Showing posts with label exploring. Show all posts

Day Fifteen: "I pray you dispatch me quickly".

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Today was a great day.  The perfect mix of relaxing, productive, and fun.  We got a lot done this morning with making plans for upcoming trips around the UK and other countries in Europe.  I got to take a nice long afternoon nap while Todd took the boys to run some errands, and then we all headed off to see the Tower of London!

We got to the Tower a little on the late side and missed doing a tour from one of the beefeaters.  We will most definitely go back for that.  I was bummed we missed it.  You really could spend the good part of a day at just the Tower of London.  There is a lot to see and do!  

The boys loved the Tower of London.  I mean really LOVED it.  Like, I was a little worried about how interested they were in all the gory stuff.  They were glued with attention from the moment we told them a little bit of the history behind it.  Nice.  I have always been fascinated with British Literature and history, so I know enough about the Tower of London to know that it wasn't the funnest place in the world, obviously.  One of my absolute favorite parts about visiting was every so often there were these little signs that basically said, "we know you have heard a lot about the gruesomeness and the torture and the beheadings and all the horrible stuff that happened here, but that was just a very, very small part of it's history, really it's all fun and dandy and wonderful roses!!  Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"...in so many words.  Oh, you Brits!  I cannot tell you how funny I thought this was and really couldn't stop laughing!  Just own it!  So you have a bad part of your history... so what, learn from it and move on. It was so funny!   

While visiting today I learned the story of Lady Jane Grey.  They had this little info plaque about her and honestly her story is just so sad and tragic.  If you haven't read about her, you really should. Interesting and sad stuff.  They have her picture with her words above, "I pray you dispatch of me quickly".  She said that just before she got the axe, literally.  Boy, she was polite.  I would have had a few choice words, if that was me, and believe me, they wouldn't be so polite or lady like, and I doubt they would make a plaque of them! 

  Todd and the boys in front of one of the outer walls to the Tower.
Todd looks like Mavrick here..."I went to the DANGER ZONE!"

I love the mixture of old and new here in London.  


Union Jack on the white tower...



Some kind of catapult thing...

Byward tower...look at that date, so fun.

This is freaky...a fake hand through a see through brick.  The boys loved this. 

In front of the white tower...

This is inside what they call the "blood tower" and I'll give you one guess why it's called that.  This is where all the torturing took place and prisoners were held.  It is spooky. 


Some crazy torture device. 


Going late in the afternoon was so pretty with great light and made it so fun for walking around and exploring...


The side stairs were built this way so that if people were coming to take over the tower, the stairs could be knocked down and you couldn't reach the door.  Pretty cool, and smart. 


Even Tate was liking exploring!

Again, the modern with the old...love it.

Just the boys running and playing in front of an old castle, no big deal.  

The Crown Jewels were so awesome. I loved every second. You weren't allowed to take pictures inside, which is SO like Elizabeth 2 to hog everything to herself! I loved seeing all the crowns from various queens and kings, especially Queen Victoria's, she's my favorite.  
The jewels are unbelievable. The pageantry and tradition of the royal family and parliament is so interesting.  


All of us in front of Tower Bridge...

A fancy cannon, a tower trash can (oops I mean rubbish bin) and a bench...

Todd and Taters and a popcorn tree that looks like it's growing out of Todd's head.

This was the gate that would open to let the prisoners, who would often travel by boat, into the Tower. Interesting fact is that Anne Boleyn started her procession to her coronation from the Tower of London, and then just a few years later she came back to the Tower as a prisoner and her life was ended here. Ironic.  And sad.  Poor Anne Boleyn.  Boy I am sure grateful I live in the 21st century! 


After we were through with touring, we headed to the gift shop and goofed around there for awhile.

Sir Tate...

Tagg the destroyer...

Tower Bridge...can't help but here Bob Costas voice when I see it, since it was always in the opening shot of the London Olympics.  I wonder where they put the Olympic Rings?


Todd, Thatch and Tagg by Tower Bridge.
Lots of T's in that sentence.


