London- Day 4

Prior to our trip, I loosely planned out what we wanted to see and do each day and booked the Tower of London for day 4.  We did not luck out with the weather the majority of our trip, but the day we went to the Tower of London and the Burough Market was the most beautiful (albeit cold) day we had.  This was lucky given that is all mostly outdoors.  (B wasn't too into having his photo taken this day either).

I purchased the audio guide for each of us which said to plan about 2 hours at the Tower of London and the grounds.  B spent nearly 3 and I had to pull him away because I knew he was starving.  He soaked up all the history and learned so much (I did too, despite having been there before, I didn't remember all the history).

From there we walked a mile down the river to Burough Market where we got burgers and sat on the ground people watching).

And of course hit up the famous chocolate covered strawberries after quite a long line.

 

London-Day 3

B wanted to see where Newton and Darwin were buried and because the Westminster Abbey was closed on our first day, we went there the morning of day 3.  Afterwards we wandered to the IWM (world war museum), but B wasn't impressed (no photos either).

One of our favorite activities in London was to get on a random bus and see where it took us!  After our failed war museum, we had a big portion of the afternoon left with no plans so we boarded the first bus.  Little did I know, the very next stop on this said bus was Hamleys!  The biggest toy store in the world (which had been on my list to go to, but I wasn't sure where it was or when we would fit it in).  It lived up to its famous reputation of being enormous, but it was fun to wander around and let B choose one thing for himself and something small for each brother (he chose Harry Potter Jelly Bellys and a Harry Potter chocolate frog).

And he couldn't pass up the gelato store 1/2 a block from our hotel.

 

Big Kid dinner

LT had the state swim meet last weekend (A also qualified but it was too late to enter him unfortunately).  After the meet, a few of the kids came over and then a bunch more kids who aren't swimmers to have dinner before these guys went to a concert.

 

Day 2- London

Sunday was pouring rain, but luckily we had some indoor plans.  It ended up being science Sunday!  I wanted to take B to a high tea, but a formal one would not interest him one bit, so I found a kid centered science high tea.  

He was able to make fizzy lemonade, they used dry ice and the treats were science themed.  It was all yummy and more fun than a traditional one.

The museums in London are free, so we wandered down the block to the science museum.  It did not disappoint, but probably the best part was the Wonder lab, filled with hands on science.  The wonder lab was timed tickets with an additional cost, but it was worth every penny.

Bri left for his meeting a few hours away after the science museum, and B and I headed to a highly recommended Indian Restaurant.  It was different and B wasn't a huge fan even after the hour wait, but I thought it was really yummy.

 

Fogo De Chao

We had an amazing family dinner at Fogo De Chao where the boys ate their weight in meat happily and Brian and I indulged in the incredible vegetarian options.  All while visiting my former student at work!

 

Love this

As we walked to the bus to head to the airport, we saw this fun sculpture!

 

London- Day 1

Bri had to go to England for work and was telling B and I about it a few weeks ago.  B said, "I want to go!"  We thought it was ridiculous, and then thought again, why not?!  The big kids didn't want to join (swim meets and school), so B, Bri and I headed to London for a week.  We arrived at 9 in the morning.

But we managed to get 18,000 steps in that day and saw SO much wandering around different areas.

We saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, but WA was closed that day, so B and I went back another day for a tour.

We wandered along the river for awhile, it was cold, but miraculously not raining this day.

It happened to be Valentines Day and my friend suggested one of her favorite Vegan restaurants.  I made reservations, not realizing it was a set 5 course meal that took FOREVER.  We were exhasuted and full, but made it through and stayed up until 9.