After walking Thatcher to school this morning and waiting on the playground for the bell to ring I looked up and saw this...
Through the hustle of trying to get out the door and to the school on time, the above scene just made me stop and smile. I mean, I think I saw this scene a million and a half times as a child watching Mary Poppins. Can you not in your minds eye see Burt and his friends chim chim cher-ee-ing up on those rooftops? It's still so, so cool to be here.
It was freezing this morning so I bundled Tate up in his fuzzy turtle bunting. He was not amused.
And he didn't want to wait for Thatcher to go into school, he wanted out of his stroller...
And Tagg got to play on the playground equipment while we waited. Poor kid is totally bored out of his gord being home all day without going to school.
I heard from the nice lady at Thatcher's school today that Tagg's school might not allow him to start until after the new term, which is April 28th. When I heard this I about died and she absolutely agreed with me that Tagg should be in school now, before the break. So she told me to "go home and have a stiff drink and call them up and give them a piece of my mind with a gruff American attitude!" I laughed pretty hard at that one. But yeah, I'm going to have to settle this situation. American no nonsense style I suppose.
I was lucky enough to find a nice girl in the single adult ward through a referral to do some babysitting for us. So tonight she came over and met the boys, and then stayed to babysit. She is darling and very British and I could listen to her talk all day long. Todd and I hurried out for our first date night in London! I was ready for one. We decided to go on a river cruise on the Thames. I had never been on one of these dinner cruises, so I was excited to see what all the hubbub was about.
We took the tube down to the embankment tube stop and quickly found the entrance to the Bateaux river cruises.
It was really fun to be out alone experiencing new things in London just the two of us.
Here we are...ahhhhh young love. Okay not young anymore...just love, I guess.
Okay this is funny...we saw this building going down to the dock, and it is hard to see in this picture below, but those are American flags waving in the wind. We were like, "Wow cool! Is that the US embassy?!" We were totally convinced it was! So we googled it and...nope, that's the Savoy. You know the hotel Hugh Grant high tails it to, to tell Julia Roberts that he loves her in Notting Hill? Yeah that's the one. I guess they love America and are just every so patriotic there! Still don't get the American flags. But it was still nice to see old glory waving to us!
The view from the little waiting area before we got on the boat.
The boat that left just before ours...with The Eye in the background.
Getting on our boat. The sides and the top were all glass, so it was really easy to see all the sights.
Sneaking a shot of this handsome guy...
Once we were seated at our table we looked to our right and this old friend was there. We haven't been on The Eye yet, but I am anxious to. This is one of those iconic things about London that when I see it, I still can't believe we are really here!
Once we all got settled and ordered dinner the boat started and soon we saw Big Ben...again, seeing it will never get old! This was the first time seeing BB all lit up at night.
There is something so magical about seeing European cities at night. I remember seeing Rome for the first time at night, all lit up. It is the same with London...It's so beautiful!
Our starter. I had a grand plan to take pictures of every course, but this is the only one I remembered to take! Which really is a good thing I guess, because I got so caught up in the moment of it all photos of food fell off my priority list!
Todd enjoying a beverage. This is something that you have to relish every drop of here in London. My number one complaint!! I need a big drink people, with ice! Oh, how I miss it.
The boat turned around and we saw Big Ben again. There was live music on board and this fancy girl was singing "Moon River" while we passed Big Ben. I may or may not have gotten a little misty, I'm not going to lie. I love that song, me and Holly Golightly, and just the whole moment of it all was really magical. I'm so cheesy like that.
Our good ol' friend the Embassy, er I mean the Savoy, again...
St. Pauls Cathedral. So majestic.
"Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul's, the little old bird woman comes..."
I'm not ashamed to say I sang that while passing...how could you not?!
Tower Bridge which is SO COOL to see in person.
Going under Tower Bridge...
The tower of London...poor Anne Boleyn.
Canary Wharf, the financial district.
During this part of the cruise a whole bunch of business-y looking men, who we assumed were in the finance world went outside and started shooting pictures. It was so, so odd.
It was such a fun evening and I was totally caught up in all the sights of London at night. It was so fun and romantic, I would absolutely recommend a dinner cruise to anyone visiting London. We had a lot of fun. But not as much fun I don't think, as the couple sitting at the table next to us who no lie, ordered several drinks of hard liquor and also 2 bottles of champagne. They started off the night very stiff upper lip British and by the end of the evening they were laughing away and swaying and singing along to the music. It was the best dinner entertainment!
We decided on the tube ride home that tomorrow we will take the boys to see the Tower of London, because who doesn't want to hear tales of torture and incivility mixed with seeing a bunch of royal jewels?
