Day 2 in London

First thing this morning, we took the Tube to St. Paul's Cathedral, which has an expensive tour to go along but we didn't think it would go to well with 4 kids in tow so we decided to pass. Everyone enjoyed taking a walk around the outside of this magnificent church though.

Finn has a new friend named "Decker Bussy". Have I mentioned that yet? Here he is with Decker Bussy riding on Paul's head.

Upon leaving St. Paul's Cathedral, we journeyed over the Millennium Bridge (footbridge) to the Tate Modern.

In Tate Modern, Paul was thrilled to see a huge room full of Kiefer paintings, while Finn just took a sideways glance.

The kids most enjoyed the interactive exhibit set up in one area of the Tate Modern, along with a huge (as in, as large as a freight container) dark box sculpture that dared you to walk all the way through the darkness to the end.

We lunched out on the terrace of the art museum,

then headed back through a lovely grove of trees to the footbridge.

The view of St. Paul's Cathedral from the end of the footbridge was amazing.

Finn thought the steps there was a fun place to play with Decker Bussy.

One last shot of St. Paul's, because that is such a cool place!

On our walk back to the room, Paulie stopped in a booth to take a call. :)

We tried to rest up for a couple of hours and make dinner in our room.

In the evening after dinner, we decided to venture out to Trafalgar Square for a bit of nighttime sightseeing. Of course, Paulie immediately needed to climb one of the monstrous lions for which the square is famous.

All 3 of the big kids had a great time scrambling up and down the monument in the dark. Finn just watched from his safe perch on daddy's shoulders.

We also really enjoyed watching the neon-colored fountains.

The following shot is really blurry, but I had to include it because the big kids look like little ants playing out in front of the National Gallery behind Trafalgar Square.

We managed to stumble on a Ben & Jerry's nearby which seemed like a perfect way to end the evening.

Thus endeth day 2. Good night!

Day 1 in London

Our flight to London last night came and went uneventfully, but we arrived in London this morning around 6:30 AM and could not check into our hotel until after noon, which was still early. So we immediately set off to see a few nearby sights, tired though we were.

Walking to nearby Kensington Gardens, I was reminded why I love coming to Europe so much. All the old buildings and statues. The sense of history is just completely different from being in the states where almost everywhere you go, things feel so new.

Almost as soon as we reached Kensington Gardens, we were shown why overnight flights and no immediate hotel room don't mix well for 3 year olds. Finn crashed out on daddy's shoulder on a park bench to try to shed some crankiness.

The rest of the kids and I walked down to the Round Pond to take a peek at the ducks and swans. The kids were really excited to see it since it appears in Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens which we recently read.

Paulie found this amazing tree and spent several minutes hanging out with it, feeling it's knobby truck and fascinating bark.

We then walked by the statue of Queen Victoria in front of Kensington Palace on our way back to check on Paul and Finn.

After Finn woke up, we all headed to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground right near Kensington Palace. What an amazing playground! I loved how everything was made from natural materials and didn't garishly stand out from the surrounding gardens.

The kids had quite a blast but most loved this pirate ship which allowed them to climb to the top of the mast.

Next we walked by the gardens right in front of Kensington Palace, which were beautifully green and full of flowers. Everything was just so lush and gorgeous.

The Orangery next door was a beautiful sight too. The kids were fascinated by the tall, very manicured trees that led path to the Orangery.

After trudging back to our hotel and sleeping away much of the afternoon, we ventured out to Piccadilly Circus for the evening to grab a bite of dinner and allow the kids to do some sightseeing. The statue of Eros was a fun sight for the kids since they recently heard about it in the Bobbsey twins book we read.

Finn took in the sights from a primo spot on daddy's shoulders.

I think that Finn enjoyed riding the Tube as much as anything else we did today. He was all smiles on the way to Piccadilly Circus and back.

Whew! That was quite a first day. I'll keep you updated on what tomorrow brings...

Cheerio!!

The kids' backpacks are packed with treats and books and snacks.

Our luggage is at the door waiting...

Off we go!

WIP Wednesday

I started working this week on a few of the stitch patterns in this book that Paul bought me a few weeks ago. What beautiful laces and fun stitches to try!

After playing around with several of the patterns, I settled on this zigzag lace stitch. I thought it might be pretty as a scarf with this silk/merino blend yarn, and I added a garter stitch trim to prevent curling of the edges.

My other task this week has been deciding which projects I want to work on while traveling and stocking my yarn bag for the trip. I think I'll make some of these, and some of these, and one of these, along with the scarf I'm working on.

I'm looking for a fun and interesting hat to work on, preferably in a child size. Have a recommendation?

travel food

When we first decided to take a trip to London, I knew that we'd need an apartment to suitably contain the 6 of us and allow us to eat somewhat close to the way we're accustomed to eating. So I've been buying easy to ship foods, like spelt pasta, brown rice and pancake mix, and packing a few boxes of food for us to take with us. I've also been letting the kids help me pick out which dried fruits, nuts, raw food bars, etc we'll be taking with us on the plane and for general snacking while we're out and about. Another area that the kids were able to help me with preparing the food for our trip was to make their own travel mix, which we did as a family activity this evening.

Elizabeth has a book which she likes to refer to when gathering the ingredients for our travel mix.

We gathered all of our supplies on our dining room table. (No, this is not a health food. It's more of a treat for them since we don't eat things like yogurt raisins, rainbow rings, or sundrops on a regular basis.)

Each kid had their own ziplock bag (no, we don't use those on a regular basis either) to fill with handfuls of their favorite ingredients.

Then we snacked on a few sundrops for good measure.

Now they'll each have their own bag of travel mix in their backpack to snack on when they feel a little munchie.

a spring weekend

On this, the first weekend of spring, we spent some time recuperating. (please, NO MORE sickness until after our trip, at least!) We took a few walks, some around the neighborhood, some at the nearby park, in the glorious spring weather.

We had friends over to celebrate the coming of spring.

We cooked together, cornmeal blueberry pecan pancakes, the best pancakes I've eaten in ages.

And we enjoyed some of the first asparagus of the season.

We played outside, enjoying the warm sunshine...

even as the sunshine left.

welcome, Spring

On this the first day of spring, we celebrate

the first blooming daffodil,

the first dandelions,

the leaf buds springing from the maple,

new life, so green and sunny, budding, blooming, giving us fresh perspective.

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush

afire with God.

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Thank you, God, for this glorious spring.