Sometimes Niko looks for you out the window...

Postmarked 4:57 p.m.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! We are obsessed with Paddington. I saw your box on the porch and I got deja vu. I couldn't believe you sent more presents! They are still getting to know each other but Niko gave him a kiss and he came with us to Target and Vroman's. Thank you for sending such cute stuff. We love you and miss you!

PS. I didn't get the note about not opening the box until after I had already opened the box....oops.

PPS. Are the cookies that you sent laxatives? Why are they called "Digestives" I ate the other candy(so delicious, I don't know what it is about those Europeans and hazelnut but they are on to something)...but that one freaked me out.

Postmarked 3:27 p.m.

Dear Amanda,

The bus was the best present ever. Aidan is playing with it right now. Niko loves it, and I'll definitely be stealing it when he's napping. I saw the box on the porch and I debated for about four seconds about whether or not I should save it until our birthday to open it. Clearly we opened it. Might as well make the birthday week start now.

Halloween was pretty lame. We were both sick and he trick-or-treated at our front door but that was it. And he only wore his costume for like 5 minutes before he got grumpy and took it off. Your costume was MUCH cooler than his zebra costume. We didn't even eat any candy. I like those blue leggings. Can you take the oyster off and just wear the leggings all the time? If so, that costume was definitely worth it.

You have exactly a week to make it home in time for the pirate party. You better start walking/swimming. We are going to have Costco pizza. Now I know you will come for sure. I've also been wanting to make a pumpkin pie but clearly that isn't going to be a feat I'm going to take on by myself. I might end up just visiting Marie Callenders.

I missed a whole week of school. I have a Chem test on Monday and I'm not ready so its definitely going to be my drop test. I keep waking up praying that maybe its December and the semester is over. I just want to be done with Chemistryyyyyy!

I hope you are having a good week at school. I'll probably put up another post tomorrow while I'm at work. I just wanted to send some thanks for the birthday stuff! Oh and thanks for wrapping it in swine flu newspaper. That was the best part.

Postmarked 3:05 p.m.

Dear Becca,

I am writing this post because I don't want to be writing my art paper. It's a comparison between paintings from Cézanne and Braque. Just in case you wanted to help out or anything. I really don't appreciate teachers assigning me things to do while I'm on my European vacation. They should know better.

I must update you on my Halloween. And obviously you should do that same. Well on Friday night I didn't plan a real costume so I had to improvise. I'm sure you can attest to my creative genius from the photo below.

On Saturday (real Halloween) I was an Oyster card, which is the London Underground card. Besides having to pay 22 pounds for leggings from American Apparel, I really enjoyed this costume. It was certainly comfortable. I must also complain that it took me like three hours to sew on the letters and ribbon. You know me + art and crafts doesn't usually work out. Here are the fruits of all my labor:

I went to see the play War Horse with my uncle last night because he was visiting London. It was quite a lovely play. They had these really cool puppets that were like life-size horses. Check it out:

Thank god reading week is next week. No classes! I'm traveling for the week and staying in hostels. That is as close to backpacking as I ever want to get. Maybe a little too close. By the way it's like 9 days until the big birthdays. What are you gonna get me?

Postmarked: 1:46 p.m.

Dear Amanda,

This picture doesn't need words.

Postmarked 10:04 p.m.

Dear Becca,

So I finally made it out of London. I went on an excursion to España this weekend. We flew into Madrid on Friday morning. I had to wake up at 5 a.m. which as you know causes me to be extra mean. I may have some airport workers to apologize to. Our hotel was in a really good location near Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol. It even came with an abundance of toilet paper which may have come home with me. I don't even want to go into how horrible life is when I'm too cheap to buy toilet paper.

Anyway here's a picture of me in front of something important looking (perhaps Banco de España?):

On Saturday we went to some palace. Well, we saw the outside. We were too cheap to pay to get in. We also went to Museo del Prado which is the big art museum in Madrid. Lots of Velázquez and Picasso. Anyway the most important part of the day was the paella, which is depicted below.

It was super delicious. We definitely ate the whole thing, even though my body doesn't function quite as well when it's composed of 90% rice.

On Sunday, we went to the airport like eight hours early cause our hotel kicked us out and we were too lazy to wander around carrying our bags. I am not a mule. Well, that concludes my holiday in Spain. You still need to tell me what I should be for Halloween.

Postmarked: 1:13 a.m.

Dear Amanda,

Don't get too upset but we may have had a picnic at Eddie Park today.

Postmarked 2:14 p.m.