Catching up in the New Year

Back to the carols in December...

Ok so the Trafalgar tree didn’t look any worse for the wear, and caroling was ok but it was raining so a bit of a damper, literally. Still, they had a good crowd of die-hards.

Among other things as 2010 wound down:

Claire participated in a Christmas concert at the American Church. Third and fourth grade students, along with junior high, high school and staff/faculty choir members put together a lovely event to raise money for London’s soup kitchen.

A very nice concert attended by passels of parents, featuring a wide array of songs, from gospel to contemporary.

During her last week of school, the third grade had a tea party, wherein the kids all dressed up and used their best etiquette to sip tea and eat scones they’d made in class. Not a bad way to wrap up before the holidays.

We also made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting in celebration of Claire’s birthday for sharing with her class. Doesn’t get much better, especially since we used Patty’s fabulous cocoa, which is sadly now finished.

Ava’s class wrapped up well, too, with a visit from Father Christmas and a party that involved lots of sweet treats.

And for a final hurrah, lunch with friends at Café Med as big flakes of snow came down.

Over the weekend we went to the National Wildlife Photographer Exhibit of the Year at the Natural History Museum. It’s a great exhibit and one the kids and I enjoyed in 2009, too.

This perusal was followed by lunch at a Dutch pancake place (think really big crepes – bigger than the really big plates they’re served on -- sweet and savory. Delish. And then a stop at Whole Foods for good beef because it is of course critical to serve a decent meatloaf for my husband’s birthday celebration.
And I must say, Whole Foods came through. Well that and yours truly’s skills in the kitchen.

Sunday found us at Royal Albert Hall for “White Christmas,” one of the many holiday concerts/singalongs held there this time of year.

This one featured the Capital Voices and the London Concert Orchestra, led by John Rigby, conductor, with star soloists Jacinta Whyte and Matt Little.

The show included all-time favourite Christmas songs such as:
It's the most wonderful time of the year
I’m dreaming of a White Christmas
Let it snow
Candlelight Carol
Ding dong! Merrily on high
Santa Baby
Winter Wonderland
The twelve days of Christmas
Jingle Bell Rock
Baby it's cold outside
We Three Kings
Silent Night
Santa Claus is coming to town
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
All I want for Christmas is you
I wish it could be Christmas every day!

The show was fabulous and we enjoyed our box seats (who knew when I ordered them that we’d have a box). More room and a great vantage point, though since the acoustics are fabulous, it really doesn’t matter where you are in the Royal Albert for a great auditory experience.

The show had a great festive feel, with jokes and plenty of laughter, audience participation (we all got into “Twelve Days” as groups of people in various parts of the Hall were called to stand up and belt out a part of the song along with movement…i.e. wiggling hips to mimic geese laying eggs…) and dancing in the aisles.

A delightful way to enjoy the spirit of the holidays!

Our festivities continued on Monday as the kids and I spent 5 ½ hours at the Olympia Horse Show, watching horses (go figure) and some dogs, too. Along with all kinds of jumping competitions, dog agility finals and the Shetland Pony Grand National, we were entertained by The Ukrainian Cossacks, who did amazing acrobatic feats on rapidly moving horses, The Household Cavalry’s Musical Ride and a War Horse themed Christmas Finale.

Suffice it to say, by 11 Ava and I were definitely horse-weary. Thankfully Father Christmas made his appearance on a stagecoach; he livened everyone up as he wrapped up the show and we were off to the tube!

Later in the week Joe and I went to “Over the Rainbow,” a West End production about Judy Garland. It was a poignant, well-done play. And the following day: lunch with Dad at a delicious little Italian deli.

Throughout the week we watched the fiasco at Heathrow as our 3 ½ inches of snow caused pandemonium…cancelled flights upon cancelled flights, tents outside the terminals, fights at the counters. Thankfully by Christmas Eve it seemed the airport was more or less in working order, and to Barcelona we flew!