We finally made it to Derby!

This post is a little overdue! We have had an interesting start to our stay in Derby. We haven't had great internet access for me to actually sit down and do a blog post. Where do I begin??

The Flight: Andrew did very well on our flight to Chicago. He thought it was fun to fly in the airplane. We installed his seat and he sat in the car seat just fine. The airlines let us board the airplane first so we could get the car seat installed and get everything settled. The only problem with this flight was the size of the airplane. Mark could not even stand up straight in the aisle. Andrew fell asleep right before we landed, so I had to wake him up. Waking him up is never fun and to make matters worse we pretty much had to run to our next flight. In Chicago the staff was not helpful and they were rude. Of course, we were about the last to board our flight to Manchester and we boarded with a crying baby. I felt like such an idiot. I knew what everyone was thinking but there was nothing we could do. Andrew was so tired. When the plane started moving he calmed down. Thank God!! Our flight was about 7 1/2 hours. It was so long! Andrew didn't sleep very well in his car seat because his head would just fall forward. He ended up sleeping on me which meant that I could not sleep. Holding a 31 pound kid is not comfortable at all. Either way we made it!! We left when the sun was still up in Chicago and arrived when the sun was up in Manchester.




Leaving Indy!!


Staying busy on the long flight to Manchester!


Finally sleeping!! We had to have "blue bear" and "monkey blanket"

We had a hired car waiting for us to take us to our apartment. I have always wanted to have someone standing there with my name, but the sign said Rolls Royce. Not as cool. The guy was very nice and helped us with all of our luggage and drove us an hour and a half to our apartment. First difference I noticed is that they call the bathrooms toilets. The signs all say toilets. I thought it was kind of funny. Direct and to the point I guess.

Apartment: When we arrived at our apartment we were so tired. Mark and I had about an hour of sleep and Andrew probably about five hours. The local time was about 11:00am. This is where things started to get a little stressful. The lady gave us our keys and rushed out. As we started looking around we realized the place had not been cleaned. Not a great feeling when you have no sleep and a two year old that wants to get into everything. There was nothing we could really do because everyone over here is on holiday until Thursday. Mark decided it would be best for us to stay in a hotel for a couple days so we could try to clean the apartment. We couldn't stay in a hotel for a week with Andrew. It just doesn't have enough room for playing and eating. We were able to get the apartment in good condition so we are back in the apartment now. We might try to see if we can get our apartment switched when Mark goes to work on Thursday. I will say our apartment has a nice view!






Driving: Driving is so weird. You would think it wouldn't be that hard switching the side of road you drive on but it seems so weird!! I cannot drive over here so I have only been a passenger. There are so many round abouts here and they are not like the small ones in Indy. They are huge and confusing. There were many times I felt like we were going the wrong way but it just seems that way because everything is opposite! Another funny thing is when you are walking it is opposite. In the US a lot of times you will try to stay to the right when you are walking on paths or sidewalks, but here you stay to the left.

Food: Some people told me that the food is not great here and they are right. So far I have not had anything that was amazing yet. I did have a very good coffee and scone today. The grocery store is different. All different brands and not as much junk food. We still have yet to do a full grocery trip. I think that is tomorrows task. I have a feeling living in England will be a good way to drop a couple pounds.

Weather: Not good!!! It is cold here! I have no idea why I packed shorts for Andrew and capris for myself. So far it has rained everyday at some point. Thank God we bought rain jackets and an umbrella. We talked to a local and they said that it always rains. Hopefully it warms up a little over the summer. It is sunny today so that is nice.

Andrew: Andrew has done pretty well through all of this. This has really shown how resilient kids are. He is happy with some fishy crackers and a few cars to play with. When we arrived here in England I had to change his diaper at the airport. I will say that they have a nice separate changing room that has disposable pads to change your child. When I laid Andrew down to change him he said, "Mommy I want to go home." It made me a little sad because I thought that this was going to be hard for him, but he has been fine since. He already thinks this is our home. He is so funny and keeps our spirits up for sure!!



Here is his toy collection here. He also has some books.

People: Everything is very different here, including the people. We have had some very interesting things happen to use. We had an old guy walk up to us and start telling us about some lad that went to jail. We had an old lady walk up to Andrew, kiss her hand and then put her whole hand on Andrew's mouth. I even tried to avoid it and she still did it. It was so weird!!! We have seen many drunk people doing weird things like laying on the ground or on a bench. I guess this is the joy of being downtown. On the other hand, some people have been very friendly and helpful. Some people just look down right scary!! I have seen the weirdest fashion ever!! I saw some people getting hot and heavy in car parked right in the middle of downtown. I saw a guy doing some type of ninja moves with a long stick in the green space outside of our apartments. Nothing crazy, just practicing his ninja skills I guess!

Mark and I are hanging in there. We are hoping to get a different apartment that is a little more comfortable for us in the next couple weeks. Now that we are here, five months seems a lot longer that it did when we were just talking about it in the US. Andrew and I will have to get creative during the day to keep ourselves busy.

I guess that is it for now. We do have a phone so if you would like our phone number just send me an email.

As they say in England, "Cheers"