A first trip to London

So we went to London for a few days as a sightseeing trip for Isla and Evie to see the capital. But before that....

Here is a picture Isla did of a cricket pitch "with the holes you put the sticks in"

While Isla was at preschool I got the paints out for Evie to do some finger painting. I cut a potato too, so that we could do some potato print Christmas tree shapes but Evie preferred to actually paint the potato instead!

Going to London

We took the train to London, which was VERY exciting for Isla and Evie, especially going so fast and wiggling around a lot as well as looking at stuff out the window on the way.

We found a play park just round the corner from the apartment we were staying in near Earl's Court. The apartment had bunk beds so Isla was thrilled. However I forgot to pack any cuddly toys so Andrew had to make one out of a towel for bedtime. A cuddly triceratops and pterodactyl came home with us the next day though, along with a bucketful of plastic dinosaurs.

Treated ourselves to a Wagamamas take away dinner, so we all got to use chop sticks. 

At the Natural History Museum

I was sooooo excited to be taking Isla and Evie to the Natural History Museum. Isla was very excited too, as she wanted to see the dinosaurs, and octopuses too.

Isla spotted a triceratops! She was pointing at everything, asking a billion questions about the exhibits.

Inside the cocoon at the Darwin Centre, where I could show Isla the labs and point out some of the equipment. And Evie enjoyed doing some funky walking about.

Our second mode of transport of the trip: a London bus. We ended up doing lots of bus journeys as this was pretty straightforward with the buggy, and we got to look at the Christmas lights outside. When we were walking about the streets, Evie kept pointing out all the buses she saw. A lot of pointing took place.

Take away pizza! Evie is in her pod chair that clips to the table and is really useful and very sweet. 

Winter Wonderland

The next day, we took the bus to Hyde Park via Oxford Street and went to the Winter Wonderland fairground. It is very big with loads of rides, Christmas stalls and food outlets in a German Christmas market theme. We decided to go on the ferris wheel all together, and then Isla and Andrew went on the helter skelter and a funhouse.

Diana Memorial Playground

It was lovely to go to the peaceful surroundings near Kensington palace after the hustle and bustle of the theme park. The Diana Memorial playground has to be the best play park we've ever been to as it had many different areas including a pirate ship, swings, slides and a seesaw that we could all fit on. There was also a cafe that did brilliant blueberry and white chocolate muffins as well as ice cream.

Another Wagamamas!

The Tower of London

We got the tube towards the Tower of London and then walked along by the Thames before crossing Tower Bridge. I had my first view of the Shard, which was pretty impressive. Isla enjoyed going on the underground through the tunnels and looking down along the long snaking train. She liked looking at the underground map and the different colours of the lines. People were really helpful on the tube, helping with the buggy on the stairs and offering to give up their seats to Isla.

At the Tower of London we saw ravens, beefeaters (although apparently they preferred being called yeoman warders) and lots of animal sculptures showing the different pets of the kings (polar bears, elephants, lions and monkeys). Isla asked "is there going to be real blood in the bloody tower?" much to the amusement of a passerby. Evie got a bit fed up at the Crown Jewels, although when we actually got through the crowd she enjoyed pointing to the different sparkly crowns and gold plates. She much preferred walking around outside in the different towers. Evie signed "elephant" when she saw the elephant sculpture and Isla did her monkey dance when we saw the monkey sculptures.

We took a boat to Embankment from the Tower of London, so we had tried out all the modes of transport. The light was really striking as we went towards the London Eye and Big Ben. Evie was asleep on the whole boat trip so doesn't know about that bit.

We walked across to St James' Park and had a look at the geese, pelicans and tourists trying to stroke squirrels. Isla and Evie enjoyed the play park which had a nice view of Buckingham Palace behind it. We took the bus home past some beautiful Christmas lights at Duke of York Square and stopped off on the Kings Road for pizza.

Going home

We had a nice train journey home on the tube and the train. I can't believe how much we have done in the last few days. Since coming back we have starting putting up our Christmas decorations and finding our advent train and a new advent calendar too, all ready for December. Evie has had a big back tooth pop through so now is the owner of six shiny white chompers!