Good-byes

So many good-byes, breaking my heart. In the morning, I had coffee and worked a bit at my favorite coffee shop. I ran into Blaze's best friend's mom and we had a nice chat. They are totally cool people (she's a private chef; her husband produces pop music videos for huge names). Them even hanging out with us is so confusing to very nerdy me, who I guess is cool because she's trying to write a book? Probably I'm just cool because Blaze is cool. No, I am definitely not cool in anyway, something my kids let me know anytime they have a chance. But talking to Blaze's best friend's mom makes me feel cool. 

Then Francisco agreed to do something I've always wanted to try--tandem biking. We went to Battersea Park (power station pictured above). 
 

Of course we stopped and admired the park's lovely gardens. 

Tandem biking was a thrill--I hadn't fully thought it through--I could only pedal when Francisco was pedaling. And only he steered--so I couldn't really see where we were going! I tried to take a turn in the front, but wasn't strong enough to get us going, so I was stuck in the back. Anyway, it was a fun thing to try, but we'll stick to two bikes in the future. I sang him "On a Bicycle Made for Two," which he hadn't heard, and was, of course, the reason I wanted to try a bicycle built for two. 

It was a lovely day. 

Rather than hop on the tube, we took the ferry to Borough market, where the good food lines were too long for us to try anything, so we had to be satisfied with a pasty. (I was drooling for the paella.)

I picked up the kids at school (their principal said a nice good-bye to us) while Francisco headed out to dinner with a friend. I got the boys an almond croissant from their favorite pastry place, and they played and played at the park. (Q was teaching his friends American football.)

After frozen pizza from Tesco (Q's choice), I told the boys we had to return our library books. There were two full-throated tantrums. (We're all tired.) I calmly (!) persisted. Well, they love the library, don't you know? They ran into their friends and had a ball and refused to leave. I got to say good-bye to this friend's mom who, through quite a language barrier, has always been very kind to me. And we said good-bye to our very favorite librarian who has been so nice and kind and welcoming and enthusiastic this year--and who has even gotten Q to try some new books. 

The view from my window. 

This morning I donated the boys' uniforms and said good-bye to some other moms around the school. It has been such a nice, kind, welcoming place for us. And I love seeing my kids' friends and their parents every morning.