Today I was able to go to the park with a great girl in our new ward who I have been corresponding with the past few months getting her advice on all things London.  It was great to finally meet in person and meet her two darling boys.  We played at the park for a bit, and then the boys and I headed home for lunch. 

After lunch we decided to head up north from St. John's Wood to Swiss Cottage and check out this place called The Swiss Cottage Leisure Center.  From the stuff I had seen online it kinda looked like the Frisco Athletic Center.  When we got there, it was ridiculously impossible trying to get information about memberships, which was frustrating because I really would like a gym to go to and also a venue for the boys to do sports etc.  We are thinking about it, jury still out on whether or not we will get a membership.

I need to get these boys into some kind of sport or activity asap.  We decided that when we came to London we wouldn't have a TV in our home for a year.  This is because our boys need a serious detox. And I mean serious.  They have become waaaaay to addicted to video games, ipads, TV shows, movies etc.  So the only thing they have here electronic are their kindles, which have strict parent restrictions and mostly use for reading, and the computer which also have timers and restrictions on it. 

The other day when we were at Hamley's one of the guys who worked there told our boys they would probably want to go down to the bottom level to see all the video games, and Tagg said, "we can't, we don't have a TV!"  And the guy looked at us like we were crazy.  Yup.  We've become one of those families, a cross between the Duggars and the Amish.  No but seriously, when we first started toying with the idea, it just felt good and we realized that it was the perfect time to go cold turkey since it would be a new place and new home.  Plus, who wants to sit around watching boring british TV when you are in London?   So it's been a week and so far I can say we absolutely made the right decision. The first few days have been rough, but each day I notice a difference and the boys seem to be starting to really forget about zoning out and have been finding better more creative things to do with their time. But I also feel I need to find them outlets like sports and activities so that we replace TV and other time wasters with good things. 

Here are some "popcorn trees" by the Swiss Cottage Leisure Center.

I love that my boys still call these popcorn trees and they are my absolute favorite part of spring. 

After the Leisure center we took our first double decker bus up to Wagamama's in Hampstead for dinner.  I tried Wagamama's for the first time when I came house hunting because one of my bff's Lindy (shout out!) always talked about it from when she lived in London.  It was delish.  So I've been really wanting to take the boys there since we got here.  It is such a great place because it is so family friendly.  Big tables, lots of noise, great kids menu, high chairs, etc.  The boys loved it and Tate made a big gigantic mess and giggled and screamed all of dinner and not one Brit gave us a dirty look.  Success and hooray!