it!

Then it was back to the flat to wait for The Captain’s arrival!!! The kids were understandable excited to see their dad.

He said he wanted to check out The British Museum. So we made a second tour of the place. We saw a few of the Egyptian items this time and I got to see some of the carvings from the Tomb of Halicarnassus, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient world! But, mainly Cinco wanted to show The Captain all things he saw on his visit. He was very excited to show his dad all the items he liked and I thought it was rather adorable.

Cinco also managed to hold off spending his money so he did get the mini Lewis Chessmen set!!!

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June 25, 2014 · 2:46 pm

Let’s Wonka-brate with Dragons: Mom Camp 11

This mom camp day was all about going to see the London Dragons and the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical.

In preparation for the trip, I went to the local library and checked out some travel videos. One of them being, Rick Steves’. Cinco watched his tour of London and wanted to see all the places he covered.  I didn’t realize he was ACTUALLY paying attention to the show…

One of the things Rick pointed out were the London Dragons.  They are statues that demarcate the official medieval boundaries of The City.  Historically, it is important because the people of London had special privileges and rights they wrestled away from the kings over the years. Today, it’s not so important.

The London Dragon on Embankment

The London Dragon on Embankment

Still, Cinco wanted to find and photo the dragons.  First, we found the pair of dragons along the Victoria Embankment. But, Cinco also wanted to find the older dragon near temple bar.

20140624-193116.jpg I was running around looking for Temple Church (site of the Marshal’s effigy), not paying one ounce of attention to finding dragons. Low and behold, I look up and there is a dragon! Needless-to-say, Cinco was very pleased with our discovery!

 

 

 

After that we walked over to the West End.  Stage DoorThe show was playing at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane.  There has been a theatre on the spot ever since the mid-1600’s.  Although, the current building dates from the early 1800’s.  Why is this exciting?  Well, before coming to London we read the second Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place book.  In the book, the kids go to the very same theatre to see a silly play called Pirates on Holiday!  Cinco and The Princess were very happy to find out our show was playing there as well!

2014 06 04_England 2014_0952Queen Gram really did her homework and discovered that some kids do not like being too close to the stage. It seems they use “pyrotechnics”. Let me say this: it’s more like a fog machine than pyrotechnics. Maybe I am jaded coming from Vegas. But, I don’t think the production needed a disclaimer. After speaking to the box office, Queen Gram somehow ended up with seats in the balcony far away from the oh so scary stage. Ugh!

Of course, there were Wonka Bars for sale.  They were huge!  We bought two and shared them.  Again, the kids were in hog heaven.

We attended the matinée along with every school child in London! But, once the show started, everything was fine. The kids liked to show. I thought it was only OK. I am real follower of the original Wonka movie!!! Plus, I love the song Pure Imagination… Childhood memories. The best part of the show was the end when Wonka sang that song! In fact, a few of the school boys seated near us began singing along! It warmed my heart that they were fans of the old song as well!

And, don’t worry Bookymom made Cinco read Dahl’s book while we were in London. As if, I’d let him get way without reading!

After the show it was off to the market at Covent Garden.  This was a challenge for Cinco.  He was saving his money for the Lewis Chessmen set at the British Museum.  However, there were tons of little items to buy, tempting a young heart.  He did well and stayed on track for the Chessmen.

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June 23, 2014 · 11:42 pm

Mom Camp Goes Sideways: Day 9

Even the best planning can be undermined by good ol’ public transit. Our third day in London, the Tube’s Green line stopped working and our plans to head off to Hampton Court via Wimbledon were ruined! This sent me running sideways to figure out our next plan.

Going with the flow, we hopped a cab to Southwark to see the new Globe. Meanwhile the kids were holding a hunger strike because they didn’t like any of the British food. Priority number one was finding lunch. Based on their love of breakfast we opted to have breakfast for lunch– which satisfied my wild beasts for the time being.

MBridgeSadly, by the time we got to the Globe, the tours for the day were over! Ugh. I however, paid too much for the airplane tickets to be defeated so easily!

Pulling a page from the Harry Potter movies, I took the kids across Millenium Bridge.

Once across the bridge we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  I’ve been to England four times before this trip and not once did I ever make it to St. Paul’s.  I am rather surprised I never checked out the dome before.  I love a dome–St. Peter’s in Rome, The US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, Haigia Sophia Dome in Istanbul.dome

We all went in and headed straight to the Whispering Gallery.  It is located about half-way up the dome and you can whisper on one side of the gallery and be heard on the other side.  I resorted to asking a guard exactly how it worked because we had a little trouble figuring it out on our own.  Once we got if figured it out, the kids really had fun playing with acoustics over an over.