We turned the corner to find somewhere to go eat dinner and we ran smack dab into our new favorite place, Wagamamas!  Tate was very happy, and hungry! 


Thatcher is our little artist, he drew this picture while waiting for his dinner.  


These two brothers were being so cute with each other, I had to capture it...love these boys!




And the two oldest boys just before our walk home in front of the bridge all lit up.


We got home late and everyone was tired, but as Todd and I were getting ready for bed we commented on what a good Saturday we had!


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Day Twelve: "They have pears in England too?!?"

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Not much to blog about today.  No pictures from today, sad but true.  Just still getting in our normal day to day routine.  Thatcher was out of school today because the teachers were striking.  I don't know a lot about the situation, but it all sounds very formal and British.  This morning as I was making breakfast Tagg saw that I had put some pears in the fruit bowl on the kitchen table and exclaimed, "they have pears in England TOO?!"  It is so funny to see and hear what the kids think about London.  They ask me funny questions all the time and have started trying to mimic the accent.

We stayed home all morning and just hung out, I cleaned the flat and then we got ready and went to the cell phone place to upgrade my phone from pay by month to a contract.  It was pouring rain, and the boys were mortified that we were going to actually go out in it.  I was the meanest mom ever and they didn't want take the bus, they wanted to take the tube.  There was a lot of sadness, weeping, wailing, nashing...all of that.  But we made it there, upgraded my phone, which I am SO GRATEFUL for.  They wouldn't let me do a contract when we first got here because I didn't have my UK debit card yet.  It was such a pain, not enough data, wouldn't let me set up voice mail, couldn't text.  It was a royal pain.  But now I am back in action!

After getting my "mobile" all set up we headed to Selfridges because it is my new favorite store and the boys somehow talked me into getting them a new Lego set.  We looked around for a little while then caught the bus back to St. John's Wood.

Tate was done with our outing for the day and cried and screamed the whole way home.  Everyone was looking at me again and I really had had enough of the rain, the complaining, the screaming, the riding the bus and wanted to scream "What do you want me to do about it!?!"  But I didn't.  I kept my cool.  I missed my Sienna though.  And sunny Texas.  And my friends.  And for some reason Mexican food at that moment. Random, but true.  Today was the first day I got a little sad and homesick.

Tonight Todd got home for the second night in the row at a very decent hour.  Shocking, but true.  It is weird, it's like, "wait...who is this guy hanging around during the evenings?  I am married!?  What?!"  It's been really nice, and also kinda weird and we are still adjusting.  Usually when Todd is home it is play time. I relax, he relaxes, the kids want him to play with them.  So it is weird having him around at night and things still need to get done, I am still in rush around mommy mode with dinner, and dishes, and lunches for tomorrow being made.  So yeah.  It will take some adjusting, but it's good adjusting.

We did the usual of fighting the boys to eat dinner, and then getting them to bed.  Tonight I continued planned our trip to Paris that we are taking over Easter.  I am very excited.  We are also planning a trip to Ireland and Scotland after the boys get out of school.  Places I've always wanted to go, and it is exciting we will be able to go and learn and see all that we can.  Still feel so blessed for this opportunity.



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Day Five: And we'll never be royals (royals) It don't run in our blood.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Today we decided last minute to just jump on the Tube and go see some of the main attractions around town.  We had gone to Tagg's school and picked up his admissions papers to fill out and it took all of 2.2 seconds, and since we didn't have anything else really planned, we were thought we would be super spontaneous and take the kids down to see Big Ben!  Because we can, we live in London now!

Getting out of the tube station and looking up and seeing Big Ben for the first time was just plain awesome.  Fullstop.  Like most things in life, it was so much cooler to see it in person.  It is huge.  It is ornate, and it is just super cool.  Yes I thought just maybe we might see Peter Pan or Mary Poppins flying by...it is just that magical.


Our family and Big Ben.   


Big Ben and parliament. 


