I was laying in bed with alex night reading him a silly book. There was a super silly line that made alex laugh, and then fart, which lead to much more laughing. He and I were laughing so much that Andy had to come and see what was up. Good memory.

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Packing and Queen

I spent Tuesday morning packing up our souvenirs and it became clear we need a new suitcase!
Canary Wharf had a concert last night with a full orchestra and singers doing the music of Queen. We had a picnic dinner and enjoyed the evening. The music was a bit loud for alex though!!

Greenwich

We spent a little bit of time in Greenwich Monday night and the Painted Hall and Chapel were very impressive! I also love when they have kids activities!
Oh, and alex with his bedtime snack!

"Beach day"

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has a summer beach each year set up with loads of sand, kiddy pool, and carnival rides. There was plenty of soft sand, which the kids enjoyed, and lots of people watching for me. It was cloudy most of the time so the kids didn't use the pool. Maybe another time!

Lazy morning, grant museum, fish and chips and Trafalgar Square

Star Wars secret cinema

Tonight the boys went to a very fun and cool secret cinema showing of Star Wars. I don't know all the details.....cuz it's a secret and all.....but they have fake identities and belong to different groups in the rebel alliance. All I know is that alex was so excited to wear his costume and spend the evening nerding out with his dad!!

Samantha's birthday!

Playing catch in front of Daddy's work 

When mommy says to grab a jacket and you don't, you end up eating lunch on the tube vent to keep warm.  LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!

We love lunch time with Daddy!

Fancy balloon hat in Hamley's

We love taking the bus with pop rocks and tattoos

Headed to the Eye

London Eye for birthday fun

He asked if he looked like a "science genius".  So hilarious!

Nice views 

Birthday girl!  11 years old!

AFC

The kids and I had a great morning at the Arsenal Football Club Members Day. Obviously, we are not members, but it's good to know one!! Andy's coworker has season tickets and wasn't able to go today so he gave us the tickets. We were able to watch the team warm up and practice and play with a group of lucky kids. At the end the team kicked a bunch of balls into the crowd and while I got my finger tips on 2 balls, I wasn't able to hang on to them. Sooooo, we bought some in the store! It was a lovely day out!

Sunday

We finally made it to church and it sure was raining! We met up with the Faust family at church and after we walked across the street to the science museum. It was packed so we took the kids up to the hands on play area and let them play while the adults chatted. Everyone seemed to have a nice time and then we got hungry! We always enjoy a nice Sunday roast while in London so we walked over to Bumpkin and had a yummy late lunch together. It was another great day!

Saturday in London

Our good friends the Faust family are visiting London and we were so happy to be able to get together for the day! We met in Notting Hill to go to Portobello Market. It's always a madhouse on Saturdays, but the weather was nice and the company great so we had a lovely time. After the market we walked to Holland Park and let the 3 youngest play at the playground while the rest of us chatted. Then we wandered along Kensington High Street and found a Waitrose to get some lunch. We took our lunch to Hyde Park and sat on the grass and enjoyed food and chatting. The 4 youngest went off and played keep away and everyone had a nice relaxing break. The Fausts had tickets for Buckingham Palace so they went off to do that and we rented bikes and ride them all over Hyde Park. A definite must! The bikes were a bit too large for the kids, but they did great. I forgot to take a picture of everyone on the bikes but we ended at Marble Arch so I snapped my favorite 3 there. Overall, a brilliant day!!

Grosvenor Square

Today we went to Old Spitalfields market and wandered around there for a bit. Totally just for me....the kids were not remotely interested....so you can imagine it didn't last long! There was a crepe shop there however which we ate lunch at and thoroughly enjoyed.
After lunch we headed over to Grosvenor Square to meet our friends and play. All this month they have done "Summer in the Square" and have set up games and live music and art projects for the kids. It was a huge hit and we were there for about 3 hours. The weather was amazing and Caitlin and I were able to sit in bean bag chairs and watch the kids, so it was kind of perfect!

The Regent's Park and 221B Baker Street

Today we walked past Sherlock Holmes' house and then played in Regent's Park. The kids love parks that have sand!!

Park and Library

We spent 5 hours with our friends from Boston at Holland Park. The kids had an amazing time!! We didn't have time to go home before meeting Andy at the British Library, which is near our favorite St Pancreas, to see the exhibition about the Magna Carta. It was interesting and well done. Then some lovely Nandos for dinner.