We kept climbing the dome and made it to the first outdoor level.  I tried to get Cinco to climb all the way to the top, but it wasn’t for him.  He stayed on level 2 with Queen Gram and The Princess and I went to the top!  She started to get nervous as the stairs got tighter and higher, but she made it.  Only 5 years old and she made it.  We took a few cute pictures and headed back down to Cinco.

London StoneBefore we left for England, Cinco and I studied some of the foundation myths of London.  One dated back to the story of Aeneas.  One of his sailors, Brutus, founded the city and this is the foundation stone. It’s in the old city and we walked by after the Cathedral.

Then it was off to bed!

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June 20, 2014 · 10:16 pm

London’s Natural History Museum: Mom Camp Day 7

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Our second day in London was spent at the famous Natural History Museum. We arrived and went straight to the dino exhibit.  It fills up fast and I wanted the kids to get a good view of everything!

Pictures by Cinco!

Pictures by Cinco!

Cinco and The Princess LOVED it! Cinco even asked to borrow my phone and used it to take photo’s of the dino bones. I think he must have taken over 100 photos. Everything was interesting to him and everything needed to be examined and documented.

At the end of the dino exhibit is an animatronic T-Rex. Everyone bottle necks in the room and watches it for quite sometime. What was rather funny about the T-Rex, is that our local Natural History Museum in Las Vegas has an almost identical T-Rex. We went all the way to London and stood in a big crowd to see something we could see at home any old time… haha..20140617-131835.jpg

We got one of the explorer backpacks for kids from the main desk. Our was about Mammals.20140617-150047.jpg Based on clues in the backpack, we had to play detective and figure out our mammal. The choice was quickly narrowed down to either a wolf or a bear. We had a claw, a set of teeth and a patch of fur. Cinco got it right off the bat and The Princess needed all three clues before she figured it was the polar bear.

Then it was time for another great museum lunch! The kids were less than happy.

Having read the Ashton Place novels–particularly the third one (Review Available Here)–, the kids were very interested in the birds. The were most interested in the ostreages and dodos which are prominently featured in books 3 and 4. We made it to the bird area and everything was going well. We saw the dodo and the ostreages.

Then things took a turn for the worse…we happened upon a series of glass cases displaying only the bird’s head– mainly humming birds. This did NOT sit well with The Princess. She quickly figured out that these little creatures had been decapitated in LARGE numbers. There was no crying but rather an uncomfortable horror at the notion that anyone would think cutting the heads off these beings was acsetpable. I think it hit her hard because we have many humming birds that come to visit us in out backyard and they are very small and rather harmless.

After hightailing it out of there, we explored the museum’s amazing earth science section. The area is accessed through an escalator that goes into a structure meant to be the center of the earth. This was somewhat unsettling for the kids after the bird experience. By the time we reached the earthquake none of the kids would do the simulation. So, I went ahead and did it without them! It lasts a lot longer than I thought it would.

The Princess never really recovered from the bird incedent so we left the museum and went out into the nature garden behind the building. The weather we lovely and the museum was sponsoring a Ladybug hunt. Amazingly, we found quite a few. Most of them were young bugs that had not transformed into the bright red, spotted bugs we all know and love.

 

 

 

 

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June 19, 2014 · 3:04 am

Landing in London, V&A Museum–William Marshal Connection Begins: Mom Camp Day 6

Landing in London was a breeze. I was actually amazed at how well the kids did on the plane. They were also great once we hit the ground. They carried their own backpacks and made it through customs and passport control without an issue! Our driver meet us and we were off…

We hit London about 1pm. After settling in we decided to walk over to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I’ve been to England several times and even spent two summers there, but some how I never went to the V and A.

We were hungry and went straight to their famous cafeteria. In case you don’t know, the Morris, Gamble and Poynter Rooms are the first museum restaurant! (It started and carries on the tradition of not so good, overpriced food.) It was a lovely LOOKING facility, but the food was horrible. The kids refused to eat and that was the start of some eating challenges with the kids in London.

The V&A offers some great programs to introduce children to the collection. You can check them out here! We picked up a children’s scavenger hunt and went from room to room in search of the various items. The Princess LOVED the scavenger hunt. She was running from place to place declaring that she discovered the items! I am not sure the typically understated British really appreciated that–we got quite a few disapproving looks. (We were living up to the stereotype of being loud Americans.) But The Princess was having a great time and we really engaged with the museum, so as far as I am concerned it was mission accomplished!