After gawking at Big Ben for a while we walked down the street to where Westminster Abbey is.  Now, if you know me at all you know I am slightly royal crazy.  Just a tad.  Seeing Westminster Abbey where Princess Diana's funeral took place AND where Kate married Prince William...it was a royal nutball like me dream come true!  It is so huge and magnificent and detailed and beautiful.  They sure know how to make grand churches here in Europe! 



Four cute guys and an old Abbey...


Big Ben peeking through and Westminster Abbey. 


Even Tate was loving Westminster Abbey! 


Richard the Lionheart...no not really, but that'd be cool! 


We walked along St. James Gardens which of course are amazing and beautiful.  Todd and I have marveled that even though London is such a busy bustling city and so massive, there are these expansive parks everywhere which make if feel much less crowded and more sprawling and beautiful. Aren't the daffodils so pretty and happy?




After a short walk through the park, we came to these humble and inconspicuous gates leading to Buckingham Palace...


Buckingham Palace is just as fabulous as in all the movies, pictures, etc.  I am not kidding when I say that I was secretly born to be British.  I have loved all things english since a young age, and I remember wanting to look through all those dumb tabloid magazines when I was very young just because Princess Diana was on the cover.  So to be here in the heart of it all, is really such a dream.  I also LOVE the history of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, hence I love this monument...


Some more plain and simple gates...and unkempt gardens.
Seriously cannot wait for all these trees to get their leaves...


And yet again, boring and homely gates...you think they would try to spruce up the place a little! 
Tagg is obsessed with all things shiny, strange but true, and so he HAD to go touch those gates to see if they were made out of real gold!

Tate was completely zonked out in some these pictures, but we want him in all the pictures we can, so that even though he won't remember this experience as he gets older we can show him these pictures and say, "See you were there!  Even if you were sleeping during half of it, it still counts!"

Our family in front of the palace...even though I came here last month house hunting, it was so much better to share this with these guys that I love! 


The boys LOVED watching the Queen's guards and were fascinated by all the exaggerated marching. Tagg told me that even though they stay pretty still, they still blink, which I guess he was disappointed in.  We will have to come back someday soon at 11:00am because that is when they do the changing of the guards and the boys would really love it.


And after we had hit some of those very British sights, we decided that we needed to get some more American back in our lives and so we headed over to McDonalds for lunch!  Uh, yep I am serious, and no I really don't know what we were thinking!!  I mean for reals?  We are in Europe.  Oh well, the kids loved it.  


Yep, it's the same wherever you go!


This boy is getting way too old for his own good!


After lunch we headed over to Kensington Palace because I had a playdate with Kate that I just couldn't miss!  No, but seriously Kensington Palace is so beautiful right on the edge of the Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.  Gorgeous, expansive, lush park once again.  I am seeing a common thread here.




You can even go into the palace and look around and read all about it, all who lived there, and visit a little palace shop that sells princess dresses for little girls.  Too cute.  I will be back soon when the older boys are in school and Tate and I can go in and really explore.  And maybe we just might run into Kate and George out for their morning walk!  And then we would become BFF's and spend our days shopping on Kensington High Street and sipping tea (herbal for me) and laughing our heads off! 


In the corner of Kensington Gardens there is a childrens play area dedicated to the memory of the late and beautiful Princess Diana.  I just had to go see it, and have the boys play there! 




At the entrance...the park is a Peter Pan theme...


Captain Hook's Ship...could you even imagine something like this in the states for kids to play on?!
No way, Jose!  Kids were literally climbing up to the top of those sales!  I was dying laughing.
But SO cute...


The Indian Teepees.  


 Tagg climbing up the play equipment. 

The Lost Boys...
Tagg quickly made friends with a bunch of little british boys and I sat on the lawn with Tate and Todd just enjoying listening to their accents while they played.  Little kids with accents are the cutest. 


We stayed and let the boys play until it was dusk and then took the Tube home.  It was another great adventure day.  We came home and ordered Thai food and it was probably some of the best Thai food I've ever had.  Yum.  

Now off to bed,  need to rest for whatever tomorrow brings.  


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