Sunflower Seeds!

Ben and Isabel outside the Tate Modern

Tonight was one of the most fun nights of my life.  We went to the Tate Modern, a museum.  There we saw what an artist -- Ai Wei Wei -- had created to fit a certain space.  Guess what it was?  Piles and piles across the floor of porcelain sunflower seeds!  They were all unique and different.  My Mom thinks the message was that all people are unique and different.  I guessed there were 100 million sunflower seeds piled 4 inches thick.  And there were 100 million.  For a snack there were nuts (almonds?) shaped like sunflower seeds.  I ate a whole bunch.  I met the artist.  Afterwards we went to see the Gauguin show.  I drew several sketches.  I like his style!

Isabel on a bed of porcelain sunflower seeds

Soane Museum

One night we went to the Soane Museum.We had to wait in a long line but it was worth it since this was the one night a month that the entire museum is lit only by candlelight.  Soane was an architect and he married a rich woman, so therefore he built a big house and held his collection of art in it. All the rooms were beautiful.They were filled with beautiful furniture, some sculpture from ancient Greece and Rome and Egypt.  All sorts of stuff.

Interior of John Soane's Museum

Hampstead Heath

Louise and Ben in front of their new country home

Today (Sunday) we took a rainy walk to Hampstead Heath and met up with my dad's friend Sarah, her husband Boaz, and their three kids, Abigail, Isaac, and Ottilie (they have one more child, Eleanor, but she was sick).  We went to a museum (Kenwood House) and saw some paintings.  I drew two sketches from paintings of cows.  Then we had lunch at a cafe.  I got bangers and mash (bangers and mash are sausages with mashed potatoes).  Then we went to their house and had some biscuits and tea.  I got to see Isaac's new pet lizard and we fed it crickets.  I also played a bit with Ottilie's hamster Caramel.

On the Heath  -- Front: Isaac, Ottilie, Isabel; Back Row:  Abigail, Sarah, and Boaz

Lots of New Events

Hi Guys!

It's been my parents' anniversary!  My mom cooked us a big dinner, chicken included.  I gave my parents a donut.  Then, two days afterwards, we went to a restaurant called Hereford Road.  At the restaurant we had interesting things, like soft roes on toast, smoked haddock, rabbit, and, best of all, calf brains!

Louise, Isabel and Ben at Hereford Road for 15th Anniversary dinner

Also before or after the anniversary -- we can't remember -- we visited the houses of the Duke of Marlborough and the Duke of Wellington.  They had a lot of stuff!  The Duke of Wellington defeated this guy Napoleon who they thought was going to take over Europe.  We saw a whole room full of silverwear for guests and two huge centerpieces for tables.  One was made out of gold, the other was white marble of Egyptian monuments and sphinxes.

We also took a long walk to a market called Spitalfield Market.  We got a bagels at a bagel store, spelled here, "beigel."  After that we went to a city farm and saw lots of farm animals -- horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, roosters and chickens, ducks and geese, some very cute pigs named Holmes and Watson, and, last but not least, guinea pigs of all sorts and colors and (my mom's favorite) some very funky looking rabbits.

Isabel and Livestock at Spitalfields City Farm

Isabel and Holmes and Watson

Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and the Thames!

Isabel on the Millenium Bridge

Isabel and Louise with Parliament buildings in the background

Hi Everybody!

Last weekend we went to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.  It is a lovely building kinda where the government lives.  All the kings were crowned and buried at Westminster Abbery since 1066 except two.  We saw Big Ben too.  Then we took a long walk home part way through the Thames festival with lots of people and stalls.  We got a felafel (a burrito with ground chickpeas).  On the long walk home we also saw St. Paul's, walking over a bridge called Millenium.

Isabel in front of Britain's oldest door in Westminster Abbey

School

Last Thursday was the first day of school for me!  I met lots of people, mostly girls.  In the playground, there is a rock-climbing wall.  The teachers are more strict about being quiet.  The subjects are handwriting, guided reading, literature, maths (math), designing/art, and science, and we have break (recess) and lunch.  In science, we're doing healthy food.  I got a certificate for fitting in well.  I hope my friends who reading this also have a good first day of school like me.

More pictures!

Trinidadian carnival costume

Isabel and Ben in Trafalgar Square

Isabel being a Beefeater

First Days in London