Goodbye London

Daniel had to spend the last couple of weeks in July in London for work and I couldn't resist the urge to go with him and visit the city one last time. It ended up being an especially fun trip with my friend Aurélie coming with me for several days and my brother-in-law, Rick, who happenned to be working in Holland at the time, flying up to spend the weekend with us. Aurélie and I spent our first full day in London visiting all the major sights, all of the "must-sees." It was her first time there, so I was worried about her missing things that she might regret later. We covered a lot of ground, though, starting with the changing of the guard, followed by some time spent at St. James' Park. We then did Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament before heading over for a picnic at Trafalgar Square. That was followed up by a drive-by of St. Paul's then the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We finished with a visit to the Museum of London Docklands before heading back to the hotel to meet Daniel for an Indian dinner.

Our next day was a little more relaxed. We started at the Victoria and Albert museum then spent some time at Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park. After that we wandered around Notting Hill. It was a fun, relaxing time. It was so fun for me to have Aurélie there. I always enjoy being with her. I am sure she thinks that I am crazier than ever now that she has travelled with me (yes, I still put my two-year-old in a snuggly and my 5-year-old in a stoller when they start slowing down, and yes, I take food from the free continental breakfast to snack on throughout the day), but oh well!

Aurélie left Friday morning and Rick was flying in to meet us that evening, so I had one day to fill with just me and the kids. We first went to the Museum of Childhood then headed over to the Bank of England Museum, which was a first. Jaxon got to touch a real bar of gold.

After that we headed to the Museum of London and enjoyed their wonderful new exhibit of modern England, that would be England since 1776.

I was so much fun to see Rick. It had been over a year since I had seen him and we were so happy that it worked out so well for him to come meet us in London. We did mostly boy stuff, starting with the Imperial War Museum. I say guy stuff, but that actually is one of my favorite London museums. Daniel and Rick took the boys of so I could check out the Crimes Against Humanity exhibit (no underage kids allowed)

After that we visited a bunch of the major sights. Here they are after having climbed up one of the lion's at Trafalgar Square.

Enjoying a real treat for us at Gourment Burger Kitchen: a REAL milkshake! I wish I could have had more; the kids chugged it down.

We spent the whole next day at the science museum. After dinner, Rick headed to a hotel located near the airport so he could catch his 6:30 flight (yuck!). But it was so nice of him to make the sacrifice to come out and see us.

At Mudchute City Farm. The kids had a fun time feeding these goats something that they had found on the ground.

At Hackney City Farm

At Spitalfield City Farm. We kind of went on a city farm spree.

Going in to Spitalfield Market

We spend one whole evening enjoying the seven floors of Hamley's toy store. I have never seen a toy store like it.

Jonas fell in love with the Elmo Live, giving them all kisses. It was very cute, but definitely not 75 pounds cute to bring one home!

Our last day was spent at the unmatched Natural History Museum. Here Jaxon is in the butterfly house. It was a good last trip. I guess I can't complain after having been five times now. This time I didn't even use a map. And I was the one giving the other tourists directions. Well, goodbye London!