Monday:. Big Bus Tour

Monday was our day to ride the double decker bus all around London and see the tourist sites to our hearts' content.

We took this cute pic of all three kids on our walk to the Tube. It was a gorgeous morning.

We also happened upon this handsome caterpillar in someone's front yard...

Then, off to Trafalgar Square...

The kids LOVED playing on the status and lions while we waited for the bus.

And once we got in, the kids were very excited to score the very front row of the upper deck.

Camille and I sat right behind, and Brian opted for an open-air seat further back...

They gave us ear phones to listen to a very interesting guided tour. We learned about bubonic plague and the fire of London, and the newspaper industry, etc.

We drove across the lovely Tower Bridge, and learned that it's only broken down twice, and one of the times was during its grand opening ceremony. Ha!

We ate at EAT-- one of my favorite sandwich shops. I got my turkey, cranberry and rocket lettuce sandwich in wheat bread. Delish (but not cheap...lunch for all of us was around £25-- $40! Makes glad we're not eating out too much.)

Then we got to see part of the original city wall of London. It was buried, but they've exposed parts of it, and outs pretty cool, and several hundred years old, to boot...

On to the Tower of London. We did not go in. Do you know why?? Because it was absolutely MOBBED beyond anything I've seen. See those people?...MOBBED. It's half term break here, so ALL the kids in the WHOLE country are out of school for the week. Plus, there's an awesome poppy exhibit at the Tower right now, honoring WWI servicemen. Very cool, and super popular.

I took this pic below because that funky torch thing way in the back is a monument to remember the Fire of London in 1666. I think it was designed by Christopher Wren, and is supposed to mark the spot whet the fire started in a small bakery.

We took a fun boat tour and got some great shots of the Eye from the water...

And some great silhouette shots of the Houses of Parliament...

There was a guy on the bridge blowing giant bubbles over the water while we were in our boat ride. It was really pretty to watch them float along the water. Kinda hard to see what he's doing, but he's just released a big bunch here...

We asked the kids if they would rather ride on the London Eye, or go back and go into the Tower Bridge. They asked if we could just go back to the cool (free) jungle gym playground by the Eye. So, we did!

Then we went to Piccadilly Circus and looked at the shops. These cakes looked soooo good to me!

And check out the tiniest little pencil thin heels on these shoes. They are adorable and ridiculous at once!

On to Hamleys toy store. It is paradise and torture, all wrapped up in one big overpriced kids' dream! 

Too many princesses to choose!!

Samantha looks cute here, but if you'll look behind and see Spencer watching the lady painting rainbows... He was mesmerized, and eventually decided to spend his souvenir money to buy a paint set. Fun!

Lego statues of Kate and William's wedding.

And a Lego queen, so fun!

It was a long, late day. We got in a crowded Tube, and suddenly I couldn't find Natalie for a minute. My heart skipped a beat, until I located her, halfway down the train car... She had found herself a seat amid all the other commuters. Can you spot her?:)

At home in our flat, we had scrambled eggs and toast for dinner, then wrestled kids into bed.

Honestly, our days are great fun, so far. But many of our bedtime have been pure torture. Not sure why our kids are having such trouble settling.??? We wear them out and bring them back exhausted. But they fight it. Oh well. Guess they just don't want the day to end, which isn't such a bad thing, right?:)

Sunday in London

We had a very nice Sunday, our second day in London. We had Stake Conference for church, and we were late, but it was fine. We liked showing our kids the famous chapel near Hyde Park. 

They were restless and tired and we sat in an overflow room where we watched a video feed. Not entirely memorable, but we tried. After, we changed in the upstairs bathroom and went to meet my friend, Chiz, who I worked with at Kings College, ten years ago.

Chiz invited us to her house for a spontaneous lunch. It was great to catch up with her, and the kids were happy that she put on Toy Story for them to watch. Here's the outside of Chiz's house. We took pics with her, but they are on the other camera...

She recommended a playground in Kensington Gardens for the kids. It was one of Princess Diana's projects, way back when. It did not disappoint!!! The kids LOVED the pirate ship, especially.

There was a big sand pit under the ship, which they loved. But we got there kind of late and it closed too soon.

Not to worry... The Science Museum was open late, and was nearby, and was free. What's not to love, right?! The kids really liked the space exploration exhibits. They had a model of the moon landing ship...(and I obviously didn't get a great pic).

Here are Sam and Spence trying on big astronaut gloves...

And, I asked Natalie to pose by the wtold model. She put her hood  over her face with her jacket on backwards, and giggled uncontrollably...

The "flight" exhibit, that we didn't see up close...

We went in an exhibit with lots of antique appliances and oddities. They had this old automatic door that has been in use since 1933. The plaque said it was such a novelty when it was first installed that people came from all over, just too walk through an automatic door. I had each kid walk through it.:)

Then back to our place for a quick pasta dinner and a very rowdy bedtime that ended with shouts and threats and timeouts on the front porch.... Not all is fun and games on this trip, I just thought you'd like to know.;) But all in all, it was a nice day. 

London, first day

Well, we made it over the ocean, safe and sound. Whew! Our kids actually did really well on the plane, and got several hours of sleep. That was a good thing, because we didn't really have too much down time once we arrived.

We had a long delay in Chicago, then some hiccups with our rental car, and finally got sorted and started on our way into London by around 1p.m. We took a quick driving tour through downtown London, then headed to our flat in West Hampstead. I took some pics as we drove, but they are on the other camera. I'll have to see if I can get them uploaded later. 

After settling in at our flat, we rode the tube downtown to have a look around. The kids LOVED the Tube ride...

We decided to go down by the London Eye and see if we could get a ride at sunset. But... the line was enormous! Er, whoops, I mean the "queue" was enormous-- to use a proper English word here.:)

So, we just looked at it instead, and said we might try to come for a ride on Monday. 

Plus, our kids were a little too tired for that. So, we settled for a nearby playground...and they perked right up, imagine!!

And we then had a fun little ride on a carousel...

Then we gazed at the Thames and watched the lights come on the Houses  of Parliament and Big Ben. Kinda dreamy, kinda cold.

For dinner, the stars were aligned and we lucked into an International Food Fair on the South Bank. Yay! 

Brian got stuffed grape leaves and Arab sweets, I got a taste of curry and some amazing cheese samples, and then we shared huge bruchetta slices to share with the kids, along with some delicious chicken sausage sandwiches on ciabatta bread. Turkish delight straight out of Narnia for the kids for dessert.:).I LOVE those little quaint food fairs!

On the way back to the Tube, we walked by my old work, at Kings College London, and I took a picture of it.:)

I also took a picture of the National Theatre Gallery building. It was lit up red last night. They  light it a different color every night. My old boss, Caroline, and I used to be the last ones to leave the office at night. We would look out the window together to see what color the theatre was lighted each night.:)

"It's red tonight," I would have called out to Caroline yesterday. So, I called it out to my family instead, and they all thought I was weird.

That was the end of our first day. Kids were in bed by 8 pm, and slept through until 8:15 am. Except for Camille...

She had taken lots of naps while we were out, so she was a little restless in the night. But not too bad. 

And now we've already had another whole day I need to write about. Stay tuned...