The kids really loved the Court of Casts. We took some time to look at the copy of Trajan’s Column. But, what we focused on were the casts of William Marshal and his sons effigies. The real Marshal effigy suffered some damage during the WWII bombings. The casts were made prior to the war and therefore depicts the effigy intact.

The architecture room was also a favorite with Cinco. And, we spent a lot of time in the outdoor garden. There were a number of British children playing the wading pool so the Princess kicked off her shoes and joined in… running wild in the water.

Jet Lag caught up with us soon enough and we went off to bed.

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June 18, 2014 · 3:29 pm

FLYING FUN with Mom Camp Day 5

Yes, I am counting the flight and the airport time as two separate days. I mean come on, it’s an international flight and keeping the kids together (figuratively, not literally is challenging!) on the flight is enough to turn any mom’s hair gray.

First of all, I cheated! I bought tickets on Virgin Atlantic. It’s more expensive, but the inflight entertainment is totally worth it. Each person gets a choice of movies and games to keep them occupied. Frozen and the Lego Movie hurrah! And, Virgin even offers special kid friendly meals. Not that anyone loves airplane food.

Kid stuff

Girl’s Pack

kidsstuff2

Boy’s Pack

Second, I am going with the old standby toys. Each one has a backpack filled with little items. There is one item per hour per child— a lot of stuff.

A few things are from the dollar store, but a lot of the things are print outs from the internet about England:

 

  • PaperToys.com has a ton of stuff. Why not print out a double-decker bus? Big Ben? Shakespeare’s Globe? I had to cut out the patterns before we got on the plane to avoid the TSA scissor issue (although I hear now you can bring tiny scissors with you). I also packed glue stick for the kids so they can glue the paper crafts together and crayons.

 

  • Practical Pages offers tons of adorable paper dolls and period costumes for boys and girls. You can find Romans, Vikings, women from the Georgian period, and Elizabethans.

 

  • The Official Page for Hampton Court offers printable hats and hoods from the Tudor period for boys and girls. I printed them on card stock. I packed a few stick on gems to go with this craft so the kids could really bling out their creations. I mean, that is how King Henry VIII would have wanted it, right?

Third, snacks. I know, chips and candy aren’t the best food in the world. But hey, it’s a vacation!

snakcs

Fourth, I did not forget the disposable tooth brushes with toothpaste already applied on them. I have fuzzy socks and sleep masks for both kids. Cinco even got a mask with Zombie eyes on it. So fun…

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June 17, 2014 · 1:20 pm

Mom Camp Day 4: At the Airport

With a 10+ hour flight from Las Vegas to London, Mom Camp’s fearless leader, ME, had to get creative.

Before even getting on the plane, we needed to get the airport 2.5 hours early for an international flight. After check-in and such, we had time to kill. I decided we needed to have a few games for our downtime at the airport. These games needed to involve full body movement without bugging the heck of everyone else waiting for their airplane.

  • Simon Says: This is always a good one to pull out of your pocket when you have a little space and little time to kill. I had the kids do things such as marching in place, turning in a circle, jumping jacks and just plan old jumping up and down.

 

  • A few choruses of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes: I know Cinco is a bit old for the song but The Princess is still a perfect age for it and well, he joined in because she was doing it. One word of advise….make sure the kids sing it in a whisper.

 

  • Airport Scavenger Hunt: This one required Queen Gram to watch the bags, b/c heaven knows I am not toting a round a bunch of carry luggage as we comb through the airport looking for things. This is another good time killer that gets the kids up and moving. Try The Game Gal’s Hunt. It’s easy for littler kids or as she suggests, you can modify the items to make them more specific and a tougher for older kids.

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June 13, 2014 · 6:27 pm

Mom Camp Day 3: Getting Ready for Stonehenge

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We have a special visit planned to Stonehenge on our trip as well. You can still walk inside the stone circle you if plan far enough in advance. But, before touring the stones, I really wanted the kids to understand what the henge was all about.

We started by gathering a ton of books from our library and several DVDs on Stonehenge. The kids learned how it might have been built and examined the map of the stones as they remain today. We also discussed the many reasons why it might have been built.

Next, we started brainstorming about building our own Stonehenge. What could we use to make a model of it?

  1. Legos

    2.  

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  2. Marshmellows

    3. /a>

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  3. Rice Crispy Treats

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  4. Wine Corks
  5. Water Bottles
  6. Toliet Paper Rolls

So we set about putting our ideas in action. May favorite was “Wine Henge” as we started calling it. I am astounded at the time Cinco took to study the current placement of the stones and to really plot out the henge as t looks today. If you want to make your own “Wine Henge” here’s how to get started:

You will need:

  • Lots of Wine Corks (Try to get the ones still made of cork not plastic)
  • Large piece of Card Board
  • Gray Spray Paint
  • Green Paint
  • A Knife
  • A Glue Gun

Step 1: Cut the wine corks into long rectangles, This means you will need to shave off two sides of the cork. It is best to have an adult do this! Real cork is easier to cut than the newer plastic corks. Don’t throw out the extra bits. You can use these for some of the fallen stones or the “blue stones”.

Step 2: Spray paint the corks. You will need to spray paint one side, let it dry and then flip the corks and paint the other side.
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Step 3: Paint your large piece of card board green and let dry.

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Step 3: Get a good picture of Stonehenge and start studying. This is a good time to talk with kids about how the henge was made and why. When the corks and board are dry, use the picture to lay out the stones. I highly recommend laying out the stones before you glue. You will want to make sure your stone spacing is correct so you do not end up with gaps that look funny.

Step 4: Using the hot glue gun, glue the stones in place. I recommend an adult do this part unless the student is older can be trusted with the hot glue.

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Getting a little more creative we also used the left overs to design our own original henge. After all, there are tons of henges in Britain and not all look exactly like Stonehenge.

If you are looking for other Stonehenge resources, we had fun with the following worksheets fro English Heritage:

Stonehenge Activity Sheet

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June 12, 2014 · 4:33 pm

Mom Camp Day 2: Operation Dynamo

One of the places we plan to visit on the trip is Dover Castle. Of course, it was built by King Henry II and the inside of the castle is restored to his time period—so it looks like it would have when William Marshal was alive:
Shameless Plug for my Book Again: See more here.

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But, Dover is also where the British came when they were fleeing Dunkirk during the fall of France in WWII. To educate the kids on this, I found an amazing book called The Little Ships by Louise Borden. The story is from the point of view of a girl who goes with her father to help rescue soldiers from Dunkirk. It is well told and appeals to children because of the main character. The author also provides a good afterword on the history of the experience.

I find the evacuation to be one of the most compelling stories of WWII and British resolve. I know many people look to the Battle of Britain. And, that is an amazing story of fortitude as well. But, for me Dunkirk is fantastic because it is a moment when people have to come together and help each other make the best of a bad situation. It also teaches the lesson to fight on, even when you think you have lost because you never know what happen. This is a theme in my King Alfred book as well. (Shameless Plug)

After reading the book, we made our own WWII tanks.  We started with some very simple items: 20140530-090312.jpg

  •  A used Keurig coffee pod
  • A Q-Tip
  • A small pencil
  • Camouflage tape from the dollar store
  • Black Duck Tape
  • A used berry container
  • Scissors
  • Little Green Army Men (Optional)

20140530-090341.jpgStep 1:  Clean out the coffee pod and cut in half.  Keep the bottom portion and throw away the top ring.  Cover the cut-down pod in camo tape.

20140530-090333.jpgStep 2: Clean out the berry container.   Flip it upside down so that the container looks more like a tank.  Cut a round hole in the top of the container.  We made a hole large enough to put small green arm men inside the tank.  (If you plan to put men in your tank, make sure not to tape the berry container shut.  Getting them out of the hole can be tough.  It is easier to just open the container.)    Next, cover the container in camo or black tape (We used two types of tape to represent two different armies.  The Nazi’s were black).

Step 3: Attach the taped coffee pod, making sure it fits over the hole on the top of the tank.  Place a thin strip of tape on the inside of the pod and tank and he outside of the pod and tank to fully secure the pod.

Step 4: Cover either the Q-tip or small pencil in tape.  This will be your gun.  Once it is covered, punch a small hole through the middle front of the tank using the tip of a pair of scissors.  Tape the gun in place.

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Step 5: Have fun playing with your homemade tank!

Finally, we completed a two-page worksheet I made on Dunkirk. Page one is a quick explanation of the event. Page two is a simple chart of the number of troops rescued each day. You can get a copy of the worksheet here: Dunkirk Worksheet and Graph.